In the fast-paced world of technology services, sustainable growth often comes down to a delicate balance: saying yes to customer requests while maintaining focus on your core competencies. This challenge was front and center in our recent Curve Ahead podcast episode featuring Jeff Borello, co-founder of Andromeda Technology Solutions, a thriving IT managed service provider that’s been serving the Chicagoland area for over three decades.
The Power of Starting Small and Staying Focused
Jeff’s story begins like many entrepreneurial journeys—working nights and weekends while still employed elsewhere. “This was back in the day when you didn’t just take a bunch of money and everybody quit,” Jeff explained. What started as three colleagues deciding to “work this hard for ourselves” has grown into a 37-person operation with nearly $9 million in revenue.
What makes this story particularly remarkable is that all three original co-founders remain actively involved in the business. “It’s rare enough for a company to be in business 30 years, but with the same three co-founders?” Jeff noted. Their complementary skill sets—two software engineers and one hardware specialist—combined with a shared commitment to customer service formed the foundation for their lasting partnership.
Growth Through Acquisition: Lessons Learned
One of the most valuable insights from our conversation was Andromeda’s experience with expanding through acquisitions. Over the years, they acquired companies in related technology fields, including telephone systems, physical security with security cameras, and website development.
“There was some synergy across them and we always thought there’d be a lot more synergies,” Jeff shared. “But it turned out there was probably less of that and it just really pulled our focus away.”
The lesson? Diversification isn’t always the path to growth. After years of managing multiple business lines, Andromeda ultimately sold or spun off these acquisitions to return to their core IT services focus.
When to Say No: The Simplicity Advantage
For service-based businesses, the temptation to accommodate every customer request is strong—especially in the early growth stages. “When you’re in that startup or early phase, it’s all the business we can get our hands on. Right? Good, bad, ugly, we don’t care,” Jeff admitted.
But as Andromeda scaled, they discovered the hidden costs of saying yes to everything: “We’re trying to deliver 20 different versions of the same thing and it gets really hard… It’s one thing when you’re small and it’s one person—I’m the guy that sold it, I quoted it, I installed it, I have to support it.”
The complexity multiplies with team growth: “You start getting more people and more layers, and all of a sudden, three people down have no idea what it’s like.”
Building for Sustainable Growth
For podcast production agencies like ours, these insights offer valuable parallels. As we help clients craft compelling audio content, we face similar decisions about which services to offer, when to expand our capabilities, and when to remain focused on our core expertise.
Jeff’s experience underscores that long-term success isn’t about rapid expansion but sustainable growth built on a foundation of exceptional service, complementary partnerships, and strategic focus.
“In the end, everybody suffers,” Jeff concluded about trying to be everything to everyone. “Our team suffers, the efficiency suffers, and ultimately the clients eventually suffer because you’re not delivering the service as good as you could if you were focused on something.”
Whether you’re running a podcast production agency, an IT services company, or any service-based business, the message is clear: sometimes the path to growth means having the courage to say no.
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