Jay Sachetti joined Jeff O’Brien, partner at Husch Blackwell and Dyanne Ross-Hanson, president of Exit Planning Strategies talked about the market for mergers and acquisitions, exit planning opportunities for companies that don’t end up for sale and how companies can maximize their eventual sale price during an early October panel at the first Upsize on Tap event at Summit Brewing Co. in St. Paul.
When the state Legislature passed a law requiring employers to provide paid leave and safe time for employees, Justin Bieganek started hearing differing details from friends, colleagues and peers.
The catering company Chowgirls has about 50 full-time employees and another 150 who are seasonal. In its early days, the company functioned largely with an internally created technology system.
But as it has grown, its technology needs have become more complex — and necessary — as keeping track of everything from staffing events to logging customer feedback grew more difficult.
That’s caused some challenges in recent years, because early on, the company struggled to find a software that fit its specific needs for scheduling and timeclock.
“Some smart staff created a database system to help manage that,” says Heidi Andermack, co-founder and CEO of Chowgirls Catering. “It was really cool because we could customize it to be exactly the way we wanted it to be. But eventually, as technologies grow — and having only one IT person to support that — it grew to be challenging.”
In addition to the solo IT person and increasing complexities, increasing issues associated with the need to protect employee and customer data pushed Chowgirls to start looking for a new product.
Staff has known the founders of Clockwork for many years and Chowgirls had gotten help from the staff there with an event management software several years earlier.
So, the companies began evaluating the existing database, discovering some shortcomings, “learning that we’re not in the business of software development,” Andermack says, citing as one specific example a scheduling system that was cumbersome to adjust once schedules had been made. “We were putting a lot of energy into maintaining this system that had some elements that were outdated.”
It’s been an ongoing process. Clockwork, in 2022, had helped guide the selection of a learning management system for a new training program. Clockwork staff interviewed Chowgirls on needs and found a handful of potential products that they tested.
“That was our introduction into a full, comprehensive way to evaluate what systems are appropriate,” she says.
This year, Clockwork helped Chowgirls document its existing customized system, including evaluating the quality and security of data.
Clockwork, and its subsidiary Tempo that works with small businesses, helped research scheduling programs for catering companies — there were a few options out there specific to the industry — and, as that process played out, it provided the impetus to change to a multiple platform system. So, now, Chowgirls operates with QuickBooks, Google, Slack, which were already in the company’s repertoire, but also with a scheduling program that integrates with its payroll company and with its event management catering software (Total Party Planner).
“It’s streamlining our payroll process a bit and it also is making it very easy for our employees to communicate about their availability and for our scheduler, it makes her process a lot quicker to schedule people and change schedules,” Andermack says. “It has a communication platform with it, with staff texting capabilities. That was something we couldn’t do before.”
A tech stack, says Nancy Lyons, CEO and co-founder of Clockwork, is a grouping of the tools and technologies a business uses to operate.
“Think about it like the foundation of a building,” she says. “The tech stack is the thing that holds everything together and keeps things running smoothly.”
That typically can include hardware, such as computers, servers, smartphones; software, such as Microsoft Office or QuickBooks for accounting; platforms, the big systems used to customize functions of your business, like Shopify for commerce; and integrations, which are how those tools talk with each other.
Lyons has companies start by thinking about what they need in order to function well, identifying the must haves.
“What are the essential tools of your business,” Lyons says. “What do you need to put in place to work more efficiently? What tools will help you keep your promises to your customers and stay healthy? This includes everyday activities like customer management, accounting, communication, sales and marketing.”
She suggests prioritizing simple products that are easy to use and that will grow with your business. Try before you buy.
“You don’t need to be a software engineer and you don’t need to employ one,” she adds. “Look for tools that make your life easier, not more complicated.”
Do your research — talk to other business owners and others in your network, Lyons says, and look to the web for real product and experience reviews. Try out free versions or trial periods for software, as well, so you can get a sense for whether it delivers on its promises.
Lyons and others say many businesses dive into purchases too quickly or they feel the need to buy every tool out there.
“They fall in love with overly complicated systems because they think that more tech means more productivity,” Lyons says. “I’ve seen this strategy backfire more often than I can share and it just leads to confusion and inefficiency.”
Business owners also often skip the training sessions that typically come with and are needed in putting new technology to use.
“Even the best solutions are useless if your team doesn’t know how to use them,” Lyons says. “It’s essential that you anticipate the energy and effort necessary to implement new tech. Work to put a plan in place for onboarding and training.”
Companies should also begin with the long-term in mind, says Garrio Harrison, founder of Forage, which operationalizes marketing and sales to drive growth. If you’re a small business or start-up but have significant growth in store, start your technology search with the idea of finding products that not only synch together well, but that will grow with you as your company — and with it your needs — expand.
“A couple mistakes that people make — and I made these mistakes myself — are buying solutions for where you are now without thinking about where you’re going to be,” he says.
Programs like LinkedIn Sales Navigator and Hubspot, for example, work well together. Then a generative artificial intelligence tool for content creation, such as Claude or Chat GPT, will help build marketing and sales plans. Many teams will want a project management tool like ClickUp or Asana. Something for communication like Slack, QuickBooks for finance and budgeting and an HR tool like Gusto. And he’s a fan of Loom for internal communications.
“If you’re getting started that would be what I would recommend,” he says.
Those programs, Harrison says, not only work together well, but they are widely enough used that there are agencies outside the technology providers themselves available to educate users, if need be.
“Support and third-party consultants are there to help you,” he says.
While technology companies are aplenty, they’re all different. Make sure you seek references and make sure they have experience working with other small businesses — ideally in your industry, Lyons says, adding that pricing and timeline transparency are key, as well.
“Consider someone who understands the unique challenges of your business, not just technology in general,” Lyons says. “Ask for case studies and references from other small businesses or businesses with similar growth challenges.”
Blaine-based Revolution Deck Systems had to change up its tech stack on the fly after company officials noticed a lack of labor available for deck construction companies who build custom decks.
That led Revolution Deck Systems to create an app that would make it easier for people who wanted decks but didn’t want to wait to do it themselves, says Brian Stanslaski, director of operations.
“We have to cut all the components because we can’t rely on a homeowner, someone who is not experienced, to cut things properly,” he says. “We set up some processes on the front end using our expertise to make life easier for them.”
A lot of customers want decks, but they typically have a hard time estimating, designing and getting the right materials ordered. They lack the time, the expertise and manpower to do it properly, Stanslaski says.
The app drew on existing software from Hover, a measurement software that allows people to take pictures of a house. It renders a wireframe of the building down to the 32nds of an inch, so Revolution Deck Systems can get all of its exterior house measurements, from roof to windows to siding, just through the use of the owner’s smart phone. The owner sends the photo to the app and then, with a finger, designs a three-dimensional aluminum frame deck.
From there, the customer has the option of receiving a kit with the parts or having a contractor build the deck. So, how did Revolution build the technology? It was a combination of off-the-shelf technology the company has used throughout its existence and some custom work done with an app developer.
It started with the estimator program, which is basically several different equations and widgets in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, Stanslaski says.
From there, he says, the company found an app development company, Bluestone Apps, in Tennessee, to program the front and back ends of the app using Revolution Deck System’s estimator.
The product, two years in the works, is in a testing stage. The company provides the estimator tool to the contractors it works with and does classes training people on how to build decks and do carpentry work “so they can go and start their own construction company, their own deck building company,” he says. “Then we give them the tools, this worksheet, this app, so they can successfully estimate a project. It allows them a ton of flexibility and an opportunity they may have never had.”
Stanslaski thinks there will ultimately be additional revenue generating opportunities from this through ads from concrete, landscape and other professionals through the app. The company is considering an expansion into modular housing, as well, shipping out to people the materials pre-built in a factory so they can be built in a fraction of the time.
“We’re learning so much every day,” he says. “You’re more competitive this way, it looks more professional, especially when you can turn it around so quick. Everybody nowadays wants instant gratification. If you can be standing right in front of them and show them exactly what they’re going to get and say this is the price, you don’t have to send them an estimate two weeks from now, when they’ve already forgotten about you and moved on to something else.”
So, building the right tech stack takes the right team, some patience and time. Andermack at Chowgirls says the company’s technology upgrade isn’t complete yet. The company is still transferring to new systems and analyzing software options. But she knows it was the right decision to make this move because now the company can focus on what it does best.
“Focus on your core business,” she says. “When looking at new systems, create a list of non-negotiable functions as well as dream features and compare programs side-by-side in a grid chart.”
Narrow down to your top few choices, do interviews and demos and get a trial test period. And take your time. “Play with it vigorously,” she says. “We’re doing it in phases based on the highest need was to start with that scheduling software. … There’re pain points with any change you make, learning curves. At first it can be nerve wracking or frustrating, but that’s the case with any change in life really.”
As the name suggests, Owatonna-based Kamp Automation looks for customers with a process they’d like to automate. It could be a small, inconvenient, tiny part that people can’t assemble. It could be a high-volume product so needed that the customer can’t find enough labor to produce it in the necessary quantities. “We’ll work anywhere from medical device companies to the seed industry for corn and soybeans,” says Kent Patterson, co-founder, president and CEO. “We just jump all over wherever there is custom automation.” The company started in his garage. Patterson and his partners built a machine. The company started to grow to the point where now it has 48 employees — and had a bunch of people and stuff in different locations. “We went from a garage to a shop to a shop and just kept moving to new places and signing leases,” he says. “We got to a point where it’s like, OK, this is getting big enough and sustainable — we felt that we wanted to look for our own space.’”
