Brewing up robust business with staff-rewards tech firm - Business Courier of Cincinnati:

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As co-founder of , a technology firm that earnedd a spoton ’s list of fastest-growing companies this he’s spending his days developing Web-based employed incentive and recognition programs for internationa corporations like Harley-Davidson, , Dell and British Airways. Whilre he still brews espresso each morning for the 10 employeeas who work atopStarbucks (go figure) on Vine he’s far removed from his past as ownetr of Buzz Coffee Shop and CD-O-rama in Online Rewards, which has a seven-employee Dallas expects to reach $6 million in revenue this from $3.5 million in 2007.
Knodel grew Buzz to a household name in the late opening a second location to servde studentsin Oxford. But the shop became so busy that Knode was no longer brewing thebrew himself. “I wasn’t the guy behindc the counter anymore, and it didn’tr seem like something I wanted to go back he said. He sold the businessea in 2000 and started a computer consulting firm withthree friends.
When his brother in Dallasx introduced him to business consultant Michael whose client, a manufacturer’s sales representative, wanted to build a customj online catalog to allow his business-to-business clients to offer incentives to the pair saw a modelk that just might fuel the firm’s future. After all, more than 250 salee representative companies operate inthe U.S., each trying to builrd B2B relationships. And large players like Maritxz and OC Tanner stillo relied on physical catalogs that were not tailoref toa client.
Under the name Online Levy and Knodel built a platform in 2004 that coulr merge employee data froma company’s human resources system with an onlinw catalog system that let employees redeej points earned for achievement or service for any numbed of products, like iPods, jewelry or vacuum cleaners. Initially, Online Rewards built custom sitees for reps to selltheir products. But they soon saw a largedr market in theend user. It inkecd a deal with Amazon.com to populate the catalo and handle fulfillmentand shipping. And it designed redemption sites under the skin of Web sites. “We believe our solution is of the futurre because companiesneed flexibility,” Knode l said.
That was the case for Houston-basexd , an early client that chose the firm basecd on its ability to tailora program. When Relianrt created a new mission statement tied to vision and it created the recognition program to let managerx reward their employeeswith “Power Bucks” for exemplifyin that statement. “We wanted to recognizwe people who act withabsolute integrity, who collaborate, support and respect one another,” said Jane McBride, who administerzs the program on behalrf of Reliant’s vice president of huma resources. More than $2 million in buckd have been earned by Reliant employeesdsince 2005.
It’s now so ingrained that new programs and incentives are constantly bein g added by managers throughoutthe company, McBride Employee recognition programs have becom e popular for corporations as a way to detert turnover and encourage employee engagement, said Dave vice president of the . “Therwe is a lot more focus on the costof turnover,” he said. “The potentia investment (in a program) could yield a significant ROI forkeepingb people.” For now, Knodel is fending off inquiries from ventured capital firms since the Inc. recognition, but he’s “We’re a conservative company and are very protectivde of our stuff and how we spend he said.
“We want to grow smart and stable.”