Strategy & Growth Support for an Outsourced Paraplanning Consultancy
Sector: Financial Services Support
Role: Strategic Advisor & Coach
Service Areas: Strategy · Financial Planning · Capacity & Growth · Leadership Support
The Challenge
A fast-growing outsourced paraplanning consultancy, trading for less than a year, had quickly become both successful and highly profitable. Demand was strong, the quality of work was high, and the business was performing well commercially.
Despite this, the director was under significant pressure. Visibility over the business was limited, decision-making felt heavy, and there was little sense of control over workload or direction. The business relied heavily on personal effort, making it difficult to step away, take breaks, or properly switch off. The pressure of delivery, long hours, and blurred boundaries with clients had begun to take its toll.
Although the business was clearly succeeding, confidence in its sustainability was fragile. The director was unsure how to grow without increasing pressure, uncertain about taking on staff, and holding back personally - including retaining excessive financial reserves rather than drawing income - due to a lack of certainty about what the business could support and feeling stuck between protecting quality and avoiding burnout.
What was needed was not more work, but clarity, focus, and confidence in both the business and himself as a business owner.
Our Approach
Bonner-Murray Consulting worked closely with the director through a series of structured sessions, combining strategic planning, financial clarity, and leadership support to bring the business back into focus and control.
The engagement began by stepping back from day-to-day delivery to properly understand the business as a whole.
This included:
Building a clear picture of how the business was performing financially and operationally
Reviewing workload, capacity, and client mix to understand where pressure was really coming from
Identifying where a lack of visibility was driving uncertainty and self-doubt
Creating space for the director to reflect on goals, priorities, and what success actually looked like
This phase was about replacing assumption and anxiety with facts, visibility, and perspective.
With better visibility in place, focus shifted to building confidence through structure.
This involved:
Developing a clear financial view of the business, including income, reserves, and future capacity
Stress-testing growth scenarios to understand what the business could safely support
Reframing the director’s relationship with reserves, enabling confidence to draw income from the business
Introducing light planning and focus tools to help maintain momentum without overwhelm
This work gave the director confidence not just in the numbers, but in his judgement and capability as a business owner.
With clarity and confidence restored, attention turned to sustainability and future direction.
This included:
Creating a clear plan for growth that did not rely solely on personal capacity
Supporting decisions around future hiring and expansion timing
Introducing practical tools to help the director stay focused, prioritised, and in control
Ensuring the business could continue operating effectively even when the director stepped away
The emphasis throughout was on building a business that supported the owner, not one that consumed him.
The Outcome
By the end of the engagement, the business was operating from a position of clarity, confidence, and control.
The outcome included:
Clear visibility over the business, its performance, and its future capacity
Increased confidence in the sustainability and success of the business
The ability for the director to step away, take breaks, and properly switch off
Improved focus and reduced mental load day to day
Confidence to release excess reserves and unlock income personally
A renewed sense of control and belief as a business owner
“The business is doing fine, but I’m not… I don’t sleep, I’m constantly thinking about work. Having clarity has really helped… it’s renewed my mindset on the business, and I feel like I’ve got a new sense of direction.”
Director (anonymous)
