Long term

Jake Spanberger's family-run IT firm, Entech, provides comprehensive service and support, with the goal of being an extension of the businesses the company serves. “The biggest compliment we can get from our clients is if we get invited to their holiday parties,” says Spanberger, president of the Fort Myers-based company. “That means they see us as one of them.”

Trust first: Entech's business model requires staff to gain an intimate understanding of a client's business. “We're not in it for the one-off sale,” says Spanberger. “We're in it for the long-term relationship.” With that, Entech can help devise a plan utilizing IT to help clients grow. “We can't do that unless we have a full partnership with our clients,” he says.

Clean breaks: Spanberger says it was challenging to service residential and commercial clients — as the business once did. “When a business is down, there could be hundreds of people affected by that,” he says. “There is a true emergency.” Imagine communicating that to individual customers. So, he (gently) broke it off with residential. “We are people pleasers,” he says, “but at the same time, we have to have priorities.”