Bryony Thomas and Rachael Wheatley have joined forces to launch Watertight Business Thinking. The pair are currently developing a strategic business planning SaaS product which will come to market next year.
This new venture will leverage and expand on the proven processes and intellectual property originally created by Bryony Thomas. The material started as part of her MBA dissertation in 2005, and has been developed, researched, and refined across more than 3000 businesses since. It is best known as the methodology underpinning Bryony’s best-selling Watertight Marketing book and consultancy business.
Rachael Wheatley was amongst the first to licence the methodology to use with her own consultancy clients in 2014, and has been pivotal in refining its practical application to drive business growth within scale-up SMEs.
Having long recognised that the Watertight thinking tools expand well beyond marketing, what started as a process for improving customer journeys has become a common language to enable businesses to map and achieve their growth journeys. Bryony and Rachael have come together to create a comprehensive offering that combines software, training, mentoring, workflows, templates, checklists within a SaaS product with an expert and peer community.
Whilst the venture is new, the ambition is long held. During 2019, Bryony worked to secure investment to fund this innovation. In December 2019, on the brink of signing a deal to make this happen, Bryony was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and given a likely life expectancy of just 12 weeks. Having beaten the odds and returned to health, she came back to the software concept late last year – but didn’t want to do it alone.
Her determination has been nothing but inspirational, writing an updated version of the award-winning book Watertight Marketing through her cancer treatment and recovery. When she pondered on a co-pilot for the next phase, she knew Rachael was the way forward:
“I’ve been looking for a right-hand person to make this new idea a reality for some time, and I’ve had a few false starts over the years. I’ve known Rachael for more than a decade, and she was in the first group of licensed practitioners of the Watertight methodology in 2014.
When I was updating her on my plans late last year, it became crystal clear to us both that the person I’d been looking for had been there all along. It’s a bit like the business equivalent of marrying your best friend.”
Rachael, who has joined as Managing Director of the new entity, feels the same way, expressing her appreciation for Bryony and the company:
“I’m absolutely thrilled to be joining Watertight Business Thinking at such an interesting and important time.
As a career marketer I know how crucial strategic marketing is to business success. Having used the methodology with clients for 8 years as a Watertight consultant, I have seen the hugely positive impact of implementing it.
Working in the business alongside Bryony over the last few months has been energising and fun. We’ve got big plans. They combine the software we want to build to support business transformation with whole company training and the repositioning of marketing. All wrapped up in our purpose: we want to help good people to run fabulous businesses which aim to make a positive contribution in the world.
For me personally it’s a career high – to be working with one of the UK’s foremost business and marketing thinkers, helping to build this rather wonderful company with a remarkable person. Vision aligns, values align and our different strengths and personalities complement each other well.”
Watertight Business Thinking has already secured its first paying clients for the new offering on their beta programme, and will be revealing the first of their digital tools in October.
