Success leaves clues. Finance Strategists sat down with Brian Krisanskil, Founder of ExcelSuperSite. He shared his thoughts on the past, present, and future of the company, as well as the insights he has gained from running the business. Q: Who are you and what’s your background? My name is Brian Krisanski and I have a degree in Engineering (Civil), a Certificate in Project Management, and a Master's of Information Technology. I have worked for large local Governments as well as state governments and also for private sector companies. Back in 2015, the company I was working for went into voluntary administration. I decided it was time to start doing something different and make a change for myself. I started ExcelSuperSite and have been working as an Excel Specialist/Consultant since that time. Q: Who has been your biggest influence, and why did they have such a significant effect on you? This was difficult for me to answer as I don’t have a single biggest influencer that I look up to. I guess when it comes down to it, this may sound a bit cliché, but my mum was definitely someone whom I loved dearly (sadly she is no longer with us) and always looked up to and admired. She was always the “rock” in my life. So no matter what was happening, she was always there and I could count on her. Q: Knowing what you know now, what advice would you have given your younger self? Buy Bitcoin when it was less than $1 a coin !!! haha Don’t wait so long to get out of the “corporate” world and work for myself. Like a lot of others, I know I found myself being “comfortable” in the corporate roles/jobs I had, and I should have taken the “leap” much earlier on in my life and started working on side-hustles/my consulting business much sooner than I actually did. Q: What is ExcelSuperSite? ExcelSuperSite consists of 2 main components – a website that shares tips, tricks, and practical knowledge to help Microsoft Excel users do the things they want to do in their spreadsheets, and a consultancy service that allows us to create, develop and enhance spreadsheet solutions for our clients. Q: What separates ExcelSuperSite from its competitors? The information we share and the solutions we develop for our clients is based on thousands of hours of real-life practical experience. Hence the advice we give, we know works and saves our clients time and money. We have put in the “hard yards” so to speak, so our clients don’t have to. Q: What led you to start ExcelSuperSite? I have a very logical way of thinking, so I naturally found working with IT, computers, and software to come naturally to me. It didn’t take long in the corporate roles I had, for me to soon become the “local” computer go-to guy to fix issues and problems other co-workers were experiencing. A lot of the projects I was working on saw me “pushing” the limits of what the software I was using at the time could do. When I had an issue and got stuck with something and approached the IT departments at the time for help, I soon realized that what I was wanting/needing to do was generally above the capabilities of those staff members and that I was actually the “expert” in using those pieces of software within the company. This made it tough sometimes to come up with solutions, but I usually ended up finding ways to do what I needed. Moving into the private sector and through some unfortunate set of circumstances around 2015, the company I was working for ended up going into voluntary administration. Nothing like a company closing its doors to give you the “kick up the pants” you need to make a change in your life. So with having a bit of a “payout” behind me to support myself and my family, I decided to take the chance, took the leap, and started ExcelSuperSite. Q: What has the experience of building the business taught you? Having the technical knowledge of whatever it is you do is only a small component of actually running a business. Do not overlook the marketing, sales, and administration sides of a business as without these, no matter how well you know “your stuff,” if you can’t market or sell your ideas, your business will struggle to survive. Q: Where do you see things headed for you and the company in the next five years? ExcelSuperSite is a small, specialized company that provides unique solutions for clients. We thrive in that small to medium-sized business environment. We like being the size we are. We have the ability to be agile and pivot simply and easily with market trends. We have no plans of being a large multi-national conglomerate, but rather stick to what we know well and provide excellent values to our customers. For more information, visit ExcelSuperSite.com
Introduction
Who is Brian Krisanski?
Business
True Tamplin is a published author, public speaker, CEO of UpDigital, and founder of Finance Strategists.
True is a Certified Educator in Personal Finance (CEPF®), author of The Handy Financial Ratios Guide, a member of the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing, contributes to his financial education site, Finance Strategists, and has spoken to various financial communities such as the CFA Institute, as well as university students like his Alma mater, Biola University, where he received a bachelor of science in business and data analytics.
To learn more about True, visit his personal website or view his author profiles on Amazon, Nasdaq and Forbes.
