Shanel Lindsay, J.D., Founder and CEO of Ardent

Ardent is a biotechnology business in the cannabis industry and despite having over 100% growth year-over-year since inception in 2015 and achieving a revenue of $2.8M in 2018, the company had begun to plateau in 2019. This is when Shanel made the decision to enroll in the Business Equity Initiative (BEI) program.

Ardent’s BEI Strategic Advisor worked with Shanel to establish an accounting and financial system to give visibility into the health of their business. Once in place, Shanel and her team were able to understand the areas affecting profitability, develop forecasting reports, and increase their ability to attract capital with financials in place.

Results: Ardent doubled revenue to $6M, had a 5x increase in profitability, and made six new hires (originally a team of two) by the end of 2020.

“Working with BEI gave us the support and guidance we needed to pull away from the frantic day-to-day revenue chase and work on the core foundational aspects of the business. Having a dedicated and supportive advisor and financial support allowed us to strategically focus on Ardent’s future. We neutralized problems that had plagued our business and can now focus on our opportunities.” – Shanel Lindsay, J.D., Ardent Founder and CEO