Rebase vision 

2021-2023

When establishing a new company, it is crucial to ask the question of why. Why gives us reason and purpose and clarifies our choices in the future. When one year and a half ago we ramped up Rebase we defined our raison d’être.

Start with why

First, we wanted to create a company that combines the benefits of being a freelancer and working in a company. We also want to offer the best workplace for the people who want to share upsides and downsides with us. In the other words, we emphasise justice and fairness – people skills and competencies will define compensation and recognitions. In addition, we want to be an open company – freedom, transparency, and partnership are our guidelines. All these driving forces should be provided as the most simple service possible, so everyone can focus on the essential.

Rebase vision 2021-2023

The vision statement describes the desired future position of the company. The vision also tells what the company is striving for, and what it wants to achieve. Here is our vision 2021 - 2023:

Our vision is "to be a company of 80-100 experts by the end of 2023. Rebase will continue to reshape the consulting industry. We want to be the most valuable commission-based company in Finland.”

We have 25 employees now, so our growth target is ambitious but achievable. The Rebase business model and ways of working are already unique, and we want to develop that even more the coming years. Being valuable does not only mean in financial metrics but is also valuable for employees and customers.

Strategies lead to the vision

Strategy tells us how to reach our vision and what to do and what not (i.e., choosing the right battles). We also understand that strategies might (and even should) change over time. Still discussing the strategy is important, because it helps to dictate what resources, services, operations, and capabilities are needed.

In the next chapters we will detail our strategies more closely.

Business strategies

Business strategies guide us on what kind of projects and assignments we are pursuing, how and why we should grow, and what enables this growth.

Business model strategy – “Consulting only”

In Rebase Consulting, we only do consulting work, usually based on time and material. There is currently a huge business demand for it-consulting, and because of it dynamic nature it gives people a good opportunity to learn and grow.

Growth and profitability strategy – “Fast and profitable growth”

The software market is in transition which allows growth and differentiation for bold companies. We are aiming for fast and profitable growth - net sales growth is over 100% and profit is more than 15% annually.

Growth enablers strategy – “Organic growth and relying on platforms”

We are looking to gain organic growth. Also, we are depending on and leveraging various platforms for cost-effectiveness. Acknowledging that provided non-critical services are “good enough”, but not necessarily best on the market. We will also respond rapidly to new opportunities such as pop-up sites close to the customer, targeted recruiting, and international prospects.

Employee strategies

Our employee strategies describe what we see as the most important aspects regarding our personnel.

Learning, development, and recognition strategy – “Learning by doing”

Pre-planned self-development strategies are not feasible in a complex environment, because customer needs and personal interests are hard to predict. They also tend to change rapidly. Instead, we will offer the best base from where to choose projects that support learning and self-development. We also support systematic project rotation. In addition to this, we believe that merits are earned through customer projects.

Compensation strategy – “Commission-based compensation and systemic engaging”

The core idea in the compensation strategy is to keep the model market-driven (i.e., risks are shared), fair, and as simple as possible. On the other hand, we want to also guarantee a decent level of financial security for all employees. We favour systemic engaging tools (e.g. employee stock ownership) over gold plating benefits.

Management support strategy – “Matching as a service”

The company must provide its employees' superior service when matching the next assignment. This requires understanding the individual needs of an employee. The employee should be able to trust that the company always supports and tries to find the most suitable solution from the market. Successful matching is a core element that allows other strategic decisions, such as self-development.

Employees positioning strategy – “Freedom within customer needs”

We hire employees that we can trust. Likewise, we work to gain the trust of our employees. Our employees can then have as much freedom as possible within the needs of our customers. For us, customers are our real bosses because they pay our salaries in the end.

Customer strategies

Our customer strategies define our offering, account management, and value proposition.

Customer offering strategy – “Core digitalization services”

We offer services we think bring the biggest value for our clients. From an employee’s perspective, we will focus on projects that are long, profitable, and predictable. Our services include software engineering, Agile, and UX services. A limited number of services also make marketing, recruiting and sales work easier

Account management strategy – “Rely on networks”

We see agencies and vendors more as partners than competitors. We also understand that as a small company it is challenging to build an impactful customer portfolio. For these reasons, we want to build as big of a sales network as possible. A large portfolio also supports the growth, employee development, and learning

Customer value proposition strategy – “Benefits from both worlds”

Our business model (combination of consulting and freelancer) also creates a unique value for customers. We can offer freelancer benefits such as work ethics and commitment and organisation benefits such as stability and scalability.

Enabler strategies

These strategies guide us on how to proceed with marketing, recruiting, and collaboration with our parent company.

Marketing and Communication strategy – “Clear and simple”

We want to keep our message clear and consistent. With limited resources, we need to prioritise, when, and where to communicate. We avoid vague or non-descriptive posts.

Recruiting strategy – “Selective recruiting”

Selective recruiting leads to better customer and employee satisfaction. It will also reduce the coordination work and complaints. In addition to technical capabilities, we also emphasise social skills and future development potential. CV-based hiring is not an option for us.

Gofore collaboration strategy – “Hybrid strategy”

We can benefit from the knowledge and experiences in our parent company. The parent company also brings us additional stability and leverage. While Rebase operates independently, we must work together on a higher-level towards common goals.

Last words

We released a longer version of our vision and strategy to our employees. Everyone also had an opportunity to impact this. Like the best chefs share their recipes in public, we wanted also to share our vision and strategies. This forced us to generate and create new and better recipes in the future.

Special thanks to Timur Kärki for coaching the strategy process, Hermanni Hyytiälä for giving the idea of the strategy image and Tabitha Heller for graphic design.