Winning Ideas from Winning Women
with Sepi Asefnia

Sepi Asefnia, President of SEPI Engineering Group, Inc., was recently named 2006 N.C. Small Business Person of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and represented our state at National Small Business Week in Washington, D.C., April 12-13.

This latest award is an indication of just how far Sepi has come. Born in Tehran, Iran, the youngest of three children, Sepi’s was not raised in a traditional Iranian family. Her parents made the decision to send her brother, her sister, and Sepi to the U.S. to attend college. Shortly after their departure, Iran went through an unexpected change in government. With the revolution, the Shah was deposed and Khomeini took power. This event changed the country and Sepi’s life (and the life of all Iranians) forever. During this time Sepi’s father passed away, and Sepi and her siblings were unable to see their mother again until many years later. Keeping her mind on her goals, Sepi finished her degree in Biological and Agricultural Engineering at North Carolina State University (NCSU) and went to work for the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT).

Sepi’s career choice was not exactly a conventional one for a woman, but she went into engineering because she had an interest and talent in the field. While working at NCDOT, Sepi gained experience in traffic engineering and highway design, which she enjoyed so much that she returned to NCSU, earned her civil engineering degree and became a licensed Professional Engineer (PE). Running her own business had always been her dream, so with much encouragement from her family and friends, Sepi opened SEPI Engineering Group in May, 2001.

Sepi Asefnia

Sepi has faced some challenges operating a woman-owned firm in the engineering industry, because it is non-traditional work for women. Sepi says she has to work harder and produce a better product than most male engineers. She has had to prove that she can do the work and that SEPI Engineering Group can be successful. “Women do not have the same networking and established relationships that men have in this field,” Sepi says. “In engineering, men are the decision makers, so it continues to be a challenge to overcome this gap.”

Research shows that only three percent of all women-owned businesses generate $1 million plus in annual revenues, so Sepi is among a very select group. Her advice for women who want to grow their business revenues is to “define your vision early on, do your research thoroughly, stay aware at all times of the company’s financial status, and network with your peers.” Sepi believes that joining an organization such as the Women Presidents’ Organization (WPO) is highly beneficial.

Sepi’s biggest obstacle has always been managing cash flow. Her banker provided her a line of credit, and Sepi made sure that client invoices were paid in a timely manner so she could pay her employees and still have working capital. “In civil engineering, you always have to juggle your staff and your workload, and this sometimes means working extra hours to avoid hiring staff that you will not be able to keep busy later on,” Sepi says.

Sepi identifies the workload and financial needs for at least a year in advance, but says she still makes mistakes. One day after not getting paid for almost 120 days, Sepi realized that one of her major contracts allowed the owners to wait as long as six months to pay her. “Believe me; I cleared up that problem right away!” Sepi says. “Succeeding in business does not mean that you will never make mistakes. You learn by trial and error, and you have to believe in yourself and be willing to take risks.”

Sepi has won so many awards, I asked her, “What is the secret to your success and what makes SEPI Engineering so special?”

Her response was humble: “Success is not a sprint—it is a marathon. At SEPI, we constantly work to improve our products and services. We tailor our solutions to the specific needs of the client, with an emphasis on controlling construction costs, time and quality. As a leader and a business owner, I am still learning and growing.”

Sepi thinks that her company’s culture has contributed immensely to their success. She regularly asks employees for input and stops by their desks to chat. “Our culture is very egalitarian and has no special hierarchy of managers,” Sepi says. “We place a high emphasis on helping one another. If one group has a deadline to meet, another group jumps in to help. People stay late and do whatever is required.”

Sepi feels that her finest achievement is that she has created a workplace where employees are respected, cared for and challenged. Sepi has an open door policy (actually her office does not have a door) and she compensates everyone fairly. The philosophy they extend toward their clients is one of hard work, honesty and integrity.

Sepi says, “There are no short cuts with us at SEPI. Our philosophy is not just to ‘get the job done,’ but to look at how each project will affect the safety and welfare of the community.”