A well-prepared strategy and growth plan doesn’t just add value; it helps capture it for the seller. A well-evidenced story ensures potential buyers are not distracted by less relevant concerns but instead focus on the key issues where they really do need to take a view and will not be surprised later.
This article focuses on what you should do to engage most effectively with providers like us.
A Unique and Complex Purchase
A VCDD is probably a one-off for you as a founder, or chief executive, whom financial owners most often support in making a final choice. It’s akin to hiring a contractor for a major renovation—once hired, you quickly discover whether you’ve engaged skilled professionals who take pride in their work or a team that either overcomplicates or overlooks the issues, and so adds little. At least consultants won’t leave your house looking like a building site, but once they’ve left it may soon feel like they were never really there.
As a founder or chief executive, supported by financial stakeholders, your choice hinges on understanding what “good” truly looks like—both in the provider and the deliverable. A standout VCDD combines strategic depth with a rigorous diligence phase, culminating in a narrative that aligns with your perspective. Avoiding mediocrity involves selecting a provider capable of addressing the right issues promptly and delivering actionable conclusions that resonate with stakeholders.
Approach this decision with the same level of scrutiny you demand of the analysis itself. A charming sales pitch might suffice initially, but the provider’s ability to craft impactful, targeted insights is what ultimately matters.
What to Look for in a Provider
The Big Three might seem a safe choice, and who doesn’t like to buy a brand with a heritage when one can? But if you can’t justify their typical project size, realise they will make it work by limiting the scope and partner attention. Some argue these well-known names can be helpful for financing packages, but we would argue this really only makes sense on the buy-side for the biggest deals which attract non-specialist lenders.
Of course we would argue that – for technical areas like energy, aerospace or clinical services – sector specialist firms offer better value for money in most instances. The generalists make a valid point—if selection criteria focus solely on how closely a provider’s previous projects resemble your own, the result is often a formulaic, “cookie-cutter” approach that offers little in the way of fresh perspectives, or creates a dense data-book with the usual sector coverage restated again, not synthesised pithily to engage new audiences.
Do bear in mind that there are some sectors where potential investors know a lot, but also they may think they do but it just isn’t so any longer and certainly inapplicable to you. Do listen to your investment bankers here – their sense of market assumptions and level of external knowledge is critical.
Professionalism, curiosity, and a tailored approach often deliver better outcomes than reliance on specific sub-sector credentials alone. Avoid overvaluing these at the expense of real strategy capabilities and commitment.
The banks and private credit providers must rely on reports and are the most experienced consumers. Do some due diligence yourself: make some calls, speak to previous clients or the decision-makers at major lenders whose reports are the most useful to them. Parties to previous transactions are in the public domain, your advisors can make introductions and CEOs will speak candidly to each other. A little effort can go a long way, since the truth is out there to be uncovered.
A crucial point is the precise team of individuals who will be fully engaged through the designated weeks, who have genuine personal experience, and whether the leaderships exhibits intellectual curiosity and emotional engagement. Do they work so they can sell projects, or do they sell projects in order to work?
What Good Looks Like
A VCDD is only shared with bidders who have demonstrated interest by providing an indicative bid and progressing in the process. However, if the document is overly long or dense, it risks being reduced to a compendium of sources rather than a tool to drive conviction. Quality reports should be engaging, well-structured, and respected by sector executives for their clarity and transparent arguments. A minor example – we are always careful to put material which is likely duplicated elsewhere in transactional documents into its own section. It can be read standalone, but the context is not repeated yet again.
While investment managers and junior partners may delve into the full details, senior decision-makers on the investment committee often focus on their internal investment papers and conclusions. For other documents to command sustained attention, they must justify reading beyond key messages and a bit of a quality check, truly earning the reader’s focus with compelling and succinct content.
Structuring the Process
The First Phase
Strategy work on market, competitive and positioning. This phase helps define and align company activities with an explicit strategy so there is truly one in place, owned by management well in advance of any sale. Ideally there will be outcomes to measure, and internal data collection (e.g., staff surveys) can be initiated. This all helps early discussions with buyers.
The Second Phase
Diligence work on at least value proposition, functional areas like operations and procurement, customer perceptions, technological changes, digital enablement (if already well-underway) and the business plan. This phase can start immediately, or months later, but at least shouldn’t start until financial figures and management projections are close to final. Subsequent changes create a lot of unnecessary work, and an experienced associate might spend weeks ensuring every page is revised and internally self-consistent. This is the only real reason why commercial work should ever overrun in time or cost.
A good output has clarity, sector-specific verbal precision, and a balanced depth that satisfies both generalists and specialists. A good outcome has it anticipating buyer concerns head-on in a sensitive way. The aim is not just to present analyses but to weave a compelling narrative in a pyramidal structure that inspires confidence.
Engaging Fully in the Process
You as the founder or management are pivotal here, but what can you do beyond exhort your colleagues to respond comprehensively and promptly to the information request list and round of management interviews?
- For any multi-division company, provide a dedicated project liaison who handles only the process but who knows the people and company culture very well
- Be fully transparent with what you’ve tried to achieve, successes and relative failures, and priorities for the business. Useful strategy consultants build rapidly on your knowledge, having tested it somewhat first, and look to expand it. The more you give them upfront, the further they will go and the fewer excuses they might have. They are not here to reinvent the wheel, but suggest where you should and shouldn’t be using it, saving you months of painful discovery.
- Engage briefly with the partner or manager informally one-to-one outside the designated workshop or review meeting to help ensure you’re not then too surprised by their focus or take on things. They should initiate this themselves so if there are no such preparatory effort that is a red flag.
- Communicate internally on how our strategy work is a periodic necessity for all organisations seeking to grow (and stay around long term!) and term it a market review or some such name. In sensitive cases, our diligence work might fall under that moniker.
Recognize that like any buyer, you play a pivotal role in demanding higher standards, even if this is an abstract notion and little immediate encouragement that better is indeed possible! All sectors rely on demanding clients to achieve their best potential and become competitive on the global stage.
Although strategy consultants do not have a formal professional designation, you should expect them to exhibit professionalism in their approach: pride in their work, integrity in execution, and respect for their clients, your staff and the people you serve.
Conclusion
While it’s the provider’s role is to deliver a comprehensive and clear analysis, you do bear some responsibility as a client is to foster transparency and collaboration throughout the process. The right team should demonstrate professionalism, competence and a focus on shareholder value—not just financials, but the broader narrative of contribution possibility that would make anyone proud to be the owner of your business. By the end, strategy consultants like us might not become your friends, but they should earn your trust as allies—people you would willingly involve in catch-ups, that Board meeting, or long overdue post-process business lunches. If that relationship doesn’t develop, it’s a sign that something has fallen short. Your commissioning choices – and subsequent level of earnest engagement – is just one of many critical choices you make as a leader, but done right, it will impact positively on your business, its future and your own experience.
