The Business Doctors - Breaking Big: The Business Doctors No-Nonsense Guide to Achieving Breakthrough Growth for Your Business

This edition first published 2014

2014 Matthew Levington and Rod Davies

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Levington, Matthew, 1965

Breaking big : the business doctors no-nonsense guide to achieving breakthrough growth for your business Matthew Levington, Rod Davies.

pages cm

ISBN 978-0-85708-393-7 (paperback)

1. Small businessGrowth. 2. Strategic planning. 3. Small business marketing. I. Davies, Rod, 1957 II. Title.

HD62.7.L48 2014

658.4'01dc23

2014011440

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978-0-857-08393-7 (pbk)

ISBN 978-0-857-08412-5 (ebk) ISBN 978-0-857-08411-8 (ebk)

Cover design by Dan Jubb

Business Doctors is a business support franchise, dedicated to helping small- and medium-sized businesses achieve their vision.

We are a network of experienced business people, passionate about sharing our skills and experiences.

Our aim is to offer hands-on support to business owners, enabling them to overcome their individual challenges and helping them to achieve their aspirations for growth.

Whilst we operate within the consulting industry we are not traditional consultants. Our approach is different and involves getting into the nuts and bolts of businesses providing practical advice every step of the way.

Business Doctors has developed and helped transform hundreds of companies across a spectrum of industries, filling a gap in the market between the big four consultancies and specialist individuals.

The strength of the Business Doctor brand, combined with our holistic approach and alignment to government-funded support programmes, has helped us to become the fastest growing business support network in the UK.

We don't just coach we get on the pitch!

The business was founded in 2004 by Matthew Levington and Rod Davies. They have built a national network of Business Doctors across the UK and are rapidly becoming recognized as the preeminent business support brand/service serving the nation's 4.8 million SMEs.

Intelligent, talented individuals who enjoy fast-paced, challenging environments make ideal business consultants and advisors. Matthew certainly fits the bill. A veteran of the highly-competitive and rapidly-evolving media industry, Matthew started his career in sponsorship and promotions at Piccadilly Radio. He quickly moved up the corporate ladder at EMAP, and was soon displaying his talents in a series of senior roles.

Matthew became Managing Director of Crash FM in Liverpool after its failed launch, and managed to reverse its fortunes by attracting the valuable (and fickle) youth market and the advertising revenues that follow. Matthew moved to Chrysalis stations Galaxy 105 in Yorkshire, followed by Galaxy 102 in Manchester, one of the UK's largest radio markets.

Matthew revived the underperforming Manchester station with bold, carefully calculated strokes that included the appointment of a senior management team, relocation to the city centre, and a determined focus on building a profile amongst the city's advertisers, businesses and communities.

Matthew's relevant business experience and talent for turn-around led him to found Business Doctors Ltd. with Rod. This unique opportunity to promulgate his hands-on style and to have a major impact on clients' bottom lines made Business Doctors the ideal venue for Matthew's many competencies and talents.

The Management Consultancies Association (MCA) defines management consultancy as the application of knowledge, techniques and assets to improve organizational performance and implement business solutions. With extensive expertise, diverse experience, and a mastery of proven marketing and organizational strategies, Rod Davies has the profile of a premiere management consultant.

He has spent more than 25 years at the executive level of high-profile chemical, packaging, paper, stationery, textile and property businesses. He ran a successful paper merchant business in the Arabian Gulf. Rod was instrumental in turning around almost a dozen companies, from a 6 m carpet manufacturer to a 100 m division of one of the largest global integrated paper producers.

While he has proved himself exceptionally capable of helping companies to improve their performance, Rod's personal approach and taste for getting his hands dirty makes him so much more than a consultant. Rod rolls up his sleeves and collaborates closely with owners, directors and managers, seeing to it that they get the tools and knowledge they need to succeed, both personally and professionally.

This zealous drive to advise and empower led him to form Business Doctors Ltd. with his business partner, Matthew Levington. Rod and Matthew have crafted a Strategic Planning and Advisory service with a unique emphasis on people-led change.

First and foremost we would very much like to thank all of our Business Doctors clients that we have worked with over the last 10 years, for giving us the direct insight, inspiration and very rewarding experiences that have motivated us to write this book.