 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
2003 Entrepreneur of the Year Winner: Karen Oman
Certes Financial Pros
By: Suzy Frisch
Karen Oman had a successful career as a CPA, but struggled to juggle career and family life. So in 1990, after 15 years of working for large corporations, she became an independent contractor—still doing accounting for local businesses, but on terms that were more her own. Four years later, Oman started the St. Louis Park-based Certes Financial Pros, convinced that she could build a business by giving others the same flexible schedule she’d found for herself.
In the process, she created a new kind of service for Twin Cities companies seeking temporary help. While there were firms around town placing temporary entry-level accountants, no other business did placements of temporary high-end financial professionals—CFO’S, controllers, and senior financial analysts.
It didn’t take long for clients such as ADC, the Star Tribune, and Pillsbury to realize that Certes’ temporary employees are a bargain. Most are CPAs, and many are MBAs. Even though they work in temporary positions, they want to be challenged by their jobs, Oman says, and they work for Certes because they desire what are considered part-time hours in the financial services field—40 hours a week.
“We try to create a lot of loyalty with clients by giving them the best people at the best prices and giving employees the best benefits,” says Oman. “When there’s loyalty, you don’t have turnover in clients or employees, and that saves a lot of money. Then you can charge less. We created a neat dynamic that allows us to provide the best value in town.”
That approach gave Certes the muscle to fend off competitors, including Robert Half International, when they began entering the Twin Cities market in 1996.
Oman also credits her success to unconventional ways of conducting business. For instance, Certes relies on referrals and repeat business, and doesn’t make cold calls, which is unusual in the temporary staffing industry, according to Oman. Then there are employee perks like being able to take the summer off (15 percent of Certes employees do) or using one of four company vacation homes for free.
While Certes has felt the effects of the recession, Oman says her revenues have at least stayed flat while competitors’ have been down an average of 15 percent. In its nine years in business, Certes has served 20 percent of the public companies in the Twin Cities and many of the area’s largest private companies as well.
Oman calls herself a premature Generation Xer because of her convictions about striking a comfortable work-life balance. And she must be doing something right. The average tenure of her financial professionals at Certes is more than three years—longer than at most temp firms, based on Department of Labor data, she says. And a recent survey of Certes employees found that 93 percent have the work-life balance they desire.
In 2000, Working Woman magazine named Oman one of the best employers in the U.S. To mark the occasion, her staff put together a scrapbook of letters and pictures from employees and their families, thanking Oman for the quality of life she’s helped them achieve. “It showed me that the culture I envisioned is a reality,” she says. “If you’ve got a good product, and after that you treat everybody with the same respect you’d show family and friends, then you will have a good business from that. Treating employees best is best for business, too.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
