Today we’d like to introduce you to Nancy Sabino.
Nancy, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
My husband, Angel and I were 22 years old, with a 3-year-old and newborn on the way when we started our first company. He lost his job at a local computer repair shop where he’d interned and learned the ropes and even though we were devastated it didn’t take me long to tell him, we can do this on our own. We called my mother in law and let her know what was going on, and she came up with our company name! By the end of a week, we had a company name, logo and an accounting system in place.
We got a handful of those small businesses to sign service agreements with us which gave us enough income to cover our bills at home. About a year later, we started another business extending our services to individuals. I would go for walks around our neighborhood with my little girl and son in a stroller and drop off flyers for computer repair. When we got enough drop-offs coming to our home, we decided to open a storefront in October of 2009.
In September 2015, I was accepted into the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program. This program completely changed our world. I realized that we weren’t serving our purpose as well as we could. I’ve always had a passion for building a business and my husband not only shared the same passion but his technical expertise could help small businesses in a more impactful way so in 2016, we closed the residential services shop and along with it the first rendition of our company. We completely redesigned our business model, moved to an office, and reinvented the image, the culture, and the service offering of our company. This experience gave me more insight into what it takes to transition a business, as well as letting me flex my skills of building a business yet again.
It was a hard decision to make but I knew that focusing on what we did best, what we enjoyed the most, and using not only our technical expertise but business experience would serve clients better. In this process, we let go of over 300 small businesses that we worked for under a “break/fix” model and thousands of residential customers (ouch). It was so tough, I still feel bad about it but we must be doing something right because in 2018 we secured a place in the Top 501 Managed Services in the world and also won MSP (Managed Service Provider) of the Year.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
When I was younger, I used to think that things were harder for us because we didn’t have any formal education. I doubted the decisions we were making and the direction in which we were going. It was hard to see the result of endless nights of googling, testing, reverse engineering things, and tons and tons of self-research when you’re also hoping and praying one more person will bring a computer in so you can make ends meet.
Now, I know that while we made mistakes because of lack of knowledge or forethought or whatever it may be, it wasn’t because of a lack of formal education but because those things happen in business. That’s how we grow. We learn from mistakes, and we keep going.
One other thing that was a struggle was balancing our goals and dreams for the business with the fact that we have a family. It was tough sometimes to say no to more business because we knew spending time with our babies was more important. We had to accept that we’d grow our business slower so we can enjoy time with our kids.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about SabinoCompTech – what should we know?
SabinoCompTech is a security and compliance focused outsourced IT department for small businesses. We take the corporate approach meaning C-Level planning and strategy, maintenance and management of IT infrastructure and every day help desk support to small businesses who usually don’t have access to IT experts to that extent.
We look at a business in a holistic manner, from what technology is already in place, what are the expenses, the processes, what are the risks, etc, and we start to put together a plan to help the business be secure, efficient and at a point where they can maximize the use of their technology and their employees time.
We exclusively work on a contractual basis. We feel it’s best this way, so we don’t have any outside distraction. We focus on our clients and their businesses. Our service offering is an all-inclusive model which includes the “C-Level” advisory, maintenance, management, security, unlimited support, cloud tools, and productivity tools that many businesses use and probably pay for. One of our clients likes to say, “it’s like hiring an employee without the taxes, benefits, etc. and you get a whole team and then some.”
Our firm’s mission is to improve people’s lives. We get to do that through technology and how people interact with technology while at work. Because of this, we know that we don’t just offer technical support but moral support as well and that’s not something that is seen quite often from IT companies.
In one year, we were able to make it on to a prestigious global list as well as MSP of the year, and we wouldn’t have been able to do that without the right team who share our values and the belief in our mission. I am incredibly proud of them and the level of care and attention that they give to our clients. When you get cards that say talking to us is like therapy… we know we’ve done our jobs and that is something to be proud of.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Resilience for sure. I am a first-generation American, raised by a single Latina mom, so early on in life, I knew the meaning of getting back up, dusting yourself off and keep going.
There wasn’t a challenge that I would let myself see as too big for me to handle… Would I need help, yes, but that doesn’t mean I can’t do it. There wasn’t a time that I would listen to “you can’t do that” because my thought would be “what stops me… and how do I get around that.”
That is not to say, that I never experienced doubt or they want to give up. I learned that there can be a healthy dose of those too, but I knew that in order to survive and to keep pushing forward to success, I needed to get back up and find a way. Be resilient. Get up and keep moving forward.
Contact Info:
- Address: 810 S. Mason Rd Ste 295 Katy, TX 77450
- Website: sabinocomptech.com
- Phone: 281-392-8802
- Email: awesome@sct-msp.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sabinocomptech/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sabinocomptech
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/sabinocomptech
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/sabinocomptech-katy?osq=sabinocomptech
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