Why strategic consulting can make difference in a SME too?

A good reason to work on an appropriate corporate strategy in a serious and forward-looking manner is to set up a healthy and robust growth, based on equally clear foundations that are reflected in the whole organization and in all the stakeholders.

Appropriately communicating one’s brand, one’s values and strenghts is not trivial excercise. Often the entrepreneur, engaged in many daily activities, loses sight of the main road: the result is to make a lot of effort and to conclude little in terms of long-term results, not fully grasping the cmpany’s potential.

Do you think that it’s just good talk?

To show you that it’s not just about words, we bring you some concrete examples of companies that, through our support, have completely revised their medium- long term strategy and also seen their results radically change.

Obviously we don’t write names, but we will simply indicate them with X, Y and Z.

1st case: Company X in the precision mechanics sector with a turnover of around 15 Mio €.

X had an important domestic market, but it was plagued by costant service and product quality problems. On the one hand, these problems totally eroded its margins and on the other one they prevented it from seizing international growth opportunities. The entrepreneur and management had to deal with constant visits from customers angry about the lack of performance in addition to their important claims for the damages they has to suffer.

Main actions taken:

  • Simplification of the products portfolio and concentration on high-end products (with higher margins);
  • Reorganization of the company, reduction of the number of decision-making levels, personnel training and introduction of a merit-based approach for promotions, bonuses and salary adjustments;
  • Strengthening of the brand image through targeted technical communications, participation in trade fairs and company internationalization.

 

Some of the results achieved after 7 years of work by X with our engineers:

  • Quality complaints reduced by 95% compared to 5 years ago;
  • Annual turnover exceeding 32 million Euros;
  • EBITDA higher than 20%.

2nd case: Company Y in furniture sector with a turnover around 6 Mio €

Y was characterized by a fat costs structure, with large fixed assets, a high bank exposure, a slow and tortuous production flow and significant operational inefficiencies. All this made the company at risk of bankruptcy.

Main actions taken:

  • Company assets strengthening;
  • Reorganization to the production flow in oder to streamline, simplify and – where possible – automate it;
  • Identification of the target market segment and strengthening of products develoment/design for the identified targets.

Some of the results achieved after 4 years:

  • Annual turnover exceeding 9 milion Euros, with the prospect of reaching 12 milion in other 2 years time;
  • Bank debt reduced by 50%;
  • Labor productivity (i.e. added value created for each employee man-hour) icreased by about 90% compared to 4 years earlier.

3rd case: Company Z in distribution sector with a turnover around 20 Mio €

Z was a precision products distribution company with a well-know brand in its sector and characterized by good profiability, but only a domestic presence and low growth rates. The entrepreneur’s ambition was to grow, doubling turnover and internationalizing the geographical presence of the company. Both the entrepreneur and the management had no idea where to start such an ambitious growth process from.

Main actions taken:

  • Analisys of company strengths and weaknesses;
  • Identification of opportunities and threats on the competitive scene;
  • Strengthening of the corporate structure with the missing skills and definition of an ambitious traingin plan to support growth process;
  • Identification of 5 target companies between Italy and the rest of Europe for potential acquisition process;

Some of the results achieved after 5 years:

  • Annual turnover exceeding 35 Million Euro (also through the acquisition of 2 out of the 5 potential target companies);
  • Achievement of EBITDA values always higher than 20%;
  • Geographical presence of the company sites extended to France and Germany.

What can ICT do for you?

Having a chat with the ICT engineers costs nothing and can allow to evaluate together the company’s growth and/or transformation aspirations and the most appropriate tools to achieve medium-long term objectives.

Do not hesitate to contact us by writing to info@consulting-trading.com or by calling to +39 0121 376811.