Third Time Charmed
FSB 100—July 2006
AT THE AGE OF 31, JULIE Smolyansky feels like a corporate veteran. In 2002 she took over as the CEO of Lifeway Foods (lifeway.net) after her father died, and she graced our cover two years later when her company debuted at No. 38 on the FSB 100. "I'm old," she jokes. "There's nothing unique about me anymore." Nothing except her love of the band Pearl Jam, her tendency to get carded when buying beer, and her impressive leadership at Lifeway, one of 20 companies to appear on the list three or more years running. (This year it's No. 94.)
Since 2003, Smolyansky's company, maker of a yogurt-like beverage called kefir, has grown revenues 35%, breaking the $20 million mark in 2005. Its growth has slowed somewhat but Smolyansky is positioning the company to make some bold steps. In June, Lifeway launched ProBugs, a line of kefir drinks for kids featuring flavors such as Orange Creamy Crawler, organic ingredients, and spillproof spouts. Also, the company's new headquarters in Morton Grove, III., more than doubles Lifeway's manufacturing space to 175,000 square feet. But no matter how large Lifeway grows, to Smolyansky it's still the family business. "Everyone here is family," she says. "This is truly a passion."
Your money, sooner
Steve Singh may well be the man behind your expense report.
FSB 100—July 2006
(FORTUNE Small Business Magazine) -- Steve Singh, CEO OF Concur Technologies (No. 51), used to file travel and expense reports just like everyone else: late. A former software exec, Singh found the task tedious - everything had to be done by hand, data entered by the accounting department, checks cut weeks later.
In Singh's case, procrastination was the mother of invention: Why not automate expense reports? In 1993 he co-founded Concur (concur.com) in Redmond, Wash., with his brother, Raj, and a partner. Since then its software has become the market leader in online expense filing and reporting, with clients including Dell, Airbus, and some 1,500 small firms.
Singh, 45, is now moving to expand. In early 2006, Concur acquired Outtask, makers of an application to manage corporate travel. Singh hopes to offer clients a way to book all their work travel, expense it, and analyze the data with just a few mouse clicks. It's an acquisition he and his partners hope will be on the money.
