Jimmy Lewis: Texas Is a Home for Many of the Companies in Our Target Industries, Including Title, Mortgage, and Financial Services

Jimmy Lewis of TrueFocus Automation.

Tell us about yourself?

I’m originally from Omaha, NE but I’ve lived in the Dallas, TX metro area since 1999, so I consider myself a Texan. I’ve been married for 31 years and my wife and I have 3 adult children. I love to travel abroad, golf and I’ve been a huge Chargers fan since the early 1980’s.

What lessons has being an entrepreneur taught you? 

Entrepreneur’s have many different roles and responsibilities to enusure the company stays on path. Also, the risk you take are directly proportionate to the potential rewards.

If you could go back in time to when you first started your business, what piece of advice would you give yourself?

We would be much more focused on one technology where we are biggest strengths and expertise lay. In the beginning, we were considering all opportunities and clients even if we didn’t know much about the area of service.

A lot of entrepreneurs find it difficult to balance their work and personal lives. How have you found that?

Work and personal life balance has been eaiser for me because we have reasonable growth expecations and I’ve had a few entrepreunrial experiences which have allowed me much practice in this area.

Give us a bit of an insight into the influences behind the company?

My business partner and I worked together for many years in a previous company and had a very good working relationship and friendship outside of the office.

We felt automation was in a good position to replace the industry we previously supported, which was BPO (business process outsourcing)

. Most of our business experience and relationships were in the Title and Mortgage industries so TrueFocus Automation seemed like a great fit for our backgrounds and our future clients.

What do you think is your magic sauce? What sets you apart from the competitors?

Our industry knowledge, our ability to build bots customized for our clients unique needs, and at least one of our founders is highly engaged with each of our clients.

How have you found sales so far? Do you have any lessons you could pass on to other founders in the same market as you just starting out?

We’ve had great sales conversations with prospects, but few are converting into live customers.

We are patient and realize that RPA is still new to many and will soon become less intimidating and more acceptable.

Much of our sales efforts has been based on networking with past and current customers, referrals and attending industry conferences.

We also hired a PR/Marketing consultant to promote us on social media (heavily LinkedIn) as well as industry publications which has been a very good investment for increasing our visibility.

What is the biggest challenge you have faced so far in your business, and how did you overcome it?

Clients are not prioritizing automation as much as we expected. Even post a successful POC or Pilot the customer may push off the launch for any number of reasons, such as “market is not right”, they are in the middle of implementing other technologies or lack of support from leadership and the IT department.

What do you consider are the main strengths of operating your business in Texas over other states in the US?

Texas is a home for many of the companies in our target industries, including title, mortgage, and financial services. The business friendly tax environment is helpful.

Are there any disadvantages of operating our business in Texas?

No, we thought hard and don’t see any disadvantages to operating in Texas.

Texas has a pretty diverse population. How have you found the quickly changing demographics have impacted your business? Have you got new opportunities? Managed to expand your business into new areas?

Our business is directly impacted by current level of real estate activity. The increase in population, regardless of demographic, bodes well for our business growth in Texas.

It is often reported that, in Texas, politics and business are intertwined. Have you noticed this? Has it impacted your business?

No, Texas politics haven’t impacted us.

With rising prices across Texas (and the US as a whole) have you been impacted? Do you have a plan for dealing with inflation going forward?

If anything, the rising prices may persuade prospective customers to consider a partnership with companies such as ours instead of building a full-time in-house team.

What do you want to accomplish in the next 5 years with your business?

We have a target growth of 10X for the next 5 years and want to be recognized as the premier custom software bot development provider to the Title and Mortgage industries.

And finally, if people want to get involved and learn more about your business, how should they do that?

For any sales or general RPA or automation inquiries, please contact us at [email protected]. Thanks!

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