Operator led consulting for owners and CEOs

Business change, delivered.

Clarity.Execution.Momentum.

totalEdge helps owners and CEOs of founder led businesses turn strategy into action, improve performance and lead their people through change. The work is shaped around where your business is today and where you want it to get to.

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When people call

Businesses often come to totalEdge when...

Everything still comes through the founder.

The business is growing, but not making any more money.

There are good people, but not enough gets finished.

There is a strategy, but delivery is inconsistent.

Systems and processes have not kept up with the business.

The business feels harder to run than it should.

Investment, a sale or succession is coming, and the business is not ready.

These are examples, not limits. If your situation is not here, a conversation is still the right next step.

What I do

Five disciplines, held together by one idea.

People, process and technology have to work together, or the change does not last. Each discipline below starts with the people and builds the process and technology around them.

Operational turnaround and scale

Stop what is losing money and customers, then build the rhythm that holds as the business grows.

Often starts when

Customers are leaving faster than new ones arrive. Margins are shrinking while revenue grows.

M&A integration

Bring two businesses into one way of working, with the value case delivered rather than assumed.

Often starts when

An acquisition has closed but the teams still run as two businesses. Duplicate roles, systems and customers have not been resolved.

Operating model design

Clear decisions on who decides what, how work flows and what gets measured, so the business runs without depending on its founder.

Often starts when

Every decision lands on the founder's desk. Senior people are busy but accountability is unclear.

AI and technology transformation

Use technology where it genuinely improves efficiency and capability, and say plainly where it does not.

Often starts when

Systems cannot keep up with the business and the data cannot be trusted. There is interest in AI but no clear case for where it pays back.

Interim and advisory leadership

Experienced operating leadership for as long as it is needed, whether alongside the CEO or inside the business.

Often starts when

A senior role is vacant at a critical moment. The CEO needs someone who will challenge assumptions and help make the difficult decisions.

How I work

Start with the ambition. Work backwards.

I start by getting clear on what the business is trying to achieve and what is standing in the way. Then I work backwards to build the solution, so every step connects to the outcome. I stay with the work through to delivery.

One

Diagnose.

Understand what is really happening and why, starting from the numbers.

Two

Prioritise.

Agree with the leadership team where time and money will make the biggest difference.

Three

Deliver.

Work alongside the team to put the changes in place.

Four

Embed and measure.

Build the accountability, capability and systems that keep improvement going, and track the commercial result agreed at the start.

Ways to work together

Diagnostic.

A short, structured review of what is happening, why, and where action will create the most value. It gives you a clear plan whether or not we work together beyond it.

Advisory support.

Helping CEOs and leadership teams assess issues, make decisions and put changes into practice.

Interim leadership.

Taking an agreed role in the business with responsibility for delivery.

These can be combined or shaped differently to fit the business.

Results

What the work has delivered.

Examples from my career. Details are kept anonymous.

Operational turnaround and scale

A membership business for accountants

Situation

Customers were leaving four times faster than they were being won. The CRM was a spreadsheet and pricing sat below market.

What I led

As managing director, I led the recovery. I repriced the offer, replaced the spreadsheet with a proper CRM and introduced an AI enabled lead generation and conversion engine. I also built a partnership with a sister business and the financial model behind the eventual sale.

Result

EBITDA margin from 7% to 22%. Customer retention from 85% to 94% in 18 months. Sales three times year on year. Subscriptions up 27%. £700k of new revenue for the partner business. The business was sold in June 2026.

M&A integration

A professional services training group

Situation

Acquired businesses were running alongside each other with separate teams and ways of working.

What I led

As business operations director, I led acquisition integration and the restructure of 48 people across four businesses.

Result

Four businesses brought into three centralised departments under one operating model.

Operating model design

A division of a professional services group

Situation

A division spread across three cities had a three year growth target.

What I led

I led the division's commercial and operating model, and the initiative behind a joint venture digital marketing service for accountants.

Result

Division revenue from £1.7m to £3m, a three year target delivered in two. The joint venture returns more than £900k a year to the group.

AI and technology transformation

A professional services group

Situation

The group needed to modernise how it managed customers and sales.

What I led

I made the case to the parent PLC board and secured £800k of investment, then led delivery as an 18 month agile project, introducing a new core CRM.

Result

£800k of digital transformation investment secured and delivered, live first in one division. Later, at a membership business, AI enabled lead generation was a direct contributor to retention and subscription growth.

Interim and advisory leadership

An accountancy group

Situation

The group needed senior operating leadership to modernise systems and reporting, on an advisory basis.

What I led

I moved legacy systems to a new CRM, launched management reporting and KPI dashboards, restructured the back office team and mentored the incoming operations manager.

Result

Customer retention up 9%. Upsell and cross sell revenue up 7%.

About

Wayne Watson, founder of totalEdge

Wayne Watson is the founder of totalEdge. His experience includes managing director, operational and commercial leadership roles at a membership business for accountants and within a listed professional services group. He works closely with CEOs and owners, bringing a practical, collaborative approach and the judgement to challenge assumptions and make difficult decisions. He translates strategy into operational priorities, aligning people, processes and technology to improve business performance. Experienced in organisational change and acquisition integration, Wayne aligns teams around clear goals and builds the accountability, capability and culture needed to sustain long term performance.

Contact

Start a conversation.

Whether you have a clearly defined challenge or need help understanding what should change, start a conversation with totalEdge. A plain conversation about where the business is and what would move it. If totalEdge is not the right fit, you will hear that too.

wayne.watson@totaledge.co.uk

Email Wayne

Wayne Watson, Founder, totalEdge