FRUIT OF LABOR; APPLEONE SOARS HIGH AMONG STAFFING FIRMS.Byline: Deborah Adamson Daily News Staff Writer Crammed into the mini-fridge of Bernard Howroyd's executive office are cans of Diet Pepsi Diet Pepsi is a low-calorie carbonated cola, introduced in 1964 as a variant of Pepsi-Cola with no sugar. Its current formula in the United States contains only the artificial sweetener aspartame, but the current Canadian formulation contains both aspartame (124mg/355ml) and . They are stacked vertically, sideways and every other way to get as many cans into the fridge as possible. ``It was on sale,'' explains Howroyd matter-of-factly. Considering Howroyd's status as founder, president and chief executive of a multimillion-dollar company, it may seem odd that he cares whether his favorite soda comes $2.50 a six pack or out of a vending machine vending machine, coin-operated, automatic device for selling goods. Many vending machines are capable of making change, and some of the more sophisticated ones accept paper money or credit cards. for 75 cents a pop. But then, that's the way Howroyd's always been. The 64-year-old former salesman drives an 11-year-old car, doesn't have a personal secretary and flies coach when he travels. He could probably upgrade to first class if he wanted, considering his company is AppleOne Employment Services Inc., a staffing company with 207 offices in North America North America, third largest continent (1990 est. pop. 365,000,000), c.9,400,000 sq mi (24,346,000 sq km), the northern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. that's expected to pull in more than $400 million this year. But such frugality is merely wise to Howroyd, a self-made man self-made man n → hombre que ha triunfado por su propio esfuerzo self-made man n → self-made man m self-made man n → with a hardscrabble hard·scrab·ble adj. Earning a bare subsistence, as on the land; marginal: the sharecropper's hardscrabble life. n. Barren or marginal farmland. Adj. 1. childhood growing up in the northern England Northern England, The North or North of England is a rather ill-defined term, with no universally accepted definition. Its extent may be subject to personal opinion and many companies or organisations have differing definitions as to what it constitutes. town of Leeds. ``The biggest mistake people make - and I've always been what's classified as cheap - when they start a business, they say we've got to put a good front up so we need to have a good desk, good chairs, and I'm the president of the company so I really should have a decent car. I've got to have this image,'' he said. ``Then they go broke because they don't realize what they have to do is start at the base and then slowly build it.'' Build it he did. Earlier this year, the accounting firm of Ernst & Young awarded him the Entrepreneur of the Year in Business Services award for his achievements. ``They're a strong competitor in California,'' said Theresa Daly, executive editor of The Staffing Industry Report, a trade publication based in Los Altos Los Altos (lôs ăl`tōs, lŏs), residential city (1990 pop. 26,303), Santa Clara co., W Calif.; inc. 1952. There is diversified light manufacturing. . The company is one of the larger players in an $88 billion industry where only 93 firms make more than $100 million in annual sales, she said. Not bad for a kid who wasn't considered college material by the British. When he was 14, Howroyd stopped school after he flunked an exam that would have allowed him to attend a university in England. So he started working a variety of odd jobs odd jobs npl → chapuzas fpl odd jobs npl → petits travaux divers odd jobs odd npl → : unpacking frozen rabbits for a butcher, selling eggs from chickens he raised and peddling vegetables he grew in his own garden. ``I've always been inclined to make a buck,'' Howroyd recalled. When he was in his early 20s, he and a friend set out with 50 pounds in their pockets - the equivalent of $200 back then - to see the world. They worked their way through 26 countries, selling everything from siding to encyclopedias to get by. They covered almost every continent, descending on exotic ports stretching from Hong Kong Hong Kong (hŏng kŏng), Mandarin Xianggang, special administrative region of China, formerly a British crown colony (2005 est. pop. 6,899,000), land area 422 sq mi (1,092 sq km), adjacent to Guangdong prov. to Bombay, America to Australia. But he came back to Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, in 1960 because of ``the three W's: weather, wine and women,'' Howroyd said unabashedly un·a·bashed adj. 1. Not disconcerted or embarrassed; poised. 2. Not concealed or disguised; obvious: unabashed disgust. . It was a woman that made him start a Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. employment agency in 1964. He met her at a dance club. She detested de·test tr.v. de·test·ed, de·test·ing, de·tests To dislike intensely; abhor. [French détester, from Latin d the employment agency for which she worked, so he offered to start his own firm and hire her. ``Actually, I would say I was drunk. I wasn't just a little bit tipsy,'' he said, winking. ``The more beers I drank, the better she looked.'' But his inebriation inebriation /in·e·bri·a·tion/ (in-e?bre-a´shun) drunkenness; intoxication with, or as if with, alcohol. in·e·bri·a·tion n. The condition of being intoxicated, as with alcohol. didn't veil the possible business opportunity before him. With $3,178 in savings, he opened an office in Hollywood with mismatched desks, folding chairs and telephones. But with no experience in the industry, he almost went out of business. Remembering those dark days, Howroyd opened a desk drawer and pulled out a battered, brown pass book from Wilshire Federal Savings & Loan Association of Los Angeles that showed his funds dwindling dwin·dle v. dwin·dled, dwin·dling, dwin·dles v.intr. To become gradually less until little remains. v.tr. To cause to dwindle. See Synonyms at decrease. to $5.94. ``It reminds me of where I used to be, and it makes me enjoy more where I am,'' he said simply. But he made his first personnel placement before he became penniless pen·ni·less adj. 1. Entirely without money. 2. Very poor. See Synonyms at poor. pen  ni·less·ly adv. . In 1969, he entered the temporary employee market, and the rest, as they say, is history. Today, the privately held Glendale firm is growing quickly, about 100 percent in revenues and 200 percent in branch locations over the last two years. AppleOne is profitable and debt-free, the company says. In a period of low unemployment, the company is recruiting creatively. It opened offices inside Wal-Mart stores, targeted people of retirement age who wish to work and hooked up with Glendale Federal Bank to offer businesses a free temp for a day with a low-interest loan. AppleOne has attracted 975 new clients through this joint promotion. Also, the company's Colorado office taps welfare recipients while its Texas recruiters help battered women at women's shelters find jobs. Nationwide, staffing services firms are using creative ways to find recruits that include advertising in newsletters and playbills, offering job training for free and holding career building workshops, said Steve Berchem, spokesman for the National Association of Temporary and Staffing Services in Virginia. Obstacles like a scarce supply of workers aren't troubling for Howroyd, who has set his sights on making $1 billion in annual revenue by December 2000. He credits his success to his outlook on life, hard work and the ability to see possibilities where others see problems. ``Wealth is very funny. It's how you think you are, you are,'' he said. ``I always believed I was going to succeed. It was a matter of time, and it was.'' Howroyd believes in the power of positive thinking. Writing ``+'' and ``-'' on a piece of paper, he placed a pen in between them. At every moment, each person can choose to think positive thoughts or negative thoughts, he said, pointing the pen toward the mathematical symbols respectively. ``You can take your mind everywhere you wish to take it,'' he said. Howroyd's ambitions led him to America, which he has embraced as his home. He lives in the posh Rolling Hills Rolling hills are like a mountain chain, only a "hill chain" of hills that roll on and on continually. You will often find them in between plains and mountains, near major rivers, or randomly anywhere. The only places without rolling hills are deserts and flood plains. area of Palos Verdes with his wife, who owns her own employment agency, and two children. Howroyd's goal? Turning AppleOne into a household word. ``You go to Wal-Mart for a deal, Shell for your oil, McDonald's for a hamburger, get your Kodak film and then go to AppleOne for a job. That is what I'm looking toward,'' he said. Reflecting on his life, the entrepreneur without a college degree is glad he failed the university exam. ``I'm glad I didn't pass because if I had, I'd be making $50,000 as a bank manager, wouldn't I?'' he surmised. TOP U.S. STAFFING FIRMS Rank Company '97 revenues 1. Adecco $7.9 billion 2. Manpower $7.3 billion 3. Olsten $4.1 billion 4. Kelly Services $3.85 billion 5. Randstad $3.5 billion 39. AppleOne $383 million SOURCE: Staffing Industry Report CAPTION(S): chart, photo Photo: (color) Bernard Howroyd has watched the AppleOne Employment Services top $400 million in annual sales. Chart: Top U.S. staffing firms (see text) |
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