Casey Kinsey, the founder and president of Lofty Labs, laughed that he feels like a businessman now.
Lofty Labs, a Web development consultancy, moved in late October to a third-floor space at 1 E. Center Street on the downtown Fayetteville Square. Lofty Labs is now one floor above Startup Junkie Consulting, Jeff Amerine’s firm, and a stone’s throw from John James’ Hayseed Ventures.
“What is really nice is we’re right next to Startup Junkie,” Kinsey said. “We moved right into the tech hotspot. I see the square as being the tech hotspot of northwest Arkansas. It’s a startup alley.”
The location is good for Lofty Labs because Kinsey said a lot of startups don’t have the software development skills or the money to pay staffers who do. Lofty Labs can serve as a third-party contractor for companies and now they are easier to find.
Kinsey said the company also needed to move just to have a little more space. Lofty Labs actually didn’t move that far or change streets since it was renting a 200-SF space at 31 E. Center.
The slowly growing success of Lofty Labs — which, as it turns out, is exactly how Kinsey wants it — required the move. Kinsey said he currently has two full-time employees (one is himself) and four contractors, but he expects to expand his employee base by the start of 2016.
Kinsey said his contractors — one of whom is full time — generally work from home or somewhere else, but Lofty Labs needed a bigger space to host meetings and clients.
“The old space was just my brother [Cody] and I sharing an office,” Kinsey said. “I’m bringing in more people and I need more space. It’s nice to get everyone in the office every couple of weeks to have meetings and do planning.”
Kinsey can’t talk specifics but Lofty Labs is close to signing a new client he expects will require him to hire several full-time contractors. He said it could triple his company’s revenues, not that he is hung up on revenues anyway.
Kinsey said his goal to have Lofty Labs generate $750,000 in revenue in 2016 but he doesn’t have big dreams of private jets and caviar lunches.
“If it got to $10 million in revenue, that’s about as far as I’d be interested in taking it,” Kinsey said.
