TO WATCH (Tampa Bay): Arnie Bellini

ENTREPRENEURS TO WATCH: TAMPA BAY

Connectwise

Arnie Bellini

Arnie Bellini appeared to be set. He had his MBA and CPA and a solid job as an IT consultant with PricewaterhouseCoopers.

But when the first personal computers came out, he had a vision: They would remake the way business was done. And, companies needed someone to maintain them and their networks.

Bellini's father, a longtime IBM executive, was skeptical. He told his son to stay at Pricewaterhouse. PCs would be nothing more than a hobby.

But Bellini left the accounting firm and, with his brother David, in 1982 started ConnectWise, a Tampa IT services firm, one of the first of its kind in the Tampa Bay area.

ConnectWise began by offering IT services. It would evaluate, install and maintain information technology for small- to mid-size companies that didn't have their own in-house IT staff. Companies with 100 PCs or less often need an outside IT provider.

After hitting a brick wall in growing its business, ConnectWise developed its own software for managing IT business and connecting IT professionals. That product is now sold worldwide. Last year, revenues rose 46% to $15.2 million. The company also hosts an annual national partners conference.

"It was the best decision I made as an entrepreneur," says Bellini, 49, the chief executive officer. "It was one of those things, if you have a vision, you just have to follow it. The burning desire and dream can overcome a lot of soft spots in the road."

ConnectWise has seen some of those soft spots.

It faced a crossroads in 1992 when it joined a New York-based industry group called USConnect, a nationwide consortium of 45 independent IT services companies. Eventually, Ikon Office Equipment and Inacomp made the offers to buy the member companies.

"Being part of that group and going through due diligence and putting the company up for sale real was eye-opening even for me," Bellini says.

The companies were offering 90 cents on the dollar. All but three of the 45 companies sold out. ConnectWise was not one of them.

"We learned the hard way that the mistake you make when you invest a lot of your vision and future in a lot of other companies, you don't have control of your destiny," Bellini says. "The mistake I made was hitching my vision to a bunch of people who couldn't help me get there."

ConnectWise then focused on its own growth. And while trying to manage its own information technology business, it developed a software to help do that. Eventually, customers started asking for it and so it began selling that software, which also connects IT professionals around the world.

"Necessity is the mother of invention," Bellini says. "We were one of the very first companies to provide IT services in the Bay area. A lot of friends in the industry asked where do you put your contacts. We would show them the software. One guy told me this was like homemade barbecue sauce. 'You have to sell me that,' he said."

Bellini is optimistic about the future because the infrastructure for the growth of technology companies is in place.

"The reality, the real reality, is that the dotcom boom is happening right now," he says. "The standards are in place. The speed is there. Wireless is everywhere. You wouldn't think of not having one in your home."

To be in the IT world, because the pace of technology change, companies have to redefine themselves every 12 months, Bellini says, but that is a thrill, not a fear, for him.

"It's Mr. Toad's wild ride," he says. "You do take advantage of it. There are spots where you can provide a lot of value. In our world, I'm fulfilling the dream I had with USConnect, when we did not have a common infrastructure and back-end software system."

Today, more than 1,500 companies, or more than 20,000 IT professionals, are using the ConnectWise software, talking to each other through the ConnectWise network.

"We're trying to create a flat world," Bellini says. "It helps bring greater profit to business."

Entrepreneur Questions:

What is your toughest challenge as an entrepreneur? "Driving a company at a rapid growth rate. It's like driving a sports car at 150 mph. You've got to stay on the road. There's the gas, brake and clutch. How do you use those three? You're at breakneck speed and growth. The car is going 150 mph. It's a very twisty road. You have to be able to adapt to that. You have to bob, weave and adjust, growing payroll and overhead. It's a rich and dynamic culture. Our industry (IT and software) changes faster than any other industry. It's more drastic than any other industry."

BY THE NUMBERS

CONNECTWISE

Revenue/Employee Growth Box

At a Glance: ConnectWise

Revenues

2005 revenues: $6.7 million

2006 revenues: $10.4 million 55% growth

2007 revenues: $15.2 million 46% growth

Three-year average annual growth: 51%

Employees

2005 employees: 25

2006 employees: 30

2007 employees: 44