Co-founder and CEO of eWorkOrders Jeff Roscher leads the company in providing “state-of-the-art Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) software to businesses of all sizes, throughout all industries.”
Jeff Roscher has helped guide eWorkOrders to establish itself as an “industry leader in CMMS software.” He has worked on the company for over 25 years.
Before starting eWorkOrders, Jeff Roscher earned his MBA at Rutgers University. Then he started his career as a senior systems analyst at a large pharmaceutical company in New Jersey.
As a tech savvy person, Jeff Roscher enjoyed his time at the company. It was also while working at the pharmaceutical company that he got the idea to start his own firm.
Jeff Roscher says that eWorkOrders stands out because they “have a staff from technical to sales that have used our service while employed by other companies or have worked at a competitor.”
eWorkOrders’ staff advantage is “very big,” adds Jeff Roscher. These employees “know the pain,” and “they can relate to a customer’s frustrations and help them resolve their actual problems.”
When he was just starting out, Jeff Roscher says that people told him not to start a business for himself. They said it was risky and he will lose money.
However, Jeff Roscher and his business success might have just proved them wrong.
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Even after all the ups and downs, there is nothing like the satisfaction of knowing you’re responsible for the success of your business. Jeff Roscher, eWorkOrders
Jerome Knyszewski: What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?
Jeff Roscher: One of the main reasons why we stand out is that we have a staff from technical to sales that have used our service while employed by other companies or have worked at a competitor.
As we were staffing up, they liked our service and the way we treated our customers and decided that they would like to join our team.
This gives us a very big advantage having people who used the service and coming from various industries.
They felt the pain, they know and understand the issues and can relate to a customer’s frustrations and help them resolve their actual problems.
Jerome Knyszewski: Often leaders are asked to share the best advice they received. But let’s reverse the question. Can you share a story about advice you’ve received that you now wish you never followed?
Many people advised me that it isn’t a good idea to go into business for yourself.
They said it was very risky, you’ll lose money, you’ll become a workhorse, and your social life will cease to exist.
I wish I had ignored this advice sooner!
Even after all the ups and downs, there is nothing like the satisfaction of knowing you’re responsible for the success of your business.
In order to be successful, you really need to love what you do.
Jerome Knyszewski: You are a successful business leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
Jeff Roscher:
- Persistence.
We knew we had a great idea when we began selling eWorkOrders and even though we really lacked the marketing know-how in the beginning, we were able to overcome that by keeping at it until we learned how to do it correctly. - Honesty.
Being a software company, you constantly have potential customers asking if your software can do things that it can’t.
Many times, they make it sound like a make-or-break feature that they need. If you say that you can do it, you may get the sale, but in the end, you will have an unhappy customer that will make your life more difficult and may give you bad reviews online.
It’s very difficult to recover from bad reviews.
We always chose to be truthful about our capabilities and, quite often, they purchase anyway, as the feature wasn’t as important to them as we thought.
We get potential customers coming to us that went with a competitor and now are looking to change because they were promised features that didn’t exist. - Passion. In order to be successful, you really need to love what you do.
You will probably be doing it all the time: days/nights/weekends/holidays…
I love helping customers improve their operations and become more profitable. We have a customer that makes laboratory glass.
Using eWorkOrders they identified training issues with certain operators on several production lines.
Once the operators were retrained and other data from eWorkOrders was put to use, they were able to reduce the cost of their biggest products and they were able to take a bigger share of the market.
One of their specialty products had previously been losing money and our system helped them realize this and they increased these prices to make them profitable too.
Jerome Knyszewski: Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”?
Jeff Roscher:
- Take time for yourself, family and friends.
Stay focused, and remind yourself of why you’re making the sacrifices you’re making.
You need to have a balance between work, family and friends. - With the changing technology and the world around us, stay engaged and never stop learning.
Jerome Knyszewski: What are the most common mistakes you have seen CEOs & founders make when they start a business? What can be done to avoid those errors?
Jeff Roscher:
- Poor planning and trying to do everything at one time.
You need to take small steps when entering into a market with a product.
Get an understanding of your market and target audience.
Test the market to make sure that this is the right product and the audience that can use your product.
This way you will make sure all of the bugs have been worked out, it is the right product for that demographic and it gives you time to make further enhancements. - Don’t try and do everything yourself. Surround yourself with people who can help you along the way.
- Make sure that all of the bugs have been worked out in your product and you are ready to launch.
Your first impression is the one that customers will remember.
Jerome Knyszewski: In your experience, which aspect of running a company tends to be most underestimated? Can you explain or give an example?
Jeff Roscher: I think customer opinions are underestimated.
The value your customers bring to the process of growing and developing your business is priceless.
Listening to the customer’s needs and their suggestions can save you a lot of wasted time and money.
Customers are living their problems every day and can provide a huge insight on enhancements to your products or services.
Take time for yourself, family and friends. Jeff Roscher
Jerome Knyszewski: You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
Jeff Roscher: I think we need to get rid of all of the negativity spread out through TV and social media platforms.
We need to go to a new environment or build a community or platform that will somehow reward honesty and integrity.
We need to use technology for spreading and sharing of information that isn’t diluted with false information.
I think it is about time that we build that platform for the next generation.
Jerome Knyszewski: How can our readers further follow you online?
Jeff Roscher: Follow me and eWorkOrders here:
Website
Jerome Knyszewski: This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for the time you spent with this!
