Because of the wide range of disciplines practiced by Jim Twerdahl and his associate consultants, the firm can assist with a great many management assignments. Following, are their areas of concentration.

General Management

• Continuing service as members of the board of directors or advisors.
• Turnaround and crisis management.
• Interim senior management.
• Project management.
• Executive coaching and counsel to management.
• Strategic planning.
• Facilitate annual management and corporate planning retreats.
• Development and writing of business plans for bank, SBA, venture and angel financing.
• Development of business mission, vision
• Development of annual and long range plans
• Recruiting and development of boards of advisors, directors
• Mergers and Acquisitions. (See our affiliate site VMGCapital.com)
  • Formulation of acquisition/divesture strategies
  • Research and targeting potential acquisitions or buyers.
  • Initiating contact and prescreening.
  • Preparation of letters of intent with legal counsel, initial negotiations
  • In depth due diligence.
  • Final negotiations and closing.
  • Ingegration of merged businesses.

Marketing

• Market strategy and planning

• Marketing research

• Product pricing, promotion, terms of sales

• Trademark and copyright filings

• Public relations (releases, press contact, event planning)

• Advertising (trade, consumer)

• Collateral and promotional material development

Product Planning and Development

• Product development process consulting.

• Improving time to market.
• Product launch strategies.
• Product and brand extensions.
• Branding and Product Naming.
• Product obsolence strategies.

• Trade and consumer product research

• Product specification and detailing

• Product design, industrial design

• International sourcing  (See our section on International Sourcing)

• Affiliate offices in Hong Kong, Japan and China.

• U.S. and foreign patent applications

• Product labeling

• Packaging development and design

• Instruction manual writing and design

• Warranty administration

Sales and Distribution

• Sales force management

• Recruitment and selection of representatives

• Knowledge and contacts in many areas of distribution:

• Mass Merchants (Wal-Mart, Target, Sears)

• Electronics Chains (Best Buy, Circuit City )

• Department Stores (Macy’s, Nordstrom’s)

• Specialty Stores (Toys-R-Us, CompUSA)

• Warehouse Clubs (Costco, Sam’s)

• Catalog merchants (Sharper Image, TechnoScout)

• Internet resellers (Amazon, Buy.com)

• Two-step distributors

• Premium, incentive distributors

• International distribution

• Warehousing and physical distribution

• Warranty repair, administration, refurbishing

Finance

• Corporate Finance

• Raising equity capital
• Debt financing
• Bridge or mezzanine financing
• Bank financing
• Private placements
• Receivables factoring
• Purchase order financing

• Credit and Collection

• Payment terms and dating programs

• Design of management reports

Special Projects

• Assignments to assist management based on defined goals and objectives.