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Boston Business Journal

Making Connections

Woman-owned business takes the slow, steady path to growth in IT outsourcing

From the March 12, 2004 print edition

Bill Archambeault
Journal Staff

EVERETT -- With a little more than $4,000 in savings, Sarah Byrne-Ducharme launched her own business leasing and servicing computer equipment. She ran up $25,000 in debt getting her company, Complete Communications Inc., up and running, taking in just $50,000 her first year.

CCI was folded into New England Network Group Inc. in October 2001, and Byrne-Ducharme bought out her two partners one year ago. The combined company is anticipating revenue of $4.5 million this year, with 24 employees and more than 200 customers.

New England Network Group serves as the information technology department for other companies, responding to service calls when problems come up and helping companies figure out their long-term needs and options.

Back in 1996, with her then employer initiating two waves of layoffs, Byrne-Ducharme found the decision to start her own business came rather easily. Actually doing it -- that was the tricky part.

"It was a tremendous adjustment," she said. "I had very little money. I either house-sat or lived at home for quite some time. It was sort of a week-to-week thing. My family definitely supported me. I didn't have a lot of needs."

Her fledgling business was to market computer equipment to college students. It was a core business she quickly determined did not offer the desired growth opportunities.

"That business model quickly changed when I realized college students didn't have a lot of money and the margins for hardware were pretty small," she said.

She bought the customer list from a company that provided IT service, hired an engineer, and ended 1997 with more than 50 service customers. By 1999, CCI brought in close to $1 million in revenue. Needing working capital to grow, she received her first small-business loan, for $150,000. By 2000, revenue was at $2 million.

CCI had grown to six employees, but Byrne-Ducharme wasn't exactly enjoying the lifestyle of an up-and-coming CEO.

"I was being careful," she said. "I was living in a one-bedroom apartment in Woburn. The kitchen sink was so small, I had to wash my dishes in the shower. I would work until 10 or 11 o'clock at night.

"But I was doing it. I saw that things were working and that we were growing."

She also got involved with the Center For Women & Enterprise, learned some management basics and became familiar with the Small Business Administration. Merging with New England Network Group was a good fit given its emphasis on IT services over hardware, she said. Byrne-Ducharme honed her business skills by attending the recent Owner/President Management program, a three-week, intensive executive education program at Harvard Business School.

Kevin More, vice president of information systems at the May Institute Inc. and president of the Greater Boston chapter of the Association of Information Technology Professionals, said the field is ripe for third-party IT providers.

"I know a lot of small-business guys who would rather do it that way," he said. "It's very difficult for small enterprises to have that expertise in-house. More small businesses are getting networks and computers, they get this technology, and they don't know what to do with it. And (New England Network Group) puts it all together for them. Everybody needs e-mail. Everybody needs an Internet connection."

Goldmark Distribution Inc., a Newton-based distributor of a half-billion pounds of plastic resin a year, has relied on New England Network Group for its IT needs. Goldmark president and CEO Jim Duffy considered hiring an internal IT staff, but decided instead to let his IT manager, Joe O'Sullivan, call upon New England Network Group when needed.

"We thought seriously about it, but when all was said and done, we figured that cost-wise and expertise-wise, we couldn't even come close to doing what needed to be done," Duffy said. "There would have been a lot of capital and people (required)."

New England Network Group is still growing. It recently launched a new home-automation division that provides "smart" home services that range from providing remote alerts if a home's temperature rises to distributing individual audio feeds through various rooms via a centralized system.

Byrne-Ducharme and her husband, David Ducharme, have been researching the market for advanced computer-based home systems for more than a year, and they see a $700 million industry projected to hit $7 billion in the next six years.

Byrne-Ducharme's husband is heading the division, which she expects will generate at least a half-million in sales in the first 12 months -- and potentially much, much more.

News Events Articles	Making Connections Woman-owned business takes the slow, steady path to growth in IT outsourcing From the March 12, 2004 print edition Bill Archambeault Journal Staff EVERETT -- With a little more than $4,000 in savings, Sarah Byrne-Ducharme launched her own business leasing and servicing computer equipment. She ran up $25,000 in debt getting her company, Complete Communications Inc., up and running, taking in just $50,000 her first year. CCI was folded into New England Network Group Inc. in October 2001, and Byrne-Ducharme bought out her two partners one year ago. The combined company is anticipating revenue of $4.5 million this year, with 24 employees and more than 200 customers. New England Network Group serves as the information technology department for other companies, responding to service calls when problems come up and helping companies figure out their long-term needs and options. Back in 1996, with her then employer initiating two waves of layoffs, Byrne-Ducharme found the decision to start her own business came rather easily. Actually doing it -- that was the tricky part. "It was a tremendous adjustment," she said. "I had very little money. I either house-sat or lived at home for quite some time. It was sort of a week-to-week thing. My family definitely supported me. I didn't have a lot of needs." Her fledgling business was to market computer equipment to college students. It was a core business she quickly determined did not offer the desired growth opportunities. "That business model quickly changed when I realized college students didn't have a lot of money and the margins for hardware were pretty small," she said. She bought the customer list from a company that provided IT service, hired an engineer, and ended 1997 with more than 50 service customers. By 1999, CCI brought in close to $1 million in revenue. Needing working capital to grow, she received her first small-business loan, for $150,000. By 2000, revenue was at $2 million. CCI had grown to six employees, but Byrne-Ducharme wasn't exactly enjoying the lifestyle of an up-and-coming CEO. "I was being careful," she said. "I was living in a one-bedroom apartment in Woburn. The kitchen sink was so small, I had to wash my dishes in the shower. I would work until 10 or 11 o'clock at night. "But I was doing it. I saw that things were working and that we were growing." She also got involved with the Center For Women & Enterprise, learned some management basics and became familiar with the Small Business Administration. Merging with New England Network Group was a good fit given its emphasis on IT services over hardware, she said. Byrne-Ducharme honed her business skills by attending the recent Owner/President Management program, a three-week, intensive executive education program at Harvard Business School. Kevin More, vice president of information systems at the May Institute Inc. and president of the Greater Boston chapter of the Association of Information Technology Professionals, said the field is ripe for third-party IT providers. "I know a lot of small-business guys who would rather do it that way," he said. "It's very difficult for small enterprises to have that expertise in-house. More small businesses are getting networks and computers, they get this technology, and they don't know what to do with it. And (New England Network Group) puts it all together for them. Everybody needs e-mail. Everybody needs an Internet connection." Goldmark Distribution Inc., a Newton-based distributor of a half-billion pounds of plastic resin a year, has relied on New England Network Group for its IT needs. Goldmark president and CEO Jim Duffy considered hiring an internal IT staff, but decided instead to let his IT manager, Joe O'Sullivan, call upon New England Network Group when needed. "We thought seriously about it, but when all was said and done, we figured that cost-wise and expertise-wise, we couldn't even come close to doing what needed to be done," Duffy said. "There would have been a lot of capital and people (required)." New England Network Group is still growing. It recently launched a new home-automation division that provides "smart" home services that range from providing remote alerts if a home's temperature rises to distributing individual audio feeds through various rooms via a centralized system. Byrne-Ducharme and her husband, David Ducharme, have been researching the market for advanced computer-based home systems for more than a year, and they see a $700 million industry projected to hit $7 billion in the next six years. Byrne-Ducharme's husband is heading the division, which she expects will generate at least a half-million in sales in the first 12 months -- and potentially much, much more.
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