Articles and White Papers | W Squared

February 21, 2010

Nashville, TN - It's all too easy today to find businesses hiding inside their shell and riding out the recession. The nine executives highlighted here are nothing of the sort. They are the hares identifying underserved markets for their products and services, figuring out smarter ways to work and overhauling their business models to take advantages of new opportunities.

They are an eclectic bunch that has planted a flag in the financial, technology, services and apparel sectors, among others. And they are creating jobs by the dozen and growing their companies at breakneck speed. In 2009, revenues at the nine firms we've profiled rose by a third; in 2010, they plan to grow 70 percent. Entrepreneurs of the Year indeed.

Shannon Farrington
W Squared
www.w2squared.com

When Shannon Farrington co-founded W Squared in 2005, the idea was to stop reinventing the wheel.

She and her senior management team had plenty of experience in the startup-growth-sell cycle of entrepreneurship, but they realized that with every company they had to create the same back-office systems and processes from scratch.

"It seemed like we were recreating the wheel, the same wheel," Farrington said.

So she and co-founders Tammy Howell and Mark Farrington built a team that could provide expertise and back-office outsourcing for small to mid-sized companies looking to focus on their core competencies and growth.

Today, W Squared provides outsourced information technology, finance and accounting, human resources and payroll functions to about 45 clients in various industries. In 2009, the company achieved $3.7 million in revenue with 35 employees. It's projecting revenue of $4.2 million and a staff of 40 for 2010.

Moving forward, Farrington eventually would like to see W Squared open offices in other cities to support its business outside of Middle Tennessee.

Prior to launching W Squared, Farrington was senior vice president and CFO of CHD Meridian Healthcare, the country's largest provider of on-site health care services. In that role, she was instrumental in developing the company's standard processes, reorganizing its capital and debt structures to complete mergers, and obtaining growth capital and shareholder liquidity. The company grew to more than $200 million in revenue and 1,800 employees in 32 states by the time it was sold.

Farrington said the company's ability to recruit and hire experienced professionals has helped contribute to its success. The opportunity to work with many different companies and help them grow has been a draw. Plus, there's the fun factor.

"We have great clients and they've got great ideas, so it's fun, too," Farrington said. "I think if you can't have fun at work, it's probably not what you need to be doing."

- Erin Lawley