# 13th Street Full Context > 13th Street provides senior support to CEOs, leadership teams and boards navigating growth, strategy and complex situations, where decisions carry real consequences. 13th Street is an independent advisory practice based in Stellenbosch, South Africa. It is built around senior commercial experience and direct principal-led work with CJ Dicks. The practice is retained directly. There is no agency layer, no associate team and no referral angle. The same person is in the room from the first conversation to the last. The work covers growth, strategy and complex situations where getting the decision right matters. It is grounded in operating, not observing: MD of a multi-unit manufacturing business, restructuring and turnaround director across listed and multi-jurisdictional environments, and strategy and execution support in industrial and technology businesses. Each engagement is treated as a single named situation: a real business, real people and a real next decision. ## When Clients Typically Engage Most people who call have been sitting with the problem for longer than they should. Signals include growth slowing or coming to a standstill; strategy existing but not translating into execution; the people at the top not being aligned; a shareholder, partner or co-founder dispute needing someone outside the business; decisions being sensitive, time-critical or both; and the need for someone who will say what they actually think. 13th Street is in the room with shareholders, boards, executives, C-suite leaders and leadership teams. The work is direct, quiet and confidential. It is not a public performance. The output is decisions, alignment and momentum, not decks for their own sake. ## Services ### CEO, Leadership Team and Board Support This is senior support to the CEO or leader carrying the decisions. It gives the leader a second mind on the hard calls: confidential, independent and retained directly with CJ Dicks. The work can include standing access for the CEO or senior leader, board preparation, what actually needs to be said and confidential one-to-one support. ### Strategy Clarification and Prioritisation Most strategy work produces a document. This work produces a decision. It starts with an honest diagnostic against the current strategy, then sequences priorities and next steps. The goal is agreement on what done looks like, in writing, before anyone leaves the room. ### Stakeholder Alignment and Mediation This work is for misaligned shareholders, partner disputes and co-founder relationships that are broken or becoming expensive. The objective is to get the right people into agreement before the situation costs more than it already has. It includes shareholder, partner and co-founder bridge work, mediation in time-sensitive situations and seeing the dynamics from outside the business. ### Business Rescue and Stabilisation This is practical stabilisation and turnaround support: diagnosing the real problem, stopping the slide and building a recovery path. It is used when performance is meagre, an agreement dispute is affecting the business, succession has gone sideways, or the situation is expensive to get wrong and unlikely to come with a second attempt. ### Execution Oversight This work is for capable teams with too many priorities and too little completion. It sets a lightweight cadence, clears the priorities and builds accountability through the people already in the business. The work is through the team, not over it. ### Independent Long-Arc Support Some relationships are retained because context compounds. Most engagements reset every time and the first hour is spent rebuilding context. This does not. The tenth conversation is more useful than the first because the background is already there. ## Engagement Shape The shape of the work adapts to the situation: a single hard decision, a quarter of stabilisation or a long-arc support relationship. Engagements usually begin with one confidential conversation. There is no deck and no proposal at that first stage. If there is a fit, a short written read of the situation follows. If there is not, the conversation closes there and stays there. The process is structured, not scripted. It starts with clarity: a confidential read of what is actually happening, the symptoms, root causes and the decisions that will move things. It moves to alignment: working with the owner and key people to agree what gets prioritised and what gets set aside. It then moves to momentum: standing alongside leadership while the plan is run, with cadence, an ear and a second mind when it matters. ## Principles Confidentiality is the default. Conversations stay in the room. References are on request only. Independence matters: no product to sell, no referral arrangement and no other interest in play. Quiet senior work happens off-stage. The output is decisions, not decks. Diagnosis comes before prescription: name the symptoms and the root before reaching for an answer. The work happens through the existing team because the leverage point is the organisation that already exists. The approach is direct: plain language, written down, said in the room. ## Background CJ Dicks has worked across restructuring and turnaround at director level, including listed and multi-jurisdictional businesses, boards and time-critical situations. He has held full P&L ownership of a multi-unit manufacturing business, including operations, cash flow and strategic direction. He has supported strategy, execution oversight and international expansion across industrial and technology businesses. ## Sectors Served 13th Street serves listed and unlisted businesses across multi-jurisdictions. Sectors include industrial and manufacturing; food and agri-processing; process measurement and technology; retail, wholesale and distribution; and property and development. ## Frequently Asked Questions Who does 13th Street typically work with? CEOs, leadership teams and boards where growth has slowed, strategic priorities need clarifying, or the situation is complex and time-critical. Sectors include industrial manufacturing, food and agri-processing, technology, retail and distribution. Every engagement is senior-led and direct. How does an engagement begin? With a single confidential conversation, usually an hour. No deck, no proposal at that stage. If there is a fit, a short written read of the situation follows. If there is not, the conversation closes there and stays there. What does an engagement cost? Retainers are structured based on the nature and intensity of the situation: ongoing senior support, a growth and strategy focus, or a high-intensity complex engagement. Where appropriate, success-based or value-linked incentives can be agreed upfront. Fee detail is shared after the first conversation. Is the work confidential? Yes by default. No public client lists, no logo walls and no case studies that name a business. References on request. Does 13th Street work with the existing team? Always. The leverage point is the organisation that already exists. The work is done with and through the current leadership, not in parallel to it. What geographies are covered? 13th Street is based in Stellenbosch. Engagements run across South Africa. Travel is part of the work when being in the room makes a meaningful difference. ## Contact The direct contact email is cj@13th-street.co. The office base is Stellenbosch by appointment. The expected response is within one working day. The public LinkedIn profile for CJ Dicks is https://www.linkedin.com/in/cj-dicks-07213b273/. ## Important URLs - [Homepage](https://13th-street.co/) - [CEO, leadership team and board support](https://13th-street.co/services/founder-business-advisory.html) - [Strategy clarification and prioritisation](https://13th-street.co/services/strategy-clarification.html) - [Stakeholder alignment](https://13th-street.co/services/stakeholder-alignment.html) - [Business rescue and stabilisation](https://13th-street.co/services/business-rescue-stabilisation.html) - [Execution oversight](https://13th-street.co/services/execution-oversight.html) - [Independent long-arc advisory](https://13th-street.co/services/independent-long-arc-advisory.html) - [Privacy and terms](https://13th-street.co/services/privacy.html) - [When to Bring in an Outside Business Advisor](https://13th-street.co/notes/when-to-bring-in-an-outside-advisor.html) - [Business Rescue vs Liquidation South Africa](https://13th-street.co/notes/business-rescue-vs-liquidation-south-africa.html) - [How to Save a Failing Business in South Africa](https://13th-street.co/notes/how-to-save-a-failing-business-south-africa.html) - [Structured AI summary](https://13th-street.co/ai/summary.json) - [Structured FAQ](https://13th-street.co/ai/faq.json) - [Structured service capabilities](https://13th-street.co/ai/service.json) - [Robots policy](https://13th-street.co/robots.txt) - [Sitemap](https://13th-street.co/sitemap.xml)