CMO-LEVEL STRATEGIC COUNSEL FOR FOUNDER-LED CONSUMER BUSINESSES
Make fewer, better
growth decisions.
Before the get expensive.
I help founders of £1.5m–£10m consumer, ecommerce and wholesale businesses decide what to prioritise, what to stop and where to invest—without hiring another full-time executive or adding more marketing activity.
Best suited to businesses with an existing team, freelancer or agency capable of execution.
THE PROBLEM
Founder Drift
Founder Drift begins when a business starts pursuing opportunities faster than it can make good choices.
New products, customers and channels create activity, but not necessarily progress. Focus becomes diluted, margins become harder to protect and the team loses a clear basis for deciding what deserves investment.
It usually appears in six ways:
Product Sprawl
Adding products without a clear strategic role, increasing complexity faster than profitable demand.
Customer Creep
Trying to serve too many different customers until the proposition becomes less relevant to all of them.
Channel Confusion
Expanding into channels because they are available, rather than because the economics and customer behaviour support them.
Revenue Chasing
Accepting short-term revenue that consumes capacity, weakens margin or pulls the business away from its strongest opportunity.
Premature Scaling
Investing in people, systems or media before the underlying proposition and acquisition model are proven.
Identity Erosion
Gradually losing the distinctive point of view that originally made the business worth choosing.
The result is rarely one catastrophic decision. It is a series of reasonable-looking choices that gradually make the business harder to grow.
You forgot why you started.
THE DECISION METHOD
The Reason Check
Before committing money, people or attention to a growth opportunity, we test it against three questions.
01. Does this serve our reason for being?
02. What are we saying no to by saying yes?
03. Would our best customers recognise us after this?
If an opportunity cannot survive all three questions, it does not receive investment yet.
Focused Engagement
The Reason Check
A focused engagement for one consequential product, customer, channel, positioning or investment decision. We examine the strategic fit, commercial evidence, opportunity cost and execution implications.
You receive a clear Go, No Go, Pivot or Not Yet recommendation, the reasoning behind it and a practical course of action.
HOW IT WORKS
Every step earns the next
I do not recommend a large engagement before we know the problem is real and the working relationship is valuable.
We begin with the decision creating the most commercial risk or uncertainty. If the business needs ongoing senior judgment after that, we establish the appropriate counsel arrangement.
You will never be asked to commit to a larger engagement before the value of the work is clear.
START HERE
Founder Drift Check
A free five-minute self-assessment designed to identify where product, customer, channel or investment choices may be weakening focus.
You will receive a drift score, the patterns most likely to be affecting the business and a recommended next step. No sales call is required.
Resolve One Decision
The Reason Check
A focused engagement for one consequential growth decision. We examine the commercial evidence, strategic fit, opportunity cost and execution implications.
You receive:
- a Go, No Go, Pivot or Not Yet recommendation;
- the reasoning behind it;
- the major assumptions and risks;
- a written course of action;
- a founder readout and next-step discussion.
You may complete the Reason Check without entering an ongoing engagement.
Discuss a Reason Check
GOVERN Future Decisions
Strategic Counsel
Ongoing CMO-level counsel for founders who need a consistent senior decision partner. I work alongside the founder and existing team to:
- improve priorities;
- challenge assumptions;
- review major product, customer, channel and investment decisions;
- create a clear rhythm for planning and accountability:
- prevent strategic drift from returning.
This is designed for businesses that already have employees, freelancers or agencies capable of execution.
Discuss Strategic Counsel
Align The
Leadership Team
CMO Counsel
For more complex businesses where marketing decisions require alignment across the founder, leadership team, internal staff and external partners. The engagement may include:
- a more frequent executive decision rhythm;
- leadership-team participation;
- strategic direction for agencies and senior marketing staff;
- quarterly planning and prioritisation;
- broader counsel across pricing, packaging, launches and channel strategy.
Discuss CMO Counsel
Focused Engagement
This is strategic counsel, not outsourced execution.
Results
The work speaks for itself
£1.67M+
D2C revenue built from zero for a single client since 2023. In-house operating role.
£15M+
Total sales influenced across operating roles in brand, ecommerce, wholesale and B2B.
4x
Revenue growth for a DTC start-up over 24 months — from £300k to £1.2M.
89%
Lower cost-per-lead than industry benchmark across paid acquisition.
BRAND & D2C
Turning a traditional workwear brand into a multi-channel business with national reach.
CHALLENGE
Xpert Workwear had a product that was doing well - but no brand, no digital presence and own-brand revenue under 40%.
DECISION
Built the identity system, digital presence and D2C proposition from zero.
RESULT
£1.67M+ D2C revenue built from zero since 2023.
ROLE
Head of Brand & Marketing -
employed operator.
B2B MODERNISATION
Turning a 50-year-old phone-and-paper wholesaler into a modern B2B operation.
CHALLENGE
Cottonmount Trading had supplied workwear for decades - phone orders, paper catalogues - in a market changing fast.
DECISION
Rebuilt the entire B2B infrastructure, from trade proposition to ordering platform.
RESULT
900+ retail partners rebranded and
onboarded to a modern platform.
ROLE
Head of Brand & Marketing -employed operator.
DTC GROWTH
Building a DTC streetwear brand from £300k to over £1M as the first full-time hire.
CHALLENGE
Outsideln had a mission people cared about and a product that resonated. Mission alone doesn't scale without systems.
DECISION
Built the acquisition model, email programme and operating systems behind the brand.
RESULT
4x revenue growth in 24 months.
£1.2M annual revenue. 131x email ROI.
ROLE
First full-time marketing hire.
WHO I AM
An operator's judgment.
Applied to your decisions.
I have spent nearly a decade making marketing and commercial decisions inside founder-led and growth-stage businesses - across brand, ecommerce, DTC, wholesale and B2B.
That operating experience shapes how work: direct, commercially grounded and focused on the few decisions that materially affect focus, margin and growth.
I do not replace your team or agency. help the founder and leadership team decide what those resources should - and should not - be doing.
You work directly with me throughout. There is no junior hand-off and no implementation agenda influencing the advice.
FOCUS
A small number of consequential priorities, clearly ordered and properly resourced.
INDEPENDENCE
Advice shaped by what the business needs, not by a need to sell media, production or implementation.
EVIDENCE
Assumptions tested against commercial data, customer behaviour and execution capacity.
ACCOUNTABILITY
Decisions documented with clear actions, owners, risks and review dates.
DIRECT ACCESS
You work directly with me throughout the engagement.
Facing a decision you cannot afford to get wrong?
Book a 20-minute fit call. We will establish whether the issue requires a Reason Check, ongoing counsel or no engagement at all.