34 Great Dallas Entrepreneurs

Ernst & Young selected some of the region’s most innovative businesspeople to compete for the coveted title of Entrepreneur of the Year. Here’s how the dynamic local finalists built their companies—and positioned their firms for success.

Ameriplan USA
Dennis Bloom 
CEO and Chairman of the Board

Daniel Bloom 
President and COO

Serial entrepreneurs, business partners, and twin brothers Dennis Bloom and Daniel Bloom launched Ameriplan USA in 1992, when they were 50 years old. Today, more than 1 million users benefit from their discount supplemental health services plans, designed for uninsured and underinsured households.

“We hit 50 and had come out of an unsuccessful business,” says CEO and board chairman Dennis, who was responsible for Ameriplan’s multi-level sales marketing team. “It’s how you handle failures that determine whether you’ll be successful or not. You can’t take it personal. Your attitude has to be that the idea or concept failed, not you. To be a successful entrepreneur, all you’ve got to do is get up one more time than you’re knocked down.”

Daniel, president and COO, who leads Ameriplan’s back-office operations, agrees that enthusiasm is vital to success. “To me money is just the way to keep score—sure it’s important, right up there with air—but the key is to accomplish and build,” he says. “Another joy is to make all-stars out of the people. If you don’t love what you’re doing, you’re in the wrong business.”

For a monthly membership fee, Plano-based Ameriplan allows individuals and families to purchase discounted dental services, vision care, prescription drugs, and more. Ameriplan does no advertising to reach its niche market; instead, the company depends on person-to-person marketing by 70,000 independent sales partners, most of whom work part-time.

Anticipating health coverage changes under the Obama administration, the company has begun diversifying its product line. In July, Dennis says, Ameriplan will introduce legal benefits, an identity theft plan, debt solutions, and emergency roadside assistance. “I try to think at least three to five years out and start working on projects and suggestions about where this company needs to be” he says. —W.L.S.

Avansic Inc.
Gavin W. Manes, Ph.D. 
President and CEO

When the time came to grow his company in 2007, Avansic president and CEO Gavin Manes didn’t accept the first offer of outside financing that came along. “It took almost seven months to find the right investors,” he says. “I wanted people willing to get involved. My two investors sit on the board, meet monthly, and constantly help with guidance.”

As a digital forensics firm, Tulsa, Okla.- based Avansic enables civil litigators to preserve and produce electronic evidence at the center of lawsuits—for example, cases involving theft of intellectual property. Manes’ first challenge was selling to busy lawyers intent on billable hours, since cold-calling proved fruitless.

“We solved that problem by providing continuing legal education certified by state bar associations, where we inform attorneys about rules and issues related to electronically-stored information,” says Manes, a former college professor with four patents in digital forensics. “We do it in the setting of education, which is easy for me and my colleagues who came from an educational setting.”

 Thanks to sage advice—and his investors’ $1 million capital infusion—Manes expanded on the educational marketing strategy and hired expert sales staff to manage client relationships. He credits this strategy with tripling the company’s revenue over the last year to nearly $1 million.  —W.L.S.

The Beryl Cos.
Paul Spiegelman
Founder and CEO

The Beryl Cos. serves hospitals by outsourcing their non-emergency phone calls. When Paul Spiegelman was named CEO in 2000, the company had revenue of $6 million. Spiegelman has increased sales five-fold in the years since, using three key strategies.

First, he focused his team on delivering superior customer service at all patient touch points, and helped hospitals measure marketing results by collecting and analyzing individual patient data. Then he established an employee-focused culture, and seized every opportunity to evangelize about the benefits of this approach in building business success. Finally, he has positioned The Beryl Cos. as a thought leader in the industry with a research and educational arm, The Beryl Institute.

“We turned the traditional call-center model on its head and created a great atmosphere and environment where people enjoy coming to work every day,” Spiegelman says. “We are a premium provider in an otherwise commodity business by design. We chose to differentiate ourselves based on value, not on price.”

Today, the Bedford-based company employs 380 people at its Hurst facility, regularly wins Best Places to Work awards, and generates nearly $35 million in annual revenue. Spiegelman says the company enjoys a client retention rate of 98 percent, with margins 30 percent to 40 percent higher than its competitors.  —W.L.S.

BKM Total Office of Texas
Carol Roehrig 
President

To be successful in a business where profit margins are low and fabrics, paint colors, and laminates change with every job, you have to pay attention to the details, says Carol Roehrig, president of BKM Total Office of Texas.

Recently, Roehrig’s commercial interiors furnishings firm has been focusing on the details of some high-profile projects. At the new Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, BKM has been outfitting more than 300 private suites, while at the Heart Hospital Baylor Plano, BKM furnished the cafeterias, patient treatment rooms, lobbies, and more.

Roehrig purchased BKM in 2002, and by 2008 reported revenue of $43.6 million. Today the Dallas-based company employs nearly 80 people with skills ranging from finance to custom millwork and upholstery. As the economy shifts, Roehrig has proactively directed the company toward new markets and services. She expanded into the health care, hospitality, and education markets, and added a refurbishing division for budget-constrained customers.

“My biggest strength as an entrepreneur is persistence, sticking to it, and working hard to find the solution that will solve any kind of issue,” Roehrig says. “You also have to be well rounded and able to address any area of the company—whether it’s sales, operations, or financial—and give it guidance.”  —W.L.S.

ClubCorp Inc.
Eric Affeldt 
President and CEO

With everyone’s belt getting tighter during the current recession, country clubs face all-time high attrition rates. Yet Eric Affeldt, president and CEO of ClubCorp Inc. since 2006, has reason to smile. The company has sold more private golf memberships year to date than it did during the same time frame last year. “Belonging to a club still provides comfort; the concept of community is still very relevant,” Affeldt says.

Launched over a half-century ago with Brookhaven Country Club in Dallas, Dallas-based ClubCorp today is the world’s largest owner of private recreational, athletic, and dining clubs. It has 160 locations, close to 400,000 members, and more than $2 billion in assets. Keeping ClubCorp relevant to today’s consumers is Affeldt’s primary concern. To better serve them, he introduced shorter golf courses, take-out food options, and healthier menus.

“With 16,000 employees, we have a lot of creative ideas out there,” he says.

One new product offering is not location-specific, but instead packages services into “virtual” clubs for affinity groups. ClubCorp is also expanding, with contracts pending to either purchase or manage additional facilities in Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. “We will continue to be a member-centric business,” Affeldt says. “We like the concept of being exclusive but not exclusionary.”  —W.L.S.