Business performance & turnaround · Mid-sized companies · Europe
Find where your business is losing profit and cash, and fix it.
I start from the numbers and follow them into how your business really runs: where margin leaks, where processes break down and where decisions are made without reliable information. Then I help your team put it right.
+€60K
monthly EBITDA within a 90-day operational turnaround
€180K → €520K
cash balance in the same turnaround
€780K
estimated recurring annual EBITDA from a 120-day transformation
€4M+
realized client savings across advisory engagements
Does this sound familiar?
Sales are growing, but margins are shrinking.
Pricing, discounts, product mix or costs are eating the gains and nobody can say which.
Cash is tight and you're not sure why.
Inventory builds up, receivables slip and the bank starts asking questions.
Deliveries are late and overtime keeps rising.
Bottlenecks, rework and poor scheduling cost money every week.
A change programme has stalled.
Good intentions, no clear owners, no measurable progress.
The reports don't agree with each other.
Management decides on gut feel because nobody trusts the numbers.
You need an outside view that leads to action.
Not another report: clear priorities, owners and measurable results.
How we work together
Diagnose, fix, sustain. You decide at each step whether to continue.
01
Diagnose
A business performance diagnostic that finds the root causes of weak results, puts a euro figure on each one and sets out what to fix first.
02
Fix
Hands-on implementation with your managers: cost optimization, process redesign, pricing and discount controls, working capital and cash. Weekly KPI reviews and named owners for every action.
03
Sustain
Ongoing performance oversight: a monthly KPI pack, a management review meeting and course corrections, so the gains last after the project ends.
Where every engagement starts
The Business Performance Diagnostic
One agreed business question, a fixed scope and a fixed fee. You will know what is really driving your results, what each issue costs you and what to do about it, whether or not you continue with me afterwards.
Root causes, backed by evidence
Across sales, margin, operations, cash and customers, from your own data.
The financial impact of each issue
In euros, so you can compare priorities on the same scale.
A prioritized action plan
Quick wins and structural fixes, each with an owner and a measure.
A management dashboard
The KPIs that matter, defined once and reconciled.
A walkthrough with your team
So everyone knows what happens next and why.
Selected results
Measured in profit, cash and delivery, not in slides.
Client names withheld for confidentiality.
sustainable cost optimization
Consulting firm, 80 employees: margin restored without job cuts
Costs had risen €960K against €300K of new revenue, and the board was weighing eight job cuts against five new hires. Reconciled the increase line by line, then assigned an owner to every cost, set approval rules and weekly staffing reviews, consolidated software suppliers, renegotiated freelancer rates and resized an office. Handed over to permanent managers by day 52.
€540K
est. annual EBITDA improvement (target €500K)
7.0% → ~10.9%
estimated EBITDA margin
46 → 31
software suppliers
80 of 80
jobs retained
operational turnaround
Restoring profit, cash and delivery under working-capital pressure
Led the diagnostic, set up a 13-week cash forecast and directed corrective actions across sales, purchasing, finance and the warehouse: pricing and discount controls, replenishment, collections and weekly performance reviews.
€67K → €127K
monthly EBITDA
€180K → €520K
cash balance
46 → 31
software suppliers
80 of 80
jobs retained
profitability transformation
€55M industrial manufacturer, 150 employees
Directed a cross-functional programme across sales, engineering, production, procurement and finance: quotation reviews, job costing, production workflow redesign, supplier pricing and scheduling ownership. Handed over to permanent managers.
€780K
est. recurring annual EBITDA
82% → 91%
on-time, complete deliveries
-€250K
work in progress
No extra shift
and no added headcount
profitability diagnostic · e-commerce
Revenue quality, not sales volume, was the real problem
Five years of financial, commercial and operational data across about 20 datasets, analysed by customer, product and acquisition channel, with prioritized actions on marketing spend, retention, pricing and fulfilment.
€713K
losses traced to unprofitable customers
96%
of contribution consumed by marketing
revenue & retention diagnostic · SaaS
Pinpointing a 44% fall in recurring revenue
Reconciled recurring revenue movements, analysed churn drivers and customer cohorts, and delivered customer-level priorities with a 30-day recovery plan.
€102K / month
revenue lost to churn and contraction
63% vs 92–95%
recent vs historical cohort retention
Data analytics
Analytics drives all my work. You can also hire it on its own.
If you mainly need reliable numbers, I also take on fixed-scope analytics work for companies and agencies.
Data consolidation & cleaning
Scattered, messy spreadsheets and systems combined into one reliable source.
KPIs & dashboards
Clear definitions, reconciled figures and management reports.
One focused question
Pricing, customers, marketing or demand, answered with quantified impact.
Monthly reporting
Recurring reports and follow-up analysis on a monthly basis.
Personal expertise, not an AI service
Your decisions are not outsourced to AI.
These are personally delivered consulting and analytical services, not AI-generated answers, automated recommendations or chatbot subscriptions. I investigate the problem, verify the evidence, challenge assumptions and stand behind the reasoning presented to management.
AI tools may assist with technical preparation where appropriate but they do not substitute for professional judgment or independent validation.
Pavlos Poli
Business performance & transformation advisor
Working on site or remotely.
Greek & English.
Business context. Analytical depth.
A business perspective, backed by hands on analytics.
I spent five years as a Senior Management Consultant in strategy and operations, leading turnaround and profitability programmes and teams of business analysts across several industries. Since 2020 I have worked independently, combining that operational experience with in-depth data analysis.
I work personally on every engagement, with mid-sized companies across sectors. Based in Greece and available for projects across Europe, on-site or remote, in Greek and English.
MBA · USA
BSc · Computer Information Systems · USA
SQL
Tableau
Python
Excel
AI-assisted analysis
A few things you may be wondering
What happens in the 30-min call?
In a 30-minute conversation, we discuss the performance question, why it matters, available data and the decision you need to make. The next step is a scoped proposal if there is a fit.
Can you work with a business like mine?
The starting point is your question, not your company size or industry. I check whether I understand the context, whether relevant data exists and whether I can deliver useful work. If the problem needs expertise outside my scope, I’ll say so.
Do we need a new data platform first?
Not necessarily. The work can often begin with exports from the tools you already use. Any additional software, access requirements or costs are discussed before you commit.
Can you connect data from several systems?
Yes. CRM, ERP, accounting, e-commerce and marketing sources can be mapped into a reconciled analysis layer as a separate data-integration engagement. Scope depends on source access, data quality and refresh requirements.
Does our data need to be perfect?
I validate the files before the full engagement. If data repair is required, I will explain the limitation and quote it separately rather than hiding it inside the diagnostic.
What if the data cannot answer the question?
I will not present a guess as a finding. I will explain what the evidence supports, what is missing and whether a test or more information could help. Where possible, we identify these limits during the initial evaluation.
How much does it cost and how long does it take?
After evaluating the question and available data, I propose a fixed fee and a realistic delivery date. The initial conversation is free. If assessing the data requires substantial work, I quote that separately before starting.
Can you run advanced/specialized analysis?
Yes. Advanced analytics modules, such as: variance and margin analysis, diagnostic analysis, customer segmentation, cohorts, market basket analysis, churn, LTV to CAC, funnel and attribution, pricing, regression, time-series forecasting are scoped around one decision, for example which customer segments to retain, where acquisition spend pays back or which cohorts are weakening. Each module is quoted after a data-fit review.
What happens to my data?
I use your data only for your project, through access you approve, with AI tools that do not train on or retain it. Personal data is handled under GDPR and deleted when the project ends.
Start here
What’s the question on your mind?
Tell me what’s happening, what you need to decide and what information you have. I’ll tell you whether I can help.
Prefer LinkedIn? Send me a message
Opens my LinkedIn profile. Please don’t send sensitive business data in your first message.