Kurt Thomet, CEO of Quest Solutions
How would you define what it is to be an entrepreneur?
Creatively combining ideas, people and structure to solve business problems under the umbrella of a company.
How did you get started as an entrepreneur? What in life prepared you most?
I was fired in July of 1994 so that my stock option would not vest the next day (day 365 or more commonly known as 1 year). Three things in life prepared me the most: My optimistic entrepreneurial parents who passed on great values, my business training as a sales person who learned how to overcome negatives, no’s, and obstacles, and my athletic childhood which taught me the competitive drive that is one of the very most important traits of successful entrepreneurs.
What is your philosophy and motivation as an entrepreneur?
Hire, Train, and Empower great people. Live your values, love and spend dedicated time with your family: they bring you strength. We have always been motivated to be the best at all things that we do, to be fair and honest, and to stretch ourselves in to new and creative areas.
Given the OEN Entrepreneur Awards "rebel" or "renegade" theme, describe how you faced up to and overcame the challenges you faced as an entrepreneur? Can you provide examples?
The challenge of no money at the beginning:
I started the company with no money because we had just built a new home and I had just been fired. We started our business using customers money to buy inventory and vendor terms to finance the company.
The challenge of funding growth with no money:
We have been an award winning growth company for a decade and a half. Starting at zero in my garage, selling over 20 Million anually and over 100M since our beginning.
We have maintained 100% equity during that time, achieved Inc. 500 Status, Inc. 5000 status, EO growth award, Ernst and Young: Technology Growth, Motorola: Growth, Intermec: Growth. In order to fuel growth, my biggest challenge was finding a way to pay my sales manager more than I could afford. I allowed him to invest in the company and then short paid him, trading that shortfall in salary as additional equity investment money. We are the only 2 stockholders today. We continually re-invest profits of the company to fuel our own organic growth.
The challenge of losing a credit line:
In today’s banking meltdown, we lost a credit line important to our company because of an income flow interruption caused by an embezzling partner. Once again, as in our beginning, our customers and our vendors rescued us with lines of credit of their own. Customers pre-paid for orders, vendors stretched their terms with us. Not easy, but doable.
The challenge of no products to sell:
In the beginning, the technology vendors did not want me to sell their products because of lack of size. We built our business at the beginning by purchasing used mobile and wireless computers and refurbishing them. We competed with those vendors who would not do business with us with their own products sold at a discount. When our volume got substantial enough, those vendors recruited us to sell their new products. We are now in the top 1% of their 4000 global partners in volume.
The challenge of lawsuits:
We have been sued by competitors, by ex employees, and have had to protect our intellectual property from theft. A great law firm with a member who acts as our sole advisor to the company has been one of our wisest moves. Additionally, we have learned to mediate, to settle, and to work contingency fee structures to control costs.
The challenge of an embezzling business partner:
As we grew, we purchased other companies. Our biggest mistake was to purchase a company and keep the managing partner. Although we back ground checked him, he had a story that we believed concerning the one red flag that was discovered. Big mistake. This current situation is likely to cost us over $ 1.5M in losses. We discovered his embezzlement through a review of company e-mails that led us to find 13 separate checking accounts set up in customer names but under his management. Lessons learned: Date first with any potential partner, red flags have meaning and should be treated with great scrutiny, e-mail snooping is a requirement and business registrations/bank relationships should be inspected monthly for changes.
What advice do you have for to someone who wants to be an entrepreneur?
Find a mentor or a group to learn from. Entrepreneurs Organization (EO), YEO, WEO and YPO are great groups that have helped me more than anything else that I have done. Learn from a large company early in your career, find out what you love, then take the leap.