The operating plan behind the growth plan.
Growth strategies describe where the business is going. Operating strategies describe what the business needs to build, buy, and decide in order to get there. Most businesses have one and not the other — and the gap between them is where growth stalls. The Atelier operations strategy engagement starts from the growth plan and works backwards to the operating decisions that need to be made in what sequence. Capacity. Footprint. Organisation. Technology. The decisions that take twelve months to implement need to be made now, not when the revenue arrives.
What the engagement covers
+
- 01
Operating baseline: what the current operations can produce at what cost and service level.
- 02
Gap analysis: what the growth plan requires that the current operations cannot deliver.
- 03
Capacity strategy: make, lease, or outsource; when; at what capital cost.
- 04
Footprint decisions: which facilities, which geographies, which network nodes.
- 05
Organisation design: what roles, what capabilities, what spans of control.
- 06
Technology roadmap: what systems are needed, in what sequence, to support the operating plan.
- 07
Financial model: the capital and operating cost of the plan, integrated with the P&L.
Who engages an Operations Strategy
+
- 01
CEOs and boards setting three-year operating plans alongside financial plans.
- 02
PE sponsors developing the operating underpinning for a growth investment thesis.
- 03
Founder-led businesses that have outgrown the operating model that got them here.
- 04
Management teams preparing for a fundraise who need a credible operating narrative.
Engagement structure
+
Typically 60–90 days for the strategy phase. Implementation support available as a separate engagement or as part of a fractional COO mandate.
Where the boundary sits
+
- —
Not a strategy deck the operating team never sees again.
- —
Not a substitute for execution — the plan is designed to be run, and the engagement can extend into running it.
Where this discipline compounds.
If the growth plan does not yet have an operating plan under it, a scoped session is where to start.
Engage
Ready to scope operations strategy?
Share a few details and a partner will reply within one business day.