Grow Pillar · Business Growth Strategy
You have a working business. You just do not know which lever to pull next.
For founders running 5-50 person companies between Rs. 1Cr and Rs. 20Cr ARR. Growth has plateaued or stopped being predictable. You are pitched ads weekly but the real question is positioning, ICP, channel fit, and unit economics. I work through it with you, then write down the next four quarters with named owners. Frameworks I lean on: April Dunford's positioning, JTBD, North Star, AARRR, the 1-3-5 roadmap.
Six pieces of the growth diagnostic, done in order.
Strategy without the plan is talk. Plan without the strategy is busywork. Here is the work.
Positioning audit
Who you serve, who you do not, what makes you different in one sentence a customer can repeat. Run against April Dunford's framework: alternatives, unique attributes, value, segment.
ICP narrowing
The 80/20 of your customer base by revenue, retention, and referral. Most founders sell to three segments and should sell to one. The narrow ICP doc names the company size, role, trigger, and channel they live on.
Channel-market fit map
Which of paid, SEO, content, outbound, partnerships, events, PLG actually fits your shape. Most companies bleed budget on Meta when SEO or LinkedIn outbound would compound 3x harder.
Unit economics review
CAC, LTV, payback period, gross margin per segment. The numbers most founders avoid because they reveal which customer cohort is actually losing money.
Org and ops gaps
What roles you need to hire next, what tools are missing, what process is making the wrong people do the wrong work. Growth strategy without org design is a wish.
Quarterly plan with OKRs
Four quarters mapped. Each quarter has a named theme, 3-5 objectives, key results that are measurable, and a single owner per outcome. The 1-3-5 framework: 1 goal, 3 strategies, 5 tactics per quarter.
How the strategy work actually unfolds.
2 weeks, hard look
Customer interviews (5-8 of your best customers, 2-3 churned, 2-3 prospects), revenue cohort analysis, channel-by-channel cost data, current org chart, founder interview. Where the actual bottleneck is hiding.
Cut, do not add
Most growth plans add things. This one cuts: which ICP to drop, which channel to stop funding, which feature to deprecate, which deal type to walk away from. Subtraction usually beats addition at this stage.
What ships first
The 1-3-5 plan for Q1, sketched for Q2-Q4. Each move sequenced because order matters. Fix positioning before scaling ads, fix retention before chasing top of funnel.
Strategy turns into work
You execute, or I execute alongside you. Weekly check-ins, monthly OKR review, quarterly reset. No "let me know how the strategy goes" hand-off.
Growth strategist vs. McKinsey deck vs. marketing agency vs. VP Growth hire.
| What matters | Me | Big consulting | Marketing agency | VP Growth hire |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cost to start | Rs. 2-8L for the diagnostic | Rs. 50L+ for a deck | Rs. 2-5L/mo plus ad spend | Rs. 40-80L salary annual |
| Time to first written plan | 2-3 weeks | 3-6 months | None, just runs ads | 3 months ramp |
| Implements alongside | Yes if you want | Hands off, leaves | Only the marketing slice | Yes |
| Skin in the game | Personal reputation per project | Partner moves to next client | Retainer continues either way | Equity / salary |
| Covers positioning + channels + ops | Yes - full stack | Yes but PowerPoint | Channels only | Depends on the hire |
| Disposable when not needed | Stop anytime | Project ends | Retainer lock-in | Layoffs are expensive |
Strategy work that turned into shipping work.
Three projects where the diagnostic changed which channel, which ICP, or which ops shape the business doubled down on.
Three ways to start the strategy work.
Strategy intensive
2-3 weeks
Customer interviews, cohort analysis, channel review, positioning workshop with founders. Written growth plan with one-page positioning, narrowed ICP, channel-fit ranking, unit economics review, and Q1 with named OKRs. Stop here or continue.
Strategy + execution sprint
6-8 weeks
Strategy intensive plus the first quarter shipped. New positioning rolled across the site, primary channel re-launched, measurement and CRM wired, the first 3 OKRs already in motion before the engagement ends.
Fractional growth lead
ongoing
I sit in your weekly leadership meeting, hold quarterly OKRs, run or oversee the marketing and automation stack, hire and brief specialists when needed. Lighter than a VP Growth salary, with skin in the strategy quarter on quarter.
The questions every founder asks before paying for strategy.
What pairs with the strategy work.
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Send me your last 4 quarters of revenue and headcount.
Plus your top 3 growth bottlenecks and your current best guess at why. I will reply within 24 hours with a written read on what is actually broken and where the next 2 quarters of compounding wins live. No sales call needed.