Breakthrough in Business Growth

As published in the Winter 2007, Vol. 5 , No. 1 issue of the Michigan Business Report," www.michigan.org

Companies with a focus on growth need to have a solid drive and top-notch people to make it happen. For companies that want to grow fast, having Christophe Sevrain on their team is a big competitive advantage.

Sevrain is founder and CEO of CJPS Enterprises in Bloomfield Hills. A native of France, he moved to the United States in 1981 and attended the University of California, Berkeley. From there he stayed in the United States and began building a sterling executive career. He found his greatest strength was in building companies and implementing growth strategies. After serving in executive-level positions for a wide range of health and technology companies, including his own start-ups, he founded CJPS Enterprises, LLC in 2000, putting his unique expertise out for hire.

SEVRAIN: I really was very entrepreneurial. I was more interested in the higher growth companies, small or big. Or at least those that wanted high growth. Because of that I thought there was something I could provide here to assist other companies to get started or start growing at a higher pace. So I have done that. My style is very hands-on because I don't come from the consulting industry. I come at it having been a CEO or a senior executive for years. Still, I am doing the actual work with the team rather than just giving advice.

CJPS Enterprises builds custom growth strategies depending on the size of a company and its stage in development. Small companies may turn to CJPS Enterprises to obtain funding or set up a strategic alliance, while larger companies may be seeking growth through an acquisition or assistance in the implementation of their business plan. Sevrain is with them every step of the way, from making the right contacts to leading them through the process and assisting with integration. Others may be seeking to license new technologies, establish distribution channels or outsource manufacturing. Through CJPS Enterprises, companies get a fresh perspective on their best courses of action.

SEVRAIN: The biggest mistake people make-small, big, it doesn't matter-is to be too internally focused. We try to bring in some kind of breakthrough thinking so they can get breakthrough growth. Sometimes coming from the outside we see it better. The world is a lot bigger outside the company than inside, so there are going to be some good ideas out there. That's a culture change-a change in the way they look at where best ideas come from. And it's not always internal. A lot of companies are very successful not being so vertically integrated, instead by partnering with other companies so that each focuses on what it does best, rather than trying to do everything itself.

Sevrain commits completely to his clients. In April of 2004, he put his consulting practice on hold to become managing director of Delphi Medical Systems Corporation. He resigned from that position in January of 2006 to resume his role at CJPS Enterprises. But in less than two years, Delphi Medical had grown from having no revenues to having hundreds of millions of dollars in bookings, and the original employee count of nine was now almost 400.

The state of Michigan has recognized Sevrain's expertise and retained CJPS Enterprises as a sub-contractor for the Life Sciences Pipeline portion of the 21st Century Jobs Fund initiative administered by the MEDC. The Pipeline serves to network Michigan's life sciences companies with vendors of related products and services. State funding allows participants of the program to have access to CJPS Enterprises' consulting at a discounted rate.

SEVRAIN: Our role is really to generate deal flow to interested Michigan businesses. So if a company is looking to expand or grow and be better connected, our role is to help them with the strategies-basically what we do with everybody else, but specifically for the state of Michigan and companies within the state of Michigan. We are very focused on that. This focus on Michigan is fun because I live in Michigan. The more jobs we can create around here that have to do with medical devices and life sciences, the better for me too. Plus, being an agent of change is really what drives me.

For Sevrain, success in business growth comes not just from creating jobs, but creating a valuable company. Sevrain is an internationally renowned deal maker and retains a valuable network of contacts-one of his company's biggest assets.

SEVRAIN: We're not brokers. As a rule, we do not get a percentage of a deal. Some people get a commission if a deal happens, or they get ownership or shares of stock-a piece of the action. If we did that, we would lose our credibility to the people we're trying to connect to. Instead, we say "look, we have this technology that we are trying to bring to market for our client and you have two choices. You can have it and help your company, or you can compete with it. But it's in our hands now, and it's going to be on the market." Based on our track record, they look hard at it before they say no.

Another unique aspect of Sevrain's business philosophy is his ability to decline a job if he does not feel it is a good fit for his services.

SEVRAIN: If somebody calls me tomorrow and says "we want to grow our business five percent a year," I'm the wrong guy for that. What we want to do is create breakthrough changes in the company to make it go in whatever direction they want to go. Fast. I've been called an "agent of change" within the companies I worked for, but it is really exciting to jump into a new assignment, make it happen for them, work with them and then move on to something else. We are not known to be engaged for the long term. The beauty of what we do is that it must be short term that we can assist them in obtaining results quickly.

Sevrain's driving passion is creating business growth. He's not interested in the spotlight.

SEVRAIN: What drives me is really trying to make a difference. It seems to always go back to creating jobs. It's fun to create jobs, create growth, create wealth and so at the end we have better products on the market. Even though my name is rarely mentioned-because I'm not on the management team of the company, just trying to be an enabler-it's fun to watch it and say to yourself, "I had something to do with this."

At the end of the day when the assignment is finished and you can look at the product on the market, or you can see the fruit of what you have done-a company was struggling and maybe had to shrink and all of a sudden you see them hiring-that's really rewarding.

It is that sense for growth potential that gives Sevrain an optimistic and excited outlook for Michigan. His expertise lies in creating explosive growth, and that is just what the state is looking for. CJPS Enterprises' direct involvement in the Life Sciences Pipeline provides him the opportunity to make it happen on a large scale within our state.

SEVRAIN: From everything I see in the state and all the activity that's going on, it's clear there is a focus on diversifying Michigan into more industries than just automotive. The healthcare industry is one of them, of course. An important one. If we could become a magnet for life sciences companies, that would be a welcome breakthrough-that would make a difference. And I want to be part of that because I think it's doable. We have everything here and we need to make it happen.