Case Studies: How It Works
B&T Publishing Services LLC
Brandon is a writer, a speaker and a dad. After finishing his first book, he didn’t know what to do next. His friend Tim is a former publishing executive and graphic designer. Tim offered to help Brandon, and the result was Just Do!, Brandon’s book about the life lessons he’s learned from his kids, and his wife’s journey through breast cancer. They had so much fun that they decided to team up and do the same thing for other aspiring authors!
Neither of them, however, had ever started their own business and they weren’t sure exactly what to do. They knew they could probably figure it out, but they’d probably make a bunch of mistakes along the way…and they wanted to spend their time publishing books (and hanging out with their families), not sorting through all the red tape that starting a business requires. So, they reached out to The Startup Service to give them a boost.
The Startup Service (TSS) quickly helped them figure out where to register their LLC and how to manage their own State’s regulations. TSS completed all the paperwork and even wrote their custom Operating Agreement. TSS helped them find and set up fee-free banking, connected them with low-cost professional bookkeeping, and helped them set up payroll and navigate the complexities of business insurance. And, TSS set up email and file sharing services for the company and trained users on how to access and use the services.
Digging a little deeper, TSS worked with Tim to build business projections that help make decisions about how many clients to accept and how quickly, and what to expect in terms of financial returns. When it came time to create agreements for clients, TSS generated drafts for several different variations of clients, some who’d pay a flat fee and others who would pay a per-book charge.
B&T, Brandon and Tim’s new business, has successfully completed projects for their first three paying clients, and they have almost a dozen more lined up and waiting! Now the questions are around how to scale operations -- and TSS is right there with its Advisory Services to help B&T through documenting and standardizing processes and then outsourcing those processes to highly-competent but lower-cost resources.
Tim and Brandon are well on their way to turning a fun adventure into a profitable and enjoyable business. “TSS helped to make the process of starting our own business easier and less stressful,” says Brandon. “I was able to focus on building my business while they took care of the paperwork and legalities. I am so grateful for their help and support!”