Stoke was engaged to mentor a founder of a newly formed industrial product supplier startup. This included mentoring of the entrepreneur from a leadership perspective, facilitating decisions on where and how the company would compete and supporting discussions with funding providers. The objective was to achieve sustained growth as a new player in the industry.
Faced with a number of choices, one key challenge was determining where best to focus resources and effort. Prioritisation of a long list of daily work activities to create structure and focus was therefore imperative. As a startup, establishing awareness and reputation within the industry was another key challenge to plan for, as was maintaining strong relationships with suppliers. Together we needed to develop a plan for managing capacity with variable demand with the resources available as a fledgling business.
Target market segments were identified with business resources appropriately focussed. Initial volume growth ambitions were realised and the startup quickly developed a reputation in the industry as an agile and efficient service provider. Key suppliers were fully supportive of initiatives, making for a smooth and mutually beneficial relationship.
