Brandon Butler: Artisan Lab Network

Background

Founded in 2017, Artisan Lab Network is a fast-growing ophthalmic lens manufacturing company based in Portland, Oregon. With 75 employees across three labs nationwide and plans for further expansion, founder Brandon Butler has leveraged his 23 years of industry experience to compete in the highly competitive glasses and contact lens manufacturing sector, an industry that generates nearly $8 billion in revenue annually across all businesses.

"Taking everything in my brain and being able to articulate it in a very formatted way was just awesome."

Brandon Butler

Founder, Artisan Lab Networks

Problem

As a startup entering a market dominated by global conglomerates, Brandon needed a powerful but simple tool to craft a comprehensive business plan, secure funding, create financial forecasts to project the costs and benefits of future expansions, and report his financial results to key stakeholders. Brandon knew he needed a solution that could help him articulate his vision, analyze opportunities and risks, and provide ongoing insights for the expensive but potentially lucrative expansions he was planning.

Solution

Brandon discovered LivePlan while searching online for business plan writing guidance. He implemented the platform not only for his initial business plan, but also to create financial forecasts and reports. LivePlan's integration with QuickBooks Online was especially useful, allowing Brandon to instantly track the performance of his business against his forecasts, generating insightful reports without extensive manual work.

Outcome

LivePlan helped Brandon create a business plan that secured him millions of dollars from investors to help him scale Artisan Lab Networks. He used those funds to expand from one lab to three, and is planning four additional locations using LivePlan's scenario modeling feature that assesses potential outcomes before he invests any money. The LivePlan Dashboard provides Brandon with weekly insights into his business performance, so he can identify trends and make timely adjustments. And he's able to create quarterly reports to share with investors, using clear visuals that compare actual performance to his forecasts.