Rewards of a Rocky Road

According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 20 percent of small businesses fail in their first year, and about 50 percent fail in their fifth year. These are intimidating statistics for someone with zero entrepreneurial experience.

Yet, on Ben Hall’s thirtieth birthday, he told his wife that he was going to start his own business. That was August 28th, 2005. With 10 years of sales and management experience under his belt, he was confident that he would succeed.

OverView Consulting, a company that helps business owners and C-Level decisionmakers identify and implement cost-saving strategies to quickly improve their bottom lines, was launched in a financially booming economy. In three years, Ben’s son was born. His company had ten employees across four states. And they recorded their highest revenue-generating year.

The Rocky Road

Then the Great Recession of 2008 hit, a global economic downturn that destroyed world financial markets as well as the banking and real estate industries. Millions of people lost their life savings, their jobs, and their homes.

Ben’s access to capital disappeared in fewer than 90 days. He was forced to lay off employees, write off more than $160,000 in accounts receivable, and figure out a way to completely restructure his business. He had a newborn baby, a house payment, and nearly $500,000 in debt as his revenue plummeted by more than 63 percent.

It is now fifteen years since Ben started OverView. The company has survived and thrived. OverView stands strong today, even in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, not because of the decisions Ben made as a business owner – but because of his competence in sales and management. He pulled numbers, cut expenses, cast his vision for the future, and set SMART goals to get there.

Sharing the Rewards of Experience

It is important for entrepreneurs like Ben to quantify and qualify their skillsets. With 25 years of sales and management and 15 years as a business owner, he can certainly share the wisdom and experience of a business owner who has made mistakes. Download Ben’s Financial Survival Guide.

In the words of John Maxwell, “Sometimes you win; sometimes you learn.”

Contact Ben to learn more about easy-to-implement cost-savings initiatives and strategies to build sustained revenue for your business.