FRACTIONAL COO • OPERATIONAL ADVISOR • M&A OPERATING SUPPORT
Build an Operation That Performs Today—and Is Ready for What Comes Next.
LUKE252 Advisory helps CEOs, owners, and investors solve operational challenges, strengthen the systems behind the business, and align operations with sales, finance, and growth. Whether the priority is stabilizing performance, scaling with greater control, or preparing for and integrating an acquisition, I provide the executive leadership needed to move the business forward.
Operational complexity can surface in different ways.
The business may be growing, adapting to new demands, preparing for a transaction, or simply reaching the limits of the systems that brought it this far. The warning signs are not always dramatic, but they can gradually affect performance, margins, customer experience, and leadership capacity.
Leadership is carrying too many operational decisions.
Routine issues continue reaching the CEO or owner because authority, accountability, and decision rights are not sufficiently clear throughout the organization.
Growth is creating strain across the business.
Sales commitments, inventory, fulfillment capacity, working capital, and customer expectations are becoming harder to coordinate as complexity increases.
The leadership team is not operating from one reliable view of performance.
Operations, sales, and finance may be using different numbers, priorities, or assumptions—making it difficult to identify risks early and make confident decisions.
A transaction is introducing new operational questions.
Before or after an acquisition, leadership needs a clear understanding of operational risk, integration requirements, scalability, and the systems required to create value.
Selected Operating Results
16+ years of operating leadership
Inventory accuracy improved from 50% to 97.6%
Order fulfillment performance sustained above 96% OTIF (On-Time In-Full)
Shipping capacity increased 4×
Transportation costs reduced by 53%
Inventory write-offs reduced from more than $300,000 to approximately $20,000
These results were achieved by strengthening more than individual processes. They required leadership alignment, cross-functional execution, reliable performance visibility, clear accountability, disciplined operating rhythms, and coordinated decisions across operations, sales, finance, customer service, and external partners.
Executive operating support for pivotal stages of the business
Fractional COO Leadership
Ongoing executive leadership for businesses that need greater operational control, cross-functional alignment, and accountability without immediately adding a full-time COO.
Operational Transformation and Scale
Assessment and hands-on leadership to stabilize performance, improve visibility, strengthen processes and teams, and build an operating system capable of supporting sustainable growth.
M&A Operational Diligence and Integration
Support for buyers, investors, and leadership teams assessing operational risk before closing, preparing a business for a transaction, or stabilizing and integrating operations after an acquisition.
WHO I WORK WITH
I work with CEOs, owners, leadership teams, and investors in consumer-product and manufacturing businesses—typically companies between $10 million and $50 million in revenue, as well as selected larger organizations facing a significant operational transition.
My clients include founder-led companies, growth-stage brands, family-owned businesses, and private-equity-backed portfolio companies seeking to:
Address operational challenges without disrupting the entire business.
Build stronger systems before growth creates unnecessary strain.
Improve coordination among operations, sales, finance, and customer-facing teams.
Prepare the operation for investment, acquisition, or exit.
Evaluate operational risk and scalability before completing a transaction.
Stabilize and integrate the business after an acquisition.
I work best with capable leadership teams that value direct communication, informed decision-making, and an experienced operator who can move from assessment to execution.
THE LUKE252 OPERATIONAL VALUE FRAMEWORK
From operational complexity to controlled, scalable performance
The LUKE252 Operational Value Framework provides a disciplined path for strengthening how the business operates:
Diagnose — Identify root causes, operating risks, and value-creation opportunities.
Stabilize — Address the issues creating the greatest risk to performance, customers, cash, or leadership capacity.
Create Visibility (Ongoing Discipline) — Establish reliable KPIs, reporting, and a shared view of performance.
Establish Accountability (Ongoing Discipline) — Clarify ownership, decision rights, priorities, and operating cadence.
Optimize — Improve processes, cost structures, service levels, and cross-functional execution.
Scale or Integrate — Build the systems required for sustainable growth or successful post-acquisition integration.
The framework is grounded in more than 15 years of leadership across Fortune 500 organizations and high-growth consumer brands. It can be applied to stabilize an existing operation, prevent future breakdowns, prepare a company for its next stage of growth, or support value creation surrounding an acquisition.
Build the operation your business needs for what comes next.
A confidential discovery conversation is an opportunity to discuss what is happening in your business, what may be limiting performance, and what the next stage will require. We will determine whether fractional leadership, an operational advisory engagement, or transaction support is the right fit.
If I can help, we will discuss the appropriate next step. If not, you will still leave with a clearer perspective on the operational priorities in front of you.