Driving 20X Net Profit for Family Construction Business

After a generational transition, a 40-year-old family commercial glazing and glass manufacturer sought support to identify ways to improve the business.

The Work

• Collecting more granular and better data

• Department-level budgets and participation

• Financial statements and forecasting to drive internal departments

• Greater transparency for performance, costs, risks, effort and impact to the bottom line

The Impact

In the baseline year, company sales of $18.2MM produced EBITDA of $282K (1.6%). Implementating a control and reporting system provided clear data to the owners. It gave them the confidence to make strategic changes and pursue business improvement.

In year two, sales increased 3% to $18.7MM while EBITDA jumped to $2.1MM (a 648% increase) on a Gross Margin improvement from 25% to 31%. This was achieved with an internal focus, a bottom-up, annual, budget practice and monthly support. We modified the employee bonus structure to reward high individual performance, goal achievement, and increasing margins — cementing a positive dynamic between employee success and business success. 

Why it Works

Detailed data and robust financial models added Clarity, Confidence and Control. A collaborative approach and the owners’ openness to changes allowed us to build on past success with a clear understanding of financial information. Future control is now focused on forecasting and developing complex, opportunistic pricing models to help the business weather market fluctuations.