Today we’d like to introduce you to Brian Brammeier.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
HigherGround, formerly Brammeier Computer Services, started as a gradual crescendo at the intersection of technical need and desire/enjoyment to help. This started in the late 90’s with taking apart computers and realizing that I needed to then figure out how to put them back together. Friends and family saw the skill and had the need, and after a few years of this, I realized that I could start charging for this service.
Fast forward a few more years, and Brammeier Computer Services was born. We didn’t advertise and had more business than I could handle. I ran the company out of my bedroom in my parents’ house, then my dorm room in college, and then eventually my own house’s basement and garage. We made the leap in 2015 to move into our current office building and, as we speak, are looking to double the square footage. We have been building out our offerings as part of a continual feedback loop in communicating with our customers and asking what more can we be doing for them.
First, we were doing break-fix computer work in early 2000’s. Then, we moved into managed services, which is proactively monitoring our client’s systems. In the early 2010’s, we launch a phone company that offers hosted phone systems (VoIP). Now, we have also launched offerings in private cloud, IT strategy and consulting, software design, managed security, and business continuity planning/disaster recovery.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
At the start it was, but the tech market was hot and I wasn’t trying to scale. When I made the late 2015 decision to hit 100 people in 7 years it was challenging. We had all sorts of issues, most of which had nothing to do with technology. We had to find a business location while trying to forecast how much space we would need by the end of our lease term.
We had longer-term employees, so HR became a new challenge we needed to address. Creating a culture and making sure our employees are happy was more of a priority. I also couldn’t know everything that was going on a day-to-day, so I needed to build a leadership team and determine what they did and how to measure success.
Lastly, we had to build out financial tools, like forecasts and budgets, and have someone to analyze these to keep us making sound decisions based on the indicators. The list goes on and on, but by and large, having the right employees in the right seats is the most important.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about HigherGround Managed Services – what should we know?
HigherGround has gone from literally working out of my basement to one of the top MSPs in the Chicagoland area. Our tagline is “We deliver on the promises that other IT firms make.” We help companies that are growing fast use technology to fuel their growth, as well as companies that are struggling with growth and know tech is a limiting factor.
We understand technology and at our core can plug into an organization to run their help desk, IT projects or top-level strategy. We can also do one or a few of these things depending on the company’s needs. Once we understand the business well we can recommend other areas where technology can add economies of scale and efficiency.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
Of course, many people have played roles to help achieve the success we have now. My parents, for encouraging me and providing a platform to enable success. My dad owns his own company and we often have discussed issues and how he has solved them. My wife, Tracy, who supports me, as well as provides a constant stream of legal advice and workshopping issues.
My advisors, Dave and Stuart, who are hands-on and helped to build out the sales team as well as many others. I would also like to opine on how many people look at where we are and where we are going and think great must be great. The truth is that it hasn’t been easy for many people or myself.
I used to work over 100 hours a week when I was smaller. I would often miss events with family or friends. I was always on the phone and needed to travel anywhere back in those days with my laptop and cellular internet card. During college, I would commute home almost every weekend working remotely even on the bus to take care of clients. As you can see, many things were given up as an ante to stand here now.
Contact Info:
- Address: 5410 Newport Drive Unit 28 Rolling Meadows, IL 60008
- Website: https://highergroundmsp.com/
- Phone: 847-897-1640
- Email: info@highergroundmsp.com
Image Credit:
Brian Brammeier
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