What is GrowthForce?

GrowthForce is an outsourced accounting and financial services firm that helps small business grow. We provide accounting, bookkeeping, taxes and consulting advice to small businesses

Why did you decide to set up your company headquarters in Kingwood?

We started our interview discussing “Why Kingwood”?

Mr. King lived in the New York City area for 41 years, so it was not an easy decision to move his family to Kingwood.  Mr. King described the December night when he received the phone call from the CEO of Administaff, Paul Sarvadi.  Mr. King was walking down Madison Avenue as snow lightly covered the city streets and he could see the top of the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree in the distance.  A picture perfect postcard night in New York City.

Administaff was prepared to purchase the financial services company Mr. King built up but the caveat was that he would have to relocate to Kingwood to cement the deal.  Hesitantly Mr. King flew down to Houston to tour the Kingwood community.  Upon touring a model home in Riverchase he quickly calculated what he thought the value of the home would be based on the current market value in the New York tri-state area.  When he learned that the Riverchase home was priced at one third his calculations; he called he wife and suggested she start packing immediately. 

Like many other transplants from the north, Mr. King came to discover that people choose Kingwood for the quality of life it offers.  So in 2001 when Administaff made the decision to sell off the subsidiary which Mr. King was president of, it did not take long for him to decide that he would set up his new company here in Kingwood. 

The question had been answered “Work to Live” or “Live to Work”. 

GrowthForce has experienced rapid growth, doubling its revenue every six months.  How did you set priorities for growth?

Mr. King already had built up a business from scratch once, then he had the opportunity of unfettered access to the CEO at Administaff during the two year period he led FMS.  So when Mr. King launched GrowthForce he already had tested blueprints for building a successful business. 

Mr. King stated that business growth that is too rapid can undermine a company’s ability to provide consistent quality of service.  He describes GrowthForce’s development as controlled in order to assure the level of superior quality that his clients expect.  GrowthForce will be opening up a new office location in the Sugarland area in April 2009 to accommodate his expanding client base.

Mr. King commented that one of the few drawbacks to setting up business headquarters in the Kingwood area is the lack of internet infrastructure.  The lack of competition when it comes to cable and internet providers in this geographic area has led to a monopoly.  Embarq is the internet service provider for many of the professional buildings located up front in the older part of Kingwood.  Mr. King cites Embarq’s spotty service and lack of bandwidth combined with regular service interruption as a clear obstacle to productivity.   This is a definite issue which community leaders should address in order to make Kingwood more attractive to small business.

So exactly what does GrowthForce do for its clients?

Mr. King summed up his answer by stating that GrowthForce works from the Controller level down to the bookkeeper.  GrowthForce offers the financial diagnostics to determine where your small business is at now.  GrowthForce does the number crunching, but the small business owner retains the control of setting the future direction of his company. 

I asked Mr. King about his five year plan for Growthforce?

Mr. King elaborated that any good five year plan begins with regular financial meetings to determine where your business is at now, where it should be next month, next quarter, next year and on down the line.  A detailed review of your business’ financial results helps to establish important targets for growth and can then be broken down into action priorities and goals for key management employees.  It gives you a tangible and measurable objective. 

GrowthForce is in the unique position to observe the impact of the economic slowdown on small business.  I asked Mr. King what kind of feedback he had received from small business owners and their outlook for 2009.

The impact of the economic slowdown greatly depends on the industry sector of your business.  Mr. King commented that both Retail and Real Estate sectors are struggling to survive.  Whereas businesses in the Energy sector or Home Repair category are booming.  GrowthForce has clients in all these industries and provides the targeted guidance which can help your business weather the storm of both too few customers or too many. 

Lastly, we discussed how GrowthForce strives to offer a work / life balance to its employees. 

Mr. King commented more than once that he makes a point of being out of the office by 6:30pm at the latest.  He encourages his employees to do the same.  Mr. King learned through his time at Administaff that balance is key to productivity.  He is a Baseball Coach at the YMCA for his son’s team; he participates in church activities at St. Martha’s and visits the gym regularly before work in the mornings.  This type of balance would not be possible if his business was located in New York. 

So although Mr. King downsized when he traded in his view of the Rockefeller Christmas tree for the Kingwood Town Center Christmas tree, something tells me that this is one decision both he and his family all agree turned out for the best.