Taking on the World

By Mark R. Madler
San Fernando Valley Business Journal
February 27, 2006

When DSL Construction Corp. wanted to replace its antiquated computer system, it turned to an information technology that has been in business for less than two years.

Faster Planet not only switched the property management firm from a Unix-based system to a Windows-based system but was able to put the expertise of co-founder Jeff Baugher to use.

“We really didn’t know how bad it was until we started the conversion,” DSL Chief Financial Officer Charles Laing said. “Luckily Jeff knew a lot about Unix and that turned out to be a huge asset.”

Founded in July 2004 by Baugher and partner Dan Spencer, Winnetka-based Faster Planet is living up to its name as its revenues have tripled and its staff doubled.

That growth is not on pace to slack, Spencer said, as Faster Planet works to establish itself as a one-stop business for technical support, development and projects.

“We do everything possible,” Spencer said. “We’ll install a printer, look at spyware on a computer, talk about a network upgrade.

“We’re also a good resource for knowledge and once a client is satisfied we give sound advice they’ll ask us non-technical, non-business questions,” Spencer said.

Spencer and Baugher formed Faster Planet after working together for several years at another information technology company which served smaller companies. The pair wanted to apply that philosophy to their own venture, Spencer said.

“There are a lot of smaller companies that don’t have need for a full-time IT person and they get lost in the ozone layer,” Spencer explained. “We found those companies of 30 to 50 employees need somebody four to eight hours a week but not more than that.”

DSL Construction receives half-day visits twice a week for maintenance on its computer system, Laing said.

“They have a good model and plan of how they want things set up and we don’t vary from that,” Laing said.

Satisfied customers like Laing are a key to Faster Planet’s success as much of their business is generated by referrals and recommendations.

Word of mouth

The company tried radio ads and mass mailers to drum up clients to “zero results,” Spencer said.

“Computer people have a stigma against them and people don’t know if they can trust us,” Spencer said. “Or they don’t have the experience to make a change even if they are dissatisfied with their current provider.”

The company started out with just two clients and has grown to 24 stretching from Torrance to Ventura County.

Louis Weiss, director of information technology at Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, another Faster Planet client, said that his past experience working with and for small businesses made him aware of how important word of mouth was to attract new customers.

“It works a lot better than an ad,” Weiss said. “Absolutely I would recommend them because of the quality of their work and the kind of people Dan and Jeff are. They are tech savvy but not lacking in communication skills, which is nice in the tech world.” When competing for clients, Faster Planet does not often go up against multiple vendors, Spencer said.

And what makes their service stand out for the clients is their responsiveness, a pro-active approach and the resources to have the right person for the job, Spencer said.

“We have the ability to put somebody in place that is familiar with a specific system or has daily working knowledge with that system,” Spencer added.

This year, Spencer anticipates adding more clients and company revenues to hit the $500,000 mark.

Future plans for Faster Planet include expanding the number of its employees to a dozen or more and working with larger companies on extended projects that may take up to months to complete, Spencer said.

The company is also targeting school districts to provide repair service and preventative maintenance.

“Schools are in a tougher situation than general business because they are faced with limited budgets,” Spencer said. “Decisions on equipment are much more critical for them.”

Faster Planet
Year Founded: 2004, Employees 2004: 2, Employees 2006: 5 full time; 2 part time
Revenues 2004: $110,000, Revenues 2005: $325,000
Driving Force: Need for IT service at small- to mid-size businesses.