Latest / The Inspired Stories Podcast / Turning Inventory Chaos into Enterprise Value: Michael Ryan's Success Story

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Turning Inventory Chaos into Enterprise Value: Michael Ryan's Success Story · The Inspired Stories Podcast

0:04
Welcome to another edition of the Inspired Stories podcast,
0:08
where leaders share their experiences so we can learn from
0:12
their successes and be inspired by how they've overcome
0:15
adversity. My name is Anthony Kotaspodi,
0:18
and today's guest is Michael Ryan.
0:20
From balance sheets clogged with excess inventory to private
0:24
equity boardrooms hungry for cash, Mike Ryan turned supply
0:29
chains into cash machines. Founded in 2016, as the Managing
0:34
Partner of the M Ryan Group, he helps manufacturers and
0:37
distributors unlock working capital and improve EBITDA,
0:43
often delivering 3 to 5X Roy in under one year.
0:48
Mike's 25 year journey includes 15 plus years with GE and
0:53
Goodyear, where he earned his Six Sigma Black Belt and a
0:57
reputation for untangling the gnarliest supply chain knots.
1:01
Whether aligning sales, finance, and operations or freeing up
1:05
millions in idle product, he's obsessed with one thing, turning
1:10
supply chain chaos into enterprise value.
1:13
Today, he's here to explain how boring inventory hides A
1:17
goldmine and some of the moves any business can make to claim
1:21
it. Now before we get into all that
1:24
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AD Back benefits.com. All right, back to our guest
1:58
today, founder and President of the M Ryan Group, Michael Ryan.
2:02
I appreciate you making the time to Share your story today.
2:04
Thank you for having me, Anthony.
2:05
It's a pleasure. OK.
2:07
Mike, so you've worked with some big names like GE and Goodyear.
2:12
Can you share a key lesson or approach that you learned or
2:18
developed there that you still apply today at the M Ryan Group?
2:22
So I would say the the key lesson I learned, I learned that
2:26
at GE and it's it's served me well, is the idea of in God we
2:32
trust all others bring data. It's it's, yeah.
2:37
Hey. And God we trust.
2:41
All others bring data. Explain what that means So.
2:47
What that means is it's, yeah, somebody may have a hunch or a
2:55
suspicion that something isn't doing as well as it could be or
2:59
should be. And I'm, I'm, I'm a simple man
3:03
said, OK, well, let's look at the data.
3:05
Let's see if you know what you're seeing or feeling bears
3:10
out with the data. And and likewise, as we go to
3:16
quantitatively prove changes that we've made have had an
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impact, right? It comes back to the data.
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So in God, we trust all other Spring data.
3:28
I love that. OK, so how did the idea to start
3:31
the M Ryan group come about? What was the trigger there?
3:34
Oh, you're laughing. This must be a good one.
3:36
I got fired, Anthony. That's the yeah, that's that,
3:40
that's the, that's the, that's the quick answer.
3:44
I had been VP of operations for a family office owned business.
3:49
Business ran at the some challenges and my services were
3:54
no longer needed. So, you know, I had, you know,
3:59
getting out of corporate, I'd started to build a network in
4:01
Northeast Ohio and just come to love Northeast Ohio because
4:06
there was just so many good people.
4:08
And you know, as I'm having these phone calls, I get
4:12
connected with this consulting firm out in California.
4:15
And you know, my objective was, Hey, is there AVP OPS or VP
4:19
manufacturing role that one of the clients that they've,
4:22
they've served. And as I'm having the call guy
4:27
I'm speaking with, we just, we just click and he says, hey,
4:31
I've got a project in it's in Saint Louis.
4:34
It's right in your wheelhouse. Would you like to work a
4:37
project? And I said, well, I've got a
4:41
wife and four kids who have grown accustomed to eating.
4:44
So yes, I would love to work a project.
4:47
And I had an absolute blast that first project.
4:53
It, it was, it was fun. I just enjoyed it And I
4:56
realized, you know how much I had learned throughout my
4:59
career. And one became 22, became 3.
5:03
And then that third engagement, they shared their billing with
5:08
me. Now I do math all day every day
5:11
and I'm like, OK, I'm getting about 20%.
5:13
The other guy on the ground with me is getting 20%.
5:16
The house has taken 60. I now understand why the house
5:20
took 60 but I was explaining this to wait.
5:23
Wait, what do you mean by that? 20% of what?
5:27
Of that percent of what? Of the Billings to let's say
5:30
just forsake around numbers, it was $100,000 engagement, right?
5:34
I got 20,000. The other guy on the ground got
5:37
20,000 so. So who brought you in Wasn't the
5:40
company themselves. It was a consultant that had a
5:43
project. They were placing you there, so
5:45
they took the majority of it, correct?
5:47
Got it. Correct.
5:48
And, and now, you know, I fully understand why.
5:52
I mean, there's a ton, there's a ton of value and it's in, in
5:55
that business development in the relationship.
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So I was explaining the, you know, 602020 to my wife and she
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looks at me and she says, wouldn't it be better to get the
6:08
80 instead of the 20? And just like that, the M Ryan
6:14
Group was born. And what was that first project?
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What did you go in there to fix that was so in your wheelhouse,
6:21
as you put it? It was supply chain and
6:23
inventory. It was a it was a supplier of
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replacement parts to the construction industry, very
6:34
capital intensive industry, very expensive parts and the
6:38
manufacturer had too much of the wrong stuff and I don't know for
6:41
the right stuff and it tied up a ton of cash.
6:45
OK, it was a giant inventory snarl.
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It was so. OK.
6:50
I touched on it in the interview.
6:52
You've kind of touched on a little bit, but sort of layout
6:55
sort of the breadth of the services that you offer.
6:58
Thank you for asking. So typically there's a couple of
7:03
projects that I engage with really that are my sweet spot.
7:07
My wheelhouse #1 is the inventory diagnostic.
7:11
So it's 30 days or less, figure out in what ways a business can
7:18
start to unlock cash and create value with the product they
7:22
already have. And then the second line of
7:26
services revolves around sales and operations planning.
7:29
So if sales and operations planning is at its core, getting
7:34
the right people to talk about the right things at the right
7:36
time. So I've got a 90 day S and OP
7:41
check off product offering and then that follows up typically
7:46
between 12 and 24 months later with an S and OP audit to make
7:50
sure that the business is still maintaining and delivering the
7:54
results that they need. OK, let's peel back layers a
8:00
little bit here, get into a little bit more details.
8:03
Let's turn up, maybe explain what fill rate is and a few ways
8:09
that you can help companies improve it.
8:11
So what fill rate is, is how many times a customer can either
8:17
call up or place an order online and the business has the product
8:23
that they need. So for example, if 95 out of 100
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orders can be filled, then the business has a 95% fill rate.
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And you know, I've always looked at it had a guy named Kevin
8:38
Oliver. She taught me this at at
8:40
Goodyear, that you know, when there's a customer who is ready,
8:44
willing and able to put cash in your hand, you better have the
8:47
product that they need when they need it.
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So you want that fill rate to be as high as it possibly can.
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And when that fill rate is low or it's dropping, what are some
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things that you typically find or easy levers to pull to fix
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it? Great question.
9:06
So when fill rates are low or dropping, it's because the
9:11
business doesn't have enough of the right product at the right
9:14
time. So one of the first level levers
9:19
is engaging with sales to really understand what the customers
9:23
want and what they need and making sure that we can get that
9:29
product within the lead time that they're looking for.
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And if we can't, it gives the sales team an opportunity to go
9:38
back and either propose a solution or set expectations for
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when that product will be available again.
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So it's not always about, I mean clearly would like to find sort
9:49
of the solution that make sure that you have the right product
9:52
there when it's needed. But if that's not the case, then
9:56
you're also coaching them on, OK, what is that sort of follow
10:00
up communication look like with the clients?
10:02
Yes, because it's, it's another, it's another opportunity to
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interact with the customer, with the client to say, hey, I heard
10:12
you. I understand what you want.
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I want to be able to provide it to you.
10:16
This is what I know, right? This is my best estimate of when
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we'll be able to satisfy your needs.
10:23
Right. Because I mean, when, when
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you're not able to fulfill that order, you could just say,
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sorry, no can do. But it's a great opportunity,
10:34
great way to lose a client. If you're able to have like a
10:38
more structured communication strategy in place, you get a
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better chance of not losing that person.
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Maybe you'll lose them for this order, but not lose them
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forever. That's right.
10:48
That's exactly right. What are some of the biggest
10:52
levers that you help companies pull to free up 10 to 30% of
10:57
their inventory within 6 to 12 months?
11:00
So the two biggest levers, right?
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And this, I'm going to apologize in advance because it may sound,
11:06
it may sound pedantic, but the two biggest levers are, hey,
11:12
let's sell what you already have, especially if you have
11:16
excess inventory. Let's figure out a way to spur
11:19
demand on what you already have. And then the other side of the
11:25
equation is let's make sure we're buying only what's needed.
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And this is where it gets kind of into the, it can get into the
11:35
weeds of, you know, hey, I need to buy 1000.
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The the buyer says I need to buy 1000 at a time when the business
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only needs 200. And in my perspective, that's an
11:47
opportunity for the buyer to work with the vendor to say,
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hey, listen, I know you want to sell me 1000, but I don't need
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1000. You know, what are some other
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order quantity? So we make sure, hey, I want to
12:01
buy what I need, but not buy to excess.
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So it's it comes down to, hey, let's sell more of what we
12:09
already have, especially if it's in excess and let's make sure
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that we're buying only what we need.
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So both of those things, when you say them out loud, kind of
12:20
sound obvious, right? Like sort of duh, yeah.
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But yeah, obviously there's, I'm guessing there are more sort of
12:30
nuanced strategies that underlie each of those.
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The one that I'm kind of curious about is how do you spur more
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demand? You're sort of saying like, yes,
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some more of the product that you already have.
12:43
Well, of course, Mike, we would love to sell more of the product
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that we already have. That's what we've been trying to
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do. Like are you coming up with like
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discount programs or like bundles or like what?
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What are some of the creative strategies that you use here?
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So really the first strategy is usually, you know, when I
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encounter situation like this, it's not like they have two
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items or two skews that they're over inventoried on.
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It's they have 200 SKUs that they're over inventoried on,
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right? This is kind of a systemic
13:15
problem. And what I've seen happen is,
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you know, the supply chain gives this list of 200 items and
13:23
forced on the sales team and say go sell it.
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And the sales team jokes, right? Because it's like there's,
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there's, there's too much, there's too many items.
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So what I found is to take that list of 200 and sit down with
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the sales leadership and say, OK, let's look through this
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list. Let's think about the ones that
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you have a high confidence that you're going to be able to sell.
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And then let's put together a program.
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It may be, you know, hey, we're going to do a bundle of these
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three items together and there's a 5% discount or 15% discount.
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But it's critical to involve sales in that process.
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Because I know, you know, if I'm given a list of 200 items to go
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to the grocery store for, for, I'm going to be completely
14:13
overwhelmed Where if it's, hey, can you go pick up these five
14:19
things or these 10 things, right.
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It makes it more, it's, it's a smaller bite of the elephant.
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It makes it more finite, more actionable.
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And by involving sales in the process and, and really helping
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them kind of choose their own adventure, it's like, OK, well
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let's start with the easy stuff. Let's start with the things that
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you think you can move quickly so that the business can turn
14:43
that inventory back into cash. Let me ask about the inventory
14:51
planning and I'm thinking about, well, I guess this would apply
14:54
to any product actually, not just ones that are selling
14:57
particularly well. I've had, I've owned inventory
15:00
based businesses myself before and we were always trying to
15:04
calculate how many days of inventory should we have on
15:07
hand, right, 'cause this is the more inventory that I have, the
15:11
more of my cash that's out of my bank account and is sitting in
15:14
that product in a warehouse somewhere.
15:17
But man, the most painful thing is you alluded to before is I've
15:21
got a client, I got a customer, I've got somebody who's ready to
15:24
buy that thing and I don't have it.
15:26
So now they go and they buy it from somebody else.
15:29
And so I don't know we, the way that we looked at it and I'd be
15:33
curious to think if we were even close is we'd say, OK, what's
15:36
our lead time to get product right?
15:39
Maybe it's two months ordering from the manufacturer.
15:43
It's two weeks to get shipped. It's, you know, a week to get
15:47
processed going into the warehouse, OK.
15:49
So we'll call it three months. And then we look at, well, what
15:53
are our sales fluctuations? And that's where it got to be
15:56
really tricky because some months, you know, maybe we sold
16:01
1000 units, maybe some months we sold 3000 units.
16:06
And there's so much variability in there.
16:08
And it wasn't always seasonal until the time of the year.
16:11
I don't know. How do you think about this when
16:13
you're you're coaching your clients?
16:17
So you hit the nail on the head with lead time.
16:19
That typically is the single biggest determinant of how many
16:24
days of inventory I need to to have on hand.
16:27
So lead time is 1. You hit on the second one,
16:30
variability is 2. The third one is looking at a
16:35
forward forecast. A lot of businesses look
16:38
backwards when they're trying to figure out days on hand.
16:42
And again, this is where involving sales is is critical.
16:46
So looking at the forward forecast of what I am predicting
16:51
to sell. And then the 4th variable on
16:55
this one can get overlooked is how often we reorder.
17:01
So, you know, in the example you shared, hey, from order to
17:05
receipt it's three months. Well, you could order once 1/4,
17:10
right? Which means your inventory is
17:11
going to be a big sawtooth that's going to spike up and
17:14
bleed down and spike up and bleed down.
17:17
Or you can order every six weeks or every four weeks.
17:21
And what that does is it helps, you know, take that sawtooth and
17:25
make it a little bit smaller. But really the I mean the the
17:29
critical components to figuring out how much inventory I need to
17:33
carry to buffer against that variability in sales are lead
17:38
time, forward forecast, and order frequency.
17:42
And do you have a level of sophistication in your
17:45
calculations to be able to figure in things like, because I
17:48
like what you're saying is or, you know, rather than, you know,
17:51
ordering every quarter and I've got this big spike in, you know,
17:55
inventory holding and, you know, then draw it down and three
17:58
months later, we go through the same cycles.
18:00
Let's order every six weeks. And we keep that sort of
18:02
sawtooth pattern a little more flat.
18:06
But you know, then there's other things to factor in like, you
18:09
know, maybe it's shipping from overseas and I get a discount on
18:12
that container rate or I get a discount on the per unit
18:15
production rate. And how does that compare to the
18:18
cost of holding extra inventory if I'm ordering more?
18:22
And, and you know, at that point, then my brain just starts
18:25
to melt. It's like I don't know how to do
18:27
that math in my head or on a. Spreadsheet.
18:29
Yeah, it it can become complex very quick.
18:33
And this is really where I mean, I call the triad people process
18:38
and technology and having technology, whether it's
18:42
planning, you know, dedicated planning software or some
18:46
financial modeling software in this that's where it really
18:50
becomes critical. But it's funny the, you know,
18:54
the, the discount for filling up a container, you know, that's
18:58
something that one of my favorite stories, this was an
19:03
early client. I'm standing with the CFO.
19:07
The CFO is Chris. So Chris and I are standing
19:10
there. You know, Steve comes, comes in
19:12
the room and he says, I just saved US 4%.
19:17
And I look at Chris and I said, OK, well, how'd you do that?
19:23
Oh, I bought 6 months of this raw material and I look at Chris
19:29
and I said, do you want to tell him or you want me to tell him?
19:32
He's like, Oh no, I, I, I got this.
19:35
And Chris explains that their, their borrowing base or their,
19:40
their rate, they're paying 9%. So, you know, while yes, Steve
19:47
kind of in his lane did a good thing to, to reduce cost, in the
19:53
grand scheme of things, it was actually going to cost the
19:55
business more money because they had to carry the inventory then
19:59
they would save. So it's, you know, it, it's kind
20:04
of a good example or, or a good opener into helping people see
20:10
kind of holistically how you know, one small decision here
20:15
can impact the, you know, the financial footprint of the
20:18
business. Now Mike, I've seen that your
20:21
group advertises A3 to 5X Roy for many of its clients anyways,
20:27
what are again some of those other strategies, methodologies
20:31
that you employ that allows you to deliver such significant
20:36
returns, so? Part of it, Anthony, is looking
20:40
at the 8020 to understand where the biggest points of pain or
20:47
the biggest opportunities are for a client.
20:50
And, you know, especially in the beginning, working with a
20:53
client, it's understanding, you know, the, the impact and the
20:59
effort that's needed to, you know, deliver a win.
21:03
And in the beginning for me, my approach is, hey, let's rack up
21:07
some quick wins. Let's do it fast.
21:10
They may not be, you know, giant, but they're, they're big
21:15
enough to matter. They're big enough to be
21:16
material and have an impact. Let's get some momentum going.
21:20
And you know, that I think is one of the biggest things is to
21:23
say, hey, listen, you know, it's like how you eat an elephant one
21:29
bite at a time. So let's take a little bite.
21:32
Let's let's log the wind and then let's keep going and going
21:36
and go. So I think it might be helpful
21:40
both for me and the listeners if we kind of dig into a few case
21:43
studies and so I can hear more particulars.
21:47
So let's talk first about the $350 million manufacturer and
21:53
distributor that had a problem where their inventory was
21:57
growing faster than their sales. What was the landscape when you
22:02
came in and what did you do to kind of right the ship?
22:06
So the land, the landscape was, the warehouse was literally
22:11
bursting at the seams. And I got brought in because the
22:16
operating partner, so kind of the liaison between the private
22:22
equity firm in the portfolio business said, hey, Mike, these
22:26
guys got a problem, right? They're working capitalists
22:28
through the roof. Their inventory is growing
22:31
faster than sales. They're running out of cash.
22:34
So in that case, one of the biggest problems or biggest
22:39
challenges that that business had was their portfolio was
22:44
huge. And by huge, you know, they had
22:48
25,000 skews and there were there was a lot of overlap in
22:58
their portfolio. So you know, some businesses
23:01
have kind of the good, better, best approach.
23:06
In this case, it was like good, good, good, rest better, better,
23:11
best, bestest, super, best, ultra, mega best and.
23:15
All. The variations, so you know that
23:19
coupled with a fair portion of their portfolio had minimum
23:24
order quantities. So in some cases for low volume
23:29
skews, they were literally buying the equivalent of three
23:33
years worth of product at one time.
23:36
So it was, it was kind of a a double whammy of portfolio
23:40
complexity and having to buy in these ridiculous minimum order
23:45
quantities. So with this business, it was a
23:50
couple things. You know, first and foremost it
23:53
was let's go back to the sales team.
23:56
Are there any programs we can put in place?
23:58
Are there any promotions that we can run to help kind of get a
24:04
couple of quick bursts so we can quickly see if this this
24:08
strategy works? And then the other approach was
24:14
to go and work with the product management teams to say, Hey,
24:19
listen, right, you've got this one product.
24:22
It's, it comes in five colors, six different sizes.
24:27
Do you need all five colors? Now?
24:30
Can we go from, you know, five colors down to three colors?
24:35
And as we started kind of digging into it was, Oh, well,
24:39
this customer only buys this color.
24:42
I'm like, OK, well, how important of a customer are
24:46
they? Right?
24:47
And I love this. All customers are important,
24:50
important. I'm like, yeah, I'm like,
24:52
there's some customers that are more important than others.
24:55
Let's. Put it on a scale.
24:56
Let's put it on a scale and and what we saw was this was the
25:01
equivalent of like AC customer, they bought intermittently.
25:06
We had no communication. So it's like, listen, let's turn
25:12
the tables and proactively communicate to this customer,
25:15
hey, we're discontinuing this color.
25:18
We have this many in stock. If you want to buy them, you're
25:22
welcome to them, but we are not going to order them again.
25:26
And they bought them all, which was great.
25:28
So it, it, it was really kind of taking that outside perspective
25:35
of and, and, and constructively questioning, you know, do we
25:39
need 5 colors? Do we really need 5 colors?
25:42
And you know, who's buying? Where does 80% of the sales come
25:46
from? Sorry, so this particular
25:49
instance, did you say there were 25,000 skews?
25:51
Was that this? And so like I understand having
25:55
that conversation like once is or twice or maybe five times as
25:59
an example with the team. But you can't go through 25,000
26:04
individual skews and have that conversation one by one.
26:08
That's got to be where is some of the tech where some of the
26:09
software comes into play. This is absolutely where the
26:12
tech comes to play. And in this case of business had
26:15
four different product managers. So it was dividing and
26:19
conquering and it was, it was a really neat process because we
26:24
involve the, the, the product managers, the supply chain and
26:28
sales and said, hey, we need to do a rationalization, right?
26:32
It's not that we want to do it, it's we really need to do this.
26:36
So what we did really before we presented the data was, hey,
26:41
let's define the criteria of what makes the cut and what
26:45
doesn't make the cut. And then using the technology,
26:49
we could basically go through the portfolio and say, hey,
26:53
right, this 80%, right, it makes the cut, This 20% doesn't make
26:57
the cut. So it then became a process by
27:03
where, you know, as we went through, hey, these are the ones
27:07
that fell through the screen, right?
27:10
We want to cut them. Then it was OK, give us a reason
27:14
not to cut. So it was almost like.
27:18
Got to make your case. It got to make your case for it.
27:20
So it it again, it's it, it's a really the best results I've
27:27
seen and been able to deliver is when it becomes a very
27:30
transparent and a very collaborative process.
27:34
And so give me some stats, some metrics, what were you able to
27:38
improve there? In this case it was a
27:41
combination of We reduced the days on hand, we reduced the one
27:49
of my favorite terms is slob slow moving obsolete slob,
27:54
right. It seems a little punchier than
27:56
just excess slob inventory. We were able to take out I think
28:02
it was 12% of the slob inventory in the first six months, which
28:08
businesses size inventory of this magnitude.
28:11
I mean that was that was substantial.
28:15
That was substantial. All right, let's do another one,
28:20
$80 million capital equipment manufacturer that had reached
28:24
its borrowing limit, meaning banks were saying no more lines
28:29
of credit for you. No, you're, you're tapped out.
28:32
You know, they go to the banker and they'd say, you know, the,
28:35
the, the business would say more please and the business, the
28:38
banker be like beat it. So in this case, this was really
28:43
interesting. It was a capital equipment
28:48
manufacturer and they had a lot of parts that were custom
28:53
fabrications, right? So this isn't you go to
28:56
Grainger, you go to master car, right?
28:58
These were fabrications that were built by metal workers
29:02
specifically for this application.
29:05
And like a client places an order and then they make it so
29:09
it's like built for one client. They had so their I would say
29:15
their base product line was effectively make to stock, but
29:20
it was, you know, these were big pieces of equipment, long lead
29:25
times. So they were effectively make to
29:27
stock, but the businesses customers could customize them
29:35
whether it's. Color or capacity.
29:38
So they're making a lot of these things in advance of a customer
29:41
ever requesting them so that they're there and ready for the
29:45
future order. Exactly right, because the lead
29:47
time of the fabric, you know, the the lead time of the
29:50
fabrication was long enough that if a customer placed an order
29:55
and they didn't have the fabrication, it would push out
29:58
that order another three to six months.
30:01
Oh wow. OK.
30:02
So in, in this case, what we found was, you know, in the
30:08
beginning of the year, the business had set their budget,
30:10
they'd set their annual operating plan.
30:14
You know, we're going to build and sell X number of pieces of
30:19
equipment over the course of the year.
30:21
So let's just say, let's say 10 a month just to make the math
30:25
easy. So the budget is we're going to
30:27
sell 120 of these next year. We're going to build and sell
30:32
10A month. So the the buyer right work with
30:37
the fabricator, you know, to put the the blanket PO in and they
30:41
started getting in, you know, ten of these a month.
30:46
The challenge or the rub was sales was not selling 10 a
30:52
month. Sales was selling seven a month.
30:55
They're eight a month, they're six a month.
30:57
So because, you know, there was just a complete disconnect
31:02
between, you know, sales and operations and supply chain.
31:06
So the buyer, right, the buyer had their marching orders and
31:11
just continue to buy and buy and buy.
31:14
And what we had to do was say, hey, we, we need to get
31:19
together. We need to recast the budget,
31:22
recast the AOP, align it with reality and consume what we have
31:29
on hand. And, and this was a really, this
31:33
was a really interesting case where the buyer said, OK, I'm
31:36
going to call the fabricator and cancel my P OS.
31:39
And I was like, whoa, whoa, stop.
31:42
Like is this the only person who makes these for you?
31:44
Yes. How long have they been making
31:47
them for you? Forever.
31:49
I'm like, well, what's forever? 20 years?
31:52
I'm like, OK, odds are that we are a significant portion of
31:58
their business. We need to have a conversation,
32:01
right? Because if you just call and
32:02
cancel, you're going to destroy this relationship and it's going
32:06
to come back and, and pipe you into behind six months from now.
32:09
I. I want to pause for just a
32:10
second. I, I, I want to hear how this
32:12
story unfolds. But the sort of human awareness
32:18
from you on that I think is really astute because it's easy
32:23
to sort of look at things in black and white.
32:25
And that one person who said, OK, I see what you're saying,
32:28
going to cancel this order. And you're like, hang on a
32:30
second. This is going to have a domino
32:32
effect. And this is not a bridge that we
32:35
want to burn. We don't want to, you know,
32:37
topple somebody else's business, especially since it's an
32:40
important part of our supply chain.
32:42
Let's schedule a conversation and see what we can sort of
32:45
untangle. I I just want to give voice to
32:47
that because I think that that's really a steward of you.
32:50
Thank you. It, it was, you know, for me
32:53
and, and this is, you know, I'd say part of the experience I got
32:56
from GE was GE was the £800 gorilla.
33:01
And when, you know, GE decided to take their payment terms from
33:06
45 days to 90 days, there was a lot of vendors that right, that
33:12
was very, very painful. And right, I was the, I was one
33:17
of the people who had to deal with that.
33:19
So when that, when the client who was over buying, when this
33:25
came up, it was kind of, I don't know, part of it was maybe an
33:30
opportunity to put some coin in the Bank of karma and say, Hey,
33:34
listen, right, we, we can't get this guy off at the knees.
33:37
We need to have a conversation. And, and it worked out well,
33:43
called him up and said, Hey, listen, I know we've been buying
33:45
ten of these a month. We have 30 more than we need
33:50
right now, which would say I don't need to buy anything for
33:53
three months, but I don't want to do that to you.
33:56
So instead of 10 a month, can we meet in the middle and say, hey,
34:02
we'll continue to take five a month, right?
34:04
We know we don't need them right now, but I don't want to shut
34:07
you down either. And, and we put a plan together
34:11
and it took 10 or 11 months to kind of get back to the point
34:17
where the client's inventory was balanced and the fabricator, I
34:23
mean the fabricator kept the doors open because we were able
34:26
to, we were able to work this out.
34:29
Great. What else I, I kind of, you
34:31
know, stopped you midstream, What else were you kind of
34:34
working on to right that ship there?
34:36
So this was another case where there were minimum water
34:44
quantities, you know, parts being bought that weren't
34:47
necessarily needed. Then in this case, a lot of the
34:51
parts that this business was buying were stock parts or
34:54
standard parts. And we called up one of the one
34:59
of the main vendors who was a a conglomerate and say, hey,
35:02
listen, we overbought, can we ship this back to you?
35:05
And they're like, yeah, we'll charge a 5% restocking fee.
35:08
And at that point, the business was like, OK, that's cool.
35:11
If I can get $0.95 of every dollar that I spent on that,
35:15
I'll take it. I'll take the haircut because
35:18
it's going to put some cash back in the bank and then help them
35:21
lower the utilization on their credit line.
35:25
Wow. Yeah.
35:26
And so by the time that your engagement with that group
35:31
wrapped up, were the banks talking to them again, taking
35:34
the phone calls? There were because what I found,
35:36
and this was kind of one of those aha moments along the way,
35:40
is the client was very intentional about.
35:46
Communicating. With the bank, in terms of these
35:49
are the actions that we're taking, these are the results
35:52
that we expect and then they delivered right on those
35:56
promises. So the bank, you know, the bank
36:01
saw that as you know the the bar were built a ton of trust with
36:06
that. OK, let's do one more.
36:10
A supplement manufacturer, $150 million supplement manufacturer.
36:15
Typically, they'd had very high fill rates, but for some reason
36:19
these fill rates started crashing.
36:21
What was going on here? How'd you help them?
36:23
So couple things. Going on here, you know, this
36:28
was I got the phone call because the operating partner said, hey,
36:34
listen, I'm getting calls from our customers.
36:37
They're screaming because we don't have product that we used
36:40
to never run out of, right, Something's changed, something's
36:44
different. And in this case, it was a
36:48
combination of two things. One was because they started to
36:53
get cash constrained, they could only buy so much raw materials
36:58
at any one time. And the second one, which really
37:02
was the the, the key aha moment was the forecast was literally a
37:08
black box. So this one individual who was
37:13
building the sales plan, he was a mushroom.
37:18
He, he kind of sat in the dark, worked at Excel, spit out a
37:22
forecast without any input from sales, I'm talking zero.
37:28
And as a result, he was projecting that, you know, the
37:35
sales of the C&D items were going up, the A&B items were
37:39
going down. And you know, the forecast, you
37:44
know, besides determining what they think they were going to
37:47
sell, forecast also determined what this business was going to
37:52
buy for raw materials. So because the forecast was bad,
37:56
because the forecast was a black box, the business was investing
38:00
what little cash they had into the wrong raw materials.
38:05
So it was almost a 1-2 punch where, you know, they didn't
38:10
have enough raw materials for the A's and B's, A products and
38:14
B products, and they had more than they ever needed for the
38:17
season DS. So in this case, it was really
38:22
blowing up that black box and saying, OK, we need to put a
38:27
tool together. We need to actively work with
38:30
the sales team to say what? What do you think you're going
38:33
to sell? Right?
38:35
Take take availability off the table.
38:38
Assuming you have all the product you need, what are you
38:41
going to sell? How much when?
38:44
And then the big thing was really being able to help the
38:50
sales team visualize the data. The prior planner, besides being
38:57
a black box, love to send people spreadsheets.
39:01
And I mean like just spreadsheets, like megabytes and
39:04
megabytes of data, but no insight.
39:07
So it was taking the forecast that we built and literally
39:14
visualizing it with the team so they could see, you know, either
39:19
item by item or product family by product family or brand by
39:22
brand, what the forecast was going to do.
39:27
And then they could adjust it to where they said, hey, I think
39:30
this is about right. So it was involving sales in the
39:33
process and visualizing the data to say, OK, we've got a good
39:39
forecast. We've got a forecast that sales
39:43
has confidence in. This is the forecast that we're
39:46
going to buy to and that that that that turned it around.
39:53
Can you recall? Any specific metrics like here
39:57
was their fill rate before they started having problems, here
40:01
was their fill rate when I came in, and then here it was the
40:03
fill rate when we kind of wrapped up, so we picked up.
40:07
Six points of fill rate and four months.
40:10
So on the AI Ms. they went from 82 to 88 in the first four
40:19
months and kind of hand in hand with buying what we needed and
40:26
getting rid of what we didn't. There was a $4.2 million
40:30
reduction in inventory. So freed up $4.2 million in
40:36
cash, which let the business reinvest into those A items and
40:41
B items. So, you know, first four months
40:43
it went up six points to 88. The next five months it got up
40:50
to 9393% fill rate. That's fantastic, you know.
40:58
Actually I want to do this one first.
41:00
What is probably the most common issue that you've seen in your
41:06
career when it comes to inventory planning?
41:13
The most common? Issue is.
41:18
People not talking. It's it's it's.
41:21
Communication. It's communication.
41:23
It is. Absolutely communication and
41:27
sometimes it's what's that book, Mars and Venus.
41:32
Men are from Mars, women are from Venus.
41:35
Sometimes it's like that where the supply chain is speaking one
41:39
language and the sales team is speaking a different language
41:42
and they're literally just talking past one another.
41:45
So that is the, the, the first barrier that we need to break
41:53
down and build a bridge is hey, let's get sales, operations,
41:58
finance, supply chain, let's get them all in A room and and
42:03
create that common language. So we're all talking about the
42:06
same thing. Is.
42:10
Would you also consider? That to be sort of the lowest
42:12
hanging fruit. Like if there are people
42:14
listening now and they're like, yeah, I've got some inventory
42:19
issues in my place, not sure where to start.
42:22
Maybe I can't afford the M Ryan group or I just want to see what
42:27
we can do on our own. Like what's kind of the low
42:29
hanging fruit that listeners might be able to kind of look
42:33
for and make a change themselves?
42:36
Is it that same like communication thing or, or is
42:38
there something else? No, I, I.
42:40
Think I would start with, you know, understanding what
42:45
inventory they have and if they could point to even if it's a,
42:50
you know, a half dozen items to start to say, hey, here are 6
42:55
items that we have too much. This is quantify it.
42:59
This is how much we have that's in excess and then work with the
43:05
sales team to say, hey, you know, is there a plan that we
43:08
can put together to try and create some of that demand?
43:12
So, so really, you know, I I think kind of back to the first
43:16
question, right? And God, we trust all of the
43:18
spring data. It's it's the supply chain or
43:22
the planner saying, Hey, these are products that were really
43:26
long inventoried on. And then to some extent kind of
43:31
going hat in hand to sales and say, I need your help, right.
43:35
I need your help and say, hey, of these.
43:40
Do you think there's anything that we could put a program
43:42
around that I found to be a lot more productive than somebody in
43:51
supply chain or finance, you know, barking at sales and
43:54
saying, go show this, right? That's typically, that's
43:58
typically counterproductive now. You've written a lot in
44:04
inventory management and forecasting.
44:06
You've written articles on these topics.
44:09
What's some of the things that people would find in your
44:13
publications? What are some of the insights
44:15
that you've shared there? Some of the insights are really,
44:21
and this is my, my favorite question and I'm I'm kind of
44:24
embarrassed that I haven't brought it up.
44:28
It's define the problem you're trying to solve.
44:33
There's. People and.
44:34
Most people, I think it's human nature, right?
44:36
They want to present solutions. Before they.
44:41
Really understand what the problem is that they're trying
44:44
to solve. So first and foremost, it's,
44:47
hey, let's define the problem that we're trying to solve,
44:50
right? That's step one.
44:51
Step 2 is let's quantify what it is worth to the business, how
44:56
much value we can create, how much cash we could unlock if we
45:01
solve this problem. And then once the problem's
45:04
defined, it's, hey, let's get the right people in the room to
45:09
start talking through in what ways we can solve this problem,
45:13
right? Because they're typically isn't
45:15
just one way, right? There's multiple ways.
45:18
So let's figure out in what ways we can attack this problem and
45:23
kind of work to to to crush that inventory iceberg.
45:31
Looking ahead. Mike, how do you see
45:34
advancements in tech or just industry trends in general,
45:39
reshaping supply chain management and the consulting
45:43
work that you're doing to support it?
45:45
So I think. As I mean, there's been, you
45:51
know, a ton of development and a ton of iteration the last couple
45:55
of years, especially around supply chain planning.
45:58
And I think it's a combination of while there is absolutely
46:03
more computing power out there and there's absolutely more
46:07
resources that can digest the data, I think we're the the
46:13
human element is, is taking that data, you know, taking that
46:18
information and being able to draw insights out of it, being
46:22
able to identify trends and then put plans in place to work those
46:27
trends. So I think we're seeing a lot
46:31
more of, you know, it used to be getting the data, crunching the
46:36
data like was that was a heavy lift and just a fraction of the
46:40
time was spent on creating insights.
46:43
What I'm starting to see is that that gathering and crunching
46:49
time kind of compressing so more time can be spent on developing
46:54
insights and developing plans to actions.
46:56
Those insights are you using. AI for any of this yet?
47:01
I am, yes. Yeah, there's a, there's a
47:04
couple of of AI tools that I use that help, I'm going to say do
47:10
some kind of course analysis or quick first pass analysis to
47:14
help validate some assumptions. So yes, I am OK.
47:20
How do you see that use of AI unfolding?
47:23
Are there, do you have ideas percolating on other ways to use
47:27
it, or are you hearing people talk about new tools that are
47:29
coming? It's a.
47:31
Combination of both it's I think 1 and this is just me.
47:37
I mean, one of the dangers is. When there is a large.
47:45
Analysis or really deep analysis, it's validating the
47:48
data, right? It's, it's still needing to go
47:51
back and say, OK, right, AI is not perfect, especially if it's
47:56
we're asking to do deductive reasoning.
48:00
We need to validate, we need to validate the data.
48:03
And I think the other danger is, you know, people taking the
48:09
output kind of blindly and just actioning it, right?
48:13
It it still needs a second look and there still needs to be
48:17
conversation around, hey, I've come to this conclusion.
48:21
This is what I recommend. Looking to validate hey is.
48:27
This the best path you know. Is the juice worth the squeeze?
48:32
Let's shift gears. Mike, want to hear about a
48:35
significant challenge that you've overcome in your life.
48:38
Maybe it was something personal. Maybe it was professional.
48:42
What was that? How'd you get through it?
48:44
What you learn. Oh, there's I was smiling
48:50
because I think I've been fortunate in that I've, I've had
48:56
a lot of those experiences where, you know, came out the
49:02
other side stronger. I think one of the challenges is
49:10
I remember the first big client that I landed started out as a
49:14
four week engagement, ended up turning into almost a 10 month
49:19
engagement, you know, solve the initial problem and they said,
49:23
Hey, Mike, can you help us with this?
49:25
Sure, right. Hey, Mike, can you help us with
49:27
this? Sure.
49:29
So it was fantastic, right? I'd like to say for 10 months I
49:32
was fat, dumb and happy, right? I was ringing the bell, I was
49:34
getting paid. And you know, when that
49:37
engagement closed, what I realized was, ha, I had.
49:45
I haven't talked with anybody in six months, right?
49:48
So, so, you know, and I had, I had put some savings away and,
49:54
and that first month it's like, OK, right, it's time to fire up
49:57
the business development engine. I feel good.
50:01
And the second month is, I'm starting to feel a little
50:05
uncomfortable because I don't know where Menix Dollar is
50:09
coming from. And then by the third month it
50:13
was, it was kind of, you know, it was panic mode.
50:17
Like a, you know, I've got a wife, I've got 4 kids, I've got
50:20
a mortgage, and I don't know where my next dollar is coming
50:25
from. And yeah, I think part of it
50:29
was, you know, because I had built up a network, it was a
50:35
little bit easier for me to kind of get that flywheel going
50:38
again. But that was, I would call that
50:44
a very expensive lesson learned that no matter how busy I am, I
50:50
still need to set time aside to continue to sustain
50:56
relationships and nurture new relationships and and keep keep
51:00
conversations going. So.
51:02
Having gone through that, two questions I want to ask.
51:06
The first one is how did you get through that emotionally, right?
51:11
First month, hey, it's OK, I've got some savings.
51:14
Second month, like third month, it's like alarm bells were
51:20
there. I don't know people.
51:22
In your professional. Network that you could sort of
51:24
commiserate with or get support from or you know, were you going
51:28
to kind of close friends and family members like how did you
51:31
get through that from an emotional, emotional perspective
51:34
so so. There were, I'll say 2
51:37
components. 1 was my wife. She is my rock.
51:42
She's awesome. I don't think I would have had
51:47
the courage to hang up my shingle if it wasn't for her.
51:51
And the other part is I belong to a group.
51:55
It's called the mastermind group.
51:58
It's the way I describe it. It's a, it's like having a
52:01
personal and professional board of directors and we help hold
52:06
each other accountable. So it was being able to bring it
52:10
to the group and talk through it and realize, yeah, I need to
52:15
keep talking to people, but then they help, they help hold me
52:19
accountable for seeing that through as well.
52:22
So definitely first and foremost my wife though, that's great.
52:28
I think people need to hear both of these points that you made
52:32
here because you know the the upside of business.
52:37
That's great. Like you said, you were ringing
52:39
the bell, you were getting paid. And then when there's those slow
52:42
periods, sometimes there's this tendency, natural human tendency
52:47
to sort of turtle up to withdraw within.
52:50
And when you've got somebody like your wife in your corner
52:54
that you can connect with for that emotional support during
52:57
those tough times, man, that is so key.
53:01
And then the other side of it, the professional support from
53:05
your mastermind group. I am a big fan of having that
53:10
peer support, whether it's like in a, you know, formal mentor
53:13
relationship or you know, a mastermind group or an
53:17
association, you know, like minded people together.
53:20
I think, you know, people who aren't doing that are are
53:23
missing out. Yeah, I I I agree.
53:27
And and it's interesting, you know, one of the things you said
53:29
about kind of turtling up, you know, I found that, you know,
53:36
especially in the early days of starting the firm, I think that
53:39
was kind of my default was the turtle up and I learned that.
53:49
The best way my. Wife can support me is by
53:53
challenging me when I turtle up and saying hey, listen right.
53:57
I've had three calls this week. 1 felt really good, one was OK,
54:01
one was a dud. And involving her in the process
54:07
to say hey, when it's going great, I want want to celebrate
54:12
and what it may not be going is great.
54:17
Being able to communicate that as well.
54:20
I love that. If if people sort of dozed off
54:24
for a second, rewind and re listen to that because I think
54:28
reaching out and establishing that connection with people in a
54:32
Safeway, you know, people that you feel comfortable with when
54:35
you're going through those difficult times is probably the
54:38
best medicine that I've found. It's probably the best medicine
54:41
I think exists. So having gone through that, the
54:45
second question I wanted to ask you is how do you approach
54:47
networking and business development now?
54:52
Great question. So I think there's a couple
54:56
things there. One is.
55:00
What I've I've learned. It's called the fishing line.
55:04
And being able to articulate, I help X with Y.
55:10
You know, in the very beginning I would say, hey, I'm a supply
55:12
chain guy and I would spend more time explaining what I didn't do
55:17
than what I actually did. So being able to say, hey, I
55:22
help middle market manufacturers and distributors solve supply
55:25
chain and inventory problems. And so it's making it easier for
55:29
people to understand, right, in what ways I can create value.
55:35
And when it comes to networking, it's understanding, hey, who's
55:40
my target audience, you know, who are kind of my people in
55:46
terms of, you know, people that I can be of service to or they
55:52
could potentially connect me with other people who are inside
55:56
my target market. So it's, you know, understanding
56:01
that we're all. Blessed with the same. 24 hours
56:05
in a day and spending it as wisely as we can will just help
56:12
create that return on investment.
56:14
I love it. Mike, for people listening,
56:19
what? Recommendation.
56:22
Would you? Have in terms of a podcast, a
56:25
book, a course, another resource that has been helpful to you may
56:31
be helpful to others so. One podcast that really helped
56:38
kind of shape my consulting business is called the Business
56:42
of Authority. Jonathan Stark, Rochelle Moulton
56:47
and it's it's really a combination of two things Now
56:51
Jonathan Stark, his approach is hourly billing is nuts, right?
56:55
He's a big proponent of fixed scope, fixed fees and Rochelle
57:00
Moulton, her focus is on building authority and personal
57:02
brand. So the business of authority is
57:05
one that that I would highly recommend.
57:08
And why? The big preference for fixed
57:11
fees because the way I look at it, when.
57:17
Somebody is billing by the hour. They've become.
57:22
Incentivized to make the work last as long as humanly
57:26
possible. And then, you know, the, the
57:30
billing by the hour person may think they're doing well, but
57:33
then the client is unhappy. And in that case, it's all about
57:38
it's all about price. It's not about value for me.
57:42
The way I approach things is, hey, let's start with how much
57:46
value we can unlock and how much value we can create.
57:50
And my approach is I never want a client to have to think about,
57:57
you know, is the meter running? If I pick up the phone or call
57:59
Mike, right? Is the meter running if I grab
58:03
30 minutes on his calendar? It's understanding that, you
58:07
know, and this comes back to ROI and the return on investment
58:10
that right, the investment in me and my firm is going to create a
58:15
multiple for the business. So by having a fixed scope
58:19
right, we understand and the expectations are clearly defined
58:23
in terms of what's in and what's out, and fixed feed means no
58:27
surprises. I like that.
58:31
Mike, what's your superpower? I don't know if I call it a
58:40
superpower. One thing I learned.
58:44
So a little factoid. I grew up on Long Island, New
58:48
York. Both my folks were cops.
58:50
My dad and my mom were cops. I think one of the things I
58:54
learned from my dad is he could speak with absolutely anybody,
59:01
absolutely anybody. So I think that's kind of one of
59:06
one of the skills that I that I got from him and I'd say the
59:11
other, I'll call it a. Strength.
59:14
I don't know if it's. Superpower levels, but I I'll
59:16
call it a strength is being able to see here kind of what seems
59:24
to be disparate data points or disparate pieces of information
59:30
and connect the dots to understand, hey, if I pull this
59:34
lever here or something happens here, this is what happens all
59:38
the way downstream. So you know, it's it's, it can
59:43
be connecting the dots. You can see the chess board.
59:46
I I can see the Yeah. I can see the chess board, yes.
59:51
No. How about daily?
59:53
Practices that either help get you started or keep you on
59:56
track. OK.
59:58
So. Kind of morning ritual.
1:00:03
I've developed exercising as a habit.
1:00:08
Even those days where I don't want to do it, I still do it
1:00:11
because it's a great way to just get moving.
1:00:13
And then the other thing, morning ritual is like I have a
1:00:18
list of, hey, this is what I want to get done today.
1:00:21
And and it's not just what I want to get done, but like this
1:00:26
is the next action I have to take to make progress on this
1:00:31
goal. So being very clear about what I
1:00:35
want to accomplish and that's the start of the day.
1:00:39
And then Evening Ritual is I read every night before I go to
1:00:44
bed, but that's how I kind of mentally shift gears and and and
1:00:51
help. Kind of.
1:00:55
Calm down. I don't know.
1:00:57
Calm down sounds extreme, but it helps me transition from my mind
1:01:00
going a mile a minute. Unwind.
1:01:02
Thank you, Anthony. Unwind.
1:01:08
You know. A lot of times in the moment
1:01:12
when we make a a mistake, what feels like a big mistake feels
1:01:16
crippling like this. This is going to have serious
1:01:19
ramifications when we can look back the little distance in the
1:01:22
rearview mirror. We actually look back at that
1:01:25
event with some gratitude because we realized that it
1:01:27
propelled us in a different direction.
1:01:30
Can you think of something that happened in the moment that felt
1:01:34
like, this is it? This is?
1:01:36
But now you look back and you're like, oh, I'm so grateful for
1:01:38
it. The.
1:01:40
The one. The one that the one that
1:01:43
immediately jumped to mind. I had I had a boss.
1:01:50
Yeah, I was probably God mid 30s and.
1:01:57
I had made a mistake it. Wasn't a, you know, no lives
1:02:01
were lost kind of mistake, but I fat finger the calculation.
1:02:07
He kind of blew up and I came home and I was I was I was mad.
1:02:13
I was mad at myself. I was mad at my boss.
1:02:17
And you know, my wife looks at me.
1:02:20
She's like what's wrong? And I explain it to her and.
1:02:24
And she looks at me and she goes, I think you learned
1:02:29
something today. And I'm like, what's that?
1:02:32
She goes, yeah, you made a mistake, right?
1:02:34
You owned it. I did.
1:02:37
But. How your boss?
1:02:38
Handled it you're. Learning.
1:02:42
Exactly how you don't want to respond or don't want to react.
1:02:48
And like, I went from, you know, kind of being red in the face
1:02:52
and upset to like cool hand mook.
1:02:54
I'm like, you know what, you're right.
1:02:57
I know I will never shoot anybody like that.
1:02:59
So that was one of those moments that that just absolutely stuck
1:03:04
with me. I love that and.
1:03:07
This is something that I've tried sharing with my kids.
1:03:09
I've got two boys who are 9 and 11 and, you know, sometimes they
1:03:15
witnessed or been on the receiving end of, you know,
1:03:17
somebody behaving poorly and they have a hard time sort of
1:03:23
understanding and coming terms with that, you know, moment of
1:03:26
injustice. And I say, you know, and it's
1:03:28
hard for them to understand at this age.
1:03:30
But I, I'm going to sort of put it in this context, 'cause I
1:03:33
think the point that you're making here is really powerful,
1:03:36
is that, you know, we're going to have the good fortune to
1:03:38
learn from a lot of positive role models, right?
1:03:42
Mentors, parents, friends who are doing things in a way that
1:03:48
wow, I want to emulate that. I like the way that they did
1:03:51
that. I, I like how they carry
1:03:53
themselves. I, I, I like their process
1:03:55
there. And then we're going to have the
1:03:57
opportunity to learn from people sort of on the other side of
1:04:00
that coin that are modeling a behavior that that does not feel
1:04:04
right to me. That is not the kind of person
1:04:07
that I want to present as and I'm going to rather than
1:04:12
fueling. All.
1:04:13
Of my energy in this moment into anger, which is what you
1:04:16
initially did, which is a normal human reaction.
1:04:18
I am now going to step back with modicum of gratitude for thank
1:04:23
you for teaching me the way that I don't want to be.
1:04:26
Yeah, right. No, let's see what is the
1:04:35
biggest. Growth lever that you've been
1:04:36
able to pull for your own business?
1:04:42
I think the biggest. Growth Lever has been being able
1:04:49
to articulate more effectively in what ways I can create value
1:04:56
in helping others understand what the firm does and who the
1:05:02
firm helps. You know that for me.
1:05:05
And that came from, you know, asking, you know, people I know
1:05:11
like and trust to say, hey, I want your feedback.
1:05:14
Here's what I'm putting together.
1:05:15
Here's how I'm trying to communicate.
1:05:17
Can you help me make this be as effective as possible?
1:05:21
And opening myself up to that feedback and their input, I
1:05:25
think has been, you know, one of the ways I've been able to
1:05:30
really articulate, hey. Here's where we.
1:05:35
Here's where we create a value now.
1:05:38
Just got one more question. For you, Mike, but before I do
1:05:40
it, I'm going to do 2 things. First, everyone listening, pause
1:05:44
for just a second. Open up that podcast app that
1:05:47
you're listening on. Go ahead and hit the follow or
1:05:49
subscribe button. And if you've got an extra
1:05:51
second, you could leave a comment or review.
1:05:54
It's a great way for you to continue to get more wonderful
1:05:57
content, great interviews like we've had today with Mike Ryan
1:05:59
from the M Ryan Group. And it helps the show out.
1:06:03
It helps a lot of other people find us too.
1:06:05
So Mike, last question I've got for you.
1:06:08
Actually, before I asked the last question, what's the best
1:06:10
way for folks to get in touch with you?
1:06:12
They're listening like this. Mike guy's pretty interesting.
1:06:14
How do I have some more conversations with him?
1:06:17
So there's my. Website which is M as in Michael
1:06:20
Ryan group.com, the M ryangroup.com or on LinkedIn.
1:06:27
And while Michael Ryan is a fine Irish name, it is far from
1:06:32
unique. So if you search for Michael
1:06:36
Ryan inventory, iceberg or Michael Ryan inventory, I will
1:06:40
be at the top of the list. Ah, OK.
1:06:43
And we'll find those correct links and we'll include them in
1:06:45
the show notes for people. So last question I have for you,
1:06:49
Mike, we had a good connection here.
1:06:51
Hopefully stay in touch. And a year from now, we
1:06:54
reconnect one year anniversary from today and you're
1:06:56
celebrating something big. What's that big thing that you
1:06:59
hope to be celebrating one year from now?
1:07:03
Big thing I hope to be celebrating one year from now is
1:07:07
some partnerships with some software companies where they
1:07:11
have the technology and I bring the people in the process and
1:07:15
really scaling and accelerating the implementation of sales and
1:07:21
operations planning processes. Is that something?
1:07:25
In the works or this is kind of a new idea that you're kicking
1:07:28
around. It's in the.
1:07:30
Works. It's been a conversation that's
1:07:32
in been in progress for a while. And I think it's figuring out
1:07:38
really how to create you are #1 is, you know, what are the
1:07:43
situations where this combination is most effective.
1:07:48
And then 2 is really defining, hey, this is the target.
1:07:51
This is the market that we can really create a ton of value
1:07:55
for. Michael Ryan from the.
1:07:58
M Ryan Group, I want to be the first to thank you for sharing
1:08:01
both your time and your story with us today.
1:08:04
I really appreciate it. Thank you, Anthony for having.
1:08:07
Me. I really appreciate it folks.
1:08:09
That's a wrap on. Another episode of the Inspired
1:08:11
Stories podcast. Thanks for learning with us
1:08:13
today.