THRIVE BUSINESS COUNSELLING LAUNCHES TO HELP SMES MOVE FROM ‘SURVIVING’ TO ‘THRIVING’

Veteran strategists Zeynep Roberts and Chris Christofi have launched Thrive Business Counselling, a new consultancy designed to help startups and SMEs transition from survival mode to scalable growth. Combining six decades of branding, commercial and financial expertise, the firm offers a holistic strategic model aimed at building commercially viable, competitive, and resilient businesses.

Thrive Business Counselling has entered the market with a mission its founders believe has been long overdue: delivering integrated strategic support to startups and small to medium-sized businesses that are ready to grow but lack access to the strategic thinking, financial modelling, and brand foundations required to scale sustainably. The Sydney-based consultancy, launched by experienced strategists and marketing professionals Zeynep Roberts and Chris Christofi, brings together more than six decades of combined expertise spanning brand development, commercial strategy, financial modelling and organisational capability. It aims to provide the kind of strategic clarity and structured decision-making typically associated with large corporate advisory services but at a level accessible to smaller and emerging businesses.

The idea for Thrive, says co-founder Chris Christofi, originated from observing a persistent gap in the consulting landscape. “The idea for Thrive emerged from identifying a clear industry problem that most consultants focus on isolated aspects of a business, whether that’s marketing tactics, operations or financial controls, and not the holistic picture,” he explains. SMEs, he argues, are particularly vulnerable to this fragmented approach, with many engaging different specialists or advisors without an overarching framework that aligns brand, market opportunity and financial outcomes. Thrive’s offer, he adds, is to “help SMEs unlock the potential of their business via sound business and brand strategies, by providing the business and brand skills they need but may not have the resources, training or experience to provide. Our approach differs as we evaluate our clients’ businesses holistically, looking at its brand, its market, its financial potential and other market variables that truly influence success.”

Research supports Christofi’s thesis. Industry data consistently shows that around ninety percent of new products and ideas fail within their first year, and while explanations for failure vary from pricing to product-market fit, what is common is the absence of a disciplined brand foundation and an informed financial strategy. Businesses often launch with passion and product but without a narrative that conveys value to consumers or a financial model that tests viability beyond short-term revenue goals. Co-founder Zeynep Roberts says Thrive’s purpose is to bridge that gap. “We fill this need, giving business leaders the clarity, discipline and strategic direction needed to transform a promising idea into a commercially viable, competitive and sustainable business; with a unique position in the market.”

For Roberts and Christofi, the decision to step out of long-term corporate and consulting environments in 2024 created the catalyst for what would become Thrive. Both had reached a stage in their careers where freelancing made it possible to apply their skills to a wider diversity of business problems. As market conditions tightened for SMEs facing inflationary pressure, rising marketing costs, supply chain disruption and shifting consumer behaviour, they noticed a new appetite among founders for strategic grounding rather than tactical quick fixes. “Business owners are increasingly seeking grounded guidance that links their growth ambitions to real market insights and achievable financial outcomes,” Roberts says. “Thrive’s approach centres on identifying the factors that genuinely lead to better margins, stronger cash flow and a lasting competitive advantage, while also anchoring a brand in meaningful consumer understanding.”

Thrive’s model is designed to guide businesses from idea validation through to brand articulation, commercial modelling and competitive differentiation. The consultancy emphasises three components: distinctive brand strategy and positioning frameworks that help businesses clarify what they stand for and whom they serve; detailed financial modelling that clarifies long-term viability and resourcing requirements; and the identification of success factors most likely to drive commercial performance in the relevant market. The goal, says Roberts, is to deliver tangible outputs, not abstract strategy. “The result for clients is a clearer understanding of their competitive advantage, a sharper articulation of their brand narrative, stronger forecasting capability and a roadmap that aligns growth ambition with measurable, achievable outcomes. Leaders gain the tools and insight needed to build superior returns on investment and establish a meaningful, defensible place in their market.”

Both founders bring extensive resumes to the venture. Roberts has spent more than 35 years working across business strategy, financial modelling and academic leadership. Her early career included marketing roles for brands such as Dilmah Tea and Heinz/Wattie’s before she founded Nine Dots Marketing, which delivered capability development for major organisations including Colonial First State, National Foods, NAB, AMI, Goodman Fielder, Nestlé and Accor Hotels. Outside the corporate world, she founded the Step 2 Foundation, a Cambodian NGO focused on education access for young children, and has lectured in international business strategy and research at the University of Wollongong and Macquarie University.

Christofi’s background complements Roberts’ financial and organisational strengths with deep branding and insight-driven capability. He has worked across global and local brands including Nike, Heinz, Kleenex, Vodafone, Gatorade and Thai Airways, consistently focusing on uncovering consumer truths and translating them into compelling brand platforms. His career spans agency and client roles across Campaign Palace, FCB and Ikon, and most recently as co-founder of media agency Bohemia, which was acquired by M&C Saatchi in 2017. Christofi says Thrive’s brand methodology draws from this experience, applying techniques often utilised in large brand-building engagements to smaller businesses that rarely gain access to such expertise.

While both Roberts and Christofi acknowledge that strategic advisory for SMEs is a crowded field, they argue that Thrive’s timing and approach differentiate it. The growth of the startup economy has led to an explosion of tactical services—from social media and digital marketing to outsourced operations and financial administration—but the strategic layer linking those services remains underdeveloped. Many founders, particularly those without corporate backgrounds, are forced to make decisions without the frameworks typically available to senior leaders in big organisations. Thrive positions itself as the missing bridge.