EXCERPTED FROM CRAIN'S CHICAGO BUSINESS:
April 11, 2005
http://www.crainschicago.com/
No more dull boy
After graduating from Northern Illinois
University with a double major in journalism and marketing,
Michael Nikolich
put in a 10-year stint at Selz Seabolt & Associates Inc.,
a Chicago public relations agency, where he ran the firm's
advanced technology practice. (Selz Seabolt was acquired in
2000.) He left in 1993, charging $75,000 on credit cards to
start his own firm, Tech Image. Today the Buffalo Grove company
employs 15 PR account reps and bills $2 million a year. But
Mr. Nikolich, 47, still finds time to play golf, attend rock
concerts and coach his daughters' soccer team.
HOW I . . . HAVE A PERSONAL LIFE
Michael Nikolich , 47
President, CEO, Tech Image Ltd.
My life at Selz was miserable because I tried to juggle too
much. I would get up at 5:30 in the morning, catch a 6:30 train
into the city, and then not get home until 8 or 9 at night.
I had no life, no time for exercise and I didn't feel healthy.
My back ached all the time. My marriage was suffering.
Things weren't much different when I first started my own
business. I was working 15 to 20 hours a day to get established.
But around 1996 I realized that the business had become stable.
I began to experiment with shorter hours and even taking days
off during the week.
A light bulb switched on: I had been working hard, but sloppy.
If you learn to delegate responsibilities to the right people,
you can actually accomplish more in fewer hours. I worked with
outside consultants who showed me how to enjoy life more. For
the first time, I got back a balance in my life, and I extended
that to my employees.
I also learned that if I don't show up for two weeks, my business
can run fine without me. Many business owners never accept
that idea, but I have. Working 15 hours a day no longer impresses
me.
I play golf every Friday afternoon now, usually with employees
or clients. Golf was something I never used to have time
for. Now I also play on weekends and spend some of my lunch
hours Monday through Thursday practicing at a local driving
range. When business fell off for a while after the tech
wreck of 2000, I got my handicap to an all-time low of 15.
I figured if business was going to be bad for awhile, I'd
work at doing something else well.
I play racquetball twice a week at lunchtime at a nearby gym.
I work out five days a week in my basement on an elliptical
cross-trainer. I also bike three times a week. I haven't had
back problems since 1997.
Two years ago I took up the piano. I practice about 15 minutes
a day and I'm making slow progress. I also have a Fender Stratocaster
guitar and fool around with that. Music has been a major influence
in my life since I listened to the Beatles late at night on
WLS radio as a pre-teen. On weekends I'll go to Park West and
the Vic and other clubs to see bands like Dream Academy, Style
Council and Golden Earring. I'm often the oldest guy in these
places, but that doesn't bother me.
I went on my first cruise a year ago with my wife and brought
tapes along with me to learn how to trade stock options. I
began trading options as soon as I got home. I'm amazed when
I interview people for employment here and they tell me they
don't have hobbies. How can you have no hobbies?
H. Lee Murphy
Photo by
John R. Boehm
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