“We originally had visions of building a little bit of a client base, selling to AOL, and retiring in the Caribbean. Well, we were a little late for that, so we had to opt for Plan B which was to buckle down and build the business.“  Dale Coyner, Serial Entrepreneur, Founder of Communicast and Open Road Outfitters

The Rich Niche Group blog interviews and enables you to hear directly from successful entrepreneurs and product managers about the steps they took to grow their businesses/products and how they were able to create, penetrate, and/or dominate their niche.  This week we interview Dale Coyner, the founder of Communicast (which was sold to PrecisionIR Group), Open Road Outfitters and a noted author of several motorcycle touring books and a motorcycle touring blog

Interviewee:  Dale Coyner, serial entrepreneur. 

Why Selected:  Dale is a two-time entrepreneur and one of the pioneers in the use of interactivity and streaming technologies within the web conferencing and webcasting industries.  Dale is also a motorcycle touring enthusiast and author of several books and a blog on the topic. Dale is also a member of the Virginia Governor’s Motorcycle Advisory Council.

I had the pleasure of first consulting to and then partnering with Dale (and David Paul, co-founder of Communicast) as we grew the company and eventually sold it to PrecisionIR Group and their Vcall division.  Under Dale’s guidance, Communicast became known as the leading interactive webinar platform and was one of if not the first to integrate streaming audio and video.  Dale’s foresight and unique ability to understand problems and break them down to their smallest and easiest to solve position enabled Communicast to continue growing while delivering its famed “white glove” service.  Dale also understands himself, his strengths, and the strengths of those around him and he has the ability to bring those strengths together to make the team more productive. 

In the following interview, Dales takes us through how he was able to keep Communicast growing without ever taking any venture capital and how the start-up of Open Road Outfitters differed from Communicast.  During the interview, Dales makes several points about what it takes to grow a company, the key points you’ll take away include:

1.  Know your buyers.  Possessing a solid understanding of your buyers will enable to you understand their problems and build products they understand.

2.  Take advantage of the numerous open source and low-cost solutions are now available to help small businesses. 

3.  “It’s the rare opportunity that can stand up to the scrutiny you’ll put it through if you write even a simple business plan.”

4.  The biggest threat to losing your position as a market leader is to become complacent to the changes in your niche/industry.

You are now on your 2nd start-up, how has the start-up Open Road Outfitters differed from starting Communicast?

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“Today, we have an unprecedented opportunity for entrepreneurship.   With the advent of the Internet and all of the technologies that are associated, an idea can become a business quickly and efficiently.”  Ara Bagdasarian, CEO and Co-founder of Omnilert, LLC. 

The Rich Niche Group blog interviews and enables you to hear directly from successful entrepreneurs and product managers about the steps they took to grow their businesses/products and how they were able to create, penetrate, and/or dominate their niche.  This week we interview Ara Bagdasarian:

Interviewee:  Ara Bagdasarian, this is Ara’s second start-up. 

Why Selected:  Omnilert (www.omnilert.com) was one of the first companies in the unified mass notification systems business (urgent text messages) for colleges and universities.  Ara and his partner started Omnilert in 2003 and have since become a leader in the space.  I had the pleasure of working with Ara in the past and he is one of the most innovative and customer-focus individuals I know.  In addition, he is very active in his community of Leesburg, Virginia serving on many non-profit boards and as the Chairman of the Town of Leesburg’s Economic Development Commission.

In the following interview, Ara takes us through the concept for Omnilert, how it changed based on feedback, and then managed the hyper-growth caused by the shootings at Virginia Tech in 2007.  As you read the full interview, here are some points that stood out to me:

1.  If your initial concept does not resonate with your target audience look for others where it might

2.  Innovate in all areas of your company, not just with technology

3.  Publicize every new client you get and get existing clients to tell your company story  

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“Frankly, I think this is an ideal time for new start-ups to capture significant market share.”  Bob Cowan, founder of American Teleconferencing Services, Ltd. (ATS) 

The Rich Niche Group blog interviews and enables you to hear directly from successful entrepreneurs and product managers about the steps they took to grow their businesses/products and how they were able to create, penetrate, and/or dominate their niche.  This week we interview Bob Cowan:

Interviewee:  Bob Cowan, started ATS as a 1st-time entrepreneur. 

Why Selected:  With no previous business experience, Bob started ATS from scratch by borrowing $35,000 from friends, family and a second mortgage on his house.  Defying the odds, he grew the business and sold it, 13 years later, for approximately $60M.  I had the pleasure of working with Bob and ATS and I can tell you it was one of the most rewarding and formative times of my career. 

In the following interview, Bob provides you with some insights on how he and ATS were able to enter a market dominated by AT&T, carve out their niche and grow the company before selling it to Premiere Global Services (NYSE: PGI) in 1998.  During the interview, Bob brought up many relevant points about what it took to start, persevere and grow ATS and three key aspects kept jumping out to me:

1.  Focus on solving your prospect’s and client’s pain by constantly talking to them and getting to know their business

2.  Continually innovate

3.  Get to know your employees as they may have additional talents that can help your clients and your business. 

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