That’s right. It’s me.

I am not famous. Or a loud voice on the internet. (I’m quietly successful and time rich.)

I’m an architect of liberation.

I help you make things your market wants and win on the field of play most important to you.

I’ve done this twice for myself. First building my management consulting company in 1982, and again with my coaching practice, SMARTSTART in 2002. Both successful businesses were launched during a severe economic recession.

I started with nothing but an idea. And placed an all-in bet on myself.

Now today, more than 3,979 client businesses and 277,000+ community members have the unequaled advantage of SMARTSTART.

I only work with action takers committed to building a successful business who have viable business ideas.

I don’t cut cookies. Or provide generic (or outdated) business advice you can find anywhere on the internet.

My core values are: excellence, honesty, integrity, generosity, patience, and perseverance.

Who am I to give you business advice?

I’ve spent my entire career, over 50 years, doing deep work in the worlds of business design, market research, and systems engineering. I’ve have earned my stellar reputation as a leading authority in multiple professional disciplines.

I’m really good at what I do. And have a long track record of success, awards, and media accolades to back that up.

However, I get a much bigger thrill seeing my clients on magazine covers and bestseller lists, in the media, and on the speaking stage. I don’t succeed unless you succeed.

Why work with me?

Building a successful business isn’t easy. But then, nothing worth doing ever is.

There’s a contagion of faux experts online. Their marketing is bloated with empty promises; their social media is finely crafted illusion; and behind the scenes their lives are often one big hot mess!

Many of them have never built a successful profitable business of their own. They are masters of deception bent on exploiting your vulnerability. They don’t care about you or your business, and often can’t answer your questions.

When they don’t deliver promised results, they blame-and-shame you.

I hate that they’ve polluted the internet and ruined so many lives. That’s another reason I created SMARTSTART. To provide you with a no-bullshit, no delusions option.

I understand why you may be skeptical about investing in SMARTSTART.

It’s a completely different experience. One that benefits you for as long as you have your business and consistently apply its timeless principles. Your return on investment in SMARTSTART compounds over time.

Only you can decide if SMARTSTART is the right place for you. Once you have a seat in the program, I’m betting you’re smart enough to discern I know what I’m talking about. And that your only regret is going to be that you didn’t join our Business Success Accelerator sooner.

About SMARTSTART

SMARTSTART is often copied, but can’t be duplicated.

In our one-of-a-kind Business Success Accelerator you build an asset-based business on a solid foundation and use strategic marketing to attract your perfect-fit clients and customers. In the best way for you. With expert professional guidance every step of the way!

Our high-performing graduates create business success on their own terms. You can too!

I know you have questions; you’ll find my answers are below in the next section. And of course you’re welcome to reach out any time to learn more about SMARTSTART.

How does SMARTSTART help me?

SMARTSTART helps you reimagine business, rethink marketing, and redefine success.

Starting a business?

Not sure what to focus on first and what to do next? Or how to best go about it? Say goodbye to guesswork.

SMARTSTART helps you use strategic thinking, data science, and modern marketing to move your business forward with clarity, confidence, and paying clients.

Have a business that’s not working for you?

Or one that’s crazy-making in ways you don’t know how to untangle. Are you thinking of changing direction or rebranding? Stop working too hard for too little.

SMARTSTART helps you get the business results you want, but don’t have and change the results you have, but don’t want. You can turn an under-performing business around and change things up for the better.

We focus on building an asset-based business and creating reusable strategic marketing campaigns. You do the hard work once. It pays off for you year after year.

Looking at next-level options or bringing in investors?

Scaling your business prematurely, without a proper foundation in place, or with the wrong partners and investors, can quickly put you right out of business.  Stay out of bad situations and stressful circumstances of your own making that can easily lead to financial, emotional and spiritual bankruptcy.

SMARTSTART helps you proactively evaluate your opportunities and manage the risks and challenges that come with them. You make fully informed decisions for yourself and your business.

You should never compromise your values or who you are to succeed in business. No amount of money you might make is enough to pay the cost of doing so.

How does SMARTSTART work?

SMARTSTART is an all-in immersive experience. Our Business Success Accelerator is organized in rounds of 10 collaborative work sessions. You receive expert professional guidance (from me) throughout your work in the program.

What happens in the first 10 work sessions?

For all program participants, the first round is used to put a solid foundation in place on which to build your business. These 10 highly-structured sessions are spent doing work specific to you and your business goals.

A strong foundation has 12 distinct elements that work together as a single integrated system. These are essential skills needed to succeed in business. This is especially critical when using a team to do the work involved, rather than doing everything yourself.

An absence, weakness, or failure in any one of these key areas can keep you from achieving your goals and realizing your full potential in business.

When you have many options to consider, we focus on what’s realistic and doable for you. This intentional decision-making shapes how best to move your business forward.

If you have a business you want to improve, grow or scale, these first work sessions are used to close any gaps or weaknesses in your foundation.

What if I want more support after building my foundation?

After your first round of SMARTSTART, additional rounds of work sessions are available, to use in any way needed, when you want ongoing support building your business.

Many program participants want to keep the momentum going right after completing the first round of SMARTSTART.

For example, you can get help as you implement specific initiatives, create new products, programs, and services, and consider new ideas and opportunities to pursue for your business. You decide how to use each session in the additional rounds; I support you through whatever you want to work on.

How long is the SMARTSTART program?

It depends. You decide how long to stay working with us in the Business Success Accelerator.

Your first round of 10 collaborative work sessions is completed over 90 days. Some program participants confidently graduate from SMARTSTART after building their foundation.

Many choose to invest in a second and possibly a third round to have ongoing support as they implement their business decisions made in that first round, but there is no obligation to do so.

When you continue working in SMARTSTART in consecutive rounds, you can schedule your ongoing work sessions weekly or bi-weekly.

Others come back later as they move to the next level of business or as new ideas and opportunities arise for which they want the benefit of a sounding board. Support is available on request to help past graduates using email and/or an additional work session or two as needed.

This flexibility ensures you only invest in as much support as needed when you most need and want it.

How do I benefit from investing in SMARTSTART?

In SMARTSTART you pursue business success in the ways best for you and for the stage of business you are in. (What worked for someone else is unlikely to be your only option and may not even be a good fit for you.)

Your work is focused on:

• building an asset-based business on a solid foundation,
• making things your market wants to a high standard of excellence, and
• using strategic marketing to make competition irrelevant and win on the playing field most important to you.

Your experience in the Business Success Accelerator is custom-tailored to fit your unique needs, goals, personal circumstances and how you learn best.

In your collaborative work sessions, you get ideas you would not have come up with on your own.

While you make all the decisions for your business, instructive and constructive feedback is provided throughout to help you execute them well without getting lost in the weeds or making expensive mistakes.

All of your questions are answered throughout the program as you work on achieving your personal and business goals.

Additional support is available if you want it, provided you show a serious commitment to your business, but you never pay for more help than needed.

We offer flexible pacing, scheduling, and payment plans to help you get the most benefit from working on your business in SMARTSTART.

We aim to have you ready to work with clarity, confidence, and paying clients, without our help, as soon as possible.

How much is the investment to be in SMARTSTART?

Your investment in SMARTSTART depends on the stage of business you’re in, the extent of help needed, and the number of rounds you use to work on your business in the accelerator.

You decide how much to invest in our program. We have graduates whose investment in SMARTSTART ranged from as low as four figures to as high as six figures.

You don’t spend more than is necessary for your needs. You know what to expect to invest for your specific situation if you’re a suitable candidate for SMARTSTART before you commit to starting the program. And we offer flexible payment options and terms.

Our clients will tell you honestly that our Business Success Accelerator is the hardest and most rewarding work they’ve ever done and the best investment you can make to support your entrepreneurial journey.

Here’s the bottom line:

The more you apply what you learn in SMARTSTART after graduating from our program, the greater your return on the investment in yourself and your business. Your ongoing benefits compound exponentially over time. And there are no limits on the ROI you can achieve.

How do I get a seat in SMARTSTART?

SMARTSTART runs four 3-month programs in the Business Success Accelerator each year:

• January through March (Q1)
• April through June (Q2)
• July through September (Q3)
• October through December (Q4)

Placement in SMARTSTART is by application only

We accept applications to work in SMARTSTART throughout the year. However, only those with economically viable ideas are invited to a virtual interview to discuss their business, goals, and challenges further. We’ll explain how the program is structured and your next steps to get a seat in the Business Success Accelerator.

When SMARTSTART is the best fit for your needs, we have you interview two participants in the program so you can ask them anything you want to know about their experience. That way, you can make a fully informed decision to invest in SMARTSTART.

Only four seats are available in SMARTSTART at any given time. You’re encouraged to submit your application as soon as you’re ready to apply. We read them as they come in and you may be selected for an interview.

Don’t make this mistake:

It’s a mistake to wait to apply to SMARTSTART as it’s best to begin the work when you have a business in the very earliest stages. Many in SMARTSTART come into the accelerator with just an idea or have a startup with no revenue.

And most who have an established business don’t yet generate enough revenue to cover expenses and pay themselves well.

We recommend you apply for a seat in SMARTSTART as soon as you have an idea you are excited about.

We only admit applicants prepared to do the work needed to build a successful business. There are clients who meet their goals in 3 months and clients who stay in the program longer. As long as you are doing the work, we’re here to help you.

We love working with our SMARTSTART clients; however, our goal is to have you graduate and not need our support as soon as possible.

Waitlist

If you miss out on an upcoming program, you can still apply and we’ll add you to the waitlist for the next opening.

Your best time to invest in SMARTSTART was yesterday; the second-best time is now.