BACKWARDS
Independent consulting  ·  Sandton, Johannesburg

Start at the outcome. Work backwards.

Most businesses know something is not working. Fewer can name it. We sit in the business, find the actual problem, design the fix, and bring in the people who can deliver it.

The method runs in reverse

Everyone else starts at step one and hopes it ends somewhere useful. We start at the end and reverse engineer the path to it.

04

Define what good looks like

Before anything else, we agree the outcome in plain numbers. Revenue, margin, headcount, delivery time or retention. If it cannot be measured, it cannot be fixed.

03

Name the real problem

The stated problem is rarely the actual one. Slow sales is usually a positioning problem. A delivery problem is usually a people problem. We work back until we hit the thing that is genuinely in the way.

02

Design the fix

The right structure, process, commercial model or technology for the size of business you actually are. Practical enough to start on Monday, not a slide deck that sits in a folder.

01

Bring in the people who deliver it

Strategy without the right people is a document. After fifteen years of building networks across banking, insurance, fintech and technology services, we know who can actually do the work, and we make the introduction.

What we get called in for

Usually somewhere between the strategy and the doing, which is where most things quietly stall.

Revenue

Growth and revenue strategy

Where the next rand actually comes from. Pricing, margin, sales structure, pipeline discipline and the commercial model behind it.

Market

Go to market and business development

Positioning, proposition and a route into the accounts that matter. Built around relationships and warm introductions, not cold volume.

People

Talent and team build

Contracting, resource augmentation and delivery teams. Scoping the roles you really need, then finding people who can hold them.

Change

Business transformation

Operating model, process and structure. Making the organisation match the thing it is trying to become.

Network

Partnerships and introductions

The right conversation with the right person at the right time. Often the shortest distance between a problem and a solution.

Advisory

Sounding board for founders and MDs

A standing conversation for the decisions you cannot take to your own team yet. Direct, commercial and confidential.

Contact

Tell us the problem. We will tell you if we can help.

gareth@backwards.co.za
Based in

Sandton, Johannesburg
Working across South Africa

Best first step

A short call or a coffee. Most things are quicker to solve in person.