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When CEO Peter Clarkson founded AC Lens in 1996, he ran it from the back of an optometrist's office. The Columbus-based online contact lens supply company had no overhead, no backing from venture capitalists and no expectations.
While other late '90s Internet companies worked hard to raise capital, Clarkson chose to grow AC Lens organically through its own cash flow.
"We've been profitable in every year of our existence," he says. "We started with one employee, and we'll probably be over 30 employees by the end of the year."
AC Lens has grown revenue about 116 percent since 2004, and Clarkson expects 2007 revenue to hit $20 million.
Smart Business spoke with Clarkson about how he retains customers through service and employees through incentives.
Q: How can other CEOs grow their companies the way you've grown yours?
We learned early on that the Internet is a business like any other. We wanted to grow, and we were willing to invest part of our profits in marketing and infrastructure to support our growth.
We started with a view that the company should be incremental income to the optometrist's practice, and then it outgrew the practice, so we had to move out. Now,...