Build a Retail Turnaround Plan

Diagnose a distressed retailer and build a board-ready turnaround plan in Google Sheets.

Introduction

30 Second Summary

When a business is bleeding cash, every week without a plan brings it closer to shutting down. The people who can diagnose what went wrong, forecast how long the company can survive, and build a clear path to recovery are the ones who get hired into consulting, strategy, and operations roles.

In this project, you will build a complete turnaround plan for a struggling retail company using Google Sheets. You'll diagnose root causes, forecast the company's cash runway week by week, and create a prioritized action plan to save the business.

What You'll Build

A professional Google Sheets workbook containing a full business turnaround analysis for GreenLeaf Home & Garden, a fictional mid-size retailer with 8 stores that has been in decline for 18 months.

By the end of this project, you'll have:

  • A Diagnostic Assessment identifying root causes across revenue, cost, and operational dimensions.
  • A 13-Week Cash Flow Forecast projecting the company's weekly cash position using linked formulas and a closing balance trend chart.
  • A 90-Day Action Plan with turnaround initiatives prioritized by speed and financial impact, tied to measurable KPIs.
  • A board-ready Executive Summary pulling live data from your analysis tabs into a structured one-page brief.
  • Secret Mission: add scenario analysis showing best case, base case, and worst case outcomes so stakeholders can see exactly how long the company survives under each path.

Are there any prerequisites?

None. You just need a Google account with access to Google Sheets. This guide walks you through everything from creating your workbook to building formulas.

Set Up Your Workbook and Case Study

Every turnaround plan starts with a clear picture of the business in crisis. Before you can diagnose problems or forecast cash flow, you need a structured workspace and the raw data to analyze.

In this step, you will create your workbook, set up the tabs that will hold each deliverable, and enter the case study data for GreenLeaf Home & Garden. This gives you a solid foundation for everything that follows.

In this step, get ready to:
  • Create a Google Sheets workbook with 5 tabs for your turnaround plan.
  • Enter the GreenLeaf Home & Garden case study data.
  • Practice navigating between tabs and using simple cell references.
Create your workbook and tabs

A turnaround plan has multiple deliverables that each serve a different audience and purpose. Separating them into tabs keeps your analysis organized and makes cross-referencing easy.

  • Open your browser and go to sheets.google.com.
  • Click the Blank spreadsheet option (the large + icon) to create a new workbook.
  • Click the title in the top-left corner (it says Untitled spreadsheet) and rename it to GreenLeaf Turnaround Plan.
  • You should see one tab at the bottom called Sheet1. Right-click it and select Rename. Type Case Data and press Enter.
  • Click the + button to the left of the tab bar at the bottom to add a new tab. Rename it to Diagnostic Assessment.
  • Add three more tabs using the same process, named: Cash Flow Forecast, 90-Day Action Plan, and Executive Summary.

You should now see 5 tabs at the bottom of your workbook in this order: Case Data, Diagnostic Assessment, Cash Flow Forecast, 90-Day Action Plan, Executive Summary.

Why these five tabs?

Each tab maps to a specific deliverable in a professional turnaround engagement. The Case Data tab holds your raw information. The other four are your analysis outputs that build on each other.

This mirrors how consulting firms structure turnaround work: diagnose first, then forecast the financial reality, then plan actions, and finally communicate to stakeholders.

Don't see the tab bar at the bottom?

If your screen is small, tabs may be hidden behind a scroll arrow. Look for small left/right arrows at the bottom-left of the sheet. Click the right arrow to reveal hidden tabs.

Help me find my tabs in Google Sheets.

Enter the GreenLeaf case study data

GreenLeaf Home & Garden is a fictional mid-size retailer with 8 stores that has been declining for 18 months. You will enter its financial and operational data so you have real numbers to analyze in later steps.

  • Click the Case Data tab at the bottom to make sure you are on the right sheet.
  • In cell A1, type GreenLeaf Home & Garden - Company Overview and press Enter.

Now enter the company overview data starting in row 3. Type each label in column A and its corresponding value in column B:

A3: Industry              B3: Home & Garden Retail
A4: Number of Stores      B4: 8
A5: Employees             B5: 85
A6: Annual Revenue        B6: $8,200,000
A7: Peak Revenue (18mo ago)  B7: $10,500,000
A8: Revenue Decline       B8: 22%
A9: Cash on Hand          B9: $180,000
A10: Weekly Cash Burn     B10: $22,000
A11: Estimated Runway     B11: 8 weeks

What does this data tell us?

GreenLeaf's revenue dropped from $10.5M to $8.2M in 18 months. That is a 22% decline. With only $180K in the bank and burning $22K per week, the company has roughly 8 weeks before it runs out of cash entirely.

This urgency is why turnaround plans use a 13-week cash flow forecast. Every week counts when survival is measured in single-digit weeks.

  • Skip a row and type Revenue Drivers in cell A13. Enter the following data starting in row 14:
A14: Foot Traffic Change      B14: -25%
A15: Avg Transaction Value Change  B15: -15%
A16: Online Channel Revenue   B16: $410,000
A17: Online % of Total Revenue  B17: 5%
A18: Customer Retention Rate  B18: 62%
  • Skip a row and type Cost Structure (Monthly) in cell A20. Enter the cost breakdown starting in row 21:
A21: Rent (8 stores)         B21: $96,000
A22: Payroll                 B22: $340,000
A23: Suppliers/Inventory     B23: $180,000
A24: Marketing               B24: $35,000
A25: Loan Payments           B25: $28,000
A26: Utilities & Other       B26: $25,000
A27: Total Monthly Costs     B27: $704,000
  • Skip a row and type Store Performance in cell A29. Enter the store data starting in row 30. Use column A for Store Name, column B for Annual Revenue, and column C for Status:
A30: Store        B30: Annual Revenue   C30: Status
A31: Downtown     B31: $1,800,000       C31: Strong
A32: Westside     B32: $1,400,000       C32: Strong
A33: Northgate    B33: $1,200,000       C33: Moderate
A34: Eastview     B34: $1,100,000       C34: Moderate
A35: Lakewood     B35: $950,000         C35: Moderate
A36: Riverside    B36: $800,000         C36: Weak
A37: Hillcrest    B37: $550,000         C37: Underperforming
A38: Parkside     B38: $400,000         C38: Underperforming
  • Skip a row and type Operational Issues in cell A40. Enter the operational data starting in row 41:
A41: POS System Age          B41: 9 years
A42: Loyalty Program          B42: None
A43: Avg Supply Chain Delay   B43: 12 days
A44: Stockout Rate (high-margin items)  B44: 18%
A45: Overstaffing vs Revenue  B45: 20%

Why enter all this data manually?

Typing the data yourself helps you internalize the numbers before you start analyzing them. In a real turnaround engagement, you would spend days reviewing financial statements and interviewing management to build this picture.

By the time you finish entering, you should already be forming hypotheses about what is wrong. That instinct is exactly what interviewers test for in case interviews.

Data not fitting in the cells?

If text is getting cut off, widen column A by hovering over the border between column A and B headers until you see a double arrow, then drag right. You can also select column A, click Format in the top menu, then Column width, and set it to 250.

Help me format my Google Sheets cells to fit longer text.

Practice navigating tabs and cell references

Throughout this project, you will pull data from the Case Data tab into your analysis tabs. Cell references let you link values across tabs so your analysis always reflects the source data.

  • Click the Diagnostic Assessment tab at the bottom to switch to it.
  • Click on cell A1 and type the following formula, then press Enter:
='Case Data'!B6

You should see $8,200,000 appear in the cell. This value is pulled live from the Case Data tab.

What is a cross-tab cell reference?

The formula ='Case Data'!B6 tells Google Sheets to look at the tab named Case Data and grab the value in cell B6. The single quotes around the tab name are required because the name contains a space.

If you go back to Case Data and change the value in B6, the Diagnostic Assessment tab updates automatically. This is how professional financial models stay consistent across multiple sheets.

  • Try one more reference. Click cell A2 in the Diagnostic Assessment tab and type:
='Case Data'!B10

You should see $22,000 appear. This is GreenLeaf's weekly cash burn, pulled directly from your Case Data.

  • Now clear both cells (select A1 and A2, then press Delete). These were just for practice. You will build proper references in the next steps.

Quick tab navigation

You can jump between tabs faster using keyboard shortcuts. Press Cmd+Shift+PageDown (macOS) or Ctrl+PageDown (Windows) to move to the next tab. Use PageUp instead to go back.

Seeing a #REF! error?

This means the formula cannot find the cell you referenced. Check that your Case Data tab is still named exactly Case Data (with a space). Also confirm you typed the formula with single quotes around the tab name and an exclamation mark before the cell address.

Help me fix my #REF! error in Google Sheets.

Your workbook is ready. You have the case study loaded and you know how to pull data between tabs. Next up, you will build the Diagnostic Assessment and identify exactly what is causing GreenLeaf's decline.

Build the Diagnostic Assessment

Your workbook is set up and the case data is ready. Now it's time to do what turnaround consultants do first: diagnose what's actually wrong.

A struggling business usually has many symptoms, but only a few root causes driving the decline. In this step, you'll build a structured root cause matrix that separates the noise from the real problems. This is exactly how consulting firms evaluate turnaround thinking: can you identify what's broken, how badly, and what to fix first?

In this step, get ready to:
  • Build a root cause matrix with Revenue, Cost, and Operational categories.
  • Rate each root cause by severity and link it to supporting data.
  • Identify and highlight the top 3 must-fix issues with conditional formatting.
Construct the root cause matrix structure

A root cause matrix organizes problems into categories so you can see patterns. For GreenLeaf, the decline comes from three directions: revenue is falling, costs are bloated, and operations are inefficient.

  • Click on the Diagnostic Assessment tab at the bottom of your workbook.
  • In cell A1, type Root Cause Diagnostic Assessment as your tab title.
  • In row 3, enter these column headers across cells A3 through E3:
  • A3: Category
  • B3: Root Cause
  • C3: Severity
  • D3: Supporting Data
  • E3: Fixability
  • Select cells A3:E3 and click the Bold button in the toolbar (or press Cmd+B on macOS or Ctrl+B on Windows) to make the headers stand out.

Now enter the nine root causes across three categories. Start in row 4:

  • In cells A4 through A6, type Revenue Drivers in each cell.
  • In column B for those rows, enter the three revenue root causes:
  • In cells A7 through A9, type Cost Drivers in each cell.
  • In column B for those rows, enter the three cost root causes:
  • In cells A10 through A12, type Operational Drivers in each cell.
  • In column B for those rows, enter the three operational root causes:

What is a root cause matrix?

A root cause matrix is a structured way to organize the underlying problems behind a business decline. Instead of listing symptoms (like "revenue is down"), it forces you to identify the specific drivers causing those symptoms.

Consulting firms evaluate turnaround thinking by looking for exactly this: can you separate root causes from symptoms, and can you categorize them into actionable groups?

Your matrix structure should now show nine root causes organized under three category headers.

Matrix looks messy or misaligned?

Make sure you started your headers in row 3 and your data in row 4. If the category names and root causes are in the wrong columns, check that categories are in column A and root cause descriptions are in column B.

You can widen columns by hovering over the column border in the header row and dragging it to the right.

help me fix my root cause matrix layout in Google Sheets

Rate each root cause and link to supporting data

Each root cause needs two things: a severity rating that tells stakeholders how bad it is, and a supporting data point that proves it. You'll pull those data points directly from your Case Data tab using cell references.

  • In column C (Severity), rate each root cause as High, Medium, or Low. Use these ratings:

Why these severity ratings?

Foot traffic decline and overstaffing get "High" because they directly drain cash. A 25% foot traffic drop devastates revenue, and being overstaffed by 20% means payroll burns cash every single week regardless of sales.

Supply chain delays also get "High" because stockouts on high-margin items mean the company loses its best revenue opportunities. Items rated "Medium" are painful but not immediately threatening to survival.

Now link each root cause to its supporting evidence. This is where cell references come in.

  • Click on cell D4 (Supporting Data for foot traffic decline).
  • Type = then click on the Case Data tab at the bottom of your workbook.
  • Click the cell in your Case Data tab that contains the foot traffic decline percentage (25% decline over 18 months).
  • Press Enter. Google Sheets automatically creates a cross-tab reference formula like ='Case Data'!B5 (your exact cell reference will depend on where you placed the data).

What is a cross-tab cell reference?

The syntax ='Sheet Name'!CellReference pulls a value from another tab in your workbook. The single quotes around the sheet name are required when the name contains spaces (like "Case Data").

This means if you ever update the numbers in your Case Data tab, your Diagnostic Assessment automatically reflects the change. Live-linked data is how professional financial models work.

  • Repeat this process for cells D5 through D12, linking each root cause to its supporting metric in the Case Data tab:
  • In column E (Fixability), rate how easily each issue can be addressed. Enter High, Medium, or Low for each:

Check that every row from 4 to 12 now has data in all five columns. Each cell in the Supporting Data column should display a value pulled from your Case Data tab.

Seeing an error in the Supporting Data column?

If you see a #REF! error, the cell reference is pointing to a cell that doesn't exist. Double-click the cell to see the formula, then check that the sheet name matches your tab name exactly (including spaces and capitalization).

If the cell shows the formula text instead of a value, make sure you started typing with = before clicking the other tab.

help me fix my cross-tab cell reference in Google Sheets

Identify the top 3 must-fix issues and highlight them

Not all problems are worth solving right now. In a turnaround, cash runway constrains everything. You need issues that are both severe AND fixable quickly.

  • Look at your matrix and find the root causes that have High severity AND High or Medium fixability. These are your must-fix priorities.

Based on the ratings, your top 3 must-fix issues should be:

  • Overstaffing relative to revenue (High severity, High fixability). Immediate cash savings.
  • Foot traffic decline (High severity, Medium fixability). The biggest revenue driver.
  • Supply chain delays (High severity, Medium fixability). Directly causes lost sales on best products.

Why speed matters as much as impact

GreenLeaf has roughly 8 weeks of cash runway. An initiative that takes 6 months to show results won't save the company even if its long-term impact is huge. This is why turnaround consultants prioritize speed-to-impact alongside the size of the impact.

Now you'll use conditional formatting to make these three rows visually stand out.

  • Select row 8 (Overstaffing) by clicking on the row number 8 on the left side of the sheet.
  • Hold Cmd (macOS) or Ctrl (Windows) and click row numbers 4 and 10 to also select the Foot traffic and Supply chain rows.
  • Click Format in the top menu bar.
  • Select Conditional formatting.
  • In the panel that opens on the right, confirm the range shows your selected rows.
  • Under Format rules, set the condition to Is not empty.
  • Under Formatting style, click the paint bucket icon and choose a light yellow or light orange background color.
  • Click Done.

Alternative: manual highlighting

If conditional formatting feels complex, you can also just select the three rows and use the fill color button in the toolbar to manually set a background color. Conditional formatting is the professional approach because it updates automatically if you change which rows qualify.

  • Below the matrix (around row 14), add a heading in cell A14: TOP 3 MUST-FIX ISSUES.
  • In cells A15 through A17, type 1, 2, and 3.
  • In cells B15 through B17, reference the root cause names from above using cell references:

Your Diagnostic Assessment tab should now show a complete root cause matrix with highlighted must-fix rows and a clear summary section at the bottom.

Conditional formatting not showing?

Make sure you selected the correct rows before opening the conditional formatting panel. You can check by going to Format > Conditional formatting again. The panel shows all active rules and their ranges.

If the rule exists but the color doesn't show, check that the condition is set to "Is not empty" and that the cells in those rows actually contain data.

help me fix conditional formatting in Google Sheets

Your diagnostic is complete. You've identified what's wrong with GreenLeaf, how bad each problem is, and which three deserve immediate attention. Next up, you'll put numbers to the crisis by building a 13-week cash flow forecast that shows exactly when the company runs out of money.

Build the 13-Week Cash Flow Forecast

Your diagnostic assessment now shows exactly why GreenLeaf is declining. The next question is: how long does the company have before it runs out of money?

A 13-week cash flow forecast is the standard survival tool in turnaround practice. It shows week-by-week liquidity at the granularity needed for daily cash management decisions. In this step, you will build one from scratch using basic formulas.

In this step, get ready to:
  • Set up the 13-week forecast structure with Cash In, Cash Out, and summary rows.
  • Build formulas that link weekly balances and calculate net cash flow.
  • Identify the cash crunch week and visualize the trend with a line chart.
Set up the forecast structure

The forecast needs a clear layout: weekly columns across the top and categorized rows down the side. This structure makes it easy to see where cash comes from, where it goes, and what is left each week.

  • Click the Cash Flow Forecast tab at the bottom of your workbook.
  • In cell A1, type GreenLeaf 13-Week Cash Flow Forecast as the tab title.
  • In cell A3, type Opening Balance.
  • Set up the Cash In section starting in row 5. Enter these labels in column A:
  • A5: CASH IN (this is the section header).
  • A6: In-Store Revenue.
  • A7: Online Revenue.
  • A8: Total Cash In.
  • Set up the Cash Out section starting in row 10. Enter these labels in column A:
  • A10: CASH OUT (section header).
  • A11: Rent.
  • A12: Payroll.
  • A13: Suppliers.
  • A14: Marketing.
  • A15: Loan Payments.
  • A16: Total Cash Out.
  • Set up the summary section starting in row 18:
  • A18: Net Cash Flow.
  • A19: Closing Balance.
  • Now add the weekly column headers. In cell B2, type Week 1.
  • Continue across the row typing Week 2 through Week 13 in cells C2 through N2.

Auto-fill the week headers

Type Week 1 in B2 and Week 2 in C2. Select both cells, then drag the small blue square at the bottom-right corner across to column N. Google Sheets automatically continues the pattern through Week 13.

Your forecast tab now has a clear grid. Row labels on the left, 13 weekly columns across the top, and distinct sections for money coming in and money going out.

Why 13 weeks instead of 12 months?

The 13-week cash flow forecast is the standard tool in turnaround practice. When a company is in crisis, it needs to see weekly liquidity at a granularity fine enough for daily cash management decisions.

A 12-month forecast is too long-horizon for a company that might run out of cash in 8 weeks. Thirteen weeks (one quarter) balances urgency with enough time to show whether interventions are working.

Running out of columns?

Make sure your week headers start in column B (not column A). Column A is reserved for your row labels. If you started in the wrong column, select the misplaced cells, right-click, and choose Delete column to shift things over.

Need help setting up spreadsheet layouts?

Enter baseline assumptions and build formulas

With the structure in place, you need to fill in the numbers. GreenLeaf's current weekly cash flows come from your Case Data tab. The formulas you build here will link everything together so that changing one assumption automatically ripples through the entire forecast.

  • Start with the Opening Balance. In cell B3, enter GreenLeaf's starting cash position by typing:
180000

Where does $180,000 come from?

This is GreenLeaf's current cash on hand from the Case Data tab. It represents all the money the company has available right now to pay its bills. Every dollar that flows in or out over the next 13 weeks starts from this number.

  • Enter the weekly Cash In values. Based on GreenLeaf's current $8.2M annual revenue split across channels, enter these values in the Week 1 column:
  • B6 (In-Store Revenue): 142000.
  • B7 (Online Revenue): 16000.
  • Enter the weekly Cash Out values in the Week 1 column:
  • B11 (Rent): 38000.
  • B12 (Payroll): 76000.
  • B13 (Suppliers): 45000.
  • B14 (Marketing): 10000.
  • B15 (Loan Payments): 11000.

Why these specific numbers?

These weekly figures are derived from GreenLeaf's annual financials in the Case Data tab. Total Cash In is approximately $158K/week ($8.2M annual revenue divided by 52 weeks). Total Cash Out is approximately $180K/week, which creates a net weekly burn of about $22,000.

That $22K weekly burn is why the company is in crisis. It is spending more than it earns every single week.

  • Copy the Week 1 Cash In and Cash Out values across Weeks 2-13. Select cells B6:B7 and B11:B15, then drag the fill handle (blue square at the bottom-right corner) across to column N.

Now build the formulas that make this forecast dynamic. These formulas will automatically calculate totals and link balances between weeks.

  • In cell B8 (Total Cash In), enter this SUM formula:
=SUM(B6:B7)
  • In cell B16 (Total Cash Out), enter:
=SUM(B11:B15)
  • In cell B18 (Net Cash Flow), enter the arithmetic formula:
=B8-B16
  • In cell B19 (Closing Balance), enter:
=B3+B18

What do these formulas do?

=SUM(B6:B7) adds all Cash In line items for the week. =SUM(B11:B15) adds all Cash Out line items.

=B8-B16 calculates Net Cash Flow (Total Cash In minus Total Cash Out). =B3+B18 calculates the Closing Balance (Opening Balance plus Net Cash Flow for that week).

Now you need to link the weeks together so that each week's Opening Balance equals the prior week's Closing Balance. This is the core mechanic of a rolling cash flow forecast.

  • In cell C3 (Week 2 Opening Balance), enter:
=B19

What does this linked cell do?

This formula says: "Week 2 starts with whatever cash Week 1 ended with." By referencing the prior week's Closing Balance, the entire forecast chains together. Change one assumption in Week 1 and every subsequent week updates automatically.

  • Now copy all the Week 1 formulas across to Weeks 2-13. Select cells B8, B16, B18, and B19 (hold Cmd on macOS or Ctrl on Windows to select multiple cells).
  • Drag the fill handle across to column N to copy the formulas through Week 13.
  • Also copy cell C3 (the linked Opening Balance) across to columns D through N.
  • Verify the formulas are working. Click on cell N19 (Week 13 Closing Balance). You should see a negative number in the formula bar, indicating the company has run out of cash.

Seeing zeros or errors in your formulas?

If you see #REF! errors, the formula is referencing a cell that does not exist. Double-check that your row numbers match the labels (Total Cash In should be in row 8, Total Cash Out in row 16).

If all Closing Balances show the same number, the Opening Balance links are not working. Make sure Week 2's Opening Balance (C3) references Week 1's Closing Balance (B19), not a hardcoded number.

Help me debug my cash flow forecast formulas in Google Sheets.

Identify the cash crunch week and add a chart

Your forecast now tells a clear story through numbers. The Closing Balance drops each week because expenses exceed revenue. At some point, the balance crosses zero. That is the cash crunch week, the point where GreenLeaf cannot pay its bills.

  • Scan row 19 (Closing Balance) from left to right. Find the first week where the value turns negative.
  • With $180,000 starting cash and approximately $22,000 in weekly net burn, this should happen around Week 8 or Week 9.
  • Click on the cell where the balance first goes negative. Add a note by right-clicking and selecting Insert note.
  • Type CASH CRUNCH WEEK - Company cannot meet obligations without intervention in the note.

Why does this matter?

The cash crunch week is the single most important output of this forecast. It tells stakeholders exactly how long they have to act before the company physically cannot pay rent, payroll, or suppliers. Every turnaround initiative in your 90-Day Action Plan must show impact before this deadline.

A line chart makes the cash decline visually obvious to anyone reading the plan. Numbers in a grid can be hard to parse. A downward-sloping line crossing zero tells the story instantly.

  • Select the Closing Balance row data: highlight cells B19 through N19.
  • Click Insert in the top menu bar.
  • Select Chart.
  • In the Chart editor panel that appears on the right, set the Chart type to Line chart if it is not already selected.
  • Click the Customize tab in the Chart editor.
  • Under Chart & axis titles, set the Chart title to Closing Balance - 13 Week Trend.
  • Click anywhere outside the Chart editor to close it.

You should see a line chart showing the closing balance declining over 13 weeks. The line crosses below zero around Week 8 or 9, making the urgency of the situation immediately clear.

Chart not showing a line?

If you see a bar chart instead of a line chart, click on the chart to select it, then click the three-dot menu in the top right of the chart and choose Edit chart. Change the Chart type to Line chart in the Setup tab.

If the line is flat (not declining), your Opening Balance links between weeks may not be working correctly. Go back and verify that each week's C3 through N3 references the prior week's Closing Balance.

Help me fix my cash flow chart in Google Sheets.

Your 13-week forecast now tells a powerful story: GreenLeaf has roughly 8 weeks before it cannot pay its bills. Next up, you will build the action plan that changes that trajectory.

Create the 90-Day Action Plan

Your cash flow forecast revealed the brutal truth: GreenLeaf runs out of money without intervention. Now you need to answer the follow-up question every stakeholder will ask.

What exactly are you going to do about it, and in what order? In this step, you'll build a prioritized action plan that sequences turnaround initiatives by speed and impact. In turnaround consulting, this is where diagnosis becomes decision-making.

In this step, get ready to:
  • Build a prioritization matrix scoring turnaround initiatives on speed and financial impact.
  • Assign each initiative to a 30-day phase with owners, KPIs, and status tracking.
  • Calculate cumulative cash improvement to show the path from negative to positive cash flow.
Build the prioritization matrix

A turnaround has limited cash runway, so you cannot fix everything at once. The prioritization matrix helps you rank initiatives by two dimensions: how fast they deliver results and how much cash they save or generate each month.

Why speed and impact instead of effort and value?

In a standard business context, you might score ideas by effort vs. value. In a turnaround, cash runway constrains everything. A high-impact initiative that takes 6 months to show results might not save the company if cash runs out in 8 weeks.

Speed to Impact measures weeks until you see results. Financial Impact measures the monthly cash improvement in dollars. Together, they force you to prioritize survival first.

  • Click the 90-Day Action Plan tab at the bottom of your workbook.
  • In cell A1, type PRIORITIZATION MATRIX and bold it.
  • In row 3, enter the following column headers across cells A3 through F3:
A3: Initiative
B3: Category
C3: Speed to Impact (Weeks)
D3: Financial Impact ($/Month)
E3: Priority Score
F3: Phase

What do these columns mean?

  • Initiative is the name of the turnaround action.
  • Category links back to your diagnostic (Revenue, Cost, or Operational).
  • Speed to Impact is how many weeks until the initiative shows measurable results.
  • Financial Impact is the estimated monthly cash improvement once the initiative is live.
  • Priority Score will be calculated with a formula (impact divided by speed).
  • Phase assigns the initiative to a 30-day window.
  • Starting in row 4, enter the following 9 turnaround initiatives. Type each initiative in its own row, filling columns A through D:
Row 4:  Reduce staffing to match revenue | Cost | 2 | 18000
Row 5:  Renegotiate supplier payment terms | Cost | 3 | 8000
Row 6:  Close 2 underperforming stores | Cost | 4 | 25000
Row 7:  Launch customer loyalty program | Revenue | 6 | 12000
Row 8:  Cut low-ROI marketing spend | Cost | 1 | 5000
Row 9:  Renegotiate lease terms | Cost | 8 | 10000
Row 10: Launch online sales channel | Revenue | 10 | 15000
Row 11: Upgrade POS system | Operational | 8 | 7000
Row 12: Improve inventory demand planning | Operational | 6 | 9000

Where do these numbers come from?

Each initiative maps directly to a root cause you identified in the Diagnostic Assessment. The Financial Impact numbers are estimates based on the case data. For example, closing 2 underperforming stores saves their combined monthly rent, payroll, and operating costs ($25,000/month).

In real turnaround work, these estimates come from detailed financial analysis. Here, the case data gives you enough information to make reasonable assumptions.

  • In cell E4, enter the formula =D4/C4 to calculate the priority score (financial impact divided by weeks to results).
  • Copy cell E4 and paste it down through E12 so every initiative gets a priority score.

What does the priority score tell you?

A higher priority score means more cash improvement per week of waiting. "Cut low-ROI marketing spend" scores highest because it delivers $5,000/month in just 1 week. The formula =D4/C4 divides impact by speed, rewarding initiatives that deliver fast results.

  • Now fill in column F (Phase) for each initiative based on its Speed to Impact score:
Row 4 (Reduce staffing):           Immediate (Days 1-30)
Row 5 (Renegotiate suppliers):      Immediate (Days 1-30)
Row 6 (Close 2 stores):             Immediate (Days 1-30)
Row 7 (Loyalty program):            Short-term (Days 31-60)
Row 8 (Cut low-ROI marketing):      Immediate (Days 1-30)
Row 9 (Renegotiate leases):         Medium-term (Days 61-90)
Row 10 (Online sales channel):      Medium-term (Days 61-90)
Row 11 (Upgrade POS):               Medium-term (Days 61-90)
Row 12 (Inventory demand planning): Short-term (Days 31-60)

Phase assignment logic

Initiatives with Speed to Impact of 1-4 weeks go in the Immediate phase. Those at 5-7 weeks go in Short-term. Those at 8+ weeks go in Medium-term. This ensures the fastest cash wins happen first while longer-term improvements build in parallel.

Priority scores showing errors?

If you see #DIV/0! errors, check that column C has a number in every row. The formula divides by the Speed value, so an empty cell causes a division-by-zero error.

If you see unexpected decimal values, that is normal. Priority scores are ratios and do not need to be round numbers.

Help me fix formula errors in my prioritization matrix.

Add owners, KPIs, and status tracking

A plan without accountability is just a wish list. Each initiative needs a named owner responsible for execution, a measurable KPI to track progress, and a status indicator showing whether it is on track.

  • In row 3, add three new column headers in cells G3 through I3:
G3: Owner
H3: KPI Target
I3: Status
  • Fill in the Owner, KPI Target, and Status for each initiative across rows 4-12:
Row 4:  COO | Headcount reduced to 68 by Week 4 | Not Started
Row 5:  CFO | Net-60 terms secured with top 5 suppliers | Not Started
Row 6:  CEO | 2 stores closed, leases terminated | Not Started
Row 7:  CMO | 500 loyalty members enrolled by Day 60 | Not Started
Row 8:  CMO | Marketing spend reduced by $5K/month | Not Started
Row 9:  CFO | 15% lease reduction on 3+ locations | Not Started
Row 10: CMO | Online store live, $15K revenue/month by Day 90 | Not Started
Row 11: CTO | New POS installed in all stores | Not Started
Row 12: COO | Stockout rate reduced from 12% to 5% | Not Started

Why specific KPIs matter

Each KPI is written as a specific, measurable outcome with a deadline. "Reduce headcount" is vague. "Headcount reduced to 68 by Week 4" is trackable. In consulting interviews, demonstrating that you set measurable targets (not just ideas) shows you understand execution.

  • Select cells I4 through I12 (the Status column).
  • Click Format in the top menu bar, then click Conditional formatting.
  • Set the format rule to Text is exactly and enter Not Started with a red background color.
  • Click Add another rule. Set it to Text is exactly with In Progress and an amber/yellow background.
  • Add one more rule for Complete with a green background.
  • Click Done to save all three rules.

All your Status cells should now appear with a red background since they all say "Not Started." This Red/Amber/Green system gives stakeholders an instant visual read on progress.

Conditional formatting not showing colors?

Make sure the text in your Status cells matches your rule exactly, including capitalization. "not started" will not trigger a rule set to "Not Started."

Also check that the cell range in the conditional formatting panel shows I4:I12. If the range is wrong, click the range field and correct it.

Help me troubleshoot conditional formatting in my 90-Day Action Plan.

Calculate cumulative monthly cash improvement

The prioritization matrix shows individual initiatives. Now you need to show stakeholders the big picture: if all initiatives hit their targets, does the company move from negative to positive cash flow?

  • In cell A15, type CUMULATIVE CASH IMPROVEMENT SUMMARY and bold it.
  • In cells A17 through A20, enter these row labels:
A17: Immediate Phase (Days 1-30)
A18: Short-term Phase (Days 31-60)
A19: Medium-term Phase (Days 61-90)
A20: Total Monthly Improvement
  • In cell B16, type the header Monthly Cash Impact ($).
  • In cell B17, enter this formula to sum the Financial Impact of all Immediate-phase initiatives:
=SUMIF(F4:F12,"Immediate (Days 1-30)",D4:D12)

What does SUMIF do here?

SUMIF adds up values in one range (column D, Financial Impact) only where a corresponding range (column F, Phase) matches a condition. This formula finds every initiative tagged as "Immediate (Days 1-30)" and sums their monthly cash impact.

  • In cell B18, enter this formula for the Short-term phase total:
=SUMIF(F4:F12,"Short-term (Days 31-60)",D4:D12)
  • In cell B19, enter this formula for the Medium-term phase total:
=SUMIF(F4:F12,"Medium-term (Days 61-90)",D4:D12)
  • In cell B20, enter this formula to calculate the total monthly cash improvement across all phases:
=SUM(B17:B19)
  • In cell C16, type the header Cumulative Impact ($).
  • In cell C17, enter =B17 (the Immediate phase total is also the cumulative total after Phase 1).
  • In cell C18, enter =C17+B18 to add the Short-term impact to the running total.
  • In cell C19, enter =C18+B19 to add the Medium-term impact.

What should you see?

Your summary should show: Immediate phase delivering $56,000/month, Short-term adding $21,000/month for a cumulative $77,000, and Medium-term adding $32,000/month for a total of $109,000/month in cash improvement.

Remember from the Cash Flow Forecast: GreenLeaf was burning roughly $22,000/week (about $88,000/month). A $109,000/month improvement means the company moves from negative to positive monthly cash flow if all initiatives hit their targets.

  • Add one final context row. In cell A22, type Current Monthly Cash Burn and in cell B22, enter -88000.
  • In cell A23, type Net Position After All Initiatives and in cell B23, enter =B22+B20.

Cell B23 should show a positive number ($21,000). This is the proof point: your action plan turns a $88,000/month cash burn into a $21,000/month surplus.

  • Bold cells A20 through C20 and A23 through B23 to highlight the key totals.

Net Position showing a negative number?

Double-check that B22 is entered as -88000 (negative). The formula =B22+B20 adds the negative burn to the positive improvement. If B20 shows less than 88000, check that your Phase labels in column F match the exact text in your SUMIF formulas, including capitalization and spacing.

Help me fix my cumulative cash improvement formulas.

Your 90-Day Action Plan now tells a complete story: specific initiatives, ranked by priority, phased across 90 days, with measurable targets and proof that the combined effect turns the company around. Next up, you'll pull the most powerful numbers from across your workbook into a board-ready executive summary.

Write the Executive Summary

Your diagnostic, forecast, and action plan contain everything a board needs to make a decision. But executives don't read spreadsheets row by row.

In this step, you'll distill your analysis into a structured one-page summary that pulls live numbers from your other tabs. This is the deliverable that makes your workbook portfolio-ready.

In this step, get ready to:
  • Structure your Executive Summary into four sections: Situation, Turnaround Thesis, Key Actions, and Financial Outlook.
  • Pull live numbers from other tabs using cross-sheet cell references.
  • Format the summary with bold headers, clean alignment, and a Red/Amber/Green health status indicator.
Create the four-section structure

A board-ready executive summary follows a strict narrative arc: here's the problem, here's our bet, here's what we'll do, and here's what the numbers say. Each section is short enough to read in under 30 seconds.

  • Click on the Executive Summary tab at the bottom of your workbook.
  • In cell A1, type EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: GreenLeaf Home & Garden Turnaround Plan.
  • In cell A3, type SITUATION.

The Situation section is your diagnosis in 2-3 bullets. Each bullet captures one dimension of the decline.

  • In cells A4 through A6, enter your three diagnosis bullets. For example:
  • A4: Revenue declined 22% over 18 months ($10.5M to $8.2M), driven by 25% foot traffic decline and 15% drop in average transaction value.
  • A5: Cost structure unsustainable: 2 of 8 stores underperforming, staffing ~20% above revenue-justified levels.
  • A6: Cash position critical: $180K on hand with ~$22K weekly burn rate, giving approximately 8 weeks of runway.

Now add the remaining three sections below the Situation bullets.

  • In cell A8, type TURNAROUND THESIS.
  • In cell A9, write your core strategic bet in one sentence. For example: Stabilize cash through immediate cost cuts (store closures, workforce right-sizing) while investing in high-margin product categories and online channel to rebuild revenue within 90 days.
  • In cell A11, type KEY ACTIONS.
  • In cells A12 through A16, list your top 5 turnaround initiatives from the 90-Day Action Plan tab, each with its expected monthly cash improvement in column B.
  • In cell A18, type FINANCIAL OUTLOOK.
  • In cells A19 through A21, leave space for three lines: current cash runway, projected runway after intervention, and projected Week 13 closing balance. You'll fill these with live formulas in the next substep.

Why these four sections?

This structure mirrors how consulting firms present turnaround plans to boards. The sequence is: diagnose the problem, state your strategic bet, show what you'll do, then prove the math works.

In interviews, this is exactly what evaluators look for: root cause diagnosis, plan sequencing, feasibility under constraints, and clarity in explaining risks.

Pull live numbers with cross-sheet references

A static summary goes stale the moment you update an assumption. Cross-sheet references keep your Executive Summary always in sync with the underlying model.

  • Click on cell A19 (in your Financial Outlook section).
  • Type a label like Current cash runway (weeks): in A19.
  • In cell B19, enter a formula that references your Cash Flow Forecast tab. For example, if your cash crunch week is identified in cell N3 of that tab, type:
='Cash Flow Forecast'!N3

How do cross-sheet references work?

The syntax is ='Sheet Name'!CellReference. The equals sign tells Google Sheets this is a formula. The sheet name in quotes with an exclamation mark points to the specific tab. The cell reference after the exclamation mark is the exact cell you want to pull from.

If your tab name has no spaces, the quotes are optional. But using them is a good habit for consistency.

  • In cell A20, type Projected Week 13 closing balance:.
  • In cell B20, enter a cross-sheet reference to your Week 13 Closing Balance cell. For example:
='Cash Flow Forecast'!M10
  • In cell A21, type Cumulative monthly cash improvement (all initiatives):.
  • In cell B21, enter a cross-sheet reference to the cumulative cash improvement total from your 90-Day Action Plan tab. For example:
='90-Day Action Plan'!F12

Adjust cell references to match your layout

Your exact cell references (like M10 or F12) depend on how you laid out your other tabs. Navigate to the source tab, find the cell with the number you want, and note its column letter and row number.

  • Verify your cross-sheet references are working by checking that B19, B20, and B21 display numbers (not error messages or blank cells).

Seeing a #REF! error?

Double-check that your tab name in the formula matches the exact tab name at the bottom of your workbook. Spelling, spaces, and capitalization all matter.

If you renamed a tab after creating it, update the formula to use the new name. Also confirm the cell reference (like M10) actually contains data in the source tab.

Help me fix my cross-sheet reference formula in Google Sheets.

Format for readability and add the health status indicator

A board member scanning this summary needs to grasp the company's status in seconds. Formatting turns a wall of text into a professional document that guides the reader's eye.

  • Select cell A1 (your title row).
  • Click the Bold button in the toolbar (or press Cmd+B on macOS or Ctrl+B on Windows).
  • Increase the font size of A1 to 14 using the font size dropdown in the toolbar.
  • Select each section header (A3, A8, A11, A18) and bold each one.
  • Widen column A by dragging the column border to the right so your text doesn't get cut off. Aim for about 400-500 pixels wide.

Now add the Red/Amber/Green status indicator so readers can see the company's health at a glance.

  • In cell C1, type Company Health Status:.
  • In cell D1, type RED - CRITICAL (this reflects GreenLeaf's current distressed state with only 8 weeks of cash runway).
  • Select cell D1.
  • Click the Fill color button (paint bucket icon) in the toolbar.
  • Select a red color from the palette.
  • Click the Text color button (the A with a colored underline) and set the text to white for contrast.
  • Bold cell D1 so the status stands out.

What does Red/Amber/Green mean?

This is a RAG status indicator, a standard visual shorthand in business reporting. Red means critical (immediate intervention needed). Amber means at risk (monitoring required). Green means healthy (on track).

GreenLeaf starts at Red because it has less than 8 weeks of cash runway. As turnaround initiatives take effect, you'd update this to Amber and eventually Green.

  • Review your Executive Summary tab from top to bottom. Confirm you can see bold section headers, diagnosis bullets, your thesis statement, key actions with expected impact, and financial outlook numbers pulling live from other tabs.

Numbers not updating when you change other tabs?

Cross-sheet references update automatically in Google Sheets. If a cell still shows an old number, click on it and check the formula bar to make sure it starts with = (not just a typed number).

Help me check why my Executive Summary numbers aren't pulling from other tabs.

Your turnaround plan workbook is complete. You now have five interconnected tabs that tell a coherent story from raw data to board-ready recommendation. Next up is an optional Secret Mission that adds scenario analysis to stress-test your forecast.

Secret mission

Add Scenario Analysis to Your Cash Flow Forecast

Your baseline forecast shows one version of the future. But stakeholders always ask: what if things go better than expected? What if they go worse? Build three scenario paths to answer both questions and make the survival timeline impossible to ignore.

Clean Up Your Resources

Clean Up Your Resources

Decide whether to keep your resources running, pause them to come back later, or delete them entirely. This project runs entirely in Google Sheets, so there are no ongoing costs.

Resources you used:

  • Google Sheets workbook (contains all 5 tabs: Case Data, Diagnostic Assessment, Cash Flow Forecast, 90-Day Action Plan, Executive Summary).
  • Google account (used to access Google Sheets).
  • Line chart embedded in the Cash Flow Forecast tab.

Keep everything running

No action needed. Choose this if you plan to reference the workbook in interviews, add to it later, or use it as a portfolio piece.

  • Your workbook stays in Google Drive and costs nothing to store.
  • You can share it with others by clicking the Share button in the top right corner of Google Sheets.
  • Consider moving the workbook into a dedicated folder in Google Drive so you can find it easily later.

Pause - I'll come back to this later

Protect your work from accidental edits while you step away. Google Sheets has no running processes to shut down, so pausing just means locking the file.

  • Open the workbook in Google Sheets.
  • Click File, then Move to trash is NOT what you want here. Instead, rename the file with a prefix like [PAUSED] so you know it is a work in progress.
  • Alternatively, go to Data, then Protect sheets and ranges to lock specific tabs from accidental edits.

Delete - I don't want to use this again

Remove the workbook entirely from your Google Drive. This cannot be undone once you empty the trash.

  • Open Google Drive at drive.google.com.
  • Find the GreenLeaf turnaround workbook.
  • Right-click the file and select Move to trash.
  • To permanently delete it, click Trash in the left sidebar, find the file, right-click it, and select Delete forever.

Nice Work!

Nice Work!

You just built a professional turnaround plan for a distressed retail company from scratch. This is the kind of structured, analytical deliverable that consulting firms and strategy teams produce for real engagements.

What you learned:

  • Built a structured diagnostic assessment identifying root causes across revenue, cost, and operational dimensions, then prioritized them by severity and fixability.
  • Created a 13-week cash flow forecast using SUM, arithmetic formulas, cell references, and linked balances to model the company's cash runway.
  • Designed a 90-day action plan with initiatives scored by speed and impact, tied to measurable KPIs, and produced a board-ready executive summary pulling live data from across tabs.
  • Added scenario analysis showing stakeholders the range of turnaround outcomes and survival timelines across best, base, and worst case paths.

Ready to quiz yourself?