Bring meaning to your business through vision, operations, and leadership.
As a business advisor, I turn dreams into plans, plans into actions, and actions into experiences. I help my clients question what’s always been done while creating blueprints for what’s possible.
My business approach is both imaginative and pragmatic.
While I’m a business advisor by title, my work is much more than advice. I help organizations get unstuck by providing actionable, focused direction that’s synthesized from 30 years of conceptualizing, growing, and managing businesses for Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group.
I help you get where you want your business to go—faster and better. Whether you want the framework to launch a business from a simple idea or you want to further operationalize your business of 100+ employees, I provide you with the experience, perspective, and practical steps to fix what’s broken and do more of what’s working.
I commonly help businesses with the following:
Painting an objective picture of what’s possible
Providing your leaders with skills to inspire your team
Repairing a fragmented organizational culture
Recalibrating your org chart to improve teamwork
Identifying where your business is leaking money
Designing systems to increase your bottom-line profits
Benchmarking critical KPIs to understand performance
Transforming big ideas into tactical plans
Assessing opportunities and gaps in culture and operations
Refreshing your customer experience for loyalty
Business challenges are my jam, and I’m excited to shoulder yours.
Step One
Meet
When we first meet in a discovery call, I’ll get an understanding of your most pressing business issue. We’ll discuss a general lay of the land (expect questions like, “What’s keeping you up at night?” “How big is your company?” “How are you making money?” “What does your leadership team look like?” “What do you wish you could fix?” and “What’s holding you back?”) to discuss where I can help.
You’ll also have the opportunity to get to know me—my process, experience, and personality—to ensure we’re a good fit for each other.
Step Two
Discover
This is where things get fun.
In my discovery consultation, I get into the trenches of your organization to create a comprehensive plan of action. I’ll start with a baseline assessment of your business today by reviewing your historical P&Ls, internal documents, marketing plans, and, if applicable, any products you sell.
Then, I conduct an on-site evaluation to understand your business from an experiential level. I’ll walk through as a client or customer, meet with individuals across your business hierarchy, and engage with your leadership team for a full picture.
Following my in-person visit, I’ll put pen to paper and synthesize my observations, recommendations, and strategies to chart a course for the future.
Step Three
Engage
We’ve nailed down our vision. We’ve created a plan. Now, I help you make it actually happen.
From this point on, I’ll be your accountability partner, idea generator, operations director, leadership coach, and constant advocate. I’ll be here to ensure we stick with our plan while also providing guidance if tweaks are needed along the way.
Here are the core areas where I operate:
Leadership
As part of my leadership work, I equip organizations with systems, coaching, and programs to ensure your leadership team is the best it can be. I help leaders let go of the steering wheel (you don’t have to be the best at everything!) while maximizing their team’s results. From guidance on making tough decisions to reworking your team structure, your leaders will have the vision and tools to lead with impact.
Operations
Don’t allow your business to operate on hearsay. I make organizations shatterproof by fine-tuning the way they do business. We’ll mitigate risk by creating SOPs for every (and I mean every) part of your organization, along with planned schedule updates and maintenance strategies. I help maximize efficiencies and improve the team’s quality of life by identifying patterns, reducing steps, and creating systems that save time and money, and I’ll provide actionable recommendations to reduce what’s unnecessary throughout your business.
People & Culture
For me, culture is your philosophy and belief in action. Through intentional programs and trainings, I help my clients create effective and inspiring workplaces that are felt by employees and customers alike. Whether you want to implement a new organizational structure or improve the performance of a specific department, I bring a refreshing lens to all things human capital.
Innovation
Ruts are natural in business, and I’m here to propel you to a place of momentum. My strategy work helps businesses unleash ideas and identify what needs to happen next. From opening your first location to creating a whole new income stream, I share big ideas and small details to make your next venture happen more quickly.
Hospitality
Every detail matters to your customer—whether they’re aware of it or not. I leverage three decades of hospitality experience to help my clients become unforgettable. Through strategy, trainings, and advising, I provide clients with the framework and mindset to master every public-facing touchpoint for improved customer retention and revenues.
Change Management
Lasting change requires effective communication. As someone who’s created and operated multiple businesses with hundreds of employees, I understand that every word counts. In my change management support, I help businesses thoughtfully implement ideas of all shapes and sizes. By prioritizing systems, I’ll create a framework for communicating, executing, and maintaining new areas of your business so you can expand with ease.
“What makes Mark especially valuable is his firsthand experience in entrepreneurship within one of the country’s top restaurant companies; his deep understanding of the importance of positive employee culture; and his ability to operate a variety of successful businesses through all the turbulences imaginable. I have used Mark as a thoughtful resource to assist me with developing solutions and methods of implementation. I consider him to be one of my most trusted assets.”
—Steve Zagor, Professor at Columbia and NYU, former Dean of ICE Culinary Management Program
“Mark is one of the most engaging hospitality industry representatives we have worked with. Our business community members were happy to learn from him about industry trends, how to open restaurants, and even the many difficulties every owner faces. Sharing his practical experience with us, we received a road map for achieving goals at every step of the journey. Because of our excellent experience with him as a keynote speaker, we regularly recommend Mark to our members, all of whom belong to the next generation of international entrepreneurs.”
—Yuliia Yatsiuk, CEO of Young Business Club
Bring your business dreams to life.
Let’s have a discovery call to discuss your needs.
