Case Studies
Every business I've worked with has taught me something.
These three stories are among the ones I come back to most – because they capture the challenges I see again and again.
Some names and details have been changed, but the challenges – and the outcomes – are exactly as they happened.
THE DESIGN CONSULTANCY THAT WAS ABOUT TO LOSE EVERYTHING
A London design consultancy
Business Improvement
The situation
A London-based interior retail design consultancy. A dozen talented designers. An excellent reputation in the cosmetics industry. Turnover around £2m, profits of about £350,000.
On paper, everything looked fine.
But behind the scenes, the business was a couple of months away from disaster. Their principal client held three separate contracts covering three geographical territories – and all three were coming to an end. The client was unhappy. They'd made it clear they weren't going to renew.
Without those contracts, the business would be insolvent almost overnight. The entire value of the company was at risk.
What I found
When I looked inside at the operations, the problems weren't hard to spot. The product was out-of-date. The service was packaged in a rigid, inflexible way the client had grown to resent. And the relationship had deteriorated to the point where the client was actively bad-mouthing the company.
This wasn't a broken business. It was a good business that had stopped listening to its most important customer.
What we did
Three things, in the right order.
Updated the product. We introduced new technology and streamlined production. Modest investment, but it meant faster turnaround and lower costs.
Repackaged the service. Instead of the old all-or-nothing contract, we unbundled the offering. The client could now buy what they needed, item by item, at transparent prices. This was the big shift – we stopped selling what we wanted to sell and started offering what they actually wanted to buy.
Repositioned the business. With the new product and the new pricing, we had something genuinely different to talk about. The company went from being seen as overpriced and unresponsive to being seen as innovative and great value.
The outcome
The client signed new three-year contracts across all three territories. The unbundling led to them ordering more smaller, incremental services which combined to a larger sales income.
Then something unexpected happened. The new approach impressed them so much that they awarded the company a contract to take over running their design studio in New York. That contract turned out to be hugely profitable.
Within two years, revenue had doubled to over £4m and profits had risen more than 2.5 times to over £1m.
What this taught me
The business absolutely needed a new strategy — but the right strategy only became obvious once someone asked the obvious question: *what does the client actually want?* Update the service, repackage it, reprice it. The answer was right there — it just needed someone with fresh eyes and the courage to say it out loud.
At its heart, this was a Strategy Question that was showing up as a Cash crisis. The company didn't need more sales effort — it needed to rethink what it was selling and why.
THE DESIGN CONSULTANCY THAT WAS ABOUT TO LOSE EVERYTHING
A London design consultancy
Business Improvement
The situation
A London-based interior retail design consultancy. A dozen talented designers. An excellent reputation in the cosmetics industry. Turnover around £2m, profits of about £350,000.
On paper, everything looked fine.
But behind the scenes, the business was a couple of months away from disaster. Their principal client held three separate contracts covering three geographical territories – and all three were coming to an end. The client was unhappy. They'd made it clear they weren't going to renew.
Without those contracts, the business would be insolvent almost overnight. The entire value of the company was at risk.
What I found
When I looked inside at the operations, the problems weren't hard to spot. The product was out-of-date. The service was packaged in a rigid, inflexible way the client had grown to resent. And the relationship had deteriorated to the point where the client was actively bad-mouthing the company.
This wasn't a broken business. It was a good business that had stopped listening to its most important customer.
What we did
Three things, in the right order.
Updated the product. We introduced new technology and streamlined production. Modest investment, but it meant faster turnaround and lower costs.
Repackaged the service. Instead of the old all-or-nothing contract, we unbundled the offering. The client could now buy what they needed, item by item, at transparent prices. This was the big shift – we stopped selling what we wanted to sell and started offering what they actually wanted to buy.
Repositioned the business. With the new product and the new pricing, we had something genuinely different to talk about. The company went from being seen as overpriced and unresponsive to being seen as innovative and great value.
The outcome
The client signed new three-year contracts across all three territories. The unbundling led to them ordering more smaller, incremental services which combined to a larger sales income.
Then something unexpected happened. The new approach impressed them so much that they awarded the company a contract to take over running their design studio in New York. That contract turned out to be hugely profitable.
Within two years, revenue had doubled to over £4m and profits had risen more than 2.5 times to over £1m.
What this taught me
The business absolutely needed a new strategy — but the right strategy only became obvious once someone asked the obvious question: *what does the client actually want?* Update the service, repackage it, reprice it. The answer was right there — it just needed someone with fresh eyes and the courage to say it out loud.
At its heart, this was a Strategy Question that was showing up as a Cash crisis. The company didn't need more sales effort — it needed to rethink what it was selling and why.
THE DESIGN CONSULTANCY THAT WAS ABOUT TO LOSE EVERYTHING
A London design consultancy
Business Improvement
The situation
A London-based interior retail design consultancy. A dozen talented designers. An excellent reputation in the cosmetics industry. Turnover around £2m, profits of about £350,000.
On paper, everything looked fine.
But behind the scenes, the business was a couple of months away from disaster. Their principal client held three separate contracts covering three geographical territories – and all three were coming to an end. The client was unhappy. They'd made it clear they weren't going to renew.
Without those contracts, the business would be insolvent almost overnight. The entire value of the company was at risk.
What I found
When I looked inside at the operations, the problems weren't hard to spot. The product was out-of-date. The service was packaged in a rigid, inflexible way the client had grown to resent. And the relationship had deteriorated to the point where the client was actively bad-mouthing the company.
This wasn't a broken business. It was a good business that had stopped listening to its most important customer.
What we did
Three things, in the right order.
Updated the product. We introduced new technology and streamlined production. Modest investment, but it meant faster turnaround and lower costs.
Repackaged the service. Instead of the old all-or-nothing contract, we unbundled the offering. The client could now buy what they needed, item by item, at transparent prices. This was the big shift – we stopped selling what we wanted to sell and started offering what they actually wanted to buy.
Repositioned the business. With the new product and the new pricing, we had something genuinely different to talk about. The company went from being seen as overpriced and unresponsive to being seen as innovative and great value.
The outcome
The client signed new three-year contracts across all three territories. The unbundling led to them ordering more smaller, incremental services which combined to a larger sales income.
Then something unexpected happened. The new approach impressed them so much that they awarded the company a contract to take over running their design studio in New York. That contract turned out to be hugely profitable.
Within two years, revenue had doubled to over £4m and profits had risen more than 2.5 times to over £1m.
What this taught me
The business absolutely needed a new strategy — but the right strategy only became obvious once someone asked the obvious question: *what does the client actually want?* Update the service, repackage it, reprice it. The answer was right there — it just needed someone with fresh eyes and the courage to say it out loud.
At its heart, this was a Strategy Question that was showing up as a Cash crisis. The company didn't need more sales effort — it needed to rethink what it was selling and why.
The common thread
Three very different businesses. Three very different challenges. But the pattern is always the same.
Someone needs to walk in with fresh eyes. Ask the questions that aren't being asked. Have the conversations that aren't being had. And stay long enough to make sure things actually change.
That's what I do. Whether it's as a mentor, a confidant, a Non-Executive Director, or a Chairman — the value is the same: honest, experienced counsel from someone who's been there and done it, not just read about it.