Working side by side with an entrepreneur and creating a mutual relationship of trust and respect, the Business Equity Initiative’s (BEI’s) Strategic Advisors help assess the strengths and pain points of the business. They then co-create and ultimately implement a strategic growth plan together. This relationship quickly becomes integral to the entrepreneur’s business team with the Strategic Advisors bringing their experience, hands-on advice, and network. Take for example the connection between Anthony Samuels, CEO of DRB Facility Services in Boston (formerly Done Right Building Services), and his Strategic Advisor. Anthony founded and built his company from the ground up starting in 1993 and today employs 450 people. He had, however, hit a plateau in growth and opportunity, and needed help in breaking through to the next phase. He applied for and was accepted into BEI’s first cohort of Participating Enterprises, and was matched with Strategic Advisor Brian Post, who brought 25 years of expertise in creating sustainable growth for mid-market B2B industrial product companies.

A bit skeptical of the pairing at first, Anthony trusted the BEI team on the match and began collaborating with Brian. As they worked on the assessment and strategic growth plan, Brian quickly helped Anthony determine that in order for his business to grow, Anthony had to focus his time and leadership on expansion and strategy. To do that he needed to bring in a highly-skilled, experienced second-in-command hire. In partnership with Brian, Anthony defined this new role, researched industry standards for compensation, and recruited, negotiated, hired, and onboarded a new COO/CFO. Since joining, this executive has supported the implementation of new software, refined financial infrastructure, and overseen operations with an eye toward efficiencies and growing client accounts. This has been an invaluable step to DRB’s expansion.