Ian Nairn / July 3, 2025

[Webinar] The Era of Tariffs – June 19, 2025

Tariffs continue to impact the cost structure and profitability of businesses across both the U.S. and Canada. With the right strategies, you can reduce exposure, maintain competitiveness, and protect your bottom line.

Watch Schooley Mitchell’s free, value-packed webinar where we’ll break down:

  • The current tariff landscape and what’s likely ahead
  • How tariffs are affecting supply chains and pricing
  • Actionable steps to mitigate cost impacts
  • Tools and services available to help you navigate these challenges

Who Should Watch: Business owners, CFOs, operations managers, procurement professionals, and decision-makers concerned with cost management and global trade.

Keana Morrison / November 28, 2024

Award Recipient, Schooley Mitchell Conference 2024

On behalf of all of Schooley Mitchell, congratulations to Adam D. Smith for winning our most EPP clients overall in 2024, most facility supplies billings in 2024, good news contributor, special recognition splash page/online presence, most EPP clients obtained in 2024, and most clients obtained in 2024 awards! Thank you for your continued hard work, Adam!

Cal Wilson / December 20, 2023

Awards Recipient – Schooley Mitchell Annual Conference 2023

At Schooley Mitchell’s annual conference in Montego Bay, Jamaica, Adam Smith received the following awards:

  • Rookie of the Year (2023)
  • Good News Contributor (2023)
  • Special Recognition
  • Special Recognition – Publicity
  • Online Presence

Congratulations Adam and thank you for all the hard work you do!

Cal Wilson / March 13, 2023

Are you harnessing the full power of the “network effect”?

During times of economic uncertainty, clients depend on strategic business advisors more than ever. Chances are, you’re doing all the right things; you understand your client’s business, you have optimized your suite of products and services, and you have provided excellent strategic advice across your domain of expertise. So, what else can you do to provide even more value and build stickier relationships?

Are you familiar with the power of the “network effect”?

The concept of the “network effect” originated in the tech space, and refers to the phenomenon where the value of a product or service increases as more people use it. Take social media, for example. Platforms like Instagram or TikTok became more valuable as more users joined and contributed content, despite more niche beginnings.

The network effect also creates economies of scale for companies with large user bases, allowing them to leverage their size to reduce costs and increase profits.

Our personal and business networks work the same way.

We all know it’s impossible to be all things to all people. We learned that in our Marketing 101 class!  That’s why growing a diverse and highly curated personal and business network can be so valuable to your success.

The value of your network increases as you connect with more people. During a job search, the more people you know, the more likely you are to be connected to someone hiring or be provided with a good reference.  As a business owner, a diverse network is more likely to help you get new customers or referrals or connect you with the right subject matter expert.

Have you recently made the effort to expand and diversify your networks?

While we all serve as experts in our unique business domain, have you explored tapping into a broader set of experts that can complement your expertise and provide even more value to your clients?  New connections can instantly unlock resources, insights, and revenue opportunities for your clients with just a simple introduction.  I know we all tend to network with the “usual suspects” like accountants, attorneys, and financial advisors. But have you explored some more “under the radar” experts like:

  • Industry associations and trade groups that can help our clients while keeping us up-to-date on industry trends, regulations, and best practices. These organizations can also provide networking opportunities with other businesses in the industry as we build our expertise.
  • Tech-savvy marketing and advertising agencies that help our clients execute creative marketing campaigns, including digital marketing, social media marketing, and advertising. These agencies tend to work with clients on a high growth trajectory.
  • Human resources consultants that help clients with talent management, including recruitment, training, and performance management. These consultants can help navigate an extremely tight labor market for our clients.
  • Cost procurement experts that help our clients with specific pricing knowledge and expertise in a particular industry or cost category. These experts identify new vendor options, unlock new savings opportunities, and track changing market dynamics.

As a Schooley Mitchell franchise owner, I work across almost every industry. Our cost categories apply to virtually every business. As a result, I am constantly engaged in conversations across a broad set of business topics, trends, and challenges.  I am constantly looking to my network of experts and clients to help me address their diverse set of business needs.

How about we set up a call to discuss how we could collaborate and collectively harness the power of our unique personal and business networks?

Cal Wilson / January 27, 2023

Can indirect cost procurement help you weather the approaching storm?

Here’s a universal truth – difficult economic times often lead to difficult choices. The choices can be even harder if you’re a business owner or manager. With your company and your staff relying on your leadership, the stress relating to financial decisions can be overwhelming.

Auto dealerships may be among the many businesses to feel the challenges posed by inflation, global supply chain issues, and consumer hesitancy. With demand running low, netting less revenue for dealerships, you may feel the pressure to reduce service offerings or even cut staff.

Rather than making a decision that could potentially hurt your business in the long run, consider another, more strategic method of reducing your costs.

How do you cut costs without hurting your business?

The answer is simpler than you think. Instead of cutting staff or services, focus on your indirect operational expenses. Indirect expenses are costs not associated with your cost of goods sold or labor; this includes cost categories like telephone and internet, utilities, waste disposal, facility supplies, uniforms, and more.

Indirect cost procurement is the process of finding sustainable reductions to these costs; meaning they increase your bottom line without impacting your business’ operations.

Altogether, indirect costs can represent around 15% of your dealership’s annual budget. In my experience, many business owners either don’t have the time to assess these expenses or don’t have the knowledge or tools to look for ways to reduce them.

Your dealership might be overpaying.

My business, Schooley Mitchell, has been working with businesses and organizations across North America for over twenty years, reducing their operational expenses across thirteen different cost categories. We’ve found that many businesses don’t even know they’re overpaying vendors. Our indirect cost procurement process helps reduce these expenses by an average of 28% – which can amount to some significant savings.

For auto dealerships, one of the expenses we find needs optimizing quite frequently is their telecom and waste disposal spend. Recently, we helped deliver roughly 39% in savings for one business’ waste fees, and for another, achieved annual savings of $10,000 in waste disposal and telecom fees.

Best practices in indirect cost procurement.

So you want to begin cutting indirect costs, but where do you start? Here is my five-step recommendation for indirect cost procurement that any dealership can follow:

  1. Identify and track indirect costs: It is important for your dealership to have a clear understanding of what your indirect costs are and how they are incurred. This may involve setting up systems to track and allocate indirect costs to specific projects or activities.
  2. Set budget and cost control measures: Businesses can set budget and cost control measures in place to help manage indirect costs. This may involve setting limits on spending or implementing processes to review and approve indirect cost expenditures.
  3. Negotiate with suppliers: Dealerships can negotiate with suppliers to get the best possible prices on indirect costs. This may involve seeking out new suppliers, negotiating contracts, and leveraging the business’ purchasing power.
  4. Implement cost-saving initiatives: Businesses can implement cost-saving initiatives to reduce indirect costs. This may involve streamlining processes, using technology to automate tasks, or consolidating vendors.
  5. Monitor and review indirect costs: It is important for you to regularly review and monitor indirect costs to ensure that they are being managed effectively. This may involve conducting cost-benefit analyses, comparing costs to industry benchmarks, and identifying opportunities for cost reduction.

In conclusion…

Admittedly, these five steps can be time consuming and feel a bit daunting. However, 15% or more of your dealership’s annual budget is no small thing, and with an ever-changing economic environment, that piece of the pie could go from important to critical in the blink of an eye.

Your time is valuable, and so is your budget. If you don’t want to choose between cutting costs and doing the work you love, I’d be happy to arrange a time to talk about how Schooley Mitchell can do a risk-free analysis of your indirect costs. The best part? Our fees are self-funded from a portion of the savings we find – meaning, if we don’t find savings, our work comes at no cost.

Please a time to talk at: https://www.schooleymitchell.com/asmith/#Contact