Today we’d like to introduce you to Ray McKenzie.
Ray, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I completed school at San Diego State University studying Management Information Systems (MIS). After finishing school, the first technology boom was happening in Silicon Valley. I was able to focus my career in technology and in business. I have specialized in tech and business operations, strategy, marketing, project management, customer support and service delivery.
Throughout the next 15 years, I was able to work for multiple start-ups and publicly traded companies leading various departments, groups, initiatives, and people across the world. The positions I acquired and roles are taken allowed me to learn from many people and executives and allowed me to develop and strengthen my skills in several areas. It allowed me to experience business and technology through leading people and teams in major cities across the United States and in Europe. I have also worked with teams to have three successful exits for businesses.
After attaining years of experience and working for companies in multiple industries, I received calls from executives I had developed strong relationships with. They needed help within their current companies on specific projects in areas where I am an expert. I decided to take on the projects and that is how I started Red Beach Advisors. I decided to make the jump, have faith, and work for myself and build a technology management consulting firm.
My firm is now in its fourth year of existence helping companies with business and product strategy, operational performance, process improvement, tech implementations based around digital transformation, and organizational development. We provide services to the private sector and Federal and State governments. We have also grown 162% year over year and looking to grow more. It has taken a lot of early morning and late nights and a lot of hard work, but it has been extremely rewarding.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Starting your own business, company, or firm is never smooth. There is a lot to learn and a lot to experience. There are challenges for every business, whether big or small. For my firm and growth as a business owner, I had to learn what I was good at, what I was not good at, and what I did not want to deal with. The things in business that I was good at, I knew and was extremely confident with. The things in business that I was not good at or things I did not want to deal with… they suffered. Sometimes they were on the backburner. Sometimes I would procrastinate. Sometimes I would just continue to move down my to-do list. That is not the way to handle those issues.
As a business, it is tough to find your space in the market or industry. Where can your business fit, make an impact, and flourish with growth. This is something that changed several times for my firm. Being good at a lot of things does not mean you should do all of those things. We selected a few core strengths, developed those strengths even more, and continued to go to market with that offering.
My background did not lend to me being a salesperson. As the leader and founder of the firm, I had to develop that skill. I had to learn how to effectively sell my services and business. I created my firm with clients already signed. But to grow a business you have to sell and you have to get comfortable with hearing “no”. That was challenging. Hearing “no” to a sales pitch can bring in self-doubt and doubt in your company. I had to learn to persevere and power through.
I am not great with business finances. I do not like to keep things in order and it suffered early. I had to find people and software to support my company with its accounting and bookkeeping. I had to find a great CPA to help move my business in the correct financial direction. Once I was able to do this, things went much smoother.
The biggest struggle is understanding and being compliant with business taxes. In California, there’s quite a bit to deal with. My CPA has been instrumental in helping my firm stay compliant with our taxes, our revenue growth, and official filings for our firm.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Red Beach Advisors – what should we know?
Red Beach Advisors is a technology management consulting group providing businesses and organizations with successful growth strategies to build, grow, and scale. We work with companies to increase revenue, enhance operational performance, guide organizational development, implement the lean process, and improve product marketing strategies.
Our goal is to assist our clients with implementing efficient process and teach proven methods to increase a company’s ability to grow revenue, retain customers and clients, reduce operational costs, and decrease waste and revenue loss. This allows our clients to grow, succeed, and exceed performance expectations. With more than 15 years of experience in designing, implementing, and refining solutions for startups and small to large companies, Red Beach Advisors has a proven record of success and results with our clients.
We assist clients in all industries but specialize in government services, high-tech/cloud computing, e-commerce, consumer and industrial products, finance, insurance, construction, professional services, non-profit, and retail companies. Red Beach Advisors is a certified small business in the State of California and a certified minority-owned business by the National Minority Supplier Diversity Council.
We are most proud of our ability to help companies have massive success. We have worked with three companies that have resulted in multi-million dollar exits as a result of our involvement. We have helped multiple business experience growth rates in excess of 200-300% year over year with our assistance.
Our differentiating characteristic from other management consulting firms is that we do not provide just standard business school and college principles to our strategies. We take time to learn companies, industries, and markets and provide strategies that are custom to the industry, competition, and products and services sold by our customers to ensure successful outcomes.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
The willingness to work hard and have a strong work ethic is most important to my success. This translates to every area of my firm. There are early mornings and long nights as a founder of a growing firm. The ability to accept working hard, and smart, is essential.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.redbeachadvisors.com
- Phone: 424-247-6143
- Email: [email protected]; [email protected]
- Instagram: @redbeachadv
- Twitter: @redbeachadvisors
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/company/red-beach-advisors/
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