Meet Jim Cirillo founder and president of JIMIUM Group, LLC. JIMIUM Group provides consulting services to businesses of all sizes. JIMIUM specializes in management consulting, product marketing/ development, and optical engineering. As a competitive advantage their clients JIMIUM Group, LLC has a unique focus. JGLLC was founded on the idea of identifying, honoring, and nurturing the elements for success that are inherent in individuals and which can be found collectively within the dynamics of a task at hand. Whether you are analyzing a market, executing an engineering process, or learning a new customer application, JIMIUM Group, LLC can distil these elements and add value to your project.
What inspired you to start (or join) this company?
Well, I had recently quit my frustrating job in corporate America and really had no idea what I was going to do next. I was still in “chill on the couch” mode when I got a call from a colleague of one of my former co-workers. He wanted to wrap about optics so I took him up on it thinking I was helping a friend. This casual conversation turned into a consulting project starting the next week and the rest is history. I ended up working on the technical design, managing other outside technical experts, sourcing development teams, manufacturers and managing the overall development which gave me confidence to expand JIMIUM Group offerings.
From this initial project, I noticed that there was often a disconnect when organizations large or small were struggling with business strategy, market vision, product development etc.. This helped me better define as I went how JIMIUM Group has evolved over the years. As businesses look to outsourcing to solve their problems, they struggle mightily with managing the outside resources, setting requirements, having a proper process or framework to solve their problems, even developing a proper request for quote in the first place. In essence, they recognize they have a problem, but almost by definition, they don’t really know how to go about solving it.
I never dreamed my first project would last very long or spawn work with additional clients. But April 2017 will be the 10 year anniversary of JIMIUM Group, LLC.
Did you always have aspirations to become an entrepreneur? Tell us about your entrepreneurial journey.
No. I went to school, got a couple degrees and was working in corporate America. However, I am also a musician and have played gigs ever since high school. Playing music as a sideman or artist, it turns out, is about being an entrepreneur. I never viewed it that way until recently. I think unknowingly I was developing skills to market myself and network for music (i.e. finding gigs) all along, which helped me make the switch to running my own business.
Knowing what you know now, what would you change or do differently when starting a business?
I would have looked for more opportunities along the way while in corporate America. I didn’t have a vision until after I quit of running my own business. There were probably bigger opportunities I missed along the way because my mindset was not open.
What has been your biggest learning experience from starting your business?
That it can be done. That you can define for other people what your value and offerings are rather than a company’s human resource department determining what they are. Opposite of an employee mindset.
What advice would you give to other entrepreneurs?
Get around like minded people. Find a model of what you or your company wants to be when you grow up, even if it’s in a different industry or discipline from what you’re developing. So much can be learned from others that can shorten your process. Realize that fear is usually your limiting factor, rather than resources. Don’t be afraid to use your creativity to get you where you wanna go.
What inspired you to join the LaunchHouse community?
I felt like I was falling into complacency with my current projects and wanted to start networking a bit. Also wanted to break up the isolation of working solely from home or client locations. And since technology/advanced development has always been part of what I do I was interested meeting other folks developing new businesses. LaunchHouse has a very welcoming group of people who are open to learning from and inspiring each other. Love the diverse businesses, backgrounds, and demographics of the folks involved. I also like the casual atmosphere.
What’s the best advice you ever got?
Not sure where I got this one, perhaps from studying music. I play saxophone and love jazz and jazz improve. One of the best things to do in learning to improvise is to pick an influence, i.e. someone whose playing, sound and style you really love. Then take a deep dive into them, listen and transcribe as much as you can, absorb what they do, then you’ll know what they know. Applied knowledge is the best knowledge! It works in music and for me, it works in business as well, with individuals or organizations. Find a hero or company prototype that you want to be like and go for it. You’ll soon know what they know!