Mike Holmes is “sick of fixing
other people’s crap” and is moving on to help people enjoy their homes
in other ways. Best known for the internationally successful TV
series Holmes on Homes™, Mike has become a powerful global brand.
For seven seasons, Holmes on Homes™ featured Mike repairing the havoc
created by other contractors. The program is still broadcast in
seven countries—the U.S., U.K., Australia, New Zealand, South Africa,
Germany, and in Canada on HGTV. However, except for re-runs and
syndication, that show is now finished. But not Mike and his team
at the Holmes Group.
COMING
TO A CROSSROADS
Today, his company is branching
out into other areas, with the same energy and enthusiasm that infused
Holmes on Homes™. And that’s how Bay Consulting Group got
involved. “We’re a tiny television production company that grew
really fast,” says Michael Quast, vice-president of development at the
Holmes Group. “We came to a crossroads—we were growing rapidly
without a master plan that would help us focus. We needed help in
choosing the best path.”
As well as starring in his TV show, Mike had developed two books, a
clothing line and was considering endorsement opportunities. He
also wanted to build “green” homes and take on the unregulated home
inspection industry.
Under the leadership of finance director Martha Mason in early 2008,
the Holmes Group senior officers embarked on developing a strategic
plan. “We were a TV company getting into different businesses,”
says Mason. “We now have 17 companies.”
She adds: “We used to suffer from corporate ADD. We reacted to
opportunities without examining what it is we really wanted to
do. Someone would come in with an idea, and we would say, ‘That
sounds great, let’s do it,’ without considering the consequences.
But we didn’t always have the right people and resources in place to
realize our new ambitions.”
Quast’s characterizes the turning point this way: “We used to run on
gut instinct. We still value that, but it can get you into
situations that you might not be best-prepared to handle. We
realized we needed to better analyze why it is that we were doing
something.”
STRATEGY
AS THE TURNING POINT
Mason’s strategic-plan sessions
continued off and on for about six months when she realized, “This is
as far as I can take it.” She then went looking for a management
consultant to move the process to the next level. “We needed
greater expertise and an unbiased view,” she says. “Someone who
could ask us the difficult questions.”
Three companies were asked to bid. Quast says Bay Consulting
became the unanimous choice “when they (Vince Fearon and Hans Jansen)
looked at us and said, ‘You know who you are and where you want to
go. The challenge is how to get there—and we can help you.’ ”
Quast explains: “We didn’t want to spend any time discussing our brand
and building consensus. What we needed was strategic
thinking. They understood that right away and shared our passion
for the brand.”
Once the process began, Quast says Vince and Hans “did an excellent job
of listening and asking pointed questions. They fed back to us
their understanding of the brand, which helped us to focus our thinking
and planning.”
DEVELOPING A 'HANDS-ON'
STRATEGY
For his part, Vince describes the
Holmes Group as “hands-on people needing hands-on solutions.”
With some market research, Bay Consulting demonstrated that Mike’s
brand power was even greater than the group had imagined. How to
leverage it most efficiently was the question. The danger was
potentially tarnishing the brand by taking it in the wrong direction.
Says Vince: “Holmes is moving from being a media-driven company based
on a single television show to a brand-driven company where television
is only one of several business entities. They just needed some
help in how to prepare themselves to choose the directions that offered
the most opportunities.”
Bay Consulting’s help came over a series of four informal sessions
during a six-month period. “They were easy to work with,” says
Mason. “They were always relaxed and very generous with their
time.” She adds: “They opened our eyes to strategic
thinking. We knew what we wanted, but they really knew.”
By the end of the sessions, Quast says Vince, Hans and Bay Consulting
had delivered on their promise. “We’re now much more aware of the
process required to be successful,” he says. “They have given us
a road map to choose which options we should pursue.”
A
FIVE-YEAR GROWTH PLAN
That map includes a five-year
growth plan with several signposts. One of the most critical
markers involves building the infrastructure, or the internal support,
required to maximize the power of the Holmes brand. Explains
Vince: “The core group knows how to create, produce and market a
successful television program. But they aren’t experts, say, on
selling clothes, shoes and books. They need to hire the right
people and establish the right structures so that any new business line
is as successful as it can be.”
Thanks to Bay Consulting, Quast says the Holmes Group is looking to the
future with much more confidence. “They helped us develop a
strategic template that we can apply to any new situation. Today,
we have better structures, better planning and better
accountability. Now, we feel we can move ahead with more
assurance.”
Work has begun on a new TV series for the fall of 2009, “Holmes
Inspection”. Likely future projects include more books, a
syndicated radio program and expanded clothes and shoe lines. And
there is talk of building more sustainable communities such as the
400-home, Holmes Homes development in Okotoks, Alta., 18 kilometres
south of Calgary.
Endorsements are another possibility. In April 2008, Holmes
signed a deal promising to use WALLTITE, a BASF spray polyurethane
insulation product, in his projects, and more such endorsations are
expected in the future.
AN ONGOING RELATIONSHIP
WITH BCG
Whatever direction the Holmes
Group chooses, the model provided by Bay Consulting will help pave the
way. But the consulting group’s dealings with the company are
sure to continue. “We see this as an ongoing relationship,” says
Quast. “It’s not a case of where one has a problem, the
consultants come in and help us fix it and then say good-bye. “We
want them around to help us grow the business, but in the right
direction—and not too fast.”
