Holly Suzara won a scholarship to the University of San Francisco to play setter on its volleyball team. The training came in handy in her business life, where she calls the plays and sets strategy.
Turning Ascribe Business Services around was a daunting task. Suzara began working at a small printing and copying firm when her scholarship ran out in her senior year. Two years later, the company's owner filed for bankruptcy protection. According to Suzara, the company had lost half of its business due to mismanagement and poor pricing policies. She felt she could revive the business, even though she lacked formal business training, having majored in chemistry at USF.Â
Suzara borrowed $25,000 from her parents, who moved to San Francisco from the Philippines, to buy the assets in 1995. At the time, the company was losing about $240,000 on annual sales of $480,000. Suzara sent letters to 1,200 current and former customers and lowered prices by about 25 percent to revive revenues.
She bought a Nolo Press book on writing a business plan, which helped her win a $100,000 loan from the U.S. Small Business Administration. To gain the support of employees, who had gone without a raise for three years, Suzara gave everyone a $1 an hour pay increase despite Ascribe's fragile finances.Â
The dual strategy of cutting prices and paying more proved successful. Last year, Ascribe earned more than $100,000 on $1.2 million in sales. Suzara reinvested most of the money and said her $36,000 salary is only the fourth-highest of the company's 11 employees. Suzara, 30, won NAWBO's Rising Star Award for new businesses (SFGate).
