Please, introduce yourself and your business.
My name is Ross Brasseaux and my business is called RB Integration Tools (aka, RBIT), located in Lafayette, LA. I write software (mostly business-management applications) for companies. We also provide MSP/IT-support to a few medium-sized companies around the country.
How did you start your business?
That's a hard question to answer plainly. One way to put it would be to say I left my job, filed an LLC with the state and called on every client in my network to inform them that my services were now available at a fraction of the previous cost.
I cut down on my own costs by building my own equipment from parts I had collected over my career (which you could also accomplish with Ebay), and by partnering with a CPA friend to help get me started with invoicing, payroll, taxes, etc. With no overhead, you can easily undercut your competition's prices.
How much revenue was your best year? (include margin if possible)
I believe about $350K so far, although this year should be much better. Margins are less now, but when we began they were close to 75% for employees since we were training them right out of college. Now it's probably closer to 35%.
When did you notice traction when building your business? The “Oh S**t!” moment, what did that feel like?
I suppose it was when I finished the design for my first project and realized that I had several months of guaranteed work at an hourly rate roughly 3 times what I'd ever made before in my life.
What was your childhood like? Were you slinging candy on the playground?
Haha, no, I wouldn't say I was a "hustler" as a kid. I really didn't start hustling until around 18 years old, and it wasn't until I was about 22 years old when I became truly passionate about my career. That's when I started studying software in my spare time.
What has been your best marketing marketing channel?
My reputation, mostly. I was known for my integrity and competency. Calling on the contacts in my network was my sole source of work for the first three years.
Later on, we formed a referral contract with an adjacent industry, in which we paid them a percentage of our gross revenue for any clients sent our way. It was a great way to guarantee a return on marketing investment.
You just have to find a referrer that shares your values and then earn their trust that you will take care of their customers in the same way they would.
How many attempts at building something did you make before you found what you’re working on now? Did you always have an entrepreneurial drive?
Sort of, yea. I had tried once before to create a company. The product was a website that was sort of a Craigslist for textbooks. It launched back around 2013 and did pretty well at first.
We made the front page of Reddit (although I didn't know what Reddit was at the time) and grew to about 40 users in the first semester. The problem was that I didn't know enough about hosting the servers and a power outage crashed my server. The guy who I had paid to build it had moved on and, in a way, so had I.
It might not be the best entrepreneurial mindset, but I think deep down I had always assumed that first business would fail. I figured I would learn the lessons that would serve me well later in life.
In the end, that's what happened. It taught me a lot about starting my own business and hosting websites, skills crucial to starting my current business.
What is your biggest overhead expense?
Definitely payroll. For a service company, I think the biggest expense should be payroll. Marketing is a distant second.
What’s the most important skill you’ve learned?
That's a difficult one, but I suppose it would be how to retain employees. How to keep them happy. I found it ironic that the answer is often times *not* a pay increase.
In my experience, if an employee is not happy with an average salary, then they likely won't be happy even with a massive raise. I've literally given someone a nearly 30% raise at their request, only for them to put in their notice a month later.
So, all I can do is pay what's fair and listen to their issues. Some value the learning experience more. Some want a certain workspace culture. Some have kids who need braces. It can be anything.
What do you spend the majority of your time doing, in a given week? (I think a lot of people hear entrepreneurs “work,” but may not understand what that means on a day-to-day basis.
Well it depends on the role you play in the company. Up until last year, I provided a large amount of the software development. Nowadays, I mostly just ensure that our business remains aligned with our values, strategies, etc.
I stay in tune with the needs of the employees, make sure our customers are happy and that projects are on track as planned. I also always try to make sure everyone is participating in a work culture that promotes ethics and integrity.
All that may seem like little tasks, but they require more and more time as you grow.
What do you know now that you wish you knew when first starting your business?
The part about raises not being the solution to employee retention would have been nice. When you're a new employer (and depending on your personality, I suppose), it can be difficult to tell an employee what they're getting paid without wanting to offer them more.
I remember wanting to pay all my guys $20K above market as soon as possible, but it almost killed my company while we were waiting for our second project.
What new employers may not realize is that paying someone less (but still fair) wages may not be a very effective strategy for growth, which is ultimately how you can afford to pay your employees more.
The world of entrepreneurship can be misleading. Many people think it’s always easy and always glamorous. What’s a big problem you’ve faced as a business owner and what were the emotions behind it?
Well the big thing to remember is that you have to always be willing to lose it all. Otherwise, the stress will eat you alive.
Other than that, I tend to obsess over whether I presented myself well to a client. Like, did I talk too much? Did I put my foot in my mouth at some point? That sort of thing.
Many people don’t know where to start in the business world, they feel stuck. They may want to start a business to become their own boss and create their hours. What is your best advice for someone who feels completely stuck?
I spent afternoons and weekends for years at the coffee shop studying my profession and practicing advanced tasks before attempting anything. I let my technical expertise guide me and give me the confidence I needed to take the next steps.
My advice is to be prepared. Equip yourself with the skills you need now so that you can succeed later. Don't wait until opportunity knocks before you begin researching/practicing/etc.
