Francis M. Miller, Founder

GENESIS OF THE FIRM AND FOUNDER'S VISION

Lone Tree was founded by Francis M. Miller, a management consultant, strategist and turn-around specialist with thirty years of professional experience. The goal of the firm is to assist small to medium-sized businesses achieve comparative advantage in their markets.

Our firm is not an esoteric boutique and we do not indulge in cash-cow matrices or use buzz terms such as "occupying space" and the like. We are fundamentalists who have boiled down the best of what we know works and we seek to work "on-the- ground" with our clients.

We do not lay claim to the invention of management consulting or strategic planning, nor do we wish to coin our own currency by patenting models and approaches. Every business is challenged to market innovative products and services in an imaginative way and unit costs of production must be continuously declining.

Our art and craft is simply to work with our clients to identify the essential issues that must be addressed and then help implement.

WHY LONE TREE???

Reason #1--THIRTY YEARS EXPERIENCE
Our firm has done hundreds of engagements in a wide variety of industries and functional areas. We are professional management consultants, not academics, accountants or computer industry specialists.

Reason #2--BIAS TOWARDS IMPLEMENTATION
Our motto is to use the eyes to read, the brain to think, the hands to write, and the feet to make change happen.

Reason #3--CLEAR UNDERSTANDING OF COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE
We strongly believe competitive position sits on a platform with four cornerstones: product innovation, entrepreneural culture, exploitation of disruptive technology and superior unit costs.

Reason #4--CONSERVATIVE APPROACH TO FEES & EXPENSES
We seek to be affordable to small business, yet financially strong enough to fund research and development. We are ruthless in controlling travel expenses and flexible in hourly, project and ongoing fees. We will meet the competition whenever possible and respectfully decline where necessary.

NAVIGATING THE SITE

The "Roots" pages of the site represent our statement of qualifications and an overview of our marketing collateral. Other pages of the site are intended to inform and will change more frequently. In the future an interactive component will be added, including, blogging, chatting, social networking, etc. For now, the Weekly Meeting and Humor pages will change most often.

LEWIS & CLARK EXPEDITION, 1806

CELEBRATE CORP OF DISCOVERY

We love metaphor and analogy and indulge in it. This year is a celebration of the Lewis & Clark and Pike Military Expeditions to explore the Louisiana Purchase. While these expedition leaders planned they did not have maps, but surveyed the territory as they went. The frontier spirit is still alive whether you are discovering new technology or founding a business. Go to http://www.lewis-clark.org for more.