TESTIMONIALS

We worked with John on how best to position the business for growth over the next few years, covering the following:

• Identify the business objectives
• Refine our product offering
• Identify the target audience
• Develop the USP for competitive advantage
• Financial objectives to bring the company to the next stage
• Advice on how to best approach Local Enterprise Board and Enterprise Ireland for support
• Assistance in putting together a corporate business plan to drive the key objectives of the business in 2019 through to 2021

John identified that one of the company directors was underutilised within the organisation and had many clear skills that could be brought to the fore.

Having been out of the workplace for some time, the Director had not realised her skills through years of experience across many industries would be a natural fit for many of the key roles within Trrend.

John encouraged her to consider getting involved in the next phase of development of Trrend and to her credit she has come on board for 2 days a week taking on the responsibility of Business Development and Marketing.

Without John’s interjection, she might have stayed on the sidelines of the business. Her involvement has been invaluable to the organisation’s focus, energy and direction since she has made that commitment.

John was able to see the talent and encourage her to take that personal step, which has meant the management team now has much more strength in areas that are essential in the coming 24-36 months.

John Collins was a Trustee of Project arts Centre for 8 years, the final 3 as Chairman. John was appointed at a time of change of the organisation, with a new Artistic Director and the beginning of the recession. 

John led the organisation nimbly through this challenging time, developing an active Board of Trustees and supporting an under-resourced executive to deliver an ambitious, world-class arts programme in Project’s home in Temple Bar and farther afield. John’s strategic brain and extraordinary network were invaluable to the organisation’s continued success.

Johns support of Opening.io has been invaluable: trust, knowledge, networks, enthusiasm and mentorship. From hands-on strategic business development support and guidance to operations, fundraising and more, John has helped shape an idea into a real company. Johns patience, diligence and instinct translate into real actionables for growth. John is a CEO ally, having helped navigate critical situations within the growth of our company, both internal and external (from performance issues to client or investor relations). John works with people he believes in and that is truly invaluable to have while navigating the ups and downs of building a company. 

John shows up. I think this is the best way of describing the value he brings. His experience, background and desire to constantly learn, his absolute unique ability, I’d nearly call it a super power, to identify potential synergies and connect relevant people together, all of these have translated into concrete propellers for our business. John got us our first client, he was our lifeline between funding rounds and has been a friend and a cheerleader when we forgot to take a moment to celebrate our victories. 

TEKenable is on a significant growth trajectory and John is one of the key influencers in helping us develop our growth strategy and objectives. Johns experience in building his own business but also his engagement with other businesses brings the experience and perspective needed to address and target key growth objectives.

John completed a review of our business and identified areas that needed addressing which would hamper our growth. We acted on this feedback and as a result, greatly improved some of the critical areas of the business that were holding us back.

John came on board at an early stage in the development of UnifyOrdering. From the outset John was able to understand the nature of our business and create a strategy for growth, and then had a great network of contacts to help ensure success. I would highly recommend John’s services to companies starting out, his experience at this point, was invaluable in helping us to avoid many pitfalls and also to understand the areas that we should be focusing our time and energy on.

John has been advising the Singlepoint management team for over 4 years now.  What started as some pointed advisory queries quickly developed into him taking on a more formal Non-Exec Director role within the company. In that period he has helped the management team in the setting out of our strategic direction and the establishment of robust operational structures.   Initially, it was difficult to see the immediate returns around the restructuring but it is now obvious the recommendations delivered huge value to the business.  During this time John has always been on hand to support the management team across both Strategic and Operational advice but more importantly, he has been and continues to be a Mentor to each of the management team members.  Without him, success may have come to us but we are all agreed it would have come to us quite a bit slower.