For private equity operating partners
After the deal closes, see where the money leaks. Then fix it.
New owners inherit an operation that runs on a few people's memory and a stack of software nobody fully mapped. That is where we do our best work. One Workflow Spec shows you where money is leaking between systems and hands, which steps only exist to make up for other steps, and what can be automated without breaking what the crew does well. Then we fix the problem costing you the most, and keep going down the list.
What costs you the most
Post-acquisition integration. The deal is closed and the operation you bought runs on habits nobody wrote down. Before you can change anything, you need to know how the work really moves, and the people who know are busy doing it.
A value creation plan that needs real numbers. The plan assumes margin, cash and capacity gains. Those gains live in specific workflows: work that goes unbilled, invoices that go out late, jobs that need a second trip. Nobody has measured them.
Systems that do not talk across portfolio companies. Each company came with its own field app, its own accounting package and its own spreadsheets. Reporting to the owners means somebody rebuilding numbers by hand, every month, at every company.
Key people who are the system. The knowledge that makes the business run sits with a few long-tenured people. If one of them leaves after the deal, it leaves with them.
How we work with you
The operating partner sets the priority; the portfolio company's leadership owns the change. We come to the company's site for the Workflow Spec, up to five business days, and follow the work where it happens: observation, up to 12 interviews and a baseline measurement. The issues come back ranked by what they cost the business, with a business case and a fixed Build proposal the sponsor can forward to the board.
The Build takes on the most pressing issues the Spec found, with the systems the company already runs, tested with the crew who will use it before go-live. Then we keep going down the list.
What you get
- A fixed price after the Spec. Pricing varies by deployment. The Workflow Spec includes travel in the United States. The Production Build is fixed after the Spec and paid 50 percent at kickoff, 30 percent at technical acceptance and 20 percent at operational acceptance.
- The company owns it. After payment the portfolio company owns the tool built for it, its data and its production accounts, with the copyright assignment in writing.
- Built on systems it already runs. No platform migration in the middle of an integration. Up to two standard integrations are included in the Build.
- 30 days of stabilization after go-live, then Embedded Adoption: the next issue on the list every month, with a monthly executive review.
Where to start
A free twenty-minute fit call about one company and the problem costing it the most. Book a fit call or call (877) 244-9687.
Questions people ask
When should we bring you in after an acquisition?
After a change in ownership, once there is an executive at the company who owns how the work gets done and can name the four roles on their side. We decline work with no executive owner.
Can the Spec feed our value creation plan?
The Spec produces the pieces a plan needs: a baseline measurement taken where the work happens, the issues found and ranked by what they cost the business, a workflow map, the business case and a fixed Build proposal, with an approval brief the sponsor can forward.
Do you replace the portfolio company's software?
No. We build on the systems each company already runs, reading and writing through their own exports, imports and APIs. Nothing we build becomes a second system of record.
How do you work across more than one portfolio company?
Each company gets its own Workflow Spec, priced by deployment: its own map, its own ranked list of issues and its own fixed Build price. Each company owns what is built for it, its data and its production accounts.
What happens after the first fix?
30 days of stabilization are included after go-live. Then Embedded Adoption takes on the next issue on the list every month, with a monthly executive review, or the company takes a formal handover with no ongoing obligation.
Who owns what you build if the company is sold again?
The company does. After payment the bespoke tool, the data and the production accounts belong to the company, with the copyright assignment in writing, and the handover pack is written so someone else can run it.
Next step
Start with a fit call
Start with a free twenty-minute fit call. If the workflow, the sponsor and the path to access are real, the next step is a Workflow Spec.
Fox & Santiago, Genesee, Idaho. We work nationwide, for clients across the United States, from our headquarters in Genesee, Idaho.