Business Consulting.
Having built a few small businesses myself, and given my academic background that includes web and graphic design, environmental engineering, and a strategic sustainability MBA, I can offer deep experience, systems thinking, execution and delivery on projects that range from detail oriented, to technical, to market-facing. |
See my portfolio of businesses here, and some examples of strategic analyses here.
Whether you're seeking marketing solutions, logistics, sourcing, outsourcing, margin improvements, benefits design, reorganization, tax efficiency, I can help. I've developed an extensive network of professionals that I can call on to supplement my scope of knowledge so that you can be assured you get exactly the right bespoke advice for your specific business. Before I can offer any appropriate solutions, I'll sit down with you for a complementary discovery session so as to develop a comprehensive understanding of your operations and needs. |
Are You A Sole Proprietor?
If you are running your business as a sole proprietor, then obviously without you, there is no business. Would you like to get to a point where you can sell it? Without replacing yourself as a choke point in operations, you'd be trying to sell your job to someone, and that's a tough sell. What would it take to replace your role? Sure, plenty of time-consuming business administration functions can be automated with off-the-shelf software, or bespoke programming.
But what about sales-generating activity? Or doing the actual service or producing the actual product? There's often a chicken and egg problem where the capacity to take on more volume isn't there because there's not enough staff, and the money isn't there to hire more staff. Then there's the additional worry - once we get more staff, we'll need to sustain more consistent volume to stay productive.
The first thing is to free up your time with automation, and I can help with that. Then you can spend that time generating more sales, getting out during business hours and shaking hands, networking, making phone calls. Or maybe you don't like that much, in which case, have you considered hiring a service to generate more sales? Or perhaps a marketing campaign can bring in more customers. I can help with that too.
Let's back up to that first question. If you're thinking about selling, then you'll want to actually incorporate if you haven't already done that. But there's another step that is often overlooked. S-Corp election of an LLC allows you to be both employer and employee. That designation allows you to compensate yourself as a W-2 employee for your actual hours worked at "reasonable compensation" rates. And did you know that you can pay yourself up to 25% of your compensation into a Solo 401(k) into both pre-tax and post-tax (Roth) buckets? (I can help you design bespoke benefit packages that maximize your retirement - see the financial services section for that). Then at the end of the year, whatever is left over after your salary and expenses can be paid to you as the owner at just a 15.3% tax rate, documented with your K-1. You can save yourself tens of thousands in taxes by doing just these things.
And by the way, if you don't want to deal with the headache of additional overhead for compliance, perhaps my organization Stellar Outcomes can help you - it offers a comprehensive set of services for business administration and compliance as a Certified Professional Employer Organization, which acts as the employer of record and your interface to the IRS. You'll never fall behind on taxes again, and you'll be able to take full advantage of every tax incentive that the IRS code allows for, with our vetted attorney and CPA network. And remember, these are all legitimate business expenses that you can write off.
Pay yourself more, plan for your retirement, keep more money that would otherwise go to taxes, save yourself time, and reorganize your business so you can find a buyer when you're ready. Many sole proprietor businesses simply close the doors when the owner retires. You've built a cash-generating machine that could have market value as a business entity that you can sell. Don't hesitate, schedule a discovery call today and take the first steps.
But what about sales-generating activity? Or doing the actual service or producing the actual product? There's often a chicken and egg problem where the capacity to take on more volume isn't there because there's not enough staff, and the money isn't there to hire more staff. Then there's the additional worry - once we get more staff, we'll need to sustain more consistent volume to stay productive.
The first thing is to free up your time with automation, and I can help with that. Then you can spend that time generating more sales, getting out during business hours and shaking hands, networking, making phone calls. Or maybe you don't like that much, in which case, have you considered hiring a service to generate more sales? Or perhaps a marketing campaign can bring in more customers. I can help with that too.
Let's back up to that first question. If you're thinking about selling, then you'll want to actually incorporate if you haven't already done that. But there's another step that is often overlooked. S-Corp election of an LLC allows you to be both employer and employee. That designation allows you to compensate yourself as a W-2 employee for your actual hours worked at "reasonable compensation" rates. And did you know that you can pay yourself up to 25% of your compensation into a Solo 401(k) into both pre-tax and post-tax (Roth) buckets? (I can help you design bespoke benefit packages that maximize your retirement - see the financial services section for that). Then at the end of the year, whatever is left over after your salary and expenses can be paid to you as the owner at just a 15.3% tax rate, documented with your K-1. You can save yourself tens of thousands in taxes by doing just these things.
And by the way, if you don't want to deal with the headache of additional overhead for compliance, perhaps my organization Stellar Outcomes can help you - it offers a comprehensive set of services for business administration and compliance as a Certified Professional Employer Organization, which acts as the employer of record and your interface to the IRS. You'll never fall behind on taxes again, and you'll be able to take full advantage of every tax incentive that the IRS code allows for, with our vetted attorney and CPA network. And remember, these are all legitimate business expenses that you can write off.
Pay yourself more, plan for your retirement, keep more money that would otherwise go to taxes, save yourself time, and reorganize your business so you can find a buyer when you're ready. Many sole proprietor businesses simply close the doors when the owner retires. You've built a cash-generating machine that could have market value as a business entity that you can sell. Don't hesitate, schedule a discovery call today and take the first steps.
Are You A Small Business Owner?
By now you've probably done whatever you can to expand your market into e-commerce and wrung out everything you can from upselling suggested products and services. No doubt you've taken to social media with regularity for marketing. Maybe you even paid some influencers. You've probably tried every legacy media advertisement platform available to you. (Did anything catch and go viral?)... Maybe you've forged partnerships local nonprofits for exposure and tax write-offs.
You've probably jettisoned or replaced some software subscriptions. You've made the most of the AI options available to increase efficiencies and integrated and centralized all your internal processes. Maybe you've hired consultants to increase your margins and cut the fat, or tried hiring 3rd party sales people to boost revenue. You've looked for alternative suppliers. Maybe you've even expanded into some adjacent services or products that your customers might want.
To attract and retain talent you've probably tried optimizing your benefits packages, though there's only so much that Fidelity, Edward Jones and Empower can do for you and your staff. Maybe you already have a CPEO designated as your employer of record to do most of what you would otherwise need an administrator to do. Maybe you've set out to replace yourself to free up your time and make your enterprise more lucrative to a potential buyer. If you haven't already gone down each of these ennumerated avenues, don't hesitate to book a free discovery call.
So what else can be done? You're probably aware that for the next 3 years you have 100% accelerated depreciation for business equipment, buildings, vehicles, etc. You've probably already elected S-Corp taxation and are maxing out your pre-tax compensation at 25%, paying yourself a "reasonable salary" and taking the rest of your income at 15.3% as the employer with a K-1 at year's end. You're probably investing free cash in short-term promissory notes for more than twice the return you'd be getting from CDs. Maybe, just maybe, you've set up and funded buy-sell or cross-purchase agreements with your partners or key-man insurance policies for those indespensible employees, or set up premium finance policies for yourself.
If you're not doing these things, see the financial services section.
Soooo what else? You may have even reorganized your company so that wherever you defensibly don't have business nexus in a state with high corporate or income taxes, you can charter that part of your company in Wyoming, Florida, etc. Maybe you've already organized your enterprise with shell operating and holding companies in no-tax states all held in your revocable living trust, and who knows, maybe you live more than 50% in one of those states.
What next? Perhaps you've already outsourced some of your operations to the Philippines or some other developing country where English is a second language. I'll bet you've looked into acquiring competitors and companies that offer adjacent products and services for their marketshare and more operational efficiencies. Heck maybe you've even offered your customers branded credit cards with rewards.
What else is left?
How about vertical integration? Going up and down the supply chain or scope of services like a baron.
What about some wackier stuff like creating foundations with endowments that employ you in your retirement?
There must be more... Set up a discovery call and let's get creative.
You've probably jettisoned or replaced some software subscriptions. You've made the most of the AI options available to increase efficiencies and integrated and centralized all your internal processes. Maybe you've hired consultants to increase your margins and cut the fat, or tried hiring 3rd party sales people to boost revenue. You've looked for alternative suppliers. Maybe you've even expanded into some adjacent services or products that your customers might want.
To attract and retain talent you've probably tried optimizing your benefits packages, though there's only so much that Fidelity, Edward Jones and Empower can do for you and your staff. Maybe you already have a CPEO designated as your employer of record to do most of what you would otherwise need an administrator to do. Maybe you've set out to replace yourself to free up your time and make your enterprise more lucrative to a potential buyer. If you haven't already gone down each of these ennumerated avenues, don't hesitate to book a free discovery call.
So what else can be done? You're probably aware that for the next 3 years you have 100% accelerated depreciation for business equipment, buildings, vehicles, etc. You've probably already elected S-Corp taxation and are maxing out your pre-tax compensation at 25%, paying yourself a "reasonable salary" and taking the rest of your income at 15.3% as the employer with a K-1 at year's end. You're probably investing free cash in short-term promissory notes for more than twice the return you'd be getting from CDs. Maybe, just maybe, you've set up and funded buy-sell or cross-purchase agreements with your partners or key-man insurance policies for those indespensible employees, or set up premium finance policies for yourself.
If you're not doing these things, see the financial services section.
Soooo what else? You may have even reorganized your company so that wherever you defensibly don't have business nexus in a state with high corporate or income taxes, you can charter that part of your company in Wyoming, Florida, etc. Maybe you've already organized your enterprise with shell operating and holding companies in no-tax states all held in your revocable living trust, and who knows, maybe you live more than 50% in one of those states.
What next? Perhaps you've already outsourced some of your operations to the Philippines or some other developing country where English is a second language. I'll bet you've looked into acquiring competitors and companies that offer adjacent products and services for their marketshare and more operational efficiencies. Heck maybe you've even offered your customers branded credit cards with rewards.
What else is left?
How about vertical integration? Going up and down the supply chain or scope of services like a baron.
What about some wackier stuff like creating foundations with endowments that employ you in your retirement?
There must be more... Set up a discovery call and let's get creative.
Got a hobby or passion you want to create a business around?
Business ideation is, let's be honest, the most fun part about business, next to perhaps the passive ownership phase when you've replaced yourself as the chokepoint in operations. I love to do this part. Don't hesitate to book a free call to brainstorm with me about business creation.
Frankly there's never been a better time to start a business, with so much leverage within reach for marketing, technology, financing, duplicatable business plans, global sourcing, etc. Any of these sectors I can can help you with directly or through my network of professionals. You've probably heard of a minimum viable product, often thought of in the startup world as the threshold your business idea needs to cross in order to actually succeed. Here's a blog post that describes a plethora of tools out there for the various stages of building, implementing, testing and launching your MVP. You can get a website and social media presence with a waiting list up within hours, and use software tools to get both your front-facing and internal operations dialed in very quickly for what you'd spend on dinner. You could use a credit card if you were confident you'd get a return on your investment quickly. You could use a ROBS if you have some retirement funds that you want to access to start your business. Consider just copying what someone else has done - there are plenty of examples of what works if you browse business brokerage websites such as Flippa, Quietlight, BizBuySell, or others. Or maybe just buy a business that's already kind of in your wheelhouse. It's pretty easy to find financing if the business P/L looks good and the multiple they're asking for makes sense. I know some people who have built import-export businesses around their love of travel; if you are interested in the idea of logistics and sourcing, maybe this is something to look into.
Frankly there's never been a better time to start a business, with so much leverage within reach for marketing, technology, financing, duplicatable business plans, global sourcing, etc. Any of these sectors I can can help you with directly or through my network of professionals. You've probably heard of a minimum viable product, often thought of in the startup world as the threshold your business idea needs to cross in order to actually succeed. Here's a blog post that describes a plethora of tools out there for the various stages of building, implementing, testing and launching your MVP. You can get a website and social media presence with a waiting list up within hours, and use software tools to get both your front-facing and internal operations dialed in very quickly for what you'd spend on dinner. You could use a credit card if you were confident you'd get a return on your investment quickly. You could use a ROBS if you have some retirement funds that you want to access to start your business. Consider just copying what someone else has done - there are plenty of examples of what works if you browse business brokerage websites such as Flippa, Quietlight, BizBuySell, or others. Or maybe just buy a business that's already kind of in your wheelhouse. It's pretty easy to find financing if the business P/L looks good and the multiple they're asking for makes sense. I know some people who have built import-export businesses around their love of travel; if you are interested in the idea of logistics and sourcing, maybe this is something to look into.
Some Recommended Resources |
A friend of mine, Mr. Burke Franklin, author of Business Black Belt and founder of Business Power Tools, has a wealth of information and templates to help you focus and scale your enterprise.
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