Matt Reeser – Founder & CEO of Tri Source International

 

Patience has been a huge reason why we have grown the way we have.

Matt Reeser has distinguished himself as a successful business entrepreneur, specializing in connecting domestic based U.S. companies with emerging global markets to outsource their corporate business functions via strategically located nearshore sites. Matt serves as Founder and CEO of Tri Source International. LLC (TSI) which is headquartered in Valencia, CA with offices in Managua, Nicaragua. In his role, Matt establishes and executes the strategy of connecting TSI’s client partners with its’ dynamic workforce located in Central America. This vision is met with overseeing the day to day operations both domestically and internationally to ensure TSI is always positioned to deliver and exceed on client expectations. Matt has solid academic preparation, holding a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Phoenix, with a specialty in International Business; he has a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Business Administration from Wingate University (North Carolina). While in school, Matt was a scholarship football player who has always valued the life lessons learned from that experience. He has been a presenter on various specialized topics at the University level in the U.S. focusing on emerging markets, cultural diversity integration and nearshore development and implementation. Matt has been engaged in the Central American region specifically Nicaragua since meeting his wife 20 years ago while in school. Since his first trip to Managua in 2000, Matt became fascinated with the country, culture, people and the rich available workforce. Soon after Matt began establishing the framework to launch a company that would establish a value proposition for domestic companies through competitive cost structures while improving the quality of life through job creation in Nicaragua.

Where did the idea for come from?

After meeting my wife in college who is from Central America, I quickly found a desire to find a career path that allowed me to keep the family connected considering that we were living in Los Angeles. It was very important for me to establish a business that I could effectively start and grow to solve a need in the world. Tri Source International is the result of identifying the demand for providing high quality remote labor to businesses worldwide. By doing this we found a way to efficiently and conveniently serve the needs of our outsourcing partners allowing them to increase productivity and reduce overhead.

What does your typical day look like and how do you make it productive?

My days are never the same! One of the unique aspects of my job is that with the diverse pool of clients that we serve the conversations and activities I am responsible for are always different. I spend a lot of time developing and implementing strategy for our clients which allow them to scale their teams with us helping to continually expand our business.

How do you bring ideas to life?

Most ideas I have occur during my travels. I spend many hours on a plane and that time I choose to spend on self and business reflection. With my headphones on and nothing but the calm of 30,000 feet I find ways to generate new ideas on how to make Tri Source International an even better organization.

What’s one trend that excites you?

I think that the way that companies can now more than ever connect and communicate with each other despite not having a long term established relationship is fantastic. In previous generations, you had to know someone to gain access. With all the digital media platforms available now it is much easier to quickly introduce yourself and start building credibility toward a working relationship.

What is one habit of yours that makes you more productive as an entrepreneur?

Work Ethic: I work longer, harder, faster and smarter than most. No medals or ribbons for second place!!!

What advice would you give your younger self?

I would tell myself to be patient and focus on one thing at a time. I found that trying to balance multiple ideas with 100% effort and energy is tough to do. Focus on one thing and be the best at it!

Tell us something that’s true that almost nobody agrees with you on?

That the San Francisco 49ers are the best team in the NFL and will always hold that rank in my heart!

As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?

I am always refining all aspects of our company strategy, process and performance. I believe everything is in the details. If the details are precisely accounted for there is a much smaller window for error and miscommunication.

What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business? Please explain how.

Patience has been a huge reason why we have grown the way we have. Our clients utilize us to provide dedicated remote employees to handle their front and back office tasks. Many times, they don’t know how large of team they need and most competitors set minimums for those staffing needs. We take an agile and flexible approach to give our clients the driver’s seat. We are patient and know that if we deliver a world-class experience that their teams will organically scale and grow.

What is one failure you had as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?

When I was in my early twenties, I had this great idea to create a company that would essentially be hired to negotiate large ticket purchases on behalf of people who weren’t very sales savvy. The idea fluttered but I did get one client which had a good experience but soon went back to the drawing board as scale was not clearly in sight. Now connecting the dots in my life looking back, I view it as a log in the fire toward the evolution of my entrepreneurial spirit!

What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?

It would be cool if someone could develop a way to know what each job title of someone is while walking through an airport so that you could easily know who you can strike up a conversation with to have more targeted networking.

What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?

I just bought $100 worth of girl scout cookies from my daughter. While I certainly don’t need the extra calories, I love when I can help toward her activities and goals.

What is one piece of software or a web service that helps you be productive? How do you use it?

Our data analytics tools are critical in what we do. Having our real time reporting available for internal and client review is a must have. This is something that we use every day and are constantly refining to get the most out of the platform.

What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?

I highly recommend Good to Great by James Collins! An excellent read and so much to pull from and use.

What is your favorite quote?

CaddyShack Ty Webb: “I’m going to give you a little advice. There’s a force in the universe that makes things happen. And all you have to do is get in touch with it, stop thinking, let things happen, and be the ball.”

Key Learnings

• Patience has been a huge reason why we have grown the way we have.
• I would tell myself to be patient and focus on one thing at a time. I found that trying to balance multiple ideas with 100% effort and energy is tough to do. Focus on one thing and be the best at it!
• If the details are precisely accounted for there is a much smaller window for error and miscommunication.

Connect:

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