Start-ups are fun! They can be crazy, full of hope, chaotic, and energized. Its an environment where people need to pitch in on multiple fronts. No one wears just one hat. I love it.

Much of my work is with entrepreneurs (those within the first five years of business) and those beyond the dip*. There are many issues and goals and a firm is often resource-constrained. Innovation and creativity matter and I help the executives and investors make the most of their time and capital.

(If its a brand new company, I promise to let you know if I think you have a product idea or a business — or nothing at all. Life is too short to chase smoke.)

Get in touch to find out how I can help you investigate your idea.

How Does this Work?
All businesses undergo periods of growth and stagnation. After years of consulting, I’ve discovered my sweet spot is helping a company in one of two distinct stages: at birth and at the end of stagnation periods. (By the way, you decide when these occur!)

At birth, there’s a lot of chaos and guesstimates. This is where my experience and the value of social networks comes into play. Process need to be created so you can scale growth and support clients. You need to get things done. I get things done.

After a while, the business will either fail or start succeeding. This is when I step out of a day to day consulting program. Your staff needs mentoring and coaching, but not daily oversight from an outside consultant.

Then, a year or more may pass and staff/clients/vendors/procedures may start to stagnate. No change, much slower growth, etc. This is when I come back into the picture to evaluate what happened and what changes to make. In essence, we revisit the owners’ goals, the key executive team, the current business, and seek ways to align them and kick start change.

New or refined processes and ways to measure them are put in place. Essentially, we realign priorities and processes to become more efficient. My work is daily, then weekly.

Here are some things to keep in mind prior to engaging my services:

• You need to be prepared for stress — nothing changes without friction!
• You need to have the budget to change and risk losing some business in the short term for longer term gain
• You need to decide whether you are going to work “in” the business or “on” the business
• You need to be able to make decisions
• Many of the things we will discuss are “out there” or are seeds to germinate later. These ideas are designed to jolt businesses into action.

A typical engagement is between six to 12 months and fees are determined based on the business impact. Minimum pricing is $3,000/mo not including bonuses for achieving goals faster or higher than expected. Client references are available on request.

for more information.