LivePlan Interview with Michael Turpin
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Michael Turpin is the founder and CEO of Remote Support Experts, a company based in Bend, Oregon, that is breaking new ground in quality and customer service for the technical support industry
What inspired you to start Remote Support Experts?
I actually launched out of my house in 2012. I’ve always been good at fixing computers and I previously had a tech support job. I wanted to do a lot of things but they wouldn’t promote me, so I decided to venture out on my own. Now we’re providing remote computer support for a major corporation and I haven’t looked back.
What makes you guys unique?
It’s hard to find world-class customer service in the tech support industry. The expertise is there – it’s not hard to find people who know their stuff – but customers also expect continuity. We monitor our performance in-house instead of waiting for the client to come to us with performance questions, and we rate every aspect of our service so we can continue to improve in all areas, not just the knowledge of our techs.
How has LivePlan helped you grow your business?
I’m so glad I found you guys. LivePlan was huge for us. I had never written a business plan before but LivePlan made it easy. The collaborative features enabled me to get some input on difficult sections in our plan. We love the Pitch feature – we’re looking to expand into another market and the Pitch document has really helped us with investors. We’re at the brink of huge growth and LivePlan is the tool that’s getting us there. I’d say overall, LivePlan has put us several months ahead on our goals.
So glad to hear! What are your future goals?
We have 13 techs and we’re looking to expand to 28. My business plan is actually an expansion plan, since we’re working on landing a very large partnership and hope to open a second office in the Portland area.
What advice would you give other entrepreneurs?
Treat your employees well and they will treat your customers well. Yes it’s a business, but each of our employees is a person to me, not just a number. Every year we do a christmas bonus even if I pay for it out of pocket.
Also, don’t be afraid to move forward on your ideas. The lifestyle isn’t right for everybody, but if you’re passionate about something and can handle the risk, go for it. But you have to be passionate about it – if it’s just about the money you’ll probably give up at some point.
