Break out of ambiguity and grow revenues, operating profits, ROIC and Free Cash Flow to Equity and manage non market risk.
Who we are & what we do
We are an advisory and investment firm based in Johannesburg, South Africa. We provide sell side, strategy and value creation advisory services. We also take equity positions in lower mid market owner managed businesses with potential for growth and social impact that generate an EBITDA margin of +20%.
Advisory Sell Side
We help you sell your business and prepare those that are not ready yet, for sale. This includes those whose EBITDA margins, growth rates or free cash flow to the firm are not attractive to potential buyers yet.
Advisory Sell Side
We help you sell your business and prepare those that are not ready yet, for sale. This includes those whose EBITDA margins, growth rates or free cash flow to the firm are not attractive to potential buyers yet.
Invest Money, Time, Expertise
Our investment sweet spot is "owner managed" lower mid market businesses with revenues of R40 Million and EBITDA margins of +20%. Additionally, our relationship with an “on balance sheet” PE firm that allows us to make a selective play for mainstream mid market.
Invest Money, Time, Expertise
Our investment sweet spot is "owner managed" lower mid market businesses with revenues of R40 Million and EBITDA margins of +20%. Additionally, our relationship with an “on balance sheet” PE firm that allows us to make a selective play for mainstream mid market.
Strategy Services
We provide value creation services; strategy and marketing to PE firms, their portfolios and our core target segment, lower mid market owner managed firms. We also provide "non market strategy" advisory to all businesses.
Strategy Services
We provide value creation services; strategy and marketing to PE firms, their portfolios and our core target segment, lower mid market owner managed firms. We also provide "non market strategy" advisory to all businesses.
Why the lower mid market?
Lower mid market is an asset class that is known to deliver above average median returns. Businesses in this segment have \"mission critical\" challenges associated with their life-stage. Lower mid market businesses have grown past \"start up phase,\' but have not attained permanent residence status in the lower mid market.
To gain \"permanent residence status,\" lower mid market businesses need to make one (1) or more of the six (6) adjustments outlined below. Wrong choices or mis-timed moves could see them slip back into start up mode or in a worse position. Despite this, these businesses are currently underserved and do not have a dedicated ecosystem serving them, the same way that \"start ups\" and \"middle market\" firms have.
Market facing
May have outgrown its "start up phase" early markets and may now need to "cross the chasm" or may have business concentrated in the hands of certain customer types.
Operating Model
May need to to adjust its operating model to enable it to play in the lower mid market space effectively.
Asset structure
May need to expand its asset structure or optimise its existing asset base.
People
May need new skills, managerial slack, directors and advisors to enable it to operate in the "mid market" zone.
Money
May need outside money to fund one or all of the above.
Non Market Risks
May for the first time face "non market risks" or have to navigate the "non market" landscape.
Talk to us
We are \"Masters of the lower mid market\" and \"Non Markets.\"
The market or category in which you play tracks GDP growth due to structural or cyclical reasons. On the other hand, market failures and negative externalities are taking their toll on the planet, people and prosperity in general, as a result, social sensitivities are heightened, thus making the environment within which your brand or business franchise plays, volatile. It may well be that your brand is top of the pile in terms of relative performance, however externalities are still rampant. Regardless, you are high up in the food chain within your marketing organization or part of your job description requires you to recommend strategy or tactical changes to your marketing stack.
Question
Your brand or business Review is around the corner and you are “mulling over” whether you should take your brand into “shared value,” “social impact” or “purpose” markets. This seems to be where the puck is going, at least in your estimate. Information pieces also reinforce your thought processes. As an example, Stats SA’s 3rd Quarter, 2020 Labour Force Survey indicates that unemployment is (30.8%), +7.5%pts vs P/P and +1.7% versus Y/A and that 89% these unemployed persons are black, 6.8% coloured, 2.5% white and 1.6% Indian.
In addition to the above, poverty data suggests that 25% of households in South Africa are living below the extreme poverty line of R561 per month and that 55% live below the revised upper bound poverty line (UBPL) of R1227. The COVID-19 Vulnerability Index Technical Report indicates that people who are at risk or vulnerable include those; 1) who are poor or live in deprived conditions which impacts health and sanitation; 2) live in crowded areas which impacts on social distancing or; 3) live in multi-generational households.
Predicament
On the other hand, one of your senior marketing staff members has just completed his/her Masters and Digital Business tells you about the benefits of digital transformation and more specifically, about “platform businesses and brands. Both of these, shared value and platform brands look very compelling and seem to be where the puck is going to be. Should you take your brand or brands, where the action is going to be? If so, how do you allocate resources, time and talent core amongst signature marketing initiatives that account for a lion’s share of your current branded earnings and/or customer lifetime value and future sources of branded earnings and customer lifetime values? Within future sources stream, how do you allocate resources between shared value and digital transformation?
1. Statssa.gov.za. 2020. [online] Available at: <http://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/P0211/P02113rdQuarter2020.pdf> [Accessed 14 December 2020].
2. Businesstech.co.za, 2020. This Is How Much Money The Poorest Are Living On Each Month In South Africa. [online] Businesstech.co.za. Available at: <https://businesstech.co.za/news/finance/332553/this-is-how-much-money-the-poorest-are-living-on-each-month-in-south-africa/> [Accessed 14 December 2020].
Low touch markets have increased in ubiquity and prevalence across different industry verticals and consumption chains. Their unique identifiers include different intensity of touch or human interaction, from no touch at the extreme end of the continuum to some fair amount of touch at the other end, separated by minimal touch in the middle. At the back end, the differentiator is the level of technology involvement across the three scenarios, technologically driven versus technology informed, with technology assisted right in the middle. The point of departure for strategy in low touch markets is a reminder that strategy is nothing else, but a configuration of logically related ends, ways and means that are applicable in time and space. Net, strategy starts with the end, and then work backwards.
The end goal of business strategy is well documented and has been a subject of discussion amongst market based, resource based and dynamic capability theorists for some time. In essence though the end goal is to deliver free cashflows to the firm and capital providers that exceed the cost of capital. The key drivers for this are, to use one mode of thinking; 1) revenue growth, margins and capital efficiency. In short, growth and ROIC and to be in this position, a firm must win with the customer, win operationally or be operationally efficient and also be capital efficient. In other words, generate a bigger spread on invested capital.
In low touch markets, the above also applies. The only caveat, strategically speaking, is that one must take into account the fact that to win with the customer, one must take the following into account. Firstly, a market is nothing but a combination of people and their jobs to be done in a specific context (Ulwick, 2017). In other words, the context gives rise to a job to be done for a specific set of people. Those with the willingness and ability to pay, take action and hire a tool or set of tools to execute the job. During the pandemic, driven by a confluence of the need to be safe in the face of ravaging COVID-19 and technological advancements, contactless or low touch searching, browsing and choosing brands and sku’s, ordering, payment, delivery, service and repeat purchases, accelerated.
Secondly, as is always the case, context does changeand when it changes, the job to be done may either be reinforced or changed. Even if the broader context does not change, which is unlikely, the Windermere and Associates model has shown over time that consumers or people’s circumstances, values and preferences do change. In addition to this, new players with new and fresh ideas, may spring up to fight for the slice of low touch markets. The question in this likely scenario is, will your firm be a able generate a spread, if so, how big a spread will it be and for how long, in the face of changing, context, consumers preferences and the entry of new players?
Net, this piece submits that whilst the focus during this time is largely been on the things or the technologies as it always the case in early stages of new games, do not lose sight of the fact that markets have two sides to them, with the one side pulling the other. Net to win sustainability across contexts and times, the people with the jobs that need to be done, are kings and queens and not the technology. They are the ones whose activities, the frequency with which they perform those activities, the size of the money they leave behind with you each time they perform these jobs or activities, the length of time they stay with you and the proportion of these activities they perform with you or your help, is what creates value.
NB: At the time (06 April, 2021, 15h45 GMT+2) of writing this article, the concept of “low touch markets” was not found on the worldwide web. Other related concepts such as “low touch world, low touch economy, low touch business, low touch business model, low touch sales model, funnel, low touch customer service, low touch customer success” etc., were Although some of these concepts do aggregate into “low touch market (s),” no direct reference to this concept was found. This is a big gap
References
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