Lab Recyclers needed a reboot. Like many small businesses that are nearing $2M in revenue, the “systems” we had in place weren’t working to get us to the next level. We had borrowed as much money as we could to fund our growth and we were stalling out. I was at a decision point-close Lab Recyclers or make a big commitment and reboot quickly. I chose the latter and hired Cogent Analytics to help build the new systems to grow.
Jim Single, the Project Director assigned to us, is a fountain of knowledge-relevant knowledge. He has assisted over a thousand clients over his career. He understands how we got ourselves in this “ditch” and how to get out and stay out. In five short weeks we worked together to teach us how to manage our business, not be run by it. Specifically, we built systems to manage cash, engineer profits, forecast cash, track job costs, track financial performance, improve productivity, improve our AR and AP, track cash, and to manage and control projects.
We built a real budget, a Production team incentive program, a very detailed 8 week cashflow plan, a strategic plan, a sales and marketing plan, and a set of Key Performance Indicators to help keep us on track. Jim and I spent hours each day talking about every aspect of my business and my hopes and dreams. I didn’t know how to integrate all of my future plans into my current business. Not only did he know how to help me, but he had plenty of empirical data from other clients that crossed this same threshold over the years. I feel like I am sitting in the driver’s seat of a high performance race car with most of the knowledge to drive it.
Like learning to use a new skill (think new golf swing), I need to concentrate on practice and implementation. It will be easy to slip back into old routines. Fortunately, Jim and Cogent have a plan for that too. They will be monitoring our performance for as long as it takes- as long as we are committed to using the tools that were developed.
If you are looking to “reboot” your company rapidly and are truly committed to making a permanent change, then Cogent can help you. They guarantee their work. I highly recommend their services and Jim Single specifically.
