Jay Sachetti joined Jeff O’Brien, partner at Husch Blackwell and Dyanne Ross-Hanson, president of Exit Planning Strategies talked about the market for mergers and acquisitions, exit planning opportunities for companies that don’t end up for sale and how companies can maximize their eventual sale price during an early October panel at the first Upsize on Tap event at Summit Brewing Co. in St. Paul.
When the state Legislature passed a law requiring employers to provide paid leave and safe time for employees, Justin Bieganek started hearing differing details from friends, colleagues and peers.
UPSIZE GROWTH CHALLENGE :: INNOVATECH LABS
SEO helps top line,
while cost accounting
augments bottom
by Beth Ewen
?Last year was the best year we?ve ever had,? says Gary Smith, CEO of Innovatech Labs in Plymouth, which does materials testing and analysis.
He attributes the boost to the $300 per month he pays TopRank Online Marketing, a local company that does SEO or search engine optimization, and hosts Innovatech?s Web site and e-mail server. Before the arrangement, ?I noticed I was using Google, so I googled us and couldn?t find us,? says Smith, who figured, ?If I can?t find me, they probably can?t find me either.?
Sales topped $1 million last year, up from $800,000 the year before, some from new types of clients. ?In the past, before the Internet, most of our revenue was from cleanliness testing for the computer industry,? says Smith. ?Now we?re getting other customers, anyone who needs chemical analysis.?
Since participating in the Upsize Growth Challenge in 2005 with lab manager Jennifer Mathias, Smith has added three pieces of equipment to boost production. He?s held the staff at six people. ?We?re right on the edge that with any more growth we have to look at staff increases.?
?Profitability ? that?s gone way up, probably from an average 10 percent, now 25 percent to 30 percent,? Smith says. That?s in part because he?s kept staffing the same, but he attributes it more to advice from the Upsize Growth Challenge experts to implement cost accounting at his firm.
?Talking to the experts spurred me to get a good handle on our cost accounting,? Smith says. Afraid to raise prices before, he and Mathias used a detailed spreadsheet to allocate costs to each individual test, and raised prices a year and a half later. ?Every year I go through my cost accounting spreadsheet and adjust.?
Gary Smith, Innovatech Labs: 763.231.0150; gs****@************bs.com; www.innovatechlabs.com
