Uncovering service opportunities to fuel growth at Life without Barriers

Life without Barriers is a leading social purpose organisation working in more than 300 communities across Australia.

We co-designed a five-year growth strategy

Life without Barriers (LWB) engaged Nous to develop a five-year growth strategy for its Victorian operations. The community service sector is undergoing a period of rapid change and LWB recognised the need to be selective in the opportunities it pursues to secure a strong foothold for growth.

A fast strategy approach identified opportunities for growth

Nous utilised a fast strategy approach to distil the key opportunities for growth, priority initiatives to deliver on these opportunities and required actions for implementation. A key feature of this approach was a joint project team made up of Nous and LWB representatives.

The project team identified five core service categories to fuel LWB growth in Victoria. The categories for growth were chosen either because of the existing LWB presence in Victoria and/or where there was an existing LWB capability. Recognising that LWB will likely need to be selective in the opportunities it pursues, Nous analysed the opportunities and separated them into three categories.

• Target – Opportunities that offer potential for substantial revenue growth and where LWB has existing expertise.
• Respond – Opportunities where LWB has existing expertise but is unlikely to deliver substantial revenue growth.
• Watch – Opportunities that may be attractive financially but are either emerging opportunities or in areas where LWB has not traditionally operated.

The co-design approach set the organisation up for success

The approach was new to the organisation and was commended for its success in engaging key stakeholders in decisions throughout the project; increasing buy-in to recommendations; and creating a general sense of excitement around the proposed direction.

The project was also successful in:

• facilitating conversation amongst the executive about the real opportunities in the Victorian market and what is required to realise them
• providing the business case to secure two new positions that have enabled a greater focus on Victorian operations
• providing a deep understanding of areas of focus to pursue organic growth.