Operations Advisory
Turn the investment thesis into operating performance.
Acquiring the business is only the beginning. Lasting Progress works with sponsors and portfolio leadership before and after a transaction to understand operating reality, accelerate performance improvement, address leadership or execution gaps, and build a stronger business for the next stage of ownership.
Financial diligence tells part of the story. The operation has to support the thesis.
A business can present attractive financial performance while carrying operating risks that become visible only after close.
An independent operating review can help assess the organization behind the numbers: leadership capability, capacity, systems, customer performance, cost structure, supply chain, capital requirements, operating discipline, and the ability of the current organization to execute the proposed growth plan.
The objective is not to duplicate financial or legal diligence. It is to answer a different question:
Does the business actually have the operating capability to deliver what the investment thesis assumes?
Where appropriate, the review can also identify early opportunities for revenue improvement, cost reduction, footprint optimization, organizational change, system investment, or leadership intervention before the first 100-day plan is finalized.
Stabilize what needs attention. Then improve the economics of the business.
Some portfolio companies need structure and visibility. Others need intervention.
The work may involve restoring operating control, improving customer performance, rebuilding leadership accountability, increasing throughput, optimizing supply chain, resizing the organization, consolidating facilities, expanding capacity, improving pricing and product economics, or creating the systems required to support growth.
The emphasis is on both sides of the P&L. Grow revenue where the market supports it. Improve cost and productivity where the operating model allows it.
Lasting Progress brings experience with business turnarounds and substantial operating improvement achieved in months rather than multi-year transformation programs. Where the situation requires deeper involvement, the work can move directly from assessment into execution rather than stopping at a recommendation deck.
Representative results achieved in prior executive operating roles.
Performance problems do not always wait for the executive search.
Leadership transitions, post-close disruption, underperformance, or a difficult turnaround can create a period when the portfolio company needs experienced operating leadership immediately.
Lasting Progress can step into an interim executive role with an agreed mandate to stabilize the business, lead the management team, establish performance visibility, make necessary operating decisions, and begin executing the improvement plan.
That gives the sponsor time to conduct the right permanent search without leaving the business waiting for leadership. The interim role can also help clarify what the permanent organization and leadership profile actually need to look like before the position is filled.
The objective is movement without waiting.
Value creation becomes more powerful when the businesses begin working as a system.
For sponsors with multiple businesses, add-on acquisitions, or increasingly complex platforms, the opportunity may extend beyond one portfolio company.
Lasting Progress can help identify where operating practices, systems, metrics, leadership structures, supply chains, commercial capabilities, or physical footprints should be shared, standardized, consolidated, or deliberately kept separate. That can include integration of add-on acquisitions, consolidation of facilities, greenfield or internal expansion, common performance reporting, shared operating practices, and clearer visibility into portfolio-company performance.
As the investment approaches its next transaction, the focus can shift again:
Is the business easier to understand, easier to manage, less dependent on individuals, and capable of sustaining the performance being presented to the next owner?
A stronger operating system does more than improve the current year's EBITDA. It can make the business itself more credible, scalable, and transferable.
Operating value can be created at every stage of the investment.
Before close, understand the operating reality. After close, accelerate the plan. When leadership is missing, step in. Across the hold period, build a stronger and more valuable business.