In 1994, Claus Lenk started Resource Group as a one-person sales agency with a briefcase full of samples. More than three decades later, it builds brands at every major retailer in Canada. When CEO Jeremy Lenk and CRO Brian Stanojevic came to us, they weren't looking to sell. They wanted to know what the business was really worth, and what would make it worth more.
Their Value Baseline found four moves, ranked by what each one was worth. Within one full year of acting on them, profit was up 68%, clearing the two-year profit target twelve months early. Their own forecast expected a dip while they invested. It never came.
Why selling was never the plan
No exit was on the calendar. The question was whether what Claus started, and the team built on, would hold up under a buyer's scrutiny, and how much upside was in the business to capture now.
The answer we gave them: Resource Group was a real, saleable business with a lot of value still on the table, and most of it was within their control. Our recommendation: hold, and build.
Where the value was hiding
The Value Baseline looks at a business the way an acquirer does: normalized financials, every value driver scored, and conversations with M&A advisors and investors active in the space, held without naming the company. Four opportunities stood out.
Jeremy and Brian knew their business better than anyone. What changed was seeing each opportunity ranked, with a value on it, through a buyer's eyes.
A short list, in order
The report ended with their first 90-day value sprint, not a wish list. The four moves:
- 1Make diversification a number. Set a clear target for how the portfolio should be balanced, and track it on the company scorecard every month.
- 2Free leadership to focus on growth. Move day-to-day work off the leadership team’s plate, and give new business a dedicated owner.
- 3Build capacity before adding cost. Understand where the team’s time really goes, and invest in the data behind every brand first.
- 4Write down the vision. So every investment decision has a clear filter.
What they changed
They hired for where they were going
"For the first time ever, we hired for growth. We invested for where we wanted to go, instead of reacting when we had to."
They took new business off one person's plate
"We have a massive new business funnel. I have someone on my team who now drives that with me."
They widened the portfolio on purpose
Diversification moved from intention to a number on the scorecard. With capacity to take on the brands that had been waiting, new launches are widening the portfolio, and every launch makes the business stronger and more balanced.
The dip that never came
Investing ahead of growth usually costs something up front. Jeremy and Brian had planned for it.
"Our forecast had us taking reduced earnings in year one, because of what we were investing. The result was the opposite."
Where Resource Group is now
Not for sale. Building. The three-year goal the team wrote down before we met is now this year's plan.
"Our mentality has changed quite dramatically. Brian and I now have a fairly large aim of where we want to go."
What's next is more of the same: a team that finds, signs and launches new brands on its own, and a portfolio that keeps getting wider. Building that now, with time on their side, is the point.
Common questions about this case study
One Value Baseline: their numbers restated the way a buyer would rebuild them, every value driver scored, a straight answer on what the business was worth, and their first 90-day value sprint: four moves, in order.
Normalized EBITDA in the first full year after the Value Baseline, compared with the year of the report. It cleared the two-year target in year one, despite a forecast that expected earnings to dip while they invested.
No. They wanted to know what it was worth and how to make it worth more. Our recommendation was to hold and build, and they are.
No. We spoke with M&A advisors and investors active in the space without naming the company. Nothing was listed and nobody was told.
Results vary. This is one business, and every company starts from a different place.
Since 1994, Resource Group has been building brands at Canadian retail. From Toronto, its national team works with every major retailer in the country, in stores and online, with one mission: helping amazing products get into the hands of consumers worldwide. Led by CEO Jeremy Lenk and CRO Brian Stanojevic.
Results vary. This case study describes one business, and past results don't guarantee future results for yours. Shared with permission from Resource Group. Dollar figures are shown as percentages or an index.
