At
International Webworks Inc., employees work on plastic tables,
executives sometimes take out the garbage, and the firm's founder
drives one of the oldest -- and possibly ugliest -- cars in the
parking lot.
The online company is not on the verge of folding, nor has it
resorted to its low-budget operation out of necessity, as have many
other Internet firms that imploded this year.
While International Webworks falls under the umbrella of
"dot-com" -- a word that became synonymous last year with excessive
spending -- it has always had a conservative mentality. Keep costs
low, spend money cautiously, check your ego at the door.
Those "old economy" business practices have helped the Colorado
Springs-based business burgeon this year, even as turmoil in the
technology industry and an economic slowdown devastates dot-coms and
other high-tech companies nationwide.
"While the dot-com industry was booming, we kept our plastic
tables, we focused on overhead and quality ideas and we grew
carefully," said Greg Walthour, founder and president of
International Webworks. "We didn't want to have a lot of debt, and
we didn't have a lot of money, so we were forced to grow on
profitability."
International Webworks provides services that let businesses more
effectively market online. It designs Web sites and helps companies
get listed high on search engines such as AltaVista, Google and
Lycos.
The firm, which has 15 employees and contractors, has seen its
monthly revenue increase ten-fold during the past year, from $7,200
in July 2000 to $74,000 in July of this year. The company is also
profitable, and its customer list has grown from 15 clients in the
second quarter of last year to nearly 800 today.
So how can International Webworks grow its revenues and customer
list as high-tech firms nationwide founder and demand for Web design
services declines?
Part of the reason, Walthour said, is that the company has a
diversified market that acts as a hedge against economic
fluctuations.
The real estate industry, which makes up a significant part the
firm's business, has continued to boom despite the economic
downturn.
International Webworks also focuses on the automotive industry
and lending industries.
"We're in 1,200 cities, and we don't have all of our eggs in one
basket," Walthour said. "Many agents and independent contractors
realize that if they want to increase their business, they have to
increase their marketing efforts. And that doesn't change in a
downturn."
The company's local customers include Grubb and Ellis Quantum
Commercial Group, Shields Real Estate and Emerald Valley Ranch.
Greg Walthour, 29, is also no stranger to stretching a buck.
As a budding entrepreneur, Walthour delivered pizzas and lived in
an abandoned camper that didn't have running water.
"I would be on my cell phone trying to get the company started
while I was delivering pizzas," he said. "It was rough, but I'd like
to think I'm through the worst of it."
Walthour has also been flexible over the years, and he knows his
market, said Barbara Johnson, chief operating officer of
International Webworks.
That flexibility has allowed the company to evolve through the
turmoil that has ravaged the dot-com and high-tech industries.
Walthour, who moved to the Springs from Atlanta in 1995, came up
with the idea for the business while working with a local real
estate firm.
While his colleagues were out hitting the pavement, trying to
meet people to generate leads -- or potential clients -- Walthour
found himself roaming the Internet for potential business.
In 1998, Walthour quit his job and set up an online networking
service that provided leads for the real estate industry. Less than
a year later, Walthour received $20,000 in angel investing from a
local Realtor. But growing the business proved a challenge.
The company's business model was based on a referral fee, and
that made it hard to grow revenues and profits, even in a time when
any firm with "dot-com" at the end of its name could go public.
Walthour and Johnson decided to shift International Webworks'
focus from simply providing leads for the real estate industry to
offering a variety of services for several industries.
The company now has 40 Web sites and portals for a variety of
markets. Relocation-station.com, for example, lets real estate
professionals design and modify Web sites, get their sites ranked
high on search engines, develop leads and market on the Web.
International Webworks charges anywhere from $600 for a Web page
and site hosting for several months, to $4,500 for leads, site
hosting and other services.
Eddie Hurt, vice president of operations at Shields Real Estate
in Colorado Springs, said International Webworks is helping his firm
generate leads for other real estate agents across the country. Hurt
estimates that will lead to $400,000 in revenue over a year's time.
International Webworks also helped get Shields' Web site ranked
high on search engines.
"The thing Greg does better than anybody I've seen is get you
ranked high on search engines," Hurt said. "That's very key. If
you've got a Web site ranked 13th or 14th, most people don't see
it."
As for the future of the company, Walthour and Johnson are
optimistic: significant growth, increasing revenues, and, of course,
conservative spending.
"We want to continue the pace we've been on this year," Walthour
said. "We don't want to go too fast or too slow. We will remain
flexible and take advantage of opportunities as they arise. And I
imagine we will still work on plastic tables."
Greg Walthour, selected top 40 under 40
Greg Walthour, completes CCIM designation
Greg Walthour, latest donations
Greg
Walthour, top story Gazette
Greg
Walthour, top story Gazette (continued)
