Invest in talent
????While competitors outsourced projects to inexpensive providers, Fino Consulting, a profitable tech advisory firm, kept them in-house, relying on employees with 10 to 15 years of experience -- paid at the high market rates of its home base in New York City -- to ensure that the quality of its work is up to snuff. To keep its developers excited about their jobs, Fino Consulting encourages them to use the best technology, even if it isn't what a client has traditionally chosen.
????The company's ability to retain key players with a deep knowledge of mobile devices such as the iPad and cloud computing has enabled the small firm to win big corporate clients such as Hess and CBS Television. Fino Consulting projects that sales will increase from $600,000 in 2010 to a projected $1.1 million in 2011. "We have some talented people on our team who produce exceptional software," says Brian Fino, managing director. "Our clients are finding they can go out and get lower hourly rates but keep coming back to us, because in the end, we are less expensive and we produce a higher quality product."
