From South Africa to San Francisco: Grant Morris, Founder and CEO of the Payroll Resource Group Makes the Jump Across the Pond and in the Business Wor
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From South Africa to San Francisco: Grant Morris, Founder and CEO of the Payroll Resource Group Makes the Jump Across the Pond and in the Business Wor
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Home Page > Business > From South Africa to San Francisco: Grant Morris, Founder and CEO of the Payroll Resource Group Makes the Jump Across the Pond and in the Business Wor
From South Africa to San Francisco: Grant Morris, Founder and CEO of the Payroll Resource Group Makes the Jump Across the Pond and in the Business Wor
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Posted: Nov 09, 2009 |Comments: 0
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Born and raised in South Africa, Grant attended the University of Cape Town for his undergraduate and postgraduate accounting degrees. Three years after joining Ernst and Young in South Africa, he accepted a transfer to their San Francisco office, never considering it a permanent move. During the 1980’s apartheid era, all South African white males were required by law to serve two years in the military; so if Grant went back, he would have to fulfil that prescribed duty. Not knowing where he would be sent or what he would face became incentive not to return.
Grant earned an American CPA, only to realize that he did not want to do accounting work for the rest of his life. “If your mindset is to grow something and create opportunities for yourself and others, you’re not going to do it in a professional-services firm.” In the late 80’s, he transferred from San Francisco to the Ernst & Young Palo Alto office, then an emerging center for the biotech and life-sciences industries. Grant moved from auditing to consulting, working with companies like Sun Microsystems on their compensation programs, which exposed him to the human-resources side of business. He started viewing businesses entrepreneurially; studying how they grow and develop, while noticing that most emerging companies did not generally have competent human-resources departments needed to expand efficiently. A friend called with an idea to start a business based on outsourcing a company’s payroll, worker’s compensation, human resources and employee benefits by becoming the employer of record (today’s modern PEO model). After looking over the plan, he felt that a better sustainable business model would be to allow small businesses to outsource some or all aspects of their HR functions without given up their status as the employer of record. Today this outsourcing model is know as Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) or Administrative Services Outsourcing (ASO).
Grant and his partner approached many insurance companies and HR consultants for ideas on how to efficiently integrate and deliver payroll, benefits, 401(k)s and flexible-spending plans across multiple small companies. PQMG was formed, with Yahoo becoming one of their many start-up clients. Grant consulted with its CEO, CFO and other venture-capital placed consultants, running their payroll and certain back office functions for 18 months. Yahoo grew too large for the business model, and PQMG could no longer sustain their growth. Unfortunately, the company he founded was no longer running smoothly, was not able to adapt to the changing technology environment, and its partners differed on business ethics and best practices. “It’s almost like a marriage-some work out, some don’t. You figure out what doesn’t work so you don’t repeat those mistakes the next time around.” Their partnership ended acrimoniously in litigation, but became the catalyst for Grant’s own payroll company, the Payroll Resource Group (PRG), launched in 1996.
Always planning ahead financially, he knew how much money he had to spend, right down to each week and day. At the time, his personal expenses were minimal and he could focus more resources on the business. It took three years to generate enough money to invest and build infrastructure, adding employees one by one. “It’s not a quick way of growing a business, but it’s safe.” He took the time to develop the company the way he wanted and that would be most profitable in the long run.
Business boomed during the dot-com explosion in the late nineties; the company cast out a net and pulled in more fish than they could handle at once, as Grant puts it. Their revenue increased, but so did their costs, and as the dot-com industry began to wane, so did PRG’s rapid business growth. He was approached by a Singapore company expanding to the United States, and PRG was sold, becoming a subsidiary of Integral Systems. He stayed on as the CEO in charge of growing the company. It grew, but never reached the size needed for a public offering. In 2006, directions were given to sell the successful Integral Systems as well as PRG. Grant and some local investors ultimately ended up controlling PRG once again.
Since taking charge, PRG has seen significant growth, free from a foreign parent company. Business has doubled in the last three years, currently employing over 20 people. They process approximately billion in payroll annually for about 500 clients. The only aspect he dislikes about such a business is the indecision. As he explains, people fear making mistakes that call attention to themselves, so they pass decisions to those higher up the chain. “To really grow and empower people, employees have to make the decisions.” After working with an undesirable partner, he realizes that “giving somebody your trust when they haven’t earned it can be a fatal mistake, and not giving someone your trust when they have earned it is likewise a fatal mistake.”
Grant avoids taking on equity partners or sharing stock options unless absolutely necessary; instead, he gathers motivated employees for his company. With their loyal group of employees and clients, Payroll Resource Group is consistently profitable. He continues to actively enhance PRG’s reputation, working within the local community and giving back to worthy causes and growing the company at a steady pace that can benefit everyone involved. “Best of all, when I look back, I can see how PRG’s consistent success has been sustained by me being lucky enough to have a supportive spouse and family and our strong desire to better our lives and those of our employees.”
The results speak for themselves.
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