Today we’d like to introduce you to Tom Daly.
Hi Tom, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
After attending the University of Richmond, I began my career in sales. Through hard work, creativity, and perhaps some naïveté, I succeeded in business. As is typical in the corporate world, successful sales are condemned to management. I navigated sales and operations leadership roles in large companies, in high, medium, and low-tech industries, with a common theme of driving teams to accomplish their very best. Later, I purchased and grew my own company and learned a new set of business fundamentals from a completely different perspective. After selling the business, I struck out as a business consultant both locally and in the middle east. My wife and I chose to return to Florida eight years ago where we both continued our consulting practices. In 2019, I accepted the Volusia County Small Business Development Center director role at Daytona State College.
Now I coach driven entrepreneurs to accomplish their business ambitions and reach new heights by molding dynamic organizations, driving sustained revenues, and developing exceptional teams. It’s a rewarding role because I touch far more business owners and provide them with valuable resources. My prior sales and operations experience in multiple industries and running my own business provide unique perspective. I am able to focus on guiding and transitioning organizations through change, concentrating on sales outreach, operations excellence, client relationships, partnership development, financial analysis, technology deployment, and employee evolution. I have delivered serial successes on my own and leading organizations of more than 250 employees and revenues beyond $50 million. My breadth of experience helps me relate directly to the needs of small business operators. SBDC consultants tend to specialize.
My areas of expertise are below:
Sales and marketing
Strategic planning
Initiatives deployment
Market analysis and business viability
Operations mechanics
Sales training and development
Industry research
Business plan creation, analysis, and advancement
Technology initiatives assessment and implementation
Public speaking and strategic meeting facilitation
Disaster relief
My passion and joy are helping people achieve their goals and capitalizing on their strengths. The “channel surfing” nature of my SBDC role enables me to feed my professional passions and deliver client value in unique and abundant ways.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It’s never an easy or straight path in business. I suffered professional setbacks from quickly maturing industries like office machines, retail PCs, and paging. Each time, it meant learning new tricks and adapting old skillsets to new challenges. My business venture was in the food service space beginning in 2002 and grew nicely until the great recession hit in 2007. We attempted to hold on, but by 2010, it was clear that we needed to liquidate and move on. That’s a bitter but important pill to swallow and reinvention was required to move on.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
The SBDC works with some of the most exciting companies in Volusia County. We offer consultation, analysis, business planning tools, industry research, digital and conventional marketing planning, sales development, training seminars, capital raising advice, and disaster relief assistance – all cost-free. We also collaborate with other small resource partners like: CareerSource, TeamVoulsia, SCORE, the UCF Incubator, the Embry-Riddle Micaplex, all county chambers of commerce to coordinate resources for maximum impact. Personally, my high energy and unique desire to help professionals achieve is a local asset businesspeople are drawn to. We are unique in that we are publicly funded but our backgrounds typically hail from the private sector for relevance.
Among the activities our clients find most valuable: Helping build compelling and realistic business plans and financial projections. Discovering new pathways to success. Readjusting processes to changing business climates. Navigating resources. Creating true customer focus in terms of acquisition, service, and relationship development. Reimagining strategies and new revenue streams. Building true servant leadership. Developing entrepreneurial mindsets across organizations. Forging productive and profitable partnerships. Networking guidance for people, businesses, resources, and leadership across constituencies. Individually, I specialize in: Providing complete and relevant answers – resourcefulness. Promoting high energy and relentless positivity. Demonstrating active listening.
Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
When networking search out those that seem to be driven and have a compelling message; the 20%ers. They will often be your best partners because they are driven to both give and receive. Make your network deep, wide, and trustworthy. Recommendations that begin with “I know someone…” are elevated from prospect to proposal. Being able to provide excellent referrals enhances your brand. For mentors, select people who will tell you what you need to know vs. what you want to hear. Select business professionals that embody the highest level of integrity. Anything else will be fleeting and of lesser value. Pick listeners. Those to talk a lot without listening will inevitably be off base. Select mentors that genuinely care about you and your success.
Pricing:
- SBDC assistance is always free
Contact Info:
- Email: sbdc@daytonastate.edu
- Website: www.daytonastate.edu/sbdc
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dalytom1962/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dalytom00
Image Credits:
In the web meeting pic: Nancy Benet of Fix-It Accounting and SBDC Success Story of Q4 2020 Virtual Meeting clients: Greg Martin – SOS Signs, Janice Huffstickler – VannData, Sean Skirrow – Dream Home Inspections, Amanda Yarbrough – MamaBare Sugaring Studios, Todd Stebleton – Universal Pest Control (on screen) Growth XChange clients: Bill Payne – Drive, LLC, Sean Skirrow – Dream Home Inspections, Paul – Reilly – Reilly Auto Repair, Nancy Benet – Fix-It Accounting, Janice Huffstickler – VannData, Greg Martin – SOS Signs, Todd Stebleton – Universal Pest Control, Scott Stebleton – TowBoatUS Ox Cart – wife Cinda Daly, Vietnam Laundry – client Mykal Tairu, owner Midtown Laundry, community organizer
