Michael Sollars - President / Senior Consultant

Mike has been working as a business consultant, technologies expert, and Sales / Business Development expert and entrepreneur for almost 2 decades.  In that time he has worked with state governments (State Departments of New Hampshire and Virginia), large public utilities (Georgia and Nevada Power), large multi-nationals (Plexus Holdings and Petronas of Malaysia, Hays Information Management of London, UK, and Hadassah of Israel / New York), and many large and small retailers throughout the US (Chateau Ste. Michelle and Super Supplements).  These engagements ranged from assisting with requirements analysis and roll-out of large knowledge management suites to business development / sales and implementation of localized retail procedures and technologies.

What Mike is most proud of, however, is his entrepreneurial work and his time spent working with small businesses and NPO’s (non-profit organizations).  Being able to leverage all he has learned from these larger organizations and apply these strategies and efficiencies to his own businesses, and those of his small business clientele, is one of his great joys.  Mike says that “the realization that the great advantage small business has over bigger companies is their innate flexibility and constant intimate contact with their customers”.  This, ultimately, was the driving force that lead him away from working for larger organizations.  “I realized that many of the technology firms I worked for stopped listening to their customers as they grew larger.  Focus turned internal, money and energy became misplaced, and the customer suffered as a result.  As the person that worked most closely with the customer it became painfully obvious that, though there was much to envy about the marketing, sales, and efficiencies of large companies, there was a better way to conduct business, and for my own piece of mind, I had to find out what that was”. 

Mike is now focused on helping startup companies and mid-sized organizations find there way to sustainability and growth.  By thinking about customers first, creating a solid business plan (including marketing and sales strategies), leveraging strategic partnerships, thinking locally / regionally, and leveraging inexpensive yet transformative technologies, Mike has helped many business owners find their niche, stay focused, and become profitable.