Abandoning convention best strategy for Attaché
Attaché was poised for exponential growth.
"We had a client ask us for something new - employee outsourcing. The next thing we knew, we were a completely different industry" said Attaché Inc. CEO Jason Janoski. "Talk about growth, we've been given a real gift with these last couple of years."
Attaché is a Columbus-based firm that provides consultation in marketing, communication and personnel. The firm employs a diverse group of professionals who help organizations develop plans for growth. These services include branding expertise, providing continued training for its sales force and recruiting the right employees, Janoski said.
For 10 years, Attaché enjoyed steady success and a reasonable increase in business each year.
"For a while, we were content with simply marketing and communications," he said.
Then a request came from a client for employee outsourcing. Janoski was ready to try something new and, to quote the company's motto, to "abandon convention".
"Our business expanded, so we expanded our breadth," he said. But frankly, "We weren't prepared for that kind of a spike in client growth."
Janoski and his staff burned the midnight oil as they scrambled to learn a new aspect of their business while, at the same time, showing their new clients the same services upon which Attaché had built a solid reputation.
"We learned a ton. I think I got more out of it than the people we were helping," said Janoski.
It didn't take long for Attaché to adapt to an increased level of business and to acquire the skills necessary to maintain it. Janoski said many valuable lessons were learned in the process, such as the method in which Attaché's chooses its clients.
"We've been far more selective. That was different for us," he said. When a service business is first created, said Janoski, the business tends to take on every client who knocks on the door, simply because the clients are needed for the new business to survive. But as time goes on, a resourceful business will choose its clients wisely.
"That's what makes it symbiotic." he said. "Find the clients that will help the business."
Janoski said that for the first time in his company's 12 years, he recently referred two clients elsewhere.
"We found a solution for them that was better than us," he said. Janoski wasn't ready to say that he was bored with the steadiness of Attaché's first 10 years, but he's certainly enjoyed the last two.
"I really like to have my heels on the edge of the plank," he said.
As exciting as that last two years have been, Janoski wouldn't recommend that every business take such a giant leap of faith.
"Get your own house in order," he said, advising new CEOs to define their businesses from the beginning and prepare what they need to do to meet their goals ahead of time.
And, don't be afraid to think big.
"We're acting like we're a 30 person company," said Janoski.
Attaché has five full-time employees and hires freelance employees as needed.
Fueled by the knowledge that he and his creative staff can conquer any challenge before them, Janoski and Attaché's diverse group of professionals have shown that abandoning conventional wisdom isn't just a motto.
