Strategy consultation for New Zealand businesses.
Make better key decisions about where to focus, how to stand out, and what to do next.
When an opportunity or challenge needs a clear way forward, I help you test your thinking against the facts and decide with confidence.
Start with my strategic insight.
A short set of questions to show you the gap, and help me see where to help.
★★★★★
30 years. 300+ businesses. A methodology refined through practice.
✔ Understand what your customers value and why they choose.
✔ Develop an offer that gives a reason to choose your business.
✔ Make informed strategic decisions about your business.
The decisions behind business progress.
Five recurring areas of strategic work:
- Direction: Understand what you want the business to achieve and where to concentrate your efforts.
- Positioning: Establish where your business belongs in the market and why customers should choose you.
- Commercial opportunity: Identify and develop products, services, markets and revenue opportunities.
- Alignment: Bring your brand, business activities, people and resources together.
- Decision-making: Challenge assumptions, evaluate options and decide what to do next.
Brand strategy gives those decisions direction.
Your offer, intended customers, market position, communication and customer experience all influence how people understand and choose your business.
I help you examine these elements and work through the strategic questions relevant to your circumstances. The result is a direction you understand and can use to guide your business.
Before deciding what to change, gain insight
Strategic Insight is a simple first step to see where your business may need attention.
Answer a short set of Yes, No and Maybe questions. You will see the areas that may deserve closer attention. I will see where I can best help you decide what to do next.
No obligation. Just a clearer starting point.
Meet Dayne Smith
I’m the founder of Flying Lizard.
I have worked in branding, design and marketing since 1989, with experience across New Zealand and international markets.
Today, I work directly with business owners, applying commercial experience, specialist brand strategy knowledge and professional judgement to the decisions they need to make.
Specialist strategic consulting
Work directly with me to examine a business question, challenge or opportunity. We work through the relevant strategic issues and establish a practical direction.
What business owners say about the work
Clearer direction. Stronger positioning. A better basis for decisions.
Business owners and advisers describe the value in practical terms.
★★★★★
Exceptional strategic results that brought innovation and direction
“The results have been exceptional. Dayne brings innovation and clarity to every project.”
Michael Greenslade, Trade Commissioner, NZ Pacific.
★★★★★
Understanding a new business position
“It was a good experience, and the excitement of starting a business becomes even more so, once you see your company brand come to life.“
Liz Williams, Co-Founder, The Pod Rental Company, NZ.
★★★★★
Bringing strategic discipline to the work
“I have worked with Dayne for many years, in my opinion, regardless of size or scope of project, the work is unparalleled.”
Jason Gaskill, Business Advisor, United States.
Strategy in practice
See how my strategic thinking has been applied to business.
Every business is unique, with its own situation, market, and ambitions. To understand your specific business, I begin consulting with a series of straightforward questions I call Strategic Insight. This process allows us to develop and test strategic decisions that address the gap you’re considering.
These are some selected projects, click on the logos to see how strategic thinking has been applied in practice.
Strategic work from New Zealand, Australia and the UK.
FAQs, questions Owners often ask
A few practical answers before you take the next step.
Isn’t this what my marketing agency should already be doing?
Sometimes an agency may include strategic thinking, but its primary role is usually execution such as marketing, content, websites, advertising or design. Flying Lizard provides the independent brand strategy that gives those activities a clear foundation to work from.
What does brand strategy actually mean?
It is a clear understanding of what your business stands for, who it is for, why customers should choose it, and how that understanding should guide the way the business is positioned, communicated and experienced.
Do I need to know my strategy before working with you?
No. That is the point of the Strategic Insight. You do not need to arrive with a polished strategy, a list of values or the right terminology. We start with the reality of your business, your market, your customers and where you want to go.
Do I need to be based in New Zealand?
No. Flying Lizard works online with businesses in New Zealand and internationally. The process is built around structured conversations, evidence, documents and clear strategic outputs.
Flying Lizard | Dayne Smith | Wellington & online worldwide.