Sales & operations consultancy

Business development consultancy services: Sales, finance & operations

Our business development services target the key areas that drive business growth including operations, finance, research and sales. Our service delivery is bespoke to each client’s business challenges, opportunities and objectives.

Alan Ward delivers most services himself, supported by a network of trusted professionals to provide specialist expertise where required.

Please contact us for an informal discussion about your business improvement needs.

SALES

Selling is an essential skill for any small business and getting your sales and marketing strategy right is crucial to your success.

We can help you both plan your approach and ensure you have the right people in place to implement it successfully.

This can give you a competitive edge and help you secure sustainable business growth.

Here are a few of the areas where we could help you develop an effective strategy:

  • Defining your target market(s)
  • Improving the sales function & process
  • Developing your brand identity
  • Identifying new business opportunities
  • Approaching & securing new clients
  • Writing tenders

PROCUREMENT

Buying is a simple activity whereas procurement is detailed process vital for the majority of businesses. In many ways, the ability to procure is as important as the ability to sell but is rarely considered so.

Whilst effective procurement should save you money it is not just about buying products or services more cheaply. It is an-depth process that should:

  • Increase margin
  • Improve cash flow
  • Increase financial and operational efficiency
  • Enhance competitiveness

We can help review and improve your existing procurement strategy, department and processes and then train the individual or team involved accordingly. This should lead to a more effective, sustainable and professional discipline that adds real value and competitiveness to the Business.

BUSINESS OPERATIONS

Business operations cover a wide range of activities, which essentially come down to what you do with what you’ve got.

We can help you improve the efficiency and effectiveness of your operations, creating sustainable value.

We’ll review your business objectively looking for innovative, practical ways to improve what your business delivers or the way it delivers it. We’ll then work closely with you to implement these measures to time and budget.

We may look at:

  • Business structure and management
  • Procurement and sourcing
  • Product development and intellectual property
  • Manufacturing

CLIENT AGENT

You often need a safe and dependable pair of hands to represent your best interest on occasions when you or your team lack experience, time or resource.

This is typically in an operational or business development role but doesn't have to be.  Projects include capital or premises works, the development or change of an aspect of the organisation such as website, a capital bid, new build or re-furbishment.

Specific functions/roles include: 

  • Procurement
  • Tendering & capital bids
  • Project management
  • Professional team creation
  • Customer & supplier contract negotiations

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

Business development in the broader sense is a skill and function that can be overlooked. 

This typically involves taking a step back and looking for useful connections and opportunities.

Such opportunities may not fit within an existing department or remit but can deliver significant value:     

  • Building a cross-industry network
  • Benchmarking & measurement
  • Applying innovation
  • Seeking ways of adding value
  • Connecting with government
  • Value engineering - reducing cost whilst maintaining service 
  • Create or enhance the sales strategy

PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

Product development is complex and is a significant, and often essential project for a business. 

It can be valuable if done well but costly if not and has to be started with commercial value and commercialisation in mind. AWC can help support a product's design and development by giving you access to our knowledge and network helping with:

  • Market research & idea appraisal
  • Product design & development
  • Accessing grants & Government aid
  • Understanding Intellectual Property (IP)
  • Sourcing suppliers
  • Manufacturing the product

FINANCING GROWTH

Generating and managing money is central to any business.

With our extensive commercial experience, we can help you generate new revenue streams and maximise existing ones. We can also help you seek and apply for funding where necessary.

While we’re not accountants, we can help you budget sensibly to ensure you spend every penny wisely.

Here are a few examples of the financial tasks that we could help you with:

  • Writing a business plan
  • Finding and applying for grants
  • Becoming investor-ready
  • Connecting with investor networks
  • Budgeting and forecasting

MARKET RESEARCH

Having an in-depth understanding of your existing and potential target markets, customers and competition is important if you want to grow your business. We can help you with this.

Armed with that information, we can then help you develop a structured approach to market.

We can carry out various types of research from the feasibility of a construction project you’ve got in mind, to the uniqueness and viability of a new product idea.

We can help you with:

  • Market research and reporting
  • Competitor analysis
  • Feasibility studies
  • Business planning and strategy