Reinvention Leads to 10% Annual Revenue Growth
Robert C. White, Jr.
President and CEO
The WhiteStar Corporation
www.whitestar.com
TAB member since 2005.
On working with Blair Koch: “She’s very insightful, listens, has a lot of practical experience, and she comes with value for her clients first and foremost in her mind. As I’ve matured in business I identify with her more and more. At first, I didn’t want to change things, I thought I knew best. But then you get it that this person ‘gets it.’ The trust has evolved to a very high level,” says Robert. “Blair is aware of the bigger picture, nationally and at the state level. She’s always e-mailing me and directing me to things that are important to business owners. She’s perceptive and looks at my skill set and points out what I should be doing to maximize my impact on my own company.”
The client: Robert White is President and CEO of The WhiteStar Corporation. His company provides digital cartographic products, services and expertise that empowers clients to oil and gas faster and confidently make profitable business decisions. Robert has been in business for twenty years and has a dozen employees.
The business challenge: Before Robert joined TAB, he’d come to the conclusions that he had too many product lines and that potential clients were not clear about what WhiteStar provided. “We had literally hundreds of things to offer and couldn’t get behind any one thing,” says Robert. He was seeking clarity, focus, and new ways to make his company more profitable.
On considering TAB: “Our market was changing and there was more competition coming on. We had to reinvent the company,” says Robert. He wanted to connect with a group of seasoned entrepreneurs who could serve as a sounding board, support him in making key business decisions, and help him stay accountable to the tasks and projects he needed to accomplish.
The TAB experience: “My background is in software engineering and geology,” says Robert. “People with formal business training . . . this was news to me. TAB is a great way to get an education.” Robert says he felt relieved once he’d joined TAB and began to formulate a plan to change his business. “Here’s what you do to get through the crisis,” is what Robert says others were able to convey to him. He also received critical feedback on managing staff and how to better define and brand his product.
The results: “We have processes, accountability, key performance indicators, and hundreds of things that we didn’t have before. It’s a profitable company now and we know how to get out of trouble when storm clouds gather,” says Robert. “We’ve gone from a reactive company to a proactive company. We’re growing revenue at 10% per year. No question that’s related to TAB.” Robert also learned through the guidance he received from his fellow TAB members not to tolerate non-producing employees. “I was so emotionally attached and didn’t want to make hard decisions, but I needed to do it,” says Robert. In addition, he’s now reading and interpreting business reports in a new and more useful way.
