Cosmetics

The thing about beauty brands is that they sell aspiration.

But when the business model stops working, aspiration doesn't pay the bills.

Growth for growth's sake is seductive. New SKUs, new retailers, new markets. The CEO chases revenue while margins quietly erode. By the time someone notices, the cash is gone and the big box retailers are nervous.

We've seen it before. A value brand with real distribution, real relationships, real products. And a balance sheet that tells a different story than the glossy packaging suggests.

Here's what most people miss about cosmetics companies in distress: the relationships matter more than the formula. Lose the confidence of your retail partners and you lose your shelf space. Lose your shelf space and you lose everything.

When a private equity firm decides it's done writing checks and the non-traditional lender starts eyeing a Chapter 11 sale, you need someone who can step in without breaking what's left. Someone who understands that preparing for bankruptcy while running daily operations requires a different kind of leadership.

We don't just crunch numbers and cut costs. We displace CEOs when necessary. We take control of operations, finance, and the interface with counsel. We prepare employees for what's coming while keeping the business running. We talk to lenders until they trust us enough to let us use their cash collateral.

The cosmetics industry moves fast. Trends shift, preferences change, retailers consolidate. A Chapter 11 filing that drags on for months destroys value. A sale completed in 90 days preserves it.

When we led Jane & Co. through their restructuring, we didn't save the company by making better lipstick. We saved it by stabilizing relationships, organizing chaos, and executing a sale process that maintained value for everyone involved.

The lender ultimately credit bid to acquire the assets. The big box relationships survived intact. The brand lived to see another day.

That's the work. Not consulting. Not advising from a distance. Taking the chair, making the decisions, doing what needs to be done.

Because in cosmetics, as in every industry we serve, financial distress doesn't care about your brand story. It only cares about what you do next.

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