A century-old diamond wholesaler facing an existential market shift. I stepped in as Fractional CFO/CSO to find out whether it could survive, and what it had to become to do it.
~6 Month Sprint · Now Advisory
Three fronts, one objective: make the business survivable
The inventory call: freeing capital trapped in dead stock
Finance
Before
Frozen
Capital locked in slow-moving stock. Inventory valued on instinct, not on how fast it would actually sell.
After
Modeled
Every category priced against reality. Sell-through velocity, market trajectory, and true carrying cost, laid out in the numbers.
Result
$1M+
Capital freed. Stock that wouldn’t have moved for four or five years, converted back into cash.
Interest reduced on the line of credit
$75K–$125K
per year, and climbing as more stock moves
The $1M+ freed paid down the credit line directly, cutting interest at roughly 7.5% as the remaining inventory clears.
Rebuilding the cost structure for a leaner business
Operations & Finance
Before
Over-built
A cost base sized for the old model. Team and overhead carried from a market that no longer exists.
After
−40%
Team restructured around the new focus. Roughly $1.2M in annual payroll savings.
Result
$1.5M+
Annual run-rate savings. Payroll, overhead, and interest combined, every line traceable.
Repositioning the business around what survives
Strategy
Initiative
Niche focus
A new target market. Repositioned around the specific segments likely to survive the lab-grown shift, with matching client and inventory targets.
Initiative
Financial backbone
Built to steer by. A 3-statement model and forecast on the adjusted projections, plus a zero-based budget for the leaner strategy.
Outcome
Blueprint
A transformation map. From old-fashioned wholesale to a nimble, niche-focused operation.
One long sprint, sequenced from strategy to execution
Built the plan for adapting the business model to the niche markets most likely to survive the lab-grown shift, then set client and inventory targets against it.
Analyzed the financial picture, built a 3-statement model and forecast on the adjusted projections, and made the case to sell 40% of inventory to free trapped capital. Set a clean, zero-based budget for the leaner strategy.
Worked alongside the owner to put the changes in place: restructuring the team, introducing the new focus, and making the structural changes the leaner model required.
Stepped back into a monitoring and advisory role: tracking how the changes are landing, making minor course-corrections, and serving as a sounding board for the owner.
Measure the changes against the model over the coming quarters and confirm the savings hold at run-rate.
Evaluate whether larger structural adjustments are warranted next year as the market continues to shift.
The diamond industry is living through an existential shift. Lab-grown stones have cratered the market a century-old wholesale model was built on, and the company I stepped into was carrying a heavy inventory of exactly the kind of product that was losing value fastest. The business was structured for a world that no longer exists.
Over a roughly six-month sprint, I rebuilt the strategy around the niches likely to endure, built the financial backbone to steer by – a 3-statement model, a forecast, and a zero-based budget – and made the hard calls on cost and inventory. The result is roughly $1.5M+ in annual run-rate savings, over $1M in capital freed from dead stock, and a leaner operation with a real chance not just to weather the storm but to come out the other side.
I’m now in a monitoring and advisory role: tracking how the changes are landing, making minor course-corrections, and serving as a sounding board for the owner as the market continues to shift.
If your market is shifting under you and you need someone to make the strategic and financial calls, not just write a report, let's talk.
No pitch. Just a conversation about your challenges and whether I can help.