by Rachel Schreiber
Just as a plant thrives on sunshine, water, nutrients and an occasional shot of Miracle Grow, so does Gerald Bricker’s company, Aadvise Consulting, LLC. Except without the sunshine, water or nutrients. Gerald’s tag line is “Miracle Grow for you and your business.” He’s not referring to planting or digging in the garden. He is a business consultant for new and established companies who feel their gardens are sluggish.
Gerald earned a degree in mechanical engineering in product design. He returned to night school and got an MBA because he thought that business was a more interesting field. He found a job in technical sales. Thirty-three years ago, he moved to Michigan via New York, Chicago and originally for a technical sales position the auto industry; he was the director of sales and vice president. In this capacity he trained, mentored and coached people within the company. He says, “Sales gave me the opportunity to work with different people and solve problems and I was able to get out of the office. I traveled outside of US, and went to 20 different countries. In addition, I trained sales people who wanted to be on a sales development management team.”
In March of 2009, Gerald decided he would begin his own company. He had the skills, the experience and the know how to train people in business. After all, he’d been doing it for many years. He says, “I wanted to have my own company. I realized in some companies people are put into a position and given goals, but they aren’t given a lot of support, training and development so they could expand in their career.” He continues, “I suggest companies start with a strategic plan and think about what they’re good at doing. They need to ask themselves what they want to become. What is their vision? Then, companies can put together an action plan and share it with the employees. Without this communication between the employees and the management the company can’t grow. Everyone wants to know what their responsibilities are so they can help the company grow.”
Gerald’s holistic approach to growing a company involves everyone. He says, “I think people really care and want to make the company successful that they’re working for. The real issue is to know what role they’re playing.” This is his formula for a well-tended company. Once the company has been launched or relaunched, Gerald will go back on an annual basis for a check up. He says, “I work with mangers to make sure they have the company’s goals and their personal goals clarified. In this way true motivation comes from within.” In that, if their personal goals are aligned with the company’s goals, then they will be highly motivated to accomplish what the company needs to accomplish while they’re meeting their own needs at the same time.”
Educating himself is a very important part of his business. He reads about new management techniques, articles on the web, and the Business of Life by Warren Buffett. Gerald gleaned this from his readings, “Warren made a lot of money by working very hard and understanding how different companies work. He bought into companies that had an effective management team, but let the previous management run the company. What that tells me is there are a lot of new ways and new ideas of doing business. Look at the business and how it works and its true value and let the people run the business.”
If you have found this story, interesting, informative or inspiring, please let Gerald know! Aadvise Consulting, LLC can be reached at 248-974-1537, gwbricker@aadviseconsultingllc.com.