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Pre-Exit Performance Uplift

Most businesses don't underperform at exit
because of the market.

They underperform because EBITDA, pricing discipline, and working capital haven't been fully optimised.

I work with owners and investors to improve performance before a transaction — so the business is valued on what it can truly deliver.

Discuss Your Situation →

Typically engaged 12–24 months before a transaction.

The Problem

Common issues
before exit.

These are not exceptional circumstances. They appear in most businesses approaching a transaction — and they are all fixable.

  • 01

    EBITDA below potential

    Pricing inconsistency, margin leakage and unrecovered costs are compressing reported EBITDA — and the multiple applied to it.

  • 02

    Inconsistent pricing across customers or branches

    Buyers see this immediately in due diligence. It signals poor commercial discipline and creates valuation risk.

  • 03

    Working capital consuming cash and suppressing enterprise value

    Bloated inventory, slow debtors and poor supplier terms reduce cash conversion — a direct drag on enterprise value.

  • 04

    Weak operational cadence and reporting discipline

    Without clear management systems, buyers apply a risk discount. Strong cadence creates confidence and supports a cleaner process.

Value at exit is not created in the transaction.
It is created in the 12–24 months prior.

What Actually Drives Value

Operational levers.
Not financial engineering.

The highest-impact improvements before exit come from operational discipline — not from restructuring debt or adjusting accounting. These are the levers that move EBITDA and compress working capital in real time.

Lever 01

Pricing Architecture

Customer-level margin analysis, price floor enforcement and freight recovery across the book.

Lever 02

SKU Rationalisation

Eliminating low-margin product tail, reducing inventory complexity and improving turns.

Lever 03

Working Capital Discipline

Inventory reduction, debtor terms, supplier negotiations and freight cost recovery.

Lever 04

Operating Cadence

Management reporting, KPI frameworks and branch accountability that buyers can see and trust.

What I Do

Not transaction advisory.
Hands-on intervention.

This is not a report or a set of recommendations. It is embedded, operational work with full accountability to the outcome — lifting EBITDA, improving cash conversion, and creating clarity for buyers.

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  • Lifting EBITDA through pricing and cost discipline
  • Improving cash conversion and working capital position
  • Removing operational friction visible in due diligence
  • Building management systems that create buyer confidence
  • Normalising EBITDA and closing the value gap before process
Outcomes

What this looks like
in practice.

$1.3m
→ $5.2m

EBITDA Expansion

500bps+

Margin Improvement

$12.6m
→ $9.3m

Inventory Reduction

17x

Best Exit Multiple

When I Get Called

Typically engaged
at a specific moment.

  • 01 Exit is 12–24 months away and performance is not where it needs to be
  • 02 Buyers will see through operational weaknesses in due diligence
  • 03 PE investor or owner wants to close the gap between reported and potential EBITDA
  • 04 Management team needs external operating discipline before presenting to buyers
Discuss a Situation →

Next Step

If exit is on the horizon,
the time to start is now.

30-minute call. No obligation. Scott will tell you directly whether there is a fit.

Book a Call →

Related thinking: the five silent deal killers and the real value of product rationalisation and pricing as a pre-exit value lever.