Unlock Growth with Tailored Business Strategy Solutions

Lay the groundwork for success by developing a comprehensive business strategy

Executive Performance On Demand.

When We’re Needed.
For As Long As We’re Needed.

The pandemic forced many executives to re-think every aspect of their business. In some cases, it meant pivoting away from historic core business activities. In other cases, it simply meant there was no time to conduct business as usual and processes were streamlined and re-engineered. Other companies thrived with existing strategies.

Whatever your pandemic strategy, where do you go from here?

We can help you develop and select from various strategic options to find your best opportunities to grow revenue and add to your company’s bottom line.

Each Osborne Group principal has held senior leadership positions throughout their career. They have the wisdom built from decades of experience to help guide others to similar levels of success.

Our principals have worked in a broad range of organizations, sectors and functional areas holding positions including CEO, COO, CFO, SVP, EVP, executive director and general manager in small and medium enterprises (SME) as well as large multi-national companies. Their roles have included responsibility for governance, strategic planning, finance, operations, human resources, procurement/supply chain, capital projects, information technologys, marketing and communications, sales management and training, organizational design and development and succession planning.

One of the strengths of the Osborne Group is, that in addition to providing strong leadership as individuals, our principals can come together in multi-faceted, multi-disciplinary teams to focus on developing and delivering comprehensive business strategies.

The Osborne Group, a dynamic team of highly experienced executives, has been helping organizations succeed since 1993. We provide a wide range of professional interim management, consulting, planning, and project management services. Our clients are small, medium size and multinational companies in for profit, not-for-profit and government agencies.

We have experience across many business sectors, including:

Consumer packaged goods
Digital marketing/sales
Healthcare
Finance and banking
Insurance
Manufacturing
Technology
Telecommunications
First Nations

Our principals have leadership experience and in-depth knowledge in all areas of business. We get to work quickly and get the job done to the highest standards.

On every assignment we:

Focus on our client’s needs first
Collaborate to develop the best solutions
Work with integrity
Provide excellent quality service
Commit to outstanding results

Considering the changes forced upon us by the pandemic, many businesses are rethinking their existing plans. Others are now realizing they need to have a simple, actionable plan to help them navigate through a changing world. In either case, business planning approaches of the past 20 years are seen as lacking flexibility, being too static and overly time-consuming.

Osborne Group Principal Garry Wood explains how to prevent getting discouraged or bogged down in the complexity of building a business plan.

For more on how to approach strategic planning in your business, reach out to us today.

Osborne principals have worked on many succession planning initiatives that have led to management buyouts. In these cases, the key to success for both the current owner and the new owner is the ongoing prosperity of the business. The emphasis should always be on a transparent and workable process with well-defined expectations of both parties.

Providing Guidance Through a Management Buyout

We recently worked with a small business owner to help define the strategic direction for the company and lead them through the implementation of the plan. This included reviewing the ownership structure, financing options, restructuring the management team and taking on the role of COO for a short time, all with the goal of maximizing returns to the majority shareholder. This culminated in implementing an exit strategy for the owner, including entertaining a buy-out initiative from the new management group.

The work included:

The development and completion of an initial non-binding buy-out proposal detailing price, terms, and conditions. This allowed both parties to understand/negotiate the transition elements and costs before engaging expensive legal and accounting services to execute a binding agreement and a buy/sell agreement. It addressed timing to transition from the current owner’s management control to the new owners.
The development of a timetable to set up “Newco” with various ownership/management terms. During this step, we helped the Newco participants define their operating and governance structure.
We provided documentation of a set of business results, expectations and responsibilities during the period of management and ownership transition to avoid any transition surprises.
In addition to structuring the management buyout, we reviewed the existing legal structure of the initial and proposed companies and provided recommendations to simplify the conveyance of equity of the overall business in a workable and tax-effective way.

As a result of the time spent as COO, the Osborne principal was able to review the responsibilities of key personnel, particularly with respect to current responsibilities and how these would change and when.

Contact The Osborne Group if you are considering selling your business.

Osborne principals have deep experience managing multi-faceted sales and marketing programs that have achieved aggressive sales and revenue targets. They can help you analyze who your best customers are from a revenue perspective and how to prioritize those clients to drive your bottom line.

Are you ready to pivot to new target markets or is it time to re-prioritize among existing customers? We will look at all aspects of your business lines to help find new revenue sources and improve your margins.

We know what questions to ask to help guide you to better sales and marketing results.

Is your brand resonating and are your products well-positioned for growth?
What is the contribution margin from your best performers?
Is your growth coming from high yield margin items or other products?
How do you know your marketing programs are succeeding?
Are they generating real leads for your sales funnel?
Can your sales growth be easily attributed to leads generated from marketing programs?
Is your sales model fully aligned with the markets you are pursuing?
Which platforms are contributing to your KPI’s?
Which are converting to signed contracts?

Osborne principals have helped increase sales and bottom-line revenue growth for Canadian companies in a variety of sectors. Whether your business requires repositioning with a new brand identity or a new sales strategy, we can help.

Contact The Osborne Group to discuss how to spark sales and revenue growth.

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Our Clients Say It Best

Our organization needed a strategic plan to enhance our professionalism, establish clear direction, and define our goals. The Osborne Group guided us in creating this plan. Their approach was professional, organized, and structured, enabling full team participation. As a result, we now have dynamic policies, procedures, and sub-committees in place, allowing us to take a proactive approach.

Doug Morrison

President, Board Member, The Table Soup Kitchen Foundation

Confrontée à des réductions potentielles de son financement opérationnel, notre organisation à but non lucratif a reconnu qu’il était urgent d’envisager différents scénarios pour planifier les changements financiers. Nous étions à la recherche d’une structure et d’une expérience pour nous aider à réfléchir à des questions difficiles. Le Groupe Osborne a animé un atelier avec notre conseil d’administration et, sur la base de notre plan stratégique actuel, il a élaboré trois scénarios financiers à explorer par l’organisation. Le Groupe Osborne a été très minutieux et a fourni la perspective externe nécessaire pour poser des questions difficiles qui ont mené à des conversations approfondies et à un grand engagement de la part du conseil d’administration. Nous pouvons maintenant prendre du recul et regarder notre organisation d’un point de vue plus large et nous avons un plan pour aller de l’avant. Dans l’ensemble, le Groupe Osborne a offert une valeur incroyable et nous sommes très satisfaits du résultat.

Wendy Rading

Executive Director, Arts Etobicoke

Le travail en petites équipes était devenu insulaire et répétitif, et les défis liés à la gestion d’un budget serré nous obligeaient à faire preuve de créativité pour tirer le meilleur parti des fonds disponibles. Nous avons travaillé avec le Groupe Osborne pour créer notre nouveau plan stratégique parce que le Groupe avait l’habitude de travailler avec des équipes de santé familiale. Le Groupe a facilité des discussions réfléchies et inclusives avec notre équipe, ce qui nous a permis de générer de nouvelles idées, d’acquérir une nouvelle perspective et de sortir de notre zone de confort. Tout cela en valait la peine, car nous disposons désormais d’un plan réaliste comprenant des éléments réalisables sur lesquels nous pouvons travailler pour atteindre les objectifs finaux et nous aider à aller de l’avant. Le nouveau plan est utile et compréhensible dans tous les secteurs et permet aux bailleurs de fonds de voir les défis à venir, mais aussi les succès futurs.

Kate Malisani

Executive Director, Crosstown Family Health Team

Nous travaillions avec une équipe qui était devenue insatisfaite et qui devait faire face à de nombreux changements, ce qui se traduisait par un faible taux d’engagement. Le Groupe Osborne a pu mettre un conseiller en ressources humaines à notre disposition; cette personne a animé des séances pour parler avec le groupe des changements, des attentes et des nouvelles façons de mesurer les performances, a expliqué les politiques et les processus, et aider les membres du groupe à explorer les opportunités de carrière. Après les séances avec l’équipe, nous avons pu constater qu’elle s’ouvrait à de nouvelles méthodes de travail et réalisait les avantages des changements. Nous pensons que, dans l’ensemble, les séances ont eu un effet positif et que nous sommes maintenant sur la bonne voie.

Marcel Badertscher, CHRE

Vice President, Human Resources, Heartland Mutual Insurance

Notre agence traversait une période de transition majeure et nous manquions de personnel qualifié dans notre équipe pour nous aider à évaluer ce qui se passait et à assurer un leadership au plus haut niveau. Le Groupe Osborne a fourni un dirigeant intérimaire qui a écouté et rapidement évalué les forces et les faiblesses de l’organisation. Le DE a formulé des recommandations en matière de recrutement et de restructuration et a fourni des solutions solides qui ont jeté les bases de la mise en œuvre de nouvelles initiatives et d’une croissance à long terme. Nous disposons désormais d’une organisation plus forte, armée d’un plan stratégique pour aller de l’avant.

Cindy Blakely

Founder, New Circles