Gentlemens Guide
At some point, every entrepreneur needs a different kind of conversation
Your management team has a role.
Your board has a responsibility.
Your bank has an interest.
Your advisors have their expertise.
But some decisions don't belong to any of them.
The bigger the responsibility, the fewer people there are with whom you can speak openly. About the business. About people. About ownership. About uncertainty. And sometimes about yourself.
That's where Gentlemen's Guide comes in.
An independent sparring partner at your side.
No hidden agenda. No product to sell.
No decision to make for you.
Just perspective, challenge and clarity when it matters.
When decisions matter
There is rarely one perfect moment to call an advisor.
There are, however, moments when having the right person across the table can change the quality of a decision.
Growth
The company is growing. Structures, people and responsibilities need to grow with it.
And at some point, so does your role as an entrepreneur.
People
A key person no longer fits.
A new CEO needs to be appointed.
A partner wants something different.
People decisions are often the hardest business decisions.
Ownership
Business, family, partners and personal interests begin to overlap.
What is right for the company is not always obvious – and not always the same as what is right for the owner.
Next Generation
The next generation is ready.
Or perhaps it isn't.
Succession is not only about transferring shares. It is about responsibility, identity and deciding what comes next.
Buy. Build. Sell.
An acquisition. A major investment. A new market. A possible sale.
Some decisions change more than the balance sheet.
What's next?
The business is successful.
You have achieved much of what you once set out to achieve.
And suddenly the most difficult question is no longer:
How do we grow?
It is:
What do I actually want the next ten years to look like?
How we work
We don't run your business.
We don't make your decisions.
We make sure you don't make them alone.
Gentlemen's Guide works alongside entrepreneurs as an independent sparring partner.
We challenge assumptions.
We ask the questions others may avoid.
We bring an outside perspective without losing sight of the reality inside your business.
Sometimes that means strategy.
Sometimes people.
Sometimes ownership, investment, succession or growth.
And sometimes the issue on the table turns out not to be the real issue at all.
Challenge. Clarify. Decide. Execute.
First, we understand
The Analysis
3–4 weeks · CHF 7'500
Before committing to a year together, we need to understand more than your business.
We want to understand where you are. Where you want to go. What is standing in the way. Which decisions lie ahead – and how you make them.
We look at the business, its people, organisation, strategy and numbers.
But we also look at the entrepreneur behind it.
Because the two are rarely as separate as an organisation chart suggests.
At the end of the analysis, we put the important issues on the table.
Clearly. Directly. Without theatre.
And then we answer two questions:
What really matters?
Should we work together?
The decision is mutual.
Then, we walk alongside
The Mandate
12 months · CHF 8'000 / month
This is not a consulting project.
There is no predefined catalogue of workshops, PowerPoint presentations or billable hours.
It is a year of independent counsel and entrepreneurial sparring.
We stay close enough to understand the context.
Independent enough to challenge it.
And involved enough to be there when thinking needs to become action.
One year.
One entrepreneur.
The decisions that matter.
Never more than twelve
Gentlemen's Guide works with a maximum of twelve entrepreneurs at a time.
Not for exclusivity's sake.
Because meaningful counsel requires time.
It requires context.
And above all, it requires trust.
We want to know the business well enough to understand what is not written in the reports.
We want to know the people well enough to recognise what is not being said in the meetings.
And we want to know the entrepreneur well enough to ask the question nobody else is asking.
That cannot be scaled indefinitely.
Nor should it be.
Built for owners
Gentlemens Guide is built for entrepreneurs who carry both the freedom and the responsibility of ownership.
People who have built something of substance.
Who make decisions with real consequences.
Whose name, capital and reputation are connected to the business.
And who are open enough to have their own thinking challenged.
We are usually not the right fit for corporations looking for another consultancy, businesses looking for additional management capacity or entrepreneurs looking for someone to simply confirm what they already believe.
We work best with people who want a strong counterpart – not an echo.
Across the table
Gentlemen's Guide was born from a simple observation:
Entrepreneurs are surrounded by people – and can still be remarkably alone when it comes to the decisions that matter most.
I believe good entrepreneurial counsel starts with understanding what responsibility actually feels like.
When a decision is not a case study.
When your own capital is involved.
When employees and their families depend on the company.
When a wrong decision cannot simply be corrected in the next presentation.
And when there is no committee to which responsibility can ultimately be delegated.
Gentlemens Guide exists to be the person across the table in those moments.
Not above the entrepreneur.
Not behind him.
Alongside.
How we show up
Tell the truth
Especially when it is uncomfortable.
Stay independent
No hidden agenda. No products to sell.
Think long term
Not every opportunity should be taken. Not every problem needs an immediate solution.
Keep it confidential
Trust is not a feature of our work.
It is the foundation of it.
Get things done
Clarity without execution is just conversation.
Lead with class
Class is not about status.
It is how you behave when things become difficult.
How you treat people.
How you carry responsibility.
How you make decisions when nobody is watching.
Execute with clarity
Know what matters.
Make the decision.
Then act.
Some conversations are worth having
You may be facing a major decision.
A change in your business.
A question about ownership, people, growth or succession.
Or perhaps everything is going well – and you are simply wondering what comes next.
You don't need to know whether Gentlemens Guide is the answer.
That's what a first conversation is for.
Start a conversation.
Gentlemens Guide
Lead with class. Execute with clarity.