This interview took place in 2009 with Jeff Russell. “Easy Office” is now called Jitasa.
Jeff Russell submitted a plan for Easy Office to our competition in 2008.
Easy Office is a social venture providing affordable finance, accounting, and bookkeeping services to non-profits nationwide. jitasagroup.com Since entering the WJF competition, we have grown explosively. We have clients in 16 states, about 100 clients, and 18 staff. In fact, the WJF is a client! We’re adding about 10 clients per month and 3-4 staff per month. Easy Office benefits our clients by saving them money and providing them with ready access to accurate financial information. Our unique business model – shared service center in affordable Boise, Idaho – allows us to provide a very high quality solution at an affordable price. Our singular focus on non-profits big and small allows us to provide the attention that nonprofits deserve and understand the unique requirements of nonprofits.
The planning for Easy Office began in earnest in 2006. For two years during business school we had the luxury of doing market testing, thinking, getting feedback, planning and more planning. I say “luxury” because it really was. Now that we are 1.5 years into the plan, it is remarkable how accurate our plan is.
We entered the WJF competition and made the semi-finals, but not the finals. The judge’s feedback was helpful in helping us shape our message, and their feedback was thrown in the blender with the hundreds of other data points that we accumulated in our years of planning. We are currently looking for patient socially minded investors who believe in our mission and want to help us grow the awareness of our service throughout new regions of the country.