In their relentless pursuit of excellence, there is a valuable service that many corporates and governments use.

The service?  Strategy consulting.

As the term suggests, strategy consulting is where corporations receive expert strategy services from qualified strategists.  Global strategy consulting firms like McKinsey, Boston Consulting and Bain are in high demand, with McKinsey’s annual revenue exceeding US$10 billion a year. 

Why the demand? Leaders understand the importance of strategy and go to great lengths to see that their strategy and execution is on point.

More evidence of the importance of strategy is the growth of an executive position that many leading companies now have onboard.  That position is called the Chief Strategy Officer, or CSO.

As a senior strategist the CSO works closely with the CEO/MD, board and other leaders to facilitate all aspects of strategy.

The CSO position has evolved from the early 2000s and is now very much mainstream.  And according to the 2023 Deloitte CSO survey, 74% of firm’s surveyed employ a CSO or strategy leader, who works under the direction of the CEO/MD.

Bad strategy news for business owners

Unfortunately, when it comes to getting high-level strategy expertise, many business owners are poorly served.  Why so?

Firstly, the global strategy consultancies work almost exclusively with large corporates and governments.  And they charge a pretty penny as well. Indeed, large organisations gladly pay more than US $180,000 per week for advice from a blue chip strategy consultancy.

Also, if you’re looking to hire a CSO, salary surveys show that the position can command more than US$500,000 per year. So unless you’re a large corporate with deep pockets, forget it.

Good strategy news

Here’s good news if you’re a business owner and require high-level strategy expertise at a more affordable price point. It’s called OnCall CSO.

 

OnCall CSO is a strategy consulting and coaching service that gives business owners access to their very own Chief Strategy Officer….without having to pay a 500K salary or $180,000 a week for a strategy project.

OnCall CSO is especially suited to the owners of small to mid-sized businesses (SMEs).

SME defined? This varies throughout the world. For example, in the EU an SME is defined as a business with 250 employees or less, while in New Zealand it’s less than 50 employees. Generally though, on a global level an SME is an owner-operated business with fewer than 200 employees.  SMEs include one-person micro businesses through to mid-sized firms servicing customers in multiple countries.

Ultimately, OnCall CSO is the solution if you want to solve any of these business and personal challenges:

• You own a business and stagnant sales and profits are giving you headaches
• You are frustrated with individuals or teams that are dysfunctional, toxic or just not performing
• A constantly high stress level is taking a severe toll on you, your family life, relationships and health
• You need some fresh thinking and strategies to help you revitalize your business and life
• You’ve hit a brick wall…personally or professionally…and want to know how to get out of the rut you’re in.

If you answered “yes” to any of the above, then here is the root cause of your problems. Strategy. Put simply, if you are not performing well and not getting the results you want, it is simply because your strategy and/or execution is flawed.

The Complete Process of Strategy – And the Key to Making Strategy Work

In terms of process, OnCall CSO applies the 4 phases of strategic management.

Here are the phases.

Phase One – Strategic Research/Analysis/Scorecarding

For the strategic research/analysis/scorecarding phase we take both a helicopter (top down) and microscopic (inside out) look at your business – or even a proposed investment business.  And, in terms of focus, our priority is the ten most valuable business assets outlined here:

• Values system and purpose
• Economic franchise (Strategic positioning and concept)
• Productised IP/IA
• Strategic brands
• Profit model
• Champion Team System (including recruitment, retention and performance management)
• Strategic relationships
• Marketing communications (Marcomms) system and database
• Strategy support systems
• Human capital (Learning, development and optimisation)

In reviewing the profit model we can go deeper than analyzing traditional metrics such as revenue growth, cashflow, COGS and EBITD.  We can also look at factors such as where the revenue has derived from, cost per lead, cost per acquisition, retention rate and other little known yet highly critical financial indicators.  This is important analytical information that even many accountants don’t know about.

Phase Two – Ideation, Problem Solving and Planning

Building upon the research findings and insights acquired in phase one, phase two involves using these insights to generate ideas and solve problems.

Ideas and solutions created in phase two can include:

• Establishing and codifying a stronger values system
• Strengthening strategic position and building a more robust economic franchise
• Developing leadership skills
• Improving the marketing communications system

Phase Three – Strategy Systems Development

Phase three is the strategy development phase and primarily involves the development of your strategy systems and intangible assets. Specific assets we look to develop in this phase are:

• Human capital (Team and personal leadership)
• Economic Franchise Business model
• Strategic Brands
• Champion Team System
• Strategy support systems
• Integrated marketing system
• Marketing Database
• Productised IA (intangible assets) and IP (intellectual property)

Part of the strategy development phase may include the design of a OnePager Plan or business model canvas, which highlights your entire strategy on an A0-A1 page.  The OnePager can include the following elements:

1. Strategic vision and position
2. Mission statement (Values and Purpose)
3. Economic franchise concept and strategy
4. Profit model
5. Strategic objectives
6. Leadership group 
7. Strategic brand portfolio (Business/team, products and services, personal)
8. Integrated marketing system (Lead follow up, conversion, brand development, cost management, team performance and asset growth)

Phase Four – Execution Prep/Strategy Execution

Phase four is the execution prep and strategy execution phase which involves generating brand awareness and monetising your assets.

If you’re considering investing in another business, our strategic consulting services can help you there as well. Post-analysis reporting will highlight strengths and weaknesses of that business, and then offer recommendations based on the results of the analysis.

The cost? Start with a free strategy briefing

When you consider that corporate and government strategy consultants charge as much as US$180,000 week for their services, it makes OnCall CSO cheap by comparison, with fees starting as low as $3,000 per month.

To learn more about strategy consulting and coaching with OnCall CSO, request a free strategy briefing.

To organise your briefing – which may be attended by up to 10 members of your executive team – email ben (at) benmbartlett.com.

Also, if you haven’t yet done so, complete the form below to get your free digital copy of The Strategy Book.  And a free subscription to the Strategic Lessons newsletter, our free e-newsletter on advanced strategic management.