top of page
All Posts


A Dead Model
There are project management companies that will hate what I'm about to say: If you’re building a Project Management Office (PMO) the way companies did ten years ago, you’re just creating overhead. The classic PMO was a policing function. Its job was control—measuring on time/on budget and compiling status reports. That model is dead in 2025. Today’s PMO is an acceleration unit. Its job is no longer to report on process, but to deliver business value at speed. This requires
6 days ago2 min read


Stop Selling and Start Auditing
Stop trying to grow your revenues. Most CEOs I speak with have a "Revenue-First" bias. When margins shrink, their instinct is to call the VP of Sales and demand more volume. This is a mistake. In many cases, it is a fatal one. If your business is operationally inefficient, growth doesn't scale your profits—it scales your waste. I recently was involved in a case involving a $50M+ manufacturer in Texas. On the surface, they were "busy." Under the hood, they were bleeding. The
6 days ago2 min read


Culture and People
When a company faces a financial crisis—red numbers, falling margins, negative cash flow—it is tempting to often jump to the easy fixes: cost cuts, price hikes, or chasing volume. But if a company is in a true financial crisis, the core problem is rarely the unit economics. Focusing solely on the P&L treats the symptom, not the disease. Sustainable recovery requires moving beyond the spreadsheet to diagnose the true root cause: an underlying rot that cascades from two non-fi
6 days ago2 min read


A Moment to Reflect
11 years used to feel like a long time. This month, I’m grateful to celebrate another anniversary for Next Level Essentials, Inc. While...
Sep 22, 20251 min read


The Carrot and Stick Myth
Have you ever seen a company throw more money at an unhappy employee and wonder why they're still unhappy? I see this all the time. The...
Sep 3, 20251 min read


The Success Trap
Success feels good. It feels like a destination. You've climbed the hill. You are on the plateau. This is the most dangerous place to...
Aug 27, 20251 min read


The Three Words at the Heart of Every Great Business
Let's strip away the corporate speak and get to the absolute core of what makes a business tick: it exists to solve someone else's...
Aug 25, 20252 min read


The Real Reason Behind All Those Grounded Flights
In the United States, one of the big news stories is of top airlines’ continued failures to work around a rash of technical glitches that...
Aug 25, 20252 min read


What My Backyard Taught Me About Entrepreneurship
Last weekend I was in the wooded portion of my backyard and noticed all sorts of bamboo shoots I hadn’t noticed before. It turns out...
Aug 25, 20252 min read


Installing a dynamic sales and operations process (S&OP) to stop margin leaks and excessive transport costs
National manufacturer improved forecasting, and cut $1.5M in logistics costs while boosting on-time deliveries and customer satisfaction.
Jul 29, 20253 min read


Constrained by Storage, Big Business Unlocks Supply in Tight Market
A building materials manufacturer solved seasonal storage bottlenecks by optimizing inventory locations, unlocking $21M in annual EBITDA gains with a 2-year payback.
Jul 29, 20252 min read


Supplier Optimizes Distribution Costs
A leading market supplier saves nearly $3m in freight and variable costs by optimizing its western region product distribution.
Jul 29, 20251 min read


Manufacturer Turns Profitable
Materials manufacturer goes from -5% to +10% EBITDA in 7 months.
Jul 29, 20252 min read


U.S. manufacturer leverages profit opportunities
Market leader delivers 7% to the bottom line in materials, operations, logistics and sales while establishing a tool for future synergy analysis.
Jul 29, 20252 min read


With life cycle cost analysis, building materials manufacturer ramps up for growth
By determining the optimal age in which to turn over aged fleet, a supply company positions itself for a market upswing while lowering transport costs by 8%
Jul 29, 20251 min read


Redesigning the Supply Chain to Improve Profitability
With the help of linear optimization, an international supplier maximizes profit margins while seeding future growth opportunities.
Jul 29, 20251 min read


Through analytical problem solving, a company reduces its exposure to costs of quality
By analyzing four dimensions of a costly quality problem, a manufacturer reduces its cycle time to resolution and discovers key operational benefits in the process.
Jul 29, 20251 min read


Transformational Cost Repositioning for Building Materials Giant
A leading roof tile manufacturer faced shrinking margins from rising costs and pricing pressures. Past cost-cutting failed to deliver lasting impact. Through a structured cost transformation program, we identified quick wins, optimized labor and utilities, and streamlined operations. The result: $1.6M annual savings, stronger profitability, and resources freed to fuel growth in new markets and acquisitions.
Jul 29, 20252 min read


Case Study: Supplier Optimizes Distribution Costs
The key question for the company was: What is the optimal distribution plan by plant in order to maximize profit?
May 2, 20231 min read


Is Your Business Ready to Sell? Lessons from a Year of M&A in Building Materials
Major deals like the BFS-BMC merger and multiple acquisitions by private equity firms reshaped the competitive landscape. With nearly 500 locations changing hands and more than 40 companies actively buying, the industry is consolidating faster than ever.
May 25, 20212 min read
bottom of page
