One Year Later

Griffin Wakem's years of experience as a computer technician for a large company trained him well for the technical aspects of his new business. But it did little to prepare him for the day-to-day activities of running the Bonita Springs-based BlueSource Inc., which provides computer-engineering solutions for companies. The company develops software tailored to help businesses with a range of unique issues and problems.

"The whole thing has been a huge learning experience," he says. "Nothing [about running a business] works like technologies. Technology is predictable; business is fluid."

If Wakem could do it all over again, he would have focused on developing a marketing and advertising plan, printing promotional materials to hand out, and perhaps advertising in trade magazines-all before he opened the business. "What happened when we went out the door is we had all this great technology. We started inventing all these wonderful new solutions," he says. "But we had nobody who knew about them. So I think that was our big lesson, really."

Wakem worked on e-mail and Web systems for Intel Corp., in Portland, Ore., before opening BlueSource at 27099 Jarvis Road. He has a lot of technical experience dealing with problems such as removing spam and upgrading e-mail systems and Web pages. He also creates in-house computer networks for companies to allow offices in different locations or states to talk securely over the Internet.

The market is hot for the services BlueSource offers, but competition has increased exponentially since it opened, says Wakem. As a result, he is constantly reinventing the company's services.

Wakem opened the business with a few thousand dollars; the first customer brought in more than $10,000 in revenue. "If you have a small budget, you can really do something like this fairly easily, because all the benefits of the company are actually in your head," he says. "It's all intellectual knowledge."

Wakem says he also wishes he had established a business plan. "Make sure you know exactly what you are offering, where you are offering it, and if it doesn't take off develop a side plan," he says. -John Francis