First, level-set the expectations around the market size and headroom for growth:

• Disaggregated and normalized overall category traffic numbers (MMUs) into a number of individual leads, so as to assess the actual number of prospects online and hence the overall market penetration of online solutions (vs. offline)

• Built an analytical model to forecast the market, 5-year out

As the forecast uncovered some remaining growth potential in the market 3-5 year out, next moved to the 3-year plan:

• Developed a model of the company’s revenues, in order to identify the key levers driving growth

• For each of those key levers, assessed their individual upside potential

• From the previous step, derived a “full potential” forecast for the business and pressure tested it, based on practical constraints

  • Doing so, uncovered the key growth levers to drive the business moving forward would differ from historical ones

In parallel, developed the long-term strategy:

• 1-1 Discussions with Senior Leadership to uncovers concerns, develop responses to a variety of “negative” scenarios and discuss strategic options

• Thorough research (primary and secondary) to vet the Leadership’s concerns, the scenarios and to assess strategic options

• Integrating findings from the 3-year forecast, prioritized options and updated the strategy, with revisions to the business model

Last, integrated into an 18-months activity plan with clear owners and accountability