Pillar 02
Business Strategy
A written, evidence-based plan for growth, so you choose the growth that adds worth and can explain it to a buyer.
Services · Growth strategy
Growth strategy for founder-led businesses
Growth that adds revenue is not the same as growth that adds worth. We help founders scale in a way that makes the business stronger, more predictable and less dependent on them, so it rewards you now and is worth more when the time comes.
Who it is for
For founders who want to scale with purpose
We work as a business growth adviser, founder to founder, for owners who have built something that works and want the next stage to count. It suits founders who:
- have built a business that works, and want to grow it deliberately
- have reached a ceiling where growth now depends on more of their own time
- want to build value, not just revenue
- want a scale-up strategy that also prepares the business for an eventual exit
- would value an experienced sounding board, founder to founder
Planning to fund the next stage with outside investment? Investor and private equity readiness prepares you for those conversations.
Growth that builds worth
Not all growth adds value
Two businesses can grow at the same pace and end up worth very different amounts. The difference is in the kind of growth they chose, and in the questions they asked before choosing it.
- More clients, of any kindMore of the right clients, across more than one sectorThe question it answers: Which clients, services and markets are worth more to us than others?
- One-off winsRecurring and repeat incomeThe question it answers: Where should our next stage of growth come from?
- Discounting to winPrices that holdThe question it answers: Are our prices right for the value we deliver?
- More hours from youSystems and a team that scaleThe question it answers: How do we grow without everything depending on me?
- Pushing harder on what has stalledFinding what is holding growth backThe question it answers: Why has growth stalled, and what is holding it back?
- A bigger businessA business that could be handed onThe question it answers: How will this growth show up in what the business is worth?
The four pillars growth work draws on most
Pillar 04
Operational Efficiency & Systems
Systems, processes and automation that let the business take on more without taking more of you.
Pillar 06
Customer Value
Growth that deepens the value you give customers and widens your base, instead of your reliance on a few accounts.
Pillar 07
Market Position & Brand Strength
A position that lets you win on value rather than price, and a brand that would survive a change of owner.
Options for growth
Ways a business can grow, from the core outwards
Most growth comes from a handful of familiar routes. The further a route sits from what you do today, the more it asks of your systems, your people and your cash.
Selling more to existing clients
Often the quickest route, because the trust is already there. It can deepen reliance on a few clients if it is the only route.
New clients in your market
Builds a broader base. It depends on a clear proposition and a way of winning work that does not rely on you.
New services or products
Can raise the value of every client relationship, if it fits what you are known for and your team can deliver it.
New markets or regions
Opens more room to grow, and asks more of your systems, your people and your cash.
Growth needs cash
Faster growth usually ties up more working capital. Keep your accountant close to the plan, and make sure cash forecasting keeps pace with ambition.
Why Nik
Built from a standing start, more than once
In 1992 Nik created the UK’s first commercial-scale kerbside recycling service. In 2007 he established Pure Recycling on a 37-acre site in Warwick and built a materials recovery facility, securing funding through the 2008 banking crisis from Rugby Borough Council, in a deal believed to be the first of its kind.
He has lived the growth decisions founders face: what to build, when to invest and how to keep a business worth owning while it scales.
From day one, Nik’s strategic insight, clarity, and belief in our model gave me the confidence to scale Smart Solutions beyond what I had imagined possible at the time.
How the plans fit
Plans for founders focused on growth
The Essentials plan was designed for growth-focused founders building toward exit readiness. Move up when the business, or your ambitions, need more time with Nik.
Designed for growth-focused founders
Essentials
£495/month
The SCALE2SELL® toolkits, released month by month, one 45-minute advisory call a month, quarterly readiness reviews with recommendations and customised email guidance.
About EssentialsAdvisory+
£1,250/month
Everything in Essentials, with two 60-minute advisory calls a month instead of one 45-minute call, plus priority access and deeper valuation mapping.
About Advisory+Exit Programme
£2,250/month
Everything in Advisory+, with up to three hours of advisory time a month and a Founder Strategy Day each year for your senior team.
About the Exit ProgrammeBespoke
From£5,500/month
Fully tailored, with up to six hours of advisory support a month and a quarterly Strategy Day, on-site or off-site. By application.
How to applyWant your senior team behind the plan? A Founder Strategy Day (£3,500) is a full day with Nik, on-site or off-site.
Compare plansQuestions
Growth strategy, briefly
Short answers to common questions about growth work. The full FAQ covers plans, the Vault and more.
All questionsDo you run our marketing or sales?
No. We help you decide where growth should come from and how to build it, and we hold you to the plan. Your team, or specialists you appoint, carry out the work.
We are not planning to sell. Is this still relevant?
Yes. SCALE2SELL® works on three dimensions of worth, and Founder Worth comes first: a business that rewards you today. Growth that makes the business more valuable also tends to make it less demanding to own.
How is this different from business coaching?
Our focus is value. Every growth decision is looked at through the eight SCALE2SELL® pillars and what a future buyer, investor or successor would make of it. And the guidance comes from a founder who has built and sold businesses himself.
Your starting point
Grow the business, and what it is worth
Take the complimentary Readiness Assessment, then book a complimentary Founder Conversation with Nik to talk through where growth should come from.