Solving the challenges of growth.
Scaling businesses face multiple challenges at the same time. Every day brings critical decisions and inevitable setbacks, often tackling tricky situations that founders haven’t experienced before.
I’m a specialist consultant for businesses that are experiencing early-stage success and want to scale.
My focus is working with founders, leaders and investors in scaling businesses that have 10 to 200 people and are experiencing rapid revenue or headcount growth.
I help develop growth strategies, diagnose issues holding back growth and fix them fast. I focus on creating sustainably high performing organisations by solving these challenges collaboratively.
My practice is strongly grounded in progressive organisational thinking and a desire to create the right conditions for people to consistently do their best work.
Enabling faster scaling
Scale-up businesses often struggle to hire fast enough, develop culture and scale operations alongside customer growth. I help solve complex problems like these in scale-up businesses through growth-accelerating projects including:
Vision, values and behaviours for scaling
Growth roadmaps and strategies
Developing and nurturing culture
Value proposition development
Operating models & organisational design for growth
Identifying and resolving growth blockers
Transformation and change
Scale-up businesses have to successfully transform and change at pace. Typically changes are happening in different parts of the organisation at the same time, increasing complexity and distracting focus away from growing the business.
I help leaders in scale-up businesses deliver lasting change through:
Reviewing and designing operating models
Operational audits and improvements
Sell-side M&A preparation and execution
Buy-side M&A due diligence and transition
Scale-up leadership
I work with individual leaders and leadership teams in scaling businesses.
With a focus on progressive models of leadership, I help them to tackle common challenges of leading scale-up businesses such as:
Founder and leadership succession
Improving leadership team performance
Increasing leadership accountability
Boards and governance
Speaking and writing
Since 2006 I’ve spoken at more than 45 conferences, events and training courses worldwide. I’ve also written chapters for professional education textbooks and contributed a regular column for a leading trade journal.
This work spans topics including:
Leading scale-up businesses
The future of work
Progressive organisational design
Transformation and change
“I’ve worked with Simon on a number of strategic business problems. He has an outstanding skill set and extensive experience in technology, business operations and management. He is easy to work with and can effectively draw on his skills and experience to help solve problems with calm authority and creativity. I highly recommend Simon to anyone looking for efficient, energetic and effective support for their business.”
Neil Benson, serial biotech founder at Xenologiq, Quantlmed & Sevenless Therapeutics
“Simon has a unique ability to bring the best out of the people around him. He is extremely knowledgeable, and exudes a calm and measured confidence in any situation. I have always been impressed by Simon’s ability to hold a room and bring people together, with a perfect balance of knowledge and curiosity.“
Sarah Harris, MD at The Wellbeing Project