This issue of the Business Journal features our annual focus on fastest growing private businesses. It’s a staple of business journals nationwide and with valid reason: We all want to know the latest trends in industry and what hot companies are seizing on them. In short, where’s the money and action. This issue should satisfy in that regard. Our page one centerpiece on TNH Pharmacy Inc. is an eye opener. Maybe I don’t keep up with health care news as much as I should, but frankly I knew little about the relatively small but obviously booming world of specialty pharmacies. Those are businesses that handle very expensive drugs – read thousands of dollars a prescription – for serious diseases such as cancer and rejection issues after organ transplants. And as you might guess, that involves more than simply filling a prescription and asking if you’ve ever used this drug before. Try courier services and real hand holding. There’s also a fascinating piece on page five about Abbyson Living, a Calabasas furniture company founded by a father and taken to a higher level by three sons who have contract manufacturers throughout the world. More interesting, they’ve moved into online sales and have an informal arrangement with celebrity customers who receive furniture from the company at discount and then tweet and post nice things on Facebook. No contracts involved, social-media based and very modern. The paper also lucked out when reporter Mark Madler discovered Michael Crump and Karenjo Goodwin, who own separate fast-growing Valley businesses. In our Profile feature, they talk about how that marriage works and as you can imagine, there’s plenty of shop talk during pillow talk. Still, I was most struck by a single line in one of the smaller pieces of the issue on page 10, where we asked the founders of the fastest of the fastest growing various questions on their companies. In my years of being a business editor, I have read many such pieces about entrepreneurs, who are often asked the same questions: what was the Eureka! moment, what was your biggest challenge, what is the secret to your success, or do you have any advice for budding entrepreneurs. These are common questions for obvious reasons. Business owners like to see what the next guy is doing right, or what insight he or she has that propelled growth through the roof. And those of us who aren’t entrepreneurial are usually fascinated by those around us who have the guts and gusto to try to make it through life without a salary. We celebrate these people and wonder if we ever will have what it takes to do the same. Indeed, our typical sense of entrepreneurs – and one that is certainly true – is that these are people who sweat it out and toil long hours driven by their insight, their belief in themselves and their prospect for ultimate and potentially huge success. Erik Richard, chief executive of Landmark Network Inc., is certainly all those things. He founded his North Hollywood company with the belief that he had a better idea of how to provide appraisal services. His growth over the last two years has been 364 percent, with revenue hitting $7.5 million last year. In his mini profile, Richard talked a lot of about the company’s customer service and commitment to technology. He also offered some well-worn advice I’ve heard before: don’t be afraid to hire people smarter than you. Then he said something that’s likely been said before too, but I just don’t remember reading it: “Make sure someone is doing the things you don’t like to do.” Talk about a Eureka! moment. I don’t know about you, but this was a revelation. And one that seems to apply not only to entrepreneurs but executives and managers such as myself. Why do something you hate when you can spend time doing something you love to do and that will probably bring more value to your enterprise or organization? Call it my Catholic guilt complex, but somehow I’ve always felt like I was doing something wrong if I delegated work that I knew I didn’t like to do, even if I knew someone else could either do it better – or that it would free me up to do something more important. But if Richard can delegate his way out of unpleasant work to a 364-percent growth rate, somehow my guilt has eased. Watch out staff! Laurence Darmiento is editor of the Business Journal. He can be reached at [email protected].
