Success Stories
Blue House Partners
Fernando has built the respect of his employees, regulated operations, and improved his financial literacy. He’s also has taken control of all functions of his business and is taking the necessary steps to scale.
Fernando Harris is a Navy veteran and the owner of Blue House Partners, a 38-year-old materials handling business with 20 full-time employees. Fernando bought Blue House Partners in 2018 with some limited business knowledge in a couple of areas, and enrolled in Pacific Community Ventures’ Business Advising program hoping to get advice on how to best transition himself into the business as the new owner and learn how to become the best leader that he could be.
We connected Fernando with advisor Karen Kreshel, a Compensation Programs, Sr. Manager at eBay. Karen’s background in change management consulting, operations, and strategy made her a strong advisor to help Fernando integrate into his new role. Additionally, Karen’s experience managing 43 contractors helped Fernando get an understanding of how to lead his team. Fernando has been delighted with his development, explaining in his survey response:
“We discussed building trust as a new leader coming into the company. Karen is very helpful with me transitioning into ownership of my company in a systematic way. I have been able to establish a good rhythm operations at Blue House. And the employees have been very receptive to the ownership change. I see all these opportunities for improvement, but with Karen’s help and support, I’m taking incremental steps.”
When Fernando was having concerns about the performance of his employees, Karen helped him convey expectations throughout his company and adjusted role identities. Fernando explained: “I’ve been able to better assess my bookkeeper and convey to her that I need to adjust her role. She now understands what I’m looking for and is taking ownership of her job.”
Two months into his partnership with Karen, Fernando reached out to PCV for a second advisor to help him with accounting and cost analysis. We matched Fernando with Tom Brehme, the CFO/COO at The Healthy Teen Project and a Managing Director at Architect Partners LLC. Tom’s financial know-how helped Fernando get a grasp on his numbers and added a level of financial acumen that Fernando didn’t have prior to their partnership. Fernando wrote: “Tom helped me lock in on how to structure my finances. My company’s financials are finally starting to look like financials. Our data is becoming more useful.”
With the guidance of Karen and Tom, Fernando was able to settle into his role as the new owner of an already established business. Fernando has built the respect of his employees, regulated operations, and improved his financial literacy. Fernando has taken control of all functions of his business and is taking the necessary steps to scale. We are delighted to see Fernando flourish as a business owner and are thrilled to watch his business follow suit.
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