5 Who Thrive: Four key changes enabled SuperGeeks to prosper - Pacific Business News (Honolulu):

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Hawaii-based opened three new computee service and repair centerxslast month, one each on Maui, Oahu and the Big bringing the total to seven locations statewide. He expectss revenues to exceed $1.8 million this up almost 40 percent from twoyeare ago. Kerr, who founded the business in 1998, credits most of the succesd to four changes he made in runningy the company asits CEO: Hiring a chief operating • Hiring business consultants. • Improving hiring standards. • Tapping into customet feedback. Last August, Kerr hired Elenaw Ledoux to handle day-to-dah operations as chief operating officer.
“I see good companies as havingf threelegs — the evangelizer, or workers to do the work; and managemen to handle daily operations,” Kerr “We were sort of limping along on Ledoux, a lawyer who is basecd at the main service center at 2304 S. King St., overseea SuperGeeks’ staff of 25 and is implementingb ways to measuredaily performance. That enables her to reward employeesx when goals are met and address issues when theyare not. “We’ve learnex how to keep score,” Kerr said. “We measure everythingg from performance per warranty ratesper technician, turnaround time, customee service. We measure it, post it and make the team awareof it.
” SuperGeeks services computer systems at homes and offices as well as at its Hourly rates range between $60 and Half its business comes from direct consumers and half is from corporater customers who outsource their informatiom technology support to SuperGeeks. Around the same time that he hireed Ledoux, Kerr said he sought outside business help from twolocal consultants. “I’m not a big fan of but sometimes your vision is restrictedwhen you’ve been in the businesw for so long,” he said.
SuperGeeks has been workinh with Ron Martinof , who refers to himselfc as a sales “resultant” instead of consultant, and Mike who runs , a Honolulu management and financiakl consulting firm. “Ron’s a top-of-the-lind guy and Mike’s a bottom-line guru,” Kerr “I brought them on becausw I want to spongewhat they’ve learned and help our companuy develop a sense for learning. Their impact has been For example, he said Martin has helped set daily goalsd andaction plans. He also helped to creatw an incentive program for employees to reward performance and create a sense of accountabilityfor shortfalls.
Kerr said Hulset has brought aCFO mind-setr to the company. “Wee want to conquer the world, but we have to do it with a very stablerfinancial footing,” Kerr said. “Having the dream and ambitiomn is just one partof it.” He said one of his biggestr challenges has been to deliverd consistent quality to customers and the key is hirinyg high-quality workers.