CASE N° 01 VOL. I · MMXXVI
SECTOR · RECYCLING TIER · RECOVERY
THE RECYCLING CASE
From −$190K
to +$250K
in ninety days.
A bank-introduced engagement. A business haemorrhaging cash, breaching covenants, and crushing its owner. A disciplined Recovery method delivered the swing — and the trust to keep going.
-$190K
MONTHLY LOSSES AT ENGAGEMENT START
+$250K
JANUARY PROFIT POST - CONDITIONING
90
DAYS FROM KICKOFF TO PROFITABILITY
100%
BANK COVENANT COMPLIANCE RESTORED
In September 2025, a leading commercial bank introduced us to a recycling business in serious distress. The owner was breaching covenants, juggling AP, and losing $190,000 a month. The bank wanted a credible plan within thirty days. The owner wanted, more than anything, to sleep through the night.
B
y the time the introduction reached us, the situation had moved past "concerning" and into "actionable within weeks, or not at all." The recycling business had real underlying value — a defensible market position, real customer relationships, real assets — but the operating performance had decoupled from the
balance sheet. Cash was being managed week-to-week. The numbers being reported to the bank were neither timely nor reliable. The owner had stopped reading the P&L because he already knew what it said.
Our first conversation lasted ninety minutes. The second, with the banker, lasted forty-five. By day five we had Business Conditioning's full diagnostic running across all ten domains. By day ten we had a thirteen-week cash forecast, an AP triage plan, and a stabilisation memo on the banker's desk. By day fourteen, the owner was sleeping again — not because the problem was solved, but because someone else was carrying it.
“ Since bringing them in… now I can sleep.
— THE OWNER, IN CONVERSATION WITH THE BANKER
The Recovery method runs in three phases — Diagnose, Stabilize, Rebuild — and the recycling engagement followed the playbook closely. What made the difference was discipline of execution, not novelty of approach. The diagnostic surfaced six high-leverage moves. We executed them in priority order. We refused to take on the seventh until the first six were locked.
Chapter i.
Days 1–14: Diagnose.
The first fortnight is always the same: take command of the picture. We ran the diagnostic across financial performance, cost structure, cash and working capital, revenue and sales, operations, risk and insurance, IT and governance, tax position, banking and capital, and owner wellbeing. Every domain produced findings. Three produced shocks.
The cost structure analysis revealed a nine-figure annualized cost base with no operating discipline. Vendors were being paid on instinct rather than terms. Pricing had drifted six per cent below market across the customer base. AR was being collected at a leisurely pace that the cash position couldn't afford. None of this was malice — it was simply what happens when a leadership team is firefighting for too many months in a row.
By day ten we had built the thirteen-week cash forecast. By day fourteen, the bank had a written stabilisation memo with named actions and named owners. The relationship with the bank, which had been frosty, became collaborative within a single meeting.
Chapter ii.
Days 15–60: Stabilize.
The middle phase is where Recovery earns its name. Cost discipline came first — vendor terms renegotiated, payment cadence reset, recurring spend categorised and challenged. AR acceleration came second — daily collection cadence, customer-by-customer escalation, factoring evaluated and selectively deployed. Pricing recovery came third — a structured campaign across the top fifty customers to restore margin without losing volume.
Within thirty days, monthly losses had narrowed from −$190,000 to single-digit thousands. Within forty-five days, the business hit breakeven. Within sixty days, it was modestly profitable. None of this was dramatic on any individual day. All of it was the cumulative effect of doing six things, well, in priority order, every week.
“ Recovery isn't dramatic on any given day. It's the cumulative effect of doing six things, well, in priority order, every week.
— THE METHOD
Chapter iii.
Days 61–90: Rebuild.
The final phase moves from stabilised to compounding. Reporting cadence locked: monthly reporting pack, weekly KPI scorecard, daily cash dashboard. Bank confidence rebuilt: the lender moved from monthly oversight calls to quarterly. A forward twelve-month plan was built, stress-tested, and signed off. Tax exposure was handed to Ratio Fortis. The audit relationship was handed to GRAA.
By the end of day ninety, the business had its first profitable month in over a year. By January — three months past engagement end — it posted a profit exceeding $250,000. The transformation, on paper, was a swing of more than $400,000 a month against the worst loss-making months. The transformation, in reality, was a return of trust: with the bank, with the leadership team, with the owner's family, and with the owner himself.
—— THE RECOVERY METHOD
Three phases.
Ninety days.
i.
Diagnose · Days 1–14
Full diagnostic, 13-week cash forecast, AP/AR triage, banker briefing, stakeholder communication plan. Owner stops being the only one carrying it.
ii.
Stabilize · Days 15–60
Cost discipline executed. AR acceleration. Pricing recovered. Working capital optimised. Cash position improves week-on-week.
iii.
Rebuild · Days 61–90
P&L back to profit. Reporting cadence locked. Bank trust restored. Twelve-month forward plan. Handover to retainer. Owner sleeps.
—— IF THIS LOOKS FAMILIAR
The diagnostic is
the first step.
If your business is showing signs of distress and you're carrying it alone, the diagnostic is where it starts. Ten minutes, complimentary, partner-reviewed within 48 hours. The report tells you whether Recovery is the right tier — and what would happen if it is.