Guide 12 · for owners and deal teams
Five questions to ask any value creation partner
Proposals all promise growth. These five questions show which one will be able to prove it.
By Cristian Paun · partner, Value Creation and Growth · Makers of New
The short answer
Ask every firm the same five questions and put the answers in one table: whether every move is priced before it starts, whether the arithmetic can be recomputed without the firm, who owns the record and the data when the work ends, how the evidence behind each finding is graded, and what is left running when the adviser leaves. A proposal that answers all five clearly is one you can hold to account.
Why it matters now
Owners hold longer and lean on operational value creation more than they used to. The market for help has grown with it, and proposals have become hard to tell apart.
The five questions
- Whether every move is priced before it starts. In euros, months and capital, on your own numbers. A plan without prices cannot be ranked, and an unranked plan does everything at once.
- Whether the arithmetic can be recomputed without the firm. If a figure cannot be recomputed by your own adviser, it has to be believed. Believed figures are discounted.
- Who owns the record and the data at the end. Accounts, systems and the record of what was done should stay with the company, in a form it can use without the firm.
- How the evidence is graded. Ask how a finding based on one interview is told apart from one that was measured.
- What keeps running when the adviser leaves. A report ends. A record, a cadence and a scorecard keep going.
A table to compare proposals
| Question | Firm A | Firm B | Firm C |
|---|---|---|---|
| Every move priced before it starts | |||
| The arithmetic recomputable without the firm | |||
| The record and data stay with you | |||
| Evidence graded on every finding | |||
| Something keeps running after |
Where it goes wrong
- Proposals are compared on day rates. The cost of the wrong partner is the year lost, and it dwarfs the fee.
- The end state is missing. A proposal that cannot describe its own end is a retainer.
- The record belongs to the firm. Then the company pays twice to leave.
The instrument
Makers of New answers all five in writing, in every proposal: every move priced in a MakersOS room, the model’s identity published at makersofnew.com/model.html, the record the company's own, every finding graded, and a quarterly close that keeps running.