Debbie Waite
Strategic Leadership Partner to Founder-Led Businesses
I build businesses that no longer depend on the founder
Is this you?
The business you’ve built is strong and still accelerating. Revenue is good and the team is growing. Yet everything still comes back to you.
You love the fast pace, challenge and want to go faster. You don’t want to slow down but you have considered stalling, because recently growth seems to bring you more pressure and less choice.
You’re driven and hungry for more success, but something’s stopping you accelerating.
You regularly think:
“I’m working harder than ever, even though I’ve got 40 staff.”
“I can never switch off”
“I don’t trust anyone to do it properly.”
“I’m paying managers, but they aren’t stepping up.”
“I’m constantly firefighting?!”
“I should be enjoying this by now.”
Everything comes down to you and sometimes you love that. Sometimes you hate the loneliness that can bring.
Either way you’re still in it.
You’ve thought of selling but can’t.
THE PROBLEM?
You ARE the business.
The business depends on you.
The founder who built the business is rarely the founder who scales it.
THE COST?
You can’t physically go harder or move faster.
If you remain the heart of everything, your bottom line will be affected:
- Growth will slow.
- Decisions bottleneck.
- You will hit a ceiling.
- It becomes harder to scale.
- Harder to sell.
- Eventually, something gives… usually you.
THE ANSWER?
Growth Beyond the Founder.
1. Grow the Founder
Become the leader your business now needs.
Founder → CEO
2. Scale the Business
Build the leadership, capability and accountability needed to grow beyond you.
Founder-dependent → leadership-led business
3. Increase Value
Create a business that gives you more choices:
- Scale further.
- Build leaders.
- Increase business value.
- Attract investors.
- Sell when the time is right.
- …Or simply enjoy owning your business again.
Private company → Valuable asset
What changes when you work with me?
Businesses stop depending on the founder.
Leadership teams step up.
Better decisions happen faster.
Business value increases.
You have more choice.
CLIENT RESULTS
£15 million sale
Founder built a leadership team capable of running the business, increasing value before a successful sale.
Revenue grey by £3.6M
Managing Director stopped firefighting. Developed a leadership team that took ownership, freeing the MD to focus on Business Development and Growth.
Leadership team transformed
From reactive managers to a confident leadership team making decisions without the founder. The business grew by a third.
Founder retired years earlier than planned
Created a clear strategy and built the leadership structure needed to step away while the business continued to grow.
Best financial month in business
Stopped doing everything herself, hired her first employee, increased prices and achieved the strongest financial month in the business’s history.
Award-winning employer
Improved leadership and team capability, communication and culture, helping the business become recognised as an employer of choice.
Every business was different, however the underlying problems were remarkably similar. Those are the problems I solve.
WHY FOUNDERS BRING ME IN
I see what others miss.
I challenge what others avoid.
I fix what’s really slowing you down.
For the last 25+ years I’ve advised founders, CEO’s, leadership teams and businesses through growth, complexity and change.
I’ve sat in boardrooms, facilitated difficult conversations, challenged leadership teams, coached senior executives and helped businesses grow, scale and sell.
I know why businesses get stuck and I know what drives commercial growth.
FIND OUT MORE (LINK TO ABOUT PAGE)
The strongest businesses don’t depend on the founder.
The biggest risk in your business is the extent to which it still depends on you. Yes, you built the business.
Now build the business that grows without you.
WHAT I'M SEEING RIGHT NOW
The conversations that change businesses usually begin with an observation.
Here are a few of mine…
Why your Directors still bring every decision back to you.
You’ve hired capable directors, yet every decision still comes back to you. Your problem may be where authority really sits in the business.
JOIN THE THINKING ROOM
See the patterns inside founder-led businesses before they become expensive
problems.
The Thinking Room is where I share the observations, questions and patterns I’m
seeing inside founder-led businesses.
Not every observation ends up on this website. Some I only share with members of The Thinking Room.
No weekly newsletter. Just observations worth reading, when they’re worth sharing.