Adam Torres and Rob Braiman discuss “The Pillars of Profitability.”
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Show Notes:
Scaling and maintaining a profitable business is no easy feat. In this episode, Adam Torres interviewed Rob Braiman, CEO, Principal & Managing Member at Cogent Analytics, explore Rob’s book, Mission Matters: World’s Leading Entrepreneurs Reveal Their Top Tips To Success (Business Leaders Vol. 8, Edition 11), where he writes about “The Pillars of Profitability.”
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About Rob Braiman
Rob Braiman has a long-standing reputation as a “serial entrepreneur” and has spent over 19 years working directly with business owners to improve strategic planning, operations, growth, and profitability.
Rob Braiman founded Cogent Analytics after spending over 10 years as a senior business analyst helping to improve and build main street businesses across the country. He has personally engaged with over 1500 businesses across the United States, and continues to work to further the interests of other business owners like himself.
About Cogent Analytics
Cogent Analytics is a business management consulting firm based in Greensboro, North Carolina, consecutively ranked on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing privately held businesses in the country, ranked on the Financial Times Top 500 Fastest Growing Companies in the Americas’ and holding an A+ Rating with the Better Business Bureau.
Cogent’s primary objective in every interaction, is to put the interests of the client first. In support of that directive, Rob Braiman has built a company culture based on a code of honor, courage, wisdom, faith, perseverance and loyalty. The foundation of his value system started in the U.S. Military as a young man serving with SOCOM and his deeply rooted personal code is what he demands of himself every day and is what he asks his employees of Cogent to embrace.
Full Unedited Transcript
Hey, I’d like to welcome you to another episode of Mission Matters. My name is Adam Torres, and if you’d like to apply to be a guest in the show, just head on over to mission matters.com and click on Be Our Guest to Apply. All right, so today is a. Special episode. We’re bringing Rob Braman on the line and he is the c e o principal and managing direct member over at Cogent Analytics.
And also I’m proud to announce and to say Rob is a published author in the bestselling business Leaders mission Matters book series. So Rob, hey, I just wanna say welcome back to the show. So good to see you, Adam, honor and a privilege. Thanks for having me on today. All right, so we, we got a lot to talk about today.
We will be going into the book content, of course, where you wrote about the pillars of profitability. So for all those business owners, entrepreneurs and executives out there, who doesn’t wanna know about that. But before we get into the main content, we will start this episode the way that we start them all with our mission matters minute.
So, Rob, we at Mission Matters. We amplify stories for entrepreneurs, executives, and experts. That’s our mission. Rob, what mission matters to you? The it, it’s really been an ongoing story, Adam, as you, as I have spoken about previously, I have been a serial entrepreneur. Really, since I left the US military to today I was built three businesses before I became an analyst.
I worked as an analyst for another firm for about 11 years, so I had the privilege of working with probably 1500 business owners all over America. If, if that doesn’t touch your heart and soul working with what I call the heart, blood of America being the entrepreneur, I don’t know what does, as I tell my people, if that doesn’t get you up in the morning, you’re probably doing the wrong thing.
So that, that’s my mission. It has been now for 20 years. I have an incredible passion. You know, I, we have cogent, we have a number of other asset and holdings with other entrepreneurs that we’ve taken a, a direct interest in, and that’s my mission. Is working with small business centers. Love bringing mission-based entrepreneurs and experts on the line to share, you know, why they do what they do, what, what gets ’em fired up in the morning to, you know, get up out of bed and, you know, go, go a hundred miles an hour and, and to make a difference, not just in the marketplace, but really into the lives of others and in the world.
So again, great having you back on. And I just gotta ask, so, you know, we’ve been on this journey together, you know, interviews, getting a book together, getting it out. We’re just starting on the promo side of things and bringing you back on the show. How do you feel like you’re published? You know, it’s an exciting event.
I, I will tell you, it was one of those things that we have put off for some time. We’ve been doing a lot of writing for other publications, but to really take this leap with the Mission Matters family has just been, it’s been rewarding. It’s been exciting. It’s been very professionally. Put together, your entire team has been supportive.
Worked with my team seamlessly, and frankly, corralled my crazy. So it, it really has been a fantastic experience. Yeah. And so I wanna take a moment here, and I, I always like to, because I’m a publisher, so I can completely sound self-interested when I encourage everybody to get. Published and, and I don’t mean this from the standpoint of working with Mission Matters or working with my team, I just mean in general.
So meaning whether somebody, self-publishers, they go out and do something. No big deal. My my goal and my aim and my mission is just to make sure people tell their story. So now that you’re on the other side of that and finally have that book out there, what would you tell other maybe entrepreneurs, again, not necessarily work with Mission Matters, but just in general about like.
Getting that book out of them, getting that story out of ’em because there is another side and there isn’t under the road on that one. Yeah, everybody. You know, it’s funny. Clients tend to think that they are me too, and I mean, me too, like, well, what’s my story better than the other guys? And the best part about the entrepreneurial journey, the entrepreneurial story is your story is your own.
Right. That’s your passion, that’s your approach, that’s your, you know, mission. And again, I know this isn’t pimp, the Mission Matters book series. I happen to have a great relationship with you guys. But more importantly, that business owner being able to tell their story, their approach, their belief you know, it’s, it’s shocking to me how many of those individual stories speak to other people who might be having the same experience, the same challenges that that little piece of counsel that you offer through getting it out of your head and, and, you know, putting it into pros.
Aside from the fact, Adam, as you well know, When you’re a published author, you also get to amplify your brand. You get to amplify your belief structure. You get to amplify your go-to-market strategy. And in today’s world of, you know, everybody consuming information at a hyper speed. Yeah, it’s, I used to say to clients, you know, you had to be in the phone book to actually be a business.
Well, that old enough to remember a phone book, right? Yeah. Hey, how you amplify that influence is how you amplify your business. So I think it’s critically important that people recognize there’s a direct correlation to this effort and to the effort of how they would further their business business interests.
Yeah. And so I, and thank you for that. And, and this is one of the reasons why at, at, at a point in my life, I transitioned from finance. I mean, I was in that business almost 14 years and it was, you know, it was. Tough to think about not being an advisor anymore, but when I just started, you know, getting story after story and I started seeing what it can do, and I saw really the power of story.
Cause I don’t come from that background. I might be in LA now and maybe I’ve been here too long, but, but I don’t come from that, that, you know, Thought process, but when I seen like the power of story and how, what it can do to help others, like I was hooked. And so that’s why whenever I have an author on the line and I, and, and, and interviewing them, like, I’m just excited because I can’t help it.
It’s fun to see the story, to see it unfold, and then no two individuals are. Quite the same. No two business journeys are quite the same. And as they build and what they choose to do when they hit different levels in their business and how they choose to spend their time, to me is always fascinating.
I know this wasn’t on the agenda, but maybe just for a moment or two, Rob I understand you just got back from a big trip. I did. Yeah. My wife and I just got back from Ireland. We were in Dublin for St. Patty’s Day. Yeah. So yes, I had the pint of Guinness. It’s amazing coming out of the taps in a Kegan Ireland way different than the Guinness you get here in the States.
But yeah, we went to Europe with a couple friends of ours. It. I recommend for anybody’s bucket list that have been contemplating going to Ireland. It, it gets five stars from me. The whole experience was amazing. We saw the whole southern tip. We didn’t, we didn’t cross the boundary into Northern Ireland, but we definitely saw five or six cities.
In Southern Island. So it was beautiful. Wow. And I just bring that up because, you know, for those entrepreneurs out there, and I, I know you’re one of ’em, Rob, that are, you know, going a hundred miles an hour and you don’t stop. And and you know, that’s just how some of us are wired it. I asked you that and I bring that up for two reasons.
Number one, to remind my. Self to do it, just to be upfront. I’m like, man, I need to take a trip. It’s been some years. But number two, to let some of those that are out there that are maybe just getting started or just like earlier in their career, maybe they can’t quite do that trip yet, but it’s on their, it’s on their roadmap, it’s on their vision board.
It’s on their, you know, on what they wanna do going for. They wanna do some big trips and, and maybe celebrate some of the, the work they’ve taken. They, they take years to build. Alright, let’s let’s jump around a little bit here. So I can course, can I jump in on that by the way, before we move on?
Oh, please go for it. Yeah. Yeah. You know, it’s funny because I’ve had the privilege of working with entrepreneurs for 20 years. It’s rarely the monetary piece. That causes people not to invest in themselves. Right. Usually once you get past that crazy startup period, that first three to five years, developing your structure, developing your business development, making sure your process is in place, you know, business owners, and for all you entrepreneurs out there, it is clear that you wear every hat in the business when you’re first starting out.
Mm-hmm. Being able to give away those hats. And having good control and process amongst your team. Is usually what allows you now, most business owners will, they empty one bucket, they fill another bucket. You know, there’s always, there’s always a certain amount of, you know, committed behavior that goes to entrepreneurial spirit.
Mm-hmm. Most people don’t really understand what entrepreneurs go through in a, in a choice of the way they approach their life. And you and I have had this conversation, you know, sidebar. It. It is. It is as important to manage quality of life. We, as entrepreneurs, rarely achieve balance until we decide to exit our business.
But there is balance that can be achieved if it’s intentional and purposeful. Sorry, I just didn’t want that opportunity to go by without you know, first nine years of cogen analytics. I would say seven of them were invested in the, the day-to-day growth. I don’t think we would’ve achieved the success in this business that we have without that committed behavior.
But, but you also have to reevaluate it, logical points in life to, to make that assessment, you know, empower your team and raise you up. Sorry, Adam. No, no, no. I’m, I’m glad, I’m glad you brought that in. I just didn’t wanna, I didn’t want, I wanted to make sure that you wanted to bring that content out so you, you bit, I’m in.
So let’s let’s let’s jump around a bit here. So, getting back into, Into the the building phase of cogent analytics and, and really the content that you brought to, to the table in terms of the book. A lot of things you could have written about. You work with a lot of entrepreneurs the pillars of profitability.
So, so why’d you attack the content from this angle? So, you know, and that’s a registered trademark, right? The, the profit platform now is something that, Really has infused itself in every department, every project director, every leader in, in cogen analytics. Uses the profit platform as a basis to talk.
It doesn’t matter whether you’re a $200,000 business or a 2 billion business, every business operates on the same four core pillars. Mm-hmm. And as an analyst, I had to be able to distill down complex business theory really into applicable process that any entrepreneur could approach in their business.
And those. Pillars really are business development people, process and measurement. Mm-hmm. I can get into some of those more in depth. I think we’ll probably jump around a little bit in our discussion, but those are consistent. Any business in business development, you have to be able to make it rain.
You have to generate positive, profitable origination of revenue. You have to be able to have the people to get it done. You have to have good process. In a business to most efficiently bring your product to market and you have to be able to have good measurement that allows you, empowers you as a business owner to be early, to make better business decisions and that that is a quick definition of the profit platform.
Each one of those four things, Support each other. It’s not as if you have a business development problem, you solely have a business development problem. Mm-hmm. You almost have to go through the exercise, kind of like a SWOT analysis. You have to go through the exercise of each individual pillar has an affect or cause and effect on each of the others, right?
All of which to say should drive profitability, positive cash flow, and long-term equity value in your business. Now you mentioned that I wanna circle back to something you said. So you said whether you’re a small business, whether you know, you’re a multi-billion dollar business, right. That these same four pillars apply.
Can you give us like like unpack that a little bit? Because I find many times that, you know, especially in our small business community, maybe we think that you know, well that doesn’t apply to me. That’s for the big guys, or that’s the, yeah, we’re not that big. Can you talk a little bit more about the fundamentals?
So, and I’ll start at the very top left-hand corner, which is business development. I, if you’re a startup, You have to be able to generate, whether it’s an activity, you have a relationship that you’re aware of, maybe somebody you’ve done business with that is willing to give you their business at the outset of your company.
You know, living with one relationship does not a business make, right? You have to be able to do sales, business development, and business development, by the way, by definition for all you listeners, is the activity of selling. And the activity of marketing, right? So marketing is brand development.
Marketing is individual development marketing is both for external and internal. The activity of selling is generating a positive revenue. That’s what goes in every day to generating positive, diversified revenue. In your business, you take organization. Organization really is your people. Whether you have three people or 10 people, there has to be a clearly defined what’s expected, how it’s measured, and how the employees remunerated.
Most people are good people, most entrepreneurs and I say this from 20 years of experience, a lot of entrepreneurs fly by the seat of the pants and a lot of mundane gets pressed up on them because they don’t develop the organization that would support them. Hmm. Process. When you think about every business, how am I going to build a house?
There’s a process to ordering, there’s a process to handling inventory. There’s a process to how that inventory is gonna be unloaded. F o b, at the job site, there’s a process for how wastage is gonna be handled. There’s a process, so I don’t want to over, over believer a short question, but each one of these.
Even in a startup is critical in that, in that planning, how are we going to be successful into each of the different pillars of business to be able to manage that profit and positive cash flow? Sorry for the long answer to a short question. No, no. And that, that was my intention to open up the, the can of worms here because I, so one of the things that I noticed, and I can tell you on my end from, you know, starting a business, from growing it with the other co-founder here, is that, you know, we made a lot of those mistakes in the beginning.
So I’ll, I’ll pick on us. We didn’t really understand, you know, some of these things that you’re talking about. And as we, you know, in the early days of. Especially like we paid for that. And if we would’ve known, or if we would’ve been a little bit more prepared for some of those, like we’ve had good growth, but who knows, you know, I’m not playing that game and who knows, right?
But you can, right. You can say, if I would’ve had kind of some of the, the right methodologies in place, if I kind of had some of the right structure in place maybe things could have even done better. Right? So for those business owners out there right now that let’s just. Say they have, they have a good thing going, right?
So their, their business is growing. They’re, you know, they got some traction, they have a product, and, you know, things are going, like, where do you suggest somebody if they’re, if they’re stepping back, this is the first time they’re hearing this content. They’re like, yeah, but my business is doing well.
Like, how does this apply to me? And I know, by the way, the, the remedy or what, where they need help from is gonna vary by business. Obviously every business is different. Everyone has, they’re lacking in some way or form in one way or another. But where do you suggest somebody starts in kind of their mind frame and kind of attacking some of the things you’re talking about today?
So I will speak from personal experience and I am like you did at the beginning of the show. You said, Hey, I’m, I’m saying you should do a thing. It doesn’t have to be mission matters. So what I’m gonna say next is, is common shared spirit, right? I mm-hmm. We do a discovery process with our clients, right?
It’s, you know, between 12 and 2,400 bucks that we do that discovery I have over the course of the last decade, we, we have focused on thought leadership. We have put. Tools and information available to the small business owner. You don’t have to do business with us, but I believe that if we put good information out there for that entrepreneur to, to seek out.
Yeah. W we’re gonna be successful at populating information into the small business community. We have advisors every single day that will answer. Phone calls pro bono to get an understanding of where you are in your business, but we do a discovery process. That discovery really is by intent to look at every area of the business that you could do that solo.
If you’re a small business owner and you go out and solicit the information, you just want to take that first baby step mm-hmm. And do it with yourself and your team. I highly recommend the, it’s the exercise of doing the diagnostic. You know, the discovery process is meant about gap identification. And a lot of business owners, we, when we’re talking to ’em, the first story we hear is, I’m so busy.
Yeah. And the funny part about it is, you know, it’s like this old cartoon that somebody showed me one time with these two guys lugging a a, a slider up a hill with, with stacked full of rocks and this guy walks along with a wheel. On a stick and he says, you know, he is pointing at the wheel like, Hey, you want one?
And the guys are waving, no, no, no, we’re too busy. Hmm, those gaps cost tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars and costs a lot of business failure. Right. Small business owners are, you know, most often they’re focused on generating that positive revenue and they’re just trying to pay the bills and, and gap identification.
As I know you’ve shared with me, you’ve gone through in your own company. I’ve been through it many, many, many times cuz I’m a believer in it. If I had one behavior, That I could inspire every small business or take the dedicated time to do the Diagnostic and Gap assessment in your company with enough frequency that.
So that you’re empowered to do something about it. Don’t, don’t look at it like it’s a rear view mirror item. It really is about where you’re going and how you accomplish your goals. And I think this is a good a good transition here. So I do wanna go further into cogent analytics. What makes Cogent Analytics a different from maybe other business consulting firms?
You know, it’s a great question. Consulting has a horrible reputation because a lot of that is about you know what I call the binder guy? Mm-hmm. And I say that with italics. You know, people come in and they do all this man magical analytics, and it’s a little binder that. That sits on your shelf Yeah.
That you paid too much money for and most often they’re telling you some things that you already knew. Mm-hmm. We have really flipped this around on its head, Adam. We go in and do a discovery process, and I have said broadly that I’ll do a discovery process with every small business owner in America.
Mm-hmm. You know, it is that diagnostic process that is powerful. We don’t over bill our clients for that effort and then, You know, the thing I think I’m proudest of is I started cogen Analytics cuz I think I saw a decade of how people did it wrong, and I think that shaped my belief structure on how I would want.
Cogen analytics clients represented. Mm-hmm. And that really was that long-term durable partnership with our clients where we, we are full implementers. Mm-hmm. We actually have an internal and acronym called Bite, which is build it, implement it, train it, evaluate it to assure it is truly batted down in working with a client.
Cuz most often clients will digress when they, when you learn something in school. The first time you learn it, maybe you’re gonna learn 50, 60%. Yeah. The second time you look at it and see it in commonplace, maybe now you’re up to 80%. Mm-hmm. Now you’re working with it over time and you’re able to ask wiser questions.
You can get a lot of, and I have living proof of that. You can change the life of an entrepreneur. Right. It’s instilling. Business into the active business. So it’s what I call the managing the business of the business instead of the business that you do. Yeah. And I notice like as I’ve gotten to know more about code and analytics, like there’s other things that set you apart as well, such as your, your code of honor that I was tell us a little bit more about that and why that’s such an important part of, you know, your team and really your vision.
So you, you brought out the personal Adam, right? You just went right to right to it. We, we have, have to have to, we have six principles and a common value we live by. And just so that your audience knows, it truly is tattooed on my back. It goes back to my military days. It’s honor, courage, wisdom, faith, perseverance, and loyalty.
Mm-hmm. You know, that really was born out of my, my code of honor and, and I. Told a group of eight new members to the firm just this morning. You know, it is the standard by which I will hold each of you to. Hmm. And the common value for us is raise others up and you will rise. So we spend all of our time working to raise small business owners, working to raise families, working to raise communities, and, and that really has been the spirit of this firm since the day I opened the door.
And I will not dilute that for anybody I have. A firm belief that you have to be in service to a client if you’re going to do this type of work well, if it’s all about you in your pockets. You’re probably going to fail and you will do a disservice to the client. Yeah. So again, sorry for the long answer to a short question.
No, and I and I know that, you know, I, I know you’re, even with the success you’ve had and other things, like I know you’re, you’re pretty humble on this stuff, but I have to bring it out cause that’s my job. And I, and I love celebrating my authors and what you’re doing. So you have been, you know, rewarded.
For, you know, having this code, and I know that’s not why you have the code, right? But you have been rewarded by the marketplace cuz you are truly making a difference in the lives of business and business owners. And so you’ve had recognition like being featured in ink 500, ink 5,000 fast 50, like Cogen Analytics gets a, a lot of attention.
Tell, tell me a little bit more about this piece of it. We, you know, it, it really is a blessing. You know, we are, we’re clearly on the map. You know, our goal is coast to coast by the, by 2025. COVID put a little of impingement on that, and I, and I’ll share with you, Adam, you know, the spirit, the spirit of my team, the spirit of my leadership group.
When you think about when Covid first hit, You know, we completely changed our business model. We completely changed our product offering and it really went into business survival. Well, because we were able to do that in a fairly nimble way. Mm-hmm. We came out of that exercise, you know, for as horrible as the event was right to the economics of our country we really were able to not just.
Be successful through that period. But I think genuinely it prepared us for the growth that we are experiencing. Yeah. And, and frankly, the team itself congealed around a common mission and a common set of values. And, you know, I, I take all of those accolades is, is a blessing, but I’m gonna give all of that credit to my team.
You know, it’s, I’m not some savant. I, I think if I am anything I have been blessed with. With building an amazing group of people in cogen analytics that, that truly have embraced the values and embraced the vision and yeah, I’m humbled by that. Yeah. Yeah, it’s great. And I mean, I can see, you know, I can see the continued success happening because of, and again, I’ve gotten to know yourself, working with you and your team.
I’ve gotten to know some of them, so I can see it. You can see it. And and the marketplace is, is rewarding you and your team. So I think it’s a great story. Happy to bring that one to, to our audience. And Rob, just really great to have you on the show, but I, I do have to ask, I know you got a lot going on, A lot of growth.
Lot of things going on. What’s next? I mean, what’s next for you? What’s next for the vision of the company and what you plan, what you’re planning on next? We launched a couple of new divisions to Cogen Analytics. We now have our own internal marketing team that is growing, also growing like wildfire.
We’re building a, a bookkeeping accounting service that really is assisting our clients in that evolution of their business integration services. So that is just to say, you know, we had a strategic vision back in 2014 about. What we thought was a holistic approach to the small business community. The, you know, I’m not gonna say we’ve arrived, Adam course, we have been rewarded with some really good people, great clients, and logical successes from that event.
I, I would like to believe that given, given the team that is here and, and the amount of referrals we get, And that story in the marketplace is being shared broadly by our client base. Being coast to coast, at least initially in the next three years is a whole heck of a lot of an elephant to bite off.
Oh yeah. You know, so I want to be very cautious not to, as you and I talk just before the show, to keep filling my buckets that my wife’s gonna slap me in the back of the head with, right. She got the trip to Ireland. Now I’m gonna jump back in the firefight as I typically do, but yeah. You know, the.
The goal of Cogen Analytics truly is to be the premier small business consultancy in America. Hmm. And you know, I think that as we continue to mature, cuz that’s not to suggest we’re perfect. What I do know is we’re passionate, we believe in the community. We’re fighting for the community every day. And I think if we continue on that mission, then, then the market will continue to reward us.
Mm-hmm. And for some of these new services that you mentioned that you’re offering and or expanding like the bookkeeping side and some other things you said did these come about? Like, so I, I’m just trying to visualize this cuz I’ve seen this happen and I’ve seen this story kind of over and over for different businesses is, you know, you’re doing a great, you know, job for your clients and you’re, you’re overdelivering and they’re asking.
You kind of what? What else? Like what can you do this? Can you help me with this? Did some of these new services arise out of client demand? I’m just curious on how it took place. So we knew we had. Really, and I’ll show you the, you know, I’m sorry, your audience probably is not gonna get this visual. Yeah.
But you know, we have a visual and I normally, if you would ask that question, I would’ve shared it on screen. Yeah, that is our podcast listeners are like, what is he talking about right now? Go ahead for your webinar listeners. I apologize to podcaster. I just shared an illustration of all the different.
Elements and professional services for cogen. So I apologize to my listing group. You know that framework, there are a couple of new boxes like brokerage and succession and we have a group of attorneys that do tax management. We have a valuation group that really is in support of transference of equity.
We knew within Spirit what we wanted to be in 2014, but I would caution. Everybody listening today, I see a lot of people try to dance to, to too many songs at one time, and it just, a, looks bad, and B usually tires you out to the point of exhaustion. Now, sorry for the bad metaphor, but you know, I, I have been very careful, very conservative and very prudent about our growth, as I would recommend to any small business owner.
You can’t. You cannot dance to too many tunes. You become great at what you have, and then you augment and diversify your service offering. Be careful about growth because growth is the number one killer of small business. Hmm. Right. People go into growth and they’re under capitalized and they don’t have the credit lines and they don’t have the human resources or structure.
And as an anecdotal story, sorry for side baring on you. I had a $3 million client this morning that went from a million and a half to $3 million. Wow. And he believed that if he just sold more, eventually he was going to bank money. And what happened was he sold more and lost more money. Wow. So, you know, there is that very, very common story for small business owners, because anytime you grow, you’re gonna have more dysfunction.
You’re gonna have dysfunction in people, you’re gonna have dysfunction in process, you’re gonna have dysfunction controls. Mm-hmm. So you know, I, I wanna be careful as I answer your question, not to be sending the, the bad message to the small business community. You know, diversification is good, but it is also prudent to do it.
A stepped in staged way. Yeah. It’s great. And I, and I, and I, I understand exactly what you’re saying because in, in our growth, we’ve been pulled in many directions and it’s like, ah, we need to continue to focus on what we’re good at. We can’t do it all, nor do we want to, we wanna execute and get better and better at what we do.
So great. Thank you for the insight. And so Rob, if somebody’s watching this so final question, two part question. If somebody’s watching this, what number one, what’s. The best way for them to connect with your team at Cogent Analytics so they can learn more. Number two, what, what are the types of business owners and or entrepreneurs that are typically a good fit to work with you and your team?
So we have two groups. We have Innovative, cogent Innovative, which is really our incubator group that’s designed for our $2 million clients and below there are different share of problems. I’m not meaning to demean my $2 million clients in below. That’s not the case. Takes a lot of energy and effort and heart to open the door, but we have devised our services to be very specific to that breakpoint.
And then we have what we refer to as traditional at 2 million and above, and that could be as high as a 200 million company. Mm-hmm. But we’ve tried to tailor those service offerings clearly anybody would, would be recommended to go to Cogen Analytics. Mm-hmm. Dot com. And, you know, you can call us if you’re so inspired at one 8, 3, 3, 4, my profit, that’s the number four.
And my profit after that, and it will come through. We, we field phone calls from small business owners all over America, every single day. And you know, whether it’s a little problem or a big problem, you know, the problem is the problem and it’s affecting you and your family, and your team and their family and your community and their family.
So, you know, don’t hesitate, don’t feel like you’re gonna get the big sales pitch. Yeah. When you are reaching out, you know, you always, we put a massive amount of information. Available at your fingertips, and if you want to inquire on the website, send us a chat box. I have professional advisors on staff working with small business owners every single day.
I won’t say 365 cuz I try to give my people the weekends off, although most of them work on the weekends. You know, that is clearly of their own choice. They’re passion about what they do. They’re working with clients. But yes, Adam, that’s. A, it’s probably the best way to reach out, you know, the, the revenue profile of a client.
You really have to be beyond that first revenue startup phase. Our five prime verticals really is, you know, construction, manufacturing, transportation, distribution, and technology. And people hear those and they say, well, that’s not for me. And then I break it down for ’em and they go, oh, well that’s what I do.
So, you know, when we think about construction, that could be construction management, that could be general construction, it could be engineering, it could be architecture, it could be any one of the trades that you might imagine. It’s people that support the trade. So just know that when I put those five, five, those five primes out there, that, yeah, that is a really broad list in each one of those categories.
So I hope hopefully that helps your audience understand that, that we’re really there in support and in service. Yeah. And if by some small measure, they want to have a conversation with one of our professional advisors, that’s what we’re built for. Fantastic. And we’ll put all the, the website links and all that good stuff in the show notes so that our audience can just click on the links and head right on over.
And speaking of the audience, if this is your first time with Mission Matters or engaging in an episode or listening to one, we’re all about bringing on business owners, entrepreneurs and executives and experts, and having them share their mission, the reason behind their mission, really what gets. Them excited to go out into the marketplace and make a difference.
What’s their passion? That’s, if that’s the type of content that sounds interesting or fun or exciting to you, we welcome you hit that subscribe button because we have many more mission-based individuals coming up on the line and we don’t want you to miss a thing. And Oh yeah, we’re gonna put that link to the book in the show notes as well, so don’t forget to pick up a copy of that.
And Rob, really it has been a pleasure having you back on the show. And I’m just, So happy and grateful to have you be part of the Mission Matters community. So thank you Adams, my honor and pleasure. It’s been a wonderful, wonderful ride. I look forward to the future.