Testimonials

This letter is to thank the City of Tucson for the services of Management One and Neil Norton. We would also like to share a little with you about our experience.

We are Razorz Edge, a clothing store on 4th Ave. We have been open for one year. Neil has taken care of us since the very beginning. He has helped us develop class categories, analyze our inventory, and help us budget our spending per department. We truly believe he has been instrumental in the success we have had this past year. With the construction and closure of the underpass it is undeterminable how difficult it could have been our first year without his help and guidance. Other 4th Ave merchants have complained about 20% decrease in business since the closure. Neil has also taught us some industry terms and standards we were not aware of.

We are truly grateful for this service the City has so graciously provided for us. We feel it a valuable tool that would help us stay afloat in these difficult times. We thank you in advance for the continuation of this service.

Sincerely,

Rachel Balls
Lauren Baker ” 

Rachel Balls
Lauren Baker
Owners of Razorz Edge

When Michael and Karyn Veres purchased their restaurant, Cibaria Cucina Italiana at 12985 N. Oracle Road, they didn’t know much about running a business.

“We’d had a small business before,” Karyn Veres said, “but never one where we managed employees or had a dynamic like a restaurant. We spent the first year getting a grip on spending and trimming what we thought we could. Then, we reached a point where we thought we had done all we knew how to do.”

Evan Wise, a managing director for Management One, a network of consulting affiliates that began in Chicago in 1990 and is now based in Tucson, said many business owners simply outgrow their own capabilities.

“A lot of companies start out as entrepreneurial organizations,” Wise said. “As the concept starts to grow, it reaches a point where the entrepreneur can’t make all the decisions.”

That’s where companies like Management One can come in to help companies organize and plan for their futures.

Wise’s company provides consulting services to small and mid-size businesses and, according to Wise, takes a three-prong approach to business planning.

First, consultants sit down with company leaders to come up with a simple one-page strategy. “About 80 percent of our clients don’t have a strategy,” Wise said. “The other 20 percent have a strategy, but if you ask the receptionist what it is, they’ll look back at you with a blank face.”

That’s a problem that many companies overlook. “You need to have open lines of communication with all your employees,” he said. “You need to articulate goals to everyone.”

The second part of working with Wise’s group involves organization of leadership.

This, Wise said, is how companies determine who will take on and administer those roles and who will become decision-makers within the areas where the entrepreneur needs help.

After that second step, the consultants work with the company leaders and employees on more specific tasks.

Wise said his company looks at more than 25 skill areas that companies can pick and choose from to concentrate on. These can include anything from answering phones to negotiating skills.

How quickly do companies see results?

“We saw some things immediately,” Karyn Veres said, “like the way that we talk to customers. And other things like getting a better hand on the financials took a little longer.”

Wise said this is pretty typical.

“Some results clients see right away,” he said. “Other things, though, especially in retail-type environments, take a little longer.”

Veres said she and her husband inquired about Management One’s services after meeting Wise and his business partner, Marc Weiss, in Cibaria.

Wise said one reason many companies are reluctant to hire consultants is because the variety available makes it hard for people in business to feel confident about finding a good one.

“It’s not necessarily a stereotype,” he said. “There are many people out there who have left professional jobs for whatever reason and now label themselves as consultants. You don’t know what you’re going to get from those folks a lot of the time.”

Wise advises business owners to ask questions when they are looking at bringing on a consultant and to get advice from people they know.

“Look at other business owners like yourself,” he said. “Ask around to like-minded businesses and don’t be afraid to ask consultants to show you some of their results.”

Jerry Sonenblick, president and chief executive officer of Desert Angels, a non-profit group that brings together businesses and potential investors, said looking for a good consultant is like looking for a good doctor.

“You have to turn to people you rely on and trust,” Sonenblick said. “Then look at their recent success.”

Veres said they wouldn’t have known where to begin in hiring an accountant if they hadn’t met Management One’s directors.

“My best advice for other business owners is to feel comfortable,” she said. “You have to have trust and confidence. That’s what we have with Management One, and it’s turned out to be a great opportunity for us.”

Sonenblick said consultants offer valuable assistance to a variety of businesses.

“Different businesses are at different stages,” he said. “You may have been able to handle things at one stage, but you need help at another stage.” He adds that it’s important for companies “to evaluate often whether they are primarily in line with their long-term plan. They need to recognize weaknesses and fill the gaps.”

Wise said his consultants usually work on three-year plans but that those plans are reviewed every six months.

“So every time we look at a plan,” he says, “we have thought it out for the three years from that point.”

Wise said it’s harder to go much further than that because of the unpredictability of business.