Case study
How can we get our company back on track without straining our friendship as the founding team?
The initial situation
Three agency owners, who were friends before founding the company together, were looking for a way out of structural and personal tensions. Sales had been falling short of expectations for some time. Changes initiated by the owners themselves to improve the situation fizzled out. In addition, there were problems in their collaboration and uncertainty about how to address business conflicts without straining their personal relationship.
The company
- Owner-managed design studio and advertising agency
My assignment
Supporting the founding team in clarifying the strategic direction, improving cooperation, developing concrete measures for customer focus, process optimisation and sales growth.
My approach
Vision work: Developing a concrete target vision and defining desired customers.
Change of perspective: What is relevant from the perspective of the desired customer base? Is this reflected in the external image and positioning?
Analysis of internal strengths and weaknesses as well as external opportunities and risks.
Joint reflection on personal expectations and areas of tension.
Work on team culture and communication behaviour.
Development and prioritisation of concrete activities to achieve goals.
The result
- Clear focus on jointly agreed goals and target markets.
- Transparency about the expectations of other team members, more open communication within the team.
- New standardised routines for acquisition planning, project management (e.g. joint Kanban board), customer approach and quotation calculation and structure, as well as for profitability checks after project completion.