Why the usual turnaround so often fails
A business in trouble feels the pain in one place. Sales have dropped, or the bank has called, or there is never cash on payday. The natural response is to attack that place: hire a sales head, cut a department, ask for a bigger limit.
The trouble is that pain and cause are rarely in the same place. Cash is short at the bank, but the cause may be a margin that slipped two points eighteen months ago. Sales look weak, but the cause may be one customer who took a third of the capacity at a price that loses money. Attack the pain and you may fix nothing, or fix the wrong thing at real cost.
The difference, side by side
The usual turnaround: problem first
- Spot the problemSales are down, costs are up, the bank is worried.
- Attack itCut staff, push sales, renegotiate, discount.
- Hope it holdsIf the real cause was elsewhere, the fix moves the pain, or makes it worse.
The CFOSurge way: numbers first
- Read what the numbers sayMargins, days, cash cycle, mix, interest, by month and by product.
- Find the causeEach pattern in the numbers points to a short list of causes. Test them against the data.
- Change only what the cause demandsSo every change has a reason, an owner and a number to watch.
The second lane costs a little time at the start. It saves a great deal after that, because it stops the business spending its last cash on a cure for the wrong illness.
Where to start on this site
Pick the door that matches where you are. Each page works the same way: what the numbers say, the cause underneath, what to change, and what to expect.
Start here
How the numbers-first method works, and how turnaround differs from restructuring.
Turnaround services
What we do, from diagnosis and planning to running the recovery with you.
Business turnaround consulting
Diagnosis first: what the numbers say, then the cause, then the change.
Explore →Turnaround management
CFOs who stay and run the recovery with you.
Explore →Turnaround planning
The 90-day plan: few actions, named owners, one scoreboard.
Explore →Financial turnaround
Restoring profit and cash when the money is the problem.
Explore →Corporate restructuring advisory
Debt, entities and ownership: when the structure itself is the problem.
Explore →Debt restructuring and lender negotiation
How to approach the bank before the bank approaches you.
Explore →Cash flow turnaround
Stabilise cash in weeks while you fix the cause.
Explore →Interim CFO for turnaround
A senior CFO in the business for the critical months.
Explore →What your numbers say
Fourteen patterns in the numbers. Each page shows the numbers to open, the likely causes, what to change and what to expect.
Sales up, cash down
Growing faster than your cash can follow.
Explore →Margins shrinking every quarter
Same sales, less money kept. The slow leak.
Explore →Losses for two years or more
When the loss has become the normal state of things.
Explore →Receivables stretching
Your customers' cash is being funded by you.
Explore →Stock piling up
Cash on shelves instead of in the bank.
Explore →The bank is asking questions
When lenders notice before you act.
Explore →Overheads rising faster than sales
A business that costs more to run every year.
Explore →One customer too big
Dependence you cannot afford to say out loud.
Explore →Paying suppliers late
Borrowing from your vendors without telling them.
Explore →Interest eating your profit
You work for the bank, and it shows.
Explore →Staff cost too high for the output
People cost rising, output not.
Explore →Discounting to hit targets
Sales are met. Profit is not.
Explore →Unprofitable products and customers
Some of what you sell loses money.
Explore →Promoter withdrawals draining the business
When the business pays for everything else.
Explore →By industry
The same method, with the numbers that matter in each kind of business.
Manufacturing turnaround
Plants, scrap, idle time and a working-capital cycle that never ends.
Explore →Construction and contractor turnaround
Billing, retention, guarantees and the long wait to be paid.
Explore →Healthcare turnaround
Hospitals, clinics and labs: busy wards, thin cash.
Explore →Restaurant turnaround
Footfall without profit: food cost, rent, wastage and delivery fees.
Explore →Retail turnaround
Stock, rent and footfall: when the shelves are full and the till is not.
Explore →Trading and distribution turnaround
Thin margins, long credit and principals' schemes.
Explore →IT services turnaround
Bench cost, utilisation and the client who pays in 90 days.
Explore →Pharma and chemicals turnaround
Yield, approvals, expiry and the long wait for payment.
Explore →Small businesses and the hard question
For owners who are the whole team, and for the question they hesitate to ask.
Guides
Plain answers on choosing an advisor, strategies, timelines, tax and leadership.
How to choose a turnaround consultant
Ten questions to ask any turnaround firm, including us.
Explore →Turnaround strategies
Cut, fix, grow or change: matching strategy to cause.
Explore →How long does a turnaround take?
Weeks for cash, quarters for margin, years for the culture.
Explore →Accounting and tax in a turnaround
Books you can trust, and tax points that bite in a downturn.
Explore →Turnaround in strategic management
The academic frame, with the practical gap it leaves.
Explore →Turnaround CEO or CFO: who leads?
Who should lead the recovery: the visionary or the numbers person?
Explore →Early warning signs of business failure
Twelve signals in the numbers, months before the crisis.
Explore →Free tools
Calculators that run in your browser. Nothing is stored or sent.
Turnaround readiness score
Ten of your own numbers, one score. Which ones are speaking loudest.
Explore →Cash runway calculator
How many months until the cash runs out, and by when to decide.
Explore →Margin bridge calculator
Split a profit change into sales, margin and overheads.
Explore →Break-even calculator
How much you must sell each month just to stand still.
Explore →Proof
The book, and what owners say in their own words.
Business under pressure? Let a CFO read your numbers.
A senior CFO reads them with you and tells you what is really going on. No cost, no obligation.
Why you can trust the method
24 Hour Business Turnaround
By Sharad Churiwala and Govindaraju T V, the co-founders of CFOSurge. On finding profit in sales, purchases, working capital, marketing spend and tax.
See the book on Amazon IndiaCFOSurge has served companies since 2006, through the 2008 crisis, GST, COVID and each change in the tax rules since. In that time the same pattern repeats: owners who read their numbers early have choices, and owners who read them late have deadlines.
CFOAvatar complements every turnaround
A human CFO sees your business at the review. Problems do not wait for the meeting. CFOAvatar is connected to your accounting data and checks your numbers every day, so the scoreboard in a turnaround is always current. Ask it what an owner in trouble would ask:
What owners say after the numbers started talking
Before CFOSurge came into the picture, our business lacked financial discipline. Once their team started overseeing our finances, everything fell into place. There was accountability and when you know someone is keeping track, you ensure things get done properly. It’s been three years and the systems they put in place are still working well. Our business is in a much better position today.
They have facilitated us in putting both process and financial systems in place as well as take some very difficult but required decisions. We are indeed pleased to record our appreciation of their individualized, friendly and timely support in our activities during the course of their association.
Quoted word for word from our clients. Read more client words →
Questions owners ask us
What is a business turnaround?
A business turnaround is a planned effort to return a struggling business to profit and healthy cash flow. It usually covers diagnosis, a recovery plan, changes to operations and costs, and often talks with lenders.
What does numbers-first turnaround mean?
It means we begin with your financial data rather than with the problem you describe. The numbers show where profit and cash are being lost, which points to the cause. We then change only what the cause requires.
How is CFOSurge different from other turnaround firms?
Most start from the symptom and attack it. We start from the numbers, trace the cause, and only then recommend changes. The team is CFO-led, and the co-founders are authors of the book 24 Hour Business Turnaround.
When should I call a turnaround advisor?
Earlier than feels necessary. If margins have slipped for several quarters, cash is tight despite profit, or the bank is asking more questions, the numbers are already speaking. Early is cheaper in every sense.
Do you work only with failing companies?
No. Many owners come while the business is still profitable but the trend is wrong. The readiness score on this site shows how loudly your numbers are speaking.