Benedict
CEO - Switzerland - iCEO #25506

Experience

Entrepreneur and Executive with a track record in large size multinational, medium and start-up companies. 

Multicultural, multilingual, multinational. I like creating, building, growing and turning around businesses.

Major Achievements

Successfully turned around a company that had started as an engineering consultancy and moved up to designing, manufacturing, and selling its own products. Served under a consulting contract to lead and prepare the company for the entry of VC or private equity – challenged to revitalize the nearly bankrupt company, which had been experiencing accumulated losses and debt over the years, and position it as an attractive business to investors. Managed up to 9 direct reports; full P&L responsibility. Earned the respect of team, suppliers, and stakeholders. – Turnaround Leadership. Immediately drafted an emergency plan and orchestrated aggressive turnaround effort (under an extremely tight cash situation) that delivered strong financial and operational results, and put the company on the right track to succeed in attracting investment. – Shut down all loss-making projects and aligned focus on two profitable product lines. – Grew sales from 80% revenue in home country to 80% revenue international. – Reduced majority shareholder’s share to 25% by restructuring capital, debt, and accumulated losses. – Nearly doubled margins by moving production from Spain to China. – Improved cash flow from up to 720 days for debt collection to having all customers pay 90% before delivery; also managed to have a major customer pay large portion of outstanding (litigious) debt that had accumulated. – Reduced customer portfolio risk from one single customer to several customers for both product lines. – Reduced inventory by obtaining monthly production and delivery from suppliers based on real-time sales pipeline forecasts. – Conducted cleanup of balance sheet and accounting to prepare for due diligence process. – Introduced management by objectives and on-target earning variable pay for all employees. – Implemented modern productivity tools such as Salesforce.com, Skype, Webex, and a new budgeting method. – Performed cost analysis and sourcing to reduce manufacturing/transportation costs. – Defined cutting-edge, next-generation products for both product lines and initiated design/prototyping.

Industry Sector Competencies

E-Commerce/Internet

Electronics

IT/Computer Hardware

Software

Systems Integration

Telecommunications

Professional Objectives

Function: CEO, iCEO, General Manager, Turnaround Consultant

Sector: Aviation, Manufacturing, Information Technology. Open !

Interim Manager: Yes

Permanent Position: Yes

Operational: Yes

Availability: Full time

Prefered Locations: Switzerland-Europe

Additional Professional Interests

Personal financial investment: 150-350K USD

Countries Covered

Switzerland

Operational Competencies

Technologies to market (Expert)

Business development (Expert)

Acquisition and shadow management (Expert)

New product or service launch (Expert)

Geographical expansion (Expert)

Company rescue or turnaround (Expert)

Close down or sell off (Expert)

Pre or post investment audit (Professional)