Eastern Wake consultant turned a hobby into career
Triangle Business Journal - by Dave Bryan
KNIGHTDALE -- Working in Raleigh had at least one advantage for Knightdale resident and software consultant John Fried. His last office was in Raleigh's City Market area, and clients liked to adjourn meetings with a cold one at Greenshields Brewery & Pub.
Brews aside, Fried believes that moving dataKnight Software to Knightdale in November -- after 10 years in Raleigh -- was one of the best business decisions he's ever made.
His office is less than five minutes from home; he spared himself the 35- to 40-minute commute to Raleigh on an often-congested Highway 64. He also saved on rent.
"My productivity has just gone sky high," said Fried, who specializes in databases.
Fried leases a small office on First Avenue in Knightdale, just past the railroad tracks that run through the heart of the old town, which lies about 10 miles east of Raleigh. He keeps in touch with clients via telephone and e-mail.
Triangle customers comprise about 80 percent of his business. They include Laser Image Corporate Publishing in Durham, Aramark and Triangle Cable Splicing of Raleigh.
Fried said he's surprised that more small companies and sole proprietors haven't set up shop in Knightdale. He noted that many businesses can easily communicate with clients in Raleigh and Durham with modern telecommunications equipment.
Knightdale is the seventh fastest growing town in North Carolina for towns with more than 2,500 residents. Information on its office space market wasn't available.
But Knightdale Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Jennifer Bryan said there are about a dozen office spaces of various sizes available.
Fried didn't intend to be a software consultant. He fell into it at a time when personal computers were just gaining popularity.
A product engineer for 18 years with Stackpole Components, a Raleigh manufacturing company, Fried bought his first computer in the 1970s.
It was a TRS80, one of the early personal computers. As a hobby, Fried taught himself to use it and some basic DOS programming. Later, Fried took courses in the Cobol and Fortran languages. "It was a new toy to play with," he said.
Fried soon got the chance to try out his new skills. Over a game of golf one day, a insurance-agent friend asked him to write a database software program to cut back on the agency's paperwork.
That was the beginning of Fried's new career.
"People started calling me and asking me for insurance software," he said.
Fried began to write software and design databases for friends on a regular basis, charging only a nominal fee to gain experience -- and further his hobby. But when Stackpole spun off its Raleigh division in 1985, the company suggested that employees take separation packages.
Fried saw his chance and ran with it. He took the firm's package and started his own computer consulting firm. His first client was Electroswitch in Raleigh, one of the Stackpole spin-offs.
Fried wrote software for Electroswitch to handle company inventory and purchasing and scheduling. Those projects kept the sole proprietor busy for a couple of years, a period in which he acquired new clients.
So far he's depended on referrals for his clients. For example, he constructed a purchasing program for Stanley Tools in South Carolina. Triangle Cable Splicing asked him for a client information system and repair order system.
Fried said his most enjoyable project was designing GolfTravel Plus, a database program used by U.S. Golf Packages, a Raleigh software publisher.
Accessed on the Internet by subscribers, the program allows users to make reservations at or near golf courses around the world. Geared largely to business travelers, many users find the software useful for reserving hotel rooms and tee-off times in advance of a business trip.
"This is the same type of work I do for anyone," he said.
Fried said in the past he has hired employees, but he works better on his own. He spent years as a manager during his former incarnation as a corporate employee, and he's no longer interested in being a manager.
Happy to bring in enough revenues to live comfortably -- he makes about $55,000 a year -- Fried isn't interested in growing so much that he has to hire employees and move into a larger office. He's content to work primarily with small, growing businesses that typically are repeat clients.
Latest News |
