Strategic growth advisory
Partner level support for the decisions that shape value, long before a deal is in sight
At Motion Advisory Partners we are often involved well before there is a transaction, helping founders and management teams work out what they are really trying to achieve and which route creates the most shareholder value.
- Who this is for
- Founders, shareholders and management teams of growing businesses in marketing, media, experience, sport, content and marketing technology.
- What it draws on
- First-hand operating experience, sector knowledge, international relationships and transaction experience.
What we help with
Growth, positioning, options and shareholder objectives
- Growth decisions. Where to invest, what to stop, which markets and capabilities to pursue, and how those choices affect value.
- Positioning. How the business is understood by clients, talent and, eventually, buyers or investors. Specialism and clarity tend to be rewarded.
- Strategic options. Continued independence, investment, merger, acquisition or sale, with an honest view of what each would mean for the shareholders.
- Acquisition thinking. Whether buying a business would accelerate the plan, and what it would take to do it well. See buy an agency.
- Shareholder objectives. Aligning founders, partners and investors who may want different things on different timescales.
We cover investments and mergers as part of this work, helping founders understand and pursue those routes when they are the right ones.
The role of judgement
Why operating experience, sector knowledge and relationships matter here
Strategy advice is only useful if it is grounded in how these businesses work and what the market will pay for.
Rick and Rob have built, bought, sold, scaled and invested in businesses in these sectors. That experience shapes the advice: which growth is valuable and which is expensive, which clients and contracts buyers reward, and how the choices made now will read in a process later.
Relationships matter too. Knowing what buyers and investors are looking for, and what they have paid for recently, is the difference between a plan that sounds good and one that creates options.
Technology supports the work. We use data and tools, including Motion OS, our own M&A intelligence platform, for research, intelligence and benchmarking, and keep our time for judgement.
The work runs in four week sprints. Each sprint has agreed objectives and outputs, so the advice turns into decisions on a monthly rhythm and you decide whether to continue one sprint at a time.
Situations in which founders seek this kind of support
Situations we see often, in general terms.
Growth has slowed and the reasons are unclear
Positioning has drifted, the offer has broadened and the business is competing with more agencies for less distinctive work. The question is what to be known for next.
An approach has prompted a bigger question
A buyer's interest has made the shareholders ask what they want. Sale, investment or continued independence each need thinking through before any reply.
Founders want different things
One wants to step back, another wants to build. Working out a route that serves both, and the business, is strategic and personal at the same time.
The next stage needs a capability the business does not have
Build, partner or buy. Each has a cost, a timescale and an effect on value, and the right answer depends on the market as well as the business.
An investor is on board and the plan needs sharpening
Management teams in investor backed businesses often want an experienced sounding board with sector depth and a view on the eventual exit.
A sale is a few years away
The founders know a transaction is coming and want to make the decisions now that will matter then. This often leads into preparation.
Related resources
Want a partner level sounding board?
Tell us where the business is and what you are weighing up. We will tell you honestly whether we can help.