Business Advisory

Are You Ready To Unlock Your Business’s Full Potential?

Our team of savvy, experienced business advisors and coaches consult, advise and mentor kiwi SME business owners and their teams on how to get unstuck, improve performance, grow and build long-term value.

We offer blended business Coaching and Advisory services that help you and your team stay on track and be held accountable. Regular meetings to review results, and help you identify and implement solutions for what's holding you back or realising opportunities.

Our Plan2Execute framework built for SME’s will help you to clarify your business priorities, build actionable plans, and stay on track to achieving your goals and after a bit of practice you can self-drive.

We coach and advise Owners on how to reduce the time they HAVE to spend in the day to day business to keep it going. Reducing your stress level,  significantly growing the value of your business.

Often the daily grind blurs our focus and drains our energy.  Our coaching and advisory services work alongside you to take back control and help you become consistently effective in delivering on your priorities.

Build simple but effective systems that allow your business to stay on track, keep people accountable and thrive in your absence.

Our Aim is to help you Self-Drive as Quickly as Possible.

We work with you to understand your situation get the focus right, achieve early wins, and establish a solid foundation for ongoing success

Our Business Advisors provide a mix of advice, coaching and consulting to help you address the issues impacting you and your business.

Make your business less owner reliant so you get a better work life balance and build long-term business value.

The Guide

Our Plan2Execute framework built for SME's will help you to clarify your priorities, build actionable plans, and stay on track to achieving your goals. Its also designed so you can self-drive you and your team after a bit of practice.
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Systems implementation

Build simple systems that automate and streamline operations, improve efficiency, and support scalable growth.
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Operational efficiency​

Maximise productivity, reduce costs, and improve customer satisfaction & retention.
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Financial planning and management​

Our Virtual CFO service will quickly get your finances in order to ensure both cashflow and financial performance is are optimised.
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Team Performance

Building and maintaining an effective and positive team culture fosters collaboration, improves performance and everyone's satisfaction.
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Leadership and Growth

Get the right people in the right seats and use simple processes to get and stay on track and consistently achieve your goals.
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Our Aim is to help you Self-Drive as Quickly as Possible.

Take Control of Your Business Priorities
with Our Free Guide

Plan2Execute Immediate Actions Guide and Workbook

Struggling to get your Priorities Clear?

Cant get consistent traction on your Action Plan?

Not able to consistently achieve your business goals despite lots of effort to do so?

Download the Plan2Execute Immediate Actions Guide and Workbook and start achieving your short-term objectives today.

Case Study

Warehouse Stationery

Real-World Success Stories and Insights.

The Business

Business to Business (B2B) Sales operation (Turnover > $15 million, Staff = 33) selling Stationery, Office Supplies and Equipment to commercial businesses.

Quick Facts

Completed a strategic review of the B2B Sales operation, recommended and implemented a series of actions be taken to deliver to its multi-channel (i.e., Online – Retail – Telesales) business strategy.

The Challenge

Develop and implement a new, more scalable and sustainable Business Market model.

The Result

Implemented a new Business Market model on time, within agreed financial parameters and with minimal disruption to existing customers.

Big Win:

Material cost savings and a significantly improved Earnings before interest, taxes, and amortization % to Sales.

We’ve helped over 100 kiwi businesses right the ship and move forward with purpose

Read about some of our recent results.

We’ve helped over 100 kiwi businesses right the ship and move forward with purpose

Read about some of our recent results.
“I quickly found Rhys to be a person with a good strategic and practical approach to general management, sales and marketing”
Business Consulting
Director
“Andrew helped us accelerate commercialisation of a new service and upskill a new team member. He quickly understood our needs and established an effective programme of support to assist us. Andrew then helped us finalise development of the service, refine the go-to-market plan and to get it out in front of prospective customers.”
Kevin Oldham
President of Sales
“Rhys delivered results on time, professionally, and ensured that the level of communication was suitable to our entire organisation.”
Industrial Storage and Racking Systems Manufacture
Human Resources Manager

In times of adversity, ambition and change, nothing beats experience.

Our process

Learn about our no-cost guarantee here

Confirm your business’ priorities during your next coffee break.

Take our business self assessment and help confirm what’s working well in your business, and what isn’t. Confidential, free, and delivered to your inbox.
Includes an optional feedback session with one of our directors.

All our services come

with a no-cost guarantee

We are extremely confident in the expertise of our Business Advisors and Senior Commercial Finance Contractors, and in our client engagement approach. So much so that we will agree a “no-cost” deadline when we confirm the engagement. If you feel we have not added value up to that point, we will end the engagement with a handshake and not charge you for any services provided.

Let’s talk about a solution for your business

In person or online, no commitments or obligations, just a chat (and maybe a coffee).

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Frequently Asked Questions

Why Management Response is the right option for business advice and support?

Our Business Advisory team come with many years of business experience spanning small, medium and larger NZ businesses. Many have also been Business Owners in their own right and as such have a deep understanding of the challenges this role presents.

Our philosophy and approach is to keep it as simple as possible and work alongside the Business Owner and senior leaders to first clarify the challenge, opportunity or priority and then assist with the planning and the execution to deliver the required outcomes.

Whilst we can help with just the Plan and then end our involvement, our strong preference is to continue working with you to help you execute the plan as effectively as possible – we really want to see the job done and the result achieved.

While we have a number of tools, “frameworks”, and methodologies in our kit bag, we typically tailor them to ensure they will work for the specific circumstances of your business and operating environment e.g. business maturity/lifecycle stage, industry norms, customer preferences, and team culture.

We most definitely aren’t a one size fits all Business Advisory service. We focus on ensuring we are first and foremost pragmatic and helpful, looking to create capability within the team to improve performance, achieve better outcomes and build value.

Ultimately its about finding someone you are happy to work closely with and that you believe can help you improve your business performance and value.

The key criteria in selecting the right Business Advisor or Coach includes:

  • Relevant experience – have they been there and done that? Do they have the Leadership, Industry, lifecycle, specific pain or opportunity related experience?
  • Relationship – are they the right “type” of person to help me and my team? Do I need a subject matter expert or mentor who has been there and done that or more of a Coach that will help me and my team find the best answers and approach?
  • What are the key qualities you are looking for in the Advisor e.g. flexible, adaptable, ethical , empathetic, non-judgemental, clear communicator, able to build rapport, ability to motivate people etc
  • Will they help me and my team to grow our capability and performance and not need their support long term? Help me to self drive? What is their approach to managing their exit?
  • Their willingness to agree clear measures of progress and success.
  • Their pricing, engagement and payment terms

There will generally be two or three initial conversations or face to face meetings to start to get to know each other and clarify what the key issues and results being sought are.

We then discuss and document the scope of work in an Engagement Agreement and make sure you understand and agree with the scope, work plan of activities and timeline along with the target outcomes and pricing.

We will also make sure that you remain comfortable with the level of progress along the journey by checking in with you regularly to review progress.

To help with peace of mind around choosing the right Advisor or Coach we also agree a date up to which we will work with you and give you the opportunity to see us in action. If you don’t believe sufficient value has been or will be delivered then you can terminate the agreement by the agreed review date and we will end the engagement, wish you well and not charge for any services delivered up to that point.

The shape and approach for each Engagement is tailored to suit the requirements and outcomes being sought.

Initially there will be some “fact finding” and “getting to know each other” discussions and if you are interested to proceed with an engagement we would agree a plan of action with you covering the scope, work plan and Engagement agreement.

Management Response will also ensure there is another senior manager across the Engagement relationship – this provides coverage and continuity in the event the Advisor is unable to continue or is not available for a given period.

The Coaching or Advisor meeting cadence (which will be a mix of face to face and remote) will vary depending on the scope and agreed timeline. Advisory engagements will often require a period of more active involvement in the early stages and then gradually reduce over the engagement term. Coaching will more likely involve a two to three hour meeting or call on a monthly basis for an agreed term.

Engagements will typically have a 3, 6 or 12 month term – again depending on the scope and outcomes being sought.

When we decide to work together, we agree:

  1. A Client Engagement Agreement, and
  2. An engagement plan which includes the activities to be undertaken by you and your team and where, when and how we will be involved.

    Based on this plan we will also define a “review” date. If you determine there has been insufficient value delivered as of the review date and there is little or no benefit to you or your business in Management Response continuing its involvement, we will immediately end the engagement. Naturally, we would like to understand your reason whilst accepting your decision, and we will immediately end the engagement with a handshake and not charge for any services provided to that point.

Let’s talk about an advisory solution for your business

Please choose a date that works best for you. We look forward to speaking with you soon!