Start-up companies offer creative opportunities

New companies may ask more employees for input. When Joe Scarp started his company, Phoenician Properties, five years ago, he knew he would need a good core of employees surrounding him.

So when Scarp went looking, creativity, discipline and work ethics were key attributes he sought in his workers.

Arizona is a hot bed for startup companies. Job seekers may find a chance to think outside the box when going to work for one of these companies versus an established business, start-up employees say.

“You have a lot of room for creativity, a lot of room to create your own career path and, depending on how it’s structured, there could be a reward for maybe company ownership or things like that that you wouldn’t get in a larger company,” said Mike Garland, marketing director of Data Preserve, a company that started in 2002. Garland began there 18 months ago and for the past 15 years has worked for other technology start-ups in Arizona.

“I think it may be universal, but the first thing I look for is attitude,” said Roger Keller, president and founder of the Graduate School of Ministry Management. “I’m looking for a positive, can-do, make-it-happen kind of attitude. To some extent that’s probably more necessary in a start up because you don’t have all the luxuries a larger company has in terms of getting a job done. People have to carry multiple loads. They have to have a willingness to step out and be more proactive and look at getting the job done.”

Keller’s school currently has 10 full-time employees and contracts with 40 faculty members.

Arizona’s small businesses – where most start-ups begin – contributed $3.8 billion to the economy last year, according to a recent article by Gov. Janet Napolitano, which appeared in a Gilbert magazine.

Company founders take a risk when they begin their new businesses, and they believe their employees are key to making success possible.

Scarp’s real estate business has grown – to now about 105 agents. He knew many of the infrastructures weren’t in place when he started – business forms, systems for fi ling paperwork, business, policies and procedures. He sought out people who could help get those in order and work effectively while the process was taking place.

“I was looking for people who were creative and well disciplined as far as work ethic,” he said. “At a small company, we like the opportunity of having someone think of new suggestions. There’s more opportunity to be creative and shape a company versus if you go to an established business.”

What Rayette Thompson, operations manager of Phoenician Properties Realty, saw when she joined Scarp was a chance to work for a good businessman. So in February 2004, she signed up.

First she handled the receptionist work, was Scarp’s personal assistant, IT assistant, marketing manager and recruiter.

“I was a jack-of-all-trades doing a number of different things,” she said. The growth of the company has allowed the business to hire others on and allowed Thompson to focus on operations.

Thompson’s advice for anyone considering working at a new business?

“Start-up companies aren’t always successful but you have to look at the person behind the scenes to gauge how the company is going to take off. You have to stand behind it and call it your own. Think of it as a ‘we’ not a ‘you.’ Take pride in ownership. Once you do that things come back to you if you work hard,” she said.