Companies, facing excessive debt and illiquidity lose the ability to meet their obligations on time and to finance regular operations. The aim of this paper is to explore the key factors that lead to the initiation of pre-bankruptcy proceedings and to analyze the role of business strategies focused on restructuring and recovery for companies in financial distress. The paper examines the concept, legal framework, and activities involved in pre-bankruptcy proceedings, as well as the financial restructuring and methodology for creating an operational and financial restructuring plan. The research was carried out through the application of the Altman Z' score and BEX model methods to the companies AWT International d.o.o. and Zvečevo d.d. for 2015 and 2016, i.e. before the initiation of the pre-bankruptcy procedure. After that, the horizontal analysis was performed on the balance sheet, profit and loss account, and cash flow, while financial indicators were calculated for the period of the pre-bankruptcy procedure, i.e. from 2017 to 2022. In addition to the above reports and financial indicators, the restructuring plan adopted at the initiation of the pre-bankruptcy procedure was analyzed. Finally, in the conclusion of the paper, the conclusions obtained based on the conducted analyses are presented. The analyzed companies had a common main buyer, Konzum d.d., which, due to its financial problems, led Zvečevo d.d. and AWT International d.o.o. into the pre-bankruptcy proceedings. According to the conducted analysis, relying on a single customer is very risky and leads the business into problems. In the end, both companies successfully closed the prebankruptcy procedure through operational and financial restructuring measures.