Beth Haselhorst: We can learn a lot about starting a business by asking successful business owners how they did it. Today we’re going to ask Tim Berry to share his experiences with you.
Tim Berry is the author of Business Planning books and he’s consulted companies such as Apple Computers on their business planning goals. But Tim hasn’t just written and consulted on the subject, he knows first hand what it takes to start and sustain a business. Tim founded the company Palo Alto Software, which produces the nation, the leading business planning software. We’re happy to have Tim with us today.
Welcome to SBTV.com.
Tim Berry: Oh thank you very much, I’m very happy to be here.
Beth Haselhorst: So what is Palo Alto Software and how did you start the business?
Tim Berry: There’s a lot of pride here I have to say, Palo Alto Software is an Oregon Corporation. It is the leading, as you say, it is the leading producer of business plan software in the United States. Forty employees, we have no outside investors, Palo Alto Software is owned by me and my wife Vangie of 37 years and of our five children and it’s a happy healthy company, cash low positive that has a great product and has a great team of people that believe in what we do.
Beth Haselhorst: Why did you start Palo Alto Software?
Tim Berry: Interesting, because like so many businesses, it really started itself in a step by step way. I went on my own as a business planner because I wanted to do it my way and actually because I thought I could make more money on my own than as an employee. And I learned a lot going through that path and eventually the product grew out of my planning, consulting.
And it’s kind of serendipity. There’s been a lot of serendipity in this company, the product was there and it was used for consulting before I conceived off the company to be built around the product and that spark then led me for several years to consistently run a business plan about, “I want to convert my business to selling the product instead of selling the hours.”
Beth Haselhorst: Looking back is there anything you would’ve done differently during the start up phase.
Tim Berry: Oh boy, yes there are so many different and our start up was long. I might have looked for outside investment if I had it all to do over again. I was very self sufficient and that meant the company grew more slowly and yet I’m not sure because we’re talking about—it was first incorporated in 1988 and here we are that many years later, it’s growing well and there’s a lot to be said and actually we don’t say enough in the world of small business expertise and so on.
For boot strapping and owning your own, because there were hard times and I will say that I’m pleased and proud that my wife and I are still married after all of this. We had $1.3 mortgages and $65,000 of credit card debt over starting this company. But not that it’s strong and healthy, we own it. We don’t have outside investors and there’s pain and suffering there but I feel like it has a happy ending.
Beth Haselhorst: Is there one piece of advice you would suggest to someone getting ready to start up a business?
Tim Berry: Oh boy is there, if there’s one piece of advice—please believe that you owe it to yourself to plan. You owe it yourself to take, take that time and it doesn’t have to be much time but please take the time to plan so that you can really accurately guess and it’s always just a guess, but accurately guess what you really need to do it right and then assess whether you get outside investment or borrow or friends and family or can you actually bootstrap. Take the time to plan that business and I hate just the phrase take the time worries me, because take a few hours, okay—not six months, not a year but sort that through and do the right list and get things going smartly.
Beth Haselhorst: Do you still use a business plan?
Tim Berry: All the time, I practice what I preach and in my company we practice what I preach. We meet the third Thursday of every month, seven of the key managers among the 40 employees, we bring in lunch, we go to conference room and we look at our plan versus actual results every month without fail. And then every year, we do exactly what I recommend, we step back, we take a fresh look, we do the SWOT analysis, we regenerate our plan every year because it’s really worked for me. That’s a lot of what it’s taking to get where we are with a company that’s helping you grow. So it took a long time and hard work but it is obviously worth it.
Beth Haselhorst: Tim thanks a lot for joining us today.
Be sure to visit www.TimBerry.com to learn more about Tim’s books, his work and his blog. And you can find more segments with Tim Berry in the Small Business Growth series here on SBTV.com where small business is our only business.
Transcription by:
Scribe4you Transcription Services