The Business Builder from BlackBook

Welcome to the Business Builder service from BlackBook Consulting. This is a unique blend of management consultancy work formulated by BlackBook founder, Ben Timberley.

Designed to help build new businesses, or revitalise existing businesses, the Business Builder is the first complete product based on the “D.S.S.S.” practice framework that powers BlackBook.

What is the “D.S.S.S.” Management Consultancy framework?

BlackBook has invested a huge amount of time and expertise in creating and refining a methodology to provide both flexibility and rigour in our approach to client work. In short, the D.S.S.S. framework ensures that ALL of our client interactions can be benchmarked for both return on investment, and the implementation of best practice. So unlike other consultancies, BlackBook can actually provide a clear logic and transparency to the work we do with you.

What is the Business Builder?

The Business Builder is a consultancy service designed to help organisations at all stages of their lifecycle to create or recreate their business in a new, superior form. How? Through solid planning, challenging assumptions, and the application of best practice and expertise in specific industry segments.

No, it’s NOT comparable to Business Coaching. Coaching is one tool amongst many that we use in this process, but there is so much more at play here. This is classic ‘Management Consultancy’, with a big dose of ‘Business Architecture’ thrown in. Think of it as hiring an experienced Commercial Director for your business, without the cost and hassle of actually hiring one. Best of all? That commercial expert arrives with a ready-made approach for you to benefit from.

How does the Business Builder work?

The Business Builder has three distinct elements within it. The Kickstarter Sessions, The Journey and The Business Support Sessions – hover over the flip panels below for more information…

The Kickstarter Sessions

The Kickstarter Sessions are designed to clearly diagnose the unique challenges facing your organisation, and provide a specification of realistically achievable work to overcome them.

The Journey Choice

Depending on the outcome of the Kickstarter Sessions and the nature of your organisation, together we will select an appropriate ‘Journey’ for your business to follow through your time with the Business Builder.

The Business Support Sessions

After your ‘Journey’ has been selected, you’ll need support to progress you through it. This support takes the form of structured ‘Management Meeting’ sessions, and ‘Functional Meeting’ sessions.

The Kickstarter Sessions

4 HOUR SESSIONS

IN-PERSON OR ONLINE

STRUCTURED AGENDA

REMOTE SUPPORT

SESSION FEEDBACK

3 MONTH PERIOD

The Kickstarter Sessions have a differing composition, depending on the life-cycle stage of your organisation. The further on you are, the more tactical the considerations get. These sessions are designed this way to take into account the lessening need for guidance on ‘business fundamentals’ in more mature businesses.

Pre-Start-Up

For businesses that are being pre-planned.

  • Session One: Product Mix

  • Session Two: Avatar Creation

  • Session Three: Business Environment

  • Session Four: Sales Plan

  • Session Five: Marketing Plan

  • Session Six: Commercial Framework

Start-Up

For businesses that have traded for under a year.

  • Session One: Product Mix

  • Session Two: Avatar Creation

  • Session Three: Business Environment

  • Session Four: Business Systems
  • Session Five: Content Planning
  • Session Six: Lead Gen & Prospecting

Scale-Up

For businesses growing after a year of trading.

  • Session One: Strategic Plan
  • Session Two: Commercial Framework
  • Session Three: Resource Planning
  • Session Four: Lead Gen & Prospecting
  • Session Five: Business Systems
  • Session Six: Content Planning

Mature

For established businesses after 3 years of trading.

  • Session One: Profitability

  • Session Two: Product Mix
  • Session Three: Resource Planning

  • Session Four: Sales Plan

  • Session Five: Marketing Plan

  • Session Six: Three Year Plan

Diversify Mature

For established businesses changing direction.

  • Session One: Justification
  • Session Two: Product Mix
  • Session Three: Commercial Framework
  • Session Four: Resource Planning
  • Session Five: Business Systems
  • Session Six: One Year Plan

Exit

For business owners seeking to exit or sell the business.

  • Session One: Profitability
  • Session Two: Justification
  • Session Three: Exit Planning
  • Session Four: Change Plan
  • Session Five: Resource Planning

  • Session Six: Business Systems

The Journeys

The Business Builder Journeys are the result of a huge investment in time and expertise by BlackBook, in understanding the optimal path any business in specific business sectors can take to achieve success. They are not a prescriptive ‘to do list’ for a business, but rather a timeline and guide to follow that provide a realistic chance of successfully growing a business in a given period of time. Without the Business Builder framework, these journeys would have limited use – but together, they form a powerful consultancy tool.

Setting up in business as a consultant can be difficult. Sustaining your consultancy business, and lasting more than two years is a serious challenge. The YouTube ‘seven figure earner’ desperation-guru’s will tell you there is a secret formula for making your consultancy work. We’re happy to tell you there is NOT.

BUT… with the Business Builder you can build a business that, combined with your expertise and persistence, actually stands a good chance of getting past the two year marker, and then thriving.

(Recommended for PRE-START-UP, START-UP, SCALE-UP, DIVERSIFY MATURE.)

Retail businesses are under pressure like never before. Whether it is the ever-present threat of online retailers, consistently falling high street footfall statistics, or the sheer effort of creating and sustaining a competitive retail presence… it’s hard ‘setting up shop’. With the Business Builder, you can have the insight and support you need to get it right from the start, or get the help you need to turn around a struggling store-front.

(Recommended for ALL business life-cycle stages.)

Manufacturing is full of myth and legend when it comes to what makes a business successful or not. Frankly we’ve heard most of the stories, and generally they miss out the part where family, friends and bankers come to the rescue on multiple occaisions. If you’re not related to a rich person, then you absolutely need to get manufacturing right. Of all of the business journeys we have examined, manufacturing produces the most bankruptcies.

With the Business Builder, we’ll help you make sure the numbers add up, and that you know your market intimately before you spend any cash. When you DO spend cash, we will make sure it’s a wise expenditure for you to create a sustainable production business.

(Recommended for ALL business life-cycle stages.)

If you’re looking to offer a professional-standard service and differentiate yourself from people who advertise in dodgy facebook groups or on Yell… you’re going to need to approach what you do differently. Solicitors, Estate Agents, Videographers, Photographers, Tattoo Artists, the list goes on.

“What you do, is not the service that you offer.”

With the Business Builder you can create something new, something different, and something competitive – a service that drives your business forward, instead of holding it back.

(Recommended for PRE-START-UP, START-UP, SCALE-UP, DIVERSIFY MATURE.)

E-Commerce can be an extremely expensive and all-consuming business model to implement. But it doesn’t have to be. With the Business Builder we can help you deploy several sub-types of e-commerce model, specifically tailored to the way that you want to do business.

Whether you’re ‘online-only’ or ‘bricks & clicks’, the Business Builder has multiple options for you to explore in the journey of selling successfully online.

(Recommended for ALL business life-cycle stages.)

The business of delivering, selling and marketing a trade isn’t easy – and they certainly didn’t teach you that bit when you were learning your craft. So how can you take your business to the next level, or get it right from the start?

We’ve got you covered. The Business Builder can help your tradecraft business become sustainable, profitable and able to grow, despite market fluctuations and significant business challenges in the trades world.

(Recommended for PRE-START-UP, START-UP, SCALE-UP, DIVERSIFY MATURE.)

The Business Support Sessions

4 HOUR SESSIONS

IN-PERSON OR ONLINE

STRUCTURED AGENDA

REMOTE SUPPORT

SESSION FEEDBACK

2 SESSIONS PER MONTH

The Business Builder Support Sessions are designed to be the ‘ongoing’ part of the Business Builder, where you are supported, enabled and encouraged to continue along the Journey path laid out in front of you and your business. These sessions are entirely flexible, and the below format is introduced as a working guide only – if more input and support is required, it can be provided, but it will have an impact on the cost of the service per month.

Business Support Session One:
MANAGEMENT

(1 x 4hr Session every month)

The monthly Management session focuses on the top down view of your business. We help you make the big decisions, deal with any crisis, maintain perspective, and focus on growing your business, rather than just working in it. This will act as your monthly ‘Management Meeting’.

Business Support Session Two:
FUNCTIONAL

(1 x 4hr Session every month)

The monthly Functional session allows us to drill down into specific areas of your business like Sales, Marketing, Production, IT, HR, Finance & more. Rather than maintaining the ‘big picture’ perspective, we give relevant topics the depth of scrutiny they deserve, to make them work better.

TESTIMONIAL

We used the Business Builder service to set our new videography business out on the right track, from the start. We entered on the Pre-Start-Up Kickstarter sessions, and selected the Professional Services Journey. It completely changed our view of the business, and stopped us focusing on the wrong things. We absolutely recommend the Business Builder to anyone seeking great business advice and support.

Phil & Glenn, Chromosphere Media

GET YOUR BUSINESS BUILT:

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