Greg Frazier doesn't see himself equally as an entrepreneur and a craftsman. It's why he is taking a slow-food approach to his accounting business,
Greg Frazier, CPA.
The 22-year-old business is based out of Frazier's home in Detroit's
Russell Woods neighborhood on the city's northwest side. His company, of which he is the only employee, helps small businesses incorporate more software into their accounting practices.
"Think of me as an intellectual craftsman," Frazier says. "I ply my craft to help my clients."
Frazier got his start as a independent contractor working software for big companies. The Cincinnati native came to Detroit in 1979 to do work for GM. He saw the projects as interesting but not challenging, so he got a Masters in Accounting from Walsh College and launched Greg Frazier, CPA in the early 1980s.
Since then it has been a one-man operation focused on staying at the cutting edge of technology and customer satisfaction. Frazier wants to keep it that way. He has no intention of hiring or trying to aggressively grow his business.
"That is very overplayed," Frazier says.
Frazier's business could easily be done from anywhere in the U.S., but he chooses to stay in Detroit because of the quality of life to which he has grown accustomed. For instance, he enjoys riding his bike from his Russell Woods home to the Detroit Riverwalk and around Belle Isle. He also helped his daughter and her new husband buy a home near his in Russell Woods to facilitate their move from New York City to Detroit.
"We are Detroiters 100 percent," Frazier says.
Source: Greg Frazier, owner of Greg Frazier, CPA
Writer: Jon Zemke
Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
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