“We’ve got the tech sorted—just need more leads.”
The line is so common among IT founders, you could print it on a T-shirt.
And it reveals a major blindspot.
Too many IT companies—whether SaaS, platforms, or service-based—are great at building things. But when it comes to building the business? They stall.
Sales cycles drag. Marketing feels like a black hole. Teams are overworked. Founders double as sales reps. Product teams are pushing out features no one asked for. Growth plans are vague—or worse, wishful thinking.
That’s where business consultants come in.
Not to “tell you what to do,” but to walk alongside you, with fresh perspective, sharp commercial thinking, and the ability to help you unlock the real business opportunities buried inside your own company.
Let’s unpack this.
The Blindspot of IT Companies
Tech founders and IT execs are usually brilliant problem-solvers. But they often solve problems for others while ignoring their own.
They invest in:
- Feature sprints
- New integrations
- Internal automation
- More cloud credits
But they underinvest in:
- Sales process
- Clear marketing strategy
- Go-to-market planning
- Pricing and packaging
- Commercial partnerships
- Business model design
They assume good tech will “sell itself,” or that word-of-mouth will scale. Unfortunately, in today’s market, that’s like building a Formula 1 car and refusing to hire a driver.
Why Consultants Are Business Opportunity Enablers (Not Just Advisers)
Let’s bust the myth:
Business consultants aren’t here to write you a 50-page PowerPoint deck.
The good ones are business doers. They help you develop a growth strategy and make it happen.
Especially for IT firms, consultants focus on four major pain points—the stuff that keeps founders up at night and revenue teams chasing shadows.
1. Fixing the Sales & Go-to-Market (GTM) Strategy
The pain:
- Your sales rely on warm intros or technical founders doing demos.
- Each deal takes months to close.
- There’s no clear ICP (Ideal Customer Profile).
- Marketing hands off leads that sales ignore.
- You’ve got inbound traffic, but conversion is poor.
How consultants help:
- Clarify your ideal customer and their buying triggers.
- Design sales funnels tailored to your business model (B2B SaaS? Productised service? Enterprise solution?).
- Shorten sales cycles with better qualification criteria and customer education strategies.
- Develop sales enablement tools—case studies, ROI calculators, objection busters—that actually work.
- Help founders stop being the only salespeople, by creating scalable processes and training.
On the ground:
This isn’t abstract advice. Consultants often write your first cold email sequence, run test campaigns, sit in on sales calls, or map out GTM motions with your team.
2. Fixing the Marketing That’s Not Working
The pain:
- You’re doing content marketing, but it’s not generating leads.
- SEO is a mess, and you’re not sure what keywords matter.
- You’re running paid ads, but the ROI is negative.
- No clear brand voice or positioning.
- Marketing and product are disconnected.
How consultants help:
- Define your marketing objectives based on your growth goals—not vanity metrics.
- Align product messaging with buyer pain points.
- Rework content strategy so it attracts, nurtures, and converts.
- Audit paid channels and fix wasted spend.
- Introduce performance tracking dashboards and funnel metrics.
- Build marketing processes that don’t rely on just one person or one agency.
It’s not about posting more. It’s about doing less of what’s not working and more of what does—with a repeatable system.
3. Clarifying Strategy Beyond “Keep Building”
The pain:
- No one in the company can answer: “Where are we going in the next 12 months?”
- Every feature request becomes a roadmap item.
- You’re not sure if you should double down on your current segment, expand into a new one, or raise funding.
- You’re torn between building bespoke solutions and creating a scalable platform.
How consultants help:
- Help you zoom out from product-level thinking to company-level strategy.
- Prioritise customer segments with real potential—and ditch the ones that waste time.
- Identify your true differentiation (hint: it’s rarely the tech).
- Create a strategic roadmap with clear growth levers and milestones.
- Introduce commercial frameworks (e.g. SaaS metrics, CAC:LTV, sales velocity) that guide decisions.
Consultants challenge assumptions, pressure-test ideas, and make sure your plan isn’t just a wishlist. Then they help you operationalise it.
4. Building Business Systems That Can Scale
The pain:
- Founders are involved in everything.
- Sales, delivery, marketing, support—it’s all duct-taped together.
- No documented processes.
- Talent churn is high because roles are unclear.
- Cash flow is erratic because revenue isn’t predictable.
How consultants help:
- Define clear roles, processes, and performance metrics across business functions.
- Build a revenue operations (RevOps) system that aligns marketing, sales, and finance.
- Automate what’s manual, outsource what’s non-core, and standardise what works.
- Guide you in hiring the right roles at the right time—not prematurely or reactively.
- Implement business rhythms—monthly reviews, KPIs, planning cycles—that keep your company healthy.
You don’t need to become a corporate behemoth. But you do need to operate like a serious business, not a hobby with servers.
The Strategy AND the Execution
Let’s be blunt: You’re already working 60-hour weeks. You’re the product visionary, head of engineering, part-time salesperson, and unofficial HR manager.
Yes, you’re smart. But no, you don’t have the bandwidth or objectivity to solve every growth bottleneck alone.
A good business consultant is your temporary co-pilot.
They:
- Bring a fresh, external view to challenges you’re too close to.
- Keep the business vision in focus while you manage day-to-day fires.
- Help make better decisions, faster—and avoid expensive detours.
- Inject momentum when the team’s stuck.
- Unlock relationships, insights, and methods you don’t yet know.
In short: consultants compress your learning curve and execution timeline. That’s their value.
Not Every Consultant is a Fit—But The Right One Can Change Everything
This isn’t about hiring anyone who calls themselves a “growth guru.”
You need someone who:
- Understands technology and business
- Has worked with founder-led teams
- Can speak both “tech” and “boardroom”
- Has rolled out real, measurable commercial results
- Isn’t afraid to say hard things—and do hard work
The right consultant becomes a trusted thought partner and a business builder.
When’s the Right Time?
You don’t need to be “broken” to work with a consultant.
In fact, many IT companies engage consultants:
- Right after raising capital
- Before entering a new market
- When sales have plateaued
- After a key team member exits
- When spinning out a new product
- Before hiring their first sales/marketing lead
Any time you’re about to make a big move—or should be, but don’t know how—it’s a good time.
Meet Ignite Growth Consulting
At Ignite Growth Consulting (IGC), we’re not your average clipboard-wielding theorists.
We’re a team of senior Asian consultants with decades of Kiwi experience, having helped 500+ business owners across the globe. We bring both strategy and execution. We get the nuances of product-market fit, revenue operations, cross-border market entry, capital planning, and scaling without breaking what works.
We’re especially passionate about working with IT, SaaS, and tech-driven companies who are ready to break out of their current growth ceiling.
Let’s Chat
Whether you’re a founder, a team leader, or a board member, if you’re looking for someone to walk alongside you and help reignite momentum, I’d love to hear from you. You can:
- Email me at jeffrey@ignitegrowth.co.nz
- Complete the IGC Business Pre-Consultation Assessment Form (I will reach out to you for a free consultation arrangement)
- Book a free consultation slot on my calendar
- Or Message me via my LinkedIn account (send a connection request first)