Operational partner · structure, governance and innovation for business

Balance First.
Then Growth.

Balance & Growth Advisory works from inside businesses to build the structures that generate real growth: from organisational process optimisation to extraordinary finance management, from identifying strategic partners to activating the right financial instruments. We don't follow growth. We build it.

Let's Talk → Our Services

Balance

structure

growth

Growth

Our Services

We don't describe solutions.
We build them with you.

Five service areas in logical sequence:

01 · Organisation

Organisational & Process Optimisation

Balance & Growth Advisory analyses and redesigns organisational and management processes to build structures capable of sustaining growth without losing control. Before seeking external resources, the business must work well from within.

Process analysis and redesign
Scalable organisational structures
Internal governance and control systems

02 · Governance

Financial Governance

We build advanced management control systems that allow you to read the real numbers, anticipate financial pressures and make decisions on solid data — not on perception, not on instinct: on clarity.

Advanced management control systems
Integrated financial planning
KPI dashboards for timely decision-making

03 · Leadership

Operational Leadership

As a Fractional CFO or CEO, Balance & Growth Advisory provides stable senior leadership during the most critical phases: accelerated growth, restructuring, transition and market expansion. Senior expertise inside your business, without the constraints of a full-time hire.

Fractional CFO / Outsourced financial direction
Interim general management
Growth, restructuring and transition oversight

04 · Partners

Strategic & Financial Partners

The value of a network is measured by the quality of its nodes. Balance & Growth Advisory identifies, evaluates and structures alliances with industrial, commercial and financial partners — in Italy and international markets. Not just who you know: the right partner for you, at the right moment.

Strategic partner identification and selection
International development and access to new markets
Joint ventures, commercial alliances and cross-border structures

05 · Finance

Ordinary & Extraordinary Finance

We identify, evaluate and manage the full spectrum of available financial instruments: from ordinary credit to incentivised finance, from M&A transactions to capital increases. Every instrument at the right moment, with the right structure.

Credit access and banking relationship management
Grants, incentives and public funding
Extraordinary transactions: M&A, mergers, capital increases

Temporary & Fractional Management

Accountability for results.
For as long as it takes.

Two distinct formats, one underlying principle: senior management expertise inside your business, without a permanent hire. Not advisory at arm's length. Presence, mandate, and full responsibility for outcomes.

Temporary Management

Defined mandate.
Focused objective.

Full-time or near-full-time engagement for a defined period (6–18 months). The manager enters the business with full operational accountability for a specific mandate: replacing a departing executive, managing a critical transition, leading an extraordinary operation — acquisition, debt restructuring, governance change, launch of a new business unit.

Objectives and KPIs agreed before the mandate begins
Regular reporting to senior leadership
Structured handover at the end of the engagement

Fractional Management

Stable oversight.
Without the full-time commitment.

Partial, recurring engagement — typically 1–3 days per week — with no predefined end date. For SMEs that cannot justify a full-time C-level role, but need continuity of strategic oversight and control: growth-stage companies, family businesses in the process of structuring, start-ups making their first organisational step-change.

Fixed monthly fee based on agreed days
Quarterly review of objectives and format
Access, where needed, to the full B&G Advisory service portfolio

Fractional · Temporary CFO

Financial planning, management control, banking and investor relations, due diligence. Direct oversight of the Administration, Finance and Control function — for businesses that need structured financial governance without a dedicated full-time hire.

Fractional · Temporary General Manager

Governance and coordination across the entire business — marketing, sales, IT, HR, operations, finance — with full accountability for outcomes across all functions. The generalist GM profile is the key differentiator: rare in the fractional management market, and the format that best reflects twenty-five years of direct operational leadership in national and multinational groups.

"We don't sell consulting hours.
We take responsibility for the result,
for as long as it takes." Fabio Gino Merli · Balance & Growth Advisory

Our Approach

Two Strategic Phases of business,
one approach: from structure to value.

In Expansion

Companies in an accelerated growth phase

Growth without structure consumes resources without generating value. We build the governance system that allows you to scale in a controlled way, identifying finance and partnership opportunities at the right moment.

In Transition

Companies in restructuring or reorganisation

Phases of discontinuity require clarity, method and fast decisions. We build the structure to emerge with greater solidity than before — not to survive, but to restart stronger.

In both cases, Balance & Growth Advisory does not operate remotely. We engage directly within the organization, conduct a thorough assessment of the actual situation, develop the necessary tools, and oversee execution throughout. We are not an external observer, but an operational partner that shares the strategic direction and works alongside you to achieve it.

The Brand

Twenty-five years managing from the inside.
Not observing from the outside.

Balance & Growth Advisory is a coordinated system of operational expertise that works from within businesses. Not a single professional, not a list of services: an operational network capable of activating the right levers — organisational, financial, commercial — at the right moment and with the right structure.

Fabio Gino Merli, founder and creator, has navigated from the inside the most critical phases of business life — accelerated growth, restructuring, reorganisation, market expansion. Twenty-five years as CFO and General Manager in national and multinational groups, in manufacturing and services. Degree in Economics from the University of Turin.

2021 — present

Balance & Growth Advisory

Founder · financial governance, operational leadership, international development and value network building

2018 — 2021

Angelo Cappellini & C.

General Manager · budgeting, forecasting, management control

2007 — 2018

Gruppo Lattonedil

Chief Financial Officer · 10 entities, Italy + international team of 38 · Supervisory Board member (D.Lgs. 231)

2006 — 2007

Fitness First Italia

Finance Manager · reporting to London HQ

2000 — 2004

Adecco Italia Holding

Director of Administration & Finance · US GAAP reporting, Sarbanes-Oxley

Management Control Consolidated Financial Statements Treasury & Finance Supervisory Board Member US GAAP · Sarbanes-Oxley Budgeting & Forecasting International Operations

Founder & Partner

The people behind the brand.

Balance & Growth Advisory is a network of operational expertise. Every professional has managed from the inside the challenges they now address alongside businesses — no generic skills, no off-the-shelf solutions.

Fabio Gino Merli

Founder · CFO & General Manager

Creator of Balance & Growth Advisory. Twenty-five years as CFO and General Manager in national and multinational groups. Financial governance, operational leadership, international development.

Full profile →

Michele Borzatta

Partner · Organisation & Compliance

Specialist in building Organisational Management and Control Models and certified quality systems. Lead Auditor ISO 9001:2015. Over twenty years of governance in complex organisations.

Full profile →

Training · Business Up

From idea to bankable business.

A programme to design and present a professional business plan, ready for dialogue with banks and investors. Operational methodology: learning by building, on real cases.

01Introduction to business planning

02Context and opportunity analysis

03Business model and strategy

04Operations and organisation

05Financial plan

06Business plan drafting

07Investor presentation

The deliverable: a complete business plan and a financial model in Excel, built from scratch — with all interconnections between financial statements.

A Network of Value

A network built on expertise, shared approach and mutual trust.

Same operational philosophy: no off-the-shelf solutions, maximum attention to each business's specific context. Balance & Growth Advisory's partners don't just complement the offering — they amplify it.

DSC Solutions

Our reference partner for energy efficiency, waste management and corporate sustainability — an increasingly decisive variable in medium and long-term strategic planning, integrated with the financial governance of the business.

dsc-solutions.it →

AI Academy

Business-applied artificial intelligence training, promoted by Starting Work, an accredited Higher Education Institution. Not a technical course — a new perspective on the future of business organisation and value generation.

AI Academy →

iPerformance Club

An exclusive network of successful entrepreneurs of which Fabio Gino Merli is a member. A high-quality forum for exchange, experience-sharing and networking among leaders across diverse sectors — a gateway to qualified commercial relationships and cross-border opportunities.

iperformanceclub.it →

Balance First.Then Growth.

We don't describe solutions.We build them with you.