Mergers, Acquisitions, and Divestitures
Business Valuations
Liberating Cash
Reducing Costs
Marketing Planning and Analysis
Branding & Promotional Campaigns
Pricing Management
Business Process Improvement
KOEHLER Management Consulting has developed a proprietary Strategic Decision Process to help executives create and implement strategic moves that keeps the organization focused on a successful, productive course. The process helps the company concentrate on leveraging core resources and seizing new opportunities. Product lines will be optimized, new markets will be targeted, and an aggressive implementation plan developed to move the organization toward the next level of sales volume and profitability. A powerful, crisp business strategy is essential to long-term growth and achieving sustainable competitive advantage.
Mergers, Acquisitions, and Divestitures
Frequently our clients ask us to assist in executing their growth plans through the identification and screening of candidate companies for mergers and acquisitions. Our services include designing an M&A strategy; identifying, rating and ranking potential deal candidates; contacting personally and confidentially interested parties; hosting face to face meetings; managing the due diligence process; suggesting acceptable deal structures, aiding in the negotiating process; closing the transaction; and developing the integration plans. Conversely, KOEHLER Management Consulting can apply our capabilities in this area to also position and facilitate a client's business segments for divesture.
Business Valuations
While many investment banking firms use various techniques such as multiple of earnings, asset values, etc. to establish the value of a business, KOEHLER Management Consulting uses the only method that really matters: cash-flow. In the final analysis, business assets serve only one purpose - to generate cash. Cash that can be used to reinvest in more productive assets, pay salaries, and reward the stockholders with healthy returns. Companies with powerful cash-flows will survive and prosper while cash-starved companies are slowing moving toward bankruptcy. Business owners need to have a firm grasp of the intrinsic value of their company. Balance sheets show the net value of the assets but what is the market value of a privately held company? Our business valuation will define the market value of your company and serve as the key metric for future performance improving efforts.
Liberating Cash
Most companies have a significant amount of pent-up cash in excessive inventory, short payment terms, and idle assets. The principals of KOEHLER Management Consulting have served as top financial executives in both large and small companies gaining a wide-range of experience in corporate finance. We can quickly review your financial statements, payment terms, inventory management practices and recommend specific actions that will liberate cash.
Reducing costs
If left unchecked, costs tend to grow regardless if the top line sales grow or not. Many business costs are unnecessary. Costs grow with every new piece of equipment, new employee, and new product offering. Frequently, new customers add costs that exceed the margins gained from the increase in sales. Expenses are easy to add but difficult to make go away. Drawing from our strong financial background, of KOEHLER Management Consulting can objectively review your financial statements and operations to ask the hard questions about expenses. Which ones can be alleviated? Which expenses are cash-generating and which ones are cash-consuming? The result of this effort will be a specific list of expense items that should be quickly reduced or eliminated.
Market Planning and Analysis
KOEHLER Management Consulting will perform rigorous analyses of existing markets, key competitors, and underlying macro-trends. This information, coupled with our clients' experience, will be used to formulate an effective plan to grow sales through market penetration and product line expansion. Customer surveys are frequently used to precisely define the critical few customer requirements that matter and the client firm's perceived market rank versus the competition. Our survey response rates usually exceed 10%. This service is often the first place to start a consulting engagement to ensure that future improvement efforts are closely aligned with the requirements of the market your company serves.
Branding and Promotional Campaigns
Once a solid business and marketing plan are defined it's essential to communicate a powerful and clear message to the market. Customers and prospects must clearly understand your product offering and the compelling reasons to buy from your company versus your competitors. Crafting and delivering effective branding and promotional materials is a blend of art and science. KOEHLER Management Consulting has formed strategic partnerships with two of the best firms in the Midwest to fill this role. These firms provide the catalyst and means to implement the output of our Strategic Planning and Marketing efforts.
Pricing Management
One of the key components of marketing and a direct driver of profitability is pricing management. Effective pricing strategies implemented in a way that is readily accepted by the market can be one of the fastest ways for a company to improve performance. A truly great pricing strategy increases both sales volume and profit margins without putting customer relations at risk. Optimal pricing strategies are seldom taught in business schools. And, we've found that most of our clients have very basic pricing methods (matching the market, cost-plus, targeted margins, etc.) that leave many easy-to-reach profits unharvested. Developing an optimal pricing strategy is one of the most effective tools we have to deliver quick and significant results to our clients.
Business Process Improvement
Companies are a collection of processes that work together to produce a product or service for a customer. KOEHLER Management Consulting has strong capabilities in the area of Six Sigma and TQM-based process improvement methods that optimize processes to produce better outcomes with lower costs. We will direct a team-based improvement process to analyze existing systems, understand the critical few cause and effect relationships that matter, and generate an improvement agenda. Many times clients ask us to take an active role in implementing the system upgrades. This straightforward, yet effective approach has consistently provided immediate and measurable benefits for our clients.
Strategies that work.
