Services
Practical advisory across the full arc of a decision.
Eight areas of practice, from framing a strategic question through to supporting execution. Most engagements draw on more than one.
Corporate & Growth Strategy
Deciding where the business should go next, and what it will take to get there.
Client situations
- Growth has plateaued and the leadership team disagrees on the cause.
- A promising set of opportunities exists, but no shared basis for choosing between them.
- A board wants a medium-term plan it can hold management to.
Our approach
- 1.Establish the real strategic question and the decision it feeds.
- 2.Assess the current position: economics by line of business, customers, capability and competitive footing.
- 3.Develop and pressure-test a defined set of options rather than a single preferred answer.
- 4.Translate the chosen direction into priorities, sequencing and resourcing.
Typical outputs
- Strategy document with clear options and a reasoned recommendation
- Growth priorities with sequencing and resource implications
- Board-ready summary and supporting analysis pack
Market Entry & Commercial Assessment
Understanding a market properly before committing capital or reputation to it.
Client situations
- An international business is considering its first operation in an African market.
- A domestic company is weighing expansion into a new country, segment or channel.
- An investor needs an independent read on demand, pricing and competitive intensity.
Our approach
- 1.Size and segment the opportunity using the best evidence available, with assumptions stated openly.
- 2.Map the competitive and channel landscape, including informal and adjacent players.
- 3.Assess the practical realities of operating: partners, route to market, cost base, licensing and operational friction.
- 4.Set out entry options with the investment, timeline and risk attached to each.
Typical outputs
- Market assessment with demand, pricing and competitive analysis
- Entry options appraisal with indicative investment and timeline
- Risk register and mitigation view
Transaction & Investment Support
Commercial thinking and analysis around acquisitions, investments and partnerships.
Client situations
- A company is evaluating an acquisition and needs an independent commercial view.
- An investor wants the business plan behind a proposal properly interrogated.
- A management team is preparing for buyer or investor scrutiny.
Our approach
- 1.Clarify the investment thesis and the assumptions it depends on.
- 2.Conduct commercial diligence on market, customers, revenue quality and delivery capability.
- 3.Build or rebuild the transaction analysis to test value drivers and downside cases.
- 4.Support negotiation preparation and post-deal planning with practical, prioritised actions.
Typical outputs
- Commercial diligence report with key findings and red flags
- Transaction analysis and scenario testing
- Integration or value-creation priorities
Financial Modelling, Valuation & Feasibility
Numbers built to withstand scrutiny from boards, lenders and investors.
Client situations
- An existing model has grown unwieldy and is no longer trusted internally.
- A project needs a feasibility assessment before capital is committed.
- A shareholder or board discussion requires an indicative valuation view.
Our approach
- 1.Build transparent, auditable models with assumptions visible and separated from calculations.
- 2.Stress-test through scenarios and sensitivities on the variables that genuinely move the outcome.
- 3.Apply established valuation approaches, explaining the basis and limitations of each.
- 4.Hand over with documentation and a walkthrough so the client's team can run it independently.
Typical outputs
- Operating or project financial model with scenario functionality
- Feasibility assessment with clear go / no-go considerations
- Indicative valuation analysis with stated methodology and assumptions
Business Planning & Capital-Raising Readiness
A business case that answers the questions a funder will actually ask.
Client situations
- A company intends to approach investors or lenders in the coming months.
- An existing plan reads well but does not stand up to financial interrogation.
- A founder needs help articulating the opportunity without overstating it.
Our approach
- 1.Set out the commercial logic first, then build the financials to match it.
- 2.Prepare the supporting materials a diligence process will require.
- 3.Rehearse the likely challenges and prepare grounded responses to each.
- 4.Identify gaps in readiness — governance, reporting, data — and plan how to close them.
Typical outputs
- Full business plan and integrated financial projections
- Investor or lender presentation materials
- Readiness assessment with a prioritised preparation checklist
Operating Model & Performance Improvement
Making the organisation work the way the strategy assumes it does.
Client situations
- Revenue is growing but margin is not following.
- Accountability is unclear and decisions take too long.
- A business has outgrown the structure and processes that once served it.
Our approach
- 1.Establish the facts on cost, throughput and service using the client's own data.
- 2.Trace where value is created and where it leaks away across the end-to-end process.
- 3.Redesign structure, roles, decision rights and reporting around what the business must do well.
- 4.Define a realistic implementation path with owners, measures and checkpoints.
Typical outputs
- Operating model design with roles and decision rights
- Performance improvement plan with quantified opportunities
- Management reporting and KPI framework
Public-Sector & Infrastructure Advisory
Rigorous, impartial analysis for decisions that carry public consequence.
Client situations
- A public body must appraise options for a major project or programme.
- An infrastructure proposal requires a feasibility and affordability assessment.
- A reform or delivery programme needs structuring, sequencing and monitoring.
Our approach
- 1.Define objectives and success measures before evaluating options.
- 2.Appraise options against cost, deliverability, risk and intended outcomes.
- 3.Assess commercial structure, funding considerations and institutional capacity to deliver.
- 4.Build monitoring frameworks so progress can be tracked honestly over time.
Typical outputs
- Options appraisal and feasibility report
- Delivery roadmap with institutional responsibilities
- Monitoring and evaluation framework
Executive & Project Support
Experienced senior capacity, for a defined period, on the work that cannot wait.
Client situations
- A leadership team is carrying a critical initiative on top of full-time roles.
- A project needs structure, cadence and someone accountable for keeping it moving.
- An executive wants a discreet thinking partner ahead of a significant decision.
Our approach
- 1.Agree a tight scope, a duration and a clear definition of what completion looks like.
- 2.Work inside the client's rhythm — their meetings, their tools, their reporting lines.
- 3.Drive the work forward while transferring method and materials to the internal team.
- 4.Step back deliberately once the capability is in place.
Typical outputs
- Project structure, plan and governance cadence
- Analysis, papers and materials prepared to board standard
- Handover pack and internal capability transfer
Please note: Gladius provides business consulting and support services only. We do not provide legal advice, audit or assurance services, or regulated financial services, and nothing on this site constitutes investment advice. Clients should obtain independent legal, tax and regulatory advice where required.
Get in touch
If you are weighing a decision, we are happy to think it through with you.
An initial conversation is confidential, without obligation, and usually the fastest way to work out whether we can be useful.