By REBECCA GO
The Daily Transcript
For Steve Bond, building a positive brand is important, both in his career and on a personal level. The executive vice president at local accounting and software services firm TAG works to ensure that his company lives up to its name and promise in delivering quality service while developing quality relationships. TAG provides outsourced accounting, accounting software and high-net-worth family accounting.“It focuses on relieving a business owner of noncore competencies,” said Bond, 36, who prior to joining TAG oversaw business development for human resource outsourcing company Administaff. “If you have quality vendors managing noncore competencies,then you can focus on running a business.”
Bond joined TAG in 2006 as managing director of TAG subsidiary Next Stage Software, and subsequently led the company to become one of the top accounting and operations Sage software value-added resellers in San Diego.Founded 14 years ago as two separate companies — The Accounting Group and Next Stage Software
— TAG is no newcomer to the marketplace, but it was only a few years ago that Bond and founder Rob Scherer worked to rebrand the company and shape TAG into what it is today. The management team merged the disparate companies, acquired a handful of additional companies and implemented an employee stock ownership plan, awarding stock options to its employees.“Rebranding may be an understatement,” Bond said. “It was a shift in the business model.” Bond says he’s happy with the results: a cohesive, growing, employee- owned company with a unified value proposition and a positive culture. He added that he could see the possibility of a profitable exit in five years and pointed to the billion-dollar success of Administaff as an example of an outsourcing model that worked. “I really love what we’re doing,” Bond said. “I really believe it can impact companies, and I really believe it can be something that can be considered a new standard.” Over the past year, Bond has shifted more of his attention to community involvement. Already an active member of the downtown Rotary Club, MIT Enterprise Forum, Software Industry Council and Execs San Diego, Bond joined the board of Promises2Kids in April 2009. Promises2Kids is a local nonprofit that fights child abuse and neglect in the region.
For Bond, helping others is the bottom line — and in a society where it’s hard to live in anonymity, it plays a part in building a positive personal brand. Bond notes that he has a sign on his wall that encourages him to aid a prospective client and make an introduction that benefits a friend. “I try to check those boxes every day,” Bond said. “The way I try to build relationships is by helping other people.”
