Townsend Small Business Solutions LLC Offers Customized Solutions to Small Businesses and Non-Profit

I know many readers have seen the text at the bottom of every Portland Beacon story saying, “The Portland Beacon is owned and operated by Townsend Small Business Solutions LLC.” While most readers probably think nothing of it, based on Google statistics, several of you are curious just exactly what the heck Townsend Small Business Solutions LLC is.

In a nut shell… it is me… Jim Townsend, the publisher of The Portland Beacon.

Back in February of 2016, I started Townsend Small Business Solutions LLC. In my time working for the state, I had developed some fantastic skills developing and analyzing online surveys. We use them to collect feedback from our trainees after classroom trainings, as well as online training.

Prior to coming to the state, as a store manager for Walgreens, I routinely analyzed customer survey data. Mainly those wonderful surveys at the bottom of your receipt that every chain retailer was pushing about five years ago. The one that you normally only respond to if you had a horrible experience in the store.

With my loads of online survey experience from my current and past employers, I decided to start a business selling my survey skills to small businesses and non-profits. That is how Townsend Small Business Solutions LLC was created. I wanted to put my survey skills to work helping small business and non-profits.

Unfortunately for me, my timing was horrible. The time I started my business just happened to be about the same time that everyone in America started getting tired of being asked to take another survey. Everyone was doing it… stores, restaurants, hospitals, even utility companies. And customers were getting sick of them quickly.

Don’t get me wrong, initially I was able to get a few customers some fantastic data from their customers, but the business never took off like I had hoped.

Fast forward to August 2017. Having lived in this community since 2000, back when we had an actual printed newspaper filled with local news, by 2017 I had had just about enough of that same local paper having no local news in it.

That is where The Portland Beacon comes into the story. I started The Beacon (as part of Townsend Small Business Solutions LLC) to offer the community a news source focused on local news again. At the same time, I could use this news site to help local small business and non-profits… just like the initial goal.

Today, Townsend Small Business Solutions LLC still offers online survey development, but we also expanded our line of services to include a broad range of customizable solutions to our clients. We bring our experience in a variety of business services to help our clients when needed.

We can offer you affordable customized solutions in:

• Employee Engagement Programs

• Office/Clerical Support Services

• Social media and website consultation

• Project and event planning management

• Logistics

• Employee recognition program management

• Secret/mystery shopper services

• Training

• Small business consulting

• Other customized services available

Townsend Small Business Solutions LLC is in business to help small businesses and non-profit organizations be more successful. We believe that our online survey solutions can provide small businesses and non-profits with the tools they need to gather data from customers and employees. While larger companies may have whole teams or departments focusing on surveys and feedback, we feel we can offer you the same strategic edge at a fraction of the price. We want to help you get the knowledge you need to keep your customers coming back, and engage your employees towards mutual success.

Our other customizable services can be geared to meet your needs. We know that leaders of small businesses and non-profits wear many hats. We aim to work with our customers to provide the right solution at the right price, while putting our experience to work for you.

Since our owner/operator is an employee of the State of Michigan, Department of Health and Human Services, Townsend Small Business Solutions LLC cannot do business with any State of Michigan department, agency or office.

My day job today is still with the state, so I do have to make potential customers aware of a conflict of interest requirement. We are prohibited from doing business with any entity which is licensed, regulated, or in any way funded by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.

This prohibition includes but is not limited to:

• Adult Foster Care Homes/Centers

• Nursing Homes

• Foster Care Services

• Adoption Services

• Child or Senior Adult Day Care Homes/Center

If you lead a small business or non-profit, you need some help, and are not in one of the prohibited types of businesses, please do not hesitate to contact Townsend Small Business Solutions LLC. You can reach us at 517-526-4696 or townsend.sbs@gmail.com.