Playbook
01
30 / 90 / 180 days.
A turnaround is not a strategy review. It is a sequence. Cash first. Cost and focus second. Growth last. Skip a step and the business does not survive the next quarter.
The sequence
Phase 01
30 days
Stabilise.
- 01Cash war room: 13-week cash forecast, daily.
- 02Stop the bleed: freeze hiring, freeze non-critical spend.
- 03Top 20 customers and top 20 suppliers, one call each.
- 04Read the books. Real numbers, not management narrative.
- 05Replace the dashboard. One page. Weekly review.
Phase 02
90 days
Cut and refocus.
- 01Kill the products and segments that lose money.
- 02Re-size the cost base for the next twelve months, not the last.
- 03Replace the team members who cannot operate at this tempo.
- 04Renegotiate the contracts that strangle margin.
- 05Lock the focus: one ICP, one offer, one growth motion.
Phase 03
180 days
Grow.
- 01Rebuild the commercial engine around the focused offer.
- 02Reset pricing to reflect value, not cost.
- 03Hire the operators the new plan needs.
- 04Restart marketing with a payback discipline, not a budget.
- 05Hand over to a permanent CEO with a working business.