The advisory business of the Black Key Capital group.
We help established businesses perform better today and become more valuable tomorrow.
Why we exist
Established owner-managed businesses sit in an awkward gap. They are too complex to run on instinct, but too small to justify a permanent bench of senior specialists or the fees of a large consulting firm.
Black Key Consulting fills that gap: senior, commercially minded advisory, delivered with the attention of a small firm and supported by specialist expertise when the work requires it. We are independent, so our advice is shaped by what is right for the business, not by products we need to sell.
Leadership
Conrad Sepato, MBA
Managing Director / Lead Advisor
Conrad leads Black Key Consulting and oversees its client engagements. He has more than 15 years of leadership and operating experience across business operations, property, infrastructure, investment and strategic projects.
His work has included evaluating acquisitions and investment opportunities, managing complex stakeholder environments, and operating and scaling businesses. That combination of investor perspective and operating experience shapes how the firm works: every recommendation is tested against what it will do to profit, cash and the value of the business.
Part of the Black Key ecosystem
Black Key Consulting is part of the Black Key Capital group, bringing together business advisory, operational expertise and an investment-oriented perspective.
Our focus is helping established businesses become more profitable, better managed and better positioned for growth, investment or a future transaction.
Advisory company
BLACK.KEY.CONSULTING
Performance. Operations. AI. Execution.
Each consulting engagement is a standalone advisory mandate. Where a client is interested in investment, this is considered separately by Black Key Capital and its investment committee, on its own merits. Learn more about Black Key Capital
Senior-led. Specialist-supported.
We are deliberately lean. Engagements are led by senior practitioners, and supported by specialist expertise where a problem requires it.
Specialists are brought in for a defined scope, under our leadership, so you get the expertise without paying for a large permanent team. Specialist capabilities may include:
- Fractional CFO
- Fractional COO
- Finance
- Operations
- Legal
- HR
- Technology
- Marketing
- Corporate finance
- M&A
Ownership and B-BBEE
Black Key Consulting (Pty) Ltd is a subsidiary of Black Key Capital, which is 100% black-owned and holds a B-BBEE Level 1 certificate.
B-BBEE certificates are available on request.
How we think about the work
Profit before activity
We measure success in margin, cash and business value, not in workshops held or slides produced.
Evidence before opinion
We start with your numbers and your operations. Recommendations follow the evidence.
Implementation is the job
A good plan that is not implemented is worth nothing. We stay involved until the changes hold.
Straight talk
Owners need an advisor who will tell them what others in the business won't. We do that, respectfully and directly.
Understand what is holding your business back.
Our Business Diagnostic identifies the commercial, operational and financial constraints limiting performance and highlights the highest-priority opportunities for improvement. It starts with a short Microsoft Teams call with one of our consultants.