Lee Wochner
Business Name: Counterintuity
Website URL: www.Counterintuity.com
E-mail : lee@counterintuity.com
Year Founded : 2007
Number of Employees: 7
What does your company do? We are a full-service creative marketing firm.
Was there a specific turning point when you realized your business was moving to the next level? We knew we were moving to the next level when we started landing larger clients who also then stayed with us longer.
What processes or procedures have you implemented that have helped grow your company? We are committed to functioning as a team, and encourage input from everyone. Every year, we do an annual company retreat where we do a top-to-bottom assessment; we do a weekly all-staff meeting; and we do a bi-weekly meeting about our own marketing. We also do a profit share. Including everyone in so many key decisions has helped everyone become invested in the continuing growth and success of the company.
What is most rewarding about running your business? Every day, I get to work with incredibly smart and talented people — including especially my business partner Amy Kramer — in service to clients whose mission we believe in. It’s rewarding, sometimes it’s challenging, it keeps me sharp, and it’s a lot of fun.
What challenges have you faced and how have you overcome them? Looking back, we needed to move more quickly on the one truly bad employee we’ve had, and on a project or two that went south for external reasons. Now we deal with trouble immediately, partly by reducing its likelihood through greater processes we’ve developed.
If you were starting over today, what would you do differently? If we were starting fresh, we’d have more of our processes set before launch, and we’d do a better job of vetting early-stage clients. And I personally would do a better job of being cognizant of how my time was spent.
What advice do you have for other business owners? Build a good team. Stay focused. Enjoy every minute — you have that minute only once, and even the bad ones can lead you somewhere good.
Please list any favorite books, tools or resources (software, website, etc.) you would recommend for others: “Street Smarts: An All-Purpose Tool Kit for Entrepreneurs” by Norm Brodsky and Bo Burlingham;
“Profits Aren’t Everything, They’re the Only Thing” by George Cloutier
“The Enchiridion” by Epictetus
“The Little Red Book of Selling” by Jeffrey Gitomer
“Effective Negotiating” by Chester Karrass
What is something that people might be surprised to learn about you? I’m a published and produced playwright.
