ESX Leadership Profile: Dom D'Ascoli

Dom D’Ascoli, president of the Electronic Security Association (co-owner and sponsor of ESX) and president of Franklin, NC-based Smoky Mountain Systems, knows a thing or two about running a business.

D’Ascoli has been involved in either a significant role or as owner of 8 different companies, ranging from security to telecommunications to Internet services.

“I build businesses,” he says.

D’Ascoli’s started his career with Southern Bell in Florida, joining the telecom giant after spending time in the military. After seeing the writing on the wall about Bell’s impending breakup by the government as a monopoly, he decided to make the move to the mountains of Western North Carolina, where he had a summer home.

At that point, he built a company dealing mainly with telecomm – a market he knew well. But he quickly saw there wasn’t enough business in the region for the telephone systems he was servicing.

“There’s only so many hospitals, so many courthouses, so many businesses – period – in those days,” he says. “I saw I had to do more things.”

But there were a number of wealthy people in the region, and he saw an opportunity in the security market.

After bringing on an employee who had been in the security business in Florida, business picked up.

“We started to compete more and more,” he says. “I slowed down doing contracting work and started to mix security with telephone.”

They also started doing audio/video installations. “We started to dabble with that,” he says, and then added commercial work. “Anything we could do,” says D’Ascoli. “We were our own salesmen.”

They would sell and install the systems, and as the company started to grow, they hired helpers. When they needed to grow more, they decided to take on capital.

“I’ve always been a manager of money,” says D’Ascoili. “I know what it takes to build a business.”

D’Ascoli has started an Internet services company, purchased a handful of Radio Shack franchises, built a business on the nearby Cherokee Indian reservation, leased telecommunications equipment, and more.

But he recognizes that not every business he creates is going to be profitable. "Right now, I have companies that are going to be very profitable, and I have companies that I will fold when I need to fold them," he says.

“When you sell and make profits, you need write-offs,” he says. "That's how my mind works - and that's why I run so many entities."

He recently folded one Internet company, saying it was a bad investment. When he does have to shut down a business, it’s because he isn’t doing due diligence. "Anytime I'm not paying enough attention is when I get burned," he says.

Building a solid business is about having the right people and being open to new ideas, says D’Ascoli. "Hire the best you can find," he says.

"I tell people when I hire them - I'm hiring you for my lifetime," he says. "They have permanent jobs. They feel they have a home. We want them here."

D’Ascoli’s wife is an integral part of the business, he says, and is second-in-command. “If something happens to me,” he says, “she’s got the reigns.” Having her involved and having a trustworthy group of managers, he’s able to focus on his role as president of ESA.

As president, D’Ascoli feels that he often gets more out of the position than he puts into it. There are so many people in the same business that he can go to and find out how they would approach a particular situation that he’s in. “It’s a wealth of knowledge,” he says.

“The time is enormous,” he says. “But it’s very refreshing.”