(And How It’s Different to Hiring a Consultant or Selling Out Completely)
When a business comes under pressure, most owners feel boxed in:
- Keep pushing and hope things turn around
- Call in more advisors and reports
- Or sell the business and walk away
There is another path: bringing in a CFO-led majority partner who puts both capital and leadership into the business, and stays to rebuild it alongside you. That’s the core of Forgepoint’s model — we either partner with directors as majority owners or acquire the business as a going-concern buyer, then our CFO team installs cash cadence, board-grade reporting, and operational controls so leadership can focus on customers and growth.
This isn’t consultancy. We don’t write a report and leave. We join you on the hook.
- Capital plus CFO discipline — in the same seat
Traditional advisors bring ideas, frameworks, and sometimes urgency. What they don’t bring is capital at risk and operational accountability.
A CFO-led majority partner does both:
- Capital: fresh equity or working capital to stabilise the balance sheet
- Discipline: 13-week cash forecasts, cash gates, and board-grade reporting from day one
- Cadence: a weekly rhythm for decisions, actions, and follow-through
Because we’re majority partners or owners, we don’t get paid for the number of meetings we attend. We get rewarded when the business stabilises and grows.
- Continuity over closure
In a stressed situation, it can feel like the only “clean” option is to put the business into administration or sell assets piece by piece.
Our bias is the opposite: continuity first.
We look for businesses where:
- The core operation is viable
- Customers still value the product or service
- The real issue is capital, controls, or pricing — not demand
We come in as going-concern buyers or partners who want to keep people employed and customers supplied. That’s very different from buyers who focus mainly on breaking up assets or stripping cost with no regard for the underlying franchise.
- What changes when a CFO-led majority partner joins?
Owners usually feel three shifts in the first 90 days:
- a) Clear cash visibility
You move from “checking the bank balance every morning” to:
- A rolling 13-week cash forecast
- Clear gates on what can be spent and when
- Structured supplier resets and lender conversations
The goal isn’t to slow the business down — it’s to protect oxygen so we can fix the real issues.
- b) Board-grade reporting (without the bureaucracy)
You start seeing:
- Monthly board packs that actually explain what’s happening
- KPIs that link operations to cash and profit
- Early warning signals instead of surprise phone calls from the bank
Good governance isn’t a luxury; it’s how we make faster, better decisions with less drama.
- c) Owners can get back to leading
Most stressed owners are stuck in the weeds: supplier negotiations, cash juggling, staff issues, and lender meetings.
Once we’ve installed CFO-level controls and reporting, owners and managers can return to the things only they can do:
- Keeping key customers close
- Leading the team through change
- Shaping the long-term strategy
- Majority partner vs consultant vs traditional buyer
It’s worth being clear about the differences.
Consultants / advisors
- Give recommendations
- May help implement for a defined period
- Don’t usually put capital at risk
- Leave once the engagement ends
Traditional financial buyer
- Focus on returns and exit timelines
- May be remote from day-to-day operations
- Often lean on internal teams to “make the numbers work”
CFO-led majority partner (our model)
- Invests capital and steps into ownership
- Takes accountability for cash, controls, and reporting
- Works shoulder-to-shoulder with directors and managers
- Focuses on continuity, not quick extraction of value
We don’t stand on the sidelines with a slide deck — we roll up our sleeves in the finance function, on the floor, and at the board table.
- Who is this right for?
A CFO-led majority partner isn’t the right path for every business.
It tends to work best when:
- Revenue is meaningful, but stress is rising
- There’s still a good team and customer base
- The owner wants help and is open to structure
- There’s a genuine desire to protect employees and legacy
We’re especially focused on manufacturing, warehousing & distribution, and agri-processing businesses where complexity, inventory, and working capital can quickly overwhelm informal systems.
- What a conversation looks like
A first conversation is simple:
- We listen — what’s happened, where the pressure is coming from
- We form a view on whether the business is viable with the right support
- We outline possible paths: partnership, acquisition, or a different solution
There’s no cost, no obligation, and everything is strictly confidential.
If you’re an owner or director in Brisbane or South East Queensland (or nationally) and you’re wondering whether a CFO-led majority partner might be the right next step, we’re always open to a quiet, early conversation.
Forgepoint — CFO-led partners & acquirers helping viable Australian businesses keep trading and growing, with continuity and integrity at the core.
