Business
Improvement Groups

Coming Together to Maximize Your Profits

Business Improvement Groups (or BIGs) consist of 10-12 non-competing members. The group will become a close network of advisors that you can call upon when you have any business issue facing you that you would like input from outside the company. 

Here are some significant facts about the Taylor Business Group’s BIGs you should be aware of:

  • BIGs are not management retreats. They are executive management focused reviews and conferences.
  • They are not member lead. They are facilitated by coaches trained in facilitating effective group meetings.
  • BIGs do not involve group techie talk. They focus on business discussions that help implement efficiencies and processes in your business to drive more profits to your bottom line.
  • The group meets twice per year in person for a two-day meeting. The other ten months, the group has a 90-minute conference call.
Coaching Services

Business Improvement Groups We Offer

Management Best Practices Business for Owners of Technology Companies

Managing a technology company is challenging, to say the least. Managing it profitably is an even bigger challenge! The Profit Makers Business Improvement Groups (BIGs) meet 2 or 3 times per year in person. Additionally, there is an accountability conference call the other 10 months.

These meetings and calls are designed to help you compare your business results, issues and opportunities with other technology companies from around the country.

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What you can expect:
  • Meet with ~10 other Owners/Presidents of non-competitive technology companies from around the country
  • Understand and use financial benchmarking
  • Discuss special topics decided upon by the group that are relevant to your business
  • Help group members with each other’s business issues: Become a “Board of Advisors”
  • Share new and profitable opportunities or ideas that you have discovered
  • Meet with industry vendors to discuss new opportunities
  • Discuss personnel compensation and performance metrics
  • Compare financial performance: With yourself over time, With group members, Compared to industry benchmarks, Compared to Best in Class performers

Management Best Practices for Senior Leaders Within Technology Companies

The Profit Makers COO Groups meet 2 times per year in person. Additionally, there is an accountability conference call the other 10 months.

These meetings are designed for the Senior Executive who is leading a larger Services organization or who has extensive experience in this role.

What you can expect:
  • Meet with ~10 other COOs of non-competitive technology companies from around the country
  • Discuss business related issues that you may be having
  • Help other group members with their business issues
  • Compare your Service organization’s financials to over 30 financial benchmarks for a technology company
  • Share new and profitable opportunities or ideas that you have discovered
  • Discuss personnel compensation and performance metrics
  • Discuss special topics decided upon by the group that are relevant to your business

A Service Management Best Practice Business Improvement Group for Technology Companies

The Service Manager’s Business Improvement Groups (BIGs) meet 2 times per year. Additionally, there is an accountability conference call the other 10 months. They are designed to help you keep up-to-date on the different trends regarding service offerings, issues and opportunities within the technology industry.

What you can expect:

  • Meet with ~10 other non-competitive Service Managers from around the country
  • Discuss service related issues that you may be having
  • Help other Service Managers with their service department issues
  • Recommend new techniques or ideas that you have discovered
  • Review a confidential comparison of your service department’s financial
  • results with other members of the Business Improvement Group
  • Discuss service personnel compensation and performance metrics
  • Compare your department’s operations to those of the other Business
  • Improvement Group members
  • Understand the Financial Scoreboard—Your P&L

Members will leave with:

  • BIG workbook for reference
  • New product & vendor opportunities
  • New ideas for better service department performance
  • A better understanding of the components of a profitable service business

Client Account Managers

Let’s face it, as an MSP you’re in the relationship-building business, and becoming a valued business advisor to your clients results in project work, referrals, and limited turnover. This is what drives revenue growth and profitability. Over the past 6 years we’ve worked with MSP’s who’ve sustained revenue growth of 20-25% annually.

We’ll train your Client Account Managers and vCIOs on the proven best practices of top performing CAMs within the TBG family of companies, conduct peer group accountability meetings throughout the year, and build a community for support and development in the program which is only available to TBG Members at this time.

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What you can expect:

Peer group meetings where we:

  • Track performance metrics
  • Set personal goals
  • Learn from subject matter experts
  • Discuss current issues and challenges
  • Highlight “how-to’s”
  • Share tools
  • Establish community through TEAMS sites

Training on the drivers of client relationship quality, including:

  • Orchestrating business reviews as a business advisor
  • Selling ideas/recommendations and making a compelling business case
  • Conducting strategic security decisions
  • Making transitions to the cloud
  • Framing server refresh and architecture redesign
  • Identifying project opportunities
  • Handling VIP exits and New VIP on-boarding
  • Asking for introductions and referrals 
  • Modernizing legacy applications
  • Refining workflows using SharePoint and other tools

Project Managers

Staying organized and up-to-speed as a project manager takes practice and consistency. With our support, you’ll be better prepared to reach your desired outcomes of evolving your business and acquiring better projects.

Through our program, you’ll achieve consistent, quality delivery, profitability at or above benchmarks, as well as efficient project management skills.

What you can expect:
  • Monthly peer discussions:
    • implementing best-practices in real-world scenarios
    • solving specific operational / process / tool (PSA) problems
    • defining new best-practices
  • Defining and tracking success by the metrics
  • Annual in-person meeting
  • Other Resources, such as:
    • What project numbers to watch and how to obtain them from PSAs
    • Sharing resources between projects and other service delivery teams
    • Creating effective transitions from sales to project teams
    • Keeping projects current and on-track
    • Managing projects effectively through a PSA

Management Best Practices for Finance Leaders

The Finance role is constantly evolving and changing, but a good MSP Finance Manager is more concerned with strategy and direction than with being a “good accountant.” While sound accounting principle knowledge and execution is important, most CFO’s/top finance principals should not be in the day-to-day books of their MSP.

Our goal is to train Finance Managers to navigate top concerns like sales strategy, forecasting, balancing margins, cash flow, and hiring needs. We hope that through this BIG, Finance Managers will be better equipped to develop skills in specific areas like W2 Multiples, M&A, contract analysis, revenue recognition, inflation/recession concerns, and tax and finance planning.

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What You Can Expect:

Peer group meetings where we discuss good benchmarks and KPI’s like:

  • AR balance/weekly collections
  • Projected cash-30,60, 90 days
  • MRR/Project Revenue
  • Budget to Actual analysis (over/under budget)
  • Departmental spend/ratios
  • Service margins
  • Overall margins

Scheduled Processes

Monthly Meeting

  • Review monthly numbers
  • Discuss 1 or 2 big issues that everyone agrees on beforehand from a list of 4 or 5 items that might be presented as an interest prior to the meeting

In-Person Meeting

  • Review monthly numbers (company presentations)
  • Corporate presentations
  • Special topics:
    • AP automation
    • HR talent acquisition
    • M&A
    • Budgeting and forecasting tools
    • Setting up chart of accounts
    • Selecting ERP platform
    • Option plans, phantom stock, and bonus to management programs
    • Commission to sales personnel programs
    • Company culture issues

The agenda for the in-person meetings generally consist of the following:

We look forward to having you join what is a very successful, productive, rewarding, and popular offering by the Taylor Business Group.

Financial Analysis

If you are participating in an owner (Profit Makers) BIG, you will be asked to upload your financials into our renown Roadmap to Profitability Financial Dashboard. Participants in the Service Managers BIGs will be asked to complete a spreadsheet for uploading. This information is then put onto 30 plus charts with the other members information and our targeted benchmarks to give you a view of how your period-over-period and year-over-year numerical performance of your business compares to others in the group and to the benchmarks. All companies will be represented by a unique letter on all of the charts.

Special Topics

There will be one or two special topics that we as a group identify to cover in our meetings. Examples of special topics can be annuity revenues, compensation plans, business systems, specialty products, pricing, sales issues, service issues, disaster recovery, managed services, manufacturer/distributor issues, etc. The group decides what they are.

Objectives

You will be asked to develop company/departmental fiscal year objectives and activities and present them to the group. These are reviewed during the calls and meetings. You will present your success in implementing those objectives and activities.

Board Presentation

Two members at each conference will be asked to present their company’s performance to the rest of the group as though they were presenting to a board of directors. This is a very positive experience garnering ideas from other members on how to better improve your business.

Roundtable Discussion

With the time remaining, we entertain a general roundtable discussion on any topic that a member would like to receive input from the rest of the group on a topic that may not have been covered in the course of the conference.

Ready to Accelerate Your Profitability?

TBG will bring years of management experience to your company. We can assist in areas of management coaching pertaining to your sales, service, or administrative departments. Our focus is to assist you in driving more profits to your bottom line.

Contact Us (630) 442-1402