Building better businesses from the inside out
I started my first business when I was 8, selling magazines I wrote and printed myself for the princely sum of 20p. Publishing was and remains a tough gig!
For the last fifteen years, I've sat alongside founders and senior leaders as they've built brands, launched products, opened new markets, and tried to decide what's next. I've been the brand director, the creative director, the strategist, the marriage counsellor (more often than I expected), and the person they call when something isn't working and they need to think it through with someone who'll tell them the truth.
I've worked across DTC, FMCG, luxury and lifestyle. On brands you've heard of, like The Macallan and The Famous Grouse, and on founder-led businesses you probably haven't, but should.
What I've learned over the years, is this: most growth problems are actually foundation problems. The proposition isn't quite right. The product isn't quite landing. The processes are in your head or scribbled in a notebook somewhere - and starting to creak at the seams. The people aren't in the roles that play to their strengths. Fix those four things - properly - and growth tends to take care of itself.
So that's what I do now. I work with founders who've built something they believe in, and I help them get it growing - by getting the foundations right.
I work best with people who are building something they really care about. They want to bring change and/or joy to the world. They are brimful of ideas and embrace an ‘anything is possible’ perspective.
In terms of the lifecycle of the business, they tend to fall into 3 categories:
Who I work with
Founders with a brilliant idea but are not quite sure where to start
You know there's something here. You can feel it. But turning the idea into a real business feels daunting. Where do you start? How do you start? Should you even start? You need a business mentor to help you think it through properly, ask the clarifying questions, and build the foundations before you build the business.
Founders coming out of startup mode and into growth.
You've proved the concept and people are buying. You've got a small team and the first signs of real traction. But the way you've been running things isn't going to get you to the next level - and you can feel it. You need a business growth consultant to help you put proper foundations underneath what you've built, before the cracks start to show.
Founders carrying too much.
You're doing the strategy, the doing, the worrying, and you don't have a thinking partner who can carry any of it with you. You need a strategic business consultant in the room who's senior enough to see what you can't, honest enough to tell you, and warm enough to make it feel like a conversation rather than a consultation.
Three things shape how I work with every client
Most of what looks like a growth problem is really a foundations problem. We can’t optimise the top of your funnel if your proposition is muddled. We can’t increase capacity if you don’t have streamlined processes. We fix the thing under the thing.
Foundations first
I'm in the room to think, ask the right questions, and help you make better decisions. When delivery is needed, I bring in a trusted network of specialists I've worked with for years, and direct the work alongside you.
Director, not actor
You're paying me to tell you the truth - and that includes the bits you might not want to hear. I'll always do this with warmth and empathy, and together we’ll figure out what needs to change. Difficult conversations are part of being a business owner. And there’s a way to have them that doesn’t leave you feeling crushed and disheartened.
Kind honesty
The foundations of growing a business
Every piece of work I do - whether it's a one-day strategy session or a six-month partnership - comes back to these four foundations. When one of them is shaky, or hasn’t been built at all, that’s usually the reason growth has stopped.
The thing you're selling, and whether it's genuinely as good, as well-priced, and as well-positioned as it can be. As business owners we can fall in love with what we’re selling - the question is: do your customers love it too?
Product
What you do, who it's for, and why it matters. The story that makes the right people stop and pay attention. The sentence you can actually say in a room without reaching for the words.
Proposition
The scaffolding underneath the business. The systems, workflows and rinse-and-repeats that let things happen without you holding every plate. This can be the difference between a business that scales and a business that breaks.
Process
People
This includes the team in the right roles, playing to their strengths (even if it’s currently just you). And the customer at the other end - who they really are, what they really want, and how you talk to them so they listen. And not forgetting the people around you.
