When performance needs more than another plan.
When a portfolio company misses plan, everyone has an explanation. We go below the board pack, test those explanations against operating data and field practice, and help management act on what holds up.
The numbers show the gap. We find what’s driving it.
A variance is a fact. The reason given for it is a hypothesis. We compare management's explanation with what invoices, margins, customer activity, people, and operating routines actually show.
Stubborn Performance Gaps
Separate margin and productivity problems from overlooked revenue opportunity and unused capacity, testing the available evidence rather than accepting convenient explanations.
Acquisition Integration
Align newly acquired businesses around clear operating visibility, common expectations, and reliable execution.
Leadership & Personnel Accountability
Assess management capability, role fit, organizational dependencies, and difficult personnel decisions postponed by loyalty or politics; help leadership act appropriately.
Platform Growth & Replication
Build management routines and performance standards that work across locations and new acquisitions.
Several branches behind plan. Every explanation different.
The shortfall is visible. The cause is still disputed.
Several branches are below plan. The sponsor has reports showing the variance, but no agreed explanation for it.
Local managers cite weak demand. Sales cites pricing pressure. Operations cites labor shortages. Each may be partly right. None has been verified.
We would compare available invoices and margins, quote conversion, repeat-customer activity, staffing hours, and capacity by branch, then examine the work firsthand and interview the people involved. Missing or unreliable data would be flagged, not guessed around.
Proposed: identify which explanations withstand scrutiny, what remains uncertain, the financial implications, and the decisions required of sponsors and management. Any corrective work would be separately scoped, measured, and handed back.
From investment priorities to operating reality.
Agree on the problem, authority, access, and measures before entering the business. Investigate, act with management, report exceptions, and leave clear ownership behind.
Establish the Mandate
Agree on access, decision authority, operating targets, governance, and success measures.
Expose the Constraints
Use imperfect but available data alongside field and management interviews to test the root causes.
Embed & Execute
Coach, confront, and support management while implementing targeted operating changes.
Measure, Report & Transfer
Show what changed, what can be attributed to the intervention, what remains unresolved, and who owns the ongoing work.
Better intelligence without another major systems project.
Start with the records already in the business: invoices, job mix, staffing, capacity, customer patterns, and margins. Call out missing or unreliable inputs. New software is not the first answer to an unclear operating problem.
Built for the field. Accountable to the investment thesis.
- Sponsors
- What is off plan, why it matters financially, which decisions require sponsor attention, and whether the intervention is working.
- Management
- Named owners, a manageable operating scorecard, and a weekly rhythm to keep corrective work moving.
- Scope
- Start with one defined operating challenge; successful execution may justify additional portfolio assignments.
Let's get to the heart of it.
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Discuss a Portfolio Company