SMSGlobal has attracted some major global companies as clients including Etihad, ANZ and Visa, but they haven’t changed the way they market their brand.
“It’s much the same, we’re an online company and we stick to our core and do that well. So we advertise online and then it’s about getting out there and seeing people. With the big corporates we went to see them face-to-face and we really just tried to understand what their problems were,” he says.
“More of the new clients are inbound, we’re lucky. We have a good product and reputation and a strong brand. So we’re not door-knocking so much, instead we’re closing inbound leads.”
It took Krumins just under two years to firmly establish SMSGlobal before he was in a position where he felt comfortable travelling the world and taking a holiday on the odd occasion.
“It was about building a good team you can trust and rely one. I can now travel the world and know that they’re still they’re. Because it’s a team I trust I know they can handle everything.”
Initially, Krumins looked for staff among his long-term friends he’d known and worked with since he was 16.
“Some of the staff actually self-describe the company as ‘a bunch of friends who get stuff done’,” he says.
“More recent hires I’ve done through traditional means like SEEK, but all the initial people I hired are still with SMSGlobal.”
Having launched the business during the GFC, Krumins admits people “thought we were a bit crazy”.
“We did grow and set up a few offices during the GFC… we expanded during this time and got ourselves established. When the period was over and business was back to usual, we were ready for a wave of new clients.”
In terms of the business Krumins’s proudest achievement is the company’s fast growth, but he’s also managed to achieve personal goals at the same time.
“I’ve been ticking things off my bucket list, like going to space. I went to Florida and did a NASA zero gravity flight. I also climbed to the base camp of Mount Everest.”
Despite constantly being on the go, Krumins would one day like to settle down.
“I’d like to settle down, have kids and be able to let them take over the business. But at this point, I haven’t gotten to that point,” he says.
“I want to take over the world and there is still a lot more I want to do. The goal is quite far from where we are today.”
Constantly travelling, Krumins rarely gets a regular eight hours of sleep. Instead, he gets four hours here and there as he goes between different time zones.
When he’s not working, he enjoys four-wheel driving and spending time on his boat.
“On the boat I can spend time thinking about problems. I’ll take my laptop and work from there and use it as an outlet, otherwise I go bush,” he says.
“I also like to give back to the community. Once a week I go with a few mates and buy a bunch of pizzas and then go to a homeless shelter and hand them out. The initial reaction you get giving people something as simple as pizza is great.”
Krumins says he wants the business to continue growing and establishing a presence in more countries.
“We want to have an office in every continent and that’s what we’re working towards at the moment,” he says.
“Our head office is in Melbourne and we’ve been in Dubai for a few years. We’re currently setting up in New York and Brazil at the moment and then we’ll use those as regional hubs for other countries. Being an IT company we’re covering a lot of countries without having to be in them.”
Krumins says his best piece of advice to other entrepreneurs is to “be prepared to back yourself, give it a go and whatever it takes, make it happen”.
