Whether you’re a start-up or an established firm launching a new product, Acumen Consulting Group (ACG) can help.
Develop Business Plans
A product or operation is only a great investment if it creates value for both customers and producers. Owners and potential investors expect to see a profitable, coordinated business plan when evaluating your product or operation. You will need to understand the strengths and risks inherent in your business while demonstrating thoughtful assumptions that are based on defendable criteria.
ACG will lead the development of your business plan to ensure that it is based on the best information available and that assumptions are consistently applied throughout your company. You need to have a plan that increases value by optimizing price, controlling costs and investment, and reducing risk. ACG can get you there.
Provide Finance Support
The best finance staffs flawlessly execute accounting and cash transactions while effectively supporting the strategic objectives of a company. Journal entries, financial reports, payables and receivables all need to be managed accurately and consistently. Managers need to trust the integrity of their financial information and know that they can rely on the finance staff to act as a catalyst for effective change within their company.
ACG will design an effective and value-added closing process, including internal and external reporting. We will establish proper financial controls and a culture of compliance, including the monitoring of costs, approval of expenditures and purchase requests, and management of cash. ACG will integrate the finance staff into your company’s operations as a truly valued partner that provides clear and consistent strategic direction.
Raise Capital
Access to venture capital, strategic investors and banking partners is critical to the execution of your business plan. Juggling the needs of your business with the difficulties of raising capital can be extremely challenging.
ACG will help you find the right investors at the right time for your business. We will help you to establish your creditworthiness and build investor pitches to highlight the potential of your company. ACG will make introductions to potential investors and banking partners while working with you through every step of the fundraising process.
Establish & Manage Manufacturing Capability
Many firms struggle to find the right approach to manufacturing new products. Should you build your own factory or contract the manufacturing to someone else? How do you find the right manufacturing site? How do you find the right employees? What is the leanest approach to manufacturing your product? How do you continually improve the quality and cost of your manufactured product? What is the best way to establish or increase capacity? Without real world manufacturing expertise, it is a challenge to find a high quality and low cost approach to producing your product.
ACG and our partners have the extensive, true lean manufacturing experience that is required to solve your production problems. We can manage the development, launch and execution of your manufacturing operations. ACG will help you to create an environment that promotes continuous improvement and employee engagement for quality and cost controls. Additionally, we can provide a comprehensive make-buy analysis, calculate the true NPV and ROI for manufacturing, evaluate the trade-offs between brownfield and greenfield sites, and lead competitive manufacturing assessments.
Build Supplier Relationships
Your long-term success depends on building and managing the right supplier relationships. You will need high quality, reliable suppliers that sell components and services within your cost targets. In launching your product, you will need to work closely with suppliers to manage production challenges, transportation issues, engineering changes and pricing/investment requirements.
ACG will help you to find the right suppliers, develop supplier evaluation tools, and build long-term relationships with your business partners. Suppliers that view your company as a strategic partner are much more likely to collaborate and share in your execution risk. ACG will guide you through the optimization of your supply chain to minimize inventory, piece price and working capital requirements.
Implement Profitable Pricing
Finding potential customers is just the start of your sales process. Successful firms quickly learn how to create a value proposition for each customer. This requires strong product and customer knowledge, careful listening to a customer’s needs, and a pricing approach that drives profitability for both the seller and the buyer.
ACG will apply world class pricing and revenue management capability to your products. We will help you set profitable prices that incorporate the up-front and marginal costs of your product. Additionally, we will help you to integrate customer knowledge into your planning, production, and distribution in order to maximize the value of your firm.
Improve Back-Office Support
A strong support team may be the difference between winning and losing in your industry. Establishing coordinated business plans, managing receivables and payables, and structuring accounting, legal and procurement support are essential to your successful product launch. Your needs will grow and evolve over time.
ACG will work with you to build a solid plan towards reaching your company’s desired future state by aligning opportunities with resources. We will find ways to allow your executive leadership team to focus on the most serious challenges to your business by building a strong, reliable back office. Most importantly, we will help you to establish functional policies and procedures that will scale with your business.
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