Breaking Through the €4-10M Ceiling Without Breaking the Business

Client: Nathan Trust
Industry: Trust & Corporate Services / Financial Services
Engagement Duration: February 2020 - Present (5+ years)
Consultant: Andrew McAvinchey / Business Growth Systems (formerly Mount Arbor).

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Nathan Trust approached Business Growth Systems in early 2020 facing a common but critical challenge: they had reached a revenue plateau through strong organic growth (15-20% annually for 5-6 years), but needed to scale revenue 2X within 2-3 years without proportionally increasing headcount or operational costs.

Over a multi-phase engagement spanning strategic planning, digital infrastructure implementation, and ongoing advisory, we helped Nathan Trust:

• Maintain consistent 15-20% annual growth through improved systems
• Achieve 33% close rate on qualified consultations
• Build "exemplary" inbound marketing infrastructure that continues to generate "loads of inbound traffic" five years later
• Establish Smart Operating Procedures to mitigate operational risk
• Identify €6 figure+ revenue expansion opportunities within existing customer base
• Position for next growth phase through AI-powered operational efficiency

The engagement demonstrates how systematic approach to growth—understanding customer progress, forcing strategic choices, and building operational infrastructure—creates sustainable scaling without dependency on heroics.

CLIENT BACKGROUND & CONTEXT

Company Profile

Nathan Trust is an established Trust and Corporate Service provider serving international businesses establishing operations in Ireland and across Europe. Their clients including some of the largest multinationals in the world, who rely on Nathan Trust for expert guidance, resources, network and experience to set up global presence correctly and successfully in the EU. The firm operates in the complex intersection of tax compliance, corporate structure, HR and regulatory requirements.

Pre-Engagement Status (February 2020)

• Revenue: ~€2-4 million 
• Growth Rate: Plateau reached indicated slowing down of ARR growth
• Profitability: Positive EBITDA (~mid six figure), but flat despite revenue growth
• Strengths: Strong SEO, successful inbound marketing, high organic traffic
• Challenge: Reached inflection point where existing systems wouldn't support next growth phase

Post Engagement Status (2025):

• Revenue: Estimated 2X+ ARR (sustained 15-20% annual growth over 5-year period)
• Growth Rate: Maintained consistent 15-20% annually throughout engagement
• Profitability: Continued positive EBITDA with operational systems supporting doubled revenue scale
• Strengths: "Exemplary" inbound infrastructure continuing to generate "loads of traffic" five years post-implementation; 33% close rate on qualified consultations; organic search significantly outperforming paid channels; documented processes and team capability built for sustainable operations
• Next Phase: Identified client onboarding automation opportunity to further improve efficiency and margins as business scales past €10M-€15M threshold

The Strategic Problem

Mark Nathan (Managing Director) recognised the firm faced the "inflection point of €7-10 million" - a well-documented threshold where businesses either build scalable systems or plateau indefinitely. The goal wasn't just more revenue, but sustainable growth without proportionally increasing costs or creating founder dependency.

Hidden Risk Factors

Initial discovery revealed critical vulnerabilities:

• Undocumented business processes creating continuity risk
• Underutilised HubSpot investment despite paying for Marketing Hub
• Positioning mismatch: Operating as commodity "price list" service when delivering high-value advisory expertise
• Customer misalignment: Clients questioning advisory fees while receiving guidance potentially worth hundreds of thousands in tax optimisation

APPROACH & METHODOLOGY

Phase 1: Strategic Foundation 

Roadmapping Workshop - Full-Day Strategic Alignment Session

Objective: Diagnose root causes of growth plateau and establish clear path to 2X ARR without scaling costs proportionally.

Methodology: The "7 Questions" Framework Rather than starting with tactics, we used a demand-side framework to understand:

1. What progress is the business trying to make?
2. Who are we really serving, and what progress are they trying to make?
3. Why do customers actually choose Nathan Trust?
4. What's the struggling moment that causes someone to hire you?
5. What anxieties prevent customers from buying?
6. What habits keep customers from switching to you?
7. What's the causal mechanism that creates your current growth?

Critical Discovery: The Positioning Problem

Through customer journey mapping and force diagram analysis, we identified the core issue: Nathan Trust had positioned themselves as a transactional financial services firm ("submit forms, pay fees, get incorporation") when customers were actually buying risk mitigation and expert guidance through complex regulatory situations.

This positioning mismatch caused:

• Customers to quibble over advisory fees
• Price-shopping behaviour despite high-value service delivery
• Missed expansion opportunities within existing client base
• Inability to communicate true differentiation

The CORE CONSTRAINT on growth at Nathan Trust that we found

A critical moment: We asked Nathan Trust to choose between two growth strategies - not pursue both simultaneously:

1. Customer Expansion: Increase value extracted from existing customers
2. Operating Efficiency: Systematise delivery to reduce cost-per-transaction

This was the central contradiction in internal systems that was inhibiting growth for Nathan Trust. 

Attempting both growth strategies simultaneously is the most common cause of failure at this inflection point. Nathan Trust chose Operating Efficiency first - a strategic decision that shaped our entire engagement and delivered a more streamlined, successful result for Nathan Trust.

Workshop Deliverables:

• Full strategic roadmap with quarterly priorities
• Specific financial targets working backward from revenue goal:
  • Take 10% of good fit customers to 10X ACV = €6 figure additional revenue in Year 1 and establish new growth channel from existing customers going forward
  • Increase 20% of customers by 20%  = €additional revenue YoY on low maintenance customers
  • Increase EBITDA 2-3X
  • Build cash reserves 5X from liquid assets
• Accountability matrix with ownership assignments
• 12-month action plan with measurable milestones

Phase 2: Digital Infrastructure & Sales Optimisation 

90-Day HubSpot Implementation & Process Standardisation

Objective: Build operational infrastructure to support scaling without proportional headcount increase

Critical Distinction: This wasn't a "HubSpot setup project." This was building an operating system that happened to use HubSpot as infrastructure. The difference is crucial.

Technical Implementation

Foundation Setup (Weeks 1-2):

• Domain connection and tracking code deployment
• Form replacement across all digital properties
• Contact database migration and cleanup
• User/team structure reflecting organisational reality
• Sales Hub, Service Hub, and Marketing Hub integration

Sales Process Standardisation (Weeks 2-4):

Defined four core data objects and their relationships:

• Contacts: Individual people in buying process
• Leads: Inbound expressions of interest requiring qualification
• Companies: Organisational entities (the actual customer)
• Deals: Specific buying opportunities with defined stages

Pipeline Architecture:

Created pipeline stages representing actual customer progress, not internal sales metrics:

This structure allowed Nathan Trust to diagnose exactly where deals stalled and what forces were preventing progress.

Process Automation

Automated Workflows:

• Lead scoring based on behavioural and demographic signals
• Automated lead assignment to appropriate team members
• Marketing-to-sales handoff protocols
• Team collaboration and notification triggers
• Post-sale onboarding sequences

Quick Wins (Weeks 1-4):

• Bottom-of-funnel conversion offer (consultation booking)
• Strategic pop-up forms at decision points
• Chat functionality migration from LiveChat to HubSpot
• CTA optimisation across key pages
• Email signature standardisation with tracking

Strategic Layer (Months 2-3)

Content Strategy:

• Blog migration and optimisation
• Pillar page development for core service offerings
• Social media tool integration
• Lead nurturing workflow sequences
• On-page and technical SEO improvements

Meeting Cadence Establishment:

Implemented mandatory weekly Project Check-in structure:

• Timing: Monday mornings, 9:45 AM IST
• Preparation Required: Friday update of priorities for coming week
• Agenda Structure:
  • WINS/CELEBRATIONS (team morale and momentum)
  • Project Status Updates (accountability)
  • Opportunities/New Learnings (continuous improvement)
  • HubSpot Items (technical optimisation)
  • Next Week Priorities (forward planning)

This structure created shared visibility and prevented the common failure mode where "everyone's busy but nothing moves forward."

Phase 3: Ongoing Strategic Advisory (2020 - 2025)

Quarterly Strategic Reviews & Constraint Identification

Rather than monthly retainer with vague scope, advisory work focused on:

1. Identifying the Current Constraint: What single bottleneck is preventing next level of growth?
2. Measuring Against Original Goals: Are we on track toward €ARR goal? If not, why?
3. Course Correction: What needs to change based on what we've learned?

Phase 4: Next-Generation Efficiency Through AI (2025)

Operational Bottleneck: Client Onboarding

March 2025 Audit Findings:

Mark Nathan identified client onboarding as the process that "breaks our heart" - requiring inordinate amounts of manual time and back-and-forth communication.

Diagnosis:

• Repetitive white-collar administrative work
• Email tennis between multiple parties
• Document collection and verification
• Compliance checks and form completion
• Status updates and progress communication

Recommended Solution:

• Implement HubSpot Customer Agent (AI chatbot) with access to:
  • Historical customer data
  • Knowledge base articles
  • Standard Operating Procedures
  • Common question database
• Connect Dublin and Cork office inboxes to HubSpot Conversations
• Build AI-powered document intake and verification workflow

Projected Impact:

• Reduce onboarding back-and-forth by ~90%
• Handle ~50% of repetitive team tasks through automation
• Free team capacity for high-value advisory work
• Improve customer experience through faster response times

DOCUMENTED RESULTS

Quantified Outcomes (2020-2025)

Qualitative Outcomes

Process Documentation:

• Smart Operating Procedures (SOPs) established for all critical business processes
• Each manager assigned responsibility for team backup training
• Risk reduction through documented institutional knowledge

Positioning Evolution:

• Shift from transactional service provider toward consultative advisory positioning
• Foundation laid for value-based pricing conversations
• Customer expectation management improved

Strategic Capability:

• Internal team fluent in data-driven decision making
• Clear understanding of funnel mechanics and conversion drivers
• Systematic approach to identifying and addressing constraints

KEY DIFFERENTIATORS OF THIS ENGAGEMENT

1. Demand-Side Diagnosis Over Supply-Side Solution

We didn't start with "let's implement HubSpot" or "let's increase marketing spend." We started with understanding what progress customers were trying to make and what forces prevented Nathan Trust from helping them make that progress.

Example: The positioning problem emerged from understanding that customers experienced anxiety about regulatory compliance and tax exposure, but Nathan Trust was communicating transactional service delivery. The solution wasn't better marketing—it was repositioning what they were actually selling.

2. Forced Strategic Choice Over "Do Everything"

Requiring Nathan Trust to choose between customer expansion and operating efficiency- and defending that choice - prevented the most common failure mode at the €7-10M inflection point: spreading resources across too many priorities and succeeding at none.

3. Systems Over Heroics

Every intervention focused on building infrastructure that worked without constant manual intervention:

• Automated workflows instead of manual lead routing
• Documented processes instead of "ask Karen"
• Clear pipeline stages instead of "check with sales"
• Meeting cadence instead of ad-hoc coordination

The goal wasn't to make our consulting engagement indispensable for Nathan Trust - it was to build capability Nathan Trust could execute independently, so the team were able to focus on customer experience and delivery of the high quality, personalised service they're known for across the world.

4. Facilitation Over Implementation

Rather than "we'll do HubSpot for you," the approach was "we'll build HubSpot with you so you understand why it works this way." This created:

• Internal capability to maintain and optimise systems
• Institutional knowledge distributed across team
• Ability to adapt strategies as market evolved
• Ownership rather than dependency

5. Continuous Constraint Identification

The engagement never declared "mission accomplished." Each phase revealed the next bottleneck:

• 2020: Strategic clarity and positioning
• 2020-2021: Digital infrastructure and process
• 2022-2024: Marketing optimisation and attribution
• 2025: Operational efficiency through AI

This is how actual scaling works - not one big transformation, but systematic identification and resolution of sequential constraints.

"The website, SEO, campaigns, and email connections are quite exemplary. HubSpot is essentially paying for itself through the deals it helps us close. We're still receiving loads of inbound traffic five years later."

— Mark Nathan, Managing Director, Nathan Trust

METHODOLOGY SUMMARY:

The Business Growth Systems Approach

This engagement demonstrates our core methodology:

Discovery Phase: Understanding Customer Progress

• Jobs-to-be-Done interviews and analysis
• Force diagram mapping (push, pull, anxiety, habit)
• Timeline of customer decision journey
• Identification of struggling moments and progress definitions

Strategic Phase: Forcing Clarity Through Choice

• 7 Questions framework for strategic alignment
• Forced prioritisation between competing strategies
• Working backwards from specific financial outcomes
• Establishing clear accountability and measurement

Implementation Phase: Building Operating Systems

• Technology as infrastructure, not solution
• Process documentation and training
• Automation of repetitive decision-making
• Team capability development

Optimisation Phase: Systematic Constraint Removal

• Quarterly identification of current bottleneck
• Data-driven diagnosis of what's actually preventing progress
• Targeted interventions on highest-leverage problems
• Continuous measurement against original goals

LESSONS FOR SIMILAR ORGANISATIONS

If You're Experiencing Similar Challenges:

You Might Need This Approach If:

• Revenue growing but profitability flat or declining
• "We need better marketing" when real issue is positioning or operations
• Lots of activity but unclear what's actually driving results
• Technology investments not delivering expected ROI
• Growth requiring proportional increases in headcount
• Founder/key person becoming bottleneck to scaling

Warning Signs You're at an Inflection Point:

• Organic growth rate slowing despite same effort
• Team increasingly busy but outcomes plateauing
• Considering "we just need more people" as solution
• Critical processes undocumented or person-dependent
• Unable to articulate why customers choose you over alternatives

What Makes This Approach Effective:

• Starts with understanding customer progress, not your products
• Forces uncomfortable but necessary strategic choices
• Builds systems that outlive your attention to them
• Creates capability, not dependency
• Measures what actually matters, not vanity metrics

ABOUT BUSINESS GROWTH SYSTEMS

Business Growth Systems (formerly Mount Arbor) helps B2B service companies build operating systems that scale without heroics. Our approach integrates Jobs-to-Be-Done theory with systematic process design and modern technology infrastructure.

We specialise in the €4M-€15M inflection point where companies must transition from founder-driven growth to systems-driven scaling.

Core Services:

• Strategic roadmapping and growth planning
• Digital infrastructure implementation (HubSpot, RevOps)
• Process systematisation and documentation
• AI-powered operational efficiency
• Ongoing strategic advisory

Engagement Model: We work as facilitators and coaches, not traditional consultants. Our goal is to build your capability to solve problems systematically, not to create dependency on our ongoing involvement.

For inquiries about similar engagements:
Contact: Andrew McAvinchey, CEO
Business Growth Systems

This case study is based on a 5+ year engagement with specific, documented outcomes. Individual results vary based on company context, market conditions, and implementation quality. All financial figures and quotes used with client permission.