Consulting
Is Your Business Heading in the Right Direction?
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"Small firms produced about 4 times as many innovations per research and development dollar as medium-sized firms and about 24 times as many as large firms."
In Search of Excellence - T. Peters & R. Waterman
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No wonder entrepreneurial activity is at an all-time high in our economy, but so is their failure rate! Entrepreneurs are required to undertake many tasks and responsibilities for which they either do not have the necessary experience or related training. Even when they realize their shortcomings, many times the funds and confidence appear to be lacking to hire outside help such as a consultant.
If this scenario sounds familiar – then you should be talking to Business Solutions!
Business Solutions is a unique organization created to assist startup and young entrepreneurial organizations. Bob settled in Denver after working with startup companies in New York, Boston, and San Diego. Business Solutions’ goals are your goals – to ensure that your product or service successfully penetrates its target markets.
Management Consultants
"The effective ones are the one-man shows. The institutional ones are disastrous. They waste time, cost money, demoralize and distract your best people, and don't solve problems."
Up the Organization - R. Townsend
Bob received his college degrees at one of the pioneering universities in the field of entrepreneurial study. While pursuing his Master of Science in Business Administration, he helped teach the first formal course offered by the university in entrepreneurship. Wichita State University was 1 of only 55 AACSB accredited graduate schools of business in the US.
Experience working in three Fortune 1000 corporations, the federal government, and in numerous startup companies gave Bob a breadth of experience that is hard to match. While managing major sales and marketing organizations, he polished his skills in marketing, sales, management, training, organizational development, facilitation, and business planning.
Solutions
Business Solutions offers entrepreneurs assistance throughout the formative years of their organizations. Before specialists are affordable, they can help design and introduce programs. Once specialists are brought on board, they can function as outside staff to help refine and implement systems.
If an organization needs help in an area that cannot justify hiring an individual full-time, Business Solutions can help solve problems that are one-time issues or that arise periodically.
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Up the Organization - R. Townsend
"Marketing departments – like ..., personnel departments, … – are usually camouflage designed to cover up for lazy or worn-out chief executives."Maybe it is not quite as bad in entrepreneurial organizations as Townsend believes, but all too often marketing is misunderstood or neglected by smaller companies. It is the number two reason why entrepreneurial companies fail, aside from undercapitalization.
Marketing is both an "Art" and a "Science". To be successful in this important business function, one must have more than just luck. Success means hard work – market analysis, proper positioning, realistic profit margins, cost control planning, etc. Product introductions, trade shows, market plans, competitive analysis, and so on become just some of the myriad duties facing the entrepreneur on a daily basis.
How does an entrepreneur learn all that there is to know about marketing with limited time and funds? That’s easy! Let Business Solutions help you market your product or service like a true professional. They have experience in performing all of these tasks, so they can help you do the job right and on time.
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"20 percent of any given group of salesmen will always produce 80 percent of the sales."
"The only way I know to get somebody trained is on the job."Up the Organization - R. Townsend
The 80/20 Rule (the Paretto Principle) is a fact of life. So how does a small company deal with both groups? What do the top producers (who are carrying the load) need? How do you help the underachievers to become more productive?
The answers are simple, but the processes are not. You must provide the salesforce with the best sales tools, and then train them how to use them properly. How to manage and support their efforts effectively is another piece of the puzzle. Deciding how to reward them adequately and fairly is crucial. Creating advancement paths within the organization (which will allow them to grow as they desire) must be planned.
Sounds simple, but remember that large corporations have specialists and whole departments in place in order to handle each of these functions. Unfortunately, most entrepreneurial organizations cannot afford such luxuries.
Business Solutions has experience in these crucial areas. Let them serve as specialists for you because they have performed these functions for other organizations – both large and small.
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"Effective managers, … manage themselves and the people they work with so that both the organization and the people profit from their presence."
The One Minute Manager - K. Blanchard & S. Johnson"A good way to kill a top salesman is to promote him to assistant sales manager. A manager is one breed, a salesman is another."
Up the Organization - R. Townsend
Managing an entrepreneurial organization is a unique challenge. The tactics that are used in large corporations are not appropriate at all. In fact, many times that type of management style can cripple a young or startup company.
Generally phrases like committee decisions, weekly staff meetings, delegation to staff, etc. are replaced by terms such as hands-on approach, shirtsleeves environment, gut reaction decisions,...
How do growing firms find such unique managers? Unfortunately, it is not easy because neither colleges or corporations are training people to do what is needed!
Business Solutions has helped develop managers at all levels of organizations. Also, they know what entrepreneurial managers must do on a daily basis. Let them design the programs necessary for your staff to continue to grow and prosper within your organization.
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Solutions for entrepreneurial organizations offered by a business professional
- Business planning
- Collateral materials
- Corporate ID
- Management
- Marketing (Competitive Information Manuals, Market Plans, Product Information Manuals)
- Organizational Development (Design, Goal setting, Meeting planning, Performance evaluation, Reporting systems)
- Product introductions
- Sales
- Sales tools (Compensation plans, Demonstration routines, Presentation books, Proposal packages, Recognition programs, Sales Information Manuals)
- Strategic planning
- Task forces
- Trade shows
- Training (Management, Planning, Sales, Telemarketing, Time management)