Advisory

Applying the thinking, selectively

SGMSFast exists to clarify how marketing / communications services firms create — and destroy — value over time.

For many founders, that clarity is enough.

Others want help applying the ideas to their own business, at moments where the consequences of getting it wrong are unusually high. That work is done through Sutherlands, a small, selective advisory practice.

The advisory work is an application of the thinking — not its purpose.

When advisory work makes sense

Advisory work is typically relevant when a founder is facing one of a small number of inflection points:

  • Growth has stalled, or accelerated, in ways the business model is struggling to absorb
  • Profitability and cash do not reflect effort or reputation
  • The firm feels dependent on the founder in ways that are becoming uncomfortable
  • Management complexity is rising faster than control
  • A partial or full exit is being considered, but value feels unclear or fragile

These are not problems of energy or ambition.

How the work is approached

This is not consultancy by volume.

There are:

  • No packaged methodologies
  • No junior teams
  • No playbooks applied indiscriminately

The work typically involves:

  • Helping founders see their business clearly, often for the first time
  • Identifying where value is genuinely being created — and where it is leaking away
  • Stress-testing decisions against lifecycle stage and economic reality
  • Acting as an experienced external judgement at moments that matter
  • Being a “conscience” to help keep you on track.

Engagements are limited in number and scoped around decision-making, not execution armies.

What advisory work is not

It is not:

  • Generic growth consulting
  • Operational outsourcing
  • Cultural coaching
  • Or a substitute for leadership

The aim is not to make founders busier.

It is to help them make fewer, better decisions — earlier.

Who is this for

Advisory work is best suited to founders who:

  • Are willing to question assumptions that have served them well in the past
  • Care about value, not just income
  • Want clarity more than reassurance
  • Understand that timing matters as much as intent

It is not suitable for:

  • Early-stage founders looking for tactics
  • Firms seeking implementation capacity
  • Anyone expecting certainty rather than judgement

A note on selectivity

The work is deliberately selective.

That is not a marketing posture; it is a practical necessity. This kind of advisory work only adds value when there is trust, openness, and a genuine willingness to engage with uncomfortable realities.

If you are unsure whether we could work together, I’m happy to have an informal chat and sit in on a Board meeting, so we can see whether I could add value.

Next steps

If the ideas in SGMS Fast resonate and you believe they are relevant to your situation, an initial conversation may be useful.

If not, the book and the wider body of writing stand on their own.

Either way, the aim is the same: to help founders understand what kind of business they are really building — while they still have choices.

Other Work

I also advise large organisations – FTSE-100 financial services firms; global shipping firms; etc – on how to write Board reports that are much shorter, to-the-point, and comprehensible than their current documents (and faster to write, too).