Strategic thinking you can use every day.
There are two ways to work with me: short sprints that bring clarity within days, or steady direction across the year.
Short sprints.
Clarity in days.
Useful when decisions cannot wait.
Steady direction.
Strategic guidance across the year.
Useful when pace is high and consistency matters.
Working together.
I’m Ben. On my blog I also write as The Everyday Strategist.
I’ve spent more than twenty-five years across strategy, leadership, creative direction and writing. I’ve led teams, shaped stories and built brands. That experience helps me see what matters quickly and explain it in a way people remember.
Lucky Start is built on a simple idea: strategy works best when it is used every day. I focus on the moments where direction needs to be set quickly, and the months where steady thinking keeps people aligned.
What clients say.
The best way to understand the work is to hear from the people who use it.
These are recent reflections from founders, leaders and agency teams who have worked with me in short sprints and from those who involve me more steadily across the year.
Myreete Stanforth - Head of Growth & Marketing, Global Markets, Ketchum
“Ben combines his natural brilliance, human psychology, and bespoke modular process to develop some of the quickest, smartest strategies I’ve seen in some time. He can cover all topics from health to B2B and B2C. His work speaks for itself, but his professionalism and ability to work with new decision makers while creating synergy across teams is what makes working with such a dream.”
Anna Carter - Managing Partner, Ogilvy UK
"Ben took a complex brief we’d been wrestling with for a while and quickly distilled it into something sharp and focused. He brought a fresh perspective, nailed the tone instantly, and delivered smart, considered, client-ready work. His ability to craft messaging that lands and resonates is incredible - and he’s a total joy to work with.”
Asad Dhunna - CEO, The Unmistakables
“Working with Ben is a real joy. He asks the right questions, and has an uncanny ability to write out what's sitting in your head or heart. What's more, he makes the process enjoyable, and also spends time to explain the why behind decisions. Not only will you get great work, you'll come away having learned something, too."
Frankie Cory - Co-founder, Hello Tomorrow
“I have worked with Ben on a wide variety of initiatives, and there are two key things that I can always be sure of. One, that he has the skill, knowledge, insight, and intuition to write for any audience - be it for pitches, proposals, or the development of creative content. And two, that he has the right levels of experience and empathy to assume the voices of C-suite leaders, allowing him to develop strategies, messaging, announcements, and speeches on their behalf.”
Sarah Dembitz - Founder, SD Wellbeing
“Working with Ben unlocked so much more than just messaging - it was real, tangible strategy I started using within days. He has this rare instinct for cutting through the noise and getting straight to the nugget. Honestly, it was kind of scary - like he was in my brain, slicing through the waffle to reveal what I actually stood for. The result? Crystal-clear strategy, sharp messaging, and tangible products. It was fast, focused, and genuinely fun. I can’t thank Ben enough.”
Laura Burch - Founder, Work & Class
“Working with Ben is an absolute dream. The speed at which he grasps a brief in no way compromises the depth to which he understands it. The work he’s delivered for me is thorough, intelligent, thought-provoking and, most importantly, can be used as an essential tool to help drive new business. As a small startup, I don’t have time for faff and procrastination, so I’m grateful that Ben cuts through all that to deliver something genuinely useful to help me support my growth.”
Mitchell Kaye - CEO, The Academy
“Ben is four different people rolled into one. He is smart enough to have made a career as a strategist. He is expressive enough to have been a published author. He is sufficiently well-connected to have built a career in communications, and he is emotionally intelligent enough to have led several people businesses. This reflects why he has spent his career achieving great things in each of these areas. And best explains why he is able to take a brief, understand the challenge and then craft a solution better than anyone else I know. How he writes mirrors the words he speaks: authentic, warm, honest, succinct, and impressive. Very, very impressive, just like him.”
Lisa Parfitt - Co-Founder, The Space Between
"The strategic rigour that Ben brings to all briefs is why we absolutely trust him to deliver excellent work every time, whether that’s comms strategy or broader comms activation. Ben is a unique find, having worked in super senior roles agency-side he understands the standard and quality of thinking required and that’s truly differentiated by always bringing new insights and ways of looking at comms challenges. The only hesitancy of writing this recommendation is that he no longer has time for us."
Lindsey Evans - Founder, Curious Panda
“I have complete faith in Ben. As a writer who has worked in marketing communications for as long as he has, he needs little briefing to understand the task in hand. I just give him a brief synopsis of what I’m asking for, and he uses his insight and intuition to do the rest, making the process quick, easy, and smooth. What’s most important to me, though, is that he understands the strategic and commercial implications of what he writes, tailoring his storytelling skills to specific audiences with exceptional understanding and nuance. He’s a joy to work with.”
Antoine Trépant - Founder, Vivre
“When my business partner and I began developing our business plan, our vision was clear but we struggled to translate it into a compelling brand. Ben helped us uncover not only what we personally stood for, but also what our business truly represented. He ensured that the promise we make to our market is perfectly aligned with what it values most. His patience, precision, expertise, and creativity were extraordinary throughout the process. We now have a clear, distinctive brand strategy - one that will stand the test of time and deliver lasting value to our clients.”
How to get in touch.
If you would like to talk something through, you can reach me at ben@luckystart.uk or on 07545 933 682.
I keep space in my week for conversations that help people get clear on what they need, so feel free to get in touch.