AE Consulting offers professional services ranging from online marketing solutions, nonprofit development support, and overall business analysis designed to promote and support the growth of their clients. “We offer professional services that save small to mid-sized organizations the cost of hiring a fulltime employee,” said business owner and principal consultant, Andrea Estes, of Spokane.
AE’s mission is to help growing business stay in line with the continuously evolving trends and technologies of today’s market delivering tailored, end-to-end solutions. AE’s goal is to perpetuate the growth and success of its clients by developing a continued partnership over time.
Estes said her business was inspired by the fact that such professional services are an abundant resource for large-sized businesses and corporations. But the same level of service isn’t typically available to nonprofits or small businesses operating with smaller budgets.
A small business, for example, wanting to develop a new Web site, or improve an existing one to better align with its business goals, or a nonprofit needing to develop funding strategies or a system for grant proposals and reports can hire professionals through AE Consulting to perform these services as needed.
Estes began her career in Seattle, working as a recruiter for Chameleon Technologies, an IT staffing firm, and later as operations manager for the national nonprofit, Catch A Special Thrill Foundation (C.A.S.T.).
At the time, the Renton, Wash.-based C.A.S.T. struggled with balancing its program’s rapid growth under its dated infrastructure. Foundation organizers had an insufficient way of communicating their mission as a recreation activity program for disadvantaged youth without a user-friendly Web presence. Also nonexistent was a well-researched and established process for grant writing and fundraising, C.A.S.T. Executive Director Jim Owens said.
“We were growing so fast that our infrastructure was not keeping up and that was a huge burden on the business. Andrea re-organized all of our internal operations and procedures and brought us to a level where we could be much more effective.”
This included a grant writing strategy that pulled over $100,000 in new funding in less than a year. C.A.S.T. also benefited from a new donor mailing system that has continually increased the foundation’s reach by 100 percent annually. C.A.S.T. continues to seek consultation services with Estes through her firm.
In addition to nonprofits, the nation’s economic recession is driving more and more small businesses to new innovations and use of online marketing tools to give them a stronger advantage in the current market. Such was the case for Spokane veterinarian, Dr. Rich Sylvester, DVM. Sylvester had been in practice for over two decades, with a client base attained primarily through word-of-mouth. AE recently assisted Sylvester in authoring a Web site to build new business, reaching a larger demographic than before, re-branded the business’s professional image, and tailored a local advertising strategy with the launch.
The results, Sylvester said, have been very positive.
“My consultant offered great ideas on marketing my practice while keeping me in the loop on business decisions. Her advertising concepts have yielded a positive response while keeping my costs reasonable.”
Estes, a graduate of University of Washington, said her experiences and a strong passion for working with small businesses and nonprofits led to her starting her own firm in Spokane.
“AE will strive to offer solutions that help keep our clients current and competitive in an ever-changing economy,” Estes stated, “We look forward to helping them invest in their growing business.”
Information on services available through AE Consulting are available on its Web site, www.ae-consulting.net
