With over 25 years in food and drink and a focus on health, I have led and delivered growth in well-established businesses as well as start-ups. Here are areas I can support you with.
Strategy
Identifying opportunities - consider 'blue ocean' strategy developed by Prof M Chan Kim and Prof Renee Mauborgne at INSEAD.
Analysing markets - it's best to be grounded in data and facts.
Setting objectives - these need to be stretch but achievable.
Defining the strategy - high level path that sets out how the objectives will be achieved over a 3-5 year period, with a detailed plan for year 1.
Business Planning
The Business Plan - I've written many business plans. They ought to be comprehensive, but always clear and succinct and cover 3-5 years. The ambition needs to be realistic, and never over promise.
The growth needs to be controlled considering both revenues, margins, marketing and overheads - to result in improved returns over time.
The Financial Model - all too often the financial model takes on a life of its own and becomes too complicated to be understood or manageable. I tend to keep them simple with enough granularity to demonstrate how the numbers are built up and why.
Pricing
Market pricing - how to price one's product is critical; best done considering the positioning of the product, what the market will bear, and what sales channels will accept.
Gross margin analysis - Understanding what's healthy and what's not, with a plan to generate improvements.
Benchmarking - providing a sense of where the business ought to be when compared to its competitive set.
Negotiating - supporting the business to come into negotiations at the right point, without giving too much away.
Marketing
Market & consumer insight - defining clear hypotheses, building and evaluating findings.
Communication - scoping the challenge, briefing and buy-in, developing creative work, executing across media.
PR - assessing the need, briefing, appointing (internal / external), reviewing.
Social media - defining the requirement, objectives, measures, activity execution.
Website development - defining the need, structure, content, design, briefing, maintaining.
Sales promotion - timing, mechanics, investment level.
Sales presentations - understanding the customer, developing the 'story', taking the category approach, creating the 'edge', presenting the commercials.
Innovation / Product Development
Process - defining a product development process that works for the business - large or small.
Identification and assessment - structured thinking and analysis helps prevent time wasting and poor use of funds.
Corporate and Product Branding
Briefing - defining what the brief needs to be and working closely with the design agency to get the desired outcome. Always seeing to create something 'iconic'.
Directing - deciding what's right or not quite right is a matter of judgement, which can only come with experience. There's no science to it though research can help guide the decision.
People Development / Team Building
Team structure / organisational structures - define a structure fit for purpose.
Job descriptions - giving staff clarity on what they're expected to do helps in the setting of objectives and bonus systems but also in overall productivity by ensuring less duplication and that things don't fall between the cracks.
Capability definition - defining what skills are required for a particular role is critical to the recruitment and development process.
Objectives and rewards - setting company and then personal objectives helps to align the business and reward contribution.
Recruitment - I've recruited senior people in all functions with success, such that they continue to manage and lead businesses.
Retention - identify your 'stars' and nurture and incentivise them appropriately.
Letting go - never easy but can be essential. Best not delayed for the benefit of both parties.
Reviews / feedback - effective reviews and 360° feedback helps build trust and personal development.
Business Process Improvement
Process mapping - clarifying the key steps in business critical processes, and who in involved in what capacity, helps wit the smooth running of the business and improves productivity.
I've done this in large corporates with 200 people in a single department and then in small enterprises with just 10 people across the whole firm.
Crisis management - having a well documented crisis management manual is something you'll probably never need but it gives reassurance and invaluable should the need arise.