Entrepreneur Interview: Mary White, MTI Business Solutions

Business Name:
MTI Business Solutions

Website URL:
http://www.mobiletechwebsite.com

Year Founded:
2003

Business Partners:
Stephen White
Randall Olson

Number of Employees:
3

What does your company do?
Corporate Training and Consulting Services

Was there a specific turning point when you realized your business was moving to the next level?

Our initial plan was to focus exclusively on career training, but quickly recognized that corporate training was where we needed to be when we began getting calls requesting that type of service. We listened to corporate training customers who told us that they’d rather have someone provide expert services rather than learn how to do things themselves and that’s how we moved into consulting. We now provide consulting services in all the areas that we provide training in, to maximize our ability to meet the needs of our clients.

What processes or procedures have you implemented that have helped grow your company?
We moved away from the traditional “all day every day office hour model” by investing in high quality VOIP phones. We hold office hours when our certification testing center is open and when we are holding classes, but are free to work remotely at other times. This allows us to focus on being where our clients need us to be and to set aside time to focus on marketing.

What is most rewarding about running your business?

I love having the freedom to control my work schedule (even though I probably work more now than when I was in the corporate world)and to be able to help clients with the areas of their businesses that they find the most challenging.

What challenges have you faced and how have you overcome them?
Every entrepreneur faces challenges; it’s how you deal with them that determines if you will be successful or not. The biggest challenge was realizing that our initial business model plans were not what we needed to be doing. We had to decide to re-focus our efforts and move away from what we intended when we opened and become something different. We had to learn to listen to what the market was telling us rather than being stubborn about doing what we wanted – but that wasn’t going to work.

If you were starting over today, what would you do differently?
I would start out on a smaller scale, recognizing that we could always expand with time. We did the opposite, starting out big with the expectation of growing into what we set up. That was an expensive mistake, but an important lesson learned.

What advice do you have for other business owners?
Don’t be afraid to deviate from your business plan purposefully. Listen to the market and make adjustments as needed.

If you are not familiar with online marketing strategies, take the time to learn about them or hire someone to help you. If you don’t do this, you’re missing out on an important and affordable way to promote your business effectively.

Recognize your own weaknesses and seek to surround yourself with people who have strengths in those areas.

Please list any favorite books, tools or resources (software, website, etc.) you would recommend for others:
If you’re planning to set up a business blog, WordPress is a terrific tool.

If you’re planning to engage in article marketing, start with ezinearticles.com and ideamarketers.com and expand from there.

If you need to learn about social media, The Social Media Survival Guide by Dr. Sherrie A. Madia and Paul Borgese is a great read.

If you need to learn the basics of human resource management, 101 Human Resource Management Tips in the Life Tips book series (my book) is a good starting point.

What is something that people might be surprised to learn about you?
Even though my consulting and training business requires a significant amount of business travel, I enjoy taking RV camping trips for relaxation.

Is there anything else you would like to add?
For the right person, the decision to be become an entrepreneur just might be the ideal path to long term career happiness.