Ground Floor Partners

read moreWe are located in Chicago, Illinois, but we serve clients throughout the country and abroad. We have been in business since 2003. We help start-ups and early stage businesses analyze their markets, determine feasibility, and develop a realistic business plan that is a road map to success, not just a description of the business. We also offer private, individualized business coaching services. We engage business owners and senior managers in an intensive, collaborative process to identify and resolve any issues and challenges that may be preventing their organization from achieving its fullest potential.

read moreIt doesn't matter whether your business focuses on events, transportation, food, lodging, or something else; you must provide excellent customer service, or your business will ultimately fail. When consumers and businesses are spending, service and hospitality businesses do very well. When the economy tanks, they tend to suffer. Service and hospitality businesses are relatively labor intensive. With the right people, your business will thrive; with the wrong people, it may not even survive. We want to shift our entire business toward more environmentally sustainable practices, without negatively impacting profits.

read moreMany consulting firms focus on one stage of the business lifecycle. Ground Floor Partners is different — we work with clients at each stage: start-up, growth and maturity. We understand the problems small business owners have to deal with every day: budgets are tight, resources are limited, and a beautiful business plan or strategic plan isn't worth much if it isn't implemented. Strategy Consulting focuses on helping clients establish a clear vision, long term goals, and a road map. We also help clients communicate and execute their plan.

read moreEstablished businesses are different from startups. They have a history. They have products, services, and processes that work, and some that don't. They have a mix of happy customers and not-so-happy customers. They usually have a small executive management team, some employees, and probably some contractors. The big difference is that established businesses have something to lose. A new business plan has to transition the business from the old to the new, without breaking all the things that already work.

read moreEvery small business starts with one or two great people, but great businesses aren't built on any one person, they're built on a framework of systems and policies that help team members work together more efficiently and effectively. As every successful entrepreneur, banker and investor knows, having a great plan is just the beginning. Now you have to implement it. We help business owners get the right people, processes, systems and policies in place, so they can run their business more efficiently, accelerate business growth, and reduce dependence on the business owner and other key employees.

read moreWe work with a wide variety of clients at almost every stage of the business life cycle. Most of our small business clients have the potential to grow to at least $5 million in gross revenue per year, but this is not an absolute requirement. If you are looking for a small business consulting firm with integrity, passion, and a talent for delivering results, then you have come to the right place. Unlike some of our competitors, we don't make false promises about doubling revenue within a few months, or turning things around in weeks.