Prior to our engagement with Cogent, True Wrap/Fence Brothers was operating in a space that could only be best described as ‘flying by the seat of our pants’. While we were finding success in the market, we had no real structure to handle growth and monitor our cash flow. The way the company functioned was like trying to fly an airplane by feel alone. The strain from this not only affected management, but every employee under True Wrap/Fence Brothers.

During the discovery with Cogent, I was quickly impressed with Monte, and how he was able to quickly identify areas we could improve on. Not only were these issues called out but also brought with them the financial impact they can have on our company. This gave me the quick impression that we would benefit greatly from a company like Cogent to help address all our shortcomings. From there, Cogent laid out a strategic plan along with a timeline to achieve all the goals laid out from discovery. To which we quickly agreed this would benefit our company. We were asked to write down the goals we would like to see for our company, and our personal life. I will share my thoughts on this at the end, but those goals were intentionally laid out in front of us during the discovery and engagement.

In the beginning of the engagement with Jesse, I would not be honest if I said I was fully prepared for what was to come. It was an overwhelming process, as I had become so used to wearing so many hats within the company, and by doing so it became clear that I had many blind spots to how my actions impacted the company. Almost immediately, Jesse got into action laying out new job titles and responsibilities so that we could present our team with an opportunity to step up with the company. I was quite reluctant, and verbalized to Jesse, that we wouldn’t be able to find many of these roles within our current employee pool. After the rolls were presented, I was astonished how many of the staff were openly ready to step up for us. It was not the easiest of transitions for me personally as I struggled to relinquish even some of the most basic tasks to our staff, but with constant gentle pressure from our staff and Jesse I was able to reign myself in and that is when I truly began to see the benefits of having Cogent come in.

Since then, our staff has made significant strides. We now have clearly identified roles and who handles each step of the process within our fencing company. This has given me the opportunity to spend less time in the field and more time in the office where my time is most valuable. Cogent and Jesse also provided us with all of the tools and documentation to operate this company with no gray spaces that there used to be.

As I mentioned earlier, Monte asked us to write down our goals for the company and our personal lives during the discovery. Now, as our time closes with Jesse, and his engagement with True Wrap/Fence Brothers. I can truly say that I see the light at the end of the tunnel when I step back and look at what goals I had written down for myself at the very beginning of this entire process. The biggest of which was to have more time with my family, that had already been improved before the engagement concluded.

True Wrap/Fence Brothers has never been in a better position to grow and excel at what we do. With what Cogent has helped put in place for our company, I now expect to see growth year over year. With a cash management system that will help guide us to our goal of being the top fencing contractor in West Michigan.

Kyle Trierweiler
Co-Owner
Fence Brothers