Small business owners have a lot on their plate. Oftentimes business owners don’t have time to figure out how to understand and implement cloud and IT solutions, or even afford them. Whizkids makes using the cloud an intuitive and easy process. They are a cloud and technology solutions provider that serves small businesses by providing cloud desktops, cloud infrastructure, managed IT, and managed security. Since 2009, Whizkids has made it their mission to be the earth’s most intuitive service company. Through the years, Whizkids has grown by developing exceptional processes, tools and hiring practices.
Evolving as a Business
Small businesses that are stagnant in the way they do business will also be stagnant when it comes to growth. Whizkids understands this which is why they made it one of their top priorities to grow alongside their clients.
- Investing in R&D – As a cloud and IT service company, research and development is especially important for Whizkids, but R&D can be helpful for just about any business. In 2017, Whizkids started to heavily invest in R&D and the tools required to build their cloud from the ground up.
- Aligning staff – having a team that is easy to work with and provides excellent support to customers is very important in any business. At Whizkids, they made it a priority to have their staff ready to help with the implementation and support of cloud services.
By investing in research and development and by getting the right people on board their team, Whizkids was able to foresee the need for cloud solutions and get ahead of the curve. Today, Whizkids has matured and developed capabilities through years of hard work.
Today, the company’s cloud services include Whizkids Workspace (cloud desktops), cloud infrastructure (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and much more. This past year has seen an increased need for cloud services as more organizations are working remotely.
WhizKids has always focused their efforts on serving small to midsize businesses, and the company is inspired by the enthusiasm of small businesses for cloud services – especially now when many are being forced to evaluate the infrastructure of their technology. The WhizKids team is easy to work with and provides excellent support to their customers; they leave their customers feeling more informed after each interaction with them. The company also strives to keep their tools and processes extremely user-friendly.
Strategies for Growth
WhizKids has two strategies that it credits its growth to.
- Focused Vision – Whizkids has a vision which is to be a “top-notch customer support and being the most intuitive service company.” Over the years the company has been able to hone in on their vision which has guided them. Everything that the company does is built on the foundation of their vision.
- Strategic Hiring – Whizkids has an exceptional hiring process. Their high standards for hiring include multiple interviews and rigorous testing for their technicians and support team. Hiring strategic roles in the company as it grew was also important. For example, their cloud department is led by the Cloud Architect and is responsible for deploying and supporting cloud services. The sales and marketing departments work together to create and execute processes that help the company find, keep, and take very good care of their customers.
Challenges Encountered
Every business encounters challenges as it grows. A challenge that WhizKids faced early on was with their hiring process. Their progress was slower than it could have been if they would have invested in hiring people with more experience. In the early years, the company hired many employees that were green. Those employees stuck with Whizkids for a long time, grew up alongside the business, and made it what it is today. Now WhizKids invests in the right amount experience when needed, and balances that with new talent. Ensuring your staff is balanced in terms of experience, knowing where to outsource, and considering your budget all at once is a challenge.
Budgeting is another challenge WhizKids had in their early years. Nowadays, they can look at the budget and forecast frequently to have a good understanding of their overall financial health. Creating a budget and using it as a tool allows them to be more calculated when it comes to hiring and strategic investments.
Advice for New Businesses
As a successful business with years of experience and growth under their belt. WhizKids has a lot to teach smaller, less experienced businesses.
One piece advice that was given by WhizKids was to:
Spend wisely, hire slowly, fire quickly, and look to the future.
Spend wisely: Be careful with credit and money! You don’t need fancy things to start a business. Do not take out business loans or private equity unless you know exactly how you’ll get a return on that money. Debt kills businesses, so keep your expenses light. As a new business, you can take advantage of opportunities to offer a great price but understand when to shift to a new pricing model or level up. Do what you do at a fair value but be really good at what you do so when it’s time to level up, customers stay with you.
Hire slowly: Create a process for hiring and stick to it.
Fire quickly: When you know it’s not working out, don’t let it drag on.
Look to the future: Always be thinking about your business and what your industry will look like in 4-5 years.
If you are interested in learning more about WhizKids, you can check out their website.
