Since acquiring the information technology company in 2001, JMark Business Solutions Inc. President and CEO Thomas Douglas has led the firm toward consistent growth.
The Springfield-based company has four times made the national Inc. 5000 list based on revenue growth, peaking at No. 1,397 in 2011, and was recognized by Springfield Business Journal in the 2013 class of Dynamic Dozen, also based on revenue growth. With 2012 revenue of $8.56 million, the 70-employee firm grew by 48 percent 2010-12, according to
SBJ archives.
Douglas, this morning's guest for SBJ's 12 People You Need to Know series held at Hilton Garden Inn, predicts 25 percent growth this year. The company
finished 2013 with nearly $11 million in revenue.
"We'll continue that momentum for the next couple years. Our ambition is about 25 to 35 percent per year," Douglas said. "We realize that if we go too much faster than that, the wheels start to get a little wobbly, customer service can go down a little bit, so we have to monitor our growth very carefully."
Douglas said that means the company must closely manage cash flow, make sure employees have the right skills and turn down jobs that are too big to take on at a given time.
With a client list of more than 200, including John Q. Hammons Hotels & Resorts, JMark manages some 12,000 devices, effectively serving as a client's IT department, Douglas said.
"Oftentimes, we find these organizations are challenged with finding the right skill set of people to come into the organization or they can't justify having someone on staff full time. We go in and we fill in those gaps, and we manage the full IT suite for them. That is (from) help desk services - individuals call up, something as simple as, 'Hey, I have a problem with my cell, or I can't print' - all the way to, 'My server just melted. Help!' We deal with the full gamut," Douglas said.
Before being named the 2013 Missouri Small Business Person of the Year by the Springfield branch of the U.S. Small Business Administration last March, Douglas and JMark had just months earlier announced plans to expand its center city headquarters and add 42 jobs over three years, a capital investment with a price tag of $564,000.
Gov. Jay Nixon visited Springfield in August 2012 to recognize the economic efforts of the company, which traces its roots back to 1988. Douglas said this morning the company has filled a dozen jobs and invested roughly $250,000 under the plan.
Under Douglas' leadership, the company has grown through acquisitions - including the
2008 purchase of Nixa-based NetWorks Inc. and NetManage Inc. that he says more than doubled the size of the company - and a switch to a pricing model designed to minimize customer frustration.
JMark employs flat-fee billing, wherein the company is paid for the success of a network by proactively managing it more effectively.
"We decided we didn't want to make money from people when they were all frustrated," Douglas said.
Douglas, who says he fields purchase offers about once a week but isn't positioning JMark for a sale, leads in a swiftly moving industry. He predicts an increasing reliance on "touch" technology - e.g., iPads and other tablet devices and smartphones - as well as better voice-activated services.[[In-content Ad]]
