KNow Research
“It’s hard to imagine where I would be without Marin SBDC’s guidance. I still cannot believe it is all free; this has saved me thousands!”
Katrina Noelle created a company based on collaboration, unity, and building a team that was excited to be ‘boots on the ground investigators’, that is to do the work themselves. All these attributes are differentiators in her industry.
Profile
KNow Research is a full-service, female-driven, qualitative insights consultancy on the front lines of
research, delivering fresh insights through custom research design. They work with mostly Fortune 500 companies, helping them understand and build better relationships with their current and prospective target audience(s). The insights they deliver help their clients to create better designs, products, messaging, communications, and strategies with the customers at the heart of business decisions. Their clients appreciate KNow Research’s work and as a result, their business has grown organically through referrals from their clients.
Challenge
After working independently for about 10 years, Noelle grew to a point where she realized she could make a bigger impact by turning KNow Research into a company focused on consistently delivering quality insights.
This was a mindset shift and a game-changer. Now that it was time to transform her consultancy from a Sole Proprietorship to an LLC and eventually an S-Corp to make it a formal agency, she sought out assistance from the Marin SBDC as she knew she could not do these next steps without the knowledge, guidance, and support she received from Marin SBDC.
Thanks to the guidance from the Marin SBDC Advisors, I went from Sole Proprietor to Corporation, hiring 8 people and tripling my sales! I went from thinking of myself as a consultant to now an employer and a CEO of an agency.
Katrina Noelle
Marin SBDC advisors helped Noelle implement changes within her business and completed it in a fast-paced timeline so she could quickly bring in higher valued projects.
Game Plan
Katrina Noelle first worked with SBDC Advisor Robert Toering on helping her change from a Sole Proprietorship to eventually an S-Corp. With Robert’s guidance, Noelle was able to get critical feedback that helped her shape the company’s messaging and branding guidelines. They also created a dashboard that she shares with her team so they can all track successes together!
Once she was ready to bring on staff, she was transferred to SBDC Advisor Chana Anderson. Since
Katrina knew nothing about hiring staff, this was a huge learning curve but she felt it was accomplishable with Chana’s patience and support. Chana helped Katrina change her mentality to see
herself as an employer, not just a business owner, which changed how Katrina tackled the hiring process. Chana helped Katrina understand she needed to hire for a position and not just a skill set and this gave Katrina the ability to find the best people to be on her team. With Chana’s guidance, Katrina was able to let go of her fears and confidently step into her new role.
Results
- Hired 8 people in total- 5 full time and 4 part time
- Tripled her sales and is well over a 6-figure business
- Expanded into new projects and new clients with the larger team
- Has a solid, committed team positioned to be with her long term
- Is confident as a business owner now and has a strong support system
- Has a dashboard to track goals and successes that she shares with team and helps everyone feel part of the success of the company
- Open to sharing and being more transparent with the team
- Her next goal is to double her income from where she is at today while still maintain boutique agency status
