Business Consulting
Senior Advisory Meetings
Senior advisory meetings are a forum to help you manage your business through improved awareness and focus of resources. These meetings are held monthly or quarterly depending on the needs of your business. They are typically attended by the owners and appropriate senior management as well as representation from our senior staff and lead partner.
The forum includes identification and monitoring of key performance indicators (KPI’s). KPI’s can cover all aspects of both financial and operational performance. We work with our clients to establish KPI’s for their business and to address barriers to having the reliable data needed on a timely basis. The senior advisory meetings are based on the use of the KPI’s as the foundation for helping to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
It is much easier to manage a business from an informed position. Businesses that invest the time to maintain reliable financial/operational performance data and use it will see better results.
The senior advisory meetings and KPI monitoring are designed to provide the owner and senior management of the business with a forum to focus on improving company performance through establishing direction, goals and tasks list. We provide the structure for the forum and we bring a great deal of accounting, financial, and business knowledge to the table. We bring to the table the experience of our senior staff and a firm that has been small business consultants for 30 years.
Our Role
As an owner you are the CEO and may well be the CWO (Chief Worry Officer). Owners enjoy success stories, but also know about sleepless nights, awakening in the middle of the night worrying about business and business anxieties. Your business is not publicly held, so your wealth, health and life are all at stake every day and some days you really feel the risk factor. You only have so much time in a day and recognize areas of your business where outside expertise will make yours a stronger organization.
We have been consultants and accountants to entrepreneur owned businesses since 1976 and understand good business people evaluate down side risks and then proceed in an organized and appropriate manner. We have helped many clients on this journey and understand there are methods and systems that decrease worry and anxiety. These same methods help you run a better and more profitable business.
Providing our clients with guidance in business, financial and operational issues is our primary role. We focus on helping you run a strong business with good reporting of results and early detection of problems. We want to decrease owner concerns to a manageable level by providing you with the information you need to know that your business is running in a well focused manner.
Business Valuation
What is your business worth? Your business is likely one of the largest personal assets you own. Understanding what it is worth and how that impacts your personal wealth is vital to solid planning. Our nationally accredited Certified Valuation Analysts (CVA) bring a broad range of industry knowledge to our business valuation services. We provide business valuations for the following events:
Business Startup
Once you’ve decided it’s time to “be your own boss,” there are several important decisions to be made and steps to be followed. Should you buy an existing business, an interest in a business, a franchise, or start from the ground up? There are pros and cons to each of these arrangements and we can help you sort through the options.
Deciding which direction fits your circumstances is only the beginning. Every arrangement will involve planning, negotiating, evaluating, financing, and other various issues related to starting a business. No two transactions are exactly the same, but having been through this process dozens of times with our clients, we can certainly help you at this stage of the business lifecycle.
As you plan to open your business there are other start-up issues. Issues include; staffing, information systems, cash management, operational procedures and marketing. We have experience across the spectrum and can guide you through these important issues.
We have met with loan committees, we have stood toe to toe with contractors, we have developed budgets and financial forecasts, and we have cut the ribbon on opening day. We can help you get through the process or to just “be there” when questions arise.
Business Growth
Your business has been in place for some time – maybe a year or maybe 100 years—and now there is an opportunity you would easily classify as a Quantum Leap. This may be a big new contract, a product line or just the recognition that you are good at what you do and not doing as much of it as your capacity allows. Growing existing businesses is business growth consulting. Our primary emphasis is on helping you grow on a basis that is sustainable and where you are the managing force, not us. This insures your continued business well being. We are here to help you with the questions and the development of the answers.
Financing is often a key issue in business growth. Many well intentioned companies fail due to not being properly capitalized. We work with you to identify the proper financing needed to support your goals for growth. We help you monitor your finances for cash flow, credit and so forth. We also help you to use the appropriate reporting vehicles as well as appropriate banking/financing sources (e.g. some banks are aimed at large business and are not a good fit for a small business).
Achieving opportunity is the bottom line in Business Growth Consulting.
Advisory Team
As the owner of your business, it is important to surround yourself with experts that provide you with guidance needed to best operate your business. These expert advisors become your “Board of Directors.” As your business grows, it becomes increasingly important to utilize your advisors to both minimize potential problems and capitalize on opportunities.
Your advisory team will typically include:
Accountant – Your accountant should be familiar with your business. They can be an excellent source of information regarding tax planning, buy vs. lease decisions, determining the entity that is most appropriate for you and your business and providing timely financial statements that will help you manage your business.
Attorney – Your attorney can be a tremendous resource for dealing with incorporation documentation, employee manuals, and employee dispute issues. The cost of paying for an attorney to address issues up front is often much less expensive than facing a lawsuit that may have been avoided.
Lender – Your banker can be more than the person you mail the mortgage payment to each month. A good relationship with your banker will help when it is time to build a new building for the business. Some lenders will provide you with information and feedback to help you identify opportunities in your business.
Insurance agent – This person can do much more than provide you the lowest possible rates. They can help you determine the appropriate insurance that works best with your needs and the needs of your business. Should work vehicles be titled in the company’s name? At what point is worker’s compensation insurance needed and who should be covered?
Business consultant – Ideally this person is involved with you on an ongoing basis. Depending on the needs of the business, this person or firm should be proficient on issues specific to your industry/profession including: analyzing the financial statements and KPIs, marketing, staffing challenges, and keeping you aware of trends and opportunities in your industry/profession and your business. The data will help you gain more comfort with your business while making it more profitable.