About EmpowerPath and Richard Kotulecki
Most of the owners I work with have built something special. A business they’re proud of, a reputation they’ve earned, a team that depends on them. But at some point, without quite knowing how it happened, it got a lot harder to run than it should be. The profit isn’t where they want it. The same problems keep coming back. And too much depends on them personally to fix it.
That’s when most people call me.
I’m Richard Kotulecki, and I’ve spent the last 25 years doing one thing: walking into organisations that aren’t working properly, finding out what’s really causing it, and fixing it.
My role is to make sense of what’s really going on and fix the causes, not just the symptoms.
For 25 years I’ve worked in organisations under serious pressure, in environments where failing or misjudging customers had immediate, serious, and in some cases life-threatening consequences. That level of diagnostic rigour, knowing that finding the real cause isn’t optional, also applies directly to any service business facing pressure.
Five times I’ve stepped in as CEO or Director of organisations in serious trouble, losing contracts, losing income, and running out of road. In every case the job started in the same place: not with the finances, not with the structure, but with how customers were actually experiencing the business. That’s where the truth always lives.
The outcomes from my work are specific and measurable. Nearly £300,000 of costs halted and a 25% increase in revenue at one organisation. A near doubling of revenue at another, achieved by rebuilding relationships inside and outside the business, from the ground up. Improved customer experience and increased revenue alongside lower costs at a third. These weren’t achieved by adding complexity or importing rigid frameworks. They were achieved by getting clear on what was actually broken and fixing it, properly, with the people already inside the business.
Who I work with
I work with service businesses in the £1m to £5m turnover range. Typically owner-led. Often operationally excellent at the core of what they do, but stretched by growth, complexity, or too many decisions falling to the same person.
In certain territories, primarily across Milton Keynes, Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire, I work in alliance with A Head of Time, bringing additional capability to larger or more complex engagements.
How I work
My approach is called the EmpowerPathway. It starts with how customers are actually experiencing the business, not what the owner hopes they’re experiencing or what the surveys say, and works back through the business from there. It’s not a framework imposed from outside. It’s a structured way of finding the real problem and fixing it properly, with the people inside the business doing the work alongside me, not watching from the side and wondering what the hell is going on.
No off-the-shelf solutions. No reports that sit on shelves. No consultant-speak advice from a distance.
Sound familiar?
If any of this sounds familiar, if the business you’ve built is starting to feel like it’s running you rather than the other way round, the best next step is a conversation. Not a sales call. Just an honest discussion about what’s going on and whether I can help.