For David Alfonso, success comes from confidence.
He founded his company, Empire Investment Holdings LLC, in 2003, after leaving a lucrative job where he had done very well.
“I was very happy at that organization, but something inside of me told me that I could do this for myself,” Alfonso says. “I had that much confidence within myself to not even question whether I had the ability to do it or not.”
His confidence was such that he never allowed himself to think of a scenario in which he would fail.
“It’s hard for me to explain, but it never crossed my mind,” Alfonso says. “I would always tell myself or my wife or the folks that were around us at that time that it wasn’t a matter of if, it was a matter of when. It’s strange, but I never thought, ‘What happens if this doesn’t work?’”
The confidence that Alfonso built Empire on is the same confidence that he attempts to convey to the struggling companies that his business now seeks to acquire and rebuild. The 800-employee firm targets companies that he believes have characteristics that can be exploited and developed to create market value.
“When we acquire business units from the Fortune 1000, they have been categorized as no longer strategic for their ongoing businesses,” Alfonso says. “As a result of that, they tend to be ignored. They are put off to the side because they either are going to be sold or shut down.
“It’s not that there is a bad business there, but the folks recognize the fact that they are not being tended to and they are not being invested in. There is no one really mentoring, coaching or talking to them. … People want to feel as though they can truly make a difference. They really want to be able to make an impact. Those are the very characteristics and qualities that our organization promotes. That’s what we want.”
The ability to convey a plan to employees that makes them feel confident and useful again is a key reason why Empire has been able to process more than 40 corporate divestitures since 2003 and hit $135 million in fiscal 2009 revenue.
Here’s a look at some of the guiding principles that Alfonso used to build Empire and still uses today to help struggling businesses get turned around.
