Independent Business Advisory · Kalamazoo, MI

Strategic advisory for growing businesses.

Groundwork Advisory helps small and growing businesses improve financial clarity, evaluate growth opportunities, sharpen positioning, and solve operational challenges with investment-grade thinking adapted for owner-led companies.

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Advisory Thesis

Big-firm thinking. Ground-level results.

Groundwork helps a diversified range of clients turn financial, strategic, operational, and market questions into clearer decisions. Small and growing businesses often need the same analytical rigor as larger companies, but delivered in a way that is more practical, more focused, and more accessible.

The advantage is the combination: disciplined analysis, owner-level practicality, and flexible execution. Groundwork is built to help businesses understand what is happening, decide what matters most, and move forward with recommendations that can actually be used.

Built to help business owners step back, understand the numbers, and move forward with clarity.

What we do

Core services

A focused advisory model that keeps the first view simple, then lets visitors expand into the details that matter to their business.

01

Financial analysis

P&L clarity, cash flow visibility, unit economics, and scenario planning.

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Groundwork helps owners understand what is actually driving performance, where margins are being created or lost, and what decisions would change the financial picture.

  • P&L review and profitability analysis
  • Cash flow analysis and scenario modeling
  • Unit economics and pricing support
  • Management reporting and decision materials
02

Growth strategy

Market sizing, competitive positioning, and practical expansion planning.

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Growth is only useful when it can be prioritized. Groundwork turns market research, competitive dynamics, and customer behavior into realistic next steps.

  • Market and customer research
  • Competitive landscape mapping
  • Expansion opportunity screening
  • Strategic prioritization and rollout planning
03

Operations support

Process mapping, lean process improvement, CRM, reporting, and workflow design.

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Many small business problems are not caused by effort, but by unclear systems. Groundwork helps organize workflows, reduce friction, and create repeatable operating tools.

  • Process mapping and lean process improvement
  • CRM cleanup and optimization
  • Workflow improvement and bottleneck analysis
  • Reporting structure and dashboard planning
  • Basic automation and repeatable operating tools
04

Marketing & Positioning

Customer targeting, brand strategy, GTM planning, and clearer market messaging.

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Groundwork helps businesses clarify who they serve, why they win, and how their offering should be positioned across channels, pitches, and customer-facing materials.

  • Customer segmentation and target market definition
  • Brand positioning and messaging strategy
  • Go-to-market planning and channel strategy
  • Competitive differentiation and launch framing

Full suite of offerings

Additional capabilities

Groundwork can support focused projects across finance, strategy, operations, marketing, sustainability, and decision materials for local and growing businesses.

Financial modeling P&L review Cash flow analysis Break-even analysis Unit economics Pricing strategy Scenario analysis Margin improvement Working capital review Inventory analysis Vendor cost review Budgeting support KPI scorecards Excel dashboards Power BI support Market sizing Local market research Competitive analysis Customer segmentation Customer retention strategy Sales funnel review Go-to-market strategy Brand positioning Website copy review Google Business Profile strategy Local SEO direction Email outreach strategy Pitch decks Investor-style materials Client presentation decks CRM optimization Workflow improvement Process mapping Lean process improvement Bottleneck analysis SOP documentation Reporting systems Research synthesis Implementation roadmaps Sustainability strategy Waste and operations analysis Resource efficiency Composting program strategy Energy cost reduction ideas ESG-lite reporting Grant and incentive research Peer benchmarking Presentation development

Why Groundwork

Practical advisory for owners who need clearer decisions, not more noise.

The goal is not to bury business owners in strategy language. It is to help them see the financial, strategic, and operational picture more clearly.

Clearer financial visibility

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Many owners know the business instinctively but do not have clean reporting, margin visibility, or scenario analysis. Groundwork turns scattered information into usable decision tools.

Strategy that connects to execution

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Growth ideas only matter if they can be prioritized, tested, and implemented. Groundwork connects market research, competitive positioning, and operating realities into a practical path forward.

Outside perspective with analytical rigor

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Owners are often too close to daily operations to step back. Groundwork brings a structured outside lens to identify bottlenecks, risks, opportunities, and next steps.

Flexible support without firm overhead

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Businesses get focused advisory support without paying for a large team, long engagement cycles, or generic recommendations that are disconnected from the owner’s reality.

Joe Reeves, founder of Groundwork Advisory

University of Michigan Ross School of Business

BBA

Ross School of Business

#4

BBA Program in the Nation
Finance

Specialization

Sustainability

Minor

Founder

Joe Reeves

Joe Reeves founded Groundwork Advisory to help small and growing businesses bring sharper financial thinking, clearer strategy, and more organized execution to the decisions that shape their next stage of growth.

Joe is a University of Michigan Ross BBA student specialized in finance with a minor in sustainability. His background combines deal-side healthcare investment banking experience, hands-on consulting projects, market research, financial analysis, and operational problem-solving.

Across college, internships, and client-facing projects, Joe has developed a practical approach to business analysis: understand the numbers, identify the real constraint, communicate clearly, and build recommendations that people can actually use.

4+

Deal-side projects

25+

Project experiences

IB

Healthcare M&A exposure
Finance

Analysis and modeling

Strategy

Growth and positioning

Ops

Process improvement

Groundwork reflects Joe’s interest in business as a practical tool: helping owners understand tradeoffs, evaluate opportunities, and make decisions with more confidence.

Selected work

Case studies

Groundwork’s case studies demonstrate a cross-functional advisory advantage across financial analysis, market strategy, operational problem-solving, and implementation-focused recommendations.

Finance & Reporting Current Client

OptiMed Specialty Pharmacy

Finance, reporting, and CRM support for a healthcare business managing a broad client portfolio.

Healthcare Active engagement
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125+

Healthcare clients supported by the business

3

Core workstreams across finance, CRM, and reporting

Active

Current client engagement

Business challenge

OptiMed needed stronger finance and accounting organization, clearer reporting infrastructure, and better visibility into performance across a broad healthcare client base.

Services provided

  • Financial statement analysis and risk identification.
  • Finance and accounting consolidation support.
  • CRM optimization to connect finance and marketing data flows.
  • Revenue visibility and profitability reporting for leadership.

Why it matters

This engagement shows Groundwork’s ability to help healthcare operators organize financial data, sharpen visibility, and make internal reporting more useful for leadership decisions.

Healthcare Strategy Completed

Adaptive Testing Technologies

Strategic recommendations for mobile app adoption and clinical trials market expansion.

Healthcare IT Strategic growth
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$242B

Clinical trials TAM analyzed

250K+

Mobile medical apps in the competitive landscape

$2M

Modeled year-10 opportunity

2

Growth recommendations: mobile app and clinical trials expansion

Business challenge

ATT had validated adaptive testing tools, but browser-based assessment delivery created patient friction and limited adoption. The company also needed a higher-value growth path beyond routine care.

Services provided

  • Mobile app strategy to reduce assessment friction and improve data continuity.
  • Clinical trials expansion strategy for early drug efficacy and medication adjustment.
  • Competitive landscape review across digital mental health and mobile medical apps.
  • Implementation scorecard for adoption, engagement, retention, revenue impact, operations, UX, and compliance.

Why it matters

The project translated a technical healthcare product into a commercial growth plan, connecting user experience, reimbursement logic, clinical trial workflows, and market expansion.

Marketing & GTM Completed

Hella Cocktail Co.

Consumer research, brand positioning, and go-to-market strategy for Bitters & Soda.

CPG / Beverage Brand strategy
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233

Survey respondents analyzed

43

Focus group participants

93%

Had never heard of Hella

329K

Students across recommended campus markets

Business challenge

Hella’s Bitters & Soda was differentiated in a growing non-alcoholic beverage category, but faced low brand awareness, limited consumer understanding, and distribution challenges.

Research findings

  • 70% of surveyed participants did not understand Bitters & Soda or its intended use.
  • 92.9% of surveyed participants were interested in trying new non-alcoholic beverages.
  • 88% of survey responders prioritized flavor in beverages.
  • Consumer interest supported nostalgic flavor concepts and experiential sampling.

Strategic recommendation

Launch mobile campus pop-ups, use nostalgic flavor concepts, and position Bitters & Soda as a grown-up, buzz-optional beverage with comfort, flavor, and wellness cues.

Sustainability Strategy Completed

U-M Athletics / Crisler Center

Operational sustainability strategy for composting infrastructure and waste diversion.

Institutional Operations strategy
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47

Sources assessed

40

Research hours

2

Live events observed

60+

Annual events considered

59.1%

Contamination found in landfill bins

4–8 yrs

Modeled breakeven range for lid/bin strategy

Business challenge

Crisler Center needed a cost-justified compost collection strategy that could reduce contamination, account for fan behavior, and create a clean backend process for high-volume events.

Services provided

  • Mapped bins by seating section and observed fan waste behavior at two events.
  • Assessed contamination, traffic, gaze, sentiment, and common incorrect disposal moments.
  • Benchmarked athletics waste programs and arena sorting practices.
  • Built cost and savings logic for signage and bin-lid replacement scenarios.

Recommendations

Custom signage, bin lid restructuring, and a Resource Recovery Room to improve fan education, reduce contamination, and support a more realistic composting operation.

How it works

The engagement process

Each engagement is scoped around a specific business problem, clear deliverables, and practical recommendations that can be used by the owner or leadership team.

01

Discovery

We talk through your business, goals, constraints, and current challenges.

02

Diagnosis

We identify the financial, strategic, operational, or market issue to solve.

03

Scope

You receive a clear project plan with deliverables, timeline, and expected value.

04

Execution

Groundwork builds the analysis, recommendations, and materials needed to move forward.

Contact

Ready to build the groundwork?

Reach out to discuss financial analysis, growth strategy, operational support, or marketing and positioning work.

Email Groundwork Advisory