Sunil Jangani, President and Chief Technology Officer of AllianceTek, located in Malvern, PA, had a passion for the technology industry right from the beginning. He began his training by completing his undergraduate studies in marketing and finance at Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. He attained his master’s degree in software engineering at Pennsylvania State University. After graduation, he joined the corporate world. He began his career as a programmer and worked his way up to project manager, program manager, and product owner. Sunil was an astute observer of the corporate environment. He gained more than technology skills along the way. He began to distinguish between positive and negative operations, and exactly what is involved to create a comprehensive technology solution. Sunil Jangani’s journey in the corporate world provided clarity and insight.
Intuitively, Sunil recognized a need in the market for a company that could provide a full end to end software engineering development service at an enterprise level. Identifying this as an opportunity inspired Sunil to initiate the launch of Alliance Tek. His mission with Alliance Tek was to bring teams of highly trained professionals together to tackle key-challenges of the enterprise space when developing software.
The amalgamation of knowledge of technology skills, observation of corporate stumbling blocks, and intuitive perception, created a vision of excellence for the performance of Alliance Tek. Sunil Jagani leveraged a pool of global talent to create a complex team capable of developing comprehensive technology solutions. He empowered his teams and established strong relations. He fortified client confidence by addressing any challenges head-on.
Over the past fourteen years, under the leadership of Sunil Jangani, Alliance Tek has emerged as a powerful resource, widely known for innovative systems development, rapidly advancing software, and emerging technology solutions for organizations of all sizes and various industries.
Sunil Jangani plans to give back to his community by sharing his knowledge and experience with new entrepreneurs. Sunil said, eighty percent of new businesses fail within the first five years, and that is a horrible statistic. It would not have to happen if the right support structure is provided to them. The fact that we accept it drives me nuts!” Sunil would like to start a non-profit organization to teach what he calls, “The art of entrepreneurship” to aspiring entrepreneurs. He added, “They should channel their passion instead of trying to find the next billion-dollar idea”.
How did you get started in this business?
I was always focused on becoming an entrepreneur. I believe I took all of the right steps. I saved enough money to open my business, did my market research, followed the industry, and defined the right strategy to start the business, while I transitioned to my company. There were a lot of mistakes but, you learn and you keep going.
How do you make money?
We work with companies and entrepreneurs who have ideas that are looking for unique software products and services that they want to bring to the market. We work with leading enterprises that have problems and need solutions. We take the time to find their bottleneck and design a solution to help them scale their business.
How long did it take for you to become profitable? When you were starting out, was there ever a time you doubted it would work? If so, how did you handle that?
We adopted a great framework when we first started Alliance Tek here in Malvern, PA. It took us about eight months before we became profitable. We were very cognizant of our revenue. We made the mistake of growing faster than we should have. That is when there was doubt if this was going to last. It was a big lesson. Just because you have success, it doesn’t mean it will continue. We managed our success with our principals. We keep a close eye on expenses and ROI. We had to keep track of every expense we had. Second, we were dedicated to excellence. We constantly are implementing and improving our business processes and systems. In turn, we are constantly empowering our people so that they will do the same with our clients.
How did you get your first customer?
My first customer is still with me today! He came to us through networking and word-of-mouth.
What is one marketing strategy (other than referrals) that you’re using that works really well to generate new business?
There are verified third-party platforms that verify and promote your business. We have been very successful on those platforms. Those platforms provide our marketing and branding. We outsource our presence to them. It is very important to have an Eco-system of relationships. We have channel partnerships that are a complementary interchange of services.
What is the toughest decision you’ve had to make in the last few months?
One of the toughest decisions I had to make was to put a couple of our consultants on hold.
What do you think it is that makes you successful?
The thing that makes us successful is that we have a very well defined framework of operations. Our framework is analytics-driven decision making that is automated and outsourced. We use it on a proactive basis rather than a reactive basis. We streamline our business without acquiring a reason or external stimulus for it. The Mistakes and issues that were made in the past have been addressed so that they don’t have to be made in the future.
What has been your most satisfying moment in business?
The most satisfying moment in business is when you see a novice employee who has grown and flourished into a confident person who takes on responsibility and is appreciated by a client and they build a good relationship. When you focus on empowering your employees, the employee grows and the client is delighted. Empowering employees are given a system they can depend on. The process makes them powerful. They become agile and respond to the client’s needs. We are a team. We get many compliments from our clients. They tell us that we are the best-kept secret in the industry. We are told that clients have worked with fortune 500 companies, but no one delivers and executes as we do.
What does the future hold for your business? What are you most excited about?
The future has a real need for our services. We’d like to be riding that wave, not getting crushed by the wave. I am most excited about growing the company internationally. We have clients in Canada, the UK, and Australia. We want to take the service that we provide and go into other European and South American countries and also build some SAS products of our own. I would also like to help entrepreneurs with business and innovations.
What business books have inspired you?
Trenches by Authors Jeffery Liker and James Finz. It teaches how to use lean manufacturing and processes. Another inspiring book is Creating a Kaizen Culture by Jon Miller and Mike Wrodlewski.
What advice would you give to your younger self?
If I would have to do it again, I would tell my younger self to build my business model first and make sure that I monitor the key business ratios or a regular basis. I’d build a real-time business dashboard that gives me the pulse and the health of the business. It would monitor key business ratios and Key performance indicators. You should start your day every day by looking at that board. Then make your decisions based on what is indicated on the board.
Are you willing to be a mentor? If so, how should someone contact you?
Absolutely! I would love to be a mentor. “No business should be left behind” just email me at sunil.jagani@alliancetek.com.
Words of Wisdom from Sunil Jagani:
The difference between having a job or your own business.
Having a job is like coasting on one of those automatic airport walkways. You can go forward but, you’re not moving forward on your own ability. You can get stuck behind someone and be there for the whole ride. Having your own business is like walking on your own, carrying your own bag. You can’t get stuck behind someone, but it is not as easy. Owning a business is not for everyone. It is a choice and a lifestyle. If you’re in it for the money, you’ll burn-out. If you are in it because it is your passion you do it for the love of it.