Andy Kurtz serves as the CEO of Kopis, a Greenville-based technology firm focused on providing high impact software and cloud solutions to businesses and state agencies in the Southeast. With a growing team of more than 40 employees, Kopis is one of the fastest growing software companies in the state of South Carolina.
What is Kopis all about?
Kopis is all about helping people and businesses leveraging technology. So often, growing businesses are hampered because the systems, processes, and technology that got them here cannot scale and get them to their next objective.
We understand how frustrating it is when tech becomes a hindrance, which is why we offer a variety of custom software and technology solutions to help businesses truly grow.
We are driven by our curiosity—about people, leadership, business, new technology, and big ideas. We work in one of the fastest growing, fastest changing industries in the world. Combine that fact with being a technology partner to unique and growing businesses – we are always on our toes.
Tell us a little bit about your background and how you started your company?
After graduating from Furman University with an accounting degree, I began my career with Price Waterhouse as an accountant. Having become interested in software development in high school, I soon found myself actively using my seven-plus years of self-taught programming skills to expand upon and build new software systems for my employer.
In 1999, I founded Kopis (formerly ProActive Technology), serving as President and CEO since that time and have successfully delivered solutions for firms, from startups to Fortune 500 companies.
In 2003, I founded Vigilix, the leading provider of remote monitoring and management solutions for the retail and hospitality industry, a business I continue to run today.
What would you say are the top 3 skills needed to be a successful entrepreneur, and why?
Seeing the possibility in challenges – a lot of problems, roadblocks and challenges are thrown at an entrepreneur, and it is very important to see the possibility instead of being paralyzed be the pressure. I frequently remind my team that we will make lemonade out of lemons.
Vision – it is important to not just be able to see what is, but to see what could be.
Focus – one of the challenges of having vision is having too many ideas. So I think to be a successful entrepreneur, it is also important to be able to stay focused on and strategy long enough to give it a chance to be successful.
What are your plans for the future, how do you plan to grow this company?
We are always looking at ways to better scale the delivery of technology professional services, whether through investment in key technologies in which we can be experts to unique and disruptive business models around technology services.
How do you separate yourself from your competitors?
We aren’t just focused on the project itself – we are focused on the problem we are trying to help our customers solve and then working with them to solve it with the right solution and the most simple solution. Along the way, we teach and coach our customers on how to recognize pitfalls, visualize success, and a craft the simplest, most effective solution to accomplish what they want to accomplish.
What were the top three mistakes you made starting your business, and what did you learn from them?
I thought “If you build it, they will come” – I learned that simply building good solutions was not enough. I learned how execution and skill around sales and marketing is as, if not more, important to success than technical skill.
I spent too much time building what I thought people would want and only started selling when I thought I had a complete solution. What I found out is that I had missed the mark. Nothing teaches you what the market will pay for better than asking someone for their money. So start selling early.
I thought I could do everything. Coding, sales, accounting…everything. And for a while, I could. But I quickly became the bottleneck. I didn’t realize how much I was holding us back, until I finally let go and started allowing our team to own leadership of different areas, trusting them to make good decisions. Instead of doing everything, I found we unlocked a lot of potential by defining and defending our core values and culture, but then empowering our team to make decisions within guardrails of those values.
Tell us a little bit about your marketing process, what has been the most successful form of marketing for you?
Typically, our marketing has been heavily focused on PR, community involvement, and in-person networking. We’ve historically seen a lot of success with attending events, trade shows and accepting speaking positions at various industry events.
However, COVID put a pause on these more traditional aspects of marketing and we’ve had to pivot. We’ve started putting a priority on our digital interactions and making it as easy for potential clients to interact with us in a digital way.
We also work hard to nurture current client relationships, which can lead into additional projects or referrals.
But aside from specific marketing tactics, what makes our marketing successful is the close coordination between the sales and marketing teams.
What have been your biggest challenges and how did you overcome them?
My biggest challenges were related to “letting go” and allowing my team to take ownership of different areas. When starting small and wearing all the hats, you learn you CAN do (almost) everything. But the question it took me a long time to answer was SHOULD I be doing (almost) everything. Once I had reached the conclusion that I should not be doing everything, there was a second layer of challenge which was trusting the team – and it was a subconscious challenge. If I had been asked if I trusted the team to make the right decisions, the answer would have been “yes”, but subconsciously, I don’t think that was true. It took time and watching them make good, sometimes different, always well-thought-out decisions. Over time, as that trust built, my ability to “let go” and allow the team to function without my direct involvement in everything grew.
If you started your business again, what things would you do differently?
I would start with understanding my customer, and I would focus early on selling, not building. Our real growth as a company in size and maturity has come through focusing on the customer, not the solution.
What are the top 3 online tools and resources you’re currently using to grow your company?
- Rollworks (our ABM platform)
- Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM and Marketing (sales tracking and marketing automation)
- Microsoft Dynamics Business Central (ERP solution for internal efficiencies)
- Book – “The Infinite Game” – Simon Sinek
- Podcast: Podcast – From Founder to CEO
- Online course – The Storybrand Workshop with Donald Miller
If you only had $1000 dollars to start a new business, knowing everything you know now, how would you spend it?
I would build a simple landing page designed to capture data points related to interest in my product or services, I would obtain a potential customer list and I would use digital marketing to try to drive those customers to the site and measure what message and features resonated the most.
What helps you stay driven and motivated to keep going in your business?
As we have grown, I struggled initially because I always loved creating and building solutions. As the company has grown, we have grown out of me doing that on a daily basis. But at some point, I reframed what I do daily into creating and building our company and our culture, and that mindset has helped keep me motivated.
What is your favorite quote?
“Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.”
– Albert Einstein
What valuable advice would you give new entrepreneurs starting out?
Learn about your potential customers, their pains and their struggles. Focus on how you can help them overcome those challenges and reach their goals. And test your theory as cheaply as possible. Spend as little time and effort on building the solution until you are confident you know it’s the solution your customer will buy.
Who should we interview next and why?
David Pence, founder of Acumen IT and Tries Blockchain. David is a true entrepreneur and visionary.
How can readers get in touch with you?
Shoot me an email at info@kopisusa.com with any questions, comments, or suggestions that you have.
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