Gulfside Mortgage Services of Sarasota County

Michelle and Tony Moore took over Gulfside Mortgage Services eight years ago in 2010 after having worked for the previous business owners since 2003.

Not having a specific direction for the business, they sought out Florida SBDC at USF business consultant Pat Gordon to get assistance with figuring out where the business stood in the marketplace and what the company can do to grow.

“It really opened our eyes to what capability we have to grow in our industry, what the industry has to show us, or what we have to compare to it,” Tony said.

Gordon helped the couple by creating Growth Acceleration Phase I and II reports for the business. The reports included a detailed financial analysis and strategies for sustained growth.

These reports helped them figure out where they stood against their competitors and allowed them to look at exact numbers instead of ball parking the figures.

“One of my favorite parts about it was the breakeven mark, where it actually showed what we had to make in order to break even so we could see what we need to work on for our growth,” Tony said.

The reports compared Gulfside Mortgage to its competitors and gave them a better understanding of what they needed to do.

“Being new in business and having absolutely no experience whatsoever in running a business, we just took it over and figured it out as we went along,” Michelle said. “This report that we did that was very, very detailed really showed us everything that we were doing, things we were doing right and things we needed to improve on.”

While working with the Florida SBDC at USF, Gulfside Mortgage Services has grown 33 percent compared to the previous year.

“Our business is up 33 percent since last year on our total volume. Basically, it showed us a lot of different ways to do things,” Tony added.

Instead of running their business like it was just another job, they were able to run it as a business, which promoted its growth.

“One of the things that we are working on that we got out of it, and we’ve been putting the most into, is not working for the business but working on the business,” Tony said.

Moving forward, Gulfside Mortgage Services plans to have quarterly meetings. They are also planning on updating the company’s website to better serve their clients.

To other business owners, they’d recommend seeking out the Florida SBDC at USF, especially if they are unsure of where the business stands in their specific marketplace.

“Patricia is amazing, and I would say if you don’t know where you stand in your business, then it is a great program to help you understand where you are in your business,” Michelle said.