Get a little help from some friends

A Sarasota-Bradenton group of business experts wants to donate its services.

The group, SRQ Trusted Advisors, has worked with local companies and entrepreneurs since 2007. Projects range from business plans and exit strategies to capital raises and complicated turnarounds.

“We have a good group of people who can do a lot of different things,” says Trusted Advisors member Mike Sisti, who runs Sarasota-based Sisti & Others, a branding and marketing firm. “We've got a nice formula.”

The Trusted Advisors, through a program run jointly with the Economic Development Corp. of Sarasota County, will now offer its services for free to one company a quarter. The EDC will go over applications and help choose the companies.

Sisti says the group seeks to work with businesses that have had some success, but aren't there just yet. “We want to go somewhere we can really make a difference,” says Sisti.

In addition to Sisti, the Trusted Advisors includes an attorney, a CPA, a technology consultant, a payroll consultant and several local entrepreneurs. The group has also worked with CEOs who belong to Vistage, a global business-consulting organization with several area chapters.

For more information on the program, or to receive an application, contact Joan McGill at the EDC: [email protected], (941) 309-1200, Ext. 107.