Keel. Book a call
Margaret Lund, the founding partner, in a leather chair below an abstract painting

Plain advice for owner‑led companies.

We help companies fix how they run, price and plan. A partner leads every engagement, for a fixed fee.

Margaret Lund

Founding partner, since 2011

We sit with owners and their managers, find where margin and time leak out, and stay until the fix is part of the routine.

140
engagements completed since 2011
71%
of clients hired us again
6–12
weeks in a typical engagement
$8,500
for the two-week diagnostic, before anything else

Six practices, one small team.

Every engagement starts with a two-week diagnostic. The fee for the work after it is set in writing before it begins.

Operations

Lead times, capacity and the steps that cost the most. We fix them with the people who do the work. 8–12 weeks, from $42,000.

Pricing

Price lists, quoting and discount rules. Most clients find two to four points of margin in discounts nobody approved. 6–8 weeks, from $28,000.

Finance and forecasting

A 13-week cash forecast, monthly figures your bank accepts, and a budget your managers helped write. 6 weeks, then monthly.

Growth

Which customers and products pay their way, which market to enter next, and what getting there costs. 8–10 weeks, from $36,000.

Change

Reorganizations, new systems and acquisitions, planned in stages so orders still ship while it happens. 10–12 weeks, or monthly.

Board advisory

An outside seat at your quarterly meeting, or help forming a first board before a sale or a handover. A yearly retainer.

Fees and lengths
A partner reading a client's figures in a sunlit room
An advisor talking a client through the diagnostic by the window

Ten pages, not a hundred.

Each finding in our report names what it costs you a year, who owns it, and the date it should be fixed by. This one is from a pricing diagnostic, with the client's figures changed.

Finding 3 of 9 · Pricing

Discounts outside the price list on six orders in ten

Cost a year
$410,000
Owner
Sales director
Fixed by
End of the quarter

Fix: two people approve discounts above 5%; a weekly margin report by customer.

Call us today(612) 555-0148

Why owners call us.

  1. A partner on every engagement

    The person who scopes your project works on it every week. Nobody hands you to a junior analyst after the first meeting.

  2. The fee is set before we start

    The diagnostic costs $8,500. After it you get one price for the whole engagement, or a monthly retainer, in writing.

  3. Short reports

    Every finding with its cost, its owner and its date, and nothing you would skip.

  4. We check what held

    Ninety days after we leave, we come back for half a day at no charge to see which changes stuck and which need another push.

The partners you will work with.

Four partners, six consultants and two analysts, all in one office on Marquette Avenue.

All twelve of us
  • David Hale in the office

    David Hale

    Partner, pricing and growth

  • Tom Becker in the office

    Tom Becker

    Partner, operations

  • Elena Ruiz in the office

    Elena Ruiz

    Partner, finance

Tell us what is slowing you down.

Thirty minutes with a partner, free. If we are the wrong firm for it, we will say so and name one that fits.