Fit For Growth

Sliding Line

  • The company faced growing pains as an online pre-loved book reseller. It was started by three book lovers who bought a sack of books from a charity shop, destined for pulping, and resold them on eBay. The company had grown to a £5 million turnover and was processing second-hand books by the ton. However, the technology they had commissioned for very specialised stock management was starting to fail regularly, and fixes were slow to be provided. With no in-house technical skills, Exevion Digital were asked to look at the existing issues and build a strategy for growth.  

    The solution had been built on a very tight budget, and while the partner they engaged with delivered on their requests, the flaws in design and coding standards made it hard to diagnose root causes, and fixes were complex. 

    • Conducted a Fit For Growth Assessment – Assessed people, processes, infrastructure, technical architecture, and coding practices to identify key challenges and risks. 

    • Understood the Key Business Drivers and Constraints – Recognised that perfection was no feasible within budget and prioritised pragmatic, high-impact interventions. 

    • Took Immediate Action to Resolve a Critical Issue – Implemented a short-term fix for a load-balancing issue, restoring productivity from 60% to full capacity. 

    • Developed a Sustainable Roadmap – Designed a phased plan to mitigate technical debt, improve stability, and support the company’s long-term growth ambitions. 

    • Enabled Turnover to Double in Five Years – Successfully executed the plan, removing the scalability issues and allowing revenue growth and business expansion. 

    • Achieved a Clean Bill of Health in Due Diligence – Ensured the tech infrastructure met required standards, supporting a smooth sale to a private equity fund. 

    • Delivered a Successful Exit and Future Growth – Enabled a lucrative outcome for the founders while setting up the new owners for continued success. 

  • Using a structured framework and a pragmatic approach, we guided the client and their partner on the necessary changes and their optimal implementation sequence. This not only enhanced system performance but also eliminated potential issues that would have raised red flags during the tech due diligence process. 

    If you have concerns about the scalability of your technology or are looking at an investment, let us help you with a fit for growth review.