When they hear the term “strategic consulting”, many inevitably think of grand visions and drastic changes to companies. For many medium-sized businesses, this is “one size too big” (and presumedly too expensive); they prefer to concentrate on day-to-day operations. But strategy simply means taking care of the future of one’s own company and asking which adjustments need to be made in response to changes in the market, to be able to continue to survive there. This is the highly personal, core responsibility of the medium-sized entrepreneur.

This is where we come in. We do not want to – and cannot – replace the entrepreneur, but we can support him or her with an objective view from the outside. Our aim is to work together to identify key adjustments that are important for future success and then develop suitable measures to enable these adjustments to take place.

The following questions are typical of those which we try to answer in our analyses:

• To what extent is the company’s business model (still) sustainable?
• Which business areas or products are sustainable financially?
• Is there scope for increased efficiency in operational and administrative processes?
• What is necessary to guarantee consistently high manufacturing quality?
• How can administration be more effectively structured or organised?
• Should new distribution channels be adopted in order to take appropriate account of discernible changes in the market?
• Is there a need for IT or production-related innovation to improve profitability?

As a rule, interim management is used during times of change in a company, in particular during restructuring or modernisation, in the event of a takeover by new shareholders or to accompany succession processes within the management.
When far-reaching changes are imminent or necessary, there is usually no lack of suitable plans or knowledge about what needs to be done. The biggest hurdle is rather implementing and enforcing the measures identified as necessary in such a way that modified operational processes and structures actually take root in the long term. External third parties often find it much easier to put the need for change into practice.

By temporarily reinforcing personnel or outsourcing management roles, you can benefit from the following advantages:

• Packages of measures that have been jointly developed enjoy a considerably higher acceptance if the consultant actually participates in their subsequent implementation.
• An independent person largely free of personal ties has greater assertiveness in the face of internal resistance – a regular occurrence, especially with far-reaching changes.
• You can benefit from experience gained in other comparable cases, which makes it easier to meet the challenges that arise.

Experience has shown that the useful project duration for interim management is between 3-24 months, depending on how comprehensive the task is in the specific case. For longer projects, differentiated intensity levels have proven their worth, with the consultant’s on-site presence decreasing over time.

It is therefore of fundamental importance to define the goals, tasks and project phases as precisely as possible.

Digitalisation and associated processes present companies with major challenges. As a basis, we first dedicate ourselves to the status quo of your processes and deduce optimisation needs. We consider ourselves problem solvers addressing your requirements and at the same time we want to develop suitable business processes through tailor-made integration of systems and applications.
Clients and suppliers are increasingly demanding transparent and trustworthy handling of their personal data. As a result, we always keep a watch over the requirements of the tax authorities (GoBD*) and the EU General Data Protection Regulation and ensure that you always act in a legally compliant manner.

In addition to the areas mentioned above, we also advise you individually on the following points:

• Information and document flow optimised to your requirements
• Manufacturer-independent hardware and software consulting
• DATEV Unternehmen Online – all information and documents available at any time
• Appointment as external data protection officer or targeted advice on specific data protection issues.

*Principles for the proper keeping and storage of books, records and documents in electronic form and for data access (German: “GoBD”).

In almost no other field is the result of qualified advice as immediate as it is in a corporate transaction. Regardless of whether the client acts as an investor or seller in relation to the target company or its shares, professional external support is not only valuable, but practically indispensable. After all, M&A projects are generally not only about high sums with comparatively high uncertainty in decision-making, but also about the life’s work of one of the participants, especially in medium-sized businesses. The resulting inevitably emotional connection often leads to the failure of or considerable delay to any purchase or sales plans. Involving an impartial expert is the best protection to enable opportunities and risks to be weighed up as objectively as possible and to avoid “being taken for a ride”.

We navigate you through the entire transaction process in a structured, professional and consistent manner. Our range of services in the area of M&A consulting includes in particular the following activities:

• Complete coordination and control of the transaction process;
• Identification of suitable target companies;
• Search for suitable investors and financing partners;
• Creation of meaningful sales and purchase presentations;
• Supporting with content and personnel in the conduct of negotiations;
• Participation in takeover audits and due diligence reviews;
• Development of price and value estimates for the target company as well as integrated financial and corporate planning;
• Support for the integration of companies by the acquirer (so-called post merger integration).

Especially in medium-sized businesses, many family-owned (even large) companies are run by entrepreneurs who have often tailored their operations to themselves over decades. The word “family business” often signifies much more than the mere ownership situation and symbolises a responsible management philosophy, especially towards employees.

Business or entrepreneurial succession is also a sensitive issue because the decision-making and communication structures are often completely geared to the entrepreneur. At some point, however, there comes the point at which succession in company management becomes or must become an issue. There are then three basic alternatives to choose from:

• internal family succession
• internal company succession from the group of employees or
• selling to an external third party (-> M&A Consulting).

We help you to develop a suitable succession concept for your specific situation in good time and to take or prepare the necessary steps towards implementation. Our advice is aimed at both parties involved – the transferring party and the successor – because accomplishing succession requires the participation of both “generations”.

Our consulting services in the area of corporate succession are complex and at the same time tailored to the individual, since in many cases psychological and emotional factors are of elementary importance too. They encompass the following activities:

• Early planning and drafting a suitable operating plan for succession
• Designing the structural prerequisites for a smooth succession taking into account the conditions of financial, tax and legal frameworks
• Coordinating and steering the handover process
• Preparing and supporting the successor for entrepreneurial decisions and his or her internal and external communications
• Moderating emerging (generational) conflicts
• Temporarily assuming management duties (-> Interim Operations Management)