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Secrets to Success as an Entrepreneur with Greg Campbell
Greg Campbell, an entrepreneur, community leader, and founder of two successful commercial furniture companies headquartered in Richmond, Virginia–Open Plan Systems and Smarter Interiors joins Enterprise Radio.
Listen to host Eric Dye & guest Greg Campbell discuss the following:
- You have started or co-founded two successful companies, Open Plan Systems and Smarter Interiors, in the commercial furniture industry. Tell me about your background and how you decided to found two companies.
- Tell me about your company, Smarter Interiors, what you do and the types of clients you have?
- You started both companies in a recessionary environment. What lessons have you learned from this type of environment?
- Have you always been an entrepreneur and what characteristics do you believe are necessary to be successful and what stumbling blocks should you be aware of?
- Is there a secret to your personal success or a piece of advice you have always remembered, one that might apply to budding entrepreneurs today?
Duration: 7:51
Greg Campbell, president of Richmond, Virginia headquartered Smarter Interiors, is an entrepreneur, community volunteer and one of the founding principals of Smarter Interiors. He has spent most of his professional career specializing in new and recycled furniture for corporate offices and healthcare facilities throughout the United States. A Clifton Forge, Virginia native, Campbell graduated from Virginia Tech in 1979. He began his career as an Account Executive and Sales Manager at former Richmond furniture dealership Morton Marks & Sons, where he honed his skill at always being completely in step with his clients needs.
In 1990, during a recession, Campbell and Richmond business titan Stan Fischer co-founded Open Plan Systems, where they remanufactured office cubicles to a like new condition at a fraction of the original price. Campbell was the Executive Vice President and served on the Board of Directors. The company was actually “green” before it was in vogue. OPS grew very rapidly—beyond their wildest imagination and soon they were opening offices cities throughout the United States. In 1995 Greg relocated to Chicago to establish a mid-west presence for Open Plan Systems. By that time, Open Plan had grown to the point where they decided to take the company public. Once OPS went public, the company started in a different direction than Campbell envisioned, so he decided to leave the company and take a few years off to enjoy his bachelor life in Chicago.
He returned to Richmond in 2000 when the country was once again in a recession and founded Smarter Interiors, a commercial furniture dealership. In 2001, his longtime friend and business partner Randy Alderson joined him in the business. Despite the significant downturn in the commercial real estate market, Smarter Interiors has experienced steady growth. With the fall of the commercial real estate market, by changing the company’s focus from the private to the public sector, Smarter Interiors’ has experienced significant, triple digit growth in the last several years. Campbell’s success is attributed to his extensive business and industry experience, entrepreneurial spirit, consultative approach, and service as a top priority.
Today, Smarter Interiors has a staff that includes interior designers, space planners, and an installation team second to none. The company has clients across the country in a wide variety of industries to include Fortune 500 companies, healthcare, manufacturing, professional services, performing arts, and local, state and the federal government.
Greg is a member of the International Facility Management Association and a member of the Board of Directors and Program Chair for the Greater Richmond Association for Commercial Real Estate.
Links: www.smarterinteriors.com
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