John plays regularly in various venues within the West Midlands and is popular within the acoustic music scene. He has also worked as a session singer for London Community Gospel Choir and dB Studios, Lincoln, with Dan Bowater.

The challenge

As a talented singer/songwriter, John obviously loves to create songs that others enjoy listening to. However, he faces the same challenge that many artists face – how do I record my music and make myself known? John approached me because he was looking to record an album and create a financially sustainable career for himself as a musician.

The solution

Together, John and I have been working to create a vision for what John would like to achieve as a musician. Having envisioned this future, we are now working to create a road map for how he can achieve this.

I continue to work with John in a mentoring and advisory capacity to help him achieve the goals he has set for himself and to provide the specialist business knowledge he needs at this time.

Services provided: Business Vision, Business Analysis & Road Mapping

By allowing consumers to search online, compare reviews, prices and availability for local garages, and then book directly with the garage of their choice, Service Booker have taken the hassle and uncertainty out of trying to find a garage to service your car.

The challenge

As a new business, Service Booker faces many of the challenges common to start-up businesses. Dan approached Matt Stocker Ltd in the early days of launching Service Booker with a request for strategy and marketing support to ensure that the launch of Service Booker went smoothly and successfully.

The solution

Since February of this year, I have worked with both Dan and Chris to clarify and further develop their business strategy for Service Booker and to ensure that their online application meets the needs of their consumers. I also created a short-term marketing plan for Service Booker, clearly laid out in a calendar format, to ensure that they had a practical plan of action utilising a range of tools across the marketing mix.

At present, I continue to work with Dan and Chris on a flexible basis, providing advice and support as and when they feel they need it.

Services provided: Business Analysis & Road Mapping

The challenge

Having developed an effective back-end software system, Growing Insight wanted to further develop this system to target specialist areas. When I met Carsten at a Warwick Business School networking event, he felt that my services would enable Growing Insight to work out the best way to do this.

The solution

Together with Carsten and his business partner, Tony Dalton, we explored the specialist areas they were considering and realised that the two products they were developing were distinct from each other and each would require a different approach.

Through a workshop style meeting, we were together able to outline the type of approach needed for each and to consider the route by which these products could be introduced into the market. We also introduced a longer term perspective, considering the need to continue to develop these products and to develop an appropriate marketing plan for each.

As a follow-up to the meeting, I provided a report for Growing Insight, furthering the ideas we had begun and ensuring that Carsten and Tony had a complete working document with which to take their product development forwards.

Services provided: Business Analysis & Road Mapping

The challenge

Although Warwick Music is a mature, stable and successful business, Steve felt that it had further potential and approached me for support in growing and developing the business further.

The solution

Having worked with Steve to analyse the current reality within the business, we decided that the most profitable way to grow the business would be to increase sales through Warwick Music’s website. Subsequently, I went away and produced a marketing strategy document for Steve, including a one year marketing plan outlining actions across the marketing mix, designed to target sales through the website.

Since then, I have worked with Steve on a flexible basis to provide support in implementing the marketing as required.

Services provided: Business Analysis, Road Mapping & Practical Support

As one of the leading firms in this area, AFS have been involved in hundreds of sites and projects. Established in 1996, AFS is now an established, mature business but they never rest on their laurels and continue to seek to develop.

The challenge

As part of their continuing development, AFS commissioned a new website to update and refresh their online brand. However, once the site was built, they faced the same challenge many businesses face in writing the copy to go on the website. This is how I met Steve, as a referral from their web developer.

The solution

By providing practical support to AFS, I was able to ensure they got their new website up and running as they had always intended. Initially, I worked with Steve to gather all the specialist information he knew he wanted the website to communicate. Then it was my job to go away and write this content in a way that would work for the web.

Since then…

AFS continue to grow and develop, and in recent months I’ve been working with Steve to develop a strategic plan for their future development. This has involved both establishing a vision for where Steve would like the business to be and creating a road map for how AFS might be able to achieve that.

Services provided: Business Vision, Road Mapping & Practical Support