Park it
Photo/Jan Holder
Jay Richardson, left, and Mark Bushey
A conversation with Mark Bushey, co-founder and director of business development at Industrial Park Online in Windham.
Founded: April 2009
Number of employees: 0
Startup costs: $25,000
Projected revenue, year one: $140,000
Projected revenue, year two: $225,000
Contact: 807-5420
PO Box 1018, Windham
www.industrialparkonline.com
What does Industrial Park Online do?
We are a project management company in the communications and technology industry. My partner Jay [Richardson] has 20 years of technology experience and he has repeatedly witnessed clients going out for quotes for different pieces of technology and finding that they get frustrated because there are so many vendor components and nobody has ever helped these clients organize the technology side like they do with general contractors in construction. So we provide clients with all of the technological services in an integrated solution: We have 14 companies in our virtual industrial park and we’ll go out and assess the needs of the client and make a customized solution using our partners and provide one quote for the entire job, and the client has a single point of contact and doesn’t have to be involved in managing the project. We do it for them at no additional cost.
How did you establish this list of companies in your virtual industrial park?
Jay has been in the field and working on the online industrial park concept for a long time and he’s been targeting vendors who do quality work and soliciting them for potential involvement. All of our partners, be it commercial or electrician or IT support, have been screened for quality first and foremost. We have very little depth in our park because quality is first and you have to apply and be screened before you can become a vendor.
Why did you decide to launch this business?
There is a definite need for this type of company — if you’re a small or midsize company with either small or no IT support and you’ve ever had to coordinate one of these technology projects on your own, you know how difficult that can be. So we knew there was a real need there and we knew that it would be well received, so that’s why we started the business.
How did you finance this business?
I loaned the company money, we used personal credit, we used a program by Gorham Savings Bank called invoice financing, we solicited investors and we bartered for services. We bartered a small piece of ownership in exchange for the website build-out and we were very lucky to find an investor who was excited about our idea who offered us space in his building. We also have finance agreements with trade organizations.
How do you market your business?
Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn. I am a member of TechMaine, so we get exposure that way, and we’re members of the Portland Chamber and Lakes Region Chamber and eventually we’ll be putting out a more aggressive marketing plan through local media when our budget supports it. We’ve been advertising in some papers. The biggest thing is referrals from the partners inside the industrial park.
What’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced running this business and how did you overcome it?
Financing is a huge challenge in this environment, but we’re focused on keeping our costs down. We know exactly how much it costs to stay in business every month, so we know how much business we have to do and we focus on the budget to ensure we can survive until accounts receivable is up high enough to support salaries and all the things we need to pay for every month. Another issue has been exposure and marketing: How do you get recognized for your services? Most of that is happening now through our efforts on the ground, calling people, looking for places to get exposure at events. I attend a lot of social events promoting our services.
What are your business goals in the next five to 10 years?
Short term, our goal is to validate the company through the proof of concept testing we’re doing now. Long term would be to license this entity and sell virtual industrial parks throughout the country. But we’ll always be based in Maine, no matter how big or far reaching it is. We want to stay here. We hope to employ anywhere from three to eight people in the next couple of years and maybe more after that to help with the bookkeeping and accounting and administrative work.
Interview by Mercedes Grandin
New Ventures profiles young businesses 6-18 months old. Send your suggestions and contact information to editorial@mainebiz.biz.
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