Strategy consulting for the middle market
We help owners, executive teams, and investors make high-stakes growth decisions with rigorous market evidence, practical plans, and the financial case to back them up.
Services
Every engagement is scoped to the decision you need to make. The modules share one analytical backbone, so work done for a market study carries straight into a strategic plan, an acquisition search, or an investor-ready business case.
A facilitated, leadership-owned process that turns an honest assessment of your business and market into a plan with goals, owners, and milestones.
Defensible sizing and insight for niche, data-sparse industrial and B2B markets, built from primary research and the best available data.
A commercial strategy that pinpoints which segments and customers to grow, what resources it takes, and how to put the plan to work.
A structured search for acquisitions in attractive, growing markets, from investment thesis to a short list and a plan to approach owners.
An independent read on a target's market, customers, competitive position, and forecast, delivered on your deal timeline.
Investor- and lender-ready business cases backed by integrated three-statement models, scenarios, and return analysis.
For larger organizations that want a standing strategy partner, we act as an extension of the leadership team and combine the modules into one continuous program.
01 · Strategic Growth Planning
We guide your leadership through a short series of working sessions. Each one is backed by analysis we prepare in advance, so time together goes to decisions rather than data gathering.
Questions we answer together: How will demand for your core offerings change over the next 3, 5, and 10 years? Which new markets are most attractive? What capabilities will it take to win, and should you build them or buy them?
Mission, vision and values; business model and profit drivers; customer concentration; benchmarking; and an organization-wide strengths and weaknesses review informed by an executive survey.
Size and forecast core and adjacent markets, profile key competitors, assess your differentiation, and bring in the voice of the customer.
Identify the gaps between your capabilities and where the market is heading, then frame organic, M&A, and business-model options along with the enablers each requires.
Align on goals, choose the strategy, and define initiatives with milestones, owners, resources, investment, timeline, and metrics.
Validate the plan with leadership and package it for the board, lenders, or the wider organization.
02 · Market Research & Analysis
Many industrial and specialty markets have no reliable published size. We build the number from the bottom up, triangulate it with primary interviews, and show our work so you can defend it to a board or an investor.
03 · Organic Growth Strategy
A four-part commercial strategy that connects market opportunity to the customers, channels, and sales capabilities needed to capture it.
Size opportunities by channel, geography, segment, and product. Find whitespace that fits your capacity, then rank it by revenue potential, margin, ease of entry, and strategic fit.
Segment the base by revenue, margin, growth, and concentration risk. Find wallet-share and cross-sell opportunities and assess the attractiveness of each channel.
Evaluate sales structure and roles, rep and broker coverage, win rates, pipeline conversion, CRM use, and capability gaps.
Target account lists, customer-specific entry strategies, playbooks and messaging, broker scorecards, and leadership growth workshops.
04 · M&A Targeting & Execution
We start from where you should grow, then search systematically for companies that close the gaps. Ranking a target lower does not remove it. The best-fit companies are simply approached first.
Market sizing and growth trends, an assessment of current capabilities, and a ranked view of attractive end markets and the capability gaps that acquisitions could fill.
Build a long list from industry associations, databases, interviews, and secondary research, with profiles covering capabilities, end markets, customers, geography, and size.
Score targets against your requirements, including capabilities, technology, customers, geography, synergy, and ease of acquisition, to produce a short list of the top 20.
Detailed profiles and tailored contact strategies for the top candidates, plus initial outreach and discussion materials for first meetings.
05 · Commercial Due Diligence
An independent, evidence-based view of the target's market and commercial position. It supports your investment committee, LOI and purchase-price negotiations, and lender conversations.
Site visit and management interviews covering leadership depth, the sales pipeline, operations capacity, supply chain risk, finance, HR, and legal.
Market size and 10-year outlook, trends and drivers, value chain, and the potential to expand into adjacent markets and geographies.
Competitor profiles, alternative business models, the target's differentiation, and the capabilities needed to defend it.
Interviews or surveys with the target's customers on purchase criteria, performance, brand, and competitive alternatives.
Stress-test the drivers of revenue, COGS, operating cost, capex, and working capital, with base, upside, and downside cases.
Strengths, risks to management's projections, growth potential, and the investments required.
06 · Business Case & Financial Modeling
Whether you are funding a new plant, pricing an acquisition, or raising capital, we build the model and the narrative that management teams, investors, and lenders need to say yes.
An integrated three-statement model covering income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow.
Multiple scenarios and sensitivities to stress-test the investment, including debt-service capacity.
ROI, payback period, and DCF valuation to substantiate the investment or purchase price.
Market, differentiation, go-to-market, operations, pipeline, and capital needs in one decision-ready document.
How we work
We scope every engagement around the decision you face and stop when you have what you need to make it.
Market sizing, customer interviews, and financial models you can trace and defend. We show our work.
Facilitated sessions and shared ownership mean the plan belongs to your leadership, not to us.
Start with the module you need now. Each one plugs into the next without repeating the work.
Industry experience
About
Dan Lee
Founder & Principal
I founded Stradaro to give owners, executive teams, and investors senior-level strategy support without the overhead of a large firm. For more than a decade, I have helped organizations define a long-term vision and turn it into practical strategies that improve profitability and build lasting value.
My work covers the full arc of growth decisions: corporate strategy and strategic growth planning, addressable market research, voice-of-customer programs, competitive positioning, organic growth strategy, M&A targeting and execution, commercial due diligence, and detailed business cases. I have advised manufacturers, private equity firms, and Japanese-headquartered companies across automotive, medical devices, renewable energy, construction, food and beverage, and professional services.
I speak regularly on the forces reshaping mobility and manufacturing, including the Society of Automotive Analysts Annual Outlook on autonomous vehicles, the KC SmartPort Annual Industry Briefing on automotive trends, NAATBatt International on funding the battery value chain, and Plastics in Motion on how disruption in automotive is changing the plastics market.
The name comes from strada, Italian for “road,” a nod to my family’s roots in Italy and to what strategy really is: choosing the road ahead and committing to it.
My accounting training underpins the financial rigor in every engagement, and every client works with me directly.
Contact
Tell us a little about your situation. We will reply within one business day to set up an introductory call.
Metro Detroit · Serving clients nationwide
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