When you have five businesses but none grows

And you want to make acquisitions without having grown what you have

Do you recognize this situation?

• Five different businesses in one company
• Stuck for three years, same revenue
• You want to buy other companies to grow
• But collaborators don't take responsibility
• And the fear is: business continuity in medium-long term

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The trap

There's a type of entrepreneur who built something.

Five businesses.
Forty people.
Significant revenue.
No debt.

But is stuck.

For three years.
Same revenue.
Same structure.

No growth.

And when you think about future:
Fear.

Not imminent failure.
But progressive irrelevance.

In five years, ten years:
Will this company still exist?
Or will it have been eaten by market?

And the solution you see is:

Acquisitions.

We buy another company.
So we grow.
So we become stronger.

So we solve.

But the problem isn't that you haven't bought.

It's that you're not growing.

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Why it happens

Five businesses aren't strategy.

They're opportunities.

First one.
Then another.
Then another.

Management software.
IT systems.
Print and copy.
Restaurant registers.
Office furniture.

Every time: "This is an opportunity."
Never: "This creates synergies with what we have."

And so you end up with five businesses that don't talk.

Software client ≠ furniture client.
Register sales ≠ printing sales.

Fifty hours a week.
Coordinating everything.
But nothing grows.

And collaborators?
Don't take responsibility.
Don't decide.
Don't see numbers.

Because you manage everything.

And they execute.

You want to make acquisitions?
But how do you integrate another company:
If you haven't even integrated your five?

You can't buy growth if you don't know how to do it organically.

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The method

Focus instead of accumulation.

1. Ruthless audit (which business has future)

Five businesses.
Which have margins?
Which grow?
Which have future in ten years?

Probably:
Two or three yes.
Two or three no.

Brutal decision: focus on core, exit the rest.

1. Exit or spin-off commodity businesses

Office furniture: low margins, no synergy.
Printing: commodity.

Options:
Sell.
Spin-off.
Close.

From five businesses to three core.

Concentration = focus.

1. Integrated client strategy

Three core businesses that talk.

Industrial client:
Buys management software.
Buys IT security.
Has company cafeteria → buys registers.

One client, three solutions.

No longer five separate businesses.
But unique integrated proposition.

Finally: synergy.

1. Collaborator empowerment

Three Business Unit Managers.
One per core business.

Own P&L.
Own objectives.
Bonus on results.

Weekly dashboard.
They see numbers.
They decide commercial actions.

You: from operational to CEO.

Team that decides instead of executes.

1. M&A after (not before)

Year 1: focus on core, exit the rest, integrated strategy.
Year 2: organic growth, empowered team.
Year 3: NOW acquisitions.

With solid base.
With clear strategy.
With ready team.

Acquisition is accelerator, not life raft.

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What changes after

You no longer have five dispersed businesses.

But three synergic core.
Integrated proposition.
Client who buys everything.

Multiplied value.

Client strategy finally exists.

Clear go-to-market.
Defined ideal client.

Organic growth resumes.

Empowered collaborators.

They make decisions.
They see numbers.
They have own objectives.

You truly delegate.

You no longer do fifty hours on operations.

But on strategy:
M&A.
Partnerships.
Innovation.

Future.

And above all:

Business continuity is no longer fear.

You no longer have fragile conglomerate.
But focused company.
With clear proposition.

Defensible positioning.

M&A becomes opportunity.

Not "I must buy to grow" (desperation).
But "I can buy to accelerate" (strength).

Business continuity can't be bought.
It's built with focus.
First internal, then external.