Kurt Graver
With 25 years of experience across commerce, industry, and consultancy, Kurt founded SGI Consultants on a simple, powerful principle: startups deserve Fortune 500-quality strategy.
His journey from developing business intelligence for giants like VMware Inc. and Dell EMC to becoming a startup specialist was a deliberate pivot. After helping a startup secure its first £50,000 investment, he discovered the profound impact of applying corporate-grade strategy in entrepreneurial environments. This epiphany led to a consultancy model built not on downsizing corporate methods, but on redesigning them for the unique challenges and opportunities faced by growing businesses.
Professional Background
Kurt's corporate career spans strategic roles at major organisations, including VMware Inc., Dell EMC, Transport for London, Network Rail, HMV, Corus, and Volker. At VMware, he developed role-based self-serve reporting solutions for 400+ sales staff using Oracle OBIEE, significantly improving sales performance visibility. His roles at Network Rail and Transport for London involved implementing SAP SEM systems and developing performance review frameworks that aligned operational metrics with strategic objectives.
This foundation ensures every recommendation is grounded in proven enterprise methodologies while remaining practical for businesses at every growth stage.
Key Achievements at SGI
Kurt has guided 2,000+ businesses through start-up and growth phases, facilitated £250M+ in secured funding across multiple capital sources, and achieved a 90% funding success rate, well above the 13% industry average. Under his leadership, SGI has established 400+ franchise operations across 50+ leading brands.
Core Expertise
Strategic business planning and analysis, financial management and investment preparation, business intelligence and reporting solutions, enterprise resource planning implementation, and organisational change management form the backbone of Kurt's advisory approach.
Consulting Approach & Methodology
Kurt's consulting practice is grounded in two proprietary frameworks developed and refined through over a decade of client work across sectors and business stages.
The Business Success Formula
SGI's core diagnostic and strategic framework — expressed as PM + (PS × (EO – (C+E+P+T))) — provides a structured lens for assessing the factors that determine business performance. The formula distinguishes between the profit metrics a business is currently achieving and the profit potential it could be realising, identifying the constraints — cost, efficiency, process, and technology — that widen the gap between the two. Every client engagement begins with an assessment anchored to this framework.
The SOAR Marketing System
Kurt's SOAR Marketing System provides a structured approach to customer acquisition and commercial growth, covering the full spectrum from brand positioning through channel selection to conversion optimisation. It is applied to both startup clients defining their initial go-to-market strategy and established businesses seeking to accelerate revenue growth.
A Seven-Phase Consulting Approach
Across all engagements, SGI operates a seven-phase consulting process: initial assessment, diagnostic analysis, strategic framework development, planning, implementation support, performance monitoring, and ongoing mentoring. This structured approach ensures that recommendations are grounded in evidence, sequenced for practical delivery, and measured against defined outcomes.
"The most consistent finding across 2,000+ client engagements is that the gap between where a business is and where it could be is rarely about the product. It is almost always about the system — the planning, the financial discipline, the positioning, and the execution framework. Our job is to close that gap." — Kurt Graver, Founder & CEO, SGI Consultants
Schedule Your Free Business Assessment
We offer obligation-free consultations to assess your business potential and discuss how SGI Consultants can support your growth objectives.
This initial assessment provides valuable insights into your current position and identifies specific opportunities for improvement and expansion.
Contact us today to begin your transformation journey with the UK's trusted business growth specialists.