Holistic Business Advisory

Multidisciplinary Expertise by Elliott Friedman

Serving Charleston, South Carolina and Beyond

Looking to take your business to the next level? Elliott Friedman is an experienced business advisor and consultant based in Charleston, South Carolina specializing in creating robust business plans tailored to your specific needs, ensuring a clear path to success. Additionally, Elliott can supplement your social media marketing strategies and web design to significantly enhance your online presence, attract more customers, and drive growth. Whether you need a comprehensive marketing strategy or a sleek, user-friendly website, Elliott is here to support your journey to success.

 

Why “Holistic” Advisory?

Elliott is a business advisor that embraces a comprehensive approach that considers the interconnectedness of various business functions and the importance of aligning them towards a unified goal. The term “holistic” refers to dealing with or treating the whole of something or someone and not just a part.

This philosophy is particularly beneficial in the realm of business advisement, where Elliott’s diverse background in enterprise IT, software development, digital media production, web development, social media advertising, and business administration provides a unique value addition to our clients.

Elliott’s holistic approach leverages a broad spectrum of expertise to deliver solutions that are not only innovative but also integrative, ensuring that all aspects of the business are unified and optimized for success. This multi-disciplinary perspective enables him to offer strategic insights that cater to the complex needs of modern businesses in a dynamic marketplace.

Elliott T. Friedman

Founder, Principal Advisor

Elliott Friedman is the founder and principal advisor of E T Friedman Consulting, a holistic business advisory with a mission to assist entrepreneurs and established businesses with multidisciplinary strategies designed to increase visibility, organize & streamline operations, and realize economic goals.

Elliott is an entrepreneur at heart. He has founded and co-founded several businesses, achieving success through experience and innovation. As a seasoned consultant, he has advised companies across various industries.

From startups to established enterprises, Elliott has played a pivotal role in driving efficiency and innovation that resulted in success for his clients.

In addition running his own businesses and consulting for a variety of industries, Elliott served as the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of an EdTech company, contributing significantly to its successful acquisition in 2024. Prior to that, he held the position of Director of Information Technology for a private medical practice, where he orchestrated transformational initiatives during a period of substantial growth. With extensive experience in digital media production and web development, Elliott combines technical expertise and strategic vision.

Insights

Featured
Turning Layoffs into Opportunity: Building Career and Financial Security Through Entrepreneurship
Turning Layoffs into Opportunity: Building Career and Financial Security Through Entrepreneurship

Layoffs can be a turning point, offering an opportunity to transform career uncertainty into entrepreneurial success. South Carolina's recent workforce reductions, including the closures of major employers like International Paper and MAHLE Behr Charleston, highlight the challenges of relying on traditional employment. Starting a business provides a pathway to financial independence and resilience, leveraging personal expertise while contributing to the local economy. With access to state resources like the South Carolina Small Business Development Center and growing market opportunities, aspiring entrepreneurs can establish ventures in thriving sectors such as technology or healthcare. A business advisor can further ease the transition, offering expert guidance on strategy, financing, and operations, helping new businesses achieve faster revenue and long-term stability. Layoffs can be daunting, but with determination and the right support, they can be the catalyst for a successful entrepreneurial journey.

Why Charleston is a Rising Star for Business and Growth
Why Charleston is a Rising Star for Business and Growth

Charleston, South Carolina, is emerging as a thriving hub for business and innovation, driven by a strong economy, diverse industries, and a growing population. Anchored by key sectors like trade through the Port of Charleston, healthcare advancements at MUSC, manufacturing, and a robust tourism industry, the city continues to attract new investments and talent. The tech sector is particularly vibrant, with local startups securing significant funding and expanding rapidly. Meanwhile, Charleston's appeal as a lifestyle destination is drawing new residents, enriching the workforce and community. With its blend of opportunity, cultural richness, and strategic growth, Charleston is solidifying its position as a key player in the Southeast's economic future.

The Process

Writing a Business Plan

The importance of a well-developed, written business is the foundation of a our relationship. This will be the document by which you will memorialize and reference your strategies, mission, goals, and financial expectations. Everything downstream will be informed by the fundamentals contained in this framework.

Organizing Business Assets

Knowing where everything is and how to find it eliminates major headaches and inefficiencies. Leveraging cloud solutions creates efficiency and redundancy. Elliott will help organize your “back office” and train you and your team on how to find and track important documents and digital assets.

Developing a Marketing Strategy

Understanding the competitive landscape and building a data-driven marketing plan are key pillars of growth and success. We will help develop your marketing strategy by leveraging SEO, AI, your “tech stack,” and our extensive expertise in digital marketing.

Designing the “Tech Stack”

Selecting the suite of software, online services, productivity tools, and security measures for your business can be intimidating. We will help curate and configure the best combination of tools and trainings that will allow you and your team to get work done in the most efficient way possible.

Creating a Financial Model

A robust financial model can help with forecasting and allows honest, data-driven assessment of every aspect of your business. Elliott can help you understand and engineer your financial statements and help interrogate financial data sets.

Strategies for Scaling

With a broad spectrum of expertise and experience, we can help you develop your growth strategy to scale your business operations in a way that dynamically fits your budget and goals. We will help train you and your team on how to execute the growth strategy.

Advisory Use Cases

  • Solo Entrepreneur

    This advisory package is designed for solo entrepreneurs with an idea or “side hustle” that they want to elevate to a full-time business. We support passionate individuals by providing strategic, operational, and performance services . Pricing starts at $5,000 and includes full assistance with getting started - from writing your business plan to creating your website and social media content, our advisors will guide you along your path to success and supplement your future team and partnerships as you begin your journey.

  • Scaling An Established Business

    Has your business growth stalled or plateaued? Are you dissatisfied with current advisors, consultants, or performance coaches? We are here to help. Our strategic experts and operational advisors can help your business break through the glass ceiling that frustrates you and your team. Pricing is based on $425/hour retainers that are customized to address specific areas of your business that need a fresh perspective or infusion of energy and expertise.

  • Specialty Enterprise Consulting

    In addition to fundamentals for entrepreneurs and scalability strategies for businesses seeking growth, our expert advisors can also take on complex projects and manage specific tasks or teams by leveraging a diverse set of skills and experience. Deliverables include:

    • Software Development

    • Enterprise Technology Rehabilitation

    • Cybersecurity

    • Marketing / Web Visibility Campaigns

    • Professional Development Resources

    • Executive Performance Coaching

Areas of Expertise

  • We build new websites, improve existing websites, and can add advanced features to help your customers or clients find you and use your products and services.

  • We can support your existing network, servers, computers, mobile devices, and specialty tech or help design and configure your entire tech ecosystem from scratch.

  • In addition to our web development expertise, we can also help create a new marketing strategy or enhancing your existing strategy by improving SEO, designing and executing targeted digital advertising, and managing social media campaigns.

  • All businesses in every industry are susceptible to cyber attacks, phishing scams, and computer viruses that cause mayhem and disrupt revenue. We have expert advisors that can help prevent and mitigate all vectors of attack to ensure every part of your business is inoculated against cyber threats.

  • Not only can we create marketing strategies and social media campaigns, we can produce the digital media assets that make them exceptional and effective. These include: photos, videos, animation, graphic designs, logos, digital copy, and much more.

  • Successfully selling your products requires engaging customers and making their purchase experience easy and pleasant. Whether you are an ecommerce business or a brick-and-mortar store, we can help select and configure your online sales platform, in-store point of sale system, inventory management software, and marketing platform. Our services include product photography, marketing support materials & digital assets, web advertising, and so much more.

  • We support hotels, experiences, supplies & vehicle rental companies, and other tourism related businesses with marketing campaigns, web presence, booking system configuration, and guest testimonials.

  • Our team can build your website, configure your point-of-sale, and manage your social media to bring in more customers and help make your back-of-house management more organized and efficient. We also offer comprehensive audio and video design, installation, and staff training to give your location a premium customer experience.

  • We support Realtors and Brokerages with photos, videos, aerial/drone media, and virtual tour/360 images to help buyers choose your listing. All of our digital assets meet MLS standards and our virtual scans can be used with a variety of platforms, including Matterport. Our team can additionally manage your social media campaigns using the photos and videos we produce with enticing, short-form visuals. Managing listings can be stressful and complicated. We can help select and configure a listings platform to put on your website that will also port to MLS databases.

  • Legal, accounting, and financial service organizations all require specialty systems and complex data management protocols to meet industry compliance standards. We can help you build a secure digital ecosystem that protects your data and allows you to provide client services with ease and efficiency all while meeting or exceeding compliance requirements. Managing digital documents is also a challenge we can help overcome. Getting you organized, secure, and comfortable using these technologies is our mission.

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