After 13 years in the field, The Acceleration Project (TAP) has observed a defining pattern in small business growth: grit starts businesses, but structure and strategic guidance help sustain them.
Across 11,300+ customized engagements nationwide, TAP has seen that while entrepreneurial determination fuels business creation, long-term stability often depends on access to both capital and trusted advisory support. Through TAP’s partnership with Pursuit, small business owners gain access to financial resources alongside customized consulting designed to help them use that capital strategically.
Pursuit is a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) that empowers entrepreneurs by providing access to affordable loans and business resources. As a mission-driven lender, Pursuit works with business owners and communities that have historically faced barriers to traditional financing, expanding economic opportunity and long-term financial independence.
As Malini Krishna of Pursuit explains:
“We found that the loan itself was not sufficient to help our business owners succeed. TAP has been a crucial partner in helping business owners understand their finances, develop confidence in their numbers, and prepare to secure loans.”
Together, TAP and Pursuit help entrepreneurs move from reactive decision-making toward structured, sustainable growth. Junk Chief demonstrates how this collaboration translates opportunity into measurable progress.
Building a Stronger Client Pipeline: Nick Fusco’s Story
Junk Chief is a New Jersey-based junk removal, demolition, and dumpster rental company founded by Tyler Koen and Nick Fusco. Built on professionalism, integrity, and customer-focused service, the company quickly built a strong reputation for reliability and quality work.
As demand increased, Nick recognized an opportunity to grow the business beyond one-time residential jobs and into larger, repeat commercial relationships with contractors and property developers. To support this transition, Nick participated in TAP’s Deep Dive consulting program, delivered in partnership with Pursuit.
TAP’s Deep Dive program is an immersive, high-touch engagement where two experienced consultants work closely with one business owner across multiple sessions. Unlike one-time advisory conversations, Deep Dives provide sustained collaboration that allows strategy and execution to build progressively.
Through this engagement, TAP helped Nick strengthen Junk Chief’s marketing strategy, outreach systems, and long-term growth infrastructure.
Moving From Instinct to Structured Strategy
TAP worked with Nick in 2025 to clarify Junk Chief’s brand positioning and value proposition, developing a consistent brand statement that could be applied across marketing materials and client outreach.
TAP consultants also built a targeted outreach strategy focused on attracting higher-value, repeat commercial clients. TAP supported this effort by compiling prospect lists of contractors and developers and creating structured outreach templates, scripts, and follow-up cadences. This approach allowed the business to pursue growth more intentionally rather than relying primarily on referrals.
TAP also developed internal brand guidance to help employees align decision-making with the company’s long-term growth strategy and service standards.
Strengthening Operational Confidence and Execution
The Deep Dive engagement followed a structured progression from business assessment to strategy development and execution planning. Early sessions focused on understanding Junk Chief’s operations, followed by collaborative working sessions to refine outreach strategies. The final phase helped Nick consolidate these insights into a clear operational blueprint.
“The process was great. We spent the first session discussing how my company operates. The second session we bounced ideas off each other on how we should be reaching out to customers. The third session was piecing everything together and having a very solid plan and blueprint for me to use.” Nick Fusco Owner, Junk Chief TAP Deep Dive Participant
Nick shared that TAP’s tools and templates exceeded expectations and provided meaningful support for business expansion. He also highlighted the dedication of TAP consultants and their commitment to helping the business succeed.
Preparing Businesses to Use Capital Effectively
The collaboration between TAP and Pursuit reflects a broader understanding of what small business owners need to scale successfully. While access to capital is essential, the ability to communicate financial performance, implement operational systems, and plan strategically often determines whether businesses can use funding effectively.
Pursuit’s human-centered lending approach focuses on long-term business health and community impact. TAP strengthens that approach by helping business owners build financial vocabulary, operational clarity, and strategic planning capabilities that support sustainable expansion.
Together, TAP and Pursuit help entrepreneurs build businesses that create jobs, strengthen communities, and generate lasting economic opportunity.
Ready to Work With TAP?
TAP supports small business owners nationwide through expert consulting and coaching. We collaborate with institutions and engage skilled volunteer consultants to expand access to high-impact business guidance.
Organizations, institutions, and individuals interested in working alongside TAP are invited to explore partnership opportunities by completing our partner application form.
Small business owners seeking customized consulting and coaching support are encouraged to apply for TAP services.
Professionals interested in sharing their expertise as volunteer consultants are invited to apply to join TAP's national consultant network.
Turning Opportunity Into Sustainable Growth: How TAP and Pursuit Help Junk Chief Build Structure, Strategy, and Scalable Success
After 13 years and 11,300+ engagements, TAP has seen that grit starts businesses but structure sustains them — and its partnership with Pursuit, a mission-driven CDFI, pairs affordable capital with hands-on consulting to help entrepreneurs scale strategically. This client story follows Junk Chief co-founder Nick Fusco, who used TAP's Deep Dive program to shift from referral-based growth to a structured commercial outreach strategy with clear systems and a blueprint for long-term success. 2/12/2026.
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