I'm Sarah. I work alongside founders of small and family-run businesses, helping you work out what to do next, and turning it into a clear plan you actually believe in.
I've spent over 25 years in sales, marketing and business development. The last 11 working closely with founders.
I'm quick to spot what’s going on in a business, and where the growth might be hiding. Usually it’s something already there.
Why these businesses
I love a founder-led business that's grown into something - with a team, a payroll, a really exciting proposition and reputation. But I get that with all of that, comes the pressure to keep it going, and keep it growing.
I've run my own, so I know what that looks like from the inside. I love that decisions get made by people who care about the success of that decision. I love that there's usually a story behind why the business exists at all - someone's dad, someone's university vision, someone's stubborn idea that turned out to be right. And I love a family business, where the history is long and the pressure of what came before is very real for the generation that take over.
What I enjoy most is getting properly under the skin of businesses like this. Asking a lot of questions. Working out how the whole thing actually fits together, not just the bit I've been asked about.
Eleven years of working this way with founders hasn't worn any of that off. Being around that much energy and ambition is what keeps me doing what I love.
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Experience in numbers
600% revenue growth over five years for a founder-led brand — by sharpening the positioning, focusing on the right customers, and bringing real clarity to every commercial decision.
Now worth around 30% of annual turnover for a wholesaler of 20+ years - by selling directly to customers alongside the trade business, with its own brands and ecommerce site.
A side activity turned into the most reliable income in the business for a training company - by pulling it out as a revenue stream in its own right, with its own growth plan behind it.
How I work
I'm not an agency, and I don't turn up to sell you something.
I like to work as a partner.
Part of that is finding the growth - the opportunity, the idea, the thing worth going after.
The other part is being the person you can think out loud with. The sounding board. The one who'll tell you honestly whether an idea's any good, and help you decide what to do about it.
Running a business shouldn't feel as heavy as it often does. A lot of what I do is simply making it feel easier, and quite a bit more enjoyable.
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I’ve been on both sides of business
WHY I WORK THIS WAY
I've run my own businesses. I know what it feels like to make decisions without enough information, to back your instinct and hope it pays off. And I've spent years sitting alongside founders doing exactly the same.
What I kept seeing were great, established businesses. Products I could see the value in, and so could the customers who loved them. Years of trading behind them. And still so much more potential, opportunities nobody had had the time to look for.
That's the gap I fill. I bring the commercial experience to ask the right questions, spot what's really going on, and turn it into something you can act on.
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The thinking behind the work
INSTITUTE OF DIRECTORS
Certificate of Directors
Leadership, finance, strategy and governance - built to advise confidently at board level.
MARKETING WEEK/ MARK RITSON
Mini MBA in Marketing
Marketing strategy done properly - segmentation, targeting and positioning, grounded in evidence rather than trends.
Google Squared
Digital leadership programme focused on strategy and innovation, not chasing tactics.
