Meet Mitchell Bolnick of The Excel Consulting Group in Valley wide

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mitchell Bolnick.

Mitchell, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
After getting my MBA focused on finance and management information systems I joined a multinational company, GTE, and worked for them for just under 20 years. Last 12 years I helped run a $100m 800+ employee business unit as the effective CFO/Chief Administrative Officer. I was responsible for everything except for running the crews of people we deployed nationwide and in the Dominican Republic. That included all finance related functions, strategic planning, contract and administrative support, field support, safety (OSHA compliance), and quality (ISO 9001 compliance). After our unit was sold to Lucent Technologies they laid-off the majority of us.

At that point, my former boss and I purchased a defunct low-voltage electrical company and turned it around to $3.1m in sales with 23 employees before selling it in 2013. At that time I started the Excel Consulting Group and started supporting small and start-up businesses, mostly here in Arizona. I have mentored at ASU in their E&I program, at SeedSpot, at GCU and with the Arizona Business Council. I am also a mentor, EIR and SME in the State of Arizona’s Venture Ready program run by the Arizona Commerce Authority. I also published my first business book, Mitch’s Pocket Guide to a Great Business Plan in 2018. I am in progress to publish my second book, Mitch’s Framework to Business Development in early 2020.

In 2018 my wife retired from 35+ years in healthcare and joined the consulting firm. Together we now support several businesses as advisers and own stakes in several companies we have supported and/or funded as investors.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
The biggest challenge I have had personally with my consulting company was not listening to my own advice. I had no idea what being a consultant met when I started in 2013. As a result, my plan was more a set of goals that I worked towards every day. I had no idea if the goals made sense, and in some cases, I accomplished things that wound up having a little positive impact. So I had to step back and develop my plans, especially marketing for which I lack a strong personal skill-set.

In the larger world owning my low voltage business, the biggest issue was managing cash flow and vendors/stakeholders’ expectations. While working at the multinational I would say my biggest challenge, and the largest weakness was playing the corporate political game. It’s not my cup of tea and it ate me up at times.

Tell us more about the business.
This is from our website and I think it says it best: We are mentors, advisors and investors offering a dynamic mix of resources and opportunities for entrepreneurs, business leaders and other investors including books, free content, premium content, consulting services and investment opportunities. More specifically we offer support in planning, both business and financial, helping our clients become “shark ready” for the due diligence required to obtain any type of funding. We help people understand the value of their business, what drives value, and how to create that value through planning, process, training, hiring, etc. Finally, we help people understand how to generate true customer loyalty, not just customer satisfaction. Our goal is to help our clients manage the multitude of roller coasters they encounter as entrepreneurs and leaders so they can succeed in the long term.

Our business is about breaking the paradigm that 80-90% of small businesses will fail in the first five years. I also am a speaker and happy to speak about our experiences and my two books.

Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I don’t believe in business luck, but unexpected things happen no matter how well you have planned. I would say the worst luck we had was when our bank went bankrupt during the great recession and the FDIC called our loan. We had to sell our business and it turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me. Was that bad luck or good luck? It was karma, and businesses need to be able to be as prepared as possible to deal with it. I’d say overall throughout life the bad luck has been the best teacher while good luck just makes life a little easier.

Pricing:

• book is $9.99 hard copy and $3.99 e-book on Amazon

Contact Info:

• Website: https://businesssuccesssecrets.com/
• Phone: 602-686-0641
• Email: mitchell.bolnick@gmail.com
• Other: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mitchell-bolnick-3b294511/

Image Credit:
Breezing.com Pro metabolism tracker (one of the businesses we support as Board of Director Members)
Harvesting on our farm Greener Pacific in Oregon (we are partners and help manage this business)
Mobile CCTV system being installed (we are partners and help manage this business)
Two pictures of Mitch giving interviews
Mitch and Chris together

Suggest a story: VoyagePhoenix is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.