Privately Held Businesses
A privately held business faces challenges and pressures that a larger publicly held company does – and often many more – without the same resources. A privately held business, like any business entity, requires good accounting, marketing, operations management, recruiting, and strategic planning. On top of that, issues dealing with partners, family members, or exit strategies add complexity and stress to the role of the President.
Warren Whitney understands the needs of these businesses and offers assistance through three service models.
- Contract Role – We will become a part of your team at the level you need us, for as long as you need us. Most of our engagements involve taking an operating role in a client company one or two days per week, for several months to several years.
- Advisory Role – An advisory role involves a greater emphasis on counseling than on an operating role. We have an outside view, and our only agenda is to help you be successful.
- Consulting Engagement – Sometimes a traditional consulting engagement is the right approach. We work with you to define the scope and then recommend an approach. Each engagement is different, and we take special care to understand the culture of your company.
Using these service models, we provide assistance in the areas of:
Finance and Accounting
Our finance and accounting professionals range from bookkeepers to CFOs who have experience in planning exit strategies, managing banking relationships, evaluating accounting systems and procedures, preparing financial statements, unraveling accounting systems messes, and conducting forensic accounting.
Read or watch the Richmond Times-Dispatch’s “60 Seconds With: Cyndy Lowery” to learn more about how forensic accounting can help businesses and organizations. (Access a direct link from our Press page, under the About menu.)
Case StudyHuman Resources/Recruiting
For companies that don’t have a fully staffed human resources department, we can help with recruiting, human resource policies, compensation plans, and ad hoc efforts to address a particular need. We often serve as a senior human resource advisor to your financial or administrative personnel who handle day-to-day details.
Case StudySales and Marketing
We understand the difference between sales and marketing, and we have experience in each. We serve a wide range of roles to fit your needs. As your marketing director, we will interact with your outside agency to develop your brand awareness. If we are serving as your sales manager, we will be responsible for establishing sales systems and coaching your sales staff.
Case StudyStrategic Planning
A company with a good, implementable strategic plan is more likely to achieve its potential. Even more important than the document itself is the thinking that goes into it. We facilitate the process, posing questions that engage the owners, management, and key employees involved in the process. We’re all about getting everyone on the same page.
Case StudyOrganizational Planning
What happens next? First, we help determine whether you have the right people doing the right things. Then we look at ways to move forward while balancing the demands of various functions and the resources of your company. Ultimately, we create a map that helps you make decisions that align your organizational structure with your goals.
Case StudyOperational Assessment
This is where we focus on tactics, not strategy. Which parts of your operation are running smoothly? Which need improvement or a little tune-up, and where are the risks and pitfalls? This engagement can take the form of a high-spot review for a single department or a larger engagement that looks at your whole company-top to bottom and everything in between.
Case Study