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IPA
North America
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IPA IBA |
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August 2, 2006
[IPA Employee] Re: Project No ***** Dear Mr. [IPA Employee], In January my wife and I purchased [Client Business Name]. I have over thirty years experience in the floor covering business and based on the figures provided to us, it showed a net profit of $279,537 on Gross Sales of $2,679,442. With these figures we believed that we would make sufficient sales and profit to give us the funds to pay the previous owner his principle and interest and have a positive income ourselves until debts were satisfied. In February I began to have my doubts, it did not "feel" right and unfortunately with Quickbooks not being set up correctly, I was unable to look at accurate figures. I found I was constantly putting additional funding into the business, until we had no more to put in. I struggled through until IPA called and I had a discussion with [IPA Analyst] who helped me realize I could not find out myself, "where is the money?" and I needed help. [IPA Consultant] and [IPA Consultant] arrived into an office full of junk and shabby furniture and we held the meeting in the Installation Supervisor's office purely for room as his was in no better shape. [IPA Consultant] left and [IPA Consultant] took over. She made us clean up our offices, instigated job boards, moved all of the installer's time cards and schedules into the Supervisor's office and that was the start of the clean up campaign and things to come. Next she approached the financials and worked with our CPA to get the figures where they should be, to make sense. We decorated my walls with large poster post-its and we began to make a piecework program for installation. This went into effect on July 5, 2006. We then tackled sales commissions with more post-it wall paper. The new program started on August 1, 2006 and so far both programs are working as planned. I will miss the decor as I return to wood paneling. [IPA Consultant] has shown us meetings and communicating with each other is far better. The sales people are using the computer for all of their paperwork, introducing a uniformity and consistency, streamlining our operation. I am extremely happy with the results, albeit we had a major setback last week with the hard drive crashing, but the system is being rebuilt and by the end of the week we will be back on track. My experience with IPA has been positive, they addressed the needs of the business and helped make the changes, which I am confident will now move us forward to profitability. [IPA Client] Automotive | Contractors | Distributors | Job Shops | Manufacturers | Restaurants | Retail | |
IPA Retail Client Opinions"I am extremely happy with the results..." "...has exceeded my expectations by putting a comprehensive Business Growth Plan ... into place." "IPA [has] helped me focus my company, and myself, for continued growth..." |