Success Stories

Client: Architectural Design Group

Challenge: Position company as top in its target market, boutique hotel design and renovation.

Program:

  • Mentored and coached CEO in short-, mid- and long-range strategic planning with a focus on diversifying and target marketing
  • Built market by creating “buzz” through PR and client-centered events
  • Interfaced with CEO and executive staff to build cohesive, effective teams in the design and architecture studios.
  • Recruited and hired a business manager.
  • Trained office manager in best recruitment and hiring practices for studio professionals.

Bottom line: CEO credits Executive-on-the-run for his ability to move from putting out daily fires to building is business. Hiring a business manager enabled him to become a “rainmaker” instead of a manager. CEO is now better able to address staff issues with new tools and insight into best practices for promoting a collaborative business culture, and to integrate a fresh marketing plan into his short, mid and long term goals.

Client: Web Site Developer

Challenge: Move owner through start-up mindset into building a sustainable business.

Program:

  • First year: Mentored CEO in immediate business skills needed to jump start cash flow including sales calls, presentations, general marketing; capacity building (how to identify and build on natural skills and develop missing ones); time management.
  • Following 4 years: Engaged CEO in thinking through and implementing best practices in all business processes. Guided him to lead strategically with written action plans and to budget relative to vision and objectives. Helped keep CEO accountable to his goals for sales/marketing, fulfillment and administration. Introduced tactics used to research and develop new products and services and to identify and target a niche market.

Bottom line: Helped the owner grow quickly from his start-up stage to a stabilized small business to a successful web based business focused on a profitable niche market.

Client: Family Owned Mortgage Company

Challenge: Transition a highly successful mortgage salesperson to form, build and stabilize a Small Mortgage Company focused on the Latino residential market.

Program:

  • Initial weekly business counseling sessions focused on developing business leadership skills such a visioning, goal setting, time management, and best practices in all aspects of business management.
  • Supported writing of full business plan to raise money from investors
  • Implemented major parts of the recruitment/hiring plan including integrating family members into senior executive positions in alignment with their capacities.
  • Developed capacities of the CEO and executive assistant to hire entire sales force in line with best practice

Bottom line: Business stabilized within one year of start-up and was highly successful.

Client: Large-Scale Early Childhood Center

Challenge: Establish new effective business processes to overcome sudden (9/11) decline in enrollment. Help create the branding of the Center’s transition from a Child Care Center into a state-of-the-art Early Childhood Education Center.

Program:

  • Worked with the CEO and senior staff in a business counseling and management consultant role over a period of 4 years.
  • Led the CEO through an in depth investigation of current marketing/sales, fulfillment and administrative practices.
  • Worked closely with the CEO and senior staff to implement a comprehensive strategic plan including business processes: Marketing/Sales, fulfillment, administration and researching/implementing new services.
  • In depth financial analysis to find leakages in revenues and expenses. Helped client to renegotiate staggering mortgage.

Bottom line: The Center survived a severe downturn in business. Significant short term improvements came from clearly identifying and focusing on target “core” market. Long term improvements were achieved by 1. Developing and implementing new recruitment and hiring practices; 2. Initiating creative new services such as specialized sick bay, off-site summer camp, on-site children’s annual carnival, open houses, tour protocol; 3. Introducing new financial systems and interfacing with a consulting CFO to implement.

RECENT PUBLIC/PRIVATE PROJECTS

Town of Huntington Small Business Incubator

The Town of Huntington’s Community Development Agency hired Ms. Parker as consulting strategist to plan a small business incubator sited in Huntington’s center of small business activity, Huntington Station. Her previous experience as chief strategist for the Long Island Hispanic Chamber of Commerce’s small business incubator in Ronkonkoma, the Smart Business Exchange, has been instrumental in helping to orchestrate a feasibility study as well as help as to activate a strategic plan.

Ms. Parker is actively engaged in space planning as well as creating/developing a “best practices” incubation program for eight resident companies and up to 30 non-resident small companies, exploring budget scenarios, and the parameters for selecting an incubator operator through an RFQ process.

Leadership Huntington Foundation

Ms. Parker was the driving force behind the establishment of the Leadership Huntington program for the Town of Huntington in 1995 and continued to serve in paid leadership roles for the first decade. She was then hired as an outside consultant and chief strategist to transition the foundation from a “program of” the Huntington Chamber of Commerce to an autonomous 501 © 3 organization. Simultaneously she acted as the Master Facilitator and Program Director of its well-respected flagship leadership development program.

She helped establish all business and program structures of this highly entrepreneurial organization and to establish a board of directors, budgets, and marketing, and development and program plans.

Next: Learn About the Services We Offer

Now that you have a sense of What I Do and have seen some exmaples of clients I have helped, take the next step and learn about the Services we offer to help you grow your business: Services.