For Sale: Real Life Lessons

For Sale: Real Life Lessons

Companies by Janet Leiser | Senior Editor

"Do as I say, not as I did," could be the slogan for the business consulting firm started by partners John Hindman and Richard Walling.

"Both of us have had an awful lot of years working directly for companies, that in all candor, made a lot of mistakes," Hindman says. "And there's not anything richer in the experience department than making a lot of mistakes."

To hear the men talk, they're quite rich - in experience.

Hindman, 57, former president and chief financial officer of the $250-million Clearwater-based IMRGlobal Corp., and Walling, 53, whose team helped Nokia become a market leader with $1.2 billion in annual revenue, readily admit the goofs along the way.

Walling says, "Most everyone has worked in a company at some time and said, 'What were those idiots thinking?' Well, I've been the idiot."

They say those past mistakes are what make their company, H&A Consulting Partners LLC, valuable to businesses struggling to manage growth and reach the next level.Who knows better than someone who has done it?

In his four years at IMRGlobal in the late '90s, Hindman says the company made mistakes, but the market for services related to Y2K was so strong, the company still flourished. "Frankly, the market allowed us to grow even when we didn't execute as effectively as we should have," he adds. "Brute force took us along."

But there comes a time, Hindman says, when pushing and shoving no longer works for a business, not if it's to reach the next level. "You have to have a vision of the market you're going to serve over the next two to three years, how the company is going to look inside that market and what steps you have to take to get there," he adds.

As far as Hindman is concerned, companies - often led by strong entrepreneurs and serendipity - don't spend enough time understanding the markets of the future.

Coming together

Hindman and Walling, who have attended the same Pinellas County church for years, started their consulting firm early last year.

During Hindman's career, he has raised nearly $1 billion in capital in public equity offerings and 52 mergers and acquisitions.

In his most recent executive position, Hindman was senior vice president and chief financial officer of Eclipse Networks Inc., which grew to $30 million in annual revenue during his 2000-2002 tenure. Before IMRGlobal, he was chief operating officer of Precision Systems Inc., a St. Petersburg publicly traded company.

Walling recently worked as vice president of sales for Sendo America Inc., a UK-based cellular telephone manufacturer. As Sendo's second U.S. employee, he built sales teams in North and South America. Annual sales hit $300 million in the region by 2004, when he left the company.

Prior to Sendo, he worked at Nokia Mobile Phones as account director. "When I started with Nokia, we were just an afterthought with Bell South," Walling says. "Motorola had 90% market share in the Cingular account.

"We found out some things that were really important in that industry," he adds. "You can make all these big deals at headquarters and you can get all these commitments from these guys, but what really drove business was the people in the stores, the 18- to 22-year-old kid who was telling people what phone to buy."

Nokia targeted the people selling the phones, not just those at corporate headquarters who placed orders, he says, adding, "If your phone keeps selling out, they keep ordering it."

Nokia had 80% of Cingular's business by the time he left, he says.

Walling and Hindman decided they had a lot to offer high-growth companies as consultants.

"We've been involved with companies that have gone through some pretty tremendous growth," Walling says. "You get to a point in your life where you want to feel you're significant, you're helping, you're giving back. It's really great when you work with the clients and you see the improvements come about."

Target client

The partners plan to work with Tampa Bay companies that need help managing growth. They say there are many companies that want to do business internationally, obtain funding to grow or expand.

But Hindman and Walling discovered bigger, established companies are more likely to hire their firm.

"When they have a problem or concern, they want it fixed, and they want it fixed now," Walling says. "At smaller companies, if I own the business, I want to do everything I possibly can before I bring in someone else."

One of their clients is Irvine, Calif.- based Experian Consumer Direct, a leader in the consumer direct credit industry. Hindman says: "We're in the late stages of an engagement with them to help them see themselves the way they're going to look three years from now, understanding the markets they serve and how to get there."

As for H&A's strategic plan, the firm expects to grow 50% annually over the next few years.

"Obviously growth for growth's sake doesn't matter," Hindman says. "If we do our job right, we should grow quickly."

They rely on referrals from those who've used their services. After all, their clients are not going to trust just anyone with the inner workings of their businesses.

"What we're really about is helping companies grow," Walling says.

That's growth minus the mistakes the executives made at other companies.

RUNNING A COMPANY

Rich Walling and John Hindman of Pinellas County-based H&A Consulting Partners LLC offer five tips to improve a business.

HAVE A CLEAR articulated vision and strategy that is communicated to stakeholders. Know where a business is headed, as well how to get there.

FOCUS 100% ON only those areas that add value to a business. Do not commit resources to projects or departments that are not essential to success. This means a business must know its customers and markets intimately.

NURTURE THE COMPANY'S culture. Create a positive workplace where employees feel they are valued.

PLANNING IS CONTINUOUS, not just a year-end project. Always review and update business plans to adjust to varying conditions and markets.

MAINTAIN A CONSTANT focus on cost reduction.