Erica Olsen, M3 Planning, Inc.

Erica Olsen’s enthusiasm for her business, M3 Planning, is obvious. She talks about it like it’s a great song, or a new sports car. Apparently her clients agree.

After nearly six years in business, the company is on a growth curve, providing strategic planning services to small businesses, a niche Olsen says is vastly underserved.

“Our vision was that there was a void in the market to serve existing business that aren’t Fortune 500 in size,” she says. “We help businesses develop a roadmap from where they are to where they want to be.”

In addition to consulting services, for which there are several dozen active clients, M3 Planning has developed a homegrown online software system that aids professionals as they develop, implement and monitor their strategic plans. M3 Planning just released the latest version of the program, available at mystrategicplan.com, in mid-December.

Olsen also was approached last year about writing a strategic planning guide for the “Dummies” series. Now the book is in print — “Strategic Planning for Dummies” is available at major bookstores and on M3 Planning’s Web site — and Olsen is enjoying the fruits of her labor. “We’re hoping to sell 10,000 in the first year,” she says.

M3 Planning is a family operation. Olsen shares duties with her parents, Howard and Nancy Olsen. They own the business together, work to each other’s strengths representing clients, and even share an office with Olsen and Associates, Erica’s aunt’s operation.

Write on target

At 32, Olsen may be younger than many of her colleagues, but the maturity of her business comes from extensive experience. After graduating the University of Nevada, Reno journalism program, then receiving an international MBA at the Thunderbird School in Phoenix, Olsen jumped headfirst into start-up businesses. And she found herself writing a lot of business plans. Soon, she and her parents devised a business plan of their own.

Bob Larkin, chairman of the Washoe County Board of Commissioners, has worked extensively with Olsen during the development of a five-year strategic plan with the county. He has been impressed with her ability to understand the complexity of government, given her background in business.

“There isn’t a better person in the local business community to get this kind of recognition,” he says. “She’s an outstanding facilitator — she has a grasp of not only business, but government, and she helped persuade some hard-headed people to embrace the strategic planning process. “Now some of those same people are the most vocal advocates for strategic planning.”

For Olsen strategic planning and business ownership is a labor of love.

“I think entrepreneurship is living the American dream; having unlimited upward potential,” she says. “You want to grow a business as much as you can not only to make money, but to make an impact.”