Services
Capital Acquisition
Lack of sufficient capital is what keeps most companies from the growth and success they desire. Without it, you cannot take on additional or bigger jobs, or meet day-to-day operational needs. You cannot increase your inventory or production levels, buy equipment, make needed modifications to increase capacity, or add human resources. In some cases, the company has a lack of understanding of what is needed to acquire financing or how to get into a position to be eligible.
Financial Analysis
No firm can be successful without fully understanding its financial position. Having this understanding is a function of having accurate financial statements and knowing how to interpret them. It allows you to know whether you have enough or too much inventory; whether you have enough working capital for near term needs; how your company is doing in comparison to others and much more. In addition, for most companies, financing is the the life blood of their business. Without it, they can not maintain their operations or grow their company.
Government Procurement Contracts
The U.S. federal, state, county and city governments buy everything one can imagine: from Air Conditioners to Zodiac Boats. The U.S. federal government will spend $3.5 trillion in 2015 and the various state and local government entities are budgeted to spend $3.1 trillion as well. The federal government will spend $190 billion on everyday goods and services. Of this amount, $44 billion will be sold to the federal government by small and medium-sized businesses just like yours. Especially attractive is the $3.1 trillion the various state and local governments will spend for ordinary goods and services, making these government entities extremely attractive for small and medium-sized businesses to do business with.
International Business
Here are some interesting facts from the U.S. Department of Commerce:
- 95% of the world’s population and 70% of the purchasing power of the world are outside of the USA.
- Most companies that export grow faster, have an easier time riding out fluctuations in the U.S. economy and are 8.5% more likely to stay in business than non-exporting companies.
- Small and medium-sized companies account for 98% of U.S. exporters.
- Services are the fastest growing portion of US exports.
Marketing
If the heart of every business is the numbers, then the life sustaining blood is marketing. Marketing is what provides the necessary “nutrients” to the business and allows it to not only survive, but thrive. Without an adequate amount of appropriate marketing efforts, the business will die! Part of the problem is many business people think marketing is merely advertising. Marketing is much more. This lack of understanding of what marketing is, and its importance, causes a large number of businesses to fail. Even for those who survive, many never reach their full potential due to this lack of understanding.
Operations Management
For any company, Operations Management is where the rubber meets the road. It is what allows management to make the needed analysis to control costs, increase profitability, develop or expand strategy, change tactics, and improve overall performance. Unfortunately, we find many business people mis-identify the nature of a problem thinking it is the cause when, in actuality, it is merely a symptom of a different, and usually, larger problem.
Plan Development
You have probably heard the saying by Benjamin Franklin: “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.” We have found those words to be very true. Approximately 85% of businesses fail within the first five years and probably 95% of that 85% failure rate comes from lack of adequate planning.
Technology Commercialization
Small and medium-sized businesses are major contributors to high-technology innovation and economic growth in the U.S. and account for a significant amount of new jobs. Unfortunately, while most inventors understand technology, they are significantly less knowledgeable about the entire process one needs to undertake to commercialize and monitize their invention.