What This Looks Like in Practice
Every situation is different. These are three that show up more than most.
When Cash Gets Tight Faster Than Anyone Expected
Professional services firm · High fixed costs · Declining revenue
The Situation
Revenue was declining and cash was becoming harder to manage each month. Leadership was making decisions reactively — without clear visibility into how much runway they actually had.
What Changed
We built a 13-week cash forecast mapping every inflow, obligation, and cost across the business. Leadership could see exactly where cash was leaking — and had a credible, forward-looking picture to work from.
The Result
Cash stopped being a daily surprise. Decisions that had been delayed for months started getting made. The business had a path — and the numbers to back it up.
Growing Revenue Wasn't the Problem. Knowing Which Revenue Mattered Was.
Retail business · Multi-category · Profitability plateau
The Situation
Top-line revenue looked fine. But profitability had stalled and the owner couldn't identify why. Certain categories were consuming resources without generating meaningful margin — and nobody had separated the two clearly.
What Changed
We rebuilt reporting around category-level margin — contribution by product line after direct costs. The picture that emerged was clarifying and uncomfortable in equal measure.
The Result
The owner exited underperforming categories, accepted lower volume, and improved margin meaningfully. The business got simpler. Decisions about where to invest became significantly clearer.
Three Levers. One Quarter. Margins That Finally Made Sense.
DTC brand · $8M revenue · Margin +
cost structure
The Situation
The business was growing but margins weren't following. Marketing was running across multiple states with no visibility into which markets were actually profitable after delivery costs.
What Changed
We restructured product mix around highest-margin SKUs, renegotiated supplier terms, and cut SG&A line by line. Then built a contribution margin analysis by state — factoring in delivery costs — and reallocated marketing toward markets where the full economics worked.
The Result
Gross margin improved 3 points. SG&A came down. Marketing got more productive on a tighter budget. The business stopped chasing volume in the wrong places and started building profit in the right ones.