Posted Under: Entrepreneurship, Our Heroes

Ed Wenzel, is our next guest under the “Our Heroes” series. Ed an IT professional who now runs his own company – RedEye, realized he was not a cut out for “employee” after jumping several corporate ships and working for in-laws… With what he gleaned from every bit of his experience, dealing with fears, late “red-eye” nights, and everything else, makes up his life story, a truly inspirational one. Let’s talk to him and find out more…

DD: Who are you and what kind of corporate job were you at?

EW: My name is Ed Wenzel and I worked for medium to large sized corporations since my entry into the tech world which was in 1997. I ended up thriving on any challenge that was thrown my way. When I decided to leave my first IT job at Computer Associates to do more specialized work, I had to beg and plead to get that next job, even in an excellent economy. I didn’t have the experience necessary so I decided to hit up a family friend who was VP of IT at a large healthcare company in Philadelphia. I learned early on that it’s not what you know, but WHO you know. That’s something I now keep in mind every day.

DD: What made you leave the job? When did you realize that you wanted to be an entrepreneur & why?

EW: The continual challenge of new learning possibilities is what kept me going, but I began to realize that sitting behind a desk was killing me. Actually, it was my wife who realized it after I kept changing jobs, then acted like a rat in a cage after a few months. I bounced around a lot. The idea of starting a company on my own began to take hold, but I was too fearful to jump on board that early on, especially with a wife, two kids, a house, etc. So I decided to work for my in-laws who had a small company. It was not a tech company, but a property maintenance and light construction business. I hoped it would take some of the fear away.  It was yet another stepping stone, but it was a disaster in terms of emotional and career stability. I learned a whole lot of what NOT to do in business, so from that angle I would say it was invaluable.

DD: How did you prepare yourself for the employee to entrepreneur transition?

EW: What really made me realize I was ready to start a business was a project I ran while working for my in-laws. It was a 3-month $3.3M project – more money than they had seen in any 18-24 month period. That project, from a workload (it was crazy, I hardly slept for 3 months), project management and leadership perspective was a huge personal success for me. That success launched me into creating my own company, RedEye – aptly named due to the nature of our work and the countless hours needed to get a company off the ground. Keep in mind when I say personal success, I don’t mean that I made a lot of money from that project (which funded my new business); no, not at all. I mean that it gave me the confidence to know I could pretty much do anything I set my mind to. Being challenge and opportunity driven is a big help too.

DD: What are your Top 5 (or more) tips for employees who want to be entrepreneurs but are hung up on something?

EW: 1) Learn how to sell. If you don’t, you’re doomed from the start.
2) Don’t ask advice from your friends or family who will only tell you what you want to hear. Find people who are successful and listen.
3) Be humble.
4) Don’t go into business with a friend just because he/she is your pal. If they’ve got something great to offer the business, then MAYBE go into business with them. But understand that your relationship will most likely become strained.
5) Get used to getting nervous and become comfortable with making decisions under stress.
6) Hire a good lawyer and accountant.
7) Follow the golden rule.

DD: How are you now? Are you still in the same business, and how do you feel?

EW: In the end it worked out. Our business was all self funded, so we never had any debt and still don’t. We (I have two business partners) sacrificed our own paychecks to keep the business going. Now we’ve got 5 employees not including ourselves, a stable client base, seven figure revenue figures and profit margins most companies would kill for. During the worst economy in my 35 year lifetime we had double digit growth. For me the main key to success was the ability to table my personal stresses each day while working on the business and trying to continually land new clients to add to the stable. It’s a mental game every day. I knew of my deadline – the day I was financially at zero. My wife and I agreed that there was no looking back. If we lost everything we’d still be alive; our pride might be hurt a little, but we’d get over it. The beginning was the most stressful in terms of lack of cash, but by far the most exciting. Every time I thought “Wow, I need to get a job and make some money” I just told myself “I’ll quit tomorrow anyways”. Keep saying that to yourself and you just keep moving forward. Sometimes not having a Plan B is the best plan of all.

DD: Wow! Thank you Ed! I appreciate you sharing your story with us and letting us into the life of an entrepreneur who struggled with the 9to5 jail and decided to do something about it. I wish you the best of luck with RedEye, Inc.

EW: Thank you, Devesh, for having an interest in my story and for believing in those of us who enjoy what we do but want to have more freedom and fun doing it. Technology is what I do and I am now lucky enough to do it on my own terms. I also wish you the best of luck in all you do.

DD: That was Ed Wenzel everyone, IT employee turned entrepreneur and business developer. He is the founder of RedEye, Inc., a premier technology solutions provider. Ed really did take the red-eye to success! And he made it there with time to spare!