Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Gregory Perrine, Owner of eGuide Tech Allies, located in Chicago, IL, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
eGuide is disrupting the way small organizations do business. We are passionate about helping small teams work smarter in a digital age. Living in a world where each digital tool on the market comes with a subscription cost, eGuide examines how to get the most out of the platforms small teams use. With a focus on self-funded small businesses and emerging nonprofits, we establish a strong groundwork to grow in both the digital marketing and business operation spaces. Our clients find true technology guides in their partnership with eGuide, and we treat every project with a hospitality-first approach that centers around training.
Tell us about yourself
I started eGuide in 2016 with a mission to help individuals be more proficient with the technology they use on a daily basis. The company was a reaction to my grandfather's passing, the role that technology could have played in saving his life, and my grandmother's exposure to technology the year following. eGuide 1.0 was driven by helping individuals, but since I had left a career in the events & hospitality industry to start the business, I quickly realized it was not just "baby boomers and beyond" that needed support with becoming more proficient with technology, it was most every small business owner, nonprofit leader, and even new-hires who may have flubbed a bit on checking the "proficient in Microsoft Excel box" on their resume. By 2018, it was clear that we could have a much greater impact on technology proficiency by focusing on small organizations.
eGuide is driven by our core values, which start with core value #1, "doing something that helps someone" each and every day. I strive to create an authentic environment with both partners and our team by embracing core value #2, "Have fun. Be you". With the rate at which technology is evolving, we are constantly striving to be not only eternal students but sharing that knowledge with our team and clients -- core value #3, "Learn and teach." Finally, in my mind, perfection is unattainable, and what matters more is that you are finishing what you set out to do. Core value #4, "Finish what you start," puts us in a position to push perfection aside and continue to iterate on the process of moving success forward. These core values act as our true differentiation in a service-based business.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
eGuide's (and my) biggest accomplishment to date has been our partnership with The Surge Institute. Acting as a true "technology guide," we have been able to support the organization's mission: "To educate and develop leaders of color who create transformative change for young people, their families, and our broader communities." From a team of 6 employees operating in Chicago to a team of nearly 30+ full-time employees from 2017 to today, eGuide has been able to support on-boarding, training, platform vetting and deployment, and advisory to help the organization grow. The impact work that Surge does is beyond inspiring and having the opportunity to plug into their operations and collaborating on the digital infrastructure that runs the dynamic team is an amazing opportunity. As The Surge Institute grows, so does eGuide. The level of support and types of projects we can deploy allows us to further refine the platforms and tools we have an intimate working knowledge of and the skills required to deploy within a growing team.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
As a service-based business operating in a completely virtual environment following the pandemic, the hardest challenge to overcome is ensuring that we have a truly aligned team with our core values. Experience has now shown that to be eGuide is to be authentically hospitable with a passion for growth, development, and drive to help others. In hiring and growing a team, I've had a few misses that may not have revealed themselves in the first few months, that ultimately have resulted in a misalignment of approach that contradicts our core values.
While this may be hard to navigate at the moment, I have learned that it is clear that to continue to do impactful work and grow our business, the values that drive eGuide are what matter most and should not be something that is compromised.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Understand both your personal and organizational "Why." Having clarity on why you do what you do will provide easy-to-identify boundaries as your business grows and changes.
- Grinding is only effective if you have time to recover and reflect. The brain can only process so much before decisions are being made, and the work being done is going to need to be redone. Finding a healthy habit or routine is something that can create some free space in your brain to figure out those hard-to-navigate situations.
- Growing an organization can be messy, but knowing and living by your core values can act as a filter that gives you the confidence to make a decision in uncertain times.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://www.eguidetechallies.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eguidetechallies/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eguidetech/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/eguidetech
LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/3aQgglM
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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