Brian Siravo thought about starting his own business for a few years. After he was presented with some life challenges (loss of employment due to company cutbacks), it was the last lever that needed to be pulled to launch him into moving in the right direction.
With 20 years of experience in business continuity and personal preparedness, Brian wanted to share his passion for these topics with more businesses across the country. Brian started learning about contingency planning, training programs, and emergency response as a new Lieutenant in the Air Force. He worked for small business, as a consultant to a large federal government agency, and as a contractor and employee to a large international company.
Before opening his business, Brian visited the SBDC and received consulting services in a vast array of areas to include how to establish his business, business planning, service delivery, proposal writing, legal issues such as trademarks and copyrights, and many other aspects of starting a new business.
With the assistance of the SBDC, Accinctus opened on July 10, 2013. Like any start up, Brian faced some challenges. In the first 6 months, Brian needed to review business management, marketing for name recognition, pricing of services, and help getting businesses to understand the need for his services. Almost 75% of businesses in America have no disaster or preparedness plans in place because there is the dangerous assumption that something bad “won’t happen to me” or that insurance is all they need. Brian understood that he needed to educate businesses first on the need and risks they could face before purchasing his services.
Brian’s past experience has helped him develop a very unique perspective and base of knowledge to bring to his clients. Accinctus differentiates itself from other larger companies as the business is not only IT focused. Accinctus assists small and medium businesses with preparedness plans and employee training. Accinctus does not believe “one size fits all” and tailors their products to a business’s culture and requirements to create value. Lastly, Accinctus takes pride in building a long term partnership with their clients as they truly care about the long term strength of their company. When in need, a business can call Brian to help with any response and recovery processes. In fact, the Accinctus name is Latin for prepared, ready, well-girded.
Since opening his business, the SBDC’s assistance to Brian has been reversed. The Colorado Spring’s SBDC’s Disaster Relief Program has utilized Brian’s expertise in preparing clients with their business continuity by having him take part in expert panels and requesting his support with the creation of the Colorado Business Disaster Recovery & Continuity Guide.
The survival rate for small and medium sized business is 20 – 30% after a disaster. Brian’s goal is to positively impact the community by reversing this statistic and increase the survival rate to above 80% by educating and preparing businesses. Helping the community is at the forefront of the Accinctus goals. “If it weren’t for organizations like the SBDC, SBA, and other community organizations, a new business would not know where to turn for help. Without the assistance of the SBDC, especially the knowledgeable and professional consultants, I would not have learned so much and made so many gains in such a short period of time. The SBDC office is the first place anyone thinking about starting a business in Colorado should go.”
To learn more about Accinctus, visit www.accinctus.com, on Facebook, Linked In, or follow Accinctus on Twitter @AccinctusLLC.
