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Mecha Inc. Letter

It was a privilege to work with Dan Beach during his time at Mecha in recent weeks. Dan was originally hired as a consultant from Cogent Analytics, but he quickly became a part of the Mecha family. He was able to ingratiate himself quickly with my entire staff, making the entire experience a very positive one for everyone.

Dan’s consulting approach was a great fit for my company and my personality. He never tried to force or demand any changes. He simply provided suggestions with sound reasoning behind those suggestions. And then he gave me the tools needed to implement any necessary changes.

Even though Dan had no direct experience consulting for a machine shop like Mecha, his ability to quickly learn the basics of the trade and apply fundamental business principles enabled him to help us in every aspect of the business. Because of this practical experience and tireless work ethic, Dan contributed countless ideas about better ways of doing things.

Some of the people on my staff had less than stellar experiences working with consultants in previous jobs, so they were apprehensive about me hiring Cogent Analytics. Dan was able to allay any fears by getting feedback from everyone and incorporating some of their ideas while still staying focused on the long-term goals of the company. My staff is genuinely excited about the changes we have implemented. And I actually had several employees comment that they were going to miss Dan after we finished our project. I assured them that we would be back in a few months to check on us because Cogent Analytics is fully committed to making sure businesses achieve their goals.

When I initially considered hiring Cogent Analytics, I was naturally concerned whether or not it would be worth the money. In retrospect, hiring Cogent Analytics is something I should have done a long time ago. Their rates are competitive with similar firms, and they guarantee their work. What have you got to lose?

Mecha has grown steadily since its inception, and the business was doing well for me and my investors by all accounts. I also had some very specific goals in mind and knew what it would take to get there. So why hire a consulting firm? The reason I hired Cogent Analytics is that I knew they could help me reach my goals much more quickly than I could on my own. One of my main goals was to get my business running more independently so that I have more time to spend with my family and other business opportunities. After just several short weeks of working with Dan Beach, I’m already there.

I highly recommend Cogent Analytics to any business that is looking to improve. Specifically, I am confident that Dan Beach would prove to be a valuable asset to any organization that is fortunate enough to work with him. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about my experience working with Cogent Analytics or Dan Beach.

Dresner Group Letter

We would like to express our thanks to Cogent Analytics and our analyst for the assistance they’ve provided over the last 8 weeks. My partner & I always pride ourselves in growing our small business steadily over the last 13 years- however, we’ve recently experienced several “growing pains”. Our company could have continued gliding at the same pace, but we would have never achieved our desired growth and company size. Our analysist provided recommendations and tools for us to get there and better our company.

We look forward to continuing our work with Cogent remotely and receiving the return on investment that Cogent Analytics stands behind.

Southern Comfort Shelters Letter

The best way to describe my relationship with Cogent Analytics is a memory that I have from about 24 years ago.

My wife encouraged me to go have my eyes checked. Obviously, I needed glasses and I was in denial. After choosing the frames that fit and scratch resistant lens the cost was more than I wanted to spend.

Ultimately, my wife suggested to spend the money on what makes you want to wear them , and built strong enough to last. Make a good investment in a product that allows you to see and do your job effectively. Also, I was an UPS driver during that time of my life and struggled to see numbers on houses. “Necessity is the mother of all inventions” I heard that a time or two. After getting my glasses, the salesman asked if I had ever worn glasses before. My response was, no I have not. The salesman said “this is the part of my job I love the most”. He asked me to look at the door with a sign on it. I think the sign read , employees only. I could only tell him that it was blue in color. He handed me my glasses and ask that I looked at the sign again. As I put the glasses on, I could read it perfectly. What an eye-opening experience for me.

Meeting with Merlin and working with Mick has been the same eye-opening experience for me. I know we have a good product, with hard working employees, but I felt that we needed direction moving forward on better ways to run our business. I’m a firm believer in surrounding yourself with intelligent people. When your plumbing breaks, call a plumber. Our company was leaking from many different areas before we trusted in the process implemented by Mick.

We have a new product for the industry with many hurdles in front of us, but I’m optimistic that we can still land on our feet if we trip up every now and then. I’m confident that the foundation that Mick help lay will keep us stable down the obstacle filled path ahead.

Sincerely,
Rob Dixon
Partner
Southern Comfort Shelters

Burghardt Manufacturing Letter

Over the past few weeks I have had the pleasure of working with and getting to know Tiffany. She is very easy to work with in that she does not talk down to people, she explains herself very clearly and is able to convey her thoughts and ideas in a make-sense type of way. Tiffany’s work is direct and to the point without leaving loose ends or grey areas to wonder about.

On a personal note, Tiffany has a great personality and a very good sense of humor. She is very easy to talk to and has made this entire process enjoyable, honestly something I was not expecting. I think Tiffany is an asset to Cogent Analytics and I would recommend her and Cogent to any person or company in need of these types of services.

Sincerely,
Adam R. Burghardt
President

S-2 International Letter

I would sincerely like to thank you, and the team at Cogent Analytics for a job well-done! A seven-week project seemed daunting in the beginning, but due 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 real receptive to the process. We were a successful, and profitable company despite of 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 looked at our financial information and 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 who wants to set the stage for growth and long-term success.

Palmetto Infrastructure, Inc. Letter

Palmetto Infrastructure, Inc. would like to express to you our complete satisfaction with Robert Christiansen and his commitment to our Project. Robert’s detail and knowledge has given our company a foundation to bring about change needed to grow our business. We will be able to bring our process into alignment with general business practices with the forms and spreadsheets Robert has generated. We are a true “Mom & Pop” company and my wife and I have enjoyed the opportunity to learn and grow through our time with Robert.

Implementing the program and growing our company. Robert will be an integral part of our future. We have come to consider him a member of our team.

Professional Printers, Inc. Letter

As for our experience with Robert Christiansen, we were more than happy with his work and the thoroughness with which he approached the project. He not only communicated the “big picture” of the areas we needed to address, but was able to create detailed tools for us to use to move the company forward. His ability to generate company-specific spreadsheets was simply amazing. There is no way we could have developed the tools Robert provided internally.

I also appreciated his concise communication style and breadth of knowledge. He is an active listener and an excellent teacher. I look forward to maintaining a coaching relationship with him as we continue to implement the initiatives begun during his time here.

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