A turnaround: From distress to global scale

Distressed Global Biometrics Technology Company | North America, Europe, APAC, Middle East | Mobile Data Capture & Identity Verification

The Starting Point

Ten years ago, I was sitting in a coffee shop in Brisbane when an old client walked past and stopped to talk. He told me he was buying a small biometrics company that had fallen on hard times. Revenue was declining. Key customers had left. Product development had stalled. The founder had lost interest and motivation.

Within weeks, my former client and another business partner joined me, and together we decided to buy the business ourselves.

When we stepped in, revenue was around $1.8 million. The company had good technology but no clear direction. Sales were reactive. Marketing was inconsistent. There was no structured plan for international growth. The team was capable but tired. Confidence was low.

The business was not broken. It was drifting. That was the real problem.

What We Changed

Created Focus

We began by creating focus. We made a deliberate choice about where we would compete – and where we wouldn’t. The company’s strengths were in mobile data capture and biometric identification, technology that mattered most in government, border control, law enforcement, and other regulated industries. We concentrated our efforts there.

Rebuilt the Commercial Engine

Once the focus was clear, we rebuilt the commercial engine. We shifted from chasing small, opportunistic sales to targeting major strategic accounts. We developed structured account plans, invested time in understanding government procurement processes, and introduced greater rigour into proposals and delivery standards. Patience and consistency replaced opportunism.

Expanded Through Partnerships

To scale reach without overstretching resources, we built partnerships. We secured a key distributor in the United States, opening access to both North and South America. We also aligned with major systems integrators who already held federal government contracts – giving us access to programs we couldn’t have reached on our own.

Strengthened Credibility

Credibility soon became the next constraint. In defence and national security, credentials matter. We acquired an Australian manufacturing company to secure ISO 9001 certification, a step that immediately strengthened our compliance standing and positioned us for higher‑trust contracts.

Invested in Product and Structure

We then invested in product evolution and operating structure. We established a dedicated software entity in the UAE to develop biometric software capabilities, expanding our role beyond hardware. Internally, we built rhythms around forecasting, delivery planning, and cross‑border coordination to keep the business growing without chaos.

Built the Team Around the Plan

Finally, we built the team around the plan. We expanded to more than 70 staff and contractors across multiple regions, with offices in Brisbane (AUS), Reston (USA), Los Angeles (USA), and Dubai (UAE). Standards lifted, roles clarified, and accountability increased across sales, marketing, engineering, and operations. Expectations grew — and so performed.

None of these moves was dramatic on its own. Together, they rebuilt momentum.

The Results

In the first year after the reset, revenue grew by 366 per cent. Within three years, we had increased annual revenue from $1.8 million to more than $10 million.

More importantly, we secured and expanded relationships with major government and enterprise clients, including US Border Protection, the UK Home Office, Hong Kong Immigration, the Italian Police, US Sheriffs, UK Racing, and Carnival Cruise Lines. These were demanding, high-trust customers operating in security-critical environments.

We expanded partner ecosystems across North America, Europe, and APAC, increasing channel-sourced revenue and reducing dependence on any single market. We led capital-raise and strategic-expansion initiatives that strengthened the balance sheet and positioned the company for long-term growth.

The business was no longer distressed. It was respected, credible, and growing.

What This Case Study Shows

A single idea rarely drives turnarounds. They succeed through a sequence of clear decisions executed with discipline and consistency. In this case, the company didn’t fail because the technology was poor – it struggled because direction had faded, standards had slipped, and the commercial engine had weakened.

Once we clarified where to compete, built the right partnerships, strengthened credibility, improved execution, and raised expectations across the team, performance followed naturally. Revenue growth was the visible result, but the deeper transformation was control and confidence – the business regained its footing, and momentum became self-sustaining.

That is how an organisation shifts from drift to direction, and from survival to scale.

If revenue is unpredictable, and growth feels heavier than it should, message me.

Grant Kratz – Founder & CEO, SalesFlex

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About SalesFlex

Revenue shouldn’t be guesswork. Growth shouldn’t depend on you.

At SalesFlex, we help SaaS and technology companies build systems that make revenue predictable and the business easier to run. Our work transforms uneven sales performance and the strain of scaling into a consistent rhythm the team can own - giving founders and CEOs confidence that growth will continue without burning them out.

Learn more at salesflex.co or reach out to Grant Kratz at grant.kratz@salesflex.co or LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/grantkratz/