Business Advisor & Strategy Consultant Research

Original Thinking for
Business Owners Who Want to Go Deeper

These aren't blog posts. Each paper is a structured, deeply researched guide built from patterns observed across 200+ real business engagements: the specific decisions, frameworks, and disciplines around profitability, cash flow, operations, leadership, and value creation that separate growing businesses from those that stay stuck.

5 Papers Published Written by Alexandra Orzeck Free to read

Profitability 22 min read
01

The Profit Gap: Why Growing Businesses Leave Money on the Table

A structured analysis of the seven mechanisms that silently compress margins in growth-stage SMBs, and a practical framework for identifying and closing each one.

  • Why revenue growth often makes profitability worse, not better
  • The seven specific mechanisms that compress SMB margins
  • How to conduct a margin architecture audit
  • A step-by-step profit recovery framework
Cash Flow 20 min read
02

Cash Is Not Profit: The Business Owner's Guide to Cash Flow Mastery

The definitive guide to understanding why profitable businesses run out of cash, and how to build the forecasting systems that eliminate financial stress permanently.

  • Why profitability and cash flow diverge (with real examples)
  • The cash conversion cycle and how to shorten it
  • Building and using a 13-week rolling forecast
  • The five working capital levers every operator must understand
Operations 24 min read
03

The Owner Trap: Building a Business That Runs Without You

Owner-dependence is the single most expensive operational problem in small and mid-size businesses. This paper shows you how to measure it, price it, and systematically eliminate it.

  • How to calculate the true cost of owner-dependence
  • The four stages of operational maturity
  • Process documentation that teams actually follow
  • The delegation framework that preserves quality
Leadership 21 min read
04

The High-Performance Leadership Team: Alignment, Accountability, and Execution

Most businesses don't have a strategy problem. They have a leadership team problem. This paper examines what separates leadership teams that execute from those that endlessly discuss.

  • The five dysfunctions unique to SMB leadership teams
  • Meeting architecture that drives decisions, not discussion
  • How to build accountability without micromanagement
  • The quarterly and annual rhythm that aligns everyone
Value Creation 23 min read
05

What Your Business Is Actually Worth: A Practical Guide to SMB Value Creation

Most business owners significantly misunderstand how their company is valued. This paper demystifies the mechanics of SMB valuation and shows you precisely which levers to pull.

  • How buyers and investors actually calculate business value
  • The five multiplier drivers that matter most
  • Why EBITDA alone is not the whole story
  • A 24-month value creation roadmap

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