Who

Apparatus Solutions is a financial and recruiting services company that is passionate about impacting the nonprofit and social enterprise community of Detroit, Southeast Michigan, and beyond.  They develop comprehensive financial strategies, provide bookkeeping and accounting services, and manage human resources for small to mid-sized organizations in the social impact sector.  Founded in 2010, the firm now has 15 full time employees and 50 clients.

“The investment by Mission Throttle not only gave Apparatus financial capacity but also provided access to the expertise, counsel and passion of Phillip and the team.  Strategic resources at the right time have allowed us to grow faster and stronger than I could have originally imagined.”

— Paul Trulik, President, Apparatus Solutions

Type of Investment

In 2013, Mission Throttle provided Apparatus Solutions with a $100,000 low-interest loan to be paid back over two years. We worked with the CEO and his team to determine a payback schedule that would match the needs of their business. We also stayed in close touch with Apparatus to understand how we could leverage our relationships and skillsets to help achieve their goals. The loan has been fully repaid with interest and we continue to work together in close partnership.

Why We Invested

Apparatus Solutions provides deep industry expertise and cost savings to social impact organizations in our community, allowing them to focus on their primary missions, rather than administrative and financial functions, which require unique skill sets. There are thousands of non-profits in Michigan alone and each of them needs a strong financial plan, accurate accounting and proper HR management to be successful. However, it is costly and time consuming to hire full time employees to fulfill those functions.  Apparatus Solutions provides an opportunity for impact organizations to outsource to a diverse team of experienced professionals, thus reducing redundancy in the system and allowing the organizations to focus on what they do best.

Our Impact

The investment by Mission Throttle allowed Apparatus to:

1. hire two important executive level leadership positions to focus on revenue growth, service quality, talent attraction, and organizational culture;
2. create and enhance the company website and marketing materials; and
3. create the Apparatus “Playbook” – a client binder, built from extensive on-the-ground best practices, designed to build an efficient, effective financial operating system.  This led to revenue growth of 25 – 50% per year since the investment and the addition of 30 clients.