Testimonials

From family-owned businesses looking for help with succession planning, to industrial companies who need guidance on expanding capacity, our diverse clients come to SME Business Wealth Builder for the same reason: to achieve tangible, bottom-line results.

Since 1996, Phil Symchych has worked closely with mid-market companies to create enduring success stories.

Take a look at what some of our best clients have to say:

Larry Mything (Tim Hortons)

“I have gained more confidence in my abilities as a businessman. I always used to shoot from the hip; now I am more organized in my approach.”
Coaching & Mentoring, Leadership Development

“I still have the same number of employees as I did when I started working with Phil. But, my retention rate has increased. My key employees have an improved work ethic… in fact, they take great pride in their work. They treat the restaurant as their own business.”
Attracting & Retaining Talent, Building a Management Team, Leadership Development, Holding People Accountable, Business Growth

“Phil has connected me with an extensive professional network. Working with Phil definitely brings new names into the business card collection.”

Lorne Schnell (Morsky Industrial)

“Phil behaves and talks like an owner, not just a banker. I knew that he would help us institute big changes effectively.”
Change Management, Building a Management Team

“I know that Phil can strategize and I needed a sounding board. I have a background in finance, but we needed help with everything from HR systems and processes to strategic and implementation issues of acquiring another company,” explains Lorne. “He sits with us in our board room. He is a part of our team. I have found great value in my personal relationship with Phil, but I brought him on board because the company needed him. I appreciate his strategic skill set. He has become a big part of this take over.”
Coaching & Mentoring, Strategy Development & Implementation

“If Phil wasn’t working with us, I think we would still be in the early stages of the deal. But, instead he accelerated the process.”
Change Management

“Phil is a decision-maker. He has helped us to make time-effective and cost-effective decisions along the way.”
Business Growth, Strategy Development & Implementation, Systems to Improve Efficiency

“I appreciate Phil’s approach to business management decisions. I respect his skillset. He fills the gap that we had on our team.”
Building a Management Team, Coaching & Mentoring, Leadership Development

“One of the important benefits of having Phil on my side is that he constantly reminds me of the importance of delegation and using time wisely. As an owner, it’s easy to get bogged down with low-value activities. Phil keeps me and the team on task and on time.”
Leadership Development, Strategy Development & Implementation

Zlatan Fazlagic (Look Matters)

“I like learning from him. Phil’s product is something you pay for now, but you use it throughout your lifetime. It’s very valuable.”
Coaching & Mentoring

“We think differently about ourselves and our business. We find it easier to place value on our services. We couldn’t imagine quoting $50,000 for a website before, but now certain clients see that we can instill confidence… confidence that what we are providing is worth it. If you don’t sell it to yourself, and you’re not confident in what you’re providing, you won’t be able to do it, and the client won’t believe you.”
Change Management, Leadership Development, Coaching & Mentoring, Business Growth

“I think that some business owners feel alone. They need to balance their staff needs, client needs and their own needs… that’s the most valuable thing that Phil does; business owners need knowledge and security, and with Phil they know that they can always ask for advice when they need it.”
Coaching & Mentoring, Life Balance for Busy Entrepreneurs

“But we have also improved our services so that what we are providing to our clients is worth what they are paying. We didn’t just chalk up the price and that’s it.”
Operational Excellence, Business Growth, Value Pricing, Systems to Improve Efficiency

“We learned to be proactive about client needs. It helps to be professional peers with our clients, not just service providers.”
Leadership Development

“In the first year, we lost $60,000 over the previous year. And, the next year, we made $140,000 profit. So, we had Phil’s fees returned many times.”
Business Growth, Change Management

“He does actually provide you with the control and confidence you need – Phil is like a magic tool in your belt. That’s very useful.”
Coaching & Mentoring. Leadership Development

“It takes effort to change the way you do business. He’s a perfectionist and he’s going to go after you until you’re doing things well. It’s a lot of work, but it’s very beneficial. You have to buy in, in order for it to work.”
Strategy Development & Implementation, Coaching & Mentoring, Leadership Development

“He teaches you to handle crisis situations very well. He’s a business guru.”
Coaching & Mentoring, Leadership Development

Kelly Ozem (CA)

“Phil helped me to streamline my business. I hired Phil to help me work smarter, not harder. He brought organization and efficiency to my management style and I was able to reduce my working hours, while making more money.”
Life Balance for Busy Entrepreneurs, Leadership Development, Systems to Improve Efficiency, Operational Excellence

“The year before I started working with Phil was financially the worst year I ever had in business. The next year exceeded any other before it.”
Change Management

“Phil taught me that uncontrolled rapid growth is a recipe for disaster. A business should not experience expansion without the proper systems in place. ‘Systems’ is probably the most important lesson I learned. The most successful companies are successful because they rely on consistent and efficient systems.”

“They ensure that the same process is used time and time again and they document it.”
Systems to Improve Efficiency, Operational Excellence

“My ability to manage my time was another benefit of working with Phil. I am a more organized and efficient manager now.”
Leadership Development, Coaching & Mentoring

“On a personal level, Phil has helped me to grow as an individual. He’s got me reading business books and health books. I used to read, but the amount I read now… well, I owe that to Phil.”
Coaching & Mentoring, Life Balance for Busy Entrepreneurs

“I really respect Phil as a businessman and as a mentor.”
Coaching & Mentoring

Teresa Hensrud (Industrial Scale)

“When I met Phil, something clicked between us. I believed in what he had to say. He offered answers. He gets you to see your own business in a new light, from a new perspective, in a different way.”
Coaching & Mentoring

“Phil has helped me grow as a professional. He has shown me how to work on my business, not in my business.”
Coaching & Mentoring, Leadership Development

“Our ISO certifier said that he is amazed that we’re a little company that is run like a big company. The way we’re growing, we will be a big company soon.”
Systems to Improve Efficiency, Operational Excellence

“We are more time-efficient, we follow deadlines.”
Leadership Development, Strategy Development & Implementation, Systems to Improve Efficiency, Operational Excellence

“We didn’t take holidays as a family. I wanted us to have a life, and now we do. We have taken two weeks for holidays every year for the last seven years. Our family has definitely benefited.”
Life Balance for Busy Entrepreneurs

“Our financial worth has increased substantially. Phil showed us how to set up a holding company and a family trust. We didn’t know that those were options. Our accountant was good, but he only ever directly answered our questions. He never made suggestions, and that’s what Phil does for us.”
Structuring your Business to Create and Protect Wealth

“He’s not afraid to tell you the things you don’t want to hear. He’s honest.”
Coaching & Mentoring

Doug Yaremko (Banker at Scotiabank)

“A lot of small clients can’t afford an HR manager or a CFO, or they need help with a specific project. Phil meets their requirements.”
Strategy Development & Implentation, Business Growth

“We trust him. We regularly refer Phil as an important resource for our clients and potential clients. He provides sophisticated financial consulting and HR management.”
Financial Mastery, Strategy Development & Implementation

“He is a coach, mentor and consultant in the truest sense of the words. For him, the client is the main focus and he always delivers high quality.”
Coaching & Mentoring

“We wouldn’t be doing some of the business we’re doing if it weren’t for Phil. He helps us indirectly with each of our clients. If he can show them how to develop their wealth, then we can help them manage it.”
Structuring your Business to Create and Protect Wealth, Strategy Development & Implementation

Ken Pickering (Globe-Elite)

“Staff count is not a good measure of success at this point in time. But, our staff is sticking around which is a change from before.”
Attracting & Retaining Talent, Building a Management Team, Business Growth, Holding People Accountable

“Immediately, Phil helped us organize our budgets, prepare necessary presentations and develop processes and implement them to help us run the company more smoothly.”
Business Growth, Financial Mastery

“For us, hiring Phil was about getting organized as opposed to growing.”
Strategy Implementation & Development

“On a personal note, I think I am more at ease with my ability to focus on the company and my stress level has gone down because we’re in a better position than we were two years ago.”
Life Balance for Busy Entrepreneurs, Coaching & Mentoring, Leadership Development

“Phil has helped me to focus on parts of the business that are now improving the overall performance of the company.”
Coaching & Mentoring, Leadership Development

“Phil helps me because he pushes me. He gives me deadlines, and I strive to meet them because he has the ability to motivate me.”
Coaching & Mentoring, Leadership Development

Monte Stewart (McCrank Stewart Johnson Law Firm)

“What our process with Phil did was give us an understanding of the difficulties we were facing and gave us a clear direction. The business is probably running more smoothly.”
Strategy Development & Implementation

“Since working with Phil, each partner is moving toward doing the work he/she wants to do. For some of us, it created clarity. Some people are changing their own directions.”
Life Balance for Busy Entrepreneurs, Coaching & Mentoring

“I have quite a bit of respect for his talents. Until you start to work with him and get to know him, you really don’t understand the depth of his knowledge and abilities.”
Coaching & Mentoring

“A lot of planners work more on the surface. Phil is more specific. He helps you develop your business philosophy, not just a business plan.”
Business Plan

“He knows how to coordinate life goals with business goals.”
Life Balance for Busy Entrepreneurs

Andrew Rathwell (Zapwell Communications)

“I think the biggest action (and the most important one) was the first step that Phil took. He had us fill out a series of questionnaires, as a diagnostic tool. That was in and of itself a fantastic experience that had great value before Phil even touched them. It forced us all to think in a way that we hadn’t thought before.”
Assessments, Strategy Development & Implementation, Leadership Development

“After the first session, we already saw where the return on investment would be. And the return is more and more apparent with each session.”

“He’s been accommodating to make sure our business doesn’t implode while we’re working on other things. He’s been very patient with us.”
Coaching & Mentoring