Founder-led business consultancy · Birmingham
Strategic support from someone who’s run a business too.
Missing Piece is a founder-led consultancy for ambitious businesses that want to grow without losing what makes them special.
We bring experienced commercial thinking and practical support to the decisions, bottlenecks and opportunities that matter most.
Perfect Fit.Laser Focus.Future Growth.
Sound familiar?
Plenty of opportunity.Not enough hours.
You know your business better than anyone, but when customers, people, systems and growth all need you at once, it’s hard to step back and decide what matters most.
Maybe there’s a clear problem to fix.Or maybe it’s a feeling that what got you here won’t get you to the next stage.
- We’re growing, and things are starting to creak.
- Important decisions keep landing on the same few people.
- Sales and marketing activity is not translating into consistent progress.
- Everyone’s talking about AI.We’re not sure where it fits.
You don’t need all the answers before we talk.That’s what the conversation is for.
The Missing Piece method
Fit.Focus.Future.
Three steps, at your pace, with you at every stage.
Fit.
First, we get to know how your business really works.
We listen to your people, see how things run day to day and learn what makes you different, before we suggest anything.
- What we do
- Discovery and listening
- What you get
- A clear, shared picture of the real challenge
Focus.
Then we agree the one or two things that will make the biggest difference.
Together, we look at the evidence, test assumptions and decide where your time and money should go.
- What we do
- Analysis and prioritisation
- What you get
- A practical plan: who does what, and by when
Future.
Finally, we help it stick, so you don’t need us forever.
We work alongside your team with tools, coaching and hands-on support, so progress carries on after we step back.
- What we do
- Implementation, tools and coaching
- What you get
- A team that owns the change after we’ve gone
How we can help
Tell us the problem.We’ll bring the right help.
Some challenges sit in one area. Others touch everything. We start with what you want to achieve, then bring in the right mix of experience and support.
Commercial strategy
Decide where to focus, weigh up growth options and turn ambition into a plan you can act on.
Operations & systems
Find where work gets stuck, simplify how things run and choose systems that make life easier for your people.
Sales, marketing & customer experience
Make your message, customer experience and sales activity pull in the same direction.
Leadership & capability
Build clearer roles, more confident decisions and the skills your team needs for what’s next.
Responsible AI adoption
Work out where AI can genuinely save time, what should stay human and what safeguards you need.
Workshops & practical learning
Run focused sessions that get your team talking, deciding and learning things they’ll use on Monday morning.
Some challenges need specialist expertise, like cyber security, legal or data protection. When they do, we bring in the right people or point you to someone we trust.
Not sure where to start?
Start small, with a clear first step.
You don’t have to commit to a big project. Each of these is a defined piece of work that brings clarity to one important question.
“Where do we actually stand right now?”
SWOT Analysis: start a conversation
An honest look at where you stand, turned into a clear set of priorities to talk through.
Fixed-fee diagnostic, with scope agreed before work begins.
“What's between us and our next goal?”
Opportunity Gap Analysis: start a conversation
What’s working, what’s in the way and which opportunities are worth testing.
Fixed-fee diagnostic, with scope agreed before work begins.
“Are we ready to use AI well?”
AI Readiness Health Check: start a conversation
Where AI could help, how your team uses it and what needs attention around information, oversight and customer trust.
A starting point for discussion, not a technical audit or compliance certification.
Each one stands on its own.If you’d like more help afterwards, that’s a separate conversation, never an assumption.
Who you’ll work with
Someone who’s been in your shoes.
Victoria Salisbury-Scott
Founder and Principal Consultant
Victoria has spent more than 20 years in retail, operations and customer-facing roles, and has built and run her own businesses. She knows what it’s like to balance customers, people, systems and growth, often in the same day.
She backs that experience with an MBA from the University of Birmingham, a lot of curiosity and a people-first approach to change.
Victoria leads the relationship and the work, bringing in appropriate specialist support where the challenge calls for it, and continuing to be your biggest cheerleader along the way.
Read Victoria’s story
“I started Missing Piece because I know first-hand what it takes to navigate the daily ups and downs of running a business. My experience includes 20 years in the retail sector, with 6 years running my own bricks-and-mortar retail stores, a nail salon and a boutique consultancy.
In July 2019, I launched my first boutique. It traded well until the March 2020 lockdowns changed everything overnight. Because the business was too new, it wasn’t eligible for the early rounds of government support. I had to pivot quickly, try new things and steer three separate businesses through the pandemic.
I know how lonely and stressful self-employment can be, and what it is like when you are working in the business without a second to work on it. I also know what leaders, founders and teams need when the pressure is on: practical support, straight-talking advice and a trusted ally in their corner.
To build on that experience, I completed my MBA at the University of Birmingham. Today, I combine that training with real-world empathy, working with you to build a sustainable business that you enjoy running.”
Experience
Real-world experience behind the advice.
Missing Piece combines hands-on business ownership with commercial and operating experience. That perspective helps us ask practical questions about customers, people, systems and the way change will work day to day.
Some examples come from previous roles and some from Missing Piece projects.We’ll always tell you which is which.
EPOS upgrades & hardware rollouts
Managing point-of-sale software and hardware transitions across multiple busy commercial locations.
Rebranding & marketing campaigns
Planning and launching brand refreshes and marketing activity to support customer acquisition.
Event planning
Organising corporate and community events, from supplier logistics to creative direction.
DEI scorecards
Developing diversity, equity and inclusion diagnostic tools to help organisations review their workplace culture.
Workplace belonging
Advising on internal communication and workplace design so that employees feel valued.
No pressure, just a conversation
Start with a conversation.
What’s taking up the most headspace in your business right now?
Tell us a little about the challenge, opportunity or decision in front of you. We’ll work out together whether Missing Piece is the right fit, and what a sensible next step looks like.
A first conversation doesn’t commit you to anything. If further work makes sense, we agree the scope and fees before anything starts.