About

FOCUS 4 U – represented by Ilse Bracke – is a boutique consulting company specialized in innovation strategy for IT and business leaders worldwide.

We offer customised innovation programs to ignite creative leadership. These programs help organisations set up the right innovation pathways and reduce the risks and high costs of innovation experiments.


Focus verb [I/T] (ADJUST): to adjust something in order to see more clearly.

“Opportunities to focus are still all around us. But we must recognize them and believe that the benefit of focus, for yourself and the people you lead, is worth making it a priority in your life.”

Corporate Innovation

Did you know that according to McKinsey, only 6% of executives are happy with their current innovation performance?


Many organizations rightly recognize the growing need for corporate innovation programs that encourage both incremental and disruptive innovations. This demand for innovation has created a new focus on the role of IT and business leaders. Business and technology leaders transitioning into their new role of ‘innovators’ often lack the time and, often, skills necessary for development and implementation of a specific innovation strategy.

We strongly believe that such skills must be mastered to achieve better results. As ‘innovators’, leaders are taking risks to do something that nobody in their organizations has done before. At the core of many of the less successful attempts to organise corporate innovation lie some common mistakes.

We help business leaders to overcome such known pitfalls, by coaching them how to mitigate risks and manage their organizations under conditions of uncertainty.


Building a successful corporate innovation program is quite a complex challenge.”


• If you have “innovation” in your job title, it most likely means that you like building new teams, creating new products and new value. But the truth is, when it comes to corporate innovation, you should also excel at “scaling”.

• We assist you with the tools and techniques on how to consider scalability in your innovation projects and help you to navigate through the ‘red flags’ while trying to achieve your goals.

• We are specialized in helping companies to foster corporate innovation. We work with a proven systemic model approach to help accelerate value creation.


“Innovation is about imagination and execution.”

What sets us apart is our unmatched experience in Business and IT, unique background in research and industry, as well as our practical, systemic approach to innovation”.

I have 20+ years of experience in leadership roles designing business solutions, product & software engineering, enabling innovation initiatives and implementing systems to generate value out of data, using new digital technologies (IoT, wireless connectivity, cloud, AI, distributed intelligence).

And 15+ years of expertise in innovation strategy, corporate venturing, opportunity recognition, setting up strategic partnerships, building relationships with ecosystems, IP portfolio management and amplification, incubation and spin-off creation.

Business Model Innovation

Any business model, no matter how fantastic, must dare to innovate !

In the last 15 years, I have continued to deepen my expertise in Business Model Innovation. By combining scientific excellence in this field and practical experience, I help companies to develop, re-think and implement innovative business models.

Scientific research shows that 90% of all innovative business models are simply a recombination of existing concepts from other industries. This can be traced back to some 60 patterns that can serve as a blueprint to scrutinize your own business model and help you innovate creatively and smartly.

Research on business model innovation has also shown that business model innovation brings greater potential success than mere product or process innovation. 14 of the world’s 25 most innovative companies are business model innovators. More than 60 percent of the companies that implemented such innovation reported profit increases.

The competitive advantage of tomorrow’s companies will not be based on innovative products and processes, but on innovative business models !

All to often we fail to adapt and hold on to outdated models that are no longer delivering the results we need.

Offer

Innovation as-a-service

For organisations who want to bring their digital innovation to the next level we offer a practical, systemic approach to create value. Our value creation framework helps you to fill the pipeline, incubate and accelerate value creation accross the different stages of the business model.

We offer two dedicated programs:

Leading Innovation program: the goal of this program is to jump-start, re-think or re-activate your innovation initiative. What to expect? How to prepare for more uncertainty. How to become more resilient and robust for the future.

Business Leverage program: an integrated one year innovation program to go from new idea(s) to market validation. Leveraging new business opportunities and new business models.

Contact us for more information. We look forward to talk to you. ilse.bracke@focus4u.be

Strategy retreat

Learn how to innovate your business model to re-invent yourself, boost your growth, become more resilient.
A holistic experience is awaiting you. Unique encounters. Time to focus on your future.

Invitation to all entrepreneurs who want to be at the top of their business !

As a child, my parents had a wine estate in the south of France. The business model of winegrowers at that time was under a lot of pressure and had become outdated. Many winegrowers at that time did not want to abandon the old business model of working in a cooperative form. All the grape varieties were brought together in one product which was then marketed mostly in bulk.
Unfortunately, many wine-growing estates stopped working in those years, partly due to the EU subsidies for pulling out the vineyards. Other wine domains had a hard time surviving, working many hours on their domains and being forced to do everything themselves to keep costs down. Family and friends came to lend a hand during the picking to further reduce costs. Tourists often saw the best of it when on vacation in this beautiful sunny region.

Even today there are wine estates that are still struggling. However, things can also be different. The most successful ones have chosen to drastically renew their business model. They even invested in difficult times. And that pays off.

This is also what I see with my clients. By daring to reflect on the existing business model, one can build a new more sustainable and resilient business.

A strong business model is the basis for business success. All too often we don’t adapt, sticking to outdated models that no longer deliver the results we need.

I am happy to guide companies in this process during an exclusive 1 day strategy retreat.

What will you learn?
In this 1 day retreat you will have an answer on the following questions:
– What is a business model?
– Why do I need to update my model?
– How do I adapt alternative business models to suit my business?
– How do I manage innovation and change?

Where?
This takes place at a fantastic location, namely an innovative wine estate in central Flanders. With a view over the wine domain, we get to work together. In between all the hard work, we take a walk on the wine domain between the vineyards. We also enjoy a nice lunch on the domain. And we conclude the day with a Cool Climate wine tasting. This inspiring location offers the ideal environment to focus on the future of your company in an oasis of greenery and tranquility.

For whom?
– CEOs and founders of SME companies
– Innovation, Business Unit and Business Development managers and directors, who have the mandate to shape the innovation process.

If you’re curious about how I can further help you innovate your business model, contact me for a free exploratory session.
Places for this unique strategy retreat are limited to a small group of participants.

Strategy Session

In a free conversation with me, determine your personal innovation strategy pathway. Totally appropriate for your needs!

Plan a session, send me a message and get clair on what you need.  ilse.bracke@focus4u.be

Looking forward to talking to you soon,
Ilse Bracke

Contact

Curious how we can help you expand your business? Let’s talk.


“Working with Ilse was fun and professional, taking the innovation to the next level. She brought in many new perspectives that took the idea closer to the market.”
Magnus Willner, Founder & CEO Mixtive AB, Sweden


Contact Ilse Bracke

If you have a question or are interested in one of our programs, please send an e-mail to ilse.bracke@focus4u.be or call +32.472.38.86.81


CONTACT DETAILS

FOCUS 4 U BV – Ilse Bracke – Valk 79B – B-2890 Puurs-Sint-Amands (Antwerp)
Belgium
VAT: BE 0477.613.449