Strategic Consulting / Choose Your Bets
Senior counsel for the decisions that shape the next three years
Where to compete, what to build or buy, and what to stop doing. Fast, data-backed advice from a strategist who has sat across the table from more than 230 leadership teams.
Some decisions do not fit a planning calendar. A competitor comes up for sale. A big customer asks you to open a second location. Margins slip and nobody agrees why. These are the moments when a CEO needs a senior outside view within weeks, not a process that takes a quarter.
Strategic Consulting puts Marc Emmer on the decision with you. We gather the facts that matter, test the options against the market, and give you a clear recommendation with the reasoning behind it.
Many clients keep that relationship going as ongoing CEO coaching and support, a sounding board between board meetings and planning cycles.
Decisions we help CEOs make
Growth strategy
Where the next stage of profitable growth comes from, and the order to pursue it.
Diversification
New segments, geographies and offerings that build on what you already do well.
M&A fit
Whether a target fits the strategy, the culture and the numbers before you sign the letter of intent.
Pricing
Where you are leaving margin on the table, and how to raise prices without losing the customers who matter.
What to stop
Products, customers and projects that consume capacity without paying for it.
Organization
The leadership structure and roles the next stage of growth will require.
How an engagement runs
- FrameDefine the decision, the options and what a good answer looks like.
- GatherMarket data, financials and interviews with the people closest to it.
- TestPressure-test each option against the market and your capabilities.
- RecommendA clear recommendation, the reasoning, and the first steps.
Related services
Free tool
Stress-test your direction
The Scenario Planner builds a PESTLE analysis of the outside forces that could make or break your next move, with a tailwind and a headwind scenario.
Try the Scenario PlannerCommon questions
When should a CEO bring in a strategy consultant?
When a decision is big, non-routine and hard to reverse: entering a new market, buying or selling a business, changing pricing, or deciding what to stop doing. Those decisions benefit from outside data and senior judgment more than from another internal meeting.
How is strategic consulting different from strategic planning?
Strategic consulting answers a specific question quickly with senior attention. Strategic planning is a structured process that aligns the whole leadership team on priorities, owners and KPIs, then keeps them on track.
Do you coach CEOs?
Yes. Many clients keep Marc on as a sounding board between planning cycles for decisions on growth, organization and leadership.
Bring Marc the decision that is keeping you up at night.