Contracts and compliance are two areas that can take up a lot of a company’s time. And our next guest says that gaps in these areas are also costing money right now for small businesses across our state. Mike Switzer interviews Monique Saunders, CEO at Saunders Management Group in Rock Hill, SC.
TRANSCRIPT:
Switzer: Hello and welcome to the South Carolina Business Review. This is Mike Switzer. Contracts and compliance are two areas that can take up a lot of a company's time. And our next guest says that gaps in these areas are also costing money right now for small businesses across our state. Monique Saunders is CEO at Saunders Management Group and she joins us by phone now from her office in Rock Hill, South Carolina. Monique, welcome to the program.
Saunders: Well, thank you for having me.
Switzer: So first of all, tell us what it is that you do and how you got into this work.
Saunders: What I do is more like business consulting and some professional services. I try to also provide like virtual jobs for projects, in the community. We try to fill in the gaps wherever we can for some business owners and up and coming entrepreneurs. I got into this back when I was in high school so many years ago, as I'm 31, will be 32 this year. And it started off kind of just like a side hustle for me because I realized a lot of people spent a lot more of their time skimming over things and actually doing the research. They will listen to someone tell them, hey, this is as far as you can go before actually understanding that that is not the case and people can say whatever they want. That does not necessarily make it true. So we try to step in and make sure that person or that company can go as far as possible.
Switzer: Alright. now in my introduction I mentioned that you have a lot of experience in compliance and contracts and that there are gaps that you see in a lot of small businesses right now in these areas and that could be costing them money right now. Tell us more about that issue.
Saunders: Correct. Solely depends on the industry. There are a lot of paperwork and security issues that are had for privacy reasons and just other things all around the board. a lot of people don't necessarily know that they need help until you can show them where they're lacking. And a lot of that comes from the structural documentation and systems that they put into place to kind of try to drive like this, autopilot, ah, type of business which is, you know, the goal. You kind of want to build it and step away from it and watch it grow and kind of step in when it needs maintenance and everything. But a lot of people will get stopped dead in their tracks before they have gotten started or I've met a few people and a couple of companies that get started and they're doing good for a couple of years but then they really start to drive in that, that income or that revenue, and it becomes an issue with the irs. And there are a lot of documents and contracts and things that need to be in place to protect the company, protect potential, clients, that just a lot of people are not, familiar with at all.
Switzer: Can you give us a real world example of a compliance or a contract gap that you've come across that you could share with us? Of course, you don't have to give the name of the company.
Saunders: One of my earlier contracts was with a young lady who had a, mental health facility and a few other things. And her biggest issue there was at the time she was doing some transporting for some of her services, ah, helping individuals get back and forth to appointments and other things, without having the proper documentation in place ended up costing her a lot. And over a short period of time, over one fender bender. And our field client at the time was not even in the vehicle simply because she didn't have that form even available or even as an option. It became an issue. It ended up costing her an arm and a leg within a few months. Insurance didn't cover it because they were never made aware of it. And just like I said, little small things like that cause, very major issues.
Switzer: What is this form that you're referring to?
Saunders: Like a transportation contract? You really have to cover yourself on all aspects. When you're talking about like lawsuits, you have to cover yourself in contracts, employment contracts and potential or already onboarded clients. This is not just for your company, it's also for the people you do business with.
Switzer: All right, now what about AI? Are you seeing that, businesses can use AI to, try to fill in these gaps to review their compliance, and contracts?
Saunders: Oh, yes, correct. If you feed that into the AI with the proper detailed prompt, it will spit you a beautiful contract. I mean, you do have to look over it. AI does make mistakes and everything, but AI is one beautiful tool when it comes to, research.
Switzer: Well, Monique, thank you so much for spending time with us today.
Saunders: Thank you for having me.
Switzer: Monique Saunders is CEO at Saunders Management Group in Rock Hill, South Carolina. Research. Remember, you can hear this show again at our webpage, south carolinapublicradio.org just look for our show and you can find us wherever you find podcasts with the South Carolina Business Review. This is Mike Switzer.
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