"Poor sales rather than bad product is the most common cause of failure"
Quote from the book 'Zero to One: Notes on Startups, Or How to Build the Future' ... If you are a climate, climate-tech or sustainability startup or scale-up, we help you sharpen your story, find your customers, and build a pipeline that funds your mission.
Three tiers, one method
Begin with a quick, low-commitment, no cost way to get expert eyes on your strategy, then scale support to match your ambition and budget, all the way up to a full agency relationship.
A quick, low-commitment, no cost way to get expert eyes on your strategy, working with our most experienced and senior volunteers. Two to three short calls plus analysis over 1–2 weeks, delivered as a clear one-page “story + numbers.” Act on yourself, or implement later with us. Investors love their start ups to have an expert verified sales plan.
- No cost
- Fixed scope, fast turnaround, experienced execs
- Low commitment, no obligation to continue
- Includes analysis of customer value proposition
- A one-page investor ready plan that is yours to keep
Up to 20 hours per month of senior volunteer sales & marketing support, led and quality-assured by professional management.
- Strategic positioning & messaging
- Pitch deck creation
- Content creation
- Sales enablement & customer acquisition
- PR & presentation
- Data analysis
£200/month covers insurance, training, software & AI tools and professional management. Minimum 3 months, no tie-in beyond.
Get in touchWhen you need more capacity and pace than the volunteer model can give, CML steps up on a fully commercial basis, like a dedicated agency, with the same people, method and climate focus you already trust.
- Greater capacity, faster delivery
- Needs based pricing
- Fully commercial basis
- The same team that knows your story
- Best for sales pipeline development
- Best for full project development
- Half of our net profit funds the next climate venture
Keen to take that next step and start the scale up, but budget is a big constraint. Talk to us about our funded options, we'll already be working together on one of the programmes above and ideally have already seen some sales. In which case we can potentially find small scale investment to start scaling sales on a case by case basis. NB: Please don't approach us cold, we can only offer this to qualifying existing clients. Separately - NGOs & unfunded start ups can be supported by our corporate clients.
Need more than the £200/month Pro level? We become your agency.
As you grow, you may need more capacity and pace than our volunteer model can give. When that point comes, CML can work with you on a fully commercial basis, like a dedicated sales and marketing agency, with the same people, method and climate focus you already trust.
It is a natural next step, not a different supplier: the team that knows your story simply scales up to deliver more, faster.
Hire us, and half of our net profit funds the next climate venture.
Every penny you spend on commercial work does double duty: half of CML’s net profit goes towards supporting other climate and sustainability ventures, the startups and NGOs that can’t yet afford help. You get agency-grade delivery, safe in the knowledge your spend keeps accelerating the wider mission.
How Half for Profit worksFrom first call to live, in five clear steps
Strategy Sprint - Teams call(s)
With our experienced senior exec volunteers - two or three calls as needed. We dig into your specific sales and marketing challenges and explore whether this partnership will be valuable.
Strategy Sprint - Delivery
Together we build your customer value proposition and business-development plan. It is yours to use entirely on your own, at no cost, or you can implement it with CML and our volunteer network.
Managed support - Volunteer SLA & invoice
If you want to develop some of those ideas and implement them. You review and sign our Volunteer SLA covering roles, expectations and confidentiality. We invoice for the first three months, with no commitment beyond. We assign you volunteers keen to help you get your work done, guided by our senior team.
Managed support - Onboarded & live
Your volunteer team gets to work, prioritising the plan with bi-weekly check-ins and the flexibility to adjust scope as your needs evolve. Our senior team are still available for discussion if need.
Managed support - Three-month review
Did we achieve what we set out to? We review the impact together and decide what you want to do next. You can finish here and always come back to us later, continue with the managed support for a further 3 months, or move up to our agency model - just ask.
Entirely confidential
Everything we discuss and produce is treated in strict confidence. Our Volunteer SLA sets out clear expectations on confidentiality and conduct, so you can share openly and move quickly.
Flexible by design
Scope flexes with your priorities. Scale support up as you grow, or step back at the end of any three-month cycle. The plan is always yours.
A proven path, from understanding your business to closing the sale
Every engagement follows the same disciplined sequence, adapted to your stage and sector.
Let’s talk about your climate venture
Start with a Strategy Sprint, a quick, low-commitment, no cost way to get expert eyes on your strategy that leaves you with a clear plan, whether or not you go further with us.