Start Up Advisory
Founder’s Best Friend
Your strategic & operational side-kick .
I partner with early-stage founders, CEOs, and entrepreneurs who need strategic and operational support to build, launch, or scale their brand.
Hire me as your strategic sounding board, experienced business & brand builder and operator to help get your project off the ground.
How it works
A Chief of Staff style “done with you” advisory + implementation service to help get you from zero to go and navigate what’s next.
1 hour 1:1 strategy call each week with me and you (the founder) to work through your go-to-market plan, strategic priorities and operational next steps.
Implementation and project management hours each week for me to focus on what ever is most pressing to help get you to the next stage.
researching and doing deep dives on your industry and competitors,
helping you to find and brief in the right freelancers,
help produce your brand and content guidelines,
project manage the build of your Shopify or Squarespace website, or
help build your SOPs and operational ways of working.
Notion project board for tracking our progress and project management (Or your preferred PM tool)
Follow up over email, slack messaging or voice notes in between strategy sessions to keep things moving.
Additional project management hours available if needed.
Things we can work on together:
Go to Market Strategy
Getting clear on what you do, who you do it for and why they would want it from you.
Identifying ideal clients and market opportunities, developing the plan to reach those people, solve their problems and provide what they’re looking for again and again.
Setting objectives and key results (OKRS) to keep you and your team moving forward towards the same goal.
Brand & Marketing
Help and guidance with developing brand books, content guidelines and creative packages for your business.
Choosing the right marketing channels for you to show up in to reach the right audience, at the right time with the right information.
Creating an achievable marketing plan, hiring and briefing in freelancers and agencies, and getting the creative work done to keep you moving forward.
D2C Ecommerce
Setting up your Shopify store for success with the right structure and tools from the beginning - Email, Meta, Google, SEO and Social to drive traffic to your store.
Customer attraction and retention strategies, user experience journey mapping, loyalty programs and designing the full end-to-end experience with your brand.
Navigating Ts&Cs, packaging, shipping, returns and logistics for ecommerce.
Market Expansion
New market and competitor research, industry deep dives and best practices, identifying opportunities for new products, services and collaborations.
Consideration for localisation of brand and marketing assets, translations, local laws and GDPR requirements.
Support with getting local operations and teams set up in a new region or market.
B2C Retail & B2B Wholesale
Product architecture and pricing strategy, segmented retail marketing programs, retail POS and visual merchandising guidelines, fixtures and point of sale tools for driving brand recognition and commercial growth.
Catalogues and sell-in tools for trade and wholesale channels. Trade marketing creative assets to help your accounts with sell through.
Operations
Do all your operational processes, systems and tech work together holistically?
How are you managing projects, on boarding new team members and briefing in freelancers and agencies while keeping them all on the same timeline and unified path.
How are you tracking your expenses, revenue and profit and allocating marketing spend to the right activities.
Who I work with
CEOs, Founders & Entrepreneurs who:
Run purpose-driven, founder-led brands in outdoor, fashion, homewares, travel, lifestyle, or hospitality industries.
Have a strong business & brand vision and need help with strategic clarity on growth, scaling, or market expansion.
Are wearing too many hats in the day to day running of the business, and need a trusted strategic partner to help work on the big picture, and help get critical projects on track.
Want access to senior-level expertise but don’t want (or can’t afford) a full-time CMO, COO or Chief of Staff.
Previous clients have included:
Early-stage startup founders refining their brand positioning & go-to-market strategy.
Product-based business owners (fashion, homewares, travel) who need help to launch and omni-channel retail and marketing strategies
Creative entrepreneurs & lifestyle brand founders needing help to build their personal portfolio and online brand
Hospitality or experience-led business owners (boutique accommodation, travel brands) who want to launch a new offering, get more bookings and scale sustainably.
Corporate escapees turned entrepreneurs who need help navigating their pivot or reinvention, and build their online portfolio
Founder Success
“Bridget helped me put my portfolio and website together in a way that truly represented me.
It really took my thinking to the next level and gave me the confidence to feel “I can do this”.
Sofia Ruffino - Founder Sofi Modi Ceramics
The Project.
Sofi Modi Ceramics Portfolio & Website Build
sofimodi.com
“Bridget helped me put my portfolio and website together in a way that truly represented me.
It was the first time I could really appreciate all the work I have been putting in to building my brand. B gave me the confidence to see myself and my work as a brand for the first time, it really took my thinking to the next level and gave me the confidence to feel ‘ I can do this ‘
Being very creative made me nervous at handing over my website to be made by someone else but B TOTALLY understood my aesthetic and created something that I feel truly represents me and my work.
Her guidance and explanations through the process made me confident to move forward. I can now receive orders and also amend the website myself when I need to, thank you thank you.
When I saw my website for the first time I thought ‘ Wow I want to meet this talented woman’ The way she presented and described my work helped me to see my own potential and to congratulate myself.
Highly recommend her services”
Sofia Ruffino - Founder & Designer Sofi Modi Ceramics
Who I am
Your Founders Best Friend is me - Bridget.
With over 20 years of experience in brand, retail and marketing leadership, I’ve worked across global lifestyle brands, major fashion retailers, and built my own retail and ecommerce ventures from the ground up.
I’ve navigated the realities of founder-led startups, VC-backed scale-ups, and executive leadership in global organisations - spanning the outdoor, fashion, travel, home, lifestyle, consumer goods, and for-purpose sectors.
This unique mix of strategic vision and operational expertise allows me to help founders, CEOs, and entrepreneurs cut through complexity, think holistically, and put the right foundations in place to build, launch, and scale brands, businesses, and ideas.
Globally, regionally & locally
Monthly Support Options:
Consulting
Advisory
Monthly retainers
AUD $1500 /month +GST
USD $950 /month
GBP £750 /month
Best for: Early stage founders and entrepreneurs in the planning and set up stages of a new venture.
4 x 60 min strategy calls - 1 per week
Follow up notes & recommendations
The outcome: You take the ideas and recommendations we work though during our strategy sessions and run with them on your own.
Done With You
Advisory
+ Implementation
Monthly retainers
AUD $3000 /month +GST
USD $1900 /month
GBP £1500 /month
Best for: Founders of brands who are starting to build and need some hands-on help to get moving.
4 x 60 min strategy calls - 1 per week
Follow up notes & recommendations
3-4 hours of my time per week dedicated to you for implementation to help get you to the next stage.
Notion board for tracking our progress and project management (Or your preferred PM tool)
Follow up over email, slack messaging or voice notes in between strategy sessions to keep things moving.
Additional project management hours or days available by request
The outcome: You take the ideas and recommendations we work through during our strategy sessions and decide how you’d like to move forward.
I help you make a plan for how to get it done.
We decide together what the most pressing tasks are that you need some help with to keep moving, for me to spend the implimentation hours on.
Done For You
Advisory
+ Implementation
+ Project Management
Price on application
Best for: Founders of startups or established brands who are building, growing or launching something new, and have the budget to invest in some hands-on help to get a project moving faster.
4 x 60 min strategy calls - 1 per week
Follow up notes & recommendations
1-2 days of my time per week dedicated to you for implementation and project management, to focus on what ever is most pressing to help get you to the next stage.
Notion board for tracking our progress and project management (Or your preferred PM tool)
Follow up over email, slack messaging or voice notes in between strategy sessions to keep things moving.
Additional project management hours or days available by request
The outcome: You take the ideas and recommendations we work through during our strategy sessions and decide how you’d like to move forward.
I help you make a plan for how to get it done.
Focusing on the most pressing things to help get you to the next stage - my project management hours will most likely be best spent :
researching and doing deep dives on your industry and competitors,
helping you to find and brief in the right freelancers,
help produce your brand and content guidelines,
project manage the build of your Shopify or Squarespace website, or
help build your SOPs and operational ways of working.
Then we decide what additional support and 3rd party resources you’ll need to help make it happen.
FAQs
What is the time commitment for the Founders Best Friend start up advisory service?
We start with an initial 1 hour Go-to-Market Strategy Session together to get us started on the right foot.
Then if you like the work we do together and are happy to move forward, you can book me in for an initial 1, 2 or 3 month engagement.
We can extend month by month after that if you’d like to continue working together, dependant on availability.
Non-disclosure agreements?
Yes of course - any strategic planning and ideas we work through together are strictly confidential between you (the client) and me (the consultant).
A non-disclosure clause is included as standard as part of our signed agreement and I’ll only use your brand as an example of my work and testimonial if provided and approved by you.
How many brands do you work with at a time?
I limit my services to 3 clients maximum at a time, to ensure I can give you and your brand the time and brain space it deserves.
While you may be engaging me for a set amount of time a month - I will naturally be thinking of ideas for your project, actively looking for opportunities and strategising all throughout the week during our engagement.
I’ll also be available for follow up over email, messaging or voice note in between our strategy sessions.
What is the payment schedule?
What I charge for this service is reflective of the intended fast pace and outcomes you can expect by working with me.
Monthly Founders Best Friend engagements and additional project management hours are to be paid upfront for booking strategy sessions and for the project work to begin.
If you have booked me for a 2 or 3 month time block, these will be invoiced monthly, and are to be done in succession, not spread out or extended into more months.
If you need to cancel or postpone a month’s service, please give me 14 days notice so I can open my calendar up to other clients on my waiting list. Rescheduling for a later date is dependant on my availability.
Is this the same as a Virtual Assistant?
No - This is not a virtual assistant, executive assistant or founders associate service.
VAs and personal assistants are a great resource for taking the burden of personal and professional administrative tasks, help with planning and execution to make a founder’s life and business run smoothly.
There are plenty of great VAs, digital marketing coordinators and online business managers available for founders to hire to get the work done.
If this is what you’re looking for I can offer some recommendations for you.
How much implementation will you help with?
It really depends on the strategy we build together as to how I will spend the project management and implementation hours each week, and any additional project management hours you book me for.
Focusing on the most pressing things to help get you to the next stage - my time will most likely be best spent
researching and doing deep dives on your industry and competitors,
helping you to find and brief in the right freelancers,
help produce your brand and content guidelines,
project manage the build of your Shopify or Squarespace website, or
help build your SOPs and operational ways of working.
Can you do my marketing?
If you’re an established or scaling brand you can hire me as your fractional brand leader. As a fractional CMO I have the strategic high level view, hands on experience and skills across the full marketing stack.
Brand marketing, B2C retail and B2B trade marketing, D2C ecommerce and operations
While I bring both a creative eye and technical know how to all the work we do together, I am not a specialist creative director, graphic designer, social media manager, website designer, SEO expert, ads specialist or email marketing manager.
So use me for your big picture strategic stuff to get the ball rolling - then we’ll find the right freelancers or channel specialists to get the busy work done for you on an ongoing basis.
Do you guarantee your work?
I guarantee to help you get clarity on your go-to-market strategy, help you navigate next steps and provide strategic and operational guidance based on my 20+ years of experience in strategy and operations for global lifestyle brands and major fashion retailers, working with a wide range of startups at various stages of funding and growth - plus building my own ventures.
The work we do together is guided by you and your priorities, using my strategic frameworks, tools and processes that I’ve successfully used with other clients and in my own businesses.
Any decisions we make together, directions we go in, or tactics we test and trial are 100% up to you to agree to and approve before moving forward.
As a co-creator of your strategy, I can not personally be held legally or financially responsible for any business losses or failures as a result of how you choose to execute your business and brand.
Although I promise to always act and provide strategic guidance in the best interest of you and your brand.