Uncommon Growth

Requires An

Uncommon Framework.

Turn your unique offering into clear, systematic growth.

What Most Founders Think Strategy Is:

If this sounds familiar, you're not alone:

"Our strategy is to hit $5M revenue this year"

- That's a goal, not a strategy

"Our strategy is to compete on price"

- That's a race to the bottom, not strategy

"Our strategy is to be like Uber for X"

- That's reactive, not strategic

"Our strategy is to become the market leader"

- That's a destination, not a roadmap

The Core Problem:

Most founders think strategy is:

  • Planning what you want to achieve

  • Collecting industry best practices

  • Optimising what already exists

“Strategy is about making specific choices to win, not about making plans to participate.”

— Rodger L Martin, Playing To Win

The Uncommon Framework is a 5-day workshop that helps ambitious businesses build a strategic growth system to redefine how they win.

The Uncommon Framework isn't another strategy exercise - it's a system that gets implemented. Together we’ll combine customer psychology with growth systems to help ambitious founders escape competition and change their trajectory. While the workshop can solve lots of different problems, it always comes down to three things:

1. Create positioning that makes you the obvious choice.

Not just different, but occupying your own ‘blue ocean’ where customers no longer compare you to competitors.

2. Design growth systems that compound growth over time.

Rather than tactics working in silos, think of tactics working in a system, getting stronger with scale rather than plateauing.

3. Build systematic execution that reinforces your advantage.

Every touchpoint strengthens your position and goal, instead of just fulfilling transactions.

Uncommon Businesses

Require

Uncommon Founders.

What Makes An Uncommon Business?

Most businesses stay "common". They fight over the same customers with the same tactics — chasing growth that fades, copying the competition, stuck on the same treadmill.

Uncommon businesses escape that trap. They build systematic advantages their competitors can't see, can't copy, and can't catch.

But why do some businesses pull this off — and others don't?

It's simple: The right strategy

I'm Stephen Sheppard — "Shep" — and this is what I help founders create. Using the "Uncommon Framework" I help you turn:

  • Confusion into positioning.

  • Random tactics into growth systems.

  • Noise into systematic, confident execution.

Because in the 2.6 seconds you get to win attention, you'd better have an uncommon advantage that actually moves the needle.

“The fatal issue is that logic always gets you to exactly the same place as your competitors.”

— Rory Sutherland, Alchemy

I'm Stephen Sheppard - "Shep"

I've been on both sides of the strategy problem.

I've worked in marketing for 20 years - within agencies, building my own conversion rate optimisation consultancy and even an e-commerce brand too. I watched brilliant founders burn through budgets chasing tactics, looking for silver bullets. I’ve seen conversion rate improvements be eroded as Founders tried to find the next solution. Brands were fighting in crowded markets with commoditised positioning.

Then I lived it myself. When I co-founded my own e-commerce startup, I made every mistake I'd seen clients make. Our ads performed well and our product was strong. But we were still just another player in a crowded space, competing on features and price like everyone else.

Here's what I realised: Most Founders think they're doing strategy, but they're actually just doing tactical planning.

"Strategy" becomes revenue goals in a business plan. Marketing becomes a collection of channels that don't reinforce each other. Growth becomes an endless cycle of optimising individual metrics without understanding how customers actually decide.

That's why I created The Uncommon Framework. What actually makes businesses "uncommon" isn't better tactics or bigger budgets - it's creating the right strategy.

What Can You Expect From The Framework?

An evidence-based, 5-day strategy sprint. From customer psychology and positioning, to growth systems and systematic execution.

1. Uncover What Makes You Uncommon

Why do customers actually choose you? Together we’ll find your real competitive advantages - the psychological triggers and positioning gems that make you the obvious choice. This isn't customer research fluff; it's strategic clarity about what makes you genuinely different.

How do you turn advantage into compounding growth? Together we’ll design your behavioural systems where every choice reinforces each other - your positioning drives your marketing, your marketing strengthens your positioning. Simple systems that compound, not complicated tactics that compete.

2. Design Your Growth System

3. Implement with Discipline

How do you make uncommon thinking stick? You don't just get a strategy document — together we embed it throughout your business. Your team understands it, uses it, and executes it independently. No strategy documents gathering dust.

The difference between tactics and the framework?

Tactics ask "How do we get them to buy?"

The framework asks "Why would they want to?"

One optimises conversion.

The other creates conversion.

Is The Uncommon Framework Right For You?

Do any of these situations sound familiar?

Tactical Hamster Wheel

Constantly optimising ads, emails, and pricing but growth keeps slowing and margins shrink. You're working harder without getting ahead.

Random Acts of Marketing

Scattered tactics - podcasts, influencers, content, ads - but nothing connects? High activity, low impact, can't tell what's actually working.

Strategy Confusion

Everyone has opinions - board, advisors, team but no clear framework. "Strategy" becomes whatever the loudest voice says.

Just Like Everyone Else

Can't explain why customers should choose you over 10 similar competitors. You're competing on features, price, or "better service" all easily copied.

Copycat Strategy

"We're like Uber for X" positioning makes you just another player. Competing on price, features, service because you don't know what else to compete on.

Founder Decision Fatigue

Every choice feels like a guess: "Launch this feature?" "Take this partnership?" You need direction but have no framework for prioritising.

Agency Dependency

Agencies tend to optimise for what's measurable. When tactics stop working, growth crashes because you don't own the underlying system.

Commodity Pricing

Customers constantly ask for discounts and compare you to cheaper alternatives. Margins squeezed, and you can't escape the race to the bottom.

Sound Familiar?

These aren't character flaws or execution problems. They're the predictable result of trying to compete harder instead of making competition irrelevant.

 FAQs

  • Uncommon Sprints start at £8,000. Most clients see initial changes within 30 days and measurable growth improvements within 90 days.

  • If you’re unable to spend 5 full days, then the sprint can be structured as 5 half-days over 2-3 weeks, typically 9am-1pm, so you can still run your business in the afternoons. You'll need your key person (marketing manager, ops manager, or co-founder) for about half the sessions. All the prep work is completed in advance by myself, so you're not spending time on homework.

  • Fair question. I've worked with everything from table makers to App startups to specialty food brands. The behavioral psychology principles are universal - people in every industry make decisions emotionally then justify logically. What changes is the specific triggers and positioning. The framework adapts to your industry, not the other way around.

  • Let’s build on what's working, not tear it down. In your current marketing, something is resonating - let’s find out exactly what and amplify it. For instance, if your Google Ads are performing well, why stop them? Instead, discover the psychological reason they're working and apply that insight across all your marketing. Most clients see their existing channels perform better because we're reinforcing the same behavioral advantage everywhere.

  • You have two options.

    Option one: complete independence. You get all the templates, frameworks, and implementation guides to execute internally, plus 90 days of monthly check-ins to keep you on track. After that, you own the system entirely.

    Option two: if you want guaranteed results and ongoing strategic oversight, we can discuss an Uncommon Partnership where I take responsibility for your growth outcomes. This could be a percentage of growth achieved or a monthly retainer - whatever aligns our interests with your success. I work alongside your team for 6-12 months, optimising the system and ensuring it delivers the results we've designed for.

    Either way, the goal is that you understand the strategic thinking behind everything, so you're never dependent on any consultant long-term.

  • Here's what happens: You hire an agency because they grew Brand X from £500K to £2M. They apply the same playbook to your business. It works initially because they're competent at execution. But then growth stalls because you're competing in the exact same way as Brand X and every other client they have.

    Think of it this way: agencies are incredible at driving the car faster. But if you're driving in the wrong direction or on the same crowded road as everyone else, speed doesn't matter. Let’s find the uncrowded road first. Then any competent agency becomes dramatically more effective because they're executing a unique strategy instead of commodity tactics.

    Bottom line: Agencies scale tactics. Together we’ll create the strategic foundation that makes those tactics work exponentially better.

Let’s Have a Chat

Phone
+44 (0)7557 947 078

Location
Athelstaneford
North Berwick,
East Lothian
EH39 5BD