An unorthodox growth strategy for an ambitious professional services firm.

These clients had built their firm’s reputation honing professionals’ soft skills and personal development at leading names in accounting, banking, cosmetics, groceries, telecoms and more (Dutch and global). They were co-CEOs, as well as managing their training company’s marketing and product/innovation.

They’d set a target of upping their revenue from €2 million to €6 million while doubling their team of around 25. They knew growth was the way forward — but they didn’t know what form it should take.

This client had invited both Bernadette and a company specialising in scale-up strategy to pitch for their work. The latter offered the more rigid, methodological Verne Harnish approach — by name and nature, not crafted around the client’s specific needs.

So they went with Bernadette instead, who likes to do things differently. 

On this project, it started with her very first question for the clients: was what they said they wanted (in other words, what they said they’d pay her to do) what they actually needed? 

Initially, they’d asked her to shape an ambitious long-term growth strategy for the company in its current form. So Bernadette said it straight: that’ll start with you two. If it turns out you want different things and don’t communicate, any strategy will fall through. 

So let’s get it all on the table. 

Consulting with a conscience 

It was a stellar intuitive call: the co-owners took 2 months to think things through, including a business-critical week of introspection and honest communication. (And surfing. All in Morocco. Obviously.) 

The outcome? They, in fact, wanted to change their roles in the business, cutting back to 3 days a week to create space for other avenues. They’d keep their co-CEO roles but hire fresh marketing and product/innovation managers. 

Bernadette had her real launchpad. 

Safe to say a big-name consultancy wouldn’t have taken her unorthodox tack. It makes more business sense to take a client request at face value, run a project and bill for it than to ask a tricky question that might scupper the engagement before it starts. 

But Bernadette knew right from the sales conversation that she needed their honest answer to deliver the right work. These key realisations take time; months, for these clients. That’s why The Strategy Office has adaptable, open-minded runtimes. We take the time required to get to the best strategy, when our clients are ready for it. 

Practicality, designed for now and the future

Client end goals clarified, Bernadette interviewed the all-female management team to dissect their thoughts on areas for improvement, and what seemed to be hampering growth. 

Tackling the hurdles raised, she tailored a series of workshops on:

• Articulating company objectives, goals, strategies and measures

• Optimising pricing

• Responsibility charting

• Practical operational improvements

• Rolling out a CRM designed to scale (set up for seamless employee onboarding and useful reporting)

• The yearly management agenda (what topics should feature, how frequently to discuss them)

Bernadette’s considerable scaling experience was instrumental here: she’s a founder and advisory board member of multiple scale-ups.

She’s seen first-hand what hampers growth ambitions. She knows where to focus first for forward-thinking efficiency. She flags potential issues before they hit. And she gives practical advice as a fellow entrepreneur: do this; don’t go there; plan like this, so that your choices now won’t bite you as you scale. 

Decision time

For every topic where a decision was needed, Bernadette pinpointed the right question to ask the client team. And, every time, she gave them 3 answers to choose from: option A, B or C?

She listed the pros and cons of each, priming productive discussion. And when a decision was reached, she had the team cross off the paths untrodden. Why? To ensure recall of what they didn’t choose and why, keeping their growth strategy on course.

Future decision-makers, including new hires, would be able to chart the firm’s strategic route as it developed. From past to planning, learning from intelligence gathered and used, drawing on values enacted, and continuing to evolve from a fully informed, contextualised standpoint.

Unflinchingly practical

As the snapshot above shows, Bernadette’s practical through and through. It’s one of her founding pillars for The Strategy Office, reflected in how she, along with the collective’s other senior consultants, construct their offers. Clients have an adaptable programme of workshops to choose from; running orders and timelines are adjusted to suit.

Ready to scale

Bernadette got the client where it needed to be: shaped up in the short term, removing any blockers to scaling. The founding team can now focus on its longer-term growth ambitions.

They know they’ve been handed a thoroughly reliable foundation to make the right calls, at the right pace.

While working with this client, Bernadette got a compliment from a consultant at an outfit far larger than The Strategy Office: with way fewer slides than another large firm that’ll remain nameless, she gets the same results. (Hint: it starts with M, ends with y.)

Thing is, at The Strategy Office, we don’t meet complexity with more complexity. We cut through to the right questions, to land on the right answers. Simple, really.