Consultants can help grow your business

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 17/10/2015 (3897 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Being a local business owner can be invigorating and fulfilling, but as many of you know it can also be challenging and exhausting. However, it doesn’t have to be.

Often, it’s just a matter of asking for help and other times it’s about finding the right resources. Entrepreneurs Cathy Snelgrove and Jeff Roziere are two people you can look to for advice. Their business consulting firm, Siere, is in its eighth year of operation.

“We work one-on-one with independent business owners and what we do with them is work on developing strategies and look at their business in different ways so they can improve their bottom line. Sometimes we look at how to expand to different markets and in some cases we’ll look at operational efficiency. We also work with the business owner to help them develop their skills so they can build a stronger business,” Snelgrove said.

Siere’s clients are usually businesses that have been in operation for at least three years, ones that generally have a few employees, those that are looking to maximize business results and are interested in getting some time back.

“We see the best results when there’s already a proven revenue stream and the business is already making some money, but they’re maybe frustrated with the number of hours they are having to put in and how hard they’re having to work for it. In those cases we’ve been able to help them maximize their internal efforts and look externally on where they can expand their customer base and bring those two together for both revenue and profit growth for the company,” Roziere said.

Siere originally started as a home-based business in Roziere’s garage. Before long they were able to move to a storefront location on the 100 block of 13th Street and due to expansion and a growing market, earlier this year they moved to a larger office at 117 10th St.

They currently have one full-time employee and hope in the near future to employ one or two more. Their previous location was cramped and now with the additional space they have more room to grow their own business and to better serve their clients.

“We’ve also started to focus our business beyond Brandon. With the use of technology like Skype and Office 365

we have clients from southwestern Manitoba, from Winnipeg and as far away as Chicago. The extra space allowed us to put in some of the infrastructure to work with our clients more remotely and still stay in Brandon,” Snelgrove said.

And while their company has grown, Roziere and Snelgrove still take the marketing aspect of their own business very seriously.

“We’re still in the early stages of educating our market on what it is we do and what’s possible. We go to our accountants when we need financial work done, we go to our lawyers when we need legal work done, but when it comes to expertise around business in terms of growth or structure, we don’t always know who we can turn to for that,” Roziere said.

Snelgrove and Roziere have diverse and varied backgrounds. They were both trained in the engineering field and have worked for large, medium and small companies in a variety of fields including Boeing Canada, Inventronics and the City of Brandon. This diversity and their years of experience allow them to offer their clients guaranteed results.

“If, as a business owner, you are ready and committed to make the necessary changes to your business, then we can help. We get really granular with what’s going to make the biggest impact the quickest, rather than looking at everything all at once. We want businesses to have a positive return on investment,” Roziere said.

“What’s important for any business owner is to know that you do not have to do it alone. There are lots of resources, lots of answers out there. When you’re really busy working on your business you forget that there are other people that can lend you affordable services and that can make your life a whole lot easier. We try to connect our clients with other businesses so they can move their companies forward,” Snelgrove said.

For more information on Siere, visit their website, siere.ca.

P.S. — Remember to get out and vote on Monday, it’s your democratic right!