Doing everything meant going nowhere for PowerObjects, a business technology consulting company in Minneapolis' North Loop neighborhood.
Aiming to be the best in the world at just one thing, however, has helped transform PowerObjects in just five years, driving exponential sales growth, international recognition and a continuing hiring challenge.
PowerObjects, which previously did a wide range of customer business application development, now offers nothing but service, support, education and add-ons for Microsoft Dynamics CRM, which organizes and automates customer relationship management, sales, marketing and other business processes.
Since that change, revenue has shot from $2 million or $3 million a year to more than $15 million last year and is projected to top $25 million this year. Clients range from start-ups to large enterprises and include HealthPartners, Enventis and Kelly Roofing.
Betting the company
"We bet the company on it, overnight," Jim Sheehan, chief operating officer and principal, said of what he terms the company's "fanatical focus" on a single product.
Employment has risen rapidly and continues growing, with the total recently reaching 210, up from 142 at year end. The staff includes people from 14 countries and speakers of 27 languages. The company has opened offices in Chicago, Cincinnati, Dallas, New York, Omaha, Philadelphia and Seattle.
PowerObjects took home the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Worldwide Partner of the Year award in 2012 and 2013 and was a finalist this year. It ranked sixth among small companies in the Star Tribune's recent Top Workplaces 2014 project.
The company's greatest challenge is finding skilled people to hire, Sheehan said. To develop its own candidates, PowerObjects launched programs to train both newcomers with no technology background and experienced consultants in the ways of Microsoft CRM.