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We were impressed with the knowledge and professionalism of the analyst they sent to our office. She had been working with us for 6 weeks before all the craziness set in. She has had no issue picking up where she left off remotely and the last couple of weeks have been very productive. I hope that we will finish valuation as well as some other projects before the end of the summer

All in all our experience with IDS was positive as the gentleman they sent over worked well with our staff. They walked us through a bunch of different exercises which I feel in the end gave us a better feel for where our issues had been stemming from. The bloodwall specifically was one of the ones I feel we got the most out of. Only time will tell how we will respond to the changes they recommended but I am positive.

We are general and electrical contractor specializing in commercial and light industrial building improvements, renovations and tenant improvement work. Most of the work we perform with our in-house labor force, light demolition, framing, drywall, doors, windows, painting and electrical. I invited IDS to assist myself and my business because we were having issue throughout the company. The issues included personnel chain of command, lack of respect of team members, push back from wife and daughter working in administration, etc. George is a super star in business development. He has shown me how to ask questions, get buy-in from the team members and how to deal with difficult personnel issues. From the time he completed the individual interviews with the project managers, superintendents, foreman, administration staff he was able to read the personalities and advise on who would conform and grow from this process and who would take more time to buy into a better way to conduct our business. Since starting this process we have seen compliance to the new systems and procedures throughout the company, some employees a little slower than others, but much like George predicted. We are continuing to put systems and processes in place derived from the blood wall discussions, task list and performance tracking. I have always been a person that believes in systems and procedures much like an airplane pilot, because I am one. George has shown us how to track and measure the status of our systems and procedures. At this time we need to put into practice the new operations and administration systems and procedures, get them working to perfection before we move on to the next phase of our business development. I have no regrets in my decision to hire IDS and we look forward to having George back for phase two. I would strongly recommend their services to anyone seeking advice or my opinion on the subject. Thank You for sending us George he has been wonderful to work with. Many thanks, Mark

I wanted to thank IDS for all the assistance and information these last 2 weeks helping us understand our organization and how we can change things for the better going forward. Your expertise and knowledge in all aspects of the business organization is sure to help us to produce the results we are looking for- the main ones being better profitability, consistent administration of projects, better efforts toward marketing and sales, as well as more accountability across the board with all employees, partners and subcontractors. We also look forward to meeting again in a few weeks with Janice to review all the ideas she has come up with for tax planning, asset protection, estate and trust plans, as well as the many other topics we discussed related to the financial side of our business. Thanks again for all the help. Sincerely, Patrick

IDS has been a fixture at our office for the past weeks. Jeff very quickly was able to identify areas where we could use improvement. As our company has grown over the past several decades, we have become comfortable with the status quo. Things that worked well in the past have become inefficient with our growth. With our management and employees keeping busy with the mechanics of fabricating pipe, time to think outside of the box had been consumed in production. Jeff was able to devote the needed time to help present solutions while training our key employees to implement these changes. As the next generation owners of Mid America are emerging, they struggle to develop their place within the corporate structure. As John and Nick take more leadership of the company, Jeff was able to present ideas from his knowledge of other organizations. He has revamped the organizational chart allowing them a position utilizing their talents. Other areas of our company were also reorganized allowing our coating and lining manager to get back to the position he is best suited for by spinning off the shipping and material handling to a new formed department. Jeff has opened the communication channels that are needed to assist Mid America in continuing to grow into the industry leader that we are positioned to become. With the skills that he has trained our key employees to utilize, we are looking towards a brighter future. Sincerely, John

We have just concluded our engagement with IDS. I wanted to send this note to let you know how much the knowledge of our business has expanded and especially to tell you know how much we appreciated Skip. His hard work, knowledge of business, and accounting practices as well as his professionalism has made our time together extremely significate for the future of our Company. What we have gained and learned from Skip and what we have put into practice already has made our investment in time and resource enormously worthwhile. We thank Skip and their entire IDS team for your involvement with our company. Sincerely, Jim

When we engaged your company’s services, our financial situation was bleak. With the help of Alan and Bill, a plan was developed to control costs and enhance profits. Over the past 7 weeks, Bill has helped guide us through the plan. The results are significant cost reductions, capital funding, a new sales plan, budget, and procedures to keep cost in line. Cash flow was a large concern and it will still need to be closely managed. However, we received funding from BF, and from a good friend. This combined with cash flow tools provided by Bill, we are in a better position to manage our cash. One of the main issues was in the expenses of the maintenance of our fleet. The maintenance group has been reorganized with a new budget and procedures have been out into place. Costs are now being reviewed daily to insure adherence to the budget. Other cost control measures put into place are elimination of positions, reduced of salaries, re-negotiation of independent contractor rates, and enforcement of policies for use of bulk diesel which acquired at a cheaper rate than diesel acquired on the road. Bill has helped us develop a sales strategy to enhance our revenues. We have selected an employee focus on sales. Many opportunities have been identified for growth within our industry, The future for our companies is positive. As we adhere to the measures put into place, we will continue to be more profitable. We look forward to continue working with Bill and IDS as we are held accountable over the next year.

I have been very pleased with the knowledge and performance of the IDS team. It has been an educational experience for the entire staff. I’ve particularly been pleased with our Senior Business Consultant, Travis. Travis has been very accommodating, patient, and enjoyable to work with during the entire process. I have been thoroughly impressed with the knowledge shared in all the aspects of our business. The entire process had been like going to a condensed business school covering all the areas that pertains to my business. I’m most pleased with the ability to immediately get accurate reports of cash management and AR reporting. We are very comfortable that we will be able to continue to use the tool to continue to improve our business. In summary, the entire project was a great expenditure but already appears that the rewards will far outweigh the cost. We are looking forward to an ongoing relationship with IDS during our further development. Sincerely, Brett

A few months ago Crystal Imaging was contacted by IDS. At the time I knew we had great potential. However, we were little out of our league. We had huge growth in a short period of time! I am not sure if you have heard this, but we had a client in the healthcare industry that still uses us over 10 years later. They absolutely loved our staff and drive as a company. They would refer to us as “the boys in the tree house.” We were casual, fun and always delivered results! As we grew, we disappointed our clients and ourselves. We thought we could keep growing and did dangerously. After discovering Crystal Imaging, your team sent an analyst, project manager, tax attorney and of course our friend and mentor, Carol, to look at our company. We were told a lot about our company (and ourselves). Soon after your team looked at numbers and talked with our staff. It was eye opening to say the least. Soon after we agreed to move forward with your company, it was apparent that this was the right decision. We were already struggling in our partnership and extremely dysfunctional. We also realized that there was work to be done and it needed to start at the top with us the partners. I never realized how hard it would be to change that person I was compared to who I am today! I now see that I am actually more like I was before the extreme stress of job (as it was) set into life. This is what dysfunction will do to you, if you let it. We learned that our company had to come together in all departments as we attempt to survive to our fullest potential. The 1st thing we needed to do was take our business back. We needed to let our staff know that we heard them and would take action to build policy and teamwork! This is extremely difficult when you keep so much discussion so quiet. However, we needed to make big change and add strength to our company! I would not be able to finish this letter without mentioning my friend and mentor, Carol. Her experience and leadership was “alive at Crystal Imaging!” She should work daily for hours at a time making sure my role as President and CEO was clearly understood and properly executed by me and the “Leadership Team.” She quickly saw this vision I had was trapped and allowed me the opportunity to unleash it into action! We have created our budget for 2018 already. We will be beyond $12.5M next year because of the commitment of our team! We have also agreed to an incentive plan for our employees. Thank You for sending Carol to our team! We will miss her but make her proud at the same time! In closing, we will be great moving forward! However, we need to look in the mirror every day and bring our “A” to the “Crystal Imaging Team” and “customers.” We “must” realize that it’s up to us to avoid failure and move this company to heights never imagined! Thank-you and your staff for a job well done! Best, Arthur

My company, MPG, was built from a single idea in 2008 and had grown into a business with 30+ employees all doing a good job. It seemed my company was barely getting by, we were not consistently shipping on time and cash flow was up and down as well. I felt we were only performing at “good enough” status. I really wanted to have a company that performed with excellence but I just didn’t know what or how to change the culture. IDS sent two business coaches to guide me and teach me how to get my company to perform and change the culture to individual team responsibility. My coaches Andrew and Bruce were just the right guys for my company and personality. These two gentlemen have great backgrounds, great business acumen and work as hard as I do. Andrew and Bruce worked with me through the holiday season and we didn’t slow down until all goals were met and all systems implemented. Most importantly Andrew and Bruce taught me and coached me and my team how to manage the systems- they didn’t just hand us theory, ideas and paper, we worked on my leadership and worked with my team members to define performance metrics and hold each team accountable for their own performance. I must stress this point one more time, they worked hard! We all worked together to make MGP an excellent company. The investment I made with IDS is really an investment in my company and me. The culture we have created gives me confidence we can consistently deliver on time, make a consistent profit and hold each department accountable for their performance. I am grateful and blessed to have worked with Bruce and Andrew, it was the best business education I could have ever asked for.

On behalf of JA Inc., it is my privilege to inform you of our complete satisfaction with Ivan and his time, scope of work completed, and changes implemented in our business. We are excited about the direction the business is headed, with the main goal to reduce operating costs in order to increase profit margin. Our management team thoroughly believes that the benefits to be gained by implementing the changes Ivan has presented will positively impact our business, especially in dollars saved. We estimate the cash return to be from 1% (120,000) to quite possibly up to 20% (2 million). We still have a lot of work ahead of us, but our management team is committed to the job. I have been able to work steadily with Ivan on each of the programs developed, and once we are through our harvest season, Nick and Frank will be able to devote more time to the program. The cost analysis, planning and budgeting, and margin mix have begun to show us how to more accurately account for our costs, develop actual fees, bill out our costs and fees for each operation, track our time and expenses, all in a manner that will bring more profit to our operating company. In using the programs, I have already seen a direct impact on time and money saved. My office is now able to track, account, and bill outside vendors more accurately and efficiently. For example, instead of our typical delay of 4 to 6 months to bill customers, I am now able to send out an invoice in 2 weeks. The interest savings on that particular bill was $2,500.00. If I am able to be timelier with 5 vendors on 10 bills each, that is a savings of $125,000. The ability to accurately track our labor is developing and being implemented through management meetings and scheduling. By evaluating each employee’s performance, we are now cognizant of how our employees are utilizing their time. This is done by reviewing time sheets on a weekly basis. We have been able to direct questions to team leaders who have been able to correct hours worked as needed, thus accurately tracking our labors costs. Knowing our cost for custom operations will give us a more accurate account of whether or not we should outsource an operation, or if we need to plan and complete the operation ourselves. In the past, we have not had an accurate base line of what our costs are. We now can objectively evaluate and plan our operations and inputs in real time, as opposed to using historical data. This can prove to be a huge opportunity for cash savings. We will only know once we have spent the time utilizing the programs, an inputting our own data budget. Finally, the biggest return on investment we see for our business is to maximize our margin mix. Currently, we have not had the ability to accurately evaluate the break-even point of sales, or have a profit plan. Even though we cannot control commodity pricing, we can control our decisions to be profitable, basing those decisions on zero-basis budgeting, rather than past history.