The call came on a Tuesday afternoon. A founder I'd worked with years earlier, voice cracking: "We've got 90 days of runway left. Revenue's flat. Team's panicking. Board's lost faith. Can you help?"
I get these calls more often than you'd think. Not because I'm special, but because revenue crises follow predictable patterns. And after turning around dozens of dying revenue engines, I've developed a blueprint that works.
Not might work. Not should work. Actually works.
Here's exactly how to transform your revenue in 90 days when everything's on fire.
Day 0: The brutal reality check
Before touching anything, I spend 48 hours in pure diagnosis mode. No solutions. No opinions. Just truth-gathering.
The first time I did this, I wanted to jump straight to fixing things. Now I know: prescription without diagnosis is malpractice.
Here's my Day 0 checklist:
The Money Map:
- Exact cash position and burn rate
- Revenue by customer segment
- True unit economics (not the fantasy version)
- Payment terms and collection reality
The Pipeline Autopsy:
- Every deal over £5K in detail
- Where deals actually die (not where CRM says)
- True close rates by segment
- Average sales velocity by type
The People Reality:
- Who's actually selling (vs who should be)
- Activity levels that matter
- Skill gaps vs will gaps
- Who needs to go (harsh but vital)
The Message Test:
- Call 10 recent losses
- Call 10 current prospects
- Ask: "What do we actually do?"
- Document the confusion
I once discovered a £2M ARR company where no two people described the product the same way. Including the founders. That's your first problem right there.
Days 1-7: Stop the bleeding
Week one is triage. You're not building for the future—you're stopping the crisis.
The Revenue Leaks: I pulled transaction logs for a struggling SaaS company. Found £47K monthly disappearing through:
- Failed payments nobody chased
- Customers on wrong pricing tiers
- Free trials extending indefinitely
- Discounts that never expired
Fixed in 3 days. That's 6 weeks of runway recovered instantly.
The False Pipeline: In every dying company, the pipeline is lying. I make sales teams verify every opportunity over £10K:
- Speak to the actual decision maker
- Confirm budget exists now
- Get specific next steps
- Or remove from pipeline
One company's £2M pipeline became £400K of reality. Painful but essential. You can't fix what you won't acknowledge.
The Activity Reality: I track what really happens vs what people claim:
- Actual calls made (not scheduled)
- Meetings held (not planned)
- Proposals sent (not discussed)
- Follow-ups completed (not intended)
Usually find 60-70% inflation between reported and reality. Install basic tracking. Not to punish—to understand.
Days 8-30: Find the money hiding in plain sight
Week two onwards, I hunt for quick wins that fund the transformation.
The Pricing Archaeology: I dig through every pricing decision. Recent client discoveries:
- 40% of customers paying 2019 prices
- Enterprise features given away free
- Annual discounts applied monthly
- Grandfather clauses from 3 CEOs ago
One afternoon of price corrections = £30K monthly revenue increase.
The Zombie Hunt: These are customers who stopped using but haven't cancelled. They're pre-churn. I call every single one:
"Hi Sarah, I noticed you haven't logged in for 45 days. What's broken?"
50% re-engage. 30% pay to cancel early (better than month-to-month churn). 20% give invaluable feedback. All better than silent losses.
The Expansion Extraction: I look for customers using 10x their plan limits:
- API calls through the roof
- Seats way over limit
- Storage bursting
- Features they shouldn't have
One call: "Looks like you've outgrown your plan. Let's get you sorted."
80% upgrade immediately. They knew they were taking advantage. They're often relieved you finally called.
Days 31-60: Build sustainable momentum
Month two is about systems that compound.
The ICP Laser Focus: I force radical focus. A cybersecurity startup was selling to everyone. I made them pick:
- Financial services only
- 50-200 employees only
- UK-based only
- Specific compliance needs only
Leads dropped 80%. Conversions increased 400%. Do the maths.
The Message Simplification: I create one elevator pitch everyone must use: "We help [specific customer] achieve [specific outcome] by [unique method] unlike [alternative] which [problem with alternative]."
Example: "We help UK fintechs achieve PCI compliance in 30 days by automating documentation unlike consultants which take 6 months and cost 5x more."
Suddenly, referrals increase. Prospects understand. Sales cycles shrink.
The Process Purge: I map the actual sales process. Then cut:
- 3 demo stages become 1
- 5 stakeholder meetings become 2
- 14 email touches become 6
- 45-day cycles become 20
Speed is revenue. Complexity is cost.
Days 61-90: Scale what works, kill what doesn't
The final month separates survivors from thrivers.
The Ruthless Prioritisation: I implement "Revenue Rocks":
- 3 things that must happen this week
- That directly impact revenue
- Measurable by Friday
- Everything else waits
A team focused on 3 things achieves more than one juggling 30.
The Channel Concentration: I analyse where revenue actually originates:
- Outbound: 20% effort, 5% revenue → Kill it
- Inbound: 30% effort, 40% revenue → Optimise it
- Partners: 10% effort, 30% revenue → Double down
- Referrals: 5% effort, 25% revenue → Systematise it
Stop doing what doesn't work. Sounds obvious. Nobody does it.
The People Decision: By day 60, it's clear who's helping and who's hoping. I've learned:
- A-players step up in crisis
- B-players need direction but deliver
- C-players make excuses
One great rep beats three average ones. Make the hard calls.
Get the full 'Revenue Forensics' eBook now!
Real 90-day turnarounds
The Martech Meltdown:
- Day 0: £40K MRR, 120 days runway
- Day 30: £52K MRR (pricing fixes)
- Day 60: £65K MRR (focus shift)
- Day 90: £78K MRR, profitable
Sold for £8M eighteen months later.
The Fintech Phoenix:
- Day 0: £100K MRR, bleeding £200K/month
- Day 30: Costs cut 40%, revenue flat
- Day 60: £115K MRR, £50K losses
- Day 90: £128K MRR, breakeven
Now doing £500K MRR profitably.
The Logistics Lifeline:
- Day 0: £25K MRR, 60 days runway
- Day 30: £31K MRR (zombie recovery)
- Day 60: £38K MRR (expansion focus)
- Day 90: £44K MRR, cash positive
Still growing 15% monthly.
The psychology of turnaround
The hardest part isn't the tactics. It's the psychology.
Days 1-30: Panic and resistance. "This won't work." "You don't understand our business." "Our customers are different." Push through.
Days 31-60: Cautious optimism. Small wins build belief. Team starts believing. Energy shifts. Maintain momentum.
Days 61-90: Acceleration anxiety. "What if it's temporary?" "Can we sustain this?" "Should we hire?" Stay disciplined.
The companies that succeed trust the process even when it's uncomfortable. Especially when it's uncomfortable.
Your 90-day blueprint
If you're reading this in crisis, here's your week one checklist:
Day 1:
- [ ] Pull all revenue data
- [ ] List top 20 customers
- [ ] Calculate true burn rate
- [ ] Cancel all non-essential meetings
Day 2:
- [ ] Audit all pricing
- [ ] Call 10 churned customers
- [ ] Review all >£10K opportunities
- [ ] Map actual sales process
Day 3:
- [ ] Find failed payments
- [ ] Identify zombie accounts
- [ ] Check expansion opportunities
- [ ] Document messaging confusion
Days 4-7:
- [ ] Fix immediate leaks
- [ ] Simplify your pitch
- [ ] Set activity minimums
- [ ] Make first hard decisions
The uncomfortable truths
After dozens of turnarounds, here's what I know:
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Most revenue problems are self-inflicted. Complexity you added. Focus you lost. Basics you ignored.
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The team that got you here might not get you there. Crisis reveals character. Not everyone rises.
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Simple beats sophisticated. In crisis, boring fundamentals beat clever strategies.
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Speed is survival. Perfect plans executed slowly fail. Good plans executed fast succeed.
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Cash is oxygen. Revenue is vanity. Profit is sanity. Cash is reality.
The choice point
You're 90 days from transformation or termination. The blueprint works—I've proven it dozens of times. But it requires:
- Brutal honesty about reality
- Courage to make hard decisions
- Discipline to stay focused
- Humility to admit what's broken
- Speed to act before it's too late
Most companies won't do this. They'll tweak around the edges. Hope things improve. Blame the market.
Don't be most companies.
Your revenue can transform in 90 days. The question is: Will you do what it takes?
The clock starts now.
Need hands-on help with your turnaround?
I work with 2-3 companies per quarter on intensive revenue transformations. If you're serious about change—not just worried about it—let's talk.
Fair warning: I only work with founders ready to move fast and make hard decisions. If that's you, we should talk this week.
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