Ursa Major Stratégie-Conseil

Support that fits the decisions you face

Ursa Major supports leaders of established small and mid-sized businesses as they make decisions about their company’s future. Ongoing counsel provides continuity in setting and reviewing priorities. Focused engagements examine a specific growth, decision or performance question. The initial conversation helps determine the right fit.

The ongoing relationship

Ongoing strategic counsel

A regular pause to see what you might be missing, examine important decisions and follow through on what was decided.

Situation: You lead an established small or mid-sized business and want to clarify priorities with a trusted sounding board, without handing over decisions or adding a management layer.
Format: A meeting every two months, one-on-one with the business owner, with email exchanges between meetings
What you get: At each meeting, a review of the numbers, current issues, potential blind spots and what needs to be monitored; between meetings, email exchanges when circumstances change.

How it works

Best for For the leader of an established small or mid-sized business who wants to prepare decisions carefully and follow them through without handing over responsibility for running the company.

Ongoing strategic counsel includes a meeting every two months to review the numbers, priorities, issues and what needs to be monitored. You work directly with Manuel Fresnais, Adm.A., eMBA. Email requests between meetings receive a response within two business days. The relationship is reviewed regularly to confirm that it remains useful.

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Clarify the starting point

Situation assessment

Take stock of a situation that has become too broad, unclear or interconnected to choose the right intervention immediately.

Situation: A situation needs your attention, but you are not sure where to start — or whether it calls for ongoing counsel or a focused engagement.
Format: Two meetings over roughly two weeks
What you get: A concise note setting out what the facts say, what still needs to be verified, the issues at stake and a proportionate next step.

How it works

Best for An important situation that needs to be framed before committing to ongoing counsel or a focused engagement.

The situation assessment brings together the available facts, separates assumptions, clarifies the issues and identifies a proportionate next step. It ends with its note. If it leads to ongoing counsel or a focused engagement, that is agreed separately.

Request an initial conversation

Focused engagements

When the question is already defined, the analysis focuses on the decision that needs to be clarified. Each engagement has a beginning, an end and a deliverable agreed in advance.

Focused engagement

Growth

Compare growth opportunities without assuming that growth is always the right answer.

Situation: Growth calls for choices about where to invest, which priorities matter and whether the business has the capacity to keep up, including the options to consolidate, wait or choose not to grow.
Format: A focused engagement on a growth question
What you get: Options, consequences and sensitive assumptions put into perspective, using criteria developed with you.

How it works

This focused engagement helps put the options in perspective using criteria developed with you. Its purpose is to examine the options, the criteria for ruling some of them out, sensitive assumptions and the consequences of each scenario.

Focused engagement

Decision

Clarify an important decision and compare the options that truly exist.

Situation: An important decision may involve priorities, changes to the leadership team or preparing for what comes next. The options and their consequences need to be clarified.
Format: A focused engagement on a specific decision
What you get: Comparable options, examined consequences, explicit assumptions and a clear recommendation when the situation allows.

How it works

This engagement defines the decision, examines consequences, tests scenarios and makes assumptions visible. When the data supports it, financial analysis helps compare the options without pretending to remove uncertainty.

Focused engagement

Performance

Connect an operating symptom to its cause and its economic consequence.

Situation: A symptom persists, eroding margins, delays, tight cash, and its cause is still unclear.
Format: A focused engagement on a performance problem
What you get: An analysis of causes, a next action and what needs to be monitored over time.

How it works

This engagement follows a structured process to define the problem, measure the situation, analyze root causes, choose the next action and determine what should be monitored over time.

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Who it is for

For leaders of established small and mid-sized businesses

As a business develops, the leader’s intuition alone can no longer guide every choice. Ursa Major works with leaders of Quebec small and mid-sized businesses who need to connect financial, people and operational issues but may not have a full team of specialists and senior managers. The work supports their decisions without replacing their team or taking over their responsibilities.

What remains constant across every service

Ursa Major separates facts, assumptions and what still needs to be verified. Calculations and reasoning are traceable. Each recommendation sets out the choices, their consequences and what needs to be monitored. The leader decides and the team implements.

Before we speak

Common questions

Who is Ursa Major for?

Leaders of established small and mid-sized businesses in Quebec whose decisions require more than intuition, but who may not have a full team of specialists and senior managers. Ursa Major provides rigorous analysis and regular follow-up; they retain responsibility for decisions.

How do I choose a service?

You do not need to choose before we speak. The initial conversation helps me understand your situation and identify, where appropriate, the right form of support.

What does a situation assessment include?

Two meetings over roughly two weeks to bring together the facts, distinguish assumptions and clarify the issues. You receive a concise note explaining and supporting the proposed next step.

Do you replace my management team?

No. I work directly with the business leader without taking part in managing the team. The team retains all its responsibilities.

Do you work with my accountant or lawyer?

Yes. Their work is often a starting point. I complement their role without practising public accounting or providing legal or tax advice.

Can I contact you between meetings?

As part of ongoing strategic counsel, you can email me when circumstances change. I respond within two business days.

Who implements the recommendations?

You retain responsibility for the decision and implementation. My role is to clarify the options, provide a recommendation when the situation allows and revisit what was decided.

Do you make the decision for me?

No. I clarify the situation, compare options and provide a recommendation. The decision and execution remain yours.

The next step

Tell me about your situation

Describe the decision or situation that concerns you. If one service clearly fits, I will say so; if none does, I will say that too.

Request an initial conversation

60 minutes, at no cost and with no obligation.