About 11 years ago, a motivational speaker made a point that Joe Powell, founder, president and CEO of Presentation Solutions Inc., never forgot.
     "He said the No. I reason people don't accomplish what they are capable of accomplishing is they let someone else talk them out of it," Powell said. "Once you've figured out this is a good opportunity, go for it! Put your head down and charge forward, and don't let anyone or anything deter you."
     Powell certainly knows that philosophy is true from experience. He went against the advice of his parents and the manufacturer for whom he wanted to work - and followed his dream.
     He founded a company at age 23 that is now in its 10^th year, has a solid $5 million in annual revenue, five divisions and 20 employees, is adding territories, and is looking to expand its Buckner headquarters building. And as the company has matured, so has Powell. In the last two years, he has hired more experienced managers to take over running his company.
     One of those managers, Jim Hannah, a retired Louisville Gas and Electric Co. executive, is company chairman now. Powell says his job is to concentrate on the company's future and to find good growth opportunities.

Making smart decisions
     Those are very smart steps for an entrepreneur to take, said Michael Ashcraft, director of Greater Louisville Inc.'s Small Business Development Center.
     "You can't continue to run (a company) as you did when it was a very small business,"  Ashcraft said. 'There are significant increases in operations that make it dramatically different when you're running a $5 million business than when you're running a $100,000 business."
     Yet, typically, it s extremely difficult for an entrepreneur to let go of their baby. ...They become so attached emotionally to it," Ashcraft said. "If the entrepreneur doesn't adjust with the business, it's very tough for that business to survive.
     "What Joe has done is very rare."   

Built from his first job

     Powell certainly would be justified in having strong emotional ties to Presentation

Joe Powell started Presentation Solutions with funds from his parents. Now his mother, Carol Powell, is CFO. "We have great people," she said. "And it would be kind of hard to leave."

Solutions. It exists because Powell refused to accept discouraging advice.
     In 1989, with a fresh marketing degree from the University of Louisville, Powell joined Wilkorn Business Systems Inc. and was given a large-format printer to sell that had been a sideline for Wilkorn. It can make large courtroom exhibits for lawyers or banners for schools.
     Made by Varitronics Inc. of Minneapolis, the printer became the only product Powell sold, and its success as a line for Wilkorn totally depended on him. He thrived on the challenge, winning a trip through a Varitronics' national sates contest in his first year.
     When he returned from that trip in 1990, he learned that the owner of Wilkorn had decided to sell the business because of illness. Unhappy with the pending changes, Powell thought about going out on his own, so he could continue concentrating on the product with which he'd had much success.
     But his first talk with his parents was discouraging.
“They were like, ‘You’ve got to be kidding,' " Powell said. "I didn't have any money saved up. I'd only been working for a year. My family wasn't affluent. We had no large bank account. ... So, they said, 'Keep looking.' "
     But Powell said he insisted, "Listen, I can do this." And he promised them they wouldn't lose their money. So, his parents relented, gave him enough money to buy some products for sales demonstrations, and offered him use of their basement for an office.
     His mother, Carol Powell, also offered to answer phones and keep his books for free, to allow her son to concentrate on selling. It wound up consuming more than 40 hours a week of her time, at a point in her life when "I thought I'd be in my flower garden," she said. "But I tell you, it's been fun. We have great people, and it would be kind of hard to leave."
     She has since become the company's chief financial officer.

Didn't take no for an answer
     With those arrangements in place, Joe Powell contacted Varitronics' Minneapolis headquarters and asked to become one of the company's dealers. But Varitronics exeutives had the same initial reaction as Powell's parents and turned him down.
     When he persisted, the Varitronics executives told him to put together a business plan and ship it to them. But they still refused to read it, saying they didn't want to alienate an existing Varitronics dealer by considering a competing deal with one of the dealer's employees.
     So, Powell quit his job, and called Varitronics again, saying, "I am now unemployed. I would really appreciate it if you would read that business plan."
     They did. Doug Follestad, director of domestic dealer sales for Varitronics, recalls being "very, very impressed with his plan."
     Powell's knowledge and research appeared thorough, and Follestad and other executives liked that Powell was enthusiastic, energetic, and liked the company's product. They decided to give Powell a shot. That first year, Powell said he closed on $70,000 in sales. He also thanked his mother for her unpaid help by giving her 25 percent ownership in the company.

Manufacturer has no regrets
     Since then, Presentation Solutions has become one of Varitronics' top five dealers nationwide. It has added the Nashville and Cincinnati markets, Follestad said, and is doing well in those, too.
     In fact, the Cincinnati sales rep Powell hired seven months ago seems to be cut from the same cloth as Powell, Follestad said. The new rep already has won Varitronics' annual sales incentive trip, Follestad said.
     Hiring people similar to himself seems to be one of Powell's secrets, said Follestad. Presentation Solutions' staff has demonstrated "high energy, enthusiasm, commitment to the product line and commitment to do what it takes to get it done," he said.
     Powell said that's because he decided to give others the same opportunity he had - to succeed or fail with one product - and to be a bit of a entrepreneur with that product.
     In time, Presentation Solutions added other product lines, including equipment that makes credit-card sized photo identification cards, industrial-use labels and signage, and projectors that work with laptops and other computers. Its other brands include Brady USA and InFocus Systems Inc.
      Powell said he also sought employees willing to go the extra mile for customers because service is one of Presentation Solutions' main selling points.
     But the company's growth has been slow and conservative, Powell said.
     New products or sales representatives must fit in well with Presentation Solutions' existing products and service.
     "Gosh, if we really tried hard, we could have been at $10 million" in sales, Powell said. But he said he thinks "if we jumped into opportunities that may have enabled us to do that, we also could have had the bottom fall out by trying to do too much too quickly."

Hiring outside experience
     Nevertheless, even slow growth has meant changes for Presentation Solutions.
     "We realized if we were going to take (the company) to the next level, we needed some new expertise, advice and vision," Powell said.
     So in August 1999, Presentation Solutions hired former LG&E executive Hannah a s a consultant to advise the company on its growing operations. The arrangement worked so well that within a few months Powell named Hannah as the company's first general manager, then chief operating officer.
     Hannah said he decided to join Presentation Solutions full time because he was impressed with positive, supportive atmosphere the Powells have fostered with their employees. "It's a delight to see a company so supportive of each other, and where people are enthusiastic to come to work. ... I just wanted to be a part of it."

Presentation Solutions Inc.

Address: 4809 Fox Run Road, Buckner Owners: Joe Powell, president and CEO; Carol Powell, vice president and chief financial officer Employees: 20 Date started: July 1990 Web site: www.presentationsolutions.com

     This summer, Powell promoted Hannah to chairman of Presentation Solutions and hired a new chief operating officer, former Oldham County middle school and high school principal Joe McWilliams.
     Powell said he's been pleased to have Hannah and McWilliams, in part because they have excellent credentials, he said, and also because they've taken on management tasks Powell felt were consuming too much of his time. Also, Powell said, he thinks they more than compensate for areas in which he's weak.
     "I'm overjoyed by it," Powell said. "It's really allowing me to focus on growing the company, something I've wanted to do but had been hampered by the day-to-day activities."
     Ashcraft, of the Small Business Development Center, said that's a good sign for Presentation Solutions. It means the company should survive well into the future.
    "Instead of lasting just 10 or 20 years, they will continue into a second and third generation of management," Ashcraft said.
     Said Follestad of Varitronics: "We expect great things of them-and for us."