The Company's Story
It was almost inevitable that Anita Spurger would start her own court-reporting firm.
Since entering the business in 1994, Spurger had become an experienced court reporter with excellent skills, a thorough knowledge of the industry, and a strong work ethic. Her meticulous approach to the job left her unwilling to put up with the mistakes of others, and so led her to do more and more of the work herself.
"I've been in the industry a long time, and I do everything from beginning to end," she said. "I had my own clients, I was doing scheduling, doing depositions, printing and binding transcripts, and doing billing."
It was at that moment that she realized she was already running her own business, but doing so for somebody else.
And so was born Spurger Reporting Services, a new company but with veteran reporters. Anita Spurger formed the company in 2006, then brought on some of the veteran court reporters with whom she had worked for years. That included younger sister Kim, who is one of the firm's court reporters, and older sister Belinda, who does proofreading.
Everyone involved in Spurger Reporting Services has worked for other reporting firms.
Anita's own career began shortly after high school, when she began working at a Dallas court-reporting firm. She started by answering phones and doing filing and billing, then enrolled in court-reporting school and handled videography as well.
"I've done pretty much everything."
Learning how to be a court reporter was only the first step toward her own business. What enabled Anita to prosper was her understanding of the job, and its importance to those she works with and for.
"Of course, you need to be on time and turn jobs around quickly," Anita said. "But more than that, you have to be professional. You're a neutral third-party presence in the room. You don't comment one way or another. You produce a transcript efficiently and as accurately as possible."
Knowing your business, however, is different from starting a business. There are accountants and attorneys, federal, state and county filings, setting up email, faxes, and websites, creating letterhead and business cards. The list goes on and on.
"It's a lot more work than I thought it was," she admitted. "But it's been a great experience because I'm my own boss. I'm interacting more with my clients, and they call me directly. It's my name, so that's a big deal."
