Who we are

SimplrBusiness is a collaboration of two old friends named Michael and Dennis.

The more serious member of the team, Michael is an Ivy league MBA working for a global media company and is a former associate at a big-three consulting firm. The experience he brings to this blog was once sought after by blue chip corporations in media, telecom and consumer packaged goods as well as by non-profits and the US government. All of whom paid thousands of dollars per hour for his insights. Unfortunately they didn’t pay him directly…and don’t worry, neither will you.

Dennis is a successful small businessman who has been the envy of his friends for the past decade because he only works about half of the year at a job he loves, and still manages to pay his bills on time and invest regularly in his IRA. He spends much of the rest of his time doing things like paragliding in China, scuba diving in South America and trying to become a half-decent guitar player.

How did we get here?

This blog was born over beers one night as Dennis pumped his old friend Mike for free business tips (hiring the likes of Mike was way out of range for Dennis’ budget, as it would be for just about any small business person). Mike told Dennis how often he found himself giving business advice to self-employed friends. The conversation went off on a tangent as we realized that there were few options for small businesses looking for advice on streamlining their operations or growing their bottom line.

We thought of a peer of ours who runs a small business. A woman with lots of talent, energy and great people skills working in a market where she was in great demand—and yet she was always struggling to make a profit, pay her employees on time, and chronically stressed out with all the decisions she had to make! Wouldn’t it be wonderful if this person, and those like her, had a trusted resource (like corporate CEOs have) that could help identify, prioritize and resolve complex business challenges?


What is SimplrBusiness?

The SimplrBusiness mission- as the name implies- is to be a vehicle for simplifying complex business theories, frameworks, tools and analysis. We want to allow independent and small business owners to leverage the same knowledge and expertise large corporations use to make smart business decisions. After years in the mix, Mike has seen first hand how communicating these concepts in plain English can have a powerful positive impact.

Specifically, we will:

--- Introduce business diagnostic tools and processes, walking you through a step by step process to analyze each function of your business (Marketing, Operations, Sales, Finance and Strategy) and provide a snapshot or baseline that you can use to guide strategic decisions and track your progress. This is a powerful tool whether you have a million dollar business with complex client and employee issues or you make your living playing guitar in a subway station.

--- Cover a broad spectrum of issues that we hope will enlighten and inform your business decisions:

o Explaining the pitfalls and opportunities with current economic conditions
o De-mystifying business functions
o Introducing frameworks and tools for sound decision-making
o Sharing case studies of business make-overs (good and bad)
o Reviews of valuable books and other resources

So please visit often and challenge us to be of value to you. If you have an issue or question you want discussed, or if you had success from anything you saw here, please let us know (…and support our sponsors!)

Remember a smart business is a SimplrBusiness!