The Story

I am Ken Gadd, founder and Senior Consultant of Gadd Business Consultants (GBC), Business Growth Specialists.  We have been assisting for-profit, non-profit and faith-based businesses and organizations primarily in the Detroit Metropolitan area for over 30 years.  I am looking forward to serving businesses and organizations in St Clair County.  I would like to share my story with you and invite you to attend some free entrepreneurial workshops.

I come from an entrepreneurial family where half the people in my family owned their own business and the other half thought they were nuts.

I grew up on the west side of Detroit and I have owned my own business in one form or another since I was 13 years old. My first business was the result of explaining to my mother why I could not live on an allowance of 50 cents a week. Whereupon she quickly informed me that if I needed more money I should go earn it. Out of that experience was born my first business, “odd jobs”, where I marketed door-to-door or wherever my bicycle would take me to do, you guessed it, odd jobs from mowing lawns, cleaning out garages to washing walls and ceilings. From that point on I have owned my own business. Often times while maintaining another full or part-time job, attending high school and universities.

I attended the University of Michigan and received a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration.  For years I watched how hard the self-employed people including family and friends, were working for the money they were making, including me.  I thought I needed a job where I could make some real money working fairly normal hours in the financial banking industry doing leveraged buyouts in Chicago’s financial district.  I went to Chicago and talked to several large companies who were impressed with my attitude and work ethic. They told me to get my MBA in finance and a couple years banking experience and come back.

I started my MBA and got a job at a bank doing loans. I received my MBA in finance from Wayne State University. One of the great experiences while attending Wayne State University was I had the opportunity to work at the Small Business Development Center in Detroit assisting small entrepreneurs by assessing their businesses while providing recommendations for growth and sustainability. This was my first consulting gig.  I not only very much enjoyed the experience, I was very good at it. I was asked to assist in setting up many of the small business development centers in southeast Michigan.

Upon completion of my MBA I went back to Chicago to all those places who said I should get my MBA and banking experience and return.  It was 1981. Unfortunately, in the early 80s in Detroit there was a significant economic crash every bit as significant as the 2008 economic crash. In fact, back then it was compared also to the times of the depression. The official unemployment rate was over 25%, there was an oil crisis, prime rate was 17%, we were offering loans of three points over prime, and businesses were crashing everywhere. The impact was felt throughout the entire Midwest. Needless to say during that time there was not a lot to do in the banking business.

I had a couple friends and family members whose businesses were struggling and they asked if I could assist them in saving and hopefully growing their businesses.

So in 1982, with all these situations combined along with some personal transformations, it was clear that it was time for me to leave banking and to launch my own consulting practice.

My personal and family entrepreneurial experience continued to reinforce for me how unprepared most small business persons were to go in business.  I learned this though my experiences working with the small business development centers combined with my business loan experience.  I quickly realized that most entrepreneurs who go in business for themselves are not business people. They are carpenters, chefs, veterinarians, engineers, salespeople, etc., who have had great success producing in their industries and have been motivated to start their own business. Many of whom quickly realize that it takes an entirely different skill set to run a business in an industry than to produce in the industry.  Unfortunately business owners often times get so bogged down in running the business that they have no time to practice the very craft that made them successful in the first place.

I started out helping the businesses of friends and family along with my first outside client. From there my consulting practice grew relatively quickly including clients all over Southeast Michigan using Detroit as a base.

Our mission is to assist entrepreneurs with the business side of their business so that they can return to doing the thing they love to do and that made them want to go into business for themselves to start with.   We let business owners focus on what they want to be doing, what they’re good at and what is most impactful. To put it simply, we help entrepreneurs streamline and simplify their business making it easier.  We give them the confidence and peace of mind they need, enabling them to expand the business.

Over the years we have grown by focusing primarily on Southeast Michigan small and midsize businesses and organizations in the for profit, nonprofit and faith-based sectors. We assist businesses at any stage of the lifecycle from idea inception, during the startup process, through sustainable growth, all the way to harvest strategies.  Our Primary services include; Strategic Business Planning, Management Strategy, Financial Analysis and Forecasting (including cost/profit, cash-flow), Marketing and Outreach, Harvest Strategies, Business Development, and Executive Coaching.  For many of our clients we serve as their, part-time comptroller, Marketing Department and Human Resources Department. We assist them in managing the business side of their business.

We have also developed a very practical and comprehensive entrepreneurial training program which is designed to be customized to specific populations and localized to specific geographic areas.

We take a very practical approach to business. My father used to say if it doesn’t work why did you bother. He did not mean that in a negative way. What he meant was make sure that whatever you build works, that you create a need that can be practically implemented with the resources that are available. The reality is that most businesses are started with imperfect resources; including not always enough money or the right people in the right places.

We combine intellect and theory with instinct, experience and common sense to find solutions that work specifically for you.

I have a very strong personal interest in doing business ethically. We feel it is important for businesses and organizations to do business responsibly; socially, environmentally, and economically.

I have a unique blend of academic, professional, personal experience education and training. I have two degrees in business and two degrees in theology and also serve as an ordained pastor serving St. James United Church of Christ in Casco. My life and my profession is a wonderful blend of business and spirituality.

I was born and raised in the Detroit Metropolitan area and for over 30 years I have served businesses and organizations in Southeast Michigan. Approximately 90% of my work is in the Detroit Metropolitan area with the remainder throughout Michigan and out of state.  Interestingly I have lived in the St. Clair County area for the past 15+ years and yet have only done a minimal amount of business in the area until recently.

I have found myself particularly energized about the Renaissance that is going on in the Port Huron area and am very excited about being a part of it. I am very much looking forward to sharing my gifts with local businesses and organizations to help them achieve successful, ethical and sustainable growth.

To support the ongoing successful growth and sustainability of local businesses and organizations we, Gadd Business Consultants, are offering a series of three workshops:

  • Growth Planning for the Future.  A realistic approach to developing a working strategic plan designed to fit you and your business
  • Identify your Most Valuable Customers and Your Unique Competitive Advantage.  Help define what makes a good customer a good customer, understand who your best customers are and why.  What sets you apart in the marketplace?
  • Your Financial Dashboard.  What are the key financial indicators for your business, why they are critical and how do you track them?

Seating will be limited so please reserve your attendance.

Location and Schedule

The workshop series will be held at:
Loft 912
912 Military, Port Huron, MI 48060

On the following dates from 1pm to 3pm

  • Friday, February 12, 2016
  • Friday, February 26, 2016
  • Friday, March 11, 2016

Gadd Business Consultants will also offer a limited number of 1-2 hour business assessments at no charge.  The workshops and assessments are exclusively for organizations that have been in business at least one to two years and wish to grow successfully and ethically.

To reserve a seat, contact us at Gadd Business Consultants

  • 810-326-0592
  • info@gaddbiz.com