Aldonna Ambler - Helping Woman Owned Businesses

AMBLER's Approach Has Generated $1 Billion of New Revenue for Woman Owned Businesses

Is it realistic to ask a small business to help other companies grow and to play a role in economic recovery when it sometimes can be an uphill battle to attract customers and keep paying your own employees? Apparently Aldonna Ambler thinks so. AMBLER Growth Strategy Consultants, Inc. (AMBLER) just passed the impressive milestone of generating over $1 Billion for other woman owned businesses.

$100 Million has come from a mixture of their own purchases from vendors, referrals, subcontracts, licensees, joint ventures, and strategic alliances. The firm has also played a key role in attracting over $100 Million in growth financing, grants, and corporate sponsorships for woman owned businesses. And even if they only count five years/client, the growth strategies AMBLER has provided for woman owned business clients has generated over $800 Million of new revenue for WBOs.

In 1985, when Ambler was the Statewide President for the New Jersey Association of Women Business Owners (NJAWBO), Aldonna Ambler made the decision to "walk the talk" and committed to maintaining a vendor base that reflects the demographics of the business community. 40% of their vendors are woman owned companies. That vendor policy has generated $12 Million for woman owned accounting firms, attorneys, bookkeepers, computer programmers, call centers, equipment lessors, graphic artists, insurance agents, photographers, printers, public relations firms, website designers, writers, etc. AMBLER's commitment to diversity has brought $34 Million in subcontracts and licenses for women facilitators, interviewers, researchers, secret shoppers, speakers and trainers. They have referred over $15 Million of business to woman owned companies, and that number does not include the revenue those companies gained from any repeat business.

Aldonna Ambler's commitment has gone well beyond their approach to hiring, subcontracts, vendors and acquisitions. "The owner of a small company can generate jobs and make a difference in the economy when he/she participates in joint ventures and strategic alliances," says Ambler. "We have initiated over a dozen strategic alliances/joint ventures and participated in another ten." Alliances and ventures help companies share the risk, create new products, expand into new markets, and attract larger customers they could not have served on their own. For example, dozens of other companies have benefited from multi-city speaking tours featuring Ambler.

Known as The Growth Strategist™, Ambler's alliance and venture partners have included companies that provide complementary products and services to help midsized companies keep growing. AMBLER Growth Strategy Consultants, Inc. does opportunity/ resource analysis and growth strategy planning for midsized companies, generating $39 Million for market research companies, merger and acquisition (M&A) firms, family business attorneys, industry experts, etc.

To be better prepared to make referrals, Aldonna Ambler's firm has been a long term active member in a variety of business associations, including national, state, regional and local chambers of commerce. Plus, she has been hosting a weekly online peer-to-peer-to-peer talk show for executives of midsized companies for six years.

AMBLER Growth Strategy Consultants' mission is to help midsized companies continue to grow. The President of a $20 million company may not need outside guidance with strategic planning at the moment, but he (yes, the overwhelming majority of their midsized company clients have male executives at the helm) may need updated personnel policies, an upgraded computer contact management system, or more effective transportation for their products. The CEO of a $200 million company may not need AMBLER's assistance at that moment to attract growth financing, facilitate a joint venture process, or help locating just the right CFO for their team.

Ambler knows that there are so many great companies out there run by hard working, bright, talented women (and men). That knowledge frees her up to relax and to hear what the leaders of midsized companies need to keep growing ... at that moment. The follow up for their meetings with past, current, and future AMBLER clients typically includes 3 or 4 referrals. They aren't in those meetings to just take orders for services they provide. Keeping midsized companies growing beyond stubborn plateaus is a calling for Ambler.

"It may sound corny to some people, but we see ourselves as a positive force of economic development. We want to listen to the midsized company executives' concerns and hear what they need to keep growing...whatever that is. So we are constantly updating our resource database and probably can refer any midsized company to a few great resources...no matter what they need," says Ambler, "and 40% of those resources have been woman owned companies."