I would sincerely like to thank the team at Cogent Analytics for a job well done! A seven-week project seemed daunting in the beginning, but due to the well-defined process, time has flown by.

Opening up one’s business to an outside source for close review is very uncomfortable. Frankly, in the beginning, I was not really receptive to the process. We were a successful and profitable company despite a somewhat reactive way of managing our business. I knew we had many challenges and areas for improvement, but as a business owner, my ego told me I could fix them on my own. I was wrong.

From the first day, Jim was on task. He laid out our timeline and reviewed items from the discovery process. Within a day or two, we had a defined project plan, and it was off to the races! While I had always worked long hours and would call myself a “hard-worker”, I was working “in the business”. Quickly, Jim shifted my focus to working on the business and taking a more proactive approach to management.

The scope of our project was broad, but the improvement areas were well-defined by our Project Manager.

• Organization – This included understanding our work process, productivity issues, developing a framework for organizational management, and training for Senior Management
• Financial Controls – reshaping the way we look at our financial information and the development of reports that allow us to quickly determine our financial performance; developing realistic and functional budgets
• Business, Sales & Marketing Planning – Fine-tuning how we manage our customers and growth through sales execution, marketing, and better understanding our competition

Now that we have come to our project’s official end, I will truly miss having Jim here with us every day. He has become a valuable part of our team and will always be recognized as an “honorary” S-2 employee. While the project is complete, I know we will always have a trusted advisor to lean upon, not only during the follow-up phase but into the future.

I highly recommend Cogent Analytics and our Project Manager, Jim Merkle, to any business that wants to set the stage for growth and long-term success.

Jennifer Mead
CEO
S-2 International and MEADtrans LCC