Consulting

Owners of large, medium and small privately owned businesses are struggling to remain profitable and competitive against various challenges. These businesses:

• Have limited cash resources
• Have to face formidable outside competitors
• Have difficulty making volume purchases and are therefore unable to get quantity price discounts
• Increasingly operate on smaller profit margins
• Are often subject to emotional pressures of family members who work in the business
• Often can’t afford top-flight, business-trained executive managers
• Have to compete with larger national, international and internet competitors who often have greater resources
• Usually can’t afford to hire expert Human Resources Professionals to administer Insurance, Defined Benefit and Disability Plans
• Have to deal with the normal day-to-day challenges of business operations against a backdrop of rising labor costs, facility maintenance expenses, corporate and personal income taxes, and rising property taxes while facing shrinking markets, other competitors and declining sales
• Have to keep up with the accelerating pace of technological advancements and innovations within their own industries and within the general economy at large

In the current era of competition, local and regional markets have become blurred by national, global and Internet competitors. As a result, many small and medium-sized family-owned businesses have had to downsize the entire scope of their operations. In many cases, businesses with well-established histories and reputations have had to close their doors. The impact of this global competitive shift has had far-reaching effects not only on the profitability of business owners and their families, but also on the employees, customers and the communities these businesses have served. Thriving local businesses that were once the backbone of local communities have either closed their doors or they are now struggling against formidable odds to stay profitably afloat.

The strategies that may have led to economic survival over the last 10-15 years may not yield the same outcome in the years ahead. Small business owners will need new markets, new products, and new servicing policies to maintain customer loyalty. They will need to hire employees skilled and sophisticated in current technologies to keep them competitively advantaged and above all, they will need generous lines of credit based on past performances and sound, clearly written business plans affirmed by a reputable lending and financial partner who understands local, international and global economies. In spite of these complex and multi-faceted business and economic challenges, there is hope!

Sherwood Consulting offers a wide range of business and consultation services designed to increase the efficiency, productivity and profitability of your company. Whether you are a small family-owned business with a half-million dollar budget or a large family-owned corporation with a multi-million dollar budget we have the consulting resources to make a comprehensive assessment of your company’s operating systems and to make bold and effective recommendations that support your goals, and to plan and execute the successful implementation of those recommendations.

Our Assessment includes a 1-2 hour no-cost preliminary meeting with no obligation other than for us to get to know each other, to identify your immediate business concerns and to give you an overview of how our services may be of value to you.

Based on the findings of the Preliminary Assessment, Sherwood Consulting will submit for your consideration, a written proposal that will delineate the specific steps we will take to identify and accomplish the goals and objectives of your company, complete with a time-line of all work to be performed along with a statement of costs and professional fees for services to be provided.