Smart entrepreneurs know how to find and create value in unexpected places. Just ask Whitney Elliott.
Her company, STI Inc., sells pre-owned computer equipment to a range of customers. Last year, the Overland Park business racked up annual revenues of $20 million. It employs a staff of 37 people.
Elliott and her team take older (but still viable) workstations and servers, and disassemble them. Then they use the best parts to build like-new machines for small businesses, brokers, Fortune 500 companies and other clients. Customers usually save 30 to 50 percent compared to buying new.
A lot of STI’s parts come from machines that had previously been leased by large companies. These are businesses that have the money to rotate out their equipment every two to three years (and IT staffers who insist on the latest and greatest) even if the machines still have years of use left in them.
“Dell will be the first to tell you that when they make these servers, they expect to get 10 years of life,” Elliott said.
‘Literally Started From Selling on the Side of the Road’
Today, STI sells its products through its website and a team of Dell-certified sales reps armed with encyclopedic knowledge of Dell products.
It’s a big change from 2002, when Elliott sold pre-owned machines at garage sales. “Literally started from selling on the side of the road at my parents’ house,” she said.
Those first computers were IBM workstations that had been used in a school district in western Kansas. Elliott bought them from a local distributor who had sold new machines to the school.
Once they were cleaned up, though, the machines sold very well. Elliott realized there was a strong demand. So STI was formed in 2003, and the company started selling its machines on eBay, focusing mostly on servers. STI quickly became one of the site’s top 10 B2B sellers.
“We had the right product at the right price, and it was available inventory,” Elliott said. “It looked new. It smelled new. It worked like new.”
Always Look for a Chance to Add Value
STI’s customer service was exceptional, too. In a system like eBay, where clients constantly rate and review sellers, it had to be.
When customers asked if they could get expanded memory or better video cards, Elliott and her team started customizing machines. They also gave great follow-up service whenever clients had a question about a computer. And if the worst happened and STI couldn’t solve a problem with a machine, Elliott would refund their money and let them keep the equipment.
“No matter what, our goal was to have a satisfied customer on the other end,” she said.
Recently, STI launched a new Asset Recovery Program, where it will buy old machines directly from its customers and take responsibility for destroying any data on their drives.
It took time and work to get the right certifications. Now, though, STI has a new source of parts, and it’s providing another service to its client base.
So how did STI go from selling in garage sales to doing $20 million a year? By constantly looking for the next opportunity to provide value to customers, whether it was a service that Elliott recognized on her own or one that her customers specifically requested.
“I’ve always been someone that has liked to find a value myself, whether it’s looking on eBay or going to a second-hand used shop,” Elliott said.
