When I started my own small business, a clothing consignment service in Lancaster, PA, I quickly realized that in order to keep track of everything (inventory, prices, sales, clients, my sanity, etc.) I was going to need a robust infrastructure of data sources, forms, and integrations between idfferent systems. I knew that all of that data would need to flow automatically, otherwise I'd spend all of my time copying and pasting from one spreadsheet to another and have no time to actually run my business.

Fortunatley for me, a career in UX and process design had prepared me with the skills and knowledge I needed to design, create, and maintain that data infrastructure, but it was no easy task.

About a year after I started my business, a friend approached me about my interest in taking on a gig to offer some basic Google Sheets training for the nonprofit he worked for. "We have a bunch of spreadsheets that we don't really know how to use, and I know you're good at that stuff," he said. It was the first time I'd ever thought about how my knowledge and skills could help other small businesses and organizations, and I liked the idea!

Those initial training sessions were some of the most rewarding work I have ever done in my career, and the nonprofit and I quickly mutually agreed to additional services I could offer. As I helped them redesign their forms, spreadsheets, and introduced automation to their workflow, I started to dream up a new kind of consulting business that could really make a difference in my community.

That's the genesis of E. L. Murray Consulting. Small-scale, approachable consulting for small businesses and non-profits.

When you engage with E. L. Murray Consulting, I'll meet you where you're at. Keeping everything in the notes app on your phone? In a spiral notebook? Just in your head? I can work with that! Using three different softwares on expiring free trials? I can work with that! There are no expectations and no corporate jargon. You, me, and whoever else you want can simply sit down, see what we're working with, and make it better.

Interested to learn more?