PrintFounder
Nine O'Clock New Media
When an industry is constantly evolving, successful entrepreneurs roll with the trends. Just ask Tony Zoccoli, founder of Nine O'Clock New Media, a Web-development and creative-services firm based in Fremont, California. When he founded the company in 1995, it was called ProGraphix, had a single employee and focused exclusively on design for print products
When Zoccoli started his company, offering Web services wasn't even a consideration. "There was really no push for Web work," he says. "The Internet was too new." But as a growing number of his customers started requesting Web sites, Zoccoli reinvented his business to grow with the burgeoning industry.
And he didn't bother with a business plan.
Looking back, Zoccoli doesn't regret not writing a business plan. Without one, he was able to expand his services as his customers' needs changed. A written business plan may have even held his company back, he says. "It would not have helped me because of the change of focus in this type of field. The target audiences are all so different."
Zoccoli's 10-employee firm is a one-stop shop for Web design and development, and his company generates almost $1.5 million in revenues a year. The Web division accounts for about one-third of that total.
In fact, the Web division of the business has done so well that Zoccoli not only expanded the menu of services his business provides, but he also decided to change his company’s name so customers could remember his Web site address more easily. True to form, this wasn't part of an overall strategy hard-wired into a business plan. Zoccoli chose the new name for three reasons: It was easier to spell, easier to remember, and both the Nineoclock.com and 9oclock.com domain names were available.
"With the Internet age, name recognition is the key to success when trying to remember someone's domain," he says. "We reserved both names 9clock.com and Nineoclock.com. When people ask, we say it's spelled either way."
Zoccoli expects to continue expanding his services. And despite the success of building his business without a plan, Zoccoli isn't against creating a business plan in the future. "I believe a business plan could still work for us," he says. "A strong business plan would allow me to spend more time on how to expand and make money rather than focusing on managerial or technical responsibilities."
And one thing Zoccoli could use is more time. He spends two hours a day commuting to work. And when he's at work he acts as the liaison between each of his clients and his designers and programmers. With as many as 100 clients at a time, this often means working 10 hours a day, six days a week.
"You have to work like this because of the changing times," Zoccoli says. "There's always someone who is better than you are."
This personal touch, along with a portfolio of quality design work, is what allows him to remain competitive in the saturated Web-design marketplace. And he must be doing something right: When he started he had only a computer, $2,000 of personal start-up cash and his design skills — and no business plan. He still doesn’t have a formal plan, but he does have a $1.5 million company, and his work is seen worldwide.
— Kim Wimpsett
