Tech Company Grows by Leveraging Local Business Resources
Tensus Technology of Hillsborough County
After working in the Information Technology (IT) field for 20 years Tony Best, owner of Tensus Technology, decided to start his own business where he would have the opportunity to serve his community by focusing on his customer base while giving back to his employees. “I saw the opportunity to start something locally within Florida after spending said 20 years in the IT field working as a consultant for other companies,” Best said.
“I wanted to give back, to create something that could benefit both employees and local customers through a passion for what we do.” Tony Best said.
About two and a half years ago, Best decided it was time to expand and reach out to his local Florida Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) at the University of South Florida for business guidance in the federal space. There he was paired with procurement specialist, Karen Krymski, who guided the business owner to various resources. “Leveraging PTAC and leveraging Karen as a resource was really beneficial to navigating those areas. Especially navigating the space of federal, where I don’t have anywhere as near as much experience as I did doing state and local government and commercial,” Best said.
Since working with his Florida PTAC at USF consultant, Best has seen his company grow through exposure and beneficial business relationships. “Working with Karen from the Florida PTAC has been beneficial in providing me information about the different resources available throughout the state, different seminars, different government contracts that are available for me to apply to,” Best said.
Best mentions that his biggest success so far “is just growth. I mean when you start out you don’t know what the outlook horizon is but the biggest success is just steady growth.” Receiving the guidance and knowledge in different areas that he was not familiar with has helped the business owner expand the company through federal government contracting while he continues to flourish with his state and local government businesses.
“Leveraging the Florida PTAC, I’ve come to realize, growing a business is more of a journey than a destination. So, as I continue to grow my business, I know there will be different things I have to leverage from the resources available,” Best said. As the business continues to grow, Best is aware that he will need to continue using the resources available to him and he is determined to use the Florida PTAC at USF and the guidance of Krymski in order to find the right ones that will benefit his company overall.
The tech business owner goes on to recommend the services offered by the Florida PTAC at USF by saying, “the recommendation that I have provided to other business people that I have come to meet, whether they are starting day one or they’ve already been in business for a while is to reach out to Florida PTAC and just engage them to understand what resources they have available,” Best expressed. “As far as the resources that come from, if you will, our tax dollars, I’ve been surprised by how great the resources that the Florida PTAC has available to entrepreneurs looking to start a business,” Best added.
