Get In Touch

Smarter Growth for Businesses Built to Make a Difference

Smudged exists to help purpose-led businesses change, scale, and expand without breaking what makes them matter.

We design commercial architecture for purpose-led B2B founders and leadership teams in the
Messy Middle, partnering with you to build the strategy, systems, and behaviours that make
growth sustainable.
This is growth by design.

Start with Get Unsmudged

From messy growth to commercial clarity

 

Smudged partners with founders, CEOs, and leadership teams in purpose-led B2B businesses where growth has outpaced clarity and coordination is breaking down.

If you’re:

  • Growth has outpaced clarity and coordination is starting to break down

  • You’re post-investment or mid-scale and about to make high-stakes decisions

  • You’re repositioning, expanding, or entering new markets

  • You feel the cost of getting it wrong, in people, money, or momentum

You’re in the right place.

Smarter Growth. Built by Design.

Why founders get stuck in the Messy Middle

Growth doesn’t come from doing more. It comes from aligning Brand, Demand, Expand, and Leadership around one commercial truth, not siloed workstreams or disconnected tactics.

When that alignment breaks down:

  • Teams stay busy but progress stalls

  • Leaders feel exposed making decisions without confidence

  • Value leaks quietly across the business

At the centre is the BDEL framework, where systems thinking meets human behaviour to power smarter growth.

One system. One direction.

Before you invest in growth, get clear on what actually matters.

Get Unsmudged™ is a discovery-led commercial diagnostic designed to establish one thing:

The commercial truth your business must operate from next.

We interrupt momentum on purpose — cutting through internal noise and assumptions to surface:

  • How your market actually makes decisions

  • Where value is leaking

  • What’s misaligned internally

  • What matters now — and what needs to stop

You don’t leave with options.

You leave with clarity and hard choices made.

 

GET UNSMUDGED

  • Commercial gaps — where value leaks and why
  • Buyer behaviour & market reality — how decisions actually get made
  • Organisational alignment — where teams are pulling in different directions
  • Opportunity focus — what matters now, and what to stop

This is not a workshop.
It’s a structure before you build, hire, expand, or invest.

What happens after clarity?

Once the truth is clear, we design the system that makes growth repeatable.

Growth By Design

We design the commercial system that aligns brand, demand, expansion, and leadership, so progress doesn’t depend on individual effort or firefighting.

Embedded Partnership

When capacity or leadership bandwidth is the constraint, we embed to keep things moving — owning outcomes until the system actually works.

Embedded partnership isn’t a service.
It’s how strategy survives contact with reality.

We turn complexity into clarity, connection, and commercial growth.

We don’t diagnose and disappear. We design, build, and embed commercial systems that scale.

START WITH GET UNSMUDGED

We turn complexity into clarity, connection, and commercial growth.

Our Impact

We’ve helped purpose-led B2B businesses move from fragmented activity to aligned growth systems, unlocking momentum without adding unnecessary complexity.

From Market Unknown to Gartner-Recognised Challenger

Supported UK FinTech scale-up to build market presence from zero brand awareness, developing brand positioning, ABM campaigns, and demand generation strategy, unlocking 50% revenue growth, Gartner Magic Quadrant recognition, and clients including Comic Relief, Women’s Aid, and KPMG.

30% Revenue Growth Through Complete Brand Repositioning and Market Expansion

Supported environmental tech leader HWM to transform fragmented brand identity into market leadership positioning, developing complete rebrand, go-to-market strategy, and market expansion activation, securing £5M framework and achieving Queen’s Enterprise Award recognition.

From Advocacy to Commercial Performance: Building Growth Discipline in Climate Tech

Worked with Matter to flip from inside-out vision to outside-in validation, refining 18 potential markets to 3 high-impact priorities, building GTM and ABM activation, and earning Earthshot Prize finalist recognition.

See more of our work

What Our Clients Say: Real stories, real success.

 

“This was never just about a new look. Smudged helped us get clear on who we are, how we show up, and how to win new opportunities by doing more with less. Now people get what we’re about and they’re paying attention.”

Alex Patrick, CEO AAA Training Ltd

“Smudged was a joy to work with, full of infectious enthusiasm, lots of great ideas and extremely hard working. A very keen and insightful observer of people and quickly able to grasp what needs to be done. Would recommend Smudged to any company that is serious about growing.“

Simon Fisher – Director HWM

“I have consulted with Caroline several times and I’m always impressed with the breadth and depth of her knowledge and her genius in understanding the current market landscape. If you’re looking to grow your business the right way and get results, I highly recommend you speak with Smudged.”

Neil Lloyd – Zokit

“Honestly, we were barely scratching the surface with our marketing. Smudged gave us clear direction and real routes to market that actually moved us closer to our growth goals.”
— Commerical Director, Matter

Working with Caroline and the team at Smudged is a breeze. They combine an insightful, straight-talking style with great ideas and an incredible work ethic. Their ability to observe people and grasp the essentials quickly means they can propose strategies that strike the perfect balance between risk-taking and comfort.

Phred Steed – Commercial Director, Sleep and Health

Ready to stop growing in chaos?

Start with Get Unsmudged™ and get the clarity, focus, and commercial truth your team can actually operate from

Smarter Growth, Built by Design

Start with Get Unsmudged

Our Thinking

How we helped Matter Turn Purpose into Performance

How we helped Matter Turn Purpose into Performance

by | Jan 25, 2026 |

COMMERCIAL STRATEGY SECTOR: CLEANTECHMoving from investor-ready to market-ready: building commercial foundations that don't depend on things outside their control. Fresh off a $10M Series A, Matter had strong momentum: world-leading microplastics technology,...