Real Results From Real Businesses

These aren't carefully curated marketing stories. They're honest accounts from clients who faced real modeling challenges and found practical solutions. Some took months to see improvement. Others had setbacks along the way. But all of them eventually built systems that actually work for their specific situations.

Common Problems We've Actually Solved

Cash Flow Modeling

When Your Numbers Don't Match Reality

A retail client came to us after three years of fighting with spreadsheets that never matched their actual bank statements. They'd tried templates, hired a bookkeeper, even paid for software that promised everything. Nothing worked. We spent two weeks just understanding where their system was breaking. Turns out their payment terms were creating a 45-day lag they weren't accounting for. Once we rebuilt their model around actual cash timing instead of invoice dates, things finally started making sense.

Growth Planning

Expansion Plans That Actually Hold Up

A manufacturing business wanted to open a second location. Their projections looked solid on paper but we noticed they were using average costs instead of marginal costs for the new facility. After rebuilding their model with actual supplier quotes and realistic ramp-up timelines, the picture changed significantly. They ended up delaying six months and saved themselves from what would have been a painful cash crunch. Not the exciting answer they wanted, but definitely the right one.

Pricing Strategy

Finding Your Real Break-Even Point

A consulting firm thought they needed to land bigger clients to improve margins. Their existing model wasn't accounting for all the hidden costs in large projects like extra admin time and longer payment cycles. When we mapped out their actual cost structure, they discovered their mid-size clients were way more profitable. They shifted their entire business development focus and saw margins improve within a quarter. Sometimes the best move is counterintuitive.

Scenario Planning

Preparing For Things That Might Go Wrong

Early 2025, a distribution client asked us to model different recession scenarios. We built sensitivity analysis for demand drops, payment delays, and supplier price increases. When their largest customer delayed orders in March, they weren't scrambling because we'd already mapped out that exact situation. They knew exactly which expenses they could cut immediately and which contracts they needed to renegotiate. Having a plan doesn't prevent problems, but it sure helps when they show up.

Financial modeling workspace showing spreadsheets and analysis documents

What Clients Actually Experienced

Darius Flemming portrait

Darius Flemming

Logistics Operations Manager

I'll be honest, I was skeptical about spending money on financial modeling. We'd gotten by for eight years without it. But our fuel costs were killing us in 2024 and I couldn't figure out which routes were actually profitable. The model we built together showed me that two of my longest-running routes were barely breaking even once you factored in vehicle depreciation and driver overtime. We renegotiated those contracts in January 2025 and it's already made a noticeable difference.

Sienna Whitlock portrait

Sienna Whitlock

Restaurant Owner

My accountant kept telling me I needed better cost controls but couldn't explain what that actually meant. The modeling work we did broke down every menu item to show real profitability including prep time and waste. Some of my most popular dishes were barely making money. I didn't change everything overnight but over three months I adjusted portions, tweaked recipes, and raised prices strategically. My food cost percentage dropped from 38% to 32%. Small changes, but they add up when you're doing volume.

Henrik Vaughn portrait

Henrik Vaughn

Technology Startup Founder

We were burning through our seed funding way faster than expected. I knew we had a runway problem but didn't know where the money was actually going. The model we built tracked burn rate by department and showed that our customer acquisition cost was twice what I thought it was because I wasn't counting all the failed experiments. We cut three marketing channels that weren't working and focused budget on the two that actually converted. Extended our runway by four months, which gave us time to hit the metrics we needed for Series A discussions.

Questions People Actually Ask

Why doesn't my model match what's happening in real life?

This happens more often than you'd think. Usually it's because the model is based on assumptions that made sense when you built it but don't reflect current reality. Check your timing assumptions first. Are you modeling revenue when invoices go out or when cash actually arrives? Are your cost estimates based on current supplier prices? Sometimes you need to rebuild from scratch with fresh data rather than trying to patch an old model.

How do I know which scenarios to model?

Start with things that have actually happened to your business or your industry in the past few years. What would happen if your biggest customer cut their orders by 30%? What if a key supplier raised prices? What if you lost your top salesperson? You don't need to model every possible scenario, just the ones that would actually hurt if they happened. Focus on plausible risks, not catastrophic events you can't control anyway.

My model shows I should be profitable but I'm not seeing it

Check whether you're confusing profit with cash flow. A business can be profitable on paper while still running out of money if customers pay slowly or you're investing heavily in inventory or equipment. Look at your working capital requirements. Are you accounting for payment terms, inventory cycles, and capital expenditures? Sometimes the model is right about profit but you need a separate cash flow forecast to understand timing.

How often should I update my financial model?

Depends on how fast your business changes. If you're in a stable industry with predictable costs, quarterly updates might be fine. If you're growing fast or dealing with volatile inputs, monthly makes more sense. At minimum, update when something significant changes like a major price increase from suppliers, a big new customer, or a shift in your cost structure. The model is only useful if it reflects current reality.

What do I do when my projections turn out completely wrong?

Don't panic and don't throw out the model. Figure out which assumptions were off and why. Was it market conditions you couldn't predict, or did you make overly optimistic assumptions? Update the model with what actually happened and use it to forecast the next period more accurately. Wrong projections are still valuable because they show you where your thinking was off. That's information you can use going forward.

How Results Actually Develop

This is what a typical engagement looks like from start to finish. Not every client follows this exact path, but it gives you a realistic idea of how improvement happens over time.

1

Month One: Understanding What's Actually Happening

We spend the first few weeks just gathering information. Looking at your current financials, talking through your business model, understanding what decisions you're trying to make. This part isn't glamorous but it's critical. We're not building anything yet, just making sure we understand the real problems you're dealing with. Many clients are surprised by how much time we spend on this phase.

2

Months Two to Three: Building the Foundation

Now we start constructing the actual model. This involves a lot of back-and-forth as we test assumptions and validate formulas against your historical data. You'll probably find errors in your existing records during this process. That's normal and actually useful. We're also training you or your team on how to maintain and update the model because you need to own this tool, not depend on us forever.

3

Month Four: Testing Under Real Conditions

The model is built but now we're running it alongside your actual operations for a full month. Comparing projections to reality, adjusting formulas, fixing things that don't work. This is when you start seeing whether the model actually helps you make better decisions or if it's just producing numbers. We're also identifying which reports and dashboards you'll actually use versus which ones just look nice but serve no real purpose.

4

Months Five to Six: Making Actual Changes

By now you're using the model to inform real business decisions. Maybe you're adjusting pricing, changing vendor terms, or reallocating resources. This is when you start seeing tangible results, though they're usually gradual rather than dramatic. We're available for questions and troubleshooting, but you're driving the process now. The goal is for you to be fully independent by the end of this period.

5

Ongoing: Refinement and Adaptation

Some clients check in quarterly for tune-ups or when they're facing new decisions that require model updates. Others we don't hear from for a year and then they come back when circumstances change. Either approach is fine. The model you built should keep serving you as long as your business fundamentals stay similar. When things shift significantly, that's when it makes sense to revisit assumptions and potentially rebuild sections.

Business planning session with financial charts and projections

Ready to Build Something That Actually Works?

We're taking on new clients for projects starting in September 2025. If you're dealing with financial decisions that feel more like guesswork than strategy, let's talk about building a model that gives you actual clarity.

Schedule a Conversation Explore Our Resources