Our strategy consulting services are designed to fit the needs of established small businesses and non-profits. We work with organizations at almost every stage of the business life-cycle. Most of our clients have annual revenue between $1 million and $5 million, but this is not an absolute requirement. We help our clients define a clear vision, develop a roadmap, and then work closely with them to help achieve their goals. Although we are based in Chicago, we can work with clients anywhere.
Our Approach
To be successful at strategic planning you have to follow a process, and skipping steps almost always leads to sub-par results. You need to allow ample time for research, brainstorming, analysis and documentation. Our comprehensive strategic planning process typically takes about three months.
Many business strategy consultants engage in a series of one or two day workshops with senior management teams. They put on a great show, and everybody feels happy and energized when it’s all done. But after the excitement wears off, nothing really changes. All the great ideas go nowhere because there really wasn’t any real buy-in and there is no follow-through.
Other strategy consulting firms bring in a team of subject matter experts, who conduct endless interviews, spend months contemplating their navels, and then write up a beautiful 200 page strategic plan document which promptly ends up on a shelf gathering dust. Once again, nothing really changes. Several years later, the company hires another firm and repeats the cycle.
Our approach is a bit different. Workshops are useful, but unless they are backed up with solid research and in-depth interviews, they don’t go far enough. Interviews, research and analysis are absolutely necessary, but if the end result is a massive tome with endless recommendations, unclear priorities and no follow-through, nothing changes. After years of experimentation, we finally hit on a better way: a heavy emphasis on research, one on one interviews and analysis, workshops (only as needed), clear, concise documentation with a limited number of high priority recommendations, all combined with ongoing support and monitoring.