aspire partners_business plan 04222009

8/14/2019 ASPIRE Partners_Business Plan 04222009

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Business Plan

2009

a spi r e part ners, LLC5824 Bee Ridge Rd. #302

Sarasota, FL 34233(888)[email protected]
mailto:[email protected]://www.aspirepartner.com/http://www.aspirepartner.com/mailto:[email protected]


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I. Table of Contents

I. Table of Contents ................................................................................................ 2

II. Executive Summary ............................................................................................ 3

III. General Company Description .......................................................................... 6

IV. Products and Services ........................................................................................ 9

V. Marketing Plan ................................................................................................. 10

VI. Appendices........................................................................................................ 20


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II. Executive Summary

ASPI r E part ners AAAl i g n i n gSSSt r en g t h s

PPPo t en t i a l

III n spi r a t i o n

RRRea l i t y

EEEx per i en c e

H el pi n g o t h er s g r o w a n d su st a i n t h ei r b i g d r ea m .

27.2 million People in the United States know exactly what achieving the dream feels like.

ASPIRE partners offers millions of existing and wannabe small business owners a uniqueopportunity. We deliver Just-in-time, affordable access to a powerhouse of leadership and businessmanagement expertise. Business dreams involve building excitement, creativity, and customerdemand. They also involve progressively building capability, efficiencies and sustainability. Thesebusiness needs are met through people, process, technology; and project and profit management. Welove helping businesses grow, succeed & sustain by managing these important, yet time consumingaspects of their business.

ASPIRE partners provides the hands-on and consultative support small business owners need to stayfocused on their core strengths (what they love to do!) Todays business world is right smack in the

midst of a huge transition and shift to a new business model. One aspect of this economic shift thatcontinues to grow is outsourced services. We offer the ideal partnership arrangement. As businessleaders who also possess expert hands-on technical savvy, ASPIRE partners becomes the idealvirtual or on-site outsourced business partner.

Our typical clients are busy businesses and owners who simply need a little help managing essentialservices or a specific project. Often they are experiencing rapid growth and/or transition. ASPIRE


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partners has a strong understanding of the legal and regulatory issues to provide guidance & assistancefor daily admin./transactional needs, with a capacity to assist in the bigger critical aspects as well.

Our clients benefit from having access to us, up to 24/7 when and where we are needed to help themgrow a sustainable, profitable business. Think of the proactive, strategic aspect as providing thebenefits typically achieved from an external Board of Directors. We understand business and human

performance. Humans have emotions that often get in the way of performance, even a client/smallbusiness owners objectivity. We help the clients probe, discover and confront reality (the brutalfacts). We also provide options to improve performance. We offer vendor neutral, knowledge basedand solution driven support.

Over the years, weve built a network of trusted partners, and a host of platform business solutions. Allof our vendor resource partners are talented, genuine service providers who share our relationshipbased approach. All are in the business of helping businesses succeed. Some resources are free (suchas SCORE, SBDC, and various Research/Statistical business channels.) Knowing who to contact andwhen to call during each phase of a growing businesses life is part of our guided, value add approach.

The results? Working together we help small business owners minimize their distractions, andmaximize their resources and results. Working together, as the trusted outsourced business partner,ASPIRE partners allows our talented business owner clients and their stakeholders time to achievetheir dream.

Meet the faces at ASPIRE partners

Joe Target Clients Patrice

Joe Bettley is our CFO / CPA and CITP (Certified Information Technology Professional) who provides thetechnical (black & white) process oriented business strength for our clients. Some of the services Joe providesare pro-active and strategic, such as financial, pricing and profitability analysis; tax, audit and compliance prep;acquisitions and divestitures preparation and project assistance; as well as day-to-day financial and technologyassistance for our clients.

Patrice Say is our people specialist and communications partner and leader. Patrice provides the strength andsupport for all people related aspects linked to a businesss success. These services may include assistance inthe selection and performance analysis of staff, management, and vendors, as well as client management and

sales management, coaching/training, customer service and retention strategies, managing employee relations,conflict resolution and facilitation of brainstorming sessions, meetings and workshops.

Our Client is always at the center of our model. We exist to support their needs & reduce frustration!

We are extremely excited to offer our services as a value add outsource partner . The 24/7, Just-in-time, platform with our solution oriented, performance improvement focus is perfect timing. Thecurrent economic shift to lean, flat management operations is happening.


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27.2 million Small business owners are re-examining ways to manage their dream and achieveprofitable outcome. The idea of having virtually 24/7 access to a team of truly genuine, trusted andtalented business partners via our outsource model is a win/win solution. Our business modelprovides a safety net resource to help close the talent gap at a fraction of the cost of employing a full-time suite of experts in the typical previous business model.


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III. General Company Description

ASPI RE partners are the small business performance experts for all the critical phases of abusiness. We focus on effectively managing the business, so the owners have less to distract themfrom their core value and strengthsthe reason they got into business. Virtual or on-site... businessesseeking rapid growth or preparing for any transition phase do not need to do this alone. We areavailable as part of their team.

Our business model is based upon the assumption that people do best and have more success whenthey are doing what they enjoy. We believe in playing to your strengths and surround yourself withothers who excel in their field as well. We enjoy finding ways help with the day-to-day and strategyof running a profitable business. We focus on bringing some added value to our clients every time wespeak or meet with them. Our dream is to help thousands achieve their dream, whatever they ASPIREto accomplish. We support & encourage our clients to go for itwith help.

As business improvement experts and practitioners, we provide valuable and objective insight andexpertise. Our combined skills are asset-capital and human-capital management. Together, we help

our clients analyze external economic forces challenging their business and internal operations to gainimprovements, protect assets and maximize their bottom-line.

We use a non-threatening (red light/green light) guided approach. First, we collect data and workcollaboratively with the management team to align strengths and support the aspirations and goals ofthe organization. This results in a collaborative plan of action, with commitments, time frames,assignments and follow-up to ensure optimal success. Most of the improvements relate to themanagement of people, process and/or projects. All clients have access to a CPA/CFO so all strategicefforts are guided to lead to higher profits!

Most often we provide the assistance directly; however, at times we recommend other professionals

with specialized expertise from our network of partner connections.

Mission Statement: To encourage, support and guide small businesses to align their strengths, reachtheir aspirations and maximize profitability through all phases of their business.

Business Philosophy: We have a saying at ASPIRE partners: Yagottawanna. If you really want togrow your dream into a success, then we really wanna help! We recognize its not always easy. Itsgoing to take sacrifice, long hours, facing fears, even potentially failing, but plenty of good things too.Our target clients are not afraid of hard work. They are ethical, have a good idea and simply need helpwith the business side of their business. We provide that help Just-in-time bringing value everytime we speak or meet with them.

We believe a business should only pay for the goods and services they need, when they need them. Ifthe need is all the time buy it. If the need is some of the time - rent or lease. If there really isnt aneed sell it or get rid of it.

ASPIRE partners provides the external advisory second set of eyes, ears and expertise, along with acustom methodology to see the organization objectively. The At-a-Glance Summary Reportprovides helpful insight and summary of data to confirmation youre going in the right direction in


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some areas (green light) and may also uncover a couple of ways to prevent unnecessary frustration, orwasted resources (red or yellow light).

Often just sitting down with the client for their guided 360 Business Alignment process can beinvaluable. As he external party we do not have the burden of being in the middle of the day-to-daytrees and can more easily see the forest from our perspective. We so believe in this philosophy that we

combined our unique skills and forces vs. solo-practitioners going it alone.

At ASPIRE partners, our goals include

Build client relationships and trust by bringing value every time we speak or meet with them andprovethical expertise, encouragement and excellent end results.

Deliver help when and where our clients need it most.

Provide channels for continued revenue growth, service capabilities and ROI improvement from ourcombined expertise and network of partner connections.

Remain experts by staying current with continuous learning opportunities and aligning ourselves withpartner connections who share our passion and principles.

ASPIRE partners - Major competitive strengths

Unique Skill Set / Combined Practice

a. Balanced Approach (People and Process with Hands-on & Strategic Capacity)

The principals of ASPIRE partners are certified, degreed, knowledgeable professionals with over fortyyears of combined, hands-on experience. Over the years weve helped various businesses in a variety

of industries. We combine the technical, black and white, science expertise of a CPA/CITP foreffective financial and capital asset management, process improvement and tax issues, along with theart and expertise of a (Senior Professional Human Resources) SPHR to address the humancapital/people related matters.

This includes such areas as assisting rapidly growing and transitioning companies with employeeselection hiring, and training, as well as managing employee relations and performance, designingcompensation/benefit plans to attract talent, increase sales and customer service capability.

We bring specialized hands-on assistance and an enhanced understanding of our clients business in adown to earth, collaborative style.

Unique Products & Methodology

a. 360 Business Analysis & Alignment

Our 360 Business Analysis & Alignment service is designed to help businesses easily identify areaswhere their organization can improve their overall performance & increase profitability. Our objectiveanalysis and input allows the owner and stakeholders to see at a glance, potential areas to reducecosts, improve performance and maximizing all their assets and resources (financial, human, IT, time


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and materials). ASPIRE partners clients typically experience a net benefit (improvements and/orsavings) of 10 to 20 percent.

b. Provide Just in Time Expertise & Solutions

Think of ASPIRE partners when a client needs to solve a specific problem and needs an extra pair of

hands. As their hired gun we present a proposal, solution, expectations and time frame. Clientsengage ASPIRE partners services for quality transaction focused needs such as preparation offinancials, internal audit prep, training, recruiting, and performance coaching.

c. Partner Program

ASPIRE partners offers a Partner program that helps ensure the small business stays on track toreach and maintain the goals they aspire to achieve. Often our small, mid-size clients do not have aBoard of Directors, CFO, Human Resource or Customer Relations executive on staff full-time. Bybecoming a partner, we help fulfill those roles, up to 24/7. Many clients do not need this level ofguidance & expertise all the time, however, these skills can be critical to your success some of thetime. Paying for access to this knowledge & receiving assistance only when you need it makes goodbusiness sense. We also realize that for many small businesses, 9-5 Monday through Friday is not thenormal business time that they keep. We realize that creativity and questions arise at night and onweekends. For this reason, we provide those in our Partner program our personal contact informationincluding cell and personal e-mail addresses for any issues, questions, thoughts, etc. that come up inthose normal non 9-5 hours. In addition, those in our Partner program receive a discount on ournormal billing rates and at our workshops and seminars.

Legal form of ownership: Limited Liability Company (LLC). This form was selected for severalreasons, the primary being the greatest flexibility for future potential ownership and profit sharingdistributions. A holding company model is potential in the future as the founding partners haveseveral ideas for subsidiaries of both related and unrelated products and services. The LLC vehicle

was viewed and used to provide the greatest benefit and flexibility for future endeavors as well as thecurrent ownership structure.


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IV. Products and Services

Our main product is improvements achieved via our consultative and hands-on consulting services.The resulting assistance, benefits and solutions provided are often the more tangible product for ourclient.

Our Service Solution Improvements fall into one or more of the following three categories:

Process/Business Management Assistance and Improvement

People Performance Management Assistance and Improvement

Project Management Assistance and Improvement

Sample description and details of the features and benefit highlights are shown within section V. ofthis document.

In addition, other products are the mode in which we provide our services. These include:

360 Business Alignment

Just-in-Time Expertise and Assistance

Partner Program (Virtual - 24/7) three levels of support

The above are described in detail within as well.

In addition, ASPIRE partners has plans to research and provide clients with needed how to guideand support products via the web and e-Books.


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V. Marketing Plan

Market research

We have launched two of our initial market research phases. One was a brief exploration last fallwith the help of a SCORE mentor to explore the local and emerging Hispanic market. We were able togathering competitive information, as well as identify the potential market share for our serviceswithin the immediate Sarasota/Bradenton MSA. Phase-two began in January. We both possess formerlives and experience with numerous and varying companies in the various phases of their business lifewithin our immediate business market.

Over the past few months we have had numerous discussions and meetings with local businessowners, members of the local business community and direct service and involvement in localChamber of Commerce and Economic Development Corporation organizations. Both partners belongto and are actively involved in leadership roles within the above organizations, as well as other virtualand on-site lead generating groups. We plan to balance our time and investment in both social andtraditional networking activities.

We launched a 1,000 piece direct mail and advertisement campaign via the local business publicationreaching small businesses in the area. (See Appendix) As a result, we were able to gain some brandrecognition and even proceed with some client engagements. This is helping us learn more about howwe can provide value to this market. During this initial start-up phase of ASPIRE partners, the twofounding partners will continue to be the marketing and market research team. We are exploringcost/benefit solutions to engaging a part-time appointment setter/door opener to further penetrateopportunities within our market.

These activities and research have been necessary to assess a market need for our services and toestablish a sales and marketing plan, including distribution channels.

Market research - How?As part of our secondary market research ASPIRE partners analyzes a variety of publishedinformation such as industry profiles, trade journals, newspapers, magazines, census data, anddemographic profiles. Some of this information is what led us to develop our relationships withassociations. We have targeted (30) associations with ties to high growth corridor in Florida. Wesecured an endorsement from one of the (30) and will be a featured presenter for a clinic starting in thefall. This will allow ASPIRE partners to reach over 500 decision makers within the insurance servicessector.

We jumped into the primary research phase initially and explored a broad target market: local smallbusinesses. Through discussions and analytic research, we narrowed that down to businesses with (20)

+ employees and 1MM in Revenue. This resulted in helping us gain knowledge of the variousindustries and identification of the various associations that are advisors to those businesses.

We have identified an outside marketing research specialist and anticipate investment and use of thisservice within the 2009 operating year to refine our efforts.

Economics

Our Market Scope/Size


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While we are broadly categorized in the consulting industry, more specifically in the businessmanagement sector, this really does not capture what ASPIRE partners does or is at least in thetraditional sense. What we are not are the typical preach and tell consultants that weve engagedover the years; come in for a project, potentially create excitement and then vanish or worse yet, overstay the welcome after the initial value is achieved.

Ours is a leadership based approach for those companies that wanna. Our desire is to help instillaccountability, including for ourselves, and to provide help when and where our clients need it most.This is often in an ongoing relationship for a period of time where our clients receive value each timewe speak with them. Sometimes the intervals are frequent and sometimes over extended periods oftime.

Likewise, locally, in the State of Florida and even nationally, there are various business consultantsbut they are primarily in specific fields such as marketing, IT, individual performance and coachingand including the CPA firm community. We have yet to find a local, small firm that combines theskills, strategies, areas of focus and model that we have at ASPIRE partners.

Other types of business that are broadly categorized in our markets are temporary staffing/HR andCFO firms, but often the focus of these firms is on either specific and transactional duties or for aspecific reason such as preparation for an IPO or an interim position until a permanent in housesolution is found. We certainly provide these services as well and minimally if both disciplines areneeded, we offer both under one roof in our unique combination of skills. Our model more dealswith the new economic shift of only using goods and services when and where they are needed,alternatives to costly, permanent in-house solutions for our skill sets.

Current demand in target market

As noted before, the potential market is 27.2 small business owners in the United States alone withouttaking into account any potential revenues and relationships established by our e-Books and

potentially global virtual service offerings. We have relationships, both personal and professional,around the world and given the internet and todays technology that remains a distinct possibilitythough not in our projections or initial target markets.

Realistically and given the natural bell curve of human behavior and performance, only the top 10-20% fall into the yagottawanna category that we noted earlier. If we ultimately help and capture onehalf of one percent of the top 20% that is 27,200 potential customers in the U.S. As we focus ourinitial target on high growth companies in Central, Southeast and Southwest Florida we are projectingvery conservative and realistic numbers in the teens to low 20s for our Partner program base,expanding year over year.

We believe that the new economic shift and business model holds a bright future for ASPIREpartners. We share the views of the Forbes.com article titled Fastest Growing Industries of September26, 2008 which said, Health care, human resources and consulting are likely industries for jobgrowth. Amid all the gloomy talk of recession, layoffs and continued financial turmoil, there are somesectors where more jobs will be created over the next few yearsAmong them: consultancy.Companies will still need outside guidance in crafting their decision-making, no matter how troubledthe industry


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This is especially true in the high growth companies and companies in transition to new stages ofbusiness development which we are targeting. We have lived in similar companies and know thatoften the focus is only on the day to day tasks and a set of experienced hands, eyes, ears and expertisecan be truly invaluable.

Trends in target market(Growth trends, trends in consumer preferences, and trends in productdevelopment)

Our skills, services and models work across most all industries and organizations and companies ofmany different sizes and shapes. Currently, the troubled economy has forced businesses to re-thinkhow they operate and become more comfortable with living with limited resources and outsourcing asneeded. Many successful companies have lived within this model always, but most have lived by theoutdated and inefficient model of in-house for all needs and purchasing resources, includingemployees, just in case vs. just in time.

As the economy continues to grow and strengthen, we believe that the new economic shift will remainand is not simply a fad. We also see, and not only hear from the media, a shift from Wall Street toMain Street. More entrepreneurs are following their dreams and opening businesses and as such we

will be there to help them profitably Align Strengths PotentialInspiration Reality & Experience.

Growth potential, benefits, opportunity and barriers

The benefits for an organization our size are low overhead resulting in lower cost of service, flexibilityin service offerings and time to bring to market and the ability to quickly adapt to needs in the marketand of our clients. Though we are small in formal number of employees we have built a strongnetwork of partners across a number of disciplines including IT, sales and marketing, manufacturing,basic accounting and HR services and payroll and also are members of several professionalorganizations and have affiliations in others such as SCORE that we have noted before which allow usto call in any type of specific expertise and help that our clients may need. A couple of specific

examples are 1031 Like Kind Exchange Transactions and Research and Development Tax Credits.While we are knowledgeable on the subjects, there are firms which solely focus on these very specificareas. We would call in these Partners when appropriate for our clients, saving our clients the researchabout the subjects and who to call.

While our Partners expand our services available to our clients and allow us to overcome this specificsmall business barrier, other real barriers exist. Like all small businesses starting out, we handle allaspects of the business including taking out the trash! We find it is also beneficial to our clientsknowing that we are living the same issues that they are dealing with and we truly understand theirmost basic of daily dilemmas.

We are also in the process of building our brand and making the ASPIRE partners name known in thebusiness community and viewed at as a trusted ally and resource for growing businesses and those intransition. There is constant research and knowledge updates for both professional licensing and alsogeneral business knowledge and fortunately we love to learn and are true lifetime learners!

While we are not reliant on specific and unique technologies, general technology including hardwareand software updates are critical. Fortunately the some of the time rent approach and model that weprescribe and software as a service in the IT area are now becoming norms as a way to handle


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technology needs. As we are not a manufacturing enterprise or sell any goods, production andinventory costs are not applicable. We have trademarked our logo including tag line to maintainuniqueness in the business market.

Changes in government regulations and economic conditions have proven to be positive influences onour core accounting and human resources disciplines in recent history, as well as the consulting arena

as well. As our expertise is in business growth and transition, we live in the world of change. Our jobfor our clients is to simply make the change whatever it is as positive as possible for them and theirstakeholders.

Product Features / Benefits

Process/Business Management People Performance Mgt. Project Management

Well developed, written financialplan of action to maximizefinancial performance & ROI

Deeper understanding & path togreater alignment with their keyclient goals & needs (results ofa customized satisfaction

survey).

Uncover road blocks, backlogs,patterns, issues and trends thatdiminish return and value.

Achieve profitability analysis byproduct / service / market to focuson higher profit margin activities

Deeper understanding ofknowledge capital; trainingimprovements with their keytalent (following a skillinventory & survey). Pre/postassessment results.

Internal audit before the realaudit. Time to prepare andprevent fines, loss ofaccreditation, etc.

Production of policies, safeguards,and best practices to protect assets,

intellectual capital/proprietaryinformation

Reduced cost & re-alignment ofcompensation/benefits to attract

and retain the high performertalent.

Procedures and policies toenable the growth of the

business and guide stakeholdersto successful mores andbehavior.

Trusted partner during pricingand banking credit linenegotiations.

Trusted communications andhuman performance partnerduring employeerelations/reviews and helpresolving difficult clientsatisfaction issues.

Objective understanding of bizstatus after a merger /acquisition, rapid growth phaseor other transition.

Benchmarks/metrics to guideoperation. Better retention and sales resultsfrom enhancements made due toall of above findings.

Planning tools for greaterefficiency and communicationacross the organization.


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Customers

ASPIRE partner customers come in all sectors within all industries. The common denominator is thedesire to do whatever it takes to make their dream come true and have the leadership and discipline tofollow through.

Competition

ASPIRE partners greatest competition is the fallacy that one owner operator can do it all. However,there are a few organizations in the market who offer some of what we provide (although not in ourmodel).

Table 1: Competitive Analysis

Factor ASPIRE partners Strength Weakness Competitor A Competitor BImportance toCustomer

Products

Unique Skill Set

(People & Process)

X People / Process/Project RImprovement

Price

Partner Program

& Just in Time

X Value Based - AffordableAlternative

QualityCredentials & Proven

ExperienceX X X Average

Selection

New to Market

Need to grow as a knownentity

X Unknown at this time

Service

Excellent Communication,

Personal Commitment

Follow-Up

X Trusted, Business PartneRelationship

vs.

Processing mill

ReliabilityExcellent track record and

repeat clientsX X Important

Stability

New to Market

Need to grow as a knownentity

X Unknown at this time

ExpertiseCredentials & Proven

ExperienceX X X Average

Company

Reputation

Excellent X X Important

Location

Accessible Virtuallyanywhere & appearanceof office in central area

X Important Available,

lower overhead & client cin their new economic sh

model

AppearanceProfessional Approachable X X X Average


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Our target market and comparisons with other smaller and often sole proprietor firms also dictates thatwe have a fair but modest fee structure. Our fees are comparable with other professionals in ourrespective disciplines. While our pricing will of course be important criteria of our clients, we do notfeel that it will be the primary reason for winning or losing potential clients. More so, it will dependon our success of building a relationship with our clients and proving our value, beginning with thefirst meeting.

Partner program:

We offer affordable partner level tracks for various business, financial & personal needs:

PartnerLevel

MonthlyRate

QuarterlyRate

AnnualRate

Silver $ 135 $ 385 $ 1,500

Gold $ 260 $ 760 $ 3,000

Platinum $ 510 $ 1,510 $ 6,000

Clients enrolled in the Partner programs achieve better results, benefitting from consistent goalplanning and constant review of resources and operating results. In addition, as described above, weprovide the up to 24 / 7 safety net to those in our Partner program by providing our personal contactinformation including cell and personal e-mail addresses for any issues, questions, thoughts, etc. thatcome up in those normal non 9-5 hours. Plus, the discount to our normal billing rates and at ourworkshops and seminars makes the Partner program quite an attractive and valuable service offering.

The varying pricing is based on anticipated usage and activity of our services. The silver package forexample is designed for smaller business on a limited budget and basically the next step up fromSCORE and other free resources. We realize that though SCORE, for example, is a fine organizationand resource that we utilize ourselves and recommend as a first step for our clients, often they simplywant someone to handle the project and pay for the convenience. For the quite nominal fee structurelisted above, our clients have up to 24 / 7 access to a CPA/CITP/CFO and SPHR as a part of theirteam.

As we offer the option of flexible payment options, including on-line payments via our website, wehave very limited credit policies. Invoices are processed weekly and are due upon receipt. Normalcredit will ultimately carry a maximum of 3 weeks to 30 days.

Our e-Books and seminar pricing will also be kept rather modest and utilized as a means to introduceour competencies and experiences to prospective clients for our core consulting services.

Proposed LocationAs indicated above, we operate in a virtual environment. This is one area that we practice what wepreach to our clients, minimize overhead and other costs that are not critical to your operations.Given the nature of our practice, any face to face meetings are held at our clients offices. Whennecessary, we have access to use conference rooms, with videoconferencing capabilities, etc. Both


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partners have complete home office setups including broadband internet access allowing our Companyto operate virtually. We utilize a virtual phone system platform which allows automatic forwarding ofcalls from the system to our home or cell phones. If we are unable to immediately access the call, thesystem has a complete voicemail system to handle our customers needs. As we grow, we plan tomake a small investment in the required technology needed for video conferencing to meet with ourclients in a more personal but still virtual manner on a more frequent basis as requested. Face to face

meetings will always have importance, but video conferencing is now a more common and acceptedbusiness meeting practice. Once more, part of the business model shift we ascribe to ourselves andrecommend to our clients.

As the company grows and employees or subcontract help are added in subsequent years, the need forphysical locations will be re-addressed. Given the continued advances in technology, we hope tocontinue to be able to operate in a virtual environment but also realize that the need for a physicallocation may be warranted. As such we have built these costs into future years projections.

Being physically located on the Gulf Coast of Florida, large inventories of inexpensive commercialreal estate is available for rent or purchase should the need arise. As proponents and leaders in cost

containment and just-in-time expenditures, we will continue to purport and be an example that modestinvestments in technology can yield large gains and savings. Our virtual environment operation provesit.

Sales and Marketing Plans and Distribution ChannelsSales/Marketing

As our core services require a sense of trust necessary to facilitate the often personal and confidentialdialogue, initial screening or introductory meetings or discussions are normally warranted anddesired by both parties. These conversations and relationships have initially been made by the twofounders. From these relationships, a referral distribution channel is being formed. Combined withour formal fee based referral program (which also serves as an example of a multiple revenue streamfor our clients), we view this referral channel to be paramount going forward.

As mentioned, we also plan to formally engage outside sales representatives to act as door openers andappointment setters going forward. We felt that initial market research needed to establish our brand,to craft a clear message and script and to gain a presence in the local business community was firstnecessary before other representatives of ASPIRE partners would be effective and successful.

Additionally, to support our mission and business plan, we will utilize lower cost e-marketinginitiatives. We have plans to grow our web presence through provision of practical updates/articles,blogs and e-books, as well as grow our electronic networking contacts and relationships. We foreseethe continued rapid growth in the web-based medium. Again, we must first practice ourselves the

lower cost, hopefully effective marketing solutions that we promote to our clients.

Financial Projection Information

As described prior, our various services are provided in a low overhead virtual environment. As wehave no employees other than the founding partners in year one and minimal employee orsubcontractor costs projected in years two and three, we have a very scalable model. This is a modelthat can be grown in an efficient and controlled manner should numerous or unanticipatedopportunities arise. A nice problem we certainlyASPIREto have!


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Our forecast and projections are built however in a rather conservative manner without outside capitalinfusions and additional ownership. Additional owners, including venture capital, would potentiallybe sought should the model prove successful or the right partners found. Moving to this expandedownership model would obviously change the financial aspect dramatically resulting in a much largerand stronger financial organization. These thoughts are more reflective of years beyond year three andare not part of the financial presentation.

The founding members have committed their own personal savings to fund initial months activitiesuntil positive cash flow is attained later in year one. Year two continues as a building year with someemployees (or potentially contract help) being anticipated to allow the partners to focus more onserving existing and new customers. Year three assumes the same pattern with a leveraging ofexisting relationships and branding resulting in lower acquisition costs of sales. Additional employees(or contract help) is anticipated but at a lower rate than in year two due to the leveraging.

An analysis of expenses also illustrates an efficient, scalable model. The virtual model requireslimited overhead and space requirements, as stated before, until years two and three. In year one, theprimary costs are commissions and auto mileage costs as relationships are established outside of the

local Sarasota/Bradenton market and more into the Central and Southeast corridors of the State. Asdescribed above, the high growth companies that we are targeting are located in the Tampa-Orlandocorridor and in the Southeast quadrant of the State. Thus an increase in auto mileage costs isanticipated.

Also, professional fees pertaining to a revamping of our website and a marketing research andbranding initiative is anticipated in Q2 of year one. Advertising costs are for ads in the Gulf CoastBusiness Review in the first half of the year and undefined sources at year-end. It is also anticipatedthat a campaign will be launched in Q4 in preparation for a strong start to year two. Funds are beingprojected but the campaign is currently undefined. Participation in various industry trade shows(insurance, technology and accounting) is anticipated and reflected in the appropriate months.

Anticipated capital expenditures for computer equipment and software and office furnishings or otherequipment in years two and three are also noted to show ultimate cash flow impacts. Currentcomputer equipment and software previously purchased was contributed by the partners for use in theCompany. The website and e-mail access is currently being provided at a nominal cost as a service bya referral partner. Annual software package is reflected with virtual phone system and normal homeoffice expenses.

In closing, the founders of ASPIRE partner are living their dream by helping other entrepreneurs andsmall business owners live their dreams! Our vision started with the concept that we could take whatwe did in leadership roles on staff in a large small business in Corporate America and provide thesame services, encouragements and leadership to organizations who only have the need for an

experienced CFO/CPA/CITP and SPHR some of the time and should only pay when and where theyneed us most.

We thought individually that we had the opportunity to have quite a unique practice. We started withthe idea and then went to a SCORE seminar! We then followed with all of the important aspectscovered in the business plan doc and began the market research phase. Our thoughts were confirmedthat no one is really doing what we are doing, using our unique model and tools and especially not atan affordable price for the results received.


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We look forward to the colorful journey that we will experience while keeping our eye on the blackand white end game of being a highly successful and profitable entity and doing so by helping andencouraging others along the way and being true leaders in the business side of business.


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VI. Appendices

1. Visual of 360 Business Alignment Concept


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2. Example of 360 Business Alignment Executive Summary


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3. Postcard Direct Mailing to Target Companies in Sarasota & Manatee Counties, FL

January 2009


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4. GCBR Ad - January 2009

5. GCBR Ad January 2009


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6. GCBR Ad April 2009

aspire partners_business plan 04222009

Documents