It Takes A Village

Name and age: Ella Koscik, 34

Company name and description: Management Decisions Inc. (MDI) is a staffing company for information technology (IT) specialists like programmers and analysts.

Based: Norcross, Georgia

The challenge: To transform a sleepy staffing company into a market leader

The story: MDI was founded in 1988 by entrepreneur Howard Leff. Koscik joined the business in 1993 and bought it out a year later--while still in her 20s--using revenue the company made on sales she generated.

The results: In less than four years, Koscik has turned a $1 million company into a $14 million business.

1998 sales projections: $20 million

Number of MDI IT specialists in 1994: 10

Number of MDI IT specialists today: 200

Smart move: Koscik decided early on to defer to the expertise of others. "I don't hire people who do what I do well. I hire people who do what they do well," she says.

Survival tips: According to Koscik, hiring the right people, reinvesting in the business, and building a solid reputation by treating customers and employees like gold have helped the business thrive.

No end in sight: Koscik just opened a second office in Greenville, South Carolina, expects to open a third next year and hopes to eventually take MDI nationwide.

Contact Sources

iVillage.com, (800) 977-1436, http://www.ivillage.com

Management Decisions Inc., (770) 416-7949, http://www.mdiatl.com

This article was originally published in the October 1998 print edition of Entrepreneur with the headline: It Takes A Village.