for organizations – Sarah Van Aken

Services for organizations

Enterprise Growth Consulting

Supporting organizations in enrolling individuals and teams to reach their highest individual and collective potential*.

*Human potential is your greatest asset

Sarah positions consumer and technology brands for growth and acquisition. By harnessing human potential — our greatest asset — at the individual and organizational level, she is able to drive measurable and lasting results. Her belief is that a brand is the soul of your business. As the soul, it is the life-force that engages human potential and thus drives every aspect of your business. Sarah has a unique understanding of this relationship and experience in transforming that force into value for the organization.

Methodology: The foundation of Sarah’s innovative business methodology and her success in transforming organizations is in bringing insights, sensibilities and wisdom from coaching practices and Eastern philosophy. Sarah integrates a unique blend of these practices into tried and true business methodologies and entrepreneurial innovation for organizations. As each organization has its own individual needs, her work takes many different forms from in-house corporate strategy or fractional consulting, to workshops, seminars and select individual executive coaching sessions. Sarah meets organizations at various places on the arc of their growth and exit planning lifecycle and thus offers customized services to clients to support them in their organizational transformation.

Together we will align vision, strategy, and culture to excel at execution and surpass goals.

Services include:

Brand Positioning & Strategy: Brand authenticity is achieved by how and what you do working in harmony from one clear, shared belief: your why. A Strong Brand = A Strong Bottom Line.

Building a brand encompasses the organization’s entire way of being. Thus, Sarah’s work doesn’t just engage the brand at a surface level, it starts at the core ‘why’ and leads to integration of the brand by engaging each area of business and each individual in the organization.

Business Design & Entrepreneurial Innovation: In a changing marketplace there isn’t always a direct line to scalable growth. Often, it requires understanding the core emotional job your product offers to consumers and translating that through next-generation innovation into other vehicles and verticals; this can be risky and capital intensive.

Sarah works with teams to ideate from a place of clarity on core competency and mission, while innovating into emerging business areas. Her work methodically supports the creation of sustainable business and brand equity through market testing and validation. Too, she ensures that teams, supports and capital align with a thoughtful launch plan to deliver on success.

Organization Transformation: Growth, business challenges and exit planning all create the need for organizational assessment and, often, transition. How that work is done matters to the success of the team, its operations, and the overall value of the organization.

Taking a holistic approach that considers the human potential, business stability and scalability and future planning is key. Sarah is experienced in supporting leaders, founders and teams in getting set up for success by thoughtfully transforming teams and operations to meet current and future needs of the business.

Cultural Transformation: Changes in business, such as rapid growth or challenging markets, can spur an organization’s need to evolve their culture.

As business challenges arise, there are a number of internal pressures that may result: people may be asked to step up into new or expanded roles, potentially beyond their experience base, current skill set or time capacity; operations may not seamlessly shift to meet new demands (either larger or smaller) causing breakdowns or loop-de-loops that create stress for individuals and teams; pressure to perform, meet deadlines and deliver can reach a fever pitch; new leadership with different styles or focus can be unsettling or disengaging; a detachment from core brand values creates fractures in the product and services it offers and in consumer relationships, further impacting success. All of these factors and more can create a breakdown in cultural synergy or even toxicity. This breakdown can be an Achilles heel to a business’s success.

Sarah brings her experience in transforming culture as an operator and chief executive, her extensive understanding of aligning people to brand mission and values, as well as her coaching and Eastern philosophy wisdom teachings to her work in cultural transformation. She meets the team where they are and enrolls them in the vision, includes them in the transformation process and restores integrity within the organization’s culture.

Services include onsite fractional leadership, workshops, and coaching. Sarah often brings in expert partners to support this work.

Exit Planning: Sarah supports founders of small to mid-size businesses in first, understanding what exit planning really is: smart business strategy that delivers value today while offering readiness, opportunity and transferrable value tomorrow. Then she supports them in preparing and executing a successful exit. Sarah acts as a steward on behalf of the founder, protecting their interests and managing all the key partners and team members needed to facilitate a successful transition.

The process of planning for an exit is unique for each founder. Her approach includes understanding the founder’s personal perspective, wants and needs; creating an intentional and methodical business structure, including strategy and team transitions which will align with what is best for business today and how it needs to be positioned for future value and transition; and taking a thoughtful human-centric approach in leading the entire organization. The exit planning process takes much longer than most founders realize and should start several years in advance of the actual transaction to ensure that the organization is positioned from a financial, organizational and brand equity standpoint to make it attractive for multiple buyers.

Exit Planning and Implementation Services Include:

- Scenario Planning: Where the founder’s personal needs and sensibilities meet the market opportunity.
- Organizational Assessment and Positioning: Determining the current and desired value, defining strengths and weaknesses of the organization and outlining a strategy that positions the organization for the optimal scenario. This work can include brand positioning, strategic growth, team or cultural transformation, operational mapping and/or financial management strategies that increase value and opportunity.
- Execution of Exit Strategy: Supporting the organization in determining the best representation (banking and legal), positioning strategy for each buyer profile, pitching, negotiation support, due diligence and transition services.
- Founder Coaching – As a founder it can be hard to think about exiting your business. Your business is more than numbers and more than a job or even a career. It’s personal. It’s a part of you and intrinsically linked to your personal finances, lifetime plans and identity. It may be that you love what you do and and thus, don’t think that planning your ‘exit’ makes sense. It’s possible that thinking about ‘exiting’ feels scary because you don’t want to think about the end or don’t know what your second mountain will be. It simply could be hard to step back and think that far beyond the exciting initiatives you have on your plate right now. As a coach, Sarah helps founders understand their personal sensibilities around their business, finances and shaping their next act. Together you will map out critical strategies for the business and you personally so that you are prepared any time you are ready to step into your next act.