What happens when you combine immigrant parents who instilled values like hard work, determination, and transparency with someone who has always had an innate interest in breaking things down to understand how they work in order to help people? You get a business like KRS IT Consulting, run by CEO and founder Josiv Krstinovski.
When Josiv’s parents first landed in North America, they faced a new world of prosperity and opportunity. Josiv’s father had left his small country of Macedonia, once part of Yugoslavia, to settle in the United States. He was able to apply for a visa and get a job, but there was still one thing missing—a family. Coincidentally, Josiv’s mother, also from Macedonia, had moved to Canada with her father, a World War II veteran. Josiv’s father had joined some mutual friends on a trip from the United States to Canada where he happened to meet Josiv’s mother. The rest, as they say, was history.
The pair married and had two sons, Josiv and his older brother. Although their upbringing wasn’t necessarily easy, Josiv’s parents were determined they would have college-level educations. To make this happen, Josiv saw his father work many long hours as a carpenter, which was the starting point for his own determination and work ethic. Over time, Josiv’s tinkering with electronics turned into taking apart VCRs, replacing car radiators, and hanging light fixtures, meaning he was no stranger to putting in the hard work with his own two hands.
Eventually, Josiv attended the New Jersey Institute of Technology, earning his Bachelor of Science degree in Information Technology with a minor in Business Management. Although he was following in his older brother’s footsteps by getting into the IT industry, he could feel he was bound for something great, like potentially running his own business one day.
Taking A Deep Dive Into IT
After graduating in 2004, he entered the workplace and began climbing the corporate ladder. Upon landing in a large corporate firm, he found the travel requirements quite isolating. He approached one of the company’s existing clients about working for them and soon shifted to becoming a consultant for that company. This opportunity allowed Josiv to dive deep into the IT world, learning many new skills that he would carry forward. But there was one problem—he had a horrible manager. Even when Josiv did 99 things right, his boss would harp on that one thing he did wrong.
By this time, it’s 2008, and Josiv’s father was diagnosed with cancer. Josiv took an FMLA leave to be with his father, meaning he would no longer receive any income from his position. But, as he says, “I wasn’t raised to see roadblocks; I was raised to see opportunities.”
Realizing that he still had tons of free time between being his father’s primary caregiver and supporting his mother, Josiv went into business with a partner and began working as an IT consultant. What started as fixing computers in his basement quickly expanded into a full-blown IT business. Sadly, Josiv’s father passed away in 2010. It became even more important to Josiv to live his father’s legacy and emulate the values he instilled in him. So, after parting ways with his business partner, Josiv went all in on his business. Rebranding to today’s well-known KRS IT Consulting, he threw himself into his work, and you could find him at all hours of the day or night figuring out new ways to drive his business forward.
And no, he never went back to that crappy corporate job. After hearing that some of his colleagues had questioned if his father was even sick, he realized how lucky he was to escape that toxic environment. He vowed that his corporate culture would never resemble this experience. More importantly, it was finally time to add to his team and get a real office.
Another Curveball
Upon moving into a small local office, he hired a bright young man attending the New Jersey Institute of Technology and began pushing further into the IT industry. They saw steady growth each year, began gaining momentum, and hired additional resources until they finally moved into a larger office. But, of course, as life progresses, it never tires of throwing life-changing curveballs.
Although they planned to move to an even larger office space in 2019, Josiv put everything on hold when his mother was diagnosed with cancer. Again, Josiv took it upon himself to be his mother’s primary caregiver, taking her to appointments and even flying with her to Germany to seek out specialized treatment for her rare cancer. Even though it almost felt like life was passing by during this time, he reminded himself, “I owe it to my mother and my father’s memory to be here for her right now,” during what ended up being the final years of her life.
Like Josiv’s father, her legacy lives on in how Josiv runs his business and treats his employees and clients. He knows that when you combine competency with transparency and trust, you get a potent elixir that helps win over big clients. For example, he had one prospective client who was shopping around with different IT firms who provided some highly clarifying feedback on why they chose KRS IT Consulting above all other options. The client said Josiv’s firm was the only one to truly delve into their unique needs, craft a customized proposal based on their findings, and present a full-service solution that would address all their ongoing concerns in a way they could understand. They were by no means the cheapest option, nor the most expensive, but because KRS IT Consulting had perfected what it means to provide specialized support to its customers, they won the bid and have been working with the company ever since.
Breaking The $1 Million Barrier
Fast forward to 2023. Josiv has moved his business yet again to another beautiful office building in a quiet, friendly neighborhood. “We had to claw our way through the pandemic,” Josiv says, but even on the days of struggle, he’s able to reflect on how far he’s come and the experiences that have brought him to this point. That’s why, when clients partner with KRS IT Consulting, they’re getting so much more than a one-size-fits-all approach (because that does not exist at KRS IT Consulting). Rather, they’re getting a human approach to IT services that realizes every business is different and requires tailored solutions and support.
This approach has resulted in wide-scale success for Josiv and his business. He has not only been able to proudly move his team into this new 20,000-square-foot office space but he has also surpassed the $1 million mark and is edging toward the $2 million mark. And, in what he describes as a gift from his parents in heaven, he has met his life partner. They recently got engaged in November 2022 and plan to marry in May 2024.
No matter what accomplishments he achieves or benchmarks he hits, however, Josiv will always think fondly of that little boy with his hard-working immigrant parents who fought so that he could have a better life—whether it be tinkering with electronics or providing premier IT solutions throughout New Jersey.
To learn more about KRS IT Consulting, go here.
