Strategic Advisory

You know the business needs to change. You're too deep in it to see how.

Revenue's grown but profit hasn't followed. Or you've plateaued and can't work out what's holding it. Or there's a decision in front of you — a new site, a big contract, an acquisition offer, a partner exiting — and you're making it on your own with no one to think it through with.

Most business owners in this position don't need a strategy document. They need someone to ask better questions, put numbers against the options, and help them choose. Then they need the plan to be short enough to actually follow.

Who this is for

Owners at a decision point, or on a plateau they can't quite explain. Most useful where there's genuine operational complexity — multiple product lines, multiple sites, export exposure, or a business that's grown faster than its structure.

You're likely a good fit if:

  • You've grown revenue and profit went backwards

  • You have a decision in front of you and no one independent to test it with

  • You've got three competing priorities and can't sequence them

  • The business runs entirely through you and you know that's a problem

  • You've written a plan before and nothing came of it

What actually happens

Weeks 1–2 — Understanding

Interviews with you and your key people. Financial analysis: where the money actually comes from and where it goes. A look at the market and your position in it.

Weeks 3–4 — Options and numbers

Two or three realistic paths forward, each with the financial consequences modelled including what it costs, what it needs, what it returns, what could go wrong. Not a recommendation delivered from on high; a set of options we work through together.

Weeks 5–6 — Deciding and sequencing

A working session where you decide. Then we build the plan: what happens in the next 90 days, who owns each piece, what it costs, and how we'll know it's working.

Ongoing (optional)

Quarterly sessions to keep the plan honest. Most plans fail from neglect, not from being wrong.

What you get

  • A written strategic plan — typically 8 to 12 pages, not 60

  • A financial model for each option considered, with sensitivities

  • A one-page strategy summary your team can actually hold in their heads

  • A 90-day action plan with named owners and dates

  • A short set of measures to track whether it's working

  • Optional quarterly review sessions

How it's priced

Strategic advisory is scoped as a fixed-fee project, typically over six to eight weeks, with the fee agreed before we start. Smaller pieces of work around a single decision are scoped the same way and cost considerably less.

Some clients then move to a quarterly advisory rhythm to keep the plan honest — that's an ongoing arrangement, priced per session or as a retainer.

Happy to give you an indicative number early in the first conversation, once I understand what you're dealing with.

Why me

I'm Rachel Southee, a chartered accountant and a process engineer. It's not a common pairing, and it's the reason I do this work.

I've written strategy from the inside, and then had to deliver it — which is a different discipline from writing it for someone else.

At Oji Fibre Solutions I led and co-developed the Finance Function Strategy transforming the New Zealand and Australian finance teams, delivered through four workstreams covering people, process, partnering and protection. That meant standardised processes, updated policies, and the company's first Finance Managers Forum. Strategy that resulted in things actually changing.

At Global Dairy Trade in Berlin I partnered with the Managing Director in establishing the European subsidiary — building a new team in auction operations and customer service, insourcing operations that had been run by an overseas vendor, and leading the transition of business and customer service operations from New Zealand to Europe. That's strategy executed under real pressure, with real people and real deadlines.

Earlier, at Opus International Consultants (now known as WSP), I evaluated the firm's strategic position in the water sector against its competitors and the direction the market was heading. And at 21 I established a new regional branch of an education business in the Waikato from scratch, which taught me more about the gap between a plan and a functioning operation than anything since.

I'll ask questions your team won't ask you, and I'll disagree with you when I think you're wrong. That's most of the value.

Let’s Talk

Twenty minutes, no pitch, just a chat. Tell me what's bothering you and I'll tell you honestly whether I can help.