Purpose Driven Turn Around Specialists with Aligned Stakeholder Interests:
We produce results not advice.
We charge a monthly retainer and earn a success fee by driving agreed upon metrics.
Innovative Directions is: a Boutique Consumer/Industrial-Turn-around firm.
By partnering with financial investors and next-generation owners that run operating companies that had a solid past, but lost their profitability, cash strength, and our market position, we lead recovery and exit. In addition, we offer advisory support and help build and lead corporate board through hands-on leadership and day-to-day management support.
Rather than hire a team of advisors or recruit a new C-Suite, our unique value is assuming key leadership roles, developing a holistic look on the business situation, and, depending on the owner’s goals, re-positioning the business back to profitable and growing or to a stress-free profitable exit. Additionally, we offer ‘pure’ advisory where we serve on boards, work as “shadow CEOs” and help fix specific business issues. Philosophically, we pursue a hybrid model of employees and trusted contractors wherein our client may contract for one of us, however, gets the support from the broader team and the choice to contract with our partners. In all cases, our goal is to align our interests with our sponsors by charging a nominal retainer and creating an earn-out wherein we all share in success.
Our core value has always been giving our clients:
The ensured success or a clean exit from problematic businesses with certainty their employees, customers, vendors and the communities they work in can enjoy continued growth in a respected manner. We treat our client’s business as if it is our own.
In parallel, we directly invest 30% of our profits into social impact for-profit businesses in Southeast Asia and India that help lift people out of poverty.
Our goal is to create for our clients the option to grow or to exit.
Our clients include family business, private equity portfolio business, and debt laden companies with cash deficits and negative returns that need a fix-it strategy and execution.
Our history:
Started in 1995 when, as a US Army infantry officer, our founder Phil began helping and advising businesses in Colorado Springs, USA. For the next 20 years, Phil continued to apply his ‘infantry’ and consulting skills to turning around businesses. He took successive executive leadership roles both within GE’s chemical businesses and eventually for various multinational and private equity firms. Nearly all of his roles were direct P&L leadership and chief executive of under-performing businesses. As demand for his turn-around skills grew, Phil re-started Innovative Directions in North Carolina in 2012. By 2015, his focus and work demand concentrated on East Asia, and, as a result, he also opened Innovative Directions Limited, Hong Kong.
We are a veteran owned company.
