DaltonPlan Business Action Planning

Testimonial samples - What do our clients really say about us?

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Industry	Company	Testimonial
Franchisors Childcare Centres	www.KidsCo.co.nz KidsCo® 2005 Ltd	"Spending three whole days with Dean preparing my DaltonPlan® business plan was really appreciated because it’s often difficult to find time to do this when running your own business. We developed our franchise model and those franchisees are now very successful. I refer to my business plan as a road map that I can go back to at any time. With the help of Dean’s significant business experience, as well as textbook knowledge, I was able to make a difficult business decision, which has really paid off. One of the results of staying on-track and making that business decision is that enrolments have doubled."
Hospitality Restaurants Cafes Bars	Matterhorn “Cuisine Magazine NZ Restaurant of the Year Award Supreme Winner 2008” Mighty Mighty “NZ Bartender Magazine Best Bar Award 2006, 2007, 2008”	“My business partner and I have just completed a fantastic business planning workshop for both our restaurant business and our separate bar business with Dean Dalton from DaltonPlan® and were so impressed I thought it might be worth mentioning it as something of real value for you. The intensive three-day workshops involved us analyzing every aspect of our business in a huge amount of detail, covering everything from marketing, operations, finance, costings and business strategy right through to our succession plan, how we were going to eventually get out of our businesses at some stage in the future. Even with our experience in the industry we were able to come away with a fresh appreciation of the strengths and weaknesses of our business and an achievable action plan for some considerable savings due to the work Dean’s work on costings and organisational structures including mapping every important system in the business using flow charts. With the knowledge we gained from the workshops opening another business location would be not only easier but have a far greater certainty of success because of the work that Dean does in ensuring you identify and hit target markets. With the hospitality industry getting a little tighter out there it would be great to ensure that you keep the edge in the market place and this is certainly something that would help not only new business development but existing business owners that may be in need of a little refocusing.“ Sam Chapman Director
	Elements Café www.ElementsCafe.co.nz	"Working with Dean has definitely sharpened our focus in some key areas. It helped us to revisit some sound business principals that had slipped away over the years. We are focusing on putting some processes in place that will pay off in the long run and will help to free up some of my time. We are working hard to a plan rather than just working hard and as a result have some solid direction. People tend to know their strengths and ignore their weaknesses; the plan identified our weaknesses and shifted the focus to some of the areas that needed the most improvement. We get a Profit and Loss Statement every year that just has a bunch of figures on it. It was great to have someone to show us the trends and tell us what it all means."
	Buzz Restaurant and Bar	"Working with Dean, as far as the big picture goes, has provided a lot of clarity. Identifying our strengths opened our eyes and gave us the opportunity to look at our overall progress in a brighter light. Prior to writing the plan, we felt we had systems in place, but all we really had was a lot of words. Dean’s flow charts made us more formal and structured. At the end of the day we’ve been in business for 8 years and have made a reasonable living, but we now realise that if we had known about these improvements earlier we would have done a lot better - there’s a big difference."
Caterers	Cucina Amore www.cucinaamore.co.nz	"Corporate clients use my authentic Italian cooking classes as team building workshops, local schools and sports clubs as fund raising events. The business planning with Dean has given me a clearer direction on how to grow my business profitably and increase my public profile. I recently appeared on the Good Morning TV show and regularly publish newspaper articles. I now have the tools to look at my business more strategically making me a lot more disciplined to focus on food cost budgets. Watch this space!"
	www.CorporateCaterers.co.nz Baxters Catering Services Ltd	"We changed some of our prices to meet Dean’s industry benchmarks and didn’t encounter any customer resistance. I can change the prices as I need to, and I know exactly where I’m at. The flow charts Dean went through were good, because it analyses the process of the task, not the individual. So if something goes wrong then you can address the process rather than the individual employee and fix problems permanently."
Manufacturers	www.MyriadEngineering.co.nz Myriad Engineering® Ltd	"Completing the DaltonPlan® gave us direction regarding our personal goals. It introduced working disciplines highlighting our key focus to complete all documented systems. It has proven to be really profitable being able to benchmark our costings against the DaltonPlan® model for our industry, when annually reviewing our accounts to analyse our hourly rate. As a result of increased sales we have employed two extra people. We updated our brand identify and company name to better fit our services. We have had 2 record months in the last 2 months in March and April 2009, in the middle of a really bad recession. We also engage Dean for monthly mentoring."
Building & Construction Firms	www.Conservatory.co.nz Conservatory King® Limited	"I can’t praise the DaltonPlan® process and Dean enough. He’s got a humorous approach and he tailors that to the business he’s working with, which makes the planning days a lot of fun as well as being very useful. We spent our 3 x full-day sessions reviewing and correcting our margins and putting systems in place to help the business run more smoothly. We created flowcharts for our employees and contractors, which also included timelines and job processes. Dean cares enough to tailor his plan to suit our business. We also engage him for monthly mentoring."
Plumbing & Gas Fitting	www.plumbers-supreme.co.nz Plumbers Supreme Ltd	“My plumbing and gas fitting business was doing really well with 12 full-time staff and a retail showroom. I was virtually rushed off my feet with customer enquiries. I suppose you’re thinking, ‘I wouldn’t mind that sort of problem’, but it left me no time for anything else. I was beginning to feel burnt out. Taking time out with Dean made me see there was a better way of working. It all came down to putting in place a few basic flow charted systems in place. I now feel like I’m running the business – it’s not running me.” Michael Christenhusz, Director
IT Service Providers	www.OneStopIt.co.nz OneStopIT Limited	"The best thing about working with Dean is that he provides an impartial outsiders perspective on the business. Using Dean’s benchmarks for profitability for our industry has allowed us to gain a better understanding of our business, which meant that we could start to focus our attention on the more profitable areas and draw away from areas that showed less promise. We set some work-life goals so that we could find a balance between the two and be able to have more family time."
	www.NicheIT.co.nz Niche IT Limited	"Through the networking I do I met Dean & Jo from DaltonPlan®. I booked in to create a business plan for Niche IT. The planning session itself was a very busy one – everything was well prepared & laid out, which made for a productive day answering questions, ticking check-lists & molding the plan to best suit Niche IT’s service offerings & end goals. When the plan was complete the support from DaltonPlan® didn’t end – the ongoing support has been great. From what Dean showed me I’m better able to understand Niche IT’s strengths & weaknesses plus set & achieve financial targets. The marketing material Dean helped create & some assessments help my clients better understand their own needs."
	www.dcsl.co.nz Dynamic Computer Solutions	"Dean’s industry benchmarks gave us more of an idea of what we can achieve and what we need to change in order to get there. We found that we could grow our market and we learnt that you need to know the necessary profit margins in order to be able to price profitably. Last month was our most profitable labour month ever, after having made the necessary changes. Instead of fighting fires all the time, we realised that we can prevent problems from happening in the first place in Dynamic Computer Solutions Ltd."
Financial Advisory Services	www.Allfinanz.co.nz Allfinanz® New Zealand	"We started working with Dean a few years ago. We had a vision of being a “one stop shop” financial advisory enterprise where clients could find trusted and expert advice on diverse but inter-related business and financing issues. You have to be looking two or three steps ahead – we work with DaltonPlan® to develop business action plans and we stick to them religiously. We have developed our “five pillars” of Allfinanz being insurance, home loans, KiwiSaver, investment and business services. By having a clear vision of what Allfinanz was about eliminated distractions."
	www.colemurray.co.nz Cole Murray Group Limited	"Marketing - Working with Dean we developed ways of retaining existing clients while at the same time expanding our customer database through forming strategic alliances with other professional firms. We refined our brand identity to better explain what we do to more targeted sectors of the changing demographics of the NZ population. Operations - We developed some flow charts enabling us to identify inefficient practices and to make sure that we adhere to the new rules by creating our Service Quality Model when dealing face-to-face with clients. Finance - We analysed our financials and cash flow to strengthen our own financial plan for our advisory practice. We are interested in growing a certain level of passive income for the Directors. Resources - We are now able to optimise the use of our current resources including office space and its use through analysing introducing more effective human resource practices." - Mike Murray, Director
Landscapers	Cre8tive Gardens Limited	"I was looking for a tool to help me to elevate my business to the next level. Working with Dean I found the plan to be really practical and simple and it’s great because it tells you exactly what to do. My plan is like the bible to me now, I have it with me most of the time and when I’m stuck or can’t remember something I can just flick through it and find the answer. In doing the plan and setting targets and goals, you make yourself accountable, and when you’re accountable you’re much more likely to achieve."
Engineering Firms	www.WaikatoMilikng.co.nz Waikato Milking Systems - Manawatu	“The flow charts were fantastic. Now I can see what staff are doing, what they’re not and where they are going wrong. The flowcharts help staff to understand my expectations; it gives them some good direction and they know what they’ve got to do. Now I have got the staff thinking, they are enthusiastic and it has definitely lit a few fires. It’s really got everyone looking at how we can make the business better.”
Retailers	www.Dymocks.co.nz Dymocks Booksellers - Queensgate	“After working with Dean I feel like I’ve been given more direction in terms of identifying areas where I can enhance performance. Now I know where I can make the quickest and the biggest gains and I know the best way to do it. Dean’s Industry Benchmarks really gave us some solid targets to achieve. If you don’t know whether or not you’re performing at these benchmarks you have no idea of where you should be. Identifying the business’ strengths and weaknesses helped me to see what I need to continue to do well in order to maintain my current state, and where there is room for improvement.”
	Heartlands Retail Ltd www.heartlands.co.nz	“We established our outdoor living store, Heartlands, with the aim of developing a business which would provide the lifestyle we were after. In three years Heartlands had grown significantly and was running well, but we knew there was room for improvement. So we took time out to focus on our business. The great thing about completing the DaltonPlan® planning sessions was that it gave us the tools and motivation to take our business to the next level. We were able to complete tasks that are normally put off, because the day-to-day stuff gets in the way. Our DaltonPlan® is going to get us where we want to be and it’s going to be those flow charts and systems that will get us there.” Richard & Gina Lousley, Directors
	www.pianoshop.co.nz PianoShop Ltd	“Basically we spent a very productive session, uninterrupted, away from the office with Dean effectively dissecting the business into its parts, identifying the key drivers, setting clear objectives for improvement and creating goals. We came out of it with a Business Action Plan. This whole experience has been invaluable for us. Dean’s analysis of our operation, through a new set of eyes, has enabled us to formulate strategies and make a number of effective changes. The main benefit has been that we are getting a lot more business in and we have gained efficiencies resulting in an increase of 10% on our bottom line.”
	www.eggmaternity.co.nz EGG Maternity Wellington Ltd	“I spent an intense but extremely productive session working with Dean on the DaltonPlan® for EGG Wellington. Gaining a greater understanding of the financial aspects of my business was a key objective for me. Dean worked with me to ensure that we continue to get the right margin for every product we sell being in line with the industry standard for a retail clothing business. We looked at EGG’s current marketing strategy and discussed and tweaked some of the new methods that I was keen to use and test. As I’m now discovering this fresh approach is ‘bang on the button’ for capturing the attention and imagination of EGG’s target market with fantastic ideas for line extensions and new products.”
Artists	www.emmawright.co.nz Emma Wright Artist Limited	“The best thing about Dean Dalton and the DaltonPlan® is that it’s very practical. Since my sessions with Dean I have improved my systems and processes and developed new partnerships with other artists and an administration service, which takes the day-to-day administrative load away from me allowing me to attend to my core business. Shifting my focus has ensured that the business is more profitable. In general the planning sessions gave me the confidence and peace of mind that I was heading in the right direction.”
Glaziers	Harbour City Glass Ltd	“It was our financial advisor who gave us Dean’s contact details. After an initial meeting to outline how the DaltonPlan® works we booked in a full day with Dean. We focused mostly on Pricing, the Market and did a SWAT Analysis. It was important that we established what things cost, which then lead to knowing what the gross profit per job was. Once that was established we started on creating new ideas, ways to ‘re-invent’ the business. We also defined our point of difference. We now know that we provide quality service and an end-result that is unrivalled. Knowing what our strengths are has given us the confidence to communicate them to our customers.”
Graphic Designers	mark@msodesign.com MSO Graphic Design Ltd	“We wanted an action plan that could capitalize on our core strengths and help us to refine our services to new and existing clients. Dean helped MSO to identify the key strengths from a client’s perspective and helped us to put in place a formal presentation and quality assurance process. This brought together all the benefits of dealing with MSO and gives our clients reassurance and peace of mind. It also gives MSO a clearly defined advantage over our competitors! The DaltonPlan® delivered real results for us.”
Employment Consultants	www.SearchWorks.co.nz SearchWorks Ltd	“With Dean’s help we identified what our key differentiators were and put this into one of Dean’s famous Service Quality flowcharts. We also looked at other factors that were essential to having a healthy business. Dean believes a business should always be in a saleable condition. That way it is operating at an optimum level, and secondly, if something untoward happens, then you can bring it to market relatively quickly. All of this is good because it means we are not just more professional in our presentation, but we are also more in control of our business. Since meeting with Dean, we have steadily implemented the changes he recommended.”
Pharmacies	www.ClivesChemist.co.nz Clives Chemist	“My pharmacy had undergone phenomenal growth and I was struggling getting operational systems to cope with the increased business. My goals and business focus had become blurred and I was unsure how to steer the business to maintain growth, keep things profitable, and give me the lifestyle I was after. After the session with Dean, I had a blueprint for sorting out the operational problems in the business, and knew how to put systems in place to ensure the pharmacy could run without my direct input every day. I was also able to crystallise the direction of the pharmacy to obtain profitable growth for the company. By the end of the day I had a clear action plan, and Dean's continued contact since that session helps to ensure the plan is being implemented. The DaltonPlan business planning day has been one of the best things I have done since starting in business.”
Consultants	www.CultureFlow.co.nz CultureFlow	“It’s been about a year since our Company sat down with Dean to begin our business action plan so as to help improve our business. We have a simple message, "no plan - no business". Enthusiasm will keep the business going for the first year, but where to then? To help with that question, there's nothing more valuable than sitting down with someone like Dean who specialises in business planning and plotting the next 12 months.”