business analysis

At the heart of business consulting is business analysis - a holistic review of the financial, operations and marketing aspects of your business.  The analysis identifies where there are opportunities to increase revenue or decrease the bottom line, where automations or employee development can boost productivity, and helps business owners to get in touch with their assumptions and any changes in their industry or audience.

That is where we start, and it’s just the beginning.  The hardest part is finding time to do one more thing, even when you know it will directly help you be successful.  We will prioritize the opportunities in your business and achieve them together

Analytical Data Systems

Bad Data will drive you sideways.  Good data will drive you to fast gains in efficiency, accuracy and productivity.  Data architecture, quality control, and the human touchpoints can be simple and elegant, and can give you the answers you need, not just the answers it’s easy to get from the platform or information at hand.

Good practices for recordkeeping, tracking and maintenance are critical for deriving solid, data-driven business decisions.  Automating collection, warehousing data, and building meaningful KPI dashboards can start with very simple and inexpensive technology and unearth a treasure trove of potential.

TALENT DEVELOPMENT

Your people are the face of your business and the reputation you carry in your community.  Investing in their success develops not only their understanding of what you need done and how, but also their own investment in the success of your business.  Knowledge is power; by empowering your employees they become strong enough to fully represent and protect your interests.

Quality hiring, onboarding and training processes are the foundation of a good employee, and an easy place to see fast results in operational performance.

Employees respond positively to clear goals and expectations, even simple tracking systems will help you understand their flow, set appropriate goals, and identify what kind of additional training is needed or helpful.

operational systems

Optimizing operations for efficiency, accuracy and productivity grows the profitability of your business through product/service and customer service excellence.  It’s how you manage the life cycle of your customer, product or service, employee’s day, and the longer cycles of your business.

Most executives say it’s nearly impossible to develop better operations while they are managing the operations - too hard to see the forest for the trees.  It’s easier to do things the way you always have, in the short run, but the pain of change is worth it when the outcome will be simpler, faster, and more accurate.

Together we will build good clean systems, sensible automations, well-informed employees, optimized supply chains and project management for your business. All designed just for you, to scale and sustain your unique business.

sales and customer service

Your customer may have one, or many, touch points with you during a transaction.  Their experience with your service throughout the transaction largely decides whether or not they will do business with you again and refer others to you.

Replicable tasks must have processes that allow the business to scale up, and “robots” - apps, platforms and IT tools - that reliably complete replication tasks for you. Live businesses, services and sales are time-intensive in customer experience; the time you spend with the customer is 1-to-1, not replicable.  Successful live businesses have found ways to incorporate replication in their other processes, they find efficiencies wherever possible in order to maintain quality human interactions with their customers.

Together we will review your customer arc, optimize your touchpoints, CRM and data tracking, and implement stellar customer service.

NON PROFIT EXECUTIVE SERVICES

Small and early-stage non-profits usually face very tight constraints on time and budget.  A little bit of high-powered help can go a long way, to develop operations, volunteer systems, grant writing quality and efficiency, and Board and community engagement.  Contact us for discounted NPO pricing.

strategic planning

Small business owners get where they are by working hard.  They get ahead by working smart. Having a solid plan, a set of long-term goals, a deep understanding of the operational necessities and philosophies simplifies day-to-day decision-making and ensures alignment of all the stakeholders and workers to a common set of principles.

Even established businesses can benefit from business and financial plan creation or updates, the process itself is enlightening and will uncover new or forgotten opportunities: stakeholders can review and renew alignments from goals to exit strategies; new products, markets and competitors can undergo analysis; regression analyses on customer data can highlight unforeseen pricing or market opportunities.

executive coaching

No one should have to sit at the top all alone.  It’s easier to keep the passion alive if you have someone, connected but not too close, to share your challenges and opportunities, fears and hopes.  Each business owner brings a unique personality, strengths and weaknesses, and personal and professional goals. We will work closely on the thing that’s most important to you, and with respectful and honest communication we’ll look in all the dark corners and celebrate all the successes as you continue to grow.

MARKETING STRATEGY

Modern marketing strategies can be overwhelming to implement without a plan, a calendar, a workflow.  Often, the planning is what ultimately takes time, and then the implementations of the plan are just the workings of a system - a machine you’ve built to succeed.  There are only a few kinds of marketing left that can’t be tracked at some level. Your marketing plan can be driven by your acquisition goals, budget, and/or industry opportunities.  The only mystery to marketing is more, but you’ll see better returns when we develop and implement a plan, controlling for cost and acquisition rates. Whether your focus is digital, grassroots, events, or social media, we’ll find the right tactics to achieve your goals.