Advisory built around how businesses make money.
Four capabilities, each aimed at the same end: a business that performs better today and is more valuable tomorrow.
Where is your business now?
Each stage has different priorities. Choose the one that sounds most like you.
Growing, but under strain
Demand is strong and revenue is rising, but margins are slipping, cash is tight and the owner has become the bottleneck. Delivery depends on who is doing the work that day.
Where we would focus first
- Profitability by customer, product and contract
- Cash-flow forecasting and working capital
- Weekly KPIs and a management rhythm
- Removing the owner from day-to-day approvals
Professionalising
The business has outgrown informal management. You need a capable management team, reliable monthly information and a clear plan, so the business can grow without everything depending on you.
Where we would focus first
- Organisational structure and accountabilities
- Monthly management accounts and dashboards
- Documented processes and SOPs
- A strategic plan tested against the numbers
Preparing for funding or a sale
You are considering outside investment, an acquisition or an eventual exit. Funders and buyers will expect the information, governance and management depth of a larger business.
Where we would focus first
- Quality and credibility of financial information
- Issues likely to reduce value in due diligence
- Governance and board structures
- Reducing dependence on the owner
Performance Improvement
We help businesses identify and execute the changes that improve profitability. The work starts with the economics: where the business really makes and loses money.
The outcome: a clear view of profitability, and a set of specific changes that improve it.
What the work covers
- EBITDA analysis
- Margin improvement
- Pricing
- Cost optimisation
- Working capital
- Revenue analysis
- Performance dashboards
- Management accounts and cash-flow forecasting
- Management accountability
Questions we help answer
- Which customers, products or contracts actually make money?
- Where has margin leaked over the last three years?
- How much cash is tied up in debtors, stock and work in progress?
- Are our prices set by value, by cost or by habit?
Operational Advisory
We help owners build businesses that operate with less dependence on them, through clear structure, consistent process and a management rhythm that holds people accountable.
The outcome: a business that runs on systems and a capable management team rather than on the owner alone.
What the work covers
- Process improvement
- Standard operating procedures
- Organisational structure
- KPI systems
- Management cadence
- Management team development
- Operational efficiency
- Accountability
- Scalability
Questions we help answer
- What would happen if the owner stepped away for three months?
- Who is accountable for each result, and how do we know?
- Which processes will break first as volume grows?
- Is the management team structured for the next stage of the business?
AI & Automation
We assess whether the business is ready to benefit from AI, identify the uses worth pursuing, and put sensible rules in place before tools are bought.
The outcome: a prioritised set of AI uses tied to profit or productivity, and a business ready to adopt them safely.
What the work covers
- Readiness assessment
- Use-case prioritisation
- Data and process readiness
- AI usage policy and POPIA
- Tool selection
- Pilots and team training
AI & Automation in detail, including a short self-assessment
Strategic & Transaction Advisory
We turn growth ambitions into practical execution, and prepare the business for its next financial or ownership event: raising funding, bringing in an investor, acquiring another business or an eventual sale.
The outcome: a strategy the management team can execute, and a business that stands up to scrutiny from funders, investors and buyers.
What the work covers
- Growth strategy
- Strategic planning
- Market expansion
- Business model review
- Scenario analysis
- Investor readiness
- Acquisition readiness
- Valuation preparation
- Due diligence preparation
- Vendor readiness
- Governance and board structures
- Strategic acquisition assessment
Questions we help answer
- Where should we grow, and what should we stop doing?
- How does the plan perform if the market turns?
- What would a buyer or investor find in due diligence today?
- Does this acquisition target genuinely fit our strategy and our balance sheet?
We prepare the business and its information for growth or a transaction. We do not arrange finance or act as a transaction broker, and any interest in investment is considered separately by Black Key Capital and its investment committee, on its own merits. Where a transaction requires a corporate finance adviser, attorney or auditor, we work alongside them on your behalf.
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.