Grow Bigger

Advisory and fractional support to start, grow and scale efficiently and profitably with Mike Stevens

GROWTH STRATEGY AND PLANNING

Whether you are just starting out, all the way through to exit, you need a plan. Using my 25 years of experience of building, scaling and selling consumer brands, I help with your strategy, plan, and next moves to enable you to breakthrough.

A business plan is not for your bank manager or your investors, it is for you and your team.

outcomes

You and your team know what needs to be done and you can unlock the resources you need to reach your goals. You will grow faster, waste less time, and save more money.

BOARD ADVISORY AND FOUNDER COACHING

It can be lonely, frustrating, and confusing at the top. I provide founders with guidance, coaching, and support to help them grow their businesses, build their teams, get the most from their investors, and manage their cash flow.

OUTCOMES

Less stressed, more productive founders. Happy teams, investors and customers.

For non-exec positions in addition to strategic input, I will also give you structure and rhythm to your management reviews and planning sessions.

Channel Strategy and Fractional Projects

Got a project or challenge in your consumer business? I take on transformational projects and fractional work.
I specialise in channel planning including getting the most from DTC, Amazon and retail, supply chain transformation, business models, and new product development.

OUTCOMES

Flexible, effective delivery of your most important projects (with some wider strategic support thrown in).

 My Professional Journey
(So Far)

My Lucky Break - innocent 2001-09

Joining the start-up team at innocent as Head of Operations through their hyper-growth years (£1M - £100M). Knee deep in growing operations from 1 person, 1 factory to a 30+ people multisite multicountry set-up.

After six years of ops I became a country Manager spearheading the launch into Scandinavia with launches across Denmark, Norway and Finland

Becoming a Founder & CEO - Peppersmith 2009 - 18

Co-founder of natural confectionery company Peppersmith. Launching in 2010 using all the lessons learnt at innocent to introduce a new brand into a tired category.

We achieved success and acclaim with our products listed in Sainsburys, Waitrose, Morrisons, Boots, Holland and Barret, Ocado Whole Foods Market and 1000s of independent stores.

It was at Peppersmith I also fell in love with eCommerce with a 3rd of our sales coming from our DTC channel and Amazon.

In 2018 I sold Peppersmith to our biggest customer, Health Made Easy.

Using my experience and skills to help others - Dot Earth 2020 - Today.

I now help scaleup and startup brands to achieve their own successes. I focus on growth, business modelling, channel strategy (retail and eCommerce), brand development and financial freedom and control.

I work exclusively with consumer brands across food and drink, beauty, health and home.

FIND OTHER WAYS TO SHARE - The-Direct To Consumer Playbook 2022.

Following on from my passion for DTC and frustrated by the lack of best practice strategy available to brand owners, I wrote the DTC playbook. Revealing the strategies and stories behind brands including Huel, Heights, Bloom & Wild, Who Gives a Crap and more. The book has been a Amazon bestseller and was shortlisted for the business book of the year 2023.

Buy it here

Testimonials

STRATEGY

“We approached Mike, seeking insight and support at a time of business change and challenging circumstances. And he offered the strategic analysis and support that we were after, with a deep operational and compassionate understanding of the realities of running a business. His enthusiasm, curiosity and challenging enquiry, as well as pin-sharp deliverable recommendations and guidance to resources, were invaluable. Mike is worth his weight in gold! “

Kath Clements, Marketing Director - Mooncup

NON-EXEC and CHAIR

At Tastily, Mike was a great addition to the team as a hands-on advisor and non-executive Chairman. Mike's knowledge across operations, finance and marketing was invaluable during our scale-up stage. He's incredibly easy to work with and went above and beyond both when things were going well and during the tough times. As a first-time founder, Mike also provided huge support to me on the business side around board meetings and team strategy, as well as on the personal side during the struggles most founders face. I would highly recommend working with Mike.

Will MacDowell, Founder & CEO - Tastily

ECOMMERCE ADVISORY

Mike's objective was to do a full review of our current e-commerce offering and strategy on both Shopify & Amazon. He engaged with myself and other members of the team to identify issues and provide recommendations in a very timely and efficient manner. Having been a brand owner himself in the FMCG sector Mike is able to clearly understand the needs of Brands such as ours - I believe in this regards he has a huge advantage over other "consultants". I was very happy with the work Mike undertook for us as well as his recommendations most of which we are implementing right. This includes the transition to a specialist e-commerce 3PL - which is a big move for us! I would definitely work with Mike again - easy to work with and cuts to the chase so no BS involved! Highly recommended.

Taz Basunia, Co-Founder & MD, - Jealous Sweets

SUPPLY CHAIN ADVISORY

“Mike has been transformational for our business. We needed to upgrade our existing back end while building a completely new one to service a global customer base on a different quantum of scale. He got the issues right away, from strategic to micro, and his proposals didn’t just represent a plan, he connected us with exactly the right people and the right partners. A great mind, incredible depth of practical experience, and an all-round good egg too.”

Ed Bathgate, Founder & CEO - Longbottom & Co

FOUNDER COACHING

I had great coaching sessions with Mike during a period where I was feeling 'strategically stuck'. Mike helped me to gain a bird's eye view of the business and reconnect with why I started it in the first place. He was able to quickly get under the skin of the business and identify what needs to be done to make strides in each area. Mike always made himself available when needed - I would highly recommend working with him

Claire Dinsmore, Founder & CEO - Paleo Food Company

BUSINESS MODELLING and financial planning

I’ve known Mike for a long time. What I didn’t know what that he is an Excel ninja - he helped us build a robust commercial model for our new venture, but of course underneath all the clever formulas he plugged in were years of experience and understanding having been there and built businesses himself. If you use Mike’s expertise, you’ll save yourself a tonne of time, energy and money.

Jason Gibb, Co-founder - Wholesome Heroes & Bread and Jam

Strategy and founder Coaching

We went looking for advice, support and expertise based on first-hand experience. With Mike, we found this and so much more! His understanding of growing businesses, insightful feedback and strategic advice have proved extremely valuable. It has been a pleasure working together and we hope to continue for a long time to come.

Luke Johnson, Co-founder - Pack’d

STRATEGY and GROWTH ADVISORY

As first-time business owners, it was invaluable to get someone of Mike's experience to have a detailed look at many areas of our business from supply chain to marketing and get actionable insights and recommendations on how to improve things. His feedback has allowed us to face head-on some of the challenges that we are facing with our growing business. Mike won't always tell you what you want to hear but much more importantly will tell you what you need to hear in order to make genuine business change. I'm thankful for his time and expertise.

Jack Vereker, Co-founder - El Rayo Tequlia