Entrepreneur's Spotlight - July 18, 2008

This is the first of a two-part interview with Michael Prichard, founder and CEO of WillowTree Consulting Group Inc., based in Charlottesville, VA.

I had breakfast with Michael last week in downtown Charlottesville. He and his wife Monica have been in this area since 2004. In the past 4 years, Michael has managed to successfully launch, grow, and sell an email archiving company, WillowTree Interactive and start a new one, WillowTree Consulting Group. I would say that Michael is a typical example of a serial entrepreneur, he always has his eye open for new ideas and opportunities. After selling WillowTree Interactive, Michael took time off to evaluate numerous opportunities and is currently testing a few out for size.

Michael's newest company, WillowTree Consulting Group, Inc., officially launched in 2007. Under Michael's guidance, the company develops and provides mission critical resources to continously improve client business processes in order to maintain sustainable internal systems and efficiencies. His ideal customer is one with approximately $20million in revenue that has outgrown its current IT systems.

I took the opportunity to discuss with Michael lessons learned as an entrepreneur. He talked at length about the importance of developing a business plan as a management tool. Michael said,"Entrepreneurs need to write their own business plans. They need to understand exactly how the their business will make money and grow." It is important to have a sustainable business model linked to a realistic revenue model.

Michael had some surprises along the way. He wasn't quite prepared for the intense roller coast ride of a start-up but learned quickly that you can survive. When asked if he would do it again, he said, "Of course, I can't think of anything better! Being an entrepreneur is living life to the fullest and it's great!"

When asked my classic question, "What keeps you up at night?", he said, "Currently nothing, I am happy with how the new business is moving forward. However, when I had Willow Tree Interactive, I lost sleep worrying about lack of resources and stretching too thin."

Michael has several interesting projects in the hopper that should be ready for launch in the near future. When he does, he has promised a follow up interview. He gave me an glimpse of one coming up soon that you will not want to miss, so stay tune for Part 2.

Thank you, Michael, and as always I look forward to continuing our discussion soon.

In August, our Entrepreneur's Spotlight will focus on the Charlottesville nonprofit community, in an interview with Wendy Brown, founder of The Center for Nonprofit Excellence.