Women In
des affordable marketing and analytics resources to Fortunate 500 companies in the Financial Services, Insurance, and Telecomm industries. C2G has offices in New Jersey, New York, and a newly-ope- ned location in Florida and will be laun- ching in the pharmaceutical and consumer packaged goods industries later this year. The company was founded by Sandi
C
Webster and Peggy McHale after being displaced from corporate America. Since that time, C2G has established client-re- lationships with corporations and has ex- panded its consultant network to experts and professionals across the country. In one of the worst recessions since the
Great Depression, the partners have navi- gated the business to consistent rates of growth and, in November 2009, published a book about their experience. Black and White Strike Gold: Practical Nuggets to Grow Your Business from Women Who La- unched Consultants 2 Go, a Multi-Million Dollar Company offers tips to small bu- siness owners as to how to find and grow a small business to a multi-million dollar corporation. It relates personal anecdotes as to what business owners should and should not do. It can be found on Amazon, Borders, Indiebound as well as at www.
Consultants2go.com.
What inspired me to launch the company? While still in Corporate America, my
business partner and I recognized the opportunity to create a new marketing consulting company that caters to frazz- led marketing managers in corporations who are in dire need of short-term, affor- dable resources that would not blow their budget. Usually the consulting company of record within a corporation utilizes re- cent MBA graduates, in their 20’s, in the Tri-state market. As a way of maximizing our budget, my now business partner and I utilized friends who left the company to have children and did not need a long-term engagement. Because they previously worked at the company in an executive
86
Business Sandi Webster Founder of Consultants 2 Go
onsultants 2 Go (C2G) is a mana- gement consulting firm that provi-
management capacity, they already knew how to navigate the different departments in order to get things done. Very little trai- ning was needed. When we had the opportunity to start
our own business, we knew exactly what we wanted – affordable, tenured marke- ting consultants who can hit the ground running. Our consultants must have at least 10 years experience to be placed on assignment. We utilize suppliers in underdeveloped networks outside of the ‘old boys’ circles. Two key networks for us are working mothers who left corpo- rations for flexible schedule arrangements and seasoned marketing and analytic pro- fessionals who have been displaced – we like people with gray hairs! Both my business partner and I were
unduly influenced by our mothers and grandmothers who taught us to be inde- pendent at an early age. Entrepreneurship was in our blood and, after being downsi- zed, we had a once-in-a-lifetime opportu- nity to capitalize on our severance packa- ges to test out a new business.
What are the major obstacles you have had to overcome in starting and/or growing the business? Visibility. Because we were relatively
unknown, we started our own massive marketing campaigns. One low-cost stra- tegy was to apply for contests and awards. The best thing that catapulted us to over the million-dollar mark in October 2006 is the accountability that was given to us when we won the Make Mine a Million $ business contest. The award package included $50,000 in loans from American Express, individualized coaching, and, best of all, a network of women who were all focused on growing their businesses. We had a common language and common problems. We helped each other solve even the most pressing business needs. M3, as it is called, allowed me to have the confidence to open up my books to my team, allowing them to share in our growth as well as being able to make criti- cal business decisions in a downturn. The
www.blackeoejournal.com
publicity that came with this award helped me to land on the cover of Money maga- zine (July 2007) as well as being featured in local newspapers and participating in panels. I am happy to say that we have maintained the million dollar threshold since being an awardee in 2006. The next M3 event is on June 15th
in Newark, NJ
and I have already mentored one of the next winners! Landing our first client. We did not
have a recognizable name and the most difficult thing to do is to cold call. We had personal successes; however, our compa- ny was newly established and marketing managers hesitated to hire a newly formed company. Now, most Fortune 500 com- panies recognize Consultants 2 Go when they are in need of marketing staff. Networking. I had to learn how to
network to build relationships. My big- gest regret is that while I was in corporate America, I was maniacally focused on meeting my company’s business goals as well as that of my team. There was no time for networking. Once I left the cor- porate nest, I realized that I should have leveraged the big brands when I could. Women, minority-owned business.
Even today, there is a subtle tension around hiring women and I’m a double- minority as an African-American woman. There are more programs in place to sup- port minority and women-owned busines- ses; however, those rules are not enforced in corporations.
The Black E.O.E. Journal
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