If your business is to succeed…..
….. ours is to make it ‘ezy’ for you!
CLIENT RESULTS
We don’t seek and promote testimonials from our clients –
We seek results.
And client’s continue to choose us because of these results.
In nutshell, here’s why clients choose us – A trusted advisor on your side who is as committed to your results, A strategy to get you there and A satisfaction assurance to back it up ……because success is almost inevitable!
Business Advice & Coaching Client Case studies and results
“Stratezy helped this established Accounting Business shift their client base, increasing their per client revenue and margins “
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Client Issue: The partners of this Accounting Business were proud and rightfully so, of the quality and professional standards of their services. The firm had some valuable clients who had been with them for years. However, there was very limited growth over the last few years and while this was not a concern for the profitability of the business, it was clear that there was no growth. The partners were keen to take the business to the next level but were concerned that what seemed to be the unique selling proposition for them in the past, around accuracy and timeliness, didn’t seem to be generating new client interest. The only growth, if any, was in individual clients. However the firm’s specialisation and profitability lay in small business clients, who they were finding it difficult to attract.
What we did: We helped bring in the perspective of shifting from not just accurate output but to customer oriented output. This meant bringing in a ‘we don’t talk accounting, we talk your business’ language theme to the firm. The idea was to ensure that while the clients always placed an immense amount of trust, they would now also start to feel they were receiving value add and additional complementary help to run their small businesses. Once this focus was established, we helped shift marketing efforts to attract small businesses rather than individuals and as a result, the average revenue per client raised , while the services became more specialised and of higher quality, whilst not losing accuracy and timeliness. We also advised the partners on succession planning and career prospects, as well as incentives to enable them to think like partners, not just employees.
Client Results: Here’s the Practice Manager’s feedback about their results – “ ……Our business is quite organised and meticulous. We are very strong on internal processes, accuracy and promptness of services. Long term strategy, people management and marketing are not top of our list. Working with Stratezy was invaluable, because we began stepping back, and giving our business a strategic look, not just a meticulous one. We used to be too busy and involved in the day to day to make any real progress or take the business to the next level. Working with Stratezy has made a huge difference to the way we are running our business focussed on growing the business and building quality small business client base and market presence. We are also focussing more on the people and career growth. We are convinced that their perspective of being a trusted advisor really works!”
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“Stratezy helped turn this Building Trades professional from a one-man band into a team that runs a full-fledged commercial business”
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Client Issue: This micro business owner provides building trades services to a number of individual home owners as well as contracts his work to a handful of property management companies. Over a number of years, while inflow of work had increased, administration and management of work was starting to dominate the scene and the client found himself weighed down by the day to day. When we interviewed the client, his prime concern was his inability to isolate his business from his personal life. He felt the lack of planning and clarity of where his business was headed; while work was always available, he was unsure if there was enough to provide his young family a secure future. In addition, an aspiration, he said, was to be able to take a break and whilst away, not have cashflows dried up, because presently, if he was not working it meant the business wasn’t running.
What we did: We helped the client understand his situation with the help of a business assessment tool as well as business leadership profiling tool, which helped set the scene for consideration of a long term business strategy and clarify three major aspects of the issue to the client: One, the client was working in the business, not on it – and while this sounds obvious, it is often an area that gets least focus. So we helped the helped the client with a strategy to make this shift. Two, the client needed to develop a business model that would run itself, which meant focussing on more commercial than individual clients and securing some ongoing contracts that help planning as well as servicing the cashflows. Three, the client needed to shift the focus on to getting the right customers that would generate high value low volume business. This would help establish a pipeline of work that could help employ help and delegate work, while the owner could focus on strategy of running the business.
Client Results: Here’s what the trades business owner said about our services: “ ……I love what I do with my hands, like fixing property problems and solving technical challenges for my clients. Like a lot of tradesman, I learnt the trade and decided to go out on my own. It didn’t take long to realise that I needed to run it like a business, and I needed to know a lot more than just being good at my skills…. too many unhappy nights buried in paperwork and trying to get my wife to do the admin side and feeling like its getting nowwhere. with the mortage and young family, it was not getting any easier. Working with Sirisha from Stratezy Group has made a huge difference to how I work. With Stratezy, I work on my business now with all the planning and getting right clients, not just any clients, understanding and not being hassled by cashflows, working on long term goals understanding and working on long term goals. I have a business that will run, even when I am off on a holiday with my family, been waiting for a long time for this to happen. I am enjoying doing not just the trades bit but also the business side of things, a lot more. I’ve told more people from my field to get advice from Sirisha, its worth it…”
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“Stratezy helped this Legal Services Firm raise profile to achieve overall business results, much broader than just financial results”
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Client Issue: This established legal services firm was going through a transition with a couple of senior partners retiring and new partners wanting to shift the focus of the firm from its current client base of individuals to commercial clients. The current client base helped keep the ‘billing levels’ for each of the partners at full capacity. The financial results were consistent but not compatible to market and the growth was limited. While there was a general agreement about focussing on having more commercial clients, there were no active efforts engaged in that direction. We were approached to help the firm with a strategy that, without impacting their current billing levels, could help them redirect resources to help grow and raise the profile of the firm. In conjunction with this, the partners also sought advice on succession planning to ensure the firm’s client base and profile remained stable through the transition.
What we did:On consulting with the lead partners of their business, one of the first areas we helped them focus was on their longIterm strategy. The current focus was very much on ensuring billing levels were at the highest, as it should be. However, this meant that the capacity to redirect resources and time to long term strategy, marketing and other business development areas was minimal. We suggested implementing a marketing model that has been developed by Stratezy, that focuses on billing that is at optimal levels rather than maximum levels. This model has proven useful with a range of other clients in the services business, as it did with this law firm. Using this model, the client could redirect their resources to focus on the activities that helped enhance presence with the commercial client base. We also helped the client focus on developing a competency and leadership within the organisation, as part of the succession planning agenda. The general summary of the outcomes was to shift the client from ‘financial results’ to ‘overall business results’ that focus not only on billing and profitability but also on overall strategy and business growth.
Client Results: Here are the Managing Partner’s comments about the results their business got –“ …. Stratezy got us thinking differently about aspects that were impacting our business. We were focussed on making the most of our billing hours, which is, as it should be. However, our efforts and focus on marketing and reaching the client groups we wanted to attract was very limited. Working with Stratezy, we began to think about these aspects that were equally important but didn’t get much attention. We have also engaged strategy for leadership training for our team and we are impressed with the results we have seen within a short span of time. There is more to do, and we are confident that we are well on track to get there. All in all, very good outcomes for our business…”
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“Stratezy helped this Technology Start-up, shoot-up into a viable business by focussing on Strategy, not just product”
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Client Issue: This innovative technology startIup focussed on environmentally friendly 3D design and printing. The three founders designed and developed the product inIhouse, as a hobby. On sharing the product within the technology community, it was very well received, leading the founders to form a company and focus on launching the product commercially. The commercial version of the product had since been in the market for a few months with minimal results. Clients required us to assist them in making the product commercially successful.
What we did:Our primary focus was to help the client refocus from ‘product launch’ mode to ‘business launch’ mode. We managed to show the client, the value of developing a strategy for the business and investing time and resources into creating a detailed business plan including financials and marketing as well as operations and other areas. Following on from the strategic plan, we worked with the client to create a roadmap of actions to achieve targets. This included creating systems and processes, financial plans, tracking and monitoring marketing activities, negotiating pricing and other terms to managing production costs and a range of other activities that helped turn a startIup venture into a viable business.
Client Results: The comments from the founders summarise their results:“ “…..These guys are addictive We are probably their worst clients, because we started our first meeting saying that we did not really want to spend time doing any spreadsheets or documents. All we wanted to do was make our product take off. And we got it right back from these guys ‘Do you want your product to take off, or do you want to run a business that takes off?’ That got us thinking and yes, we admit that was a while ago. We now ‘almost’ enjoy doing everything it takes to run a business, spreadsheets included. No wonder our product obviously took off, but unlike a lot of other startIups that we know, our business took off too. Glad we bought into what Stratezy got us doing. It was high energy, high value and high return, through and through. We highly recommend…….”
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“Stratezy provided business coaching and advice to this young micro business owner for expansion of a Wellness business”
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Client Issue: This young microIbusiness owner is a mobile therapist who has been running her practice for a few years. She manages a small team that support her operations. The client approached us with the aspiration of expanding her business from mobile to retail presence, building her Brand and creating a physical footprint. While she had managed to run her mobile business by herself, she had not received any formal business training and was keen to work with us to ensure she had business management aspects under her belt. She also had a part time job to supplement her financial position, which she wanted to transition from. The client was aspiring to approach the expansion more strategically, make the most of her time and resources and focus on the business, so the business could not only support her commercially but also expand into a brand known for quality of service and professionalism.
What we did:We started working with the client on two levels. At one level, our focus was to educate the client and help develop business management acumen. Parallel to this, we commenced work on the business plan of the footprint that she aspired to create. We created a business leadership profile for the client, to identify SWOT i.e. Strengthens, Weaknesses or Development areas, Opportunities and Threats. This report helped the client clarify the areas of focus and development that would help take the business to the next level. Based on these, we developed a program to help the client move from where the business was to where the aspiration point was. We helped the client clarify the strategy for the business and create a robust business plan with a stepIbyIstep roadmap to lead to the business goals. Over the last few months, the client incrementally progressed her levels of business management and decisionImaking capabilities. As a first step to taking her business to the next level, the aspiring entrepreneur now has a physical footprint with her first shop up and running.
Client Results: Here are the comments of this young microbusiness owner – “……..Having a session with Sirisha of Stratezy is like what I imagine having a training session with Mick Malthouse (Australian Football League Coach ) would be like, intense but in a good way. I have being using Sirisha’s services for the last few months and I highly recommend her After a session with Sirisha I know that I’m on track for achieving the goals that I wish to achieve. I know that from a strategy perspective I’m going to achieve the best result for efforts that I put in. She has helped to guide my business in it’s next stage of growth and at the same time has developed me into a better and more successful business owner…..”
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“Stratezy guided this growing Trades Services Business with a long term strategy by shifting the focus to working ‘on’ the business, not just ‘in’ it”
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Client Issue: The client ran a profitable business and had aspirations of expanding the size and scope of the services. The issues that the client faced was being able to shift the focus from the day to day running and getting the jobs done, to plan, implement and execute a long term strategy for business growth. The client approached Stratezy to put a plan in place and implement it to firstly increase the turnover i.e. volume and size of the business by building a consistent pipeline of work and secondly, to build a more self sustained business that can run independently of the owner. The client also intended to focus on up skilling his team in not only skills of the trade but also and growing service and marketing capabilities across the board.
What we did:In the initial stages, we carried out a detailed analysis of the client’s business SWOT i.e. business strengths and development areas, as well as available opportunities, a detailed business leadership profile and a clear set of focus areas and objectives that would help take the business to the next level. This formed the basis of clear goals and KPIs for the client to measure business performance and identify areas that needed attention. We then worked with the client to create a plan and a detailed roadmap for growth and profitability based on these goals. We helped the client with a step by step implementation of each of the measures, followed by periodic stockItake of actual performance against agreed KPIs. Based on the roadmap, we educated the client on managing various ‘Hats’ all at the same time, without losing sight of any of the areas including operations, marketing, processes, personnel and finances to ensure all areas get equal focus. The result was a swiftly growing business with over 60% year on year growth.
Client Results: Here is the feedback from this successful Trades Business Owner –“….has been trading for the last four years successfully carrying out building repairs and maintenance work. Each year I have planned to develop the business to increase revenue, profitability and have it work more independently of me as the owner. Each year I have attempted to move the business forward but have not been able to achieve the desired results. This year however is different . Sirisha has been working as our business coach and in the last few months we have put together a focussed plan to achieve a much improved business. … we are now at the implementation stage and are seeing the results of the new strategy with the biggest list of projects that we have seen to date. Sirisha’s ability to engage with the challenges of the business and come up with workable solutions means we are on the way to achieving our goals. Her encouragement and determination to “get there” has been invaluable. I would highly recommend Sirisha of the Stratezy group ….”
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“Stratezy helped revisit the Pricing Strategy of this Technology Services Company by not decreasing but optimising it”
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Client Issue: This technology services company had a good share of market and had a good Marketing strategy to secure it. The client was playing in a saturated price driven market. The turnover was high but the net margins were not proportionate. Their marketing strategy based on providing best price guarantee while effective, wasn’t helping bottomline. The client provided addIon services that had better margins. These services were based on a pricing strategy that assumed that a majority of the customers would buy these services. However, the customer behaviour suggested otherwise; while they were still buying the ‘best priced’ products, they were moving away from buying any addIon services from the client. Continuing to provide these services to a small number of clients was also negatively impacting the bottomline. Profitability was shrinking and the client sought our advice to help make sense of the situation.
What we did:We helped review the pricing strategy of the client and helped them draw the relationship between the type of clients they had and the bottomline, both resulting from pricing guarantee. The client based comprised customers who were loyal to the guarantee, not to the company. These clients purchased no addI on services from the client and whilst volumes were high, were not returning relative profit growth. On review of the pricing strategy, our recommendation to the client was to shift from a ‘wide market’ and pricing guarantee based strategy, to specific ‘market segments’ that had low volume demands, but had higher margins. We helped create a roadmap for this strategy and also help the client implement the strategy in some segments to test the outcomes before it was widely implement across all products. The results, in client’s words ‘were counterintuitive’. By decreasing the market size and increasing the price, client’s profitability increased.
Client Results: Here are the Director’s comments, summarising the results –“ …. We have a good marketing strategy, and the volumes we do are quite large, thanks to our best price guarantee. What we were confused about is that it felt like being on a treadmill – our turnover increased substantially year on year but our profits didn’t and it sometimes it felt like chasing our own shadows. Stratezy however brought a different perspective to our pricing strategy. We always thought of pricing as one of our strengths – in fact, we actually said pricing was our strong point, when we did the SWOT exercise. It turns out that it wasn’t. After we got this advice from Stratezy about the review of pricing, it was counterintuitive and it took us some time to digest it all. It took a bit of convincing on their part, but we are glad we took their advice – We don’t compete on best price now, we focus on certain segments, price it right and focus on bottomline, not just turnover. When the price is right, the right customers respond and this is what Stratezy helped us do. Results have been amazing ”
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“Stratezy worked with this allied health services provider to grow the small suburban practice into a profitable business”
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Client Issue: This Allied Health Practice had a range of services that they provided including Physiotherapy, Chiropractic, Myotherapy, Nutrition etc. The practice rented suites to allied health professionals and provided centralised services to these practitioners, including managing their client database, bookings, invoicing the clients and related services. The practice had aspirations of taking the business to the next level. However the current business needed to be structured for growth and focus needed to be on margins and not just volumes. Stabilising the business at the current level and planning for a future that was consistent and sustainable.
What we did:We undertook a strategy review of the client’s current and future business objectives. This review involved understanding the six key areas in the client’s business – Pecuniary Aspects, Processes, Products/Services Leadership, People, and Presence. This review was crucial because while the symptom lay in one of the areas, the cause may lie elsewhere in the business. For instance, weak cashflows or low retention may just be the symptoms. The review helps identify what might be causing these symptoms. For instance, the underlying cause of these symptoms may be unstructured marketing campaigns or inadequate processes to support service levels. In this particular business there were certain aspects in the business that the client was focusing on but there were other areas that were in need of attention. What was becoming evident was a lack of overall strategy.
We helped layout a strategy that mapped the current activities and identified gaps. We also helped identify areas that currently received no attention, mainly because the focus was on current day to day and short term issues. We recommended a ‘clients for clients’ model. The key was to identify the specific focus areas for both of the core client groups. One of the initial focus areas was to understand the reason behind declining margins. We suggested that the practice conduct a quick survey of existing, ex and potential clients to understand what makes this practice attractive or otherwise. It was also important to understand what the long term goals of the practice were. We conducted a strategy workshop for the core team, that took into account the long term aspirations of the practice. This help put in place a model that could encourage loyalty and repeat visits. The improved practices now included the feedback about what would make the business more attractive to the practitioners.
Client Results: Client Feedback about our work:“…. Our practice is small suburban business that focuses, actually ‘used to’ focus on providing a broad range of allied health services to the local area. We have had this business for a few years and while we aspired to grow, did not have a clear strategy to make this happen. We had a range of initiatives planned to improve marketing and some processes, but there were not integrated and we weren’t seeing the desired results. One of the reasons we are passionate about allied health is because we are focused on solving health issues at the core. Working with Stratezy has been quite refreshing because their philosophy aligns with ours – Stratezy wanted us to go right to the core of the issue to figure out the underlying performance, our long term aspirations and how we could address those in a lasting way. We are in the expansion mode and will continue to work with Stratezy… ”
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“Stratezy helped this Allied Health Professional build a business that combines profitability and social responsibility”
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Client Issue: The client offers a range of high intensity pain management techniques that have been developed using a combination of experience as a professional nurse as well as her education in the field of alternate health therapies. Her practice primarily catered to urban clients who were referred on to her by mainstream medical practitioners, as the last resort. Her client results and loyal client base were both quite strong. However, being a nuclear practice, growth was very limited. The client’s vision was to create a business model that provided similar pain management services in remote or rural areas, with aged care as her focus. The client enrolled our assistance to help her turn her vision into a viable model that not only serves the community but can also be managed as a commercial business.
What we did:The task was to convert a vision into a business model. This enticed having a clear business goal and a wellIdefined strategy as the starting points. Our approach was to brainstorm a strategy with the client. It was important to start with the existing business, so the service can be packaged into a model and replicated across multiple remote locations albeit with a smaller individual footprint at each of the locations. We helped map out what worked well, what could be done better and how the skills can be made transferrable. As part of this, the client needed to let go of the need to serve her clients in person; she needed to train and manage other individuals to step into the business. While she was concerned about losing existing business and clients, she incrementally implemented this, with an understanding that this was crucial for her to realise her business goals. Over the following months, we worked closely with the client as she implemented the roadmap, provided training to her prospective team, built the necessarily logistic as well as referral partner network in 3 remote regions that she had earmarked for this phase, and has thus far, been able to successfully see her business model come to life.
Client Results: Client’s comments on the results for her business:“….I have a stable practice. I also have a vision that I have shared with anyone who cares to ask what I want from the future, but when it came to making it happen, it was off my radar. I wanted to reach out my services to aged care in remote areas. A chance meeting with Sirisha of the Stratezy Group made me think that I probably should take my idea more seriously but I did not have a clue about where to start or how to make it happen. Sirisha has the rare quality of understanding the practical steps you need to take to make your ideas achievable, no matter how big they are. Often people have ideas about what they want to achieve but never actually achieve it as they lack the understanding of what specifically they need to do to make it happen. Sirisha’s help has made me think clearly, coached me to turn my vision into a practical business and helped me avoid some of the hidden pitfalls I would have fallen into if she had not been guiding me. Sirisha’s value, experience and skills are unique and have made a huge contribution to my business…..”
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“Stratezy worked with this young fitness professional to turn an industry challenge into a commercial opportunity through a unique model”
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Client Issue: This young health and fitness professional approached us to discuss and gather our thoughts on an industry challenge for young trainers. He found personal trainers who did not own their own studios but wanted to work as freelancers were forced to work with bigger gyms, and got very minimal returns relative to their efforts. Unlike the traditional gyms or studios, the client’s idea was to set up serviced space for freelance fitness professionals to hire on a similar basis to leased office space. While the idea was unique, the client was unsure about how it can be made commercially viable and also whether it would support him transitioning from a full time job. We were approached to help bridge this gap as well as help him set up a business model to make it commercially viable right from inception.
What we did:At the onset, we conducted a brainstorming session with the client to nut out the details of the business idea and identify what the prime area of focus needs to be. We helped the client understand the key drivers that would influence the viability of his business idea. We then approached the business idea from endIuser’s/ customer’s perspective and helped the client clarify the value proposition to make the service attractive to his prospective customers. This included a brief market survey of the Trainers in the area as well as individuals seeking their services. We then helped the client create a longIterm strategic goals and a clear business plan for each of the areas including financials, marketing, processes etc. to achieve the strategy. As part of the process, we helped the client build a model that would generate revenue right from the first month so the business could support itself financially and would help the client transition smoothly from his employment.
Client Results: Here is the client feedback about our business advice:“….. Being employed gives you financial stability and the ability to clearly see the future, but that is pretty much where it stops. I have always wanted to run my own business but I wanted it to be unique. I wanted to build a business that does not compete, rather helps others, but didn’t know if I could turn that into a commercial idea. Working with Sirisha from Stratezy group helped me think strategically on how I could convert a challenge into a opportunity. I now have a business model that runs itself, because I don’t need to be on site for the revenue to kick in. It also helps young trainers hire facilities and make their small businesses work well too. Stratezy has also helped me develop a program that I now offer trainers when they sign up for the space and that is helping them build their businesses too. I can now see a future that is far more exciting and promising than it was when I was employed. I could have never done all this without Stratezy’s help. I really think that if you are serious about your health, get a trainer and if you are serious about your business, get a coach.”
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“Stratezy helped these creative professionals to move out of their comfort zone and set up a strategically focussed business”
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Client Issue: The client and her potential business partner had several years of industry experience, working in the area of marketing, digital media and advertising. They were experts at building presence for a business and creating a marketing strategy. However, where it came to creating an endItoIend business strategy, including people, processes, finance, operations and other aspects, their experience was minimal. Being stably employed they were also unsure about the potential financial instability that managing their own business may entail. The business partner had been forced to close down a business that she had started a few years ago, due to its financial position and was wary of starting another business. The clients wanted understand their risks and ensure they had a strategy to address potential pitfalls. They sought our advice to ensure that they had a business that, in their words ‘was as successful as the places they had been working for’.
What we did:The focus for this client was threeIfold I One, to setIup a successful model that involved an overall business strategy; Two, shift out of the comfort zone of a stable employment; Three, set out the working dynamics between the partners and work out the roles and responsibilities to ensure there were no overlaps or gaps. This aspect was subtle, yet became apparent and crucial through our conversations; while they had been colleagues for a long time, being business partners brought on a different dynamic that needed attention. We worked with the clients on all three aspects I We helped them develop a strategy using the pyramid model that addresses areas of focus for the business including finances, processes, products, people and other aspects. We worked with the partners to create a revenue model that made the transition from employment seamless and made it easy to move out of the comfort zone. By setting up clear KPIs, roles and responsibilities and processes, the clients were able to create a business that progressively met the aspired levels of success.
Client Results: Here is the feedback from one of the partners about our business advice:“…..Both of knew how to promote our business well. What we were not experts at was building this business. We’ve been playing with the idea of starting our own business for a while but applying your knowledge when you are employed is different to applying it in the context of your own business. For me, going from a full time job to own business has also been a big roadblock. Working with Stratezy on our side, we approached this strategically. Instead of a plan on how to sell, we started with a solid roadmap of why we should have the business in the first place, what would make it succeed as well as how to handle the transition. I am really glad I took the leap. The strategic plan is working seamlessly and I feel comfortable that I don’t need to boil the ocean, all I need to do is follow the plan and just focus on taking one step at a time. I would highly recommend the Stratezy group to all those who wish they had their own business but are unsure or scared of taking that step…”
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Business Workshops Client Case studies and results
“Stratezy-in-a-day Workshop to help the leadership team create expansion strategy for their Property services division”
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Client Issue: The property division of this large company had a mix of internal and external clients and needed to clarify their agenda and strategy to help take the business to the next level. This included setting the agenda for expanding the business to multiple locations, prioritising the demands on the team’s time and resources, agreeing on the outline of budget allocation, managing communication of the strategy, agreeing on collaborative actions to bridge any potential gaps in contracts with service providers’ and a range of other issues that needed facilitation. Clarifying the Strategy, Assigning accountability and ensuring tasks were readily understood and executed was core to our facilitation process as well as the expansion agenda of the business.
What we did: Strategy is core to the facilitation we provide. We packaged individual strategy consultation sessions to map out the strategic profile of the business, and how the business leadership profiles fit in with the expansion agenda. This also included individual consultations with the leadership team to map out their function and how it contributes to the expansion agenda. Budget allocations was a sensitive area that needed pre-work with head of finance to ensure clarity and allocations based on priorities and demands. The objective of our facilitation during the session was focussed on ensuring that the Executive leadership’s strategy was clearly communicated and agreed. We also ensured that each of the function heads presented their agenda and accountability was assigned for crucial actions. The focus was also to ensure that the team understand the true dynamics and inhibitors and reached a common understanding and agreement on what needed to be actioned to take the business to the next level.
Client Results: Here are the Executive Director’s comments about the workshop-“…. Strategy is only as good as the people who not only conceive it but also understand and implement it. This was the prime area that required to be addressed. From the first point of contact, Stratezy understand our team dynamics and worked with us at a level that was not only in-depth but also made us feel that they were not external advisors. Through the program and workshop, Stratezy was able to help us challenge some of our pre-conceived notions about how we were approaching certain aspects of the business. They helped us tease out unspoken issues that were causing impediments and helped us iron these out. I am impressed at how seamlessly they helped us through this complex process without ever making us feel we were receiving external advice. We have a challenging agenda ahead of us and it is crucial that the teams not only understood but also were in agreement with the strategic roadmap. This was at the core, what Stratezy helped us achieve. Through the profiling, setting the scene, the workshop as well as individual consultations before and after, they ensured that all of the ground was covered. We are excited about our growth agenda and glad we are using Stratezy’s services…”
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Client Issue: The property division of this large company had a mix of internal and external clients and needed to clarify their agenda and strategy to help take the business to the next level. This included setting the agenda for expanding the business to multiple locations, prioritising the demands on the team’s time and resources, agreeing on the outline of budget allocation, managing communication of the strategy, agreeing on collaborative actions to bridge any potential gaps in contracts with service providers’ and a range of other issues that needed facilitation. Clarifying the Strategy, Assigning accountability and ensuring tasks were readily understood and executed was core to our facilitation process as well as the expansion agenda of the business.
What we did: Strategy is core to the facilitation we provide. We packaged individual strategy consultation sessions to map out the strategic profile of the business, and how the business leadership profiles fit in with the expansion agenda. This also included individual consultations with the leadership team to map out their function and how it contributes to the expansion agenda. Budget allocations was a sensitive area that needed pre-work with head of finance to ensure clarity and allocations based on priorities and demands. The objective of our facilitation during the session was focussed on ensuring that the Executive leadership’s strategy was clearly communicated and agreed. We also ensured that each of the function heads presented their agenda and accountability was assigned for crucial actions. The focus was also to ensure that the team understand the true dynamics and inhibitors and reached a common understanding and agreement on what needed to be actioned to take the business to the next level.
Client Results: Here are the Executive Director’s comments about the workshop-“…. Strategy is only as good as the people who not only conceive it but also understand and implement it. This was the prime area that required to be addressed. From the first point of contact, Stratezy understand our team dynamics and worked with us at a level that was not only in-depth but also made us feel that they were not external advisors. Through the program and workshop, Stratezy was able to help us challenge some of our pre-conceived notions about how we were approaching certain aspects of the business. They helped us tease out unspoken issues that were causing impediments and helped us iron these out. I am impressed at how seamlessly they helped us through this complex process without ever making us feel we were receiving external advice. We have a challenging agenda ahead of us and it is crucial that the teams not only understood but also were in agreement with the strategic roadmap. This was at the core, what Stratezy helped us achieve. Through the profiling, setting the scene, the workshop as well as individual consultations before and after, they ensured that all of the ground was covered. We are excited about our growth agenda and glad we are using Stratezy’s services…”
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“Stratezy-in-a-day Workshop to refocus on changing markets and identify new areas of market growth for a Manufacturing company”
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Client Issue: The director of this Manufacturing and recycling co. had a good business model that remained un-impacted thus far but was starting to feel the pressures of the contracting markets. The only person in the company who wore a strategy hat was himself and he felt that having his key management team especially those involved more hands on with the business, would benefit from understanding where the business was headed to and what they needed to do to change course.
What we did: We researched about the industry and found areas that were currently not being focussed by this company. During our conversations prior to the workshop, we got an idea of the perspective of the heads of each function within the business. We shared with them the information about areas that would be beneficial to focus on and gathered their feedback. We helped the Director understand the difference in focus between what his operations lead, his sales lead and his finance lead had and how we could help align these, through the leadership profiles and the workshop. Because of the pre-work that each of the leads as well as the Director did, the workshop helped summarise a Strategy that considered different perspectives, helped them understand each others and our ‘language’, clarified the potential that the business had and helped lay a clear map for the short, medium and long term future.
Client Results: Here’s what one of the managing partner’s had to say-“ …. Our business has always been quite strong but there have been some changes in the market recently and we need to keep up. We don’t necessarily speak the ‘strategy’ language and are focussed on the ‘doing’ rather than ‘planning’. Having the Stratezy group talk to our boys has made a huge difference. We were on the same page and they got what the issues were, especially with the type of outdoor work we did and how we tried to make sense of our numbers while trying to keep up with the market competition. It did take a bit of convincing on their part to get us into a room to talk strategy, but once in there, it did not feel hard. The insights on profiles were very good value. Glad we did it, and we recommended them on to a supplier too. Very important if you want to run a business, that can meet the market – time and money well spent….”
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“Small Business Workshop – Photographer’s snapshot of the day”
This successful photographer manages a niche highly profitable business and provides employment to other professionals.
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His goals in attending the workshop were to reenergise, take a much-needed pit-stop and refocus on the next phase of business development. The workshop includes creating a strategic plan and an implementation roadmap. The client’s aim was to use his time and resources for the day in creating this plan and roadmap for the next twelve months of his business.
These are the clients’ thoughts about the workshop:“ …. I also like the mix of businesses in the room. It helps put a different lens on your business and lets you see it just as my customers see it. What is also valuable is being able to do the plan in a day. Left to my own resources, this would take weeks before I see it take shape. I like the sharp focus that Sirisha brought to the discussions. She challenged and teased out some of my pre conceived limitations about what I could or could not do with my business. While it was well paced, it was also quite intense and I left with a clear map of what the next few months would look like for my growing business. Over the years, I have attended a few planning workshops with other coaches, but don’t recall getting as much value, other than a load of templates. It was refreshing to attend this with the Stratezy group, because true to what they say, instead of spending the day filling templates, we spent it thinking and brainstorming. If you like making the most of your time and resources and value high quality advice, you should see Sirisha, because this workshop has it all.”
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“Stratezy-in-a-day Workshop to clarify Strategy and bridge gap between the old and new teams of a Financial Services Firm”
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Client Issue: This well established financial services business of many years recently had an infusion of fresh talent with new additions to the team. While the business was doing well, there was a gap in between front and back office teams as well as a common understanding of the company’s overall focus and strategy. We were approached by one of the newer partners to help bridge the gap and refresh long-term strategy.
What we did: We conducted a detailed set of interviews with the senior partners as well as some of the more junior but promising members of the team. We mapped out detailed leadership profiles, and matched these to the potential issues causing the gap. We then conducted our flagship ‘stratezy-in-a-day’ workshop, which not only gave the team an opportunity to gel together but it also gave them the ability to understand different perspectives. Through the workshop, the team established and agreed on a clear Strategy, identified areas of focus, created short medium and long term goals and laid out a high level roadmap to achieve these strategic goals.
Client Results: Here’s what one of the managing partner’s had to say-“…Being financial planners, we did have a plan, but we don’t have anyone responsible or accountable for our overall strategy, except me! Doing the workshop with all our partners in a room set clear goals and accountability for the next year. The approach around relating profiles and strategy was very refreshing, haven’t seen that done before! We now have a real, in-depth Strategy and a detailed road map. Our leadership and team feel more aligned to the goals and vision and we have a clear strategic plan that makes it easy for us to go ahead and achieve results. We will be discussing having a follow up session with you around half year to track progress and refresh this….”
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“Stratezy-in-a-day Workshop to set out a strategic roadmap for sustained and consistent growth of an IT services Firm”
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Client Issue: The young tech-preneurs of this IT services firm had been running the business for a few years and have been seeing growth year on year. While they had an idea about what they were doing well and what areas needed focus, they did not have a strategic plan to help them grow. The young minds they employed were quite disengaged with the business as whole, and the business development manager who had been with the company for a while was not quite aligned to the big picture that the directors had in their vision for the company. The task was to first ensure the directors had a strategic plan and roadmap to attain the business goals. The second part was to provide a way for the creative, the technical, the sales and the admin teams to come together and be aligned to the vision of the Directors.
What we did: We had an initial in-depth consultation with the 2 young directors to understand their vision and the outcomes and delivery they were expecting from the team. During this conversation, it became apparent that the Directors had different perspectives for the future of the business. We started the assignment with an brief half a day brainstorming session for the 2 directors to come up with a set of agreed goals and vision for the business. we also organised detailed ‘profiling’ for the leadership team to understand their personality preferences, strengthens and development areas. This exercise was quite refreshing for the directors; though had worked together for a period of time, they had never clearly laid out expectations or clarified their goals for the company and admitted that they often found themselves working around any potential differences. Having this open conversation strengthened their relationship. This also set the pace for the Stratezy-in-a-day workshop. The team was presented with the vision. Through the workshop, they identified areas of focus, potential gaps within the way the teams worked each other and having understood their ‘profiles’ found ways to bridge those gaps. Through the workshop they set a clear path to achieve what they termed ‘predictable’ results.
Client Results: Here are the Directors’ comments about the exercise-“….. Our business has been growing and doing well, so didn’t really feel the need for a formal documented strategy. But our performance has not predictable, which makes our growth and profitability quite inconsistent. We are glad we did the workshop, we can now see clearly where we are headed. It was also extremely useful to have the two of us in a room and brainstorm various aspects of the business in a formal and objective conversation. We are surprised at the amount of momentum this has brought into our business. Plus the profiling stuff added life to it. It was like seeing our business from a different lens and that helped make the picture clearer. But it didn’t end there, Stratezy has promised to check in with us to keep on track! We didn’t think strategy workshops can be so much fun and value….”
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“Small Business Workshop – Graphic Designer’s Start-up business”
This young graphic designer had a couple of years of experience working for a web-development firm and had started her own practice a few months ago.
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As a micro start-up, cash flow management was her prime concern. Her goals in attending the workshop were to understand the areas she needed to focus on to run a successful business, how to plan for these areas and most importantly how to execute the plan.
Here are the graphic designer’s comments about the workshop:“ Attending this workshop made me think that running a business has so much more to it than doing what I love doing. I could be the best designer around, but unless I know the finances, the processes, the strategy and the plan, I can’t really run a good business. This workshop is the longest day I’ve ever spent thinking about my business. I could not have done it by myself. Sirisha’s no-nonsense approach and down to earth style helped me stay focussed and on track throughout. I came out of the workshop, initially overwhelmed. There was loads of information and planning homework. There is heaps more to absorb from my notes from the day. But once I began using and applying all that I learnt, I now feel in much better shape to run my business. I would recommend it, especially to the creative types like me, who would benefit immensely by spending more time designing their business.”
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“Small Business Workshop – Tradesman’s plans for a profitable business”
This budding tradesman had been managing his own micro business for a few years and, on being recommended by one of our clients, was keen to learn from us how he could think strategically and plan a profitable future for his business.
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He was also interested in learning from other business owners in the room about their journey, and how the knowledge could help him solve his business issues.
Here is the feedback from the young tradesman:“..I have built my business by learning on the job and that has worked really well for me so far. But now, I am keen to grow my trades and have seen one of my mates grow his, by engaging a business coach. I wanted to get a sense of what having a strategy and planning the future of the business would feel like. So my mate suggested this workshop. I am amazed at how much I got out of it. Within the day, I got to understand my business from the view of others, have a goal that is more specific that me saying ‘I’ll do better next year’ and most importantly got a plan on getting to this goal for next year. If this workshop is on next year, I’ll come back again.”
Here is the feedback from the young tradesman:“..I have built my business by learning on the job and that has worked really well for me so far. But now, I am keen to grow my trades and have seen one of my mates grow his, by engaging a business coach. I wanted to get a sense of what having a strategy and planning the future of the business would feel like. So my mate suggested this workshop. I am amazed at how much I got out of it. Within the day, I got to understand my business from the view of others, have a goal that is more specific that me saying ‘I’ll do better next year’ and most importantly got a plan on getting to this goal for next year. If this workshop is on next year, I’ll come back again.”
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“Stratezy Group’s Small Business Workshop – Dentist’s advice to fellow businesses”
Stratezy has been providing business coaching and advice to this growing dental practice for about an year and a half and has seen the business grow from a part time practice to multiple locations.
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To facilitate cross pollination of ideas with other businesses, we encouraged the client to attend our small business workshop.
Here are the client’s comments about our small business workshop:“Sirisha of Stratezy has been helping me with business coaching and advice for more than an year, so I did not initially think there was much value in going to this workshop. I had attended a planning workshop with another company a couple of years ago and didn’t think much of it.
Stratezy Group’s workshop was definitely not your average planning workshop. I was really surprised at how much more I got out of this workshop. Just quickly I think it is important to recognise that Sirisha is someone who educates, and develops you as a business person. Stratezy’s workshop teaches you how to shift the focus to the “business” not just the day to day tasks of running it but actually taking ownership of your business.
I am an expert at what I do, but there are more important aspects in running a business and if you are someone who has high expectations of themselves and wants to get the most out of their business, whatever it may be, I suggest you give Stratezy a call, to enroll for the next workshop.”
Here are the client’s comments about our small business workshop:“Sirisha of Stratezy has been helping me with business coaching and advice for more than an year, so I did not initially think there was much value in going to this workshop. I had attended a planning workshop with another company a couple of years ago and didn’t think much of it.
Stratezy Group’s workshop was definitely not your average planning workshop. I was really surprised at how much more I got out of this workshop. Just quickly I think it is important to recognise that Sirisha is someone who educates, and develops you as a business person. Stratezy’s workshop teaches you how to shift the focus to the “business” not just the day to day tasks of running it but actually taking ownership of your business.
I am an expert at what I do, but there are more important aspects in running a business and if you are someone who has high expectations of themselves and wants to get the most out of their business, whatever it may be, I suggest you give Stratezy a call, to enroll for the next workshop.”
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“Small Business Workshop – Lawyer’s plan of action”
This client has over a decade of experience in the area of industrial law working for a specialised law firm. She had the aspiration of starting her own practise but was unsure about stepping out of her current employment that provided a secure career.
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Attending this workshop with other business owners helped her challenge herself to move out of her comfort zone and pursue her business idea.
Here is the lawyer’s feedback about the small business workshop:“Starting up my own business has always been a goal of mine, but something I thought was a long way off, however it is now becoming a reality. This workshop has helped me get to a point where I am ready to take the next step in my career, and I am now starting to develop my own business. The profiling was very useful and so was brainstorming business ideas and issues with others as well as Sirisha. Spending a high quality day with other businesses and thinking of ways to generate income other than just employment, encouraged me that I could make it happen. I am keen to request Sirisha’s ongoing coaching and advise to help me set up the business and hold me accountable to my goals, to start my business as soon as practicable.”
Here is the lawyer’s feedback about the small business workshop:“Starting up my own business has always been a goal of mine, but something I thought was a long way off, however it is now becoming a reality. This workshop has helped me get to a point where I am ready to take the next step in my career, and I am now starting to develop my own business. The profiling was very useful and so was brainstorming business ideas and issues with others as well as Sirisha. Spending a high quality day with other businesses and thinking of ways to generate income other than just employment, encouraged me that I could make it happen. I am keen to request Sirisha’s ongoing coaching and advise to help me set up the business and hold me accountable to my goals, to start my business as soon as practicable.”
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CONTACT US
Would you like to know more about how we can help ?
Drop us a line
Drop us a line
Stratezy Group
Business Advice, Consulting & Coaching
Address: 617/370 St Kilda Road, Melbourne, Vic 3004, Australia
Address: 617/370 St Kilda Road, Melbourne, Vic 3004, Australia