Phase 2 · Strategy & Planning · From Idea to Executable Plan
Innovation Portfolio Management
The innovation portfolio is not a list of projects. It is the business's bet on its own future — and like every portfolio, it needs to be managed, balanced, and periodically rebalanced.
Innovation portfolio management is the structured governance and management of the portfolio of innovation investments the business is making — ensuring that the portfolio is appropriately balanced between incremental improvements, adjacent innovations, and transformational bets; that resources are allocated in proportion to the expected returns; and that the portfolio is regularly reviewed and rebalanced as the commercial environment evolves.
The Pain We Solve
You may recognise yourself in one of these.
Three audience scenarios · because the same service produces a different transformation depending on where you are in the business journey.
Scenario 1
The business whose innovation investment is entirely in incremental improvements and is vulnerable to disruption
The innovation budget is spent on making existing products slightly better. None of it is being directed at the innovations that might make those products obsolete. The portfolio is unbalanced in a way that optimises for the near term at the expense of the long.
Scenario 2
The business with too many innovation projects in flight and insufficient resource to progress any of them meaningfully
The innovation portfolio has expanded to include every idea that was sufficiently persuasive to get past the initial approval. Each project is moving slowly because no project has been given the resource it needs to move fast. The portfolio needs to be pruned.
Scenario 3
The business that has no visibility of what it is investing in innovation in total across the organisation
Innovation activity is happening in product, technology, sales, and operations. Nobody has a view of the total investment, the balance of the portfolio, or the aggregate expected return.
The Impact It Creates
The Moment You Will Feel the Difference.
Innovation portfolio balanced across short, medium, and long-term horizons
Resource allocated in proportion to strategic priority and expected return
Portfolio pruned to focus on the projects with the highest probability of commercial impact
Board and leadership visibility of total innovation investment and portfolio balance
What You Receive
The Specific Deliverables.
Tangible outputs · documented, dated, and yours to keep.
- Innovation portfolio audit — all projects mapped, staged, and assessed
- Portfolio balance analysis — incremental, adjacent, and transformational
- Resource allocation framework — how much to each horizon and why
- Portfolio rationalisation — which projects to accelerate, pause, or stop
- Innovation portfolio governance — review cycle and decision framework
- Portfolio reporting for board and leadership
The Outcome
Where You Will Be on the Other Side.
The business manages its innovation investments as a coherent portfolio — balanced across horizons, resourced in proportion to priority, and regularly reviewed so that the best bets are supported and the weak ones are cleared.
Primary Focus
Managing the innovation portfolio with structured governance that balances horizons, allocates resources appropriately, and regularly reviews and rebalances the investment.
KPI Measurement
- Portfolio balance ratio — incremental vs adjacent vs transformational
- Resource utilisation vs allocation by portfolio segment
- Projects pruned vs outcomes from active portfolio
- Innovation investment return by portfolio segment
- Portfolio review frequency and decision quality
Investment & ROI
Pricing Engineered Around the Value You Create.
Every engagement is sized against the value we believe we can create with you · the fee is always a fraction of the outcome. Four tiers · so the investment matches your stage of business.
Tier 1
Foundations
£5,000 – £15,000
Right for
Pre-startup, startup, and micro-business founders ready to build on evidence rather than instinct.
Typical Value Created
£100K+ in sharper resource allocation and avoided strategic missteps
Engagement
4 – 8 weeks
Target Return
5 – 10× ROI
within 12 – 18 months
Tier 2
Acceleration
£15,000 – £50,000
Right for
Growing SMEs and established small businesses ready to scale a working model into the next revenue band.
Typical Value Created
£500K – £3M in faster execution and pipeline acceleration
Engagement
8 – 16 weeks
Target Return
5 – 10× ROI
within 12 – 18 months
Tier 3
Transformation
£50,000 – £250,000
Right for
Medium enterprises and scale-stage businesses ready to commit to a multi-quarter, organisation-wide shift.
Typical Value Created
£2M – £20M in strategic value through repositioning, model redesign, and growth-system installation
Engagement
3 – 9 months
Target Return
5 – 10× ROI
within 12 – 18 months
Tier 4
Enterprise
£250,000 – £2M+
Right for
Large enterprises, global operators, and complex organisations ready for a multi-year strategic partnership.
Typical Value Created
£10M+ in major strategic initiatives, capital deployment efficiency, and competitive repositioning
Engagement
12 months and onward
Target Return
5 – 10× ROI
within 12 – 18 months
Why We Price This Way
Every engagement is sized around the value we believe we can create with you. The fee is always a fraction of the outcome · typically 10 – 20% of the expected first-year return.
This is how we make sure pricing aligns with results. The conversation is never “what does this cost?” · it is always “what is this worth to your business?” We answer that together in the first call, transparently, and decide the right tier from there.
If we cannot articulate a credible 5–10× return for your specific situation, we will tell you in the first call. That honesty is part of why our clients trust us with the work that matters most.
Why This Conversation Matters
“The innovation portfolio is the business's investment in its own future. Managing it with the same discipline as the financial portfolio is not excessive — it is the standard of stewardship that the investment deserves.”
A 90-minute structured strategy session · produces a usable roadmap whether you engage further or not.
More in Phase 2