Aligning People and Process for Maximum Value Creation
We approach each partnership with appreciation, modesty, curiosity, and deep respect for all the nuances that come with building and growing a successful small business, not because we work with them daily, but because we are founders too.
Our Partnership Framework
Our partnership framework begins by building a trusting relationship with founders, managers, and employees. We recognize that the success of lower-market businesses depends on everyone within the organization, making it essential to achieve alignment across all levels when implementing a strategic growth plan.
This partnership forms the foundation for collaboratively identifying the best solutions to capitalize on growth, as we value the expertise and insights of employees. We do not pretend to know more than they do. What we do know is that many lower-market businesses face similar opportunities and challenges, and we partner with those whose needs align with our experience and expertise.
By combining the shared experience and expertise of all parties, we develop and implement a realistic and achievable growth strategy. This plan is executed thoughtfully, accounting for the unique circumstances of each business and prioritizing infrastructure development before rolling out strategic initiatives. This approach prevents undisciplined growth, avoids capacity issues, maintains quality and culture, ensures full organizational alignment, supports management and employee growth, and ultimately delivers superior outcomes for all stakeholders
Access to Proven Value Creation Drivers
We selectively engage in sectors and opportunities where we already have an active
thesis that aligns with our ability to bring meaningful resources and impact across all areas of
the business, ensuring a path towards significant value at exit.
Strategic Planning and Governance
We support management teams in assessing and refining both long-term and short-term strategies to drive sustainable business growth. Our approach ensures that each strategic decision aligns with core objectives, strengthens governance frameworks, and adapts to emerging market trends and challenges. By doing so, we empower organizations to achieve measurable growth and maintain a competitive edge in their industry.
AEP's Ecosystem
We connect our management teams with a robust network of seasoned executives and operators, providing immediate access to valuable insights, industry expertise, and strategic partnerships. This network empowers our teams to drive impactful results right from the start, fostering accelerated growth and meaningful collaboration as we embark on our partnership journey together.
Organizational and Technology Integration
Leveraging extensive experience, we partner with management teams to develop and refine systems, enhance management processes, and invest in people development. Our approach enables businesses to scale thoughtfully and sustainably, ensuring robust growth and operational resilience.
Sales & Marketing Development
We collaborate with teams to strengthen sales and marketing strategies, enhance brand positioning, and drive customer engagement. Our approach is focused on creating scalable, data-driven frameworks that boost revenue growth and foster lasting market impact.
Operational Excellence and Transformation
With a foundation rooted in the expertise of our co-founders and ecosystem, who bring proven leadership and business-building acumen, we drive operational excellence across organizations. Our team’s track record of implementing successful operational improvements enables us to streamline processes and enhance productivity, positioning our partners for sustainable growth and long-term success.
Leadership and Employee Development
We foster employee-focused partnerships that prioritize growth and development, empowering individuals to advance within the business and build their professional skills for long-term success.
Disciplined M&A Strategy
With deep internal M&A expertise, we empower our partners to execute a targeted acquisition strategy and playbook that drives accelerated and transformative growth.
Customer and Company Value Chain Alignment
Align internal operations and processes with the customer value chain to foster stronger customer engagement, improve communication across all touchpoints, and enhance internal operational efficiency, enabling seamless operational and commercial execution and a more responsive customer experience.
Implemented in a
Disciplined, Organizational-Wide Roadmap
Phase One:
Value Creation Plan Development
Phase Two:
Establish Operational Infrastructure for Scale
Phase Three:
Execute Strategic Growth and Expansion Plan
Our Six Stage
Value Creation Framework
Stage 1
Assess
In the Assess stage, collaboration with management is paramount. We conduct a thorough review, reaffirming competitive advantages, identifying high-value opportunities, and pinpointing potential inefficiencies. This exhaustive process sets the stage for a realistic roadmap based on resources, intentions, purpose, audience, and impact.
Stage 2
Develop
During the Develop stage, we craft a clear, realistic, and phased strategic execution roadmap. Prioritizing scalable infrastructure, we identify key areas for value creation and reverse engineer realistic outcomes. This ensures operational efficiencies are prioritized, positioning the business for successful execution aligned with our strategic plan and superior outcome drivers.
Stage 3
Align
Core to our identity, the Align stage revolves around people. We believe in garnering support from the entire organization — leadership, management, and employees. Establishing accountability, clear goals, and expectations, we provide resources for development. Strong governance and transparent communication unlock the team’s potential, fostering a sustainable culture.
Stage 4
Establish
In the Establish stage, we implement sustainable and scalable infrastructure across the organization. Recognizing sub-optimization in small businesses, we leverage AEP’s full force and resources to professionalize each functional area. This positions the business for accretive and sustainable growth with significant operating leverage.
Stage 5
Execute
With a scalable infrastructure in place, the Execute stage focuses on growing the business through strategic initiatives. Tailored to each situation and team capacity, initiatives target organic and inorganic growth, sales and marketing effectiveness, new product and service development, geographic expansion, customer acquisition, and strategic M&A.
Stage 6
Improve
In the Improve stage, we acknowledge the value of continuous refinement. Trusting our framework, we work with management to ensure alignment with superior outcome drivers, delivering on promises to each other, employees, and the business. Continuous improvement ensures our strategy remains robust and responsive to evolving needs.
