Ryan Thompson

Ryan Thompson was born for business. At age 11, he had the Main Street newspaper route in his hometown of Ada, Oklahoma. At 14, Thompson became the fourth employee of a computer technology company as a part-time shipping clerk and tech support representative.

As the company experienced explosive growth, Thompson was managing a multi-million dollar annual trade show budget traveling to major cities, and he was only 18 years old.

By the end of his tenure at the company, Thompson had risen to the highest position in marketing having helped build up a $50 million company with more than 100 employees.

During his time with the company, Thompson dealt directly or indirectly with many small-to-medium design and development firms in the highly aggressive computer technology industry. Ultimately, he discovered that few design and development firms attempted to understand the client’s business -- even though they were able to produce quality solutions.

Thompson found that many small-to-medium firms did not have management staff with finance, operations, sales or marketing experience. That is when Thompson was determined to make a difference to help those firms.

In 2000, Thompson created his own company, Ariamedia, a full service Internet solutions provider of creative, marketing and programming services. In about eight years, Ariamedia’s business had grown by 3,000 percent and had been denoted as one of the fastest growing web design companies in the area.

With all the success, it doesn’t mean he doesn’t need expert opinions, guidance and direction. The Collin Small Business Development Center (SBDC) worked with Thompson to help organize and streamline the infrastructure – from marketing and pay plans to revenue building and project management -- of his already growing company.

SBDCs are resource partners of the U. S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and provide a variety of management and technical assistance services to small businesses and potential entrepreneurs.

According to Mike Daley, Collin SBDC consultant, Thompson came to the SBDC with sinking profits. Daley identified an unaggressive marketing plan, financial and personnel issues as areas for improvement.

“You look at the history of the company and look at the costs, the processes and policies and present solutions that might help them out,” Daley said. “At the SBDC we present an unbiased look at the business. We bring another view into someone’s business that they may not have. We ask a lot of questions and get them to answer. In that way, they typically find their own solutions.”

Daley advised methods to lower fixed costs, adjusted staff, generated new sales and marketing opportunities, assist in creating processes and accountability for staff and analyzed financial statements.

“Meeting this team was a breath of fresh air,” Thompson said. “I was looking for guidance, counseling and knowledge and Marta (Frey, Collin SBDC director) was able to immediately connect me with a handful of specialists who were eager to assist.”

The numbers do not lie. With the plans and changes in place after visiting the Collin SBDC, Ariamedia’s sales grew by 38 percent in 2006-07 and are expected to grow by 30 percent in 2008.

“Michael made himself available for long durations to discuss sales, marketing, finance and operations issues providing frank, but great, advice along the way,” Thompson said. “Their involvement was significant in changing my approach to several areas that had a much-needed, immediate positive effect.”

Michael Daley has more than 32 years of business experience. He has served as a consultant at the Collin SBDC for over three years and teaches the workshops “How to Start a Small Business” and “Relationship Selling.”

“The end purpose for someone coming in here is to grow and nurture business,” Daley said, “either to start a business or take an existing one to the next level.”