Justin Grooms first launched Chariot Consulting LLC after working for a major insurance carrier in Atlanta after finishing graduate school at Murray State University in Kentucky, his native state.
He realized rather quickly that he had an interest in different types of businesses and enjoyed talking to the people who run them.
“I knew then that I did not want to be confined to only working on the insurance risks and that at some point I would need to go out on my own in order to be able to consistently deliver on some of the more robust services that my team and I currently offer,” Groom wrote in an email to the Business Journal.
Groom founded Chariot, which provides consulting, employee and management training and other human resources services, in the Atlanta area in 2010. He closed it down in 2018 when he moved to California to take a job with a Valley-based insurance brokerage firm. He restarted Chariot in Woodland Hills as its managing partner in 2019.
What’s the best aspect of running your own business?
The best thing about the business that I run is helping owners solve problems that are stifling their growth. There is nothing like helping people continue to grow their business and in the process provide for their families, employ people who can in turn provide for their families, and continue to be an asset to their community.
And the worst?
The worst thing about running a business is that there is no such thing as “time off.” It sometimes gets hard to separate business from everyday life, particularly when you are really passionate about what you do.
What advice would you give someone who’s about to start their own business?
Make sure you are doing it for the right reasons. The purpose behind why it is that you do what you do will sustain you through lean times, because there will be lean times. Also, understand the difference between running a business and being self-employed. Businesses need to scale, and if you really want to run a viable business you will need to attack it with the mindset to scale. Finally, establish goals, design KPIs (key performance indicators), measure, and repeat.
What’s the biggest challenge your business has faced? And how did you deal with it?
We are still a young company, but to this point I think one of the biggest challenges has been narrowing down our services. We like to believe that we can do it all. While there are a great deal of things that we are great at, it’s important to understand where limitations are, specifically as it pertains to the investment of time. What we have done to deal with that is establish a network of service providers that we can lean on to supplement our offerings.
Has the pandemic affected your business?
I actually relaunched this business at the height of the pandemic. I did it primarily because there were businesses who needed my help. I developed really solid connections with clients as a result of what we all went through together during the pandemic.
Has being Black affected your business?
Being Black has been one of the most positive things in my life. Growing up how I grew up and where I grew up is why I am who I am and why I can relate to people from all walks of life. My mother told me at a young age that I would need to work harder, be smarter, and be more determined in order to accomplish my dreams. It lit a fire under me that hasn’t yet died out.
Do you think you’ll ever start another business?
Yes, I have so many interests. I am currently a published author a couple of times over, an active public speaker, and am very involved in the nonprofit space. There are several initiatives around these areas that I am working on. So, I am certain that businesses will spawn from one or more of these areas of interest.