About Michael
Board-level expertise to build businesses that are better, bigger, more profitable and more resilient.
I'm Michael Stewart. I'm not a coach. I don't sit on the sidelines and ask you how you feel. I'm not a consultant who writes a report and leaves. I'm a business adviser and I get involved.
I ask the awkward questions. I bring ideas from other businesses you won't have seen. I make connections — new clients, strategic partnerships, other experts. I push things forward and connect the dots across your business.
Some people say I get paid to stick my nose into other people's businesses - that's probably fair. I prefer to think I'm paid to meddle, and trusted to help.
The businesses I work with aren't broken. Most of them are doing well. But the people running them know there's a better, more profitable, more resilient version of their business they haven't built yet.
I have found you can't make a business bigger before you make it better.
Inefficiencies and problems don't disappear when you grow. They get bigger. They can even be what holds a business back.
Every business owner I've spoken to knows this and they've already got those things on their "imagine if" list.
Background
This isn't my first rodeo.
I started my career in banking - ten years in commercial finance with Barclays, Bank of Scotland and Bank of New York. That means I understand profit and loss, balance sheets, risk, and what actually makes a business financially robust.
In the late 1990s I fell into something new: the commercial internet, right at the very beginning. Nobody quite knew what they were doing, which was exactly why it was exciting.
I spent the next decade working with some of the biggest brands in the country - Heinz, Argos, Halifax, Asda, Crystal Holidays, Highland Distillers - building digital marketing campaigns before most businesses even had a website worth visiting.
In 2011 I left the agency world and went freelance. Not because I had to. Because I wanted to work differently.
Businesses I've worked with have grown fivefold during our time together. Others have won their biggest ever contract. In one, I helped turn years of declining revenues into 25% growth (whilst maintaining margins).
60+
OWNER-MANAGED BUSINESS CLIENTS
10 yrs
IN COMMERCIAL FINANCE
15+ yrs
IN MARKETING
15+ yrs
STICKING MY NOSE INTO OTHER PEOPLE'S BUSINESSES
Working together
Two things matter to me when I take on a new client.
First: genuine synergy between us. The best work happens when we trust each other enough to be honest.
Second: I need to believe in your business. If I believe in it, I'll fight for it.
I'm also a connector. Every week I'm meeting people in my network who could open doors for you: A new customer. A better supplier. A relationship that changes the shape of things.
It's rare I work with a business and not make at least one introduction that turns into something real.
I work with honesty and integrity. That's not a slogan. It's the only way I know how.
Let's get back to that list
What's the No.1 thing on your "imagine if" list? That's where we start.