Founder Profile: Mike Montali

If New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman is right that more people will need to invent their own job in the new economy, then Mike Montali and the company he founded, Harbor Business Compliance, should have a steady stream of customers.

Launched by Montali along with Megan Cherveny in 2012 after he was laid off from his job at a law firm, HBC helps entrepreneurs make their business official, from registration to compliance and everything in between. The company exclusively works with Pennsylvania businesses, helping them navigate paperwork and regulatory issues associated with the state’s Department of Revenue, Department of Labor and Industry and Internal Revenue Service.

The company is approaching the 100 customer-mark and hopes to hire its first full-time employee by the summer.

Having started several businesses, it was difficult to find advisers that catered to start-up businesses.  My partner and I discovered that entrepreneurs needed help setting up their business entities (LLCs, corporations, etc.) but that their only options were expensive legal or accounting firms, and do-it-yourself resources online.  We set out to specialize exclusively in Pennsylvania businesses registration and provide excellent service at a price that is appropriate for startup businesses.
 

Our biggest challenge was and continues to be marketing our business online in an industry that is filled with competitors who have multi-million dollar marketing budgets.  We have established ourselves locally and developed a growing network of accountants, attorneys, and small business mentors who refer their clients to us, which has been a huge help.  All of our clients have been immensely satisfied and many have recommended us to their colleagues.  At this point we need to reach more customers, and we are relying largely on online marketing to succeed at that.
 

We have used local vendors exclusively and we are proud of that.  Some of our most valuable resources have been SCORE small business mentors and the knowledgeable librarians at the Duke Street Business Center in Lancaster.
 

We are fortunate to have a great local network of entrepreneurs.  There are numerous groups of like-minded entrepreneurs.  My favorites are the Lancaster Tech Founders Meetup led by Charlie Crystle and the SCORE Service Providers Roundtable led by Larry Keating.  I have developed many new business relationships and friendships from these groups.
 

Boot-strapping a start-up requires an immense investment of personal resources.  We’ve had to learn a lot of new skills and take on a variety of responsibilities in order to preserve cash flow.

At certain points I still wonder if I made the right decision and I think every entrepreneur second guesses themselves.  That’s just the nature of being an entrepreneur. The feedback we receive from clients provides a lot of validation, but the most significant validation we’ve received is from support by local organizations such as SCORE.  A lot of people have put trust in us to help their clients and colleagues start their businesses and that is an awesome responsibility.

In Pennsylvania, I think a lot of emphasis is placed on helping people who have been laid off or are unemployed find new employment but I don’t think much support is given to people who are considering self-employment.  Self-employment is a great mechanism for job creation and should be an area of focus.  Many professionals can market themselves as freelancers or consultants and in doing so create a job for themselves.  As these businesses grow, there is an opportunity for them to create new jobs. 

 

Our region has a spirit for buying local that I think can benefit a lot of small businesses located here.   Many of our clients have told us that they chose our company over national service providers because we were local.  Buyers are also value-conscious, which creates an opportunity for companies to price their products and services reasonably to earn new business.

I’d like to see more support by the state and local governments for entrepreneurs.  A huge amount of educational resources and encouragement needs to be available to entrepreneurs as many of them are on the fence in making the decision of whether or not to take the leap into business.

We are positioned uniquely between expensive legal counsel and do-it-yourself online resources.  We offer Pennsylvania-focused expertise that entrepreneurs can’t get with existing online services and prices that are more affordable than legal and accounting services. 

We’d like to establish ourselves as the preeminent business registration resource in Pennsylvania.  Our blog and website provide valuable educational resources so we plan to continue building on that information and making it more accessible. 

We are also adding interactive features on our website that are innovative for our industry.  We are developing a wizard that analyzes the information people submit about their businesses and provides recommendations on choosing a business entity, deciding which government agencies to register with, and getting a customized quote.  We believe these developments will have a great impact as many people start their businesses online.

— by Joe Petrucci