Background:

• A family-owned professional services firm had enjoyed over a decade of rapid growth, transforming from a one-person shop into one of the largest players in their niche markets.
• But growth began to slow and for two years in a row they had experienced almost no growth at all.
• Frustration rose, morale began to fall and leadership wondered if they had hit a ceiling.
• What would it take to start growing again? Would they need to find new markets, add new service lines, reduce margins?

Our approach:

• We walked them through the Outthinker process to design a disruptive growth strategy.
• We carefully analyzed not just the obvious issues but the overlooked ones, to gain a firm understanding of what was really holding back growth.
• We explored the future with them, speaking to experts across a range of disciplines who could help us understand the key technologies and trends that would shape the future in which the company would compete.
• Through a series of strategic conversations, spread over about three months, we guided the leadership team to a strategy based on a robust, fact-based, exhaustive exploration of what might be possible.

Results:

• Clarity: The team aligned on a clear, three-prong set of strategic priorities.
• Disruption: The new strategy soon proved to be disruptive; it attracted new clients but not new competitors.
• Growth: The company started growing again, notching 30% growth each year since.