A commodity trading company increased volume and revenue three-fold (to $80M) in one year. That was fantastic…except the existing financial and credit resources, people and systems were overwhelmed by the tsunami of success.

Growth requires cash. The financial solution included arranging for a larger bank credit facility supported by trade receivables and negotiating a new long-term loan, without requiring shareholders to contribute any additional equity capital while also limiting the previously unlimited shareholder personal guarantees.

We concluded that human resources were not a core limitation. We mainly had right people, but need to empower them with the right systems and tools to keep pace with the growing volume. The challenge was that there was no off-the-shelf system available to license at a reasonable cost that would have supported our unique brokerage business. The solution: I designed and architected a computerized brokerage trading system and co-developed the platform in partnership with a custom software development firm. After implementation and tuning the system, and training a staff of 40 employees, productivity and employee satisfaction skyrocketed. And the business tripled again in the following two years supported by very modest new administrative and accounting headcount.

And the business tripled again in the following two years supported by very modest new administrative and accounting headcount, thus driving operating profit margins through the roof.