9. MORE ABOUT TURNAROUND SERVICES OF ALEX WOLF & ASSOCIATES
If Alex Wolf & Associates becomes convinced that your company has
good prospects for recovery, I would be willing to take responsibility
for achieving the turnaround. I say, "take responsibility"
because we would do this work hands-on until the results are
demonstrated.
Moreover, if the client and Alex Wolf & Associates can agree on
an action plan and a fair results-based fee, we would do this work
without your company having to spend large sums on turnaround fees
before results are obtained. For the right company, Alex Wolf &
Associates would accept to turn it around on the basis of an 80%
results-based fee, or even a higher contingent percentage, depending on
circumstances.
Naturally, we would accept to work on that basis only if we have good
reasons to believe that my efforts for the client company will be
successful. Therefore, I need to investigate the situation for myself.
And yes, we expect to earn very good compensation when I achieve the
results. Therefore, your company cannot be very small. And yes, we will
need a written contract, to protect our investment in your company.
Furthermore, to manage the risk, in cases of contingent fees we
generally proceed in two phases :
Phase I - Assessment (possibly with no fees
charged).
Phase II - Turnaround services on a
responsibility basis.
Phase I - Assessment. Before Alex Wolf & Associates takes
on any turnaround assignment, we have to assure ourselves that the turnaround
would work, that the odds for success are really good. This is
particularly important when we accept a primarily results-based fee. In
situations where the client desires such a fee basis, I will take up to
two weeks of my time, at our expense – no fees charged – to assess
the client company and its potential for turnaround. (See More
About Phase I for further information).
Phase II - Turnaround Services on Responsibility Basis. Unless
agreed otherwise, our subsequent turnaround services would comprise the
following complete package of turnaround services :
-
preparation of the Turnaround Concept, comprising the strategic
plan and the Catalogue of other turnaround actions / projects,
-
implementation of the Turnaround Concept, including crisis
management, corporate surgery, and the repositioning, restructuring
and re-engineering of the company, to make it viable on a sustained
basis,
-
forming the successor management team, and working with it for
some months after the company has returned to viable operation, to
make sure the company stays on the right track.
How much repositioning, restructuring and re-engineering is
offered? I believe that the only way to make a company viable on a
sustained basis is to ascertain that it is in a generally profitable
market (general economic fluctuations apart), and to bring all key
activities of the company, including its management system and its
reporting / information system, up to par with the practices of well-run
companies. That means additional
benchmarking and improvements going beyond basic recovery. More work, yes. However,
working this way, no weak links should remain. This work is
included in our complete package of services.
How long will the turnaround take? Once the danger is past, viability
is reestablished and the successor team is in charge, you will not need
me anymore. I will then move on to my next turnaround project. How long
would I work for you? It depends, but probably in the order of 1 to 2
years, which is how long it typically takes for a turnaround to be
completed. However, the intensity (work hours) of our intervention often
falls off considerably once the crisis management stage is passed.
(See More About Phase
II for further information).
The Background of Alex
Wolf. As you know, my name is Alex Wolf. I am an engineer and
MBA. I was born in 1950 in Poland of a German family – I speak
English, Polish, German, and French. I came to North America as a very young man
just before I entered university. I have worked professionally in
several countries. I earned my electrical engineering and MBA
degrees at McGill University in Montreal. My experience is extremely
broad and diverse.
In my business & engineering careers, at various times, I
sold products to retail stores, products and systems to industry, and
infrastructure maintenance services to utilities. I also did
merchandising, direct mail, production control, sales management, shop
floor management, project management, R&D management,
pre--production management, and financial management. Before that I did
cost engineering, design engineering, industrial engineering, and
project engineering. All that experience was very useful to my
subsequent management functions in general management and in consulting,
including business planning, and negotiations with investors and
bankers. In many instances I can simply say "I have been through
this, and I learned that strategy "x" and program
"y" will work in your case." In other instances, in
effect, I
tell our clients "I propose to take such
and such steps to learn how to solve this problem."
I have more than 28 years of business experience since obtaining my
MBA, including turnarounds. Since late 1970s, I have consulted for
various companies and I have run companies. My experience in technical
and non-technical industries allows me to be equally comfortable finding
solutions to company problems on the shop-floor and in financial
analysis.
In my experience, senior management that really understands its
business, relies equally on operating feedback and financial reports.
And this is precisely what I would do for you, in order to recognize the
strengths and weaknesses of the situation, to develop the Turnaround
Concept, to set the correct priorities, and to implement the
turnaround.
Some of my turnaround projects, and projects related to turnarounds, and
other case examples are mentioned on this site under the following
numbers :
#1, #2, #3,
#4, #5,
#6, #7.
Unique Benefits of this Offer. I have returned full time to the
business community after an absence of several years, during which I was active
only part time. Alex Wolf & Associates is offering my
knowledge, experience and energy to our new clients on a very attractive
basis. We are actually offering a possibility of predominantly
results-based fees (contingent fees), to selected clients in the USA.
A troubled company is usually surrounded by skeptics and nay-sayers.
My willingness as an independent, experienced, high-energy manager, to
invest serious time for a year or two, for a
predominantly results-based fee, would be a very strong vote of confidence
for such a company.
I am confident that various stakeholders will want to know why Alex
Wolf is willing to invest so much time in the foundering company. They
will be curious to know what potential I see and why we believe in
that company. We will use this opportunity to sell your prospects for
turnaround, and to co-opt the vital support you need. If Alex Wolf &
Associates becomes convinced that the your company's prospects for
recovery are good, and if we decide to let our fortunes ride with your
company, then on that basis, supported by data and analysis, we should
be able to instill confidence in your lenders, your suppliers, your
employees, your customers, and your board of directors.
If you have a problem that may be solved by a business turnaround or
corporate restructuring, call me personally (Alex Wolf). We do
not charge for initial consultations. Our complete coordinates are on the contact
page of this web site. In
an emergency, I can generally be reached on weekends too.
If you call concerning an actual business situation,
I will need to ask you some questions about financial and operating
statistics of your company, about your products, facilities, markets,
competition and... your management resources. We will treat all information
supplied in strict confidence.
In fact, before you tell us anything confidential, we will fax you
our Confirmation of Confidentiality, signed by myself. It will
confirm that we will hold all your confidential information in trust for
you, use it for your benefit only, and only after we have a written
contract with you.
I invite you now to read the annexes that follow. They include
examples and short case studies — some of my cases.
Sincerely,
Alex Wolf
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