Strats Inc Joins an A-Team of Consultants to Help Struggling Companies

Strats Inc has been swift to recognise the turnaround format offered by the consortium as a unique offering in the market place. The consortium is comprised of specialised consultant companies in their respective fields. It is headed up by a lead consultant who co-ordinates projects and interfaces with all stakeholders.

Not only has the consortium been integrated into the Department of Labour’s Productivity SA initiative – aimed at reducing job losses and bolstering productivity in struggling small and medium sized businesses – but has already attracted the attention of larger corporate concerns in South Africa.

“The small and medium sized business is an important sector to us at Strats Inc,” says Philip Hendrickse, Managing Director. “In fact, more and more companies today are looking at these smaller businesses for new business. The consortium is a fascinating concept and a natural fit for a strategic consultancy like Strats Inc.”

Productivity SA
He views the establishment of the consortium as a natural development of the synergy created by Productivity SA, a support initiative partly funded by the state.

“Obviously government plays an important role in small and medium sized businesses because they don’t wish to see these businesses fail,” he says. “The consortium started on the basis of Productivity SA, which focuses on companies experiencing problems in specific areas.”

A typical scenario, he explains, would see the lead consultant assessing a company’s problem areas – be it in strategy, productivity and marketing right through to HR and logistics. To implement strategic solutions, he or she would pull in a team of accredited consultants in the consortium to apply their specialised skills.

At present, Strats Inc is involved in two cases already approved by Productivity SA. “Over and above that,” Hendrickse says, “it was decided the consortium could offer the same services to other medium-sized companies at a more commercial rated fee.”

A Holistic Approach
He believes this type of holistic turnaround solution is of great benefit to small and medium sized businesses. “Instead of focusing on marketing or HR processes etc. individually, we look at the business as a whole and put together a complete solutions package.”

There is an upshot for Strats Inc clients taking on the consortium’s broader services. By dealing with the holistic problem, their marketing has a better chance of success.

“As you know, smaller concerns often don’t have the dedicated marketing managers or directors found in larger companies, so by using the consortium’s functioning format, there is obviously going to be a better yield on their marketing investment.”

Furthermore, Strats Inc sees this format as an opportunity to prove that marketing works – indeed, works well – when every other part of a business is functioning optimally alongside it. “Marketing is not a tune sung on its own,” he stresses. “It has to be seen in context of a company’s complete operations and procedures.”

While Productivity SA is the main lead generator for the consortium at present, Hendrickse points out that its lead consultant has been approached by the banking industry and other corporates. “The interest shown doesn’t surprise us at Strats Inc,” he says. “The market is bound to sit up and take notice of a turnaround concept that is streamlined, fresh and totally inclusive.”