homepractical help for business
Main Street Ventures helps build & grow businesses up and down "main street." Though we have a soft spot for helping owners transition
their ideas from concept to company, organizations large and small are propelled forward by our services.
Even the smallest of business has many moving parts -- too many for a single owner or small team to master. And as if this isn't
challenging enough, their relative need and importance ebbs and flows as the business develops.
It's not practical or economical for companies to hire "full-time" expertise needed just part of the time. And it's rarely pretty
when a business owner (or small team) tries to "do it all." Face it, being expert at engineering doesn't make you a top-notch marketer,
and just because you know your iPhone inside out doesn't mean you'll be very good at managing computers or phone systems. This is
where we come in:
business partnering
Our core offering :: we work right beside you for 6 to 18 months. We start by initimately familiarizing ourselves
with every aspect of your business, then developing low-cost, high-impact programs designed to propel you toward
your goals. Next, we coordinate the talent (and bodies) needed to make it all happen. Our work usually cuts across
multiple business functions, extending to:
- technology & operational efficiencies
- branding, marketing & communications
- sales growth & development
- financial management & stability
The kinds of challenges we help overcome:
- organizational chaos
- inefficient use of existing resources & professional relationships
- little or no infrastructure to support growth
- inconsistent cash flow and declining revenues
- unclear expectations & goals of an inexperienced management team
- business owner fatigue or burn-out
- lack of business exit plan or strategy
|
on-call business services
Many of our client companies simply need help with a particular task or project for which a permanent hire
just doesn't make sense. Our principals and affiliated professionals are experienced at serving effectively
in an interim capacity, and have done so in a variety of roles:
- executive leadership (COO, Director of IT, Marketing Manger)
- project & program management (both IT & general business projects)
- marketing campaign development (traditional, database, social media)
- business & systems analysis
- business & legal / regulatory risk management
Maybe you need an IT Director to show you how to really leverage technology across your business. Maybe your
staff can't take on one more project, and you really had to launch a key initiative yesterday. Whether your
needs require one person or an entire team, we can help.
Now here's the best part :: your "people costs" at the end of the day will be far less than working through a
staffing agency. That's because we don't look to make any money from being a matchmaker :: it's our way of helping
to maintain solid, long-term relationships with our affiliates. They earn more, you pay less, and we all come
away winners!
|
building main street
Sometimes it's not about partnering or filling a short-term hole :: sometimes it's just about mastering the
fundamentals or completing a bunch of basic things that require skills or knowledge across a number of
areas. If your needs fall into this category, we invite you to participate in the "beta" version of a new
program we're starting :: Building Main Street.
A joint venture with the Hopkinton Chamber of Commerce, this program will complement educational and service
offerings being developed at Worcester State College as part of a new Entrepreneurship & Business Institute.
Right now, we're screening potential candidates for our initial program, offering special incentives to
entrepreneurs and business owners willing to work with us during this initial phase and provide feedback
on what works, what doesn't, and what may be missing. Please contact us if you're interested in participating.
|
- position for success
positioning for success
Whether you're preparing to launch a new initiative, product, service, or business, we'll help create
and implement realistic, high-impact programs that will position your company
for success. Equally as important, we'll do our best to maximize your company's ability to handle
the additional work that always accompanies rapid growth.
- regroup for success
regrouping
Almost every business will face a period of difficult decisions, ranging from financial crises to
ownership disputes. We bring our perspective & experience to the table to overcome
these challenges, stepping in to actually execute on uncomfortable & tricky plans of action such as:
- renegotiating debts, leases, and other obligations
- collecting upon outstanding invoices or other payments
- positioning your business to attract additional investment
- managing owner disputes & employee layoffs
The assistance we provide in these areas cannot usually "buy," because the people qualified
to give it typically don't serve the small business community. We do.
- exit with success
exiting
Our marketing maestros got called away to work with a client before sharing what we're
supposed to tell you about here (either that or they're off watching "Mad Men"). Check back soon
-- we're hunting them down so we don't keep everyone in suspense!
|
- special projects
special projects :: leadership & management
Our marketing maestros got called away to work with a client before sharing what we're
supposed to tell you about here (either that or they're off watching "Mad Men"). Check back soon
-- we're hunting them down so we don't keep everyone in suspense!
- operations & technology
infrastructure & technology
As important as marketing & sales are for every business, they're not a sustainable substitute
for solid operations. Early in our professional careers, we saw that technology is the one tool
able to really leverage good business processes and simultaneously reduce costs while increasing revenues.
For the analytically oriented it also delivers the added bonus of bringing actionable business intelligence
to management's fingertips.
We can help you create sustainable competetive advantage by leveraging technology in a way that
won't uncomfortably stretch your budget or your ability to manage the technology solution we implement.
We just love the way we've effectively married "geekiness" with good business, and will get a real kick out
of bringing a little bit of this into your organization!
- marketing programs
sales & marketing
Our marketing maestros got called away to work with a client before sharing what we're
supposed to tell you about here (either that or they're off watching "Mad Men"). Check back soon
-- we're hunting them down so we don't keep everyone in suspense!
|
- start me up
start up
Service packages are a new offering for Main Street Ventures, and we're still putting the finishing
touches on things. We can tell you the "start me up" program is designed to quickly get a business
established with a solid foundation in place. Check back soon for the final unveiling.
- ready to grow
ready to grow
Similar to the "start me up" program, this service pack is designed to build
upon your existing business operations and position your company for growth. Check back soon for
our final unveiling.
- business workshops
|
As small business entrepreneurs ourselves, we've invested a lot of time (and money) learning how to get the most from limited
resources. We took some of the best methods, processes and tools from our technology roots and adapted them to solve our
own small business challenges. In fine Yankee (and software engineering) tradition, we strive to make our work "modular" and
"recyclable" - why re-invent the proverbial wheel? We leverage these things to help our customers achieve the results they
want. Most importantly, we build operations that are replicable, sustainable, scalable, and (most importantly) profitable.
At the end of the day, you and your community gain a vibrant, sustainable business. We all make some money. Everybody's happy.
Learn more about how we work, and contact us today to arrange a no-cost evaluation
of how we can help build and improve your operations.
There's a glut of information, insight & tips on the web. Some of it is good, much of it is not so good.
Every now and then we stumble across something that strikes a chord, and we share it in this little corner of
our site. Sometimes it's about entrepreneurship. Sometimes it's about technology. Sometimes it's about marketing.
Sometimes it's just about life.
We hope you'll find our shared vignettes as interesting and insightful as we do.