Blog – Strategic Management Consulting

20May 2025 by Lucieg789 No Comments

Top 5 Challenges Facing Hampshire SMEs (and How to Overcome Them)

Business Coaching, Consultician, Management Consulting

Running a small or medium-sized enterprise (SME) in Hampshire is a rewarding but often challenging endeavour. While our county boasts a thriving business community, local SMEs face unique hurdles that can hinder growth and success. At Consultician, we work with businesses like yours every day, and we understand the pressures you're under. So, we've compiled the top five challenges facing Hampshire SMEs, along with practical solutions to help you navigate these tricky waters. The Talent Tug-of-War: Attracting and Retaining Top Talent Finding and keeping skilled employees is a constant struggle for many SMEs. Larger companies often have bigger budgets and more attractive benefits packages, making it difficult for smaller businesses to compete. The Solution: Think outside the box! Offer flexible working arrangements, invest in employee training and development, and create a…

14Apr 2025 by Lucieg789 No Comments

5 Key Strategies Every SME Should Implement for Sustainable Growth

Business Coaching, Management Consulting

For small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), achieving consistent, long-term growth can sometimes feel like a daunting task. With limited resources, constant challenges, and the need to adapt to an ever-changing market, it’s easy to get caught up in short-term gains and lose sight of the bigger picture. However, implementing well-thought-out strategies can make all the difference when it comes to sustaining growth over time. Here are five key strategies every SME should consider to ensure long-term success: Develop a Clear Business Strategy Without a clear strategy, it’s difficult to navigate your business towards sustainable growth. A well-defined business strategy serves as a roadmap for success, helping you identify your long-term goals and the steps needed to achieve them. Start by conducting a thorough analysis of your current market position, strengths,…

09Apr 2025 by Lucieg789 No Comments

Marketing on a Budget: How SMEs Can Use Social Media to Drive Business Success

Business Coaching, General

For many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), marketing budgets are often tight. Yet, despite these financial constraints, social media offers an incredible opportunity to raise brand awareness, engage with customers, and drive sales – all without breaking the bank. In today’s digital age, the right social media strategy can deliver impressive results, even for businesses with limited resources. Here’s a practical guide on how SMEs can leverage social media platforms effectively to achieve marketing success. 1. Choose the Right Platforms for Your Business With so many social media platforms available, it’s essential to focus your efforts on the ones that will most benefit your business. For SMEs, it’s important to identify where your target audience spends their time. Here’s a quick breakdown of popular platforms: Facebook: Great for building communities and…

06Feb 2025 by Lucieg789 No Comments

Why Business Coaching is the Secret to Unlocking Your SME’s Full Potential

Business Coaching, Management Consulting

As an SME owner or manager, you’re juggling multiple priorities, striving to grow your business while tackling everyday challenges. Sometimes, it can feel overwhelming trying to maintain focus on long-term goals while managing day-to-day operations. This is where business coaching can be a game-changer. Business coaching isn’t just for large corporations – it’s a powerful tool for SMEs looking to maximise their potential. Whether you’re a small start-up or an established business, a tailored coaching programme can help you navigate obstacles, clarify your vision, and achieve measurable growth. Here’s how business coaching can make a difference: 1. Overcoming Challenges with Expert Guidance Every business faces obstacles, whether it’s managing cash flow, handling employee performance, or adapting to market changes. Business coaching provides you with a fresh, objective perspective. By working closely with…

01May 2019 by Lucieg789 No Comments

Phishing Attacks See Massive Increases and Improvements in Execution with Social Engineering at the Helm

General, Management Consulting, Training

With 98% of malicious emails that hit inboxes containing no malware, the evolution and future of the phish lies squarely in the hands of effective social engineering. If you were a cybercriminal and were planning on using email as the medium by which to carry out your evil plans, you quickly realize you need to fool the recipient no matter what – whether the desired action is to open a malicious attachment, click a link, or respond, you much con them into doing so. Read more

08Feb 2019 by Lucieg789 No Comments

Social Engineering Comes to Wikipedia

Management Consulting, Training

Attackers are selectively editing Wikipedia articles to lend credibility to tech support scams, according to Rob VandenBrink at the SANS Internet Storm Center. The Wikipedia page for the SpyEye banking Trojan was changed in mid-December to include a typo-ridden paragraph which claims that only three tech companies can remove the malware, and that “Best buy, Geek squad, Office Depo will not be able to fix it at all.” VandenBrink says that the scammer made these edits to convince victims that “only we can help you fix this (fake of course) infection you have on your computer.” The edit history of the Wikipedia user who made the changes shows that the account made similar edits to the “Macro virus” Wikipedia page, but those changes have since been fixed by other users.…

01Feb 2019 by Lucieg789 No Comments

Modern Ransomware Goes After Data Backups

Management Consulting, Training

Ransomware is using a variety of methods to reduce or nullify the effectiveness of data backups, writes Maria Korolov at CSO. Restoring from a backup is one of the best strategies that organizations can use to recover from a ransomware attack, so it’s obvious why attackers would want to target this data. Ransomware has been observed attacking shared network drives, Windows shadow copies, and any files that have backup file extensions. Some ransomware variants can even sync with the victim’s cloud service and encrypt files stored there. Read more here...

30Jan 2019 by Lucieg789 No Comments

Cybercrime could cost companies trillions over the next five years

General

A new report (PDF) by Accenture indicates that over the next 5 years, cyberattacks could result in global costs totaling $5.2 trillion. That amount includes both lost revenue for companies and the expenses businesses are likely to incur due to attacks. The high costs have to do with the growth of the digital economy and the poor cybersecurity controls applying to new technologies. Based on the survey of around 1,700 C-suite members from across the globe, Accenture claims that “Internet security is lagging behind the sophistication of cybercriminals and is leading to an erosion of trust in the digital economy”. Read More...

29Jan 2019 by Lucieg789 No Comments

[Heads-up!] New ‘Anatova’ Ransomware Disguised As A Game. Warn Your Users

General

The ransomware strain was discovered in a private peer-to-peer (p2p) network and targets consumers by using the icon of a game or application to trick the user into downloading it. McAfee researchers today announced the discovery of a new ransomware family, “Anatova” that is targeting consumers at scale across the globe. The ransomware was discovered in a private peer-to-peer (p2p) network and targets consumers by using the icon of a game or application to trick the user into downloading it. Christiaan Beek, Lead Scientist & Principle Engineer at McAfee said, “Creating a quick and fast piece of ransomware is fairly easy for those with basic know-how. Ransomware packed with functionality that is also difficult to analyze, such as Anatova, is more difficult to create from scratch. Anatova has the potential to become…

28Jan 2019 by Lucieg789 No Comments

EY UK: “We’ve seen a huge proliferation of very successful phishing attacks”

Management Consulting, Training

Bethan Moorcraft at InsuranceBusiness Mag UK wrote an excellent article about the current state of cyber insurance in Europe. Here is an extract with the link to the full article at the bottom: “In 2018, we saw a huge proliferation of very successful phishingcampaigns,” said Ryan Rubin, partner, UK Forensic & Integrity Services team, Ernst & Young. “Unfortunately, cyber criminals are being very effective and are getting through organisations’ defences, despite there being an increasing awareness of cyber risk and a general improvement in security controls. What we’ve seen is that businesses often focus on trying to prevent the sophisticated cyberattacks from happening, and they’re less concerned about basic low-level attacks like phishing and business email compromise. Read the full article...