GLIDE's business assistance is focused on the business development process, not specific technologies. This ensures that all ideas, companies, and entrepreneurs have a place to go for assessment, advice and direction. Offered by seasoned entrepreneurs and experienced business advisors, our business assistance covers a wide array of startup and growth topics.
Market Research
Good data can tell you a lot about your business opportunity, so we challenge entrepreneurs to gather data to determine market size, share, and segment. Then we work with entrepreneurs to determine the unfilled need that his or her business or service is trying to fill.
Intellectual Property
Whether it's a patent or a trade secret, we guide the entrepreneur through the intellectual property process, helping to ensure their unique technology or service has the appropriate barrier to entry.
Business Plan
We do not write business plans, but we do challenge entrepreneurs to fully understand all the vital elements that make a business successful. Then we help them communicate those pieces in cohesive business plans that serve as the basis for growing a company.
Finance and Accounting
We help entrepreneurs understand the businesses' potential costs, capital needs, and capital sources. With an understanding of the movement, uses, and impact of money within the business, entrepreneurs can establish positive cash flow.
Business Operating Agreements
Partners can be a powerful resource to startups, but come with added complexity. In this area, we focus entrepreneurs' attention on crafting clearly written and executed operating plans with potential partners.
Talent
Entrepreneurs need to surround themselves with the right kind of talent to grow their companies. We help them asses their hiring needs, focused on the critical skill sets required to move the company forward. We'll also asses their readiness to hire and point them to the right resources for structuring human resource policies and procedures.
Sales and Marketing
The lifeblood of any business is its customer. We help entrepreneurs understand the factors that contribute to effective sales and marketing strategies and provide them with the tools they need to build the basis of this vital function.
Advisory Board and Board of Directors
Effective Advisory Boards and Boards of Directors can accelerate a company's development by providing strategic thinking, industry expertise, and additional access to resources. We assist entrepreneurs as they structure these boards and identify the right talent to sit on them.
