TekLinks

Rapid outside spend reduction effort affects margin turn-around and successful preparation for sale

The Inside Consulting team have partnered masterfully with us to not only substantially reduce our vendor spend but also to improve the services we receive from these parties, to restructure our vendor evaluation and selection process going forward and actually expand the portfolio of services we offer to our customers. Overall, an incredibly smart and gifted team!- Jim Akerhielm | CEO

Situation:

  • Operating margins were not scaling as expected, and Teklinks was nearing the end of its owner’s investment hold period.
  • Teklinks engaged Inside Consulting to conduct rapid outside spend compression and deliver demonstrable and sustainable earnings improvement, capable of passing any future Quality of Earnings reviews by potential buyers.

Insights and actions:

  • Analysis of end market potential and supplier landscape uncovered a major opportunity in security services for Teklinks’ customer base.  Armed with this insight, Inside Consulting and Teklinks worked with a handpicked supplier to co-develop a customized security solution more cost effective than alternatives and capable of driving rapid volume growth.
  • Inside Consulting identified a major opportunity in network spend reduction: steep discounts from switching providers on some versus immediate, though smaller, discounts by renegotiating with incumbent carriers.  We developed a dynamic cashflow model to inform supplier negotiations and clarify for  Teklinks the value-maximizing approach.

Impact:

  • Locked in $2.3M in EBITDA improvement from vendor spend reductions
  • Accelerated revenue growth in security services, a high-margin focus area for Teklinks.