When Ted Kouri and Jared Smith decided to go into business for themselves, they didn’t even have the opportunity to start on the ground floor – they began their careers in the basement.

The two University of Alberta business students, now the principals of Incite Solutions Inc., an Edmonton-based business-to-business marketing firm, initially saw a void in the marketing services sector and decided to take the plunge.

That was in 1999, now the two have moved up in the business world – they’re actually on the second floor of a downtown building, having left the south side home basement behind a couple of moves back – and Incite boasts a roster of 35 active clients.

Meanwhile, billings for the company that started off via the self-financing route now range between $30,000 to $60,000 a month, and Incite has registered double-digit growth levels every year since its inception.

Dan Riedlhuber, for Business Edge
Incite co-owners Ted Kouri, left, and Jared Smith relieve stress by working on a punching bag.

That success is mirrored by foresight. Next June, a Harvard Business School Executive Education course will focus on business marketing strategy. The one-week session looks into the transformation taking place in the business-to-business marketplace. The goal is to provide managers with the tools to “acquire the know-how to formulate and implement a successful marketing strategy in their own business markets.”

That type of thinking is what drove Incite to recently launch Thrive, which evolved out of its “Marketing Quarterback”
program.

In the beginning, with the quarterback concept as its guide, Incite worked on a monthly retainer to build and manage a comprehensive marketing plan for other businesses.

Now, through Thrive, Incite’s staff and suppliers become a company’s marketing department. They handle market research and planning, branding and communications, client servicing, community awareness, marketing and promotions, and sales and business development.

The program is modelled to work well with companies that employ between 10 to 200 people and is flexible enough that if there is a marketing manager already in place, it will complement that person’s work.

The net result, according to the two, is a marketing program designed to meet the needs of organizations where business development hinges on building long-term relationships.

The most important aspect, added Kouri, “is that we have a long-term relationship with the client, the processes are streamlined and they don’t have to deal with six or seven companies.”

But the foresight didn’t emerge until after the two went on their own voyage of discovery – to nowhere.

“Ted and I always knew we would also be in business for ourselves,” said Smith. “After spending some time working abroad, we spent a two-month trip to nowhere in Europe together with a grand purpose: to come up with a great business idea.

“When we agreed on starting Incite, our initial goal was to learn as much as possible in year one about the frustrations that small businesses face when it comes to increasing profits, and then customize our services to address these problems and create a niche in the market,” said Smith.

Prior to that trip, both men gained work experience in a number of more exotic locales. Kouri was employed in Latvia by advertising giant Ogilvy & Mather, where he worked as an account manager. “It was different and exciting. They were still trying to emerge from their former communist times. It was like the wild, wild West out there,” he said.

Smith, a second degree black belt and instructor at a karate club, spent six months in China representing Canadian companies looking to expand overseas.

Despite the overseas intrigue, it was the lifestyle of Edmonton that drew the two back to Canada, a decision the native Edmontonians don’t regret.

“For small businesses, Edmonton is a great business community,” said Kouri. “It’s just a great place to be.”

This, despite an abundance of marketing companies and consultants in the marketplace they were looking to crack.

“There are companies doing strategy and planning, but they don’t do as much when it comes to implementation.”

“There are a lot of advertising companies but they do more consumer-oriented material. We perceived the kind of marketing business-to-business companies need is more subtle,” said Kouri.

As for that basement, the days of developing their first year business plan in Smith’s parent’s basement using flower- decorated television trays as desks are now just a fond memory.