Bruce Geier has achieved a milestone reached by few other
founders in the technology industry — his company has turned a
profit every year for 26 consecutive years. In an industry that has
been through more cycles than a dishwasher, Geier, president
and CEO of Technology Integration Group, has outperformed
and outlasted most of his competitors.
Although the company is classified as a minority-owned, small,
disadvantaged business, it’s Geier’s opponents who may be at a
disadvantage when they compete against him, mostly because of
his balanced decision-making.
“I credit much of our success to our diversified business
model,” Geier says. “It hasn’t always been easy. In the beginning,
I was developing software, but people wanted hardware more
than software, so I had to learn about hardware. When hardware
margins fell, having revenue from services got us through. Over
the years, we’ve offered a multitude of different technologies,
and we’ve continued to evolve because we constantly have to
find a way to get our solutions in front of the right audience.”
In 1981, Geier left a budding career as a tax and litigation consultant for a big eight accounting firm to risk it all in the burgeoning computer industry. As a computer science major, Geier could-n’t resist the urge to develop software in his garage when things
were slow in the consulting business. He decided to pursue his
strong premonition that computers would change the business
world and launched the company. Since that time, TIG, which primarily provides IT solutions to the government as well as small
and mid-size businesses, has grown to 19 branch offices, 325
employees and 2006 revenue of $281 million.
Here’s how Geier has conquered some of the biggest challenges
facing his company to take it to new levels of success.