ABOUT US
Our mission is to design successful and valuable businesses through engagement with shareholders and management. A well-designed business should ideally be both disruptive and sustainable in physical, service and digital settings, maximising shareholder returns in the longer term.
Bringing in an external party with real-life experience of running businesses to work alongside your business for a period of time encourages businesses to avoid ‘group think’, a phenomenon that occurs within a Board of Directors or Management Team in which the desire for harmony or conformity results in an irrational or dysfunctional decision-making outcome (i.e To agree at all costs).
We prefer to work with businesses as early as possible in their development to ensure the right path is taken. We can also work with established businesses.
SETUP
- Setup strategic planning team
- Guiding principles
- Strategic plan structure
- Strategic plan key inputs
- Strategic plan project plan
ANALYSE
- Market analysis
- Competitor analysis
- Customer feedback
- Company data analytics team
- Employee feedback
- Executive feedback
- SWAT summary of the key insights
DEFINE AND IMPLEMENT
- Mission, vision and values
- Key objectives*
- Strategic map
- Key performance indicators
- Potential initiatives to meet strategic objectives
- Business cases and financial models
- Prioritarisation of initiatives
- Business roadmap and detailed initiatives plans
- Strategic plan implementation
- Dashboards to track and manage progress
- Key lessons learned
- Update plans based on outcomes
*The objectives should be SMART:
Specific -States clearly what we want to achieve
Measurable – Makes it easier to evaluate success or failure
Achievable – We should have the time and resources to achieve your business objectives
Relevant – The goals should help improve your business performance and drive growth
Timely – We should set a specific date for completion of your short-term and long-term goals
SOME NUMBERS: TOP TWELVE REASONS GIVEN FOR COMPANY FAILURES (some are interrelated – ’cause’ and ‘effect’)
(Courtesy of CB insights)
%
NO MARKET NEED / FIT
%
PRICING / COST ISSUES
%
IGNORE CUSTOMERS
%
NOT ENOUGH CASH
%
POOR / WEAK PRODUCT
%
PRODUCT MIS-TIMED
%
WRONG TEAM / COMBINATION
%
NO BUSINESS MODEL
%
DISHARMONY IN TEAM
%
NOT COMPETITIVE
%
POOR MARKETING
%
LOST FOCUS / DIRECTION
MEET THE TEAM
Julian Foulger
Founder and CEO
A qualified Chartered Accountant who has spent most of his business career as CFO or Business Development Director. Other than for 18 months, his whole career has been spent on Boards of Directors.
He was Co-founder and Business Development Director of a healthcare services group (Shaw Healthcare), Group CFO of a software group (Redac) that was sold to a Japanese group Zuken, CFO of a mobile technology start-up (Wireless Systems International) that was sold to a US company, CFO of a publishing group (Sewells International) and Chairman of a biometrics startup (Keylemon) that was acquired by Swiss company AMS.
He is currently a Non-executive Director of a biotech company (Nanovery), Chairman of a veterinary group (Strive Veterinary Holdings) and aggregator (Юнити Инвестмънт Партнършип ЕАД).
He advises companies on mergers/acquisitions, organisational development and growing profitably.
He is also a private investor in several companies based out of the UK, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Bulgaria and the USA.