Hi, I'm Nola Heale
Profit Margin Detective, Business Coach, Founder
More business can succeed.
Assisting business leaders to feel in control and reignite growth by discovering what is draining profit, efficiency, and time.
I am pleased you are here!
You are passionate about your business, want to achieve more, but are also frustrated by being pulled in so many directions as you grow.
Successful business growth is my passion.
Business can feel like a combination of a marathon and a sprint. You’ve already achieved so much; you know how to fuel, train and bring a support team.
So why do you feel held back? Limited
- Time (perhaps especially your own)
- Cash (profit helps!)
- Visibility (if you can just get out more; see those partners and prospects)
- Assets, people, resources (absent just when you need it?)
- Errors or “busy work” that doesn’t flow
- Splitting business and personal
- Even the speed the market adopts your products and services. Frustrating!
From Accidents to Frauds and Business Creativity
My journey started with a happy accident. In high school I took an elective in accounting and fell in love. Yes, I found joy in balancing books, unraveling tax mysteries, and solving financial puzzles. It was like a gateway to a secret club where I could help business thrive.
Fast forward to university where hard work and a sprinkle of luck landed me a job at a top public accounting firm. I was soon deep in the wild world of financial fraud investigations (yes, there were arrests .. in the office), diamond currency smuggling (with police lock-in of auditors and client), and of course a range of audits (nerdy? but I enjoyed those too – an opportunity to investigate and prove quality in financial reports and business controls, and to provide occassional suggestions to my clients). Each experience was a crash course in creative problem-solving and efficiency.
CEO: Chief Everything Officer
Returning from a project in the USA opened an opportunity to become the, very young, CFO of a $2 billion group in Africa. This role was less about crunching numbers than navigating a labyrinth of challenges. Cultural barriers and anti-women bias, mentoring leaders, solvency and liquidity roadblocks, defusing arguments, and steering profit to be best for all (rather than individual entities).
Fun fact: We grew a company while the CEO was underground infiltrating gangs that threatened her industry. She gave us all nicknames with the matching stuffed animal – cartoon characters she believed fit some aspect of our personality.
The goal is always to discover the clues to make the business its most successful in its own unique way.
“Financial fitness is not a pipe dream or a state of mind. It’s a reality if you are willing to pursue it and embrace it.”
Will Robinson
Founding Protea Consulting
After relocating to North America I noticed that many small to medium sized companies were leaking profit and cash. They often appeared to struggle, found it difficult to appoint the best people, and some gave-up, exhausted.
Why?
Usually minor missteps that accumulate.
At the time they had not known what they did not know.
Protea Consulting came to help passionate business owners and CEOs achieve more, without the chaos, And at a lower cost.
What profit is “hiding in plain sight” in your business?
You are a business owner with passion, ambition, and big plans. But the daily grind may pull you in too many directions. Bottlenecks appear, and you start feeling the biggest one is .. well, you.
You will benefit from a Profit Detection Audit. Find where you have excess cost, extra profit, available cash, and efficiencies that could allow you to grow and feel under control.
Challenges are a characteristic of growth. We have helped clients:
Dodge Insolvency and Grow
Two companies streamlined, and avoided insolvency. Grew to more than four times the size and value in five years.
Secure with Insurance
A business needed capital for investment and working capital. Had no tangible assrets. Closed a large loan using insurance as security.
Penetrate Market Profitably
A manufacturing company marketed groundbreaking technology. With custom management reports and discipline their cashflow thrived.
Take Back Contract Power
Engineering and design business saved millions and ensured project success. Project stopped, draft contract signed, shared commitments.
