A young professional thinking of joining our team recently asked an interesting question: “What kind of clients do you work with, and which industries do you focus on?”

The most exciting part about a job in business advisory is the diversity and exposure!

Arguably, providing business growth services is the best job. The exposure you gain to a range of industries, business models and entrepreneurial journeys is just mind blowing.

To illustrate the point: Last month, the edge team handled projects with clients in the financial services industry, rural development and business acceleration space. We also supported a sales company penetrating rural areas, a philanthropic funder of African homemade innovations, a community hospital in a slum, a foreign trade organization, AND a science-focussed secondary school.Retreat

Yeah, exactly! Imagine the conversations over lunch! Being involved in several projects per quarter means intense learnings for each individual. It also means that you get to (and have to!) research and become an expert REALLY fast about new industries and realities!

We learn so much from the kind of questions our clients wrestle with!

As we network with potential clients, we have conversations to really understand their vision, model and approach. By the time we take on board a new client, we know they are inspiring leaders in their fields, entrepreneurs and risk-takers and have big dreams. Many of our clients create employment, make sure East Africans get the services and products they need, and over the years touch thousands of lives and livelyhoods.Edge Perfomance website pictures-50 - tiny

Instead of working transactionally, we build a deep, trusted and long-term relationship with our clients. Knowing that talent management is at the core of successful organizations, we get involed in their most business critical questions:

  • How can we grow sales by factor 12 this year so that we hit breakeven?
  • As I bring in new people, how do I make sure they don’t just ‘want a job’, but we shorten the time they need to understand our culture and start contributing explosively?
  • Who will help us build the right processes as we grow from 2 to 4 branches this year?
  • As I’m transitioning out as the founder after 15 years, how do I make sure the spirit lives on but doesn’t suffocate my successor as they take the organization forward?
  • To build a radically new approach to sales in rural areas, what kind of manager do we need to hire?

In short: Every day is like a very practical MBA class.

Scratch that: Every day feels like doing a PhD in entrepreneurship!

We listen when things get hard, laugh together when we a problem solves itself, answer calls late at night, and sometimes we just have a coffee or beer together, reminiscing about the journey, failures and successes.

Strategy ConversationsAha, sounds great! My last question: Do I get to choose my clients and will I have sales targets?

We work in long-term co-creative partnerships with our clients, so your first projects will most likely be with our existing clients or their close networks, who they referred because they loved the value they gained through edge.

The great news is that the longer you stay in edge, the more influence you have on the types of clients you handle. Some of us start working on our own sales already after a few months or a year with edge. Once you’ve understand our unique sales approach and our services, we’re happy for you to go and have conversations with new potential clients and partners!

In the spirit of focussing on your strengths, you will only be directly involved in client acquisition and get sales targets if you find this work energizing and exciting!

Does this kind of work and environment sound energizing to you?

Ready for the challenge? Take a look at our opportunities to join our team!