HR Business Solutions helps startups get off to the right start

HR Business Solutions staff members Lynn Breedlove, Kim Costa, Lynn Talbott, Darlene Baker and Dory George, from left, stand outside of the HR Business Solutions office at the Chattanooga Business Development Center
HR Business Solutions staff members Lynn Breedlove, Kim Costa, Lynn Talbott, Darlene Baker and Dory George, from left, stand outside of the HR Business Solutions office at the Chattanooga Business Development Center
photo HR Business Solutions staff members Lynn Breedlove, Kim Costa, Lynn Talbott, Darlene Baker and Dory George, from left, stand outside of the HR Business Solutions office at the Chattanooga Business Development Center

HR Business Solutions is a startup that helps startups manage the ins and outs of being a startup.

Lynn Talbott launched the company in October 2012 and two months later moved into Chattanooga's Business Development Center - home to about 70 startups.

As its name suggests, HR Business Solutions helps companies with human resources, as well as business basics such as bookkeeping.

A former manager of human resources with a major outdoor retailer, Talbott handled corporate training for a second major corporation about two decades ago. Her undergraduate background in accounting later lent well to bookkeeping. So did her knack for organization, and her attitude toward societal contribution informed the type of company she founded.

"It was my goal to help people get off to the right start," Talbott says.

HR Business Solutions provides full-service human-resource management for everything from compliance regulation and recruitment, to workers compensation and performance appraisals. It also offers human-resource services on a project basis and specializes in developing policies and procedures for subjects such as confidentiality compliance, sexual harassment and safety programs.

In more explanatory terms, the company helps startups answer basic questions such as: Do I need to get a loan? What's my exit strategy? Do I need a storefront? And Talbott's team helps them figure out things like where their income is coming from to inform how they should plan for growth.

photo Lynn Talbott stands in the HR Business Solutions office at the Chattanooga Business Development Center

"After I teach them, some they get it and move on, others say, 'I want you to do it for me,' " Talbott says. "It's all just one-on-one personal. Everybody is different. It's a lot of sitting with them and talking."

Talbott handles matters related to human resources, and her employees handle bookkeeping.

Today, HR Business Solutions employs four women and brings in two contractors during tax season. Talbott estimates the company has about 190 clients, nearly all of them in the Chattanooga area. The company also indirectly has helped dozens of other businesses; Talbott is a certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor and teaches a Monday class at the Small Business Development Center covering bookkeeping mistakes entrepreneurs make.

Talbott expects the company to have $200,000 to $240,000 in revenue by the end of this year. HR Business Solutions is growing enough to be looking to hire another bookkeeper or two by next tax season, she says.

This story is featured in this month's edition of Edge magazine.

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