Resource the outcome, not the department.

I've talked about organising around intent rather than channels. About measuring value so channel metrics don't dictate the strategy. And about dropping poor-performing activity to free up space for the things that matter.

Now the final piece of the jigsaw: how do we resource it, especially in a small or lean business?

When channels dictate budget and resource follow.

Someone looks after social. Someone creates content. An agency runs search and SEO. Someone else owns CRM and email. It makes sense if you think of marketing as a collection of channels. But we want to start with outcomes, with the business issue we're trying to solve.

Business issues need capabilities. The starting point is what needs to happen, not who in marketing can do it. And when you build around the outcome, the question changes.

Channel driven: "I need to solve our SEO issue."

Outcome driven: "Do we have the capability to be discovered by the right customers?"

Channel driven: "I need to activate CRM for existing customers."

Outcome driven: "What capabilities do we have, or need, to get more value from our existing customers?"

Channel, skill, capability

A channel is where you deliver. A skill is what someone can do. A capability is the ability to achieve an outcome, like being found by the right customers or getting them to come back.

Channels matter as points of delivery. Skills matter too. But you probably don't have the budget, or the need, to build everything just in case.

Your mix will change as you scale from £2.5M to £5M, and from £5M to £10M. What you need today might be different in six months. A fixed team built around today's channels is a risk.

The capability might already be in the building.

Take a simple outcome: more repeat purchases.

Your sales team already knows where the friction is in the process, what customers like and don't like, and what makes them buy again. Customer service probably owns the capability of trust, which helps people choose you, come back and recommend you. Your CRM or email tool is simply the point of delivery.

The gap might be one hire or support from an agency. It might be none; it might just be connecting people who've never been in the same conversation.

For a small business, this isn't about marketing specialists. It's about unearthing the knowledge that already exists inside the business and using it to solve a customer problem.

Bringing it together

That's the series:

Plan around intent, not channels.

Measure what drives growth, using marginal customer value to decide where the next £ goes.

Cut the unproductive and protect the proven.

Resource the outcome, not the department.

And that last £ might not buy a channel specialist at all. The smartest hire might be the one you don't make because you can unlock and connect what already exists.