Ascend Advisory

  • Home
  • Ascend Advisory
Call Directions Website

Ascend Advisory I help forward thinking business owners build better businesses in ways that change their lives. As a business owner are you sleeping well at night?

I love leveraging my leadership experience to help business owners achieve their version of success, both professional and personally. I have 25 years of business experience to share with you and your team. My two businesses (Tiger Consultants and The Alternative Board - Alberton) help forward-thinking business owners increase profitability and improve their lives by leveraging local business advisory boards, private business coaching and strategic services. I have been a shareholder in several companies in varying industries. My last role was as Chief Operating Officer for large national manufacturing organisation. I have sat on several boards over the last 12 years and developing human capital has always been a passion of mine. Let me use my experience and passion to elevate your business.

30/10/2026

Some of the toughest decisions in business are the ones you have to make as the owner.

How valuable is having experienced business owners challenge your thinking before you make those decisions? Ashley Svensson discusses his experience.

Let’s connect over a coffee and have a conversation!

My digital card: https://combative-jellyfish-477.convex.site/share/card?slug=marco-petersen

Strategic decision-making means stepping back, looking at the bigger picture and making choices that move your business ...
29/10/2026

Strategic decision-making means stepping back, looking at the bigger picture and making choices that move your business towards where you want it to go.

It is easy for urgent operational demands to crowd out that perspective. A useful decision framework creates enough distance to test assumptions, compare options and consider what each choice means for your longer-term priorities.

Read “A Simple Framework for Making Better Strategic Decisions” for practical ways to bring more clarity and intention to the decisions shaping your business:
https://www.thealternativeboard.com/blog/strategic-decision-making

Before your next major decision, ask whether the option solves only today’s pressure or also supports the direction you have chosen for the business.

A fantastic morning at The Alternative Board’s HI-MAP Power BreakfastYour Best Employee Isn’t Automatically Your Best Ma...
28/10/2026

A fantastic morning at The Alternative Board’s HI-MAP Power Breakfast

Your Best Employee Isn’t Automatically Your Best Manager

Your best employee isn’t necessarily your best future manager.

It’s a mistake many businesses make, often with the best intentions.

An employee consistently delivers outstanding results. They know the business, understand the processes and are respected for their technical expertise.

So, when a management position becomes available, they are the natural choice.

But here’s the challenge.

Being good at doing the work and being good at leading the people who do the work are two very different skill sets.

This was one of the important questions we explored at Monday’s HI-MAP Power Breakfast hosted by The Alternative Board.

We often promote people into management positions and then expect them to know how to motivate teams, handle difficult conversations, manage performance, resolve conflict and develop others.

Yet how much preparation have we actually given them?

When these new managers struggle, we sometimes question their ability or commitment.

Perhaps we should first question whether we have equipped them to succeed.

Management development should not be something we introduce only when problems emerge.

It should begin before promotion and continue as managers grow into their responsibilities.

Three questions worth asking as a business owner:

1. Are we promoting people because they are excellent at their current job or because they show the potential to lead others?

2. Are we providing the training, coaching and support they need?

3. Are we measuring their success through team development and engagement, as well as operational results?

The objective isn’t simply to create more managers.

It’s to develop better leaders.

And better leaders create stronger, more accountable and more productive teams.

Company culture rarely falls apart overnight.More often, it starts quietly. People stop speaking up. Meetings become one...
27/10/2026

Company culture rarely falls apart overnight.

More often, it starts quietly. People stop speaking up. Meetings become one-way conversations. Collaboration gives way to turf wars. Employees who once volunteered for more responsibility stop raising their hands. Somehow, the energy leaves the room.

The difficult part is that leaders can miss these signals because nothing looks dramatically wrong.

Yet small changes in participation, trust and ownership can tell you a great deal about what is happening beneath the surface.

In his article for Entrepreneur, The Alternative Board President and CEO Jason Zickerman explores seven subtle signs that a company culture may be heading in the wrong direction, and what leaders can do before small cracks become much bigger problems.

Read “7 Quiet Signs Your Company Culture Is in Trouble”:
https://www.entrepreneur.com/building-a-business/7-quiet-signs-your-company-culture-is-in-trouble

Which quiet signal would your leadership team notice first?

27/10/2026

Peer advisory boards bring different business minds together, but every business owner also faces challenges unique to their own company.

Ashley Svensson shares his perspective on the value of individual one-to-one sessions.

Let’s connect over a coffee and chat about the challenges you’re facing in your business.

My digital card: https://combative-jellyfish-477.convex.site/share/card?slug=marco-petersen

What does it really take to build a business over the long haul?In this episode of The Leadership Exchange Podcast, Jaso...
26/10/2026

What does it really take to build a business over the long haul?

In this episode of The Leadership Exchange Podcast, Jason Zickerman welcomes Michael Fletcher, Co-Founder of Pivot Oasis.

Michael has built, bought and sold seven companies over nearly five decades of entrepreneurship. Along the way, he has learned some lessons the hard way: choose your partners carefully, understand the terms behind the money, know what success looks like before you start, and never confuse your business with who you are.

Those lessons matter because sustainable growth is not only about the next opportunity. It is also about making decisions that protect the business, the relationships around it and the life you want to build.

Listen to this candid conversation about resilience, decision-making and building a business that serves the life you want.

Watch it here or find The Leadership Exchange on your preferred podcast platform:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7yrkCz_lcI

Thank You: A Morning of Meaningful Leadership ConversationsBetter managers build stronger teams. Stronger teams build be...
24/10/2026

Thank You: A Morning of Meaningful Leadership Conversations

Better managers build stronger teams. Stronger teams build better businesses.

A big thank you to everyone who joined us on Monday morning for The Alternative Board’s HI-MAP Power Breakfast.

It was a valuable morning of honest conversations, practical insights and shared experiences around one of the biggest challenges facing business owners: developing managers who can lead people, not just manage tasks.

A special thank you to our panellists:
Herman from Grok HR & Business Solutions, who brought valuable perspectives from his experience in HR, industrial relations and management development.

Peter Flint from ArmCoil Afrika, who shared the practical realities and challenges of developing managers within a growing operational business.

Thank you both for generously sharing your experience and contributing to a meaningful discussion.

And, of course, thank you to the business owners and leaders who made time on a busy Monday morning to join us, ask questions and contribute to the conversation.

One message worth reinforcing is that effective management rarely happens by accident. It requires intentional development, clear expectations and ongoing support.

That is precisely why conversations like these matter.

At The Alternative Board, we believe that investing in the people who lead our teams is one of the most valuable investments a business can make.

Thank you again to everyone who contributed to a successful morning!

How objective is your view of your own business?When you are deeply involved in the day-to-day, it can be difficult to a...
23/10/2026

How objective is your view of your own business?

When you are deeply involved in the day-to-day, it can be difficult to assess the business objectively.

A structured diagnostic creates an opportunity to step back, examine several areas of performance and identify where attention may have the greatest impact.

The Business Snapshot provides a short assessment and report to help start that conversation.

https://ascendpartners.co.za/diagnostic

23/10/2026

Having a business strategy is one thing. Turning it into a practical plan is another.

Ashley Svensson from Jukka Construction discusses The Alternative Board’s Business Builder’s Blueprint software and its role in business planning.

Curious to learn more? Let’s connect over a coffee and have a conversation!

My digital card: https://combative-jellyfish-477.convex.site/share/card?slug=marco-petersen

A final reflection from our Using Funding to Scale Your Business event:Funding is rarely the strategy on its own.Capital...
22/10/2026

A final reflection from our Using Funding to Scale Your Business event:

Funding is rarely the strategy on its own.

Capital can accelerate growth, create capacity and help a business take advantage of opportunities that might otherwise be out of reach.

But its real value comes when it is matched with a clear growth plan, strong numbers, the right operational capacity and disciplined ex*****on.

One of the strongest themes from our discussion was the need to be clear about what the funding is actually going to achieve.

Is it funding working capital for a confirmed contract? Purchasing equipment? Supporting expansion? Acquiring another business?

Or is the business looking for capital because cash is tight and an underlying problem has not yet been addressed?

That distinction matters.

Funding should not become a substitute for fixing the business.

If margins are too low, debtor collections are weak or the business is consistently loss-making, additional capital may simply delay the real problem.

Preparation matters too.

Business owners need to know their numbers, understand their cash flow, have realistic forecasts and be able to explain clearly how the capital will be used and how it will create value or be repaid.

And then comes another important question:
Is the business ready for the growth the funding is intended to create?

More growth can mean more stock, people, customers, systems pressure and working-capital requirements. If the people, processes and operational capacity are not ready, additional funding can magnify weaknesses just as quickly as it can accelerate growth.

There is also no single right source of funding.
Bank finance, specialist SME funding, asset finance, debtor finance, development funding, private capital and owner funding all have different roles.

The objective is not simply to find someone willing to provide money.

It is to find the right capital for the right purpose at the right stage of the business.

So perhaps the better question is not:

“Can I get funding?”

but:

“What will this capital enable us to do, are we ready to use it well, and is it the right capital for the opportunity?”

Get that right, and funding becomes a tool for deliberate, sustainable growth.

Address


Opening Hours

Monday 08:00 - 17:00
Tuesday 08:00 - 17:00
Wednesday 08:00 - 17:00
Thursday 08:00 - 17:00
Friday 09:00 - 17:00

Telephone

+27103001273

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Ascend Advisory posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

  • Want your business to be the top-listed business?

Share