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Brittany Powers / July 22, 2024

Testimonial Letter from Chavez Plumbing

June 25, 2024

To Whom It May Concern:

Chavez Plumbing is the go-to source for comprehensive plumbing services in Houston, Texas, and the surrounding areas. We offer practical plumbing services for both residential and commercial clients as well as drain maintenance and repair for water heaters and gas lines.

Our experience working with Stacey Neill of Schooley Mitchell has yielded beneficial results for our company, directly impacting our bottom line. After Stacey explained the initial analysis was at no cost, we brought her team in to review Chavez Plumbing’s waste disposal expenses.
We were initially hesitant that savings could be found, especially due to the limited volume of waste we produce, collected within a single garbage container. Additionally, during Stacey’s initial visit, we discovered our current provider had recently auto-renewed us for an additional three years. After learning that, we were sure our current rate was locked in, assuming minimal negotiating power.

However, after a few weeks of review, Stacey and her team presented several alternative options, one of which offered savings of more than 30% with our current provider. I was truly surprised Schooley Mitchell was able to save money for us without requiring a change in vendor, and despite us being under contract. Not only that, but Schooley Mitchell has handled all the implementation required to see the savings, continuing to act as our vendor “watchdog”, auditing invoices and acting fast to handle corrections. We no longer sit on the phone for hours trying to yield the same results, saving both time and money that can be repurposed towards our main mission.

Regardless of industry or scale, any businesses interested in reducing their costs need to meet with Stacey Neill of Schooley Mitchell. They continue to protect us from price jumps and provide ongoing financial monitoring to make sure it is sustained. Overall, Schooley Mitchell has allowed us to redistribute funds towards bettering our plumbing services, bettering our surrounding community along the way.

Sincerely,

Vicki Mendez

 

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Cal Wilson / July 22, 2024

A Leader’s Duty to Financial Proactivity

In business, strong fiscal leadership has as much to do with preventing overspending as it does with innovating new ways to generate revenue. However, in an unpredictable economy, facing challenges like inflation, supply chain difficulties, labor shortages, and more, this is an increasingly difficult feat. As a leader in your company, you have a duty to financial proactivity – but how do you do that in the face of rising obstacles?

Proactivity isn’t punitive.

Reducing your spend – and thereby saving money – can sound punitive at a surface level, like going on a diet. No one likes being stingy or feeling like they must make budget cuts. Those decisions can be bad for business and staff morale.

Proactivity, in contrast, can look like a lot of different things, and not all of them are a painful exercise.

Think about indirect expenses.

Saving money can be harmful when it means making cuts to staff, services, or cutting corners with quality. Those decisions are sometimes unavoidable, but not what we recommend regarding a proactive strategy for long term financial health.

Instead, think about your vendors. Specifically, those for your operating costs. Things like your phone and internet services, courier, credit card processing, facility supplies, software, etcetera. Although these aren’t the core expenses your company has to produce or offer its services, they are critical to operations, and they certainly add up within your company’s budget. In fact, when you put them all together, indirect expenses can sometimes add up to as much as 20-30% of your overall spending.

These expenses are often overlooked.

Because these aren’t the core expenses in your budget – like staffing or the cost or product materials – it’s not unusual for these expenses to go unquestioned. The cost of a phone plan is the cost of a phone plan, right? And not much can be done for credit card processing rates, lots of people assume. However, this isn’t the case.

Oftentimes, vendors can charge more than is fair because their customers are missing two crucially important things; time and expertise in the service they’re paying for. Most C-level staff simply do not have the time to evaluate monthly or sometimes weekly invoices for billing errors and rate creep. Likewise, these invoices are often so deliberately complicated, that if you’re not specifically trained in that language, it’s like parsing out hieroglyphics.

In my experience, working with companies to lower these expenses, the time barrier is biggest component that allows these expenses to fly under the radar, building and building until they become a genuine budgetary problem.

Proactivity pays off.

When it comes to recurring, essential expenses – like those mentioned above – the sooner you reduce costs, the more money you save over time, the more of your revenue you hold onto. When it comes to these indirect expenses, sometimes the best thing corporate leadership can do is outsource this concern, to find an entity with the expertise and specialization to help them. Whether this be a cost reduction consultant, a group purchasing organization, or other professional service, utilizing these resources can give your business a competitive advantage in a difficult economy.

Terri Braun / July 19, 2024

Featured Client Spadea Lignana

Spadea Lignana is an elite franchise law firm with decades of experience serving hundreds of franchisor clients nationwide. The firm’s primary focus is providing real world solutions with a constant consideration for a return on investment for each legal dollar spent.

Terri Braun / July 19, 2024

Featured Client Mellow Mushroom

Mellow Mushroom is a renowned restaurant chain celebrated for its unique and imaginative pizza creations. With a menu featuring an array of vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options, Mellow Mushroom strives to accommodate all dietary needs while delivering a satisfying dining experience.

Terri Braun / July 18, 2024

Check out Wasabi Sushi & Grill

Indulge your senses at Wasabi Sushi & Grill in Ridgeland, Mississippi, where culinary excellence meets unmatched hospitality. With its diverse menu featuring fresh sushi and Japanese-inspired delicacies, it promises a dining experience that transcends expectations.