Profitability Guide
Structuring healthy and sustainable growth.
THE MISSION
KEY FIGURES
Find out in this guide
In the early phase, lay the foundations from the start
Learn to pilot Day One, empower teams, know the mistakes to avoid in order to start on a solid foundation
Scaling without burning: profitability as a strategic weapon
Build a clear trajectory to profitability without sacrificing your growth momentum.
And after? When profitability becomes the key to access strategic operations
To be profitable is to regain the right to choose. Build-up, LBO, structured lifting: these options are no longer dictated by constraint, but decided with lucidity.
In the early phase, lay the foundations from the start
Learn to pilot Day One, empower teams, know the mistakes to avoid in order to start on a solid foundation
Scaling without burning: profitability as a strategic weapon
Build a clear trajectory to profitability without sacrificing your growth momentum.
And after? When profitability becomes the key to access strategic operations
To be profitable is to regain the right to choose. Build-up, LBO, structured lifting: these options are no longer dictated by constraint, but decided with lucidity.
SUMMARY
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PROFITABILITY AS A DRIVER OF AUTONOMY
The terrain has changed: easy money has evaporated, multiples have collapsed, CAC weighs more heavily than storytelling. Result: 90% of Galion CEOs now place profitability in their top-3 priorities. This guide describes how to treat it not as a brake, but as a key accelerator for maintaining ambition.
1. The new game setting
- Inflation + high interest rates: capital is more expensive, each euro has to work twice.
- Deep-tech and SaaS no longer leave with the same burn tolerance: the logic “scale first, margin later” is no longer fundable without solid proof.
- Valuation = real performance: we went from “10× ARR” to “EBITDA or Rule-of-40 ≥ 40”.
2. Three steps, three disciplines
3. Five concrete levers to activate
- Pricing without taboos: testing +1 € on 10% of users costs less than a feature.
- Automation & targeted AI: prioritizing human-intensive tasks (support, reporting, QA). Achievements noted: -30% OPEX over 12 months.
- SaaS tools under the microscope: quarterly audits,
“$ tool/direct income” ratio < 2%. - Culture figures from D-1: managers responsible for their P&L reduce burn by 10-15% on average.
- Triple planning scenario (base/stress/boom): keep a 6-9 month runway even under stress, a prerequisite for negotiating a raise.
4. Six mistakes that kill the runway
- Confusing gross margin with available cash.
- Optimistic pipeline → irreversible burdens.
- “Irreducible” growth marketing: variable cost that must remain guilty in 24 hours.
- Lack of RAF/DAF part-time.
- Unit economics aggregates: mask toxic segments.
- Raise triggered without an updated model: kills credibility on the board.
5. Why aim for profitability now
- Reverse negotiation: profitability = withdrawal on your terms, controlled dilution.
Access to debt: build-up financed by the cash generated, not by the capital burned. - Exit optionality: founder-friendly, secondary LBO, or simple absence of exit, choice, not constrained.
- Attracting senior talent: financial stability becomes a recruitment criterion.
In plain language: profitability is no longer the “happy end” of the business plan; in 2025, this becomes the condition for the existence of a credible strategy. Control your numbers, stay behind the wheel, and decide if and when to get up.
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