Business Rescues Turnarounds

Welcome to our Business Rescue Services home page.

We're sorry you and your business are in distress but you're not far from being in safe hands. We are different, and this is how:

We only do business turnarounds and have never done a liquidation.
We do not insist on any upfront deposit, ever.
We only do one business rescue at a time and we give you our full attention.
We insist you discuss our last rescue with the leadership or owner of that business.
We invite you to interview the creditors of our last rescue to get their view of how we add value.
We focus on your business issues and drive a radical and immediate intervention.
We apply lessons learned from leading large businesses, and from many previous turnarounds.
We don't waste valuable time waiting for rescue plan approval before we take action, we implement rescue intervention from day one!
We will fight for your business and its survival, we will not waste your time and we do not chase fees.
We provide superior value for money, world class expertise without the need to cover any extravagant cost base.
We invite the closest of scrutiny and will explain in detail from the word go on what we will do and how we will do it.
We provide you with a full set of our typical deliverables and full access to previous rescue online portals that provide full proof of what we will do for your business.
We do what is necessary, not just what is legally required, and provide a full rescue solution including access to refinancing and post commencement financing.

Unfortunately if you need a graceful wind-down we are not the right people for you, but if you are using business rescue for the purpose of survival, then you are in the right place. We have been involved in many successful rescues and turnarounds, around the world, and we will treat your business with great respect, and make every effort to see it survive and be well positioned to thrive.

Here is an up to date, Senior Business Rescue Practitioner license.

And here for the Turnaround Management Association of South Africa, is proof of membership. the TMA-SA link is provided at the bottom of this page.

Very graciously, some senior business leaders have shared their thoughts about us, If you follow the link in the header, or just click here, you can get a sense of who we are and that we under promise and over deliver!

You'll find what you need here to give you some piece of mind

Firstly, you probably need someone to talk things through with, so for a discrete discussion, with no obligations call Ivan's mobile +27(0)76 834 17 59 or you can always just use our contact form
You'll want to understand the process, in plain English free of jargon A walk through of the generic Business Rescue Process.
Very important is the "Reasonable Prospect" opinion and step in the process, here is some good advice and how we go about generating this opinion.
Part of the "reasonable prospect" must be, the preparation and pre-reading documentation we'll need.
Then you'll want to understand fees and costs - easy, we're negotiable and willing to go on risk - no approval of your plan and we'll share the pain!
You'll want to know who you're dealing with and know you are in safe hands. Why working with us gives you a better shot at survival.
You'll want some assurance on the quality of the plan that we'll produce with you Rescue Plan Deliverables.
And finally, you'll need to know how to prepare and help us get up to speed. Here's our week 1 skeleton plan and actions.
Finally, owners, managers, board members, basically anyone in a leadership role in this distressed business. needs to think about the many conflicting incentives and motives that you will need to navigate and balance - straight talk.

The Rescue process does allow for a period free of creditor obligations as well as other contractual agreements, but for a limited period of time. From an actual business review, analysis and implementation perspective there is no big difference from our point of view, except for the time-constraint. Our approach to a Business Turnaround benefits both the business leadership and the business itself. It is important to note that the court will only confer Business Rescue status if i) the enterprise is financially distressed and ii) there is a realistic chance of the rescue succeeding. In the process, approval for the rescue plan (including necessary funding) must be sought. Even if a business rescue is envisaged, the work done in a turnaround will inform the court as well as increase the chance of the plan being approved.

A debt work out is really an informal business rescue with a lot of turnaround scope embedded. This is a highly recommended approach for a distressed business to embark upon, especially when they have managed their creditors properly and have no conflict or litigation at hand. Please visit our debt workout page for more.

Hopefully we have provided sufficient insight on the details of our Business Rescue Service. Legislation refers to the Business Rescue Practitioner, which is the role we perform, but with one big difference. We are not lawyers, we have made a career out of Business Turnaround delivery, and our strength is the analysis of the business and its survival. On legal matters we defer to the lawyers, however on strategy, the balance sheet, the income statement, process efficiency, the operating model, company restructuring, organization design, programme and project management, this is where we make the difference.

Our Business Rescue Service is exactly that, intended to quickly create focus on remedial and rescue opportunities which are of high impact, but often over-looked, and crucial to a rescue. Again, we are not lawyers, we are practical business people having participated in and led many successful turnaround. We will be forthright in our commentary, and this should give you an alternative view on the our Business Rescue process focus.

There are different kinds of Business Rescue Practitioner

The Act and CIPC allows for people of varying experience, education and ability. There are those who are:

of a legal background, typically liquidation lawyers, who have never executed a turnaround before, but understand the detail of insolvency law. They serve their purpose in a wind-down, which strictly speaking falls outside the scope of rescue.
of an accounting background, who are useful in cleaning up the balance sheet and disposing of assets. Their accounting skills are always useful.
of a business consulting and business leadership background, who have managed businesses and conducted turnarounds previously. These are the people who will aim at turning a distressed business around.

The Business Rescue Process demands much from the Practitioner

Not least of these skills should be Strategic and Operating Model analysis skills backed up by excellent finance, process skills and programme management competence with obvious business acumen. This is why, for the fee of a single business rescue practitioner, we conduct the planning with a team , which allows us to deliver a business rescue plan which has had a better business analysis done, (our work streams are comprehensive) which in turn allows for a more detailed plan, with the assurance every opportunity for rescue action has been reviewed, which in turn increases the chance of approval.

The following pages provide you with a level of detail that should give you a very good idea of the chance we give the business. Week 1 Planning is used here to illustrate our Rescue and Turnaround skill sets, where we introduce to you some of the powerful yet simple tools we deploy, such as Value Based Management Curves and Value Trees.

The emphasis of the links below is that of identifying every possible opportunity when formulating the Business Rescue Plan or Proposal. The process we follow meets all the legal requirements, but most importantly, embraces the spirit of the process, giving the business the best fighting chance of survival. This is no tick-box exercise!

Business Rescue is only one tool in the suite of insolvency tactics available, there's a lot you can do before formal procedures start. Our preference is to get involved prior to formal Business Rescue, (this we refer to as a Turnaround) and to address the various business issues as if we were in a state of formal Business Rescue - the difference is that the business leadership will be there, you can make decisions, and we have more time and fewer stakeholders to manage. We do retain the urgency! This very intense coached relationship focuses on survival but in ways you will find innovative and practical. The focus here is on Cash and Value Management initially, but then cycles through People, Strategy, Execution, with particular focus on adoption of new behaviors and habits. Very few coaches have either the appetite, ability, experience or personality for this type of work and with consultants not wanting a client who might not pay, where does that leave the SME? Well, contact us, you'll be so glad you did.

We strongly advise you to act as soon as you can if you have any fears for the future, even if it is just a quick telephone chat. If we can't help you we'll help find the right person for you, this could be a new customer, supplier or investor - we'll help you if we can, just for the reward of having done the right thing.

Our last word on avoiding Business Rescue is this. Unfortunately, in South Africa currently the formal Business Rescue process is more a legal one than a practical business survival one and lacks the maturity of for example the US Chapter 11 process. This seems to be changing, however we strongly advise you to act before formal business rescue proceedings begin, since:

Your access to the business might become severely limited in this process.
The chance of finding an Angel Investor practically vanishes there is plenty of cash begging to find good opportunities if you know where to look!)
Creditors are far less forgiving and have much more power, although entering the process can be seen as a good faith attempt to meet your obligations as best you can.
Most registered business rescue practitioners approach the rescue from a legal point of view (to be fair it is difficult not to), with creditors obviously having a large say in matters.
There are conflicting incentives, despite the stated intent of the process.
This is an expensive affair, and frankly, rushed. The time constraints and the binding obligations explicit in an approved plan, make people very conservative. (Your Business Rescue Practitioner, is required to deliver on the approved plan, and this plan has to be put together in 25 days.

TMA - South Africa - Turnaround Management Association of South Africa www.tma-sa.com
TMA - Journal - Some Interesting Articles www.tmajcr.org/journalofcorporaterenewal
PDF of the 2008 Companies ACTwww.cipc.co.za/index.php/download_file/view/257/152/

Finally!

Don't brood and ponder in isolation! - There's no harm in chatting

There are some very good Business Rescue and Turnaround people in South Africa. The industry body has very good information and has a list of Business Rescue Practitioners for you to review. Talk to a couple of people at least. Do not limit your conversations. If you need to talk to us, even on week-ends, please contact us. We understand the pressures you are facing, and if talking to us on a week-end or evening helps you have a better night's sleep, then that's something we have no problem in doing!

Call us, or get us to contact you you'll be glad you did,

Yours sincerely

Ivan@Spark!

Business Rescue Turnarounds - Home Page

IntroductionClick to expand or collapse

The Business Rescue Information you needClick to expand or collapse

Business Rescue or Debt Workout - what's the difference?Click to expand or collapse

Why we give you a better chance of succeedingClick to expand or collapse

There are different kinds of Business Rescue Practitioner

The Business Rescue Process demands much from the Practitioner

Early intervention is possible, Business Rescue!Click to expand or collapse

Useful LinksClick to expand or collapse

Finally!