Expanding an International Business
Founder Thulani Ngazimbi comes from a diverse background in product development and sales. Currently based in Portugal, Thulani wanted to expand his business in both the US and European markets, but the currency exchange was causing him to run into some issues.
Fiscal Sponsorship: Model A vs. Model C
There are two main types of fiscal sponsorship: Model A and Model C. Also known as "direct" or "comprehensive" fiscal sponsorship, Model A is an all-in-one solution; this is a nonprofit in a box. Model C is sometimes called "indirect" fiscal sponsorship or a "pre-approved grant relationship."
A Sweet Small Business Success
We paired Vanessa with a financial expert and the comprehensive support she needed to address her challenges running her bakery. Together, they completed a revenue forecast for her business and worked on strategies for capacity management, compensation, and supplier-related issues.
From Losses to Long-Term Profitability
At the time Andrea joined Mission Edge, her primary challenge was profitability. Despite the fact that they’d been able to generate significant revenue, the company was still incurring losses. Andrea knew she needed help identifying areas to cut costs and improve margins, as well as advice on how to allocate an employee retention tax credit payment she received as she was going through our program.
Beats and Balance
Sometimes you just need a perspective check before you move forward. After working with us, Angela had better insight into her financial situation and was able to develop a clear plan for how much income she’d need to keep pursuing her DJ career while simultaneously preparing for parenting full-time.
Spinning Up Success
Daniel “DJ Danny” Torres is a SoCal-based professional wedding and corporate event DJ. With the ultimate goal of opening his own venue space, Danny needed some assistance setting up for long-term success. He started working with Mission Edge seeking help to set revenue goals and optimize his pricing strategy.
Preparing for SMB Success
Here at Mission Edge, we’ve seen countless small to medium sized business owners like you go from overwhelmed and anxious about their finances to in-control and knowledgeable. We believe that working with an experienced, unbiased professional is the best way to get unstuck from whatever is holding you back and finally work toward unlocking your business’s full potential.
Not Your Average Internship
San Diego Gas and Electric came to Mission Edge at the beginning of the summer wanting help with getting their interns connected to the San Diego community in a meaningful way. We partnered with SDGE to facilitate a virtual social impact project for more than 40 of their summer interns who were eager to make a difference in the community through their roles supporting nonprofit partners.
How Mission Edge Helped This Biotech Company Give Back to the Community
When Illumina came to Mission Edge three years ago, they wanted to facilitate a volunteer project that engaged an important cohort: interns. Their goal was to help early-stage professionals understand that community engagement is an integral part of working at Illumina. Now, for the third year in a row working with the biotechnology company, we’re creating a virtual volunteer project for Illumina’s summer interns.
Empowering Change: Mission Edge and Qualcomm's San Diego Employee Giving Committee
Mission Edge came alongside Qualcomm to advocate for nonprofits and provide Qualcomm’s employees with the information they needed to make selection decisions. Because Mission Edge understands both corporate and nonprofit cultures, we were able to create a CSR program that truly meets the needs of local nonprofits, and helped Qualcomm select partners that fit within the giving goals of the program.
How Switchfoot Bro-Am Restructured to Keep Growing
Through our fiscal sponsorship program, we provided the Bro-Am with full-service accounting and human resources services, as well as a proven nonprofit structure to operate within. The partnership allowed the band to focus on focus on planning their art, community impact, signature events and fundraising, leaving nonprofit management and logistics to the experts (us).
From Overwhelmed to Managed Growth
Alicia Fox is passionate about helping her clients achieve a healthy lifestyle. While growth is a good thing, Alicia and her two employees were feeling overwhelmed by the size of their new business, and the growing to-do list that went along with it.
A Guide to Finding the Right Small Business Finance Coach
If the words “finance coach” put a bad taste in your mouth, you’re not alone. A small-business financial coach will help you create a plan that covers everything from basic business concepts to managing your cash flow. Rather than a one-size-fits-all plan, you’ll get advice and insight tailored to where you currently are as a business and where you want to go.
What a Small Business Coach Can Do for Your Business
A finance coach is an experienced financial professional who partners with small businesses to provide strategic financial guidance, expertise, and support. (Around here, we like to call them CFOs or “finance experts.”) They work closely with business owners and leadership teams to understand the company's goals, financial challenges, and growth strategies.
Burger Pop-Up to Thriving Catering Business
In December of 2020, Irani started Rombomb Burger, a San Diego catering business he hoped to expand into a thriving mobile burger joint. But trying to provide for his family with a patty-flipping, burger-slinging business during a pandemic proved tricky at best. Here’s how our finance experts helped Romin add a little meat to his budding burger business.
Working Smarter, Not Harder
When you start out in a small business, you don’t always have the luxury of perspective, or the resources to know what to avoid before it’s “too late.” We created the Impact Lab as a free program to help small business owners like you figure out what’s holding them back, and help them work toward their goals with solid, data-driven planning and personalized, community-based support.
How This Brazilian Food Business Streamlined Its Offerings
Due to their expertise in Brazilian cuisine, Jane and Eduardo had no problem coming up with a large variety of products to offer their customers. But over time, they began to have difficulties keeping up with inventory management and allocating time. Mission Edge helped them to have a more accurate perception of their business costs and future growth opportunities.
Fiscal Sponsorship by the Numbers
It’s hard to believe that it’s been more than ten years since Mission Edge started in 2011. We’ve grown a lot since then— we now have over 30 employees and serve over 100 organizations. Learn about how we’ve grown our fiscal sponsorship for nonprofits and small business in 2022 to better serve our clients looking to make an impact!
Navigating Profitability
For small business owners, profitability is the key to essential business functions, including: Paying our employees fairly and on-time, investing in the long-term growth of our businesses, and allowing us to stay flexible with changing market conditions and competitors. Use these financial metrics to determine the profitability of your small business!
When Small-Business Finances Feel like a Different Language
Mission Edge helped Laura Valdés, founder of Valdés Language Services, make future growth financially possible. From improving her marketing to cultivating clear plan for hiring contractors and growing her business, our finance expert Carolynn helped Laura gain clarity around how to make running her business sustainable.