Entrepreneur Archive:
H₂O Technical Services, Inc.

Finding Solutions to Business Challenges Helps Springfield-area
Technical Firm Solve Water Treatment Problems for its Clients

H₂O Technical Services, Inc. — Springfield, MO
Assisted by:
Rayanna Anderson, Missouri State University SBDC

Springfield entrepreneur Scott Frazier cuts to the chase when it comes to business.

"We've got to make a profit today, or we don't stay in business tomorrow," says Frazier, encapsulating a practical philosophy regarding the perpetuation of his firm, H₂O Technical Services, Inc.

Thus far his philosophy works, and works well. In 2006, his company will observe its sixth year in operation. And H₂O Tech's business picture and revenue-generation picture just keep getting brighter. Last year's revenues reached $8 million. This year he projects a 50 percent increase to around $12 million, with nearly 10 percent of that coming from international business.

Rayanna Anderson, business counselor and assistant director of the Missouri State University SBDC, listens as Scott Frazier describes some of the latest challenges he faces at his Springfield-based firm H2O Technical Services, Inc.

And just what is his business?

Solutions to problems. That's what Frazier and his staff at H₂O Tech give their clients who face water-quality challenges in the conduct of their businesses.

H₂O Tech offers integrated water treatment services to a roster of national and international firms, which cover such industries as food and crop processing, power utilities, high-tech, municipal water-treatment and manufacturing.

"When you focus on results and solutions rather than selling products, it's essential to provide all the necessary tools to solve a problem," says Frazier, president of this specialized tech firm.

His company applies unique combinations of chemical and biological treatments to solve a host of complex water and wastewater problems. For each of his client's unique water-quality problems Frazier will send a team of research scientists and technicians to the site. They work with their client to improve productivity, reduce waste and costs, and meet the strictest compliance requirements.

"As our company has grown, more valued-added components have been added to our core business," says Frazier, who co-founded the company with his wife, Kala Frazier, in 2000. "This makes H₂O a value-added firm to the end user who often needs a solution and not a product."

While touring H2O Tech's warehouse Frazier explains the application of some of the special equipment and material his firm uses to help clients solve their water-quality problems.

However, sometimes the problem solvers have a problem of their own. A couple of years ago Frazier needed to restructure H₂O Tech's debt in order to refine and expand the company's service capabilities.

Before applying for a loan Frazier got some advice from Doug Page, a loan officer at Empire Bank. Page suggested that Frazier get help with the application process from the business counseling experts at the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) on the Missouri State University (MSU) campus.

So, Frazier got in touch with Rayanna Anderson, assistant director at the MSU SBDC, which is part of the Columbia-based Missouri SBDCs and affiliated with the University of Missouri Extension business development program.

Frazier found the loan application process extensive and time-consuming. Anderson helped H₂O Tech organize and streamline it.

"Rayanna helped me adhere to a timeline in getting the application to fruition," recalls Frazier. "She also knew what would help in making our application look stronger."

"By taking time to understand our business goals ... Rayanna knew more about what H₂O needed in a loan package than I did. This is where most loan applications fail. You have to know what you need, before you can ask for it."

Frazier examines a microscopic specimen taken from a client's water sample that recently arrived for analysis at H2O Tech.

Ultimately Anderson's efforts helped the water-solution firm find the right solution to its financial challenges. H₂O Tech addressed its debt restructuring issue, secured a $1 million SBA-backed loan and has increased its staff by more than 50 percent, expanding the roster from 16 to 25 people.

"In developing a high-quality technically-oriented staff, I think it's similar to challenges faced by the front office of a winning professional sports team," says Frazier. "You want to assemble the best possible talent and still meet the salary cap."

And the loan came at a critical time to help him achieve his goal for the firm.

"When we finally received our loan, Doug Page told me this was the first loan package he had ever received that was perfect the first time," says Frazier. "I just assumed this is how they all work but ultimately realized what Rayanna had meant to the process."

The moral to the story: the problem solvers at H₂O Tech found the solution to their problem at the MSU SBDC. And Frazier, a 1991 graduate of Southwest Missouri State University (as MSU was then called), has a final observation derived from the business expansion process: "I learned you can grow too fast. I prefer working on the technical side of the business, helping to solve the clients' problems. I can't clone myself, so I've got to have good people on staff to make sure we move our firm at the proper pace and take it in the right direction."

Judging from the results it appears H₂O Tech's president and his staff are guiding the company to the correct solution.

H₂O Technical Services, Inc.
P.O. Box 14616
Springfield, Mo. 65814
Phone: 417-581-4585
Fax: 417-581-9318
Web address: www.h2otech.net
E-mail: sfrazier@h2otech.net

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