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Quanta Laboratories
"SCORE counselors
provide the unbiased, independent perspective that can
help us evaluate our options and plans.”
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Terry Liu, a principal with
his father, Dr. Hong-sun Liu, at the Santa Clara based
company, Quanta Laboratories, says “the reason we came
to SCORE for help is that we want to ‘sharpen the saw’
and take our company to the next level.” Quanta Labs is
the largest and most experienced independent
environmental/mechanical testing and consulting service
laboratory in Northern California. “Our business is
doing very well even during the current economic
recession,” says Terry. “In fact 2008 was the best year
in our history and 2009 is shaping up to be an even
better year,” he adds. The company is adding employees
and currently has 16 full time people, most of whom are
degreed engineers.
Dr. Hong-sun Liu
founded Quanta Labs in 1985. He received his PhD in mechanical
engineering from U.C. Berkeley and taught engineering at
Berkeley as a PhD student and San Jose State prior to starting
Quanta Labs. “Initially I raised money from 29 family members
and friends to buy testing equipment and open the company,” says
Dr. Liu. “But, this was a really unwieldy group to try to work
with and satisfy,” he continues. “Fortunately we became
profitable within three months of starting up and eventually
the company was able to buy out most of the others. Now we have
a more cohesive group,’ he explains.
Terry, Dr. Liu’s
son, joined Quanta in 2001. Terry went to UCLA where he received
both a BSEE degree and an MBA. He worked for IBM, Price
Waterhouse Coopers consulting practice and a few start up
companies before joining Quanta. “Initially my main focus was
business development, but I’ve gradually taken over more
administrative and management responsibilities which has allowed
my dad to concentrate on developing new technologies and
consulting,” Terry explains.
Terry views his
SCORE counselors, Mike O’Connor and Chutta Ratnathicam as
coaches and advisors. “We want to make incremental improvements
in the company and grow our business in new markets and
geographies,” he says. Terry and Dr. Liu bounce ideas off Mike
and Chutta to get independent, unbiased feedback. Terry claims
“although Mike and Chutta can’t officially hold me accountable,
whenever I meet with them I feel like I am accountable.” He
adds, “It’s easy to get bogged down in day-to-day issues, but
when I talk to my SCORE counselors we focus on the big picture -
where is the company going and how we can improve what we’re
doing.” The advice that Mike and Chutta provide isn’t only about
the future, though. They have helped Terry make better use of
his QuickBooks accounting data and reports. They also have
suggested ways to improve employee communications and make
employee meetings more productive.
“We’re grappling
with how to grow Quanta Labs,” says Dr. Liu. “Our competitive
advantage is our exceptionally competitive cost structure, and
our extensive test equipment inventory, highly responsive
scheduling, our technical expertise and the outstanding service
we provide our customers,” he adds. Terry explains “the real
challenge is how can we grow, add capacity, expand
geographically and enter new markets without sacrificing the
competitive advantage that has gotten us to where we are today.
SCORE counselors provide the unbiased, independent perspective
that can help us evaluate our options and plans.” He concludes
by saying “SCORE’s counseling services are free. If we had to
pay a management consultant for this type of help it would cost
us thousands of dollars. I think most small business owners can
benefit from the type of help that SCORE provides.” |
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©2011 Silicon Valley SCORE
We are open during most business days from 9AM to 5PM
234 East Gish Road, Suite 100, San Jose, California 95112
1-408-453-6237 info @ svscore.org |
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