Milwaukee Small Business Resources

Well, there's nothing like a global pandemic to expose the inefficiencies within your business. So now's the time to trim the fat, without jeopardizing your future – swapping out that crispy bacon in your Sunday-brunch bloody for a leaner, turkey version.

Streamlining your business doesn't mean cutting out every calorie though. It's simply being intentional about the services your business is consuming and making sure they're adding value to your bottom line.

As small businesses, we need to focus on what we're good at and outsource anything other people can do better. Partnering with the right professionals saves us money in the long run, and, more importantly, gives us time to focus on bringing in more revenue.

Let's use this time to reevaluate our strengths, identify our weaknesses, and build more efficient businesses. For some, this may mean partnering with a strategist or coach, finally outsourcing the bookkeeping, using the downtime to rebrand, or working with an agency to craft a powerful digital marketing strategy to reach all of the consumers now comfortably sat on their couches.

To help get you started, we've compiled an initial list of local resources to help you regroup and grow.

Accounting Services

• AM Accounting and Tax Services. Offer a broad range of services for individuals, business owners, executives, and independent professionals.
• JDBC Tax - John Leidy. The only nationally Certified LGBT Business Enterprise accounting firm in Wisconsin by the NGLCC.
• Masterpiece Bookkeeping. Provide entrepreneurs with clean, up-to-date books so they can use those numbers to help build their dream business.
• Modern Ledger Business Services - Jen Becker. Take the burden of bookkeeping and accounting tasks off of your shoulders, so you can focus on growing your business.
• Sidekick Accounting Services. Create successful small businesses by educating and supporting owners and their finances.
• Victoria Haas, CPA. Provide full-service tax, accounting and business consulting.

Banking & Finance

• Associated Bank. Provide superior financial services to their communities, combined with exceptional customer service.
• Ellenbecker Investment Group. Inspire individuals to plan and create a financial legacy for their families.
• Ixonia Bank. Locally-owned community bank focused on soundness, profitability, and growth, in that order.
• Johnson Financial Group. Actively work to improve people’s lives and build thriving communities.
• MKEFund.org. Directory for donors to find and support local businesses located in Milwaukee County affected by COVID-19.
• Nicolet National Bank. Serve customers: Real people, having real conversations and creating shared success.
• U.S. Small Business Administration. Coronavirus (COVID-19): Small Business Guidance & Loan Resources
• Wisconsin Women's Business Initiative Corporation (WWBIC). Provides quality business and financial education coupled with access to fair capital and financial products.

Branding & Graphic Design Services

• GGMM. Help brands activate strategies and campaigns that command attention and turn audiences into relationships and businesses into leaders.
• Great Impressions. Graphic design and digital printing for businesses and consumers.
• Jennie Quinn. Specializes in trends, design, and branding.
• Liz Martin Creative. Specializes in branding, web design, marketing, and creative services.
• Lone Shoe Graphics. Provide graphic design services to promote good, not goods.
• Odvant Creative. Provide worry-free branding and outcome-focused fun.
• Shelby Design Co. Design branding and websites for small businesses.
• Strozinsky Design. Help brands reach their audience with smart, engaging and inspiring design.

Business Advisors, Coaches & Strategists

• Ashley Quinto Powell. Keynote speaker, revenue consultant, coach.
• BIZremedies - Susan K. Wehrley. Helps you to become clear, calm and confident so that you can make effective decisions that ALIGN to your vision, values and goals
• Brilliance 360 - Suzana Gossett. Coaches individuals to unleash their most dynamic self by building a 3-tiered approach to achieving goals.
• Build High Performing Teams - Anna Oakes. Builds powerful connections with self, others and within organizations through strategic advising and coaching.
• Cavendish Consulting. Provide executive level advice grounded in merging proven financial human resource strategies designed to drive results and achieve your company goals.
• EDGE Performance Acceleration - Marilyn Theit. Utilize a straight forward process-driven approach coupled with high regard and understanding of "the human element".
• Excel & Flourish - Jennifer Buchholz. Turn training into play to transform your workday.
• KnotMagic - Julie Collins. Aligns sales and marketing strategies, technology and tactics to maximize results and investment.
• Leaders Leaving Legacies - Janette M. Braverman. Provide services to non-profit, forprofit organizations, business professionals and entrepreneurs that help leaders both realize their potential and make an everlasting impact.
• Liz Watson. Partners with small business CEOs to reduce operations overwhelm so they can scale their business with more ease.
• Mod.Merchant - Sarah Ferrence. Specializes in identifying and maximizing whitespace for your established, retail brand.
• Right Hand Consultants - Lindsay M. Schmit. Coaches leaders at all levels – from new managers to top executives – helping them build and grow strong organizations.
• Sabljak & Budisch - Marybeth Budisch & Mark Sabljak. Connect like-minded funders, nonprofits and corporations to help them work together more effectively and create more change.
• STUCK - Jerry Jendusa. Provides a simplified approach to business growth: Assess, Create, Deploy, and Execute YOUR Plan.
• Team Awesome -  Katie Rasoul. Coaches and guides leaders to be the most awesome version of themselves, and to lead high-performing and engaged teams.
• The Brimful Life - Beth Ridley. Help leaders achieve business success by putting people and culture first.
• The Effective Communication Coach - Denise Thomas. Focuses on transforming emerging and existing professionals into extraordinary leaders by mastering the art of effective communication.
• Vernal, LLC. Partner with clients to strengthen leaders and teams to achieve superior organizatonal results.

Community Organizations & Social Groups

• BizStarts. From small stores to scalable start-ups, they provide the tools and resources that clear the path to success.
• Doyenne Group. Build entrepreneurial ecosystems that invest in the power and potential of women entrepreneurs.
• Greater Milwaukee Committee. A private sector civic organization whose mission is to contribute to the cultural and economic base of the Milwaukee Metropolitan area.
• Greater Milwaukee Foundation. Helps individuals, families, and organizations realize their philanthropic goals and make a difference in the community.
• Imagine MKE. The convener, connector, and amplifier of the arts and culture community in the city.
• Local First Milwaukee. Milwaukee-based business alliance made up of independent, locally-owned businesses and non-profit organizations.
• MKEFund.org. Directory for donors to find and support local businesses located in Milwaukee County affected by COVID-19.
• NEWaukee. A social architecture agency that designs memorable experiences that connect the people, places, and companies within a city.
• Rev Collective. Curates collectives of like-minded women and non-binary individuals with similar career ambitions to address the opportunity gap that still exists for these professionals.
• Scale Up Milwaukee - Elmer Moore. An initiative of the Greater Milwaukee Committee, they host impactful events and accelerators designed to infuse growth into every corner and help spread inclusive economic prosperity.
• TEMPO Milwaukee. A professional women's organization that connects its 425 members who hold CEO, executive, and senior leadership positions, with one another and the community.
• Wisconsin LGBT Chamber of Commerce. A strong, pro-fairness business community.

• Brainchild Studios. Provide digital content marketing and website creation for brands targeting millennial moms and nonprofits supporting women and girls.
• CL Content Marketing. Help entrepreneurs and small businesses create content marketing strategies.
• GGMM. Help brands activate strategies and campaigns that command attention and turn audiences into relationships and businesses into leaders.
• Keystone Click. Produce real results through digital marketing and web design.
• Laura Markz. Help you rapidly and efficiently grow a memorable, profitable, and scalable business leveraging the online space.
• Mke Mktg Co. Help small businesses in greater Milwaukee and Wisconsin with Marketing services from strategic planning to execution.
• Musso Creative. Provide marketing services for local small businesses, new entrepreneurs, and nonprofits.
• STIR. Generates engagement throughout the marketing spectrum.
• Wild Alchemy. Conduct research to help you stop guessing about what your brand stands for, how to make customers happy and what your ads should say.

Do you have any recommended resources to add to the list? If so, please let us know! We're all about the locals (especially the local ladies!) and will continue to build out this list to connect our community.