Anna Kolluri
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RESOURCESYS
Resourcesys Inc is an information technology staffing firm which I founded in ‘99, working out of my
basement.
We cater to most niche technologies and these are changing each year
During our years in business we were able to contract about 500 candidate nationwide, average
time period on a project was about 3 to 6 months. We currently have about 30 full time employees.
We have grown each year, from around $200k first year, and clocked to around $5m last year
100% woman owned, and 100% of office staff are women.
Have been recognized by INC magazine as being in the INC-5000 “fastest-growing private companies
in the nation” for past 2 years
We have been recognized by USPACC “Fast 50/100 Asian American Businesses”.
WHY I DECIDED TO START MY OWN
COMPANY
Married with 2 children under 10, and husband who traveled 4 days a week made it hard for me
to leave the house.
While I worked part time with a startup staffing firm, I realized that I had the potential to start
on my own with minimal investment, and then Resourcesys was born.
CHALLENGES
Financing
Being a service industry our primary investment is our employees and
employees come with salary packages and in our case, additional Legal
expenses, as we were an H1B visa dependent employer.
Payments for services usually took more time than specified and it was tough to
get financing from banks as we had no personal or business history. Initially, we
relied on credit cards & personal loans. Subsequently, we were able to get a line
of credit.
Regulations
Since we were and are operating as a H1B dependent firm, we operate under a
strict regulatory environment. Hence legal expenses is a major overhead.
CHALLENGES
Networking
Being an immigrant had challenges of not having a network of business associates, language barriers, and
navigating new systems.
Basic challenges like credit history, and understanding of regulations, especially in the age when we did
not have ’google’
Marketing
The positive aspect of our industry is that there are no barriers to entry. The negative is that it
’
s a lot of
competition, so a lot of times, there is hard work with little or no success.
Our marketing strategy was mainly face to face interactions as we had little proof of prior experience,
and business experience
Most of our work was with commercial businesses, with little business with any state or federal
institutions
MENTORS AND WELL-WISHERS
My Partner - Ruchi Anand ( a friend from the past)
–
joined me in 2005
A classmate from school, Ruchi was the Yang to my Yin. Ruchi came with 15 years of working
experience with large private firms in the Information Technology staffing area.
Honest work goes a long way
Support from existing customers
–
small business, ease of operation, smaller margin.
Teaming agreements and mentorships
Great mentors who coached us through our tough times when we were stuck wondering what’s
next.
Vdart Inc
Professional help
Legal, Accounting and Tax, Banks
LEVERAGING MY EXPERIENCES
“
Can do attitude”. Explore the leadership within you. You are doing it on a day to day basis already,
your business is just an added component
Family support is a huge advantage.
Networking
–
take advantage of social media -
Mentors
Professional Help
Lean budget to keep on par with Competition
PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN IN THE LABOR FORCE
Women comprised 47 percent of the total U.S. labor force.
Women are projected to account for 51 percent of the increase in total
labor force growth between 2008 and 2018.
The largest percentage of employed women (40.6 percent) worked in
management, professional, and related occupations; 32.0 percent worked
in sales and office occupations; 21.3 percent in service occupations; 5.2
percent in production, transportation, and material moving occupations;
and 0.9 percent in natural resources, construction, and maintenance
occupations.
The largest percentage of employed Asian, white, and black women (46.1
percent , 40.6 percent, and 33.8 percent, respectively) worked in
management, professional, and related occupations. Hispanic women
showed their strongest attachment to service occupations at 33.2 percent.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics,
Employment and Earnings
, January 2011, Annual Averages. Web
site:
http://www.bls.gov/opub/ee/empearn201101.pdf
CONSEQUENCES OF THE INCREASING NUMBERS
OF WOMEN IN THE WORKFORCE
–
Forbes 2011 Article by Lisa Quast
Increased number of women owned businesses:
In the U.S., “nearly 10.4 million
firms are owned by women (50% or more), employing more than 12.9 million
people, and generating $1.9 trillion in sales” (2007 Wow! Quick Facts: Women,
p.50).
Business result improvements:
According to research and advisory company,
Catalyst, companies with the highest representation of women board members
attain significantly higher financial performance than those with the lowest
representation: 53% higher Return on Equity; 42% higher Return on Sales; and 66%
higher Return on Invested Capital (
Joy, et al, 2007
).
Increased purchasing power of women:
“With female consumers controlling 85
percent of all purchase decisions, responsible for $7 trillion in spending, and 78
percent of women considering purchases more carefully, a woman’s wallet is more
influential than ever before” (
AdweekMedia
).
CHALLENGES AND CHANGES
Less time for mothers to spend with children due to their work
schedules:
Busier schedules mean less time to spend with
children. “One third of all school age children in the United States are,
for some part of the week, latch key kids; that is, they go home to an
empty house or apartment” (
Alston, 2007
).
Increased stress levels and changing roles:
Harper and Leicht (
Exploring
Social Change: America and the World,
2007, p. 91) state, “The most
pressing problem of dual-income families is not money, but the problem
of managing ‘ragged’ family schedules and adjusting husband/wife
roles.”
CHALLENGES AND CHANGES
Changing how people work:
In order to help workers meet both job and family
requirements, more and more companies are allowing a portion of jobs to be
completed via telecommuting and “home-working is increasingly fashionable”
(
The Economist
, 2010, p. 3).
Changing the school schedules of children:
Even school districts are making
changes in order to better match the school days of children with their parent’s
dual-job households; thus alleviating some of the child care burden. “Some of
the most popular American charter schools offer longer school days and shorter
summer holidays” (
The Economist
, 2010, p. 4).
FEMALE STEREOTYPES ARE CONDESCENDING AND THEY DON’T
DEFINE US. MORE IMPORTANTLY –
THEY DON’T LIMIT US.
•
SARA BLAKELY
– Founder of
SPANX
– started with her life
savings of $5000, selling out of her apartment in Atlanta, to a
$250 million in annual revenues.
•
WEILI DAI
– Co-founder of
MARVELL TECHNOLOGY GROUP
–
The only female cofounder of an American semiconductor
company.
•
NELLIE J TORRES
– Founder & CEO
PROJECTSPAN SERVICES-
which provides a range of support services for complex transit
and airport infrastructure
•
KAMAKSHI SIVARAMAKRISHNAN
– Founder & CEO of
DRAWBRIDGE INC
– Her company designs technology that
lets brands reach the same consumer across multiple devices.
These are just a few names representing Women
Entrepreneurs across a range of industries.
Resourcesys Inc., founded in '99, grew from a modest beginning to a thriving IT staffing firm despite facing financial and regulatory hurdles. The journey includes personal sacrifices, innovative solutions, and the support of mentors. With a focus on niche technologies, the firm continues to flourish, recognized for its rapid growth and commitment to diversity.
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RESOURCESYS Resourcesys Inc is an information technology staffing firm which I founded in 99, working out of my basement. We cater to most niche technologies and these are changing each year During our years in business we were able to contract about 500 candidate nationwide, average time period on a project was about 3 to 6 months. We currently have about 30 full time employees. We have grown each year, from around $200k first year, and clocked to around $5m last year 100% woman owned, and 100% of office staff are women. Have been recognized by INC magazine as being in the INC-5000 fastest-growing private companies in the nation for past 2 years We have been recognized by USPACC Fast 50/100 Asian American Businesses .
WHY I DECIDED TO START MY OWN COMPANY Married with 2 children under 10, and husband who traveled 4 days a week made it hard for me to leave the house. While I worked part time with a startup staffing firm, I realized that I had the potential to start on my own with minimal investment, and then Resourcesys was born.
CHALLENGES Financing Being a service industry our primary investment is our employees and employees come with salary packages and in our case, additional Legal expenses, as we were an H1B visa dependent employer. Payments for services usually took more time than specified and it was tough to get financing from banks as we had no personal or business history. Initially, we relied on credit cards & personal loans. Subsequently, we were able to get a line of credit. Regulations Since we were and are operating as a H1B dependent firm, we operate under a strict regulatory environment. Hence legal expenses is a major overhead.
CHALLENGES Networking Being an immigrant had challenges of not having a network of business associates, language barriers, and navigating new systems. Basic challenges like credit history, and understanding of regulations, especially in the age when we did not have google Marketing The positive aspect of our industry is that there are no barriers to entry. The negative is that it s a lot of competition, so a lot of times, there is hard work with little or no success. Our marketing strategy was mainly face to face interactions as we had little proof of prior experience, and business experience Most of our work was with commercial businesses, with little business with any state or federal institutions
MENTORS AND WELL-WISHERS My Partner - Ruchi Anand ( a friend from the past) joined me in 2005 A classmate from school, Ruchi was the Yang to my Yin. Ruchi came with 15 years of working experience with large private firms in the Information Technology staffing area. Honest work goes a long way Support from existing customers small business, ease of operation, smaller margin. Teaming agreements and mentorships Great mentors who coached us through our tough times when we were stuck wondering what s next. Vdart Inc Professional help Legal, Accounting and Tax, Banks
LEVERAGING MY EXPERIENCES Can do attitude . Explore the leadership within you. You are doing it on a day to day basis already, your business is just an added component Family support is a huge advantage. Networking take advantage of social media - Mentors Professional Help Lean budget to keep on par with Competition
PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN IN THE LABOR FORCE Women comprised 47 percent of the total U.S. labor force. Women are projected to account for 51 percent of the increase in total labor force growth between 2008 and 2018. The largest percentage of employed women (40.6 percent) worked in management, professional, and related occupations; 32.0 percent worked in sales and office occupations; 21.3 percent in service occupations; 5.2 percent in production, transportation, and material moving occupations; and 0.9 percent in natural resources, construction, and maintenance occupations. The largest percentage of employed Asian, white, and black women (46.1 percent , 40.6 percent, and 33.8 percent, respectively) worked in management, professional, and related occupations. Hispanic women showed their strongest attachment to service occupations at 33.2 percent. Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment and Earnings, January 2011, Annual Averages. Web site: http://www.bls.gov/opub/ee/empearn201101.pdf
CONSEQUENCES OF THE INCREASING NUMBERS OF WOMEN IN THE WORKFORCE Forbes 2011 Article by Lisa Quast Increased number of women owned businesses: In the U.S., nearly 10.4 million firms are owned by women (50% or more), employing more than 12.9 million people, and generating $1.9 trillion in sales (2007 Wow! Quick Facts: Women, p.50). Business result improvements: According to research and advisory company, Catalyst, companies with the highest representation of women board members attain significantly higher financial performance than those with the lowest representation: 53% higher Return on Equity; 42% higher Return on Sales; and 66% higher Return on Invested Capital (Joy, et al, 2007). Increased purchasing power of women: With female consumers controlling 85 percent of all purchase decisions, responsible for $7 trillion in spending, and 78 percent of women considering purchases more carefully, a woman s wallet is more influential than ever before (AdweekMedia).
CHALLENGES AND CHANGES Less time for mothers to spend with children due to their work schedules: Busier schedules mean less time to spend with children. One third of all school age children in the United States are, for some part of the week, latch key kids; that is, they go home to an empty house or apartment (Alston, 2007). Increased stress levels and changing roles: Harper and Leicht (Exploring Social Change: America and the World, 2007, p. 91) state, The most pressing problem of dual-income families is not money, but the problem of managing ragged family schedules and adjusting husband/wife roles.
CHALLENGES AND CHANGES Changing how people work: In order to help workers meet both job and family requirements, more and more companies are allowing a portion of jobs to be completed via telecommuting and home-working is increasingly fashionable (The Economist, 2010, p. 3). Changing the school schedules of children: Even school districts are making changes in order to better match the school days of children with their parent s dual-job households; thus alleviating some of the child care burden. Some of the most popular American charter schools offer longer school days and shorter summer holidays (The Economist, 2010, p. 4).
FEMALE STEREOTYPES ARE CONDESCENDING AND THEY DONT DEFINE US. MORE IMPORTANTLY THEY DON T LIMIT US. SARA BLAKELY Founder of SPANX started with her life savings of $5000, selling out of her apartment in Atlanta, to a $250 million in annual revenues. WEILI DAI Co-founder of MARVELL TECHNOLOGY GROUP The only female cofounder of an American semiconductor company. NELLIE J TORRES Founder & CEO PROJECTSPAN SERVICES- which provides a range of support services for complex transit and airport infrastructure KAMAKSHI SIVARAMAKRISHNAN Founder & CEO of DRAWBRIDGE INC Her company designs technology that lets brands reach the same consumer across multiple devices. These are just a few names representing Women Entrepreneurs across a range of industries.
