In 12+ years of consulting with UK founders, the conversation I have most often with lifestyle business clients is not about strategy or systems. It is about regret. Specifically, the regret of building exactly what they set out to avoid. …
The Family Business Blueprint: Multi-Generational Success Strategies
One of the most difficult conversations I have in my consulting work is with a founder whose adult child has been working in the family business for several years and is not performing well. The founder knows it. The non-family …
The E-commerce Blueprint: Your Complete Guide to Building and Scaling a Profitable Online Business in the UK
In 12+ years of working with UK founders, I have watched more promising online businesses collapse within their first year than in any other category I consult on. Not because the products were poor. Not because the founders were unambitious. …
Why We Sometimes Turn Down Money: The Ethics Behind SGI’s Consulting Approach
I need to share an update from last week. I told a client not to pay us. More specifically, I told him to prioritise securing his UK citizenship over our Phase 3 consulting fees, even though he was ready to …
High-Potential Business Blueprint: How to Build a Venture-Backable Company That Attracts Serious Investment
I have sat across the table from some extraordinarily talented founders over 25 years of consulting. People with genuine technical breakthroughs, real market insight, and the kind of determination that makes investors lean forward. A significant number of them failed …
What 12 Years and 2,000 Clients Actually Teaches You About Building a Successful Business
People often ask me what separates the businesses that make it from those that don’t. After 12 years of consulting and more than 2,000 client engagements, I’ve stopped giving the tidy textbook answer. The honest answer is this: it almost …
The Social Impact Blueprint: How Charities, Social Enterprises and NGOs Build Sustainable Organisations That Actually Change Thing
Over two decades of working with UK organisations across every sector, I find the conversations I find most difficult are not with struggling commercial founders. They are with mission-driven leaders — people running charities, social enterprises, and community interest companies …
The Scale-Up Success Blueprint: How UK Businesses Grow from Initial Success to Sustainable Market Leadership
The most dangerous moment in a business’s life is not the beginning. It is the point when the model has been validated, revenue is growing, and the founder believes the hardest work is behind them. I have spent 12+ years …
How to Turn Around a Struggling Business: A Systematic Recovery Blueprint for UK SMEs
The clients who call me about business recovery almost never describe it as a crisis when they first get in touch. They use words like “flat patch,” “bit of a difficult spell,” or “just need some fresh eyes.” By the …
The Startup Business Blueprint: Learn How to Start Your Own Business
Starting your own business is one of the most rewarding decisions you will ever make. It is also one of the most consequential. The statistics are sobering: 90% of startups fail within their first two years, and in my 12 …