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Blacksmith's Cottage Nurseries (BCN), a supplier of herbaceous perennials based near Diss in South Norfolk, was a business with a nice problem. Rapid growth, combined with some great publicity, had resulted in more work than the family team could undertake. All three sales channels (the nursery, national shows and mail order) saw volumes increase significantly in the previous year, and momentum had to be maintained. A number of opportunities were presenting themselves, but which ones made sense for the business? Money for investment was tight, and mistakes just couldn't be allowed to happen.

The winter is traditionally a quiet period in the industry, but BCN were under pressure to construct new facilities before the new season. Planning and funding had taken longer than anticipated, and now there was a race against time--the right decisions had to be made, and quickly.

Having received BCN's request for help, MossKing recognised the need for a quick fix--there was no time to conduct extensive research or to pilot different options. To achieve rapid results, MossKing had to tap into a very reliable source of information: the enormous wealth of knowledge held by everyone who worked within the business. Often the solution to a problem is there already, just waiting to be found, and 'outsiders' can offer the perspective necessary to find it.

The approach was simple. Beginning with a short questionnaire issued to the whole team, MossKing summarised the main successes and problems. Using this as input to a workshop held with all team members, BCN established the strategic intent for the business, and agreed their strengths and weaknesses. As the workshop progressed, BCN were able to identify the best opportunities available to them, ie those that built on their existing strengths, fitted the core purpose of the business and gave the best return. A final session focused on

prioritising opportunities, and developing an implementation plan. A few days later, MossKing delivered a full report capturing the major discussion points, key decisions and agreed action plan.

Ben Potterton, the owner of BCN, says, "MossKing helped us understand the real strengths of our business, and identify how to expand based on those strengths. We were in serious danger of spreading ourselves too thinly, whether that was developing new sales channels, or diversifying beyond our core business before we were ready. I'm confident that we're in much better shape now, and I feel positive about the new season. MossKing helped us focus in a way we couldn't have done without their help. I look forward to working with them again in the future."

From MossKing's perspective, this project illustrates a critical point: to clarify the strategic direction of a small business (and build an implementation plan) doesn't necessarily require a massive amount of mantime, or money. The combination of knowledgeable stakeholders with good facilitation has tremendous power that should never be underestimated.

FIRST PUBLISHED MKAL UPDATE SPRING 05

When running a project, however large or small, it's worth remembering that time, cost and quality are inextricably intertwined. If you change one, the other two are usually affected eg cutting costs will lower quality, meaning that less is delivered in the given time. Are you risking the benefits you get from your investment in change by failing to manage the trinity correctly?