What type of founder are you?
Hustler, Doer, Dreamer or Builder? Find out where you are now, and what to work on next to build the business you want.
Quick, honest, and a lot more useful than a star sign.
Take the quizFounder · Business strategist · Author · Speaker
Where brilliant ideas and businesses take flight.
I help founders turn big ideas into businesses that work, with clearer decisions, creative problem solving and tech that actually helps. So you can build the business you want, not the one everyone says you should.
What I'm actually here for
Success doesn't have to look like everyone else's. Let's build yours.
Most business advice sells one version of success: hustle harder, grow at all costs, copy whoever's loudest. It builds busy businesses, not better ones.
I help you build differently. Spot the opportunities others miss, make clearer decisions, solve problems creatively, and put tech and AI to work where it actually helps.
Fixing what's not working is part of it. But a business is a whole ecosystem: the idea, the systems, the numbers, the people, and you. I've spent 20+ years helping businesses work better, and I've built my own from scratch. Now I help founders build theirs, and break through the ceilings in the way.
Business shouldn't feel like milking a duck. Let's build something better.
The receipts
A few numbers I'm quietly proud of.
2023AgriFutures National Rural Women's Award winner
20+Years improving how businesses work
$1mSaved in 12 months for a Big 4 bank
30+Keynotes and panels, including Parliament
100+Workshops and training sessions run
1 + 1Published book and truffle farm (yes, really)
As featured in
The book
The Pie Gets Bigger.
Complementors Over Competitors
My book on why the businesses around you are worth more as collaborators than competition, and how working together grows the whole pie.
Available now on Amazon.
About Nikki
The business strategist with a truffle farm and zero corporate jargon.
I'm Nikki Davey, business strategist, speaker and author of The Pie Gets Bigger. I spent 20+ years in corporate operations, including leading a Kaizen program that saved a Big 4 bank $1m in 12 months.
Then I built Grown Not Flown, a self-funded, award-winning global startup. It looked impressive from the outside. On the inside I was juggling conflicting advice and running something that wasn't built to last.
Now I co-run Duck Duck Pig, our cut flower and truffle farm, I'm launching our new agtech platform, and I help small businesses with strategy, digital solutions and putting AI to work in their business.
My Gallup top five are Strategic, Futuristic, Positivity, Inclusion and Ideation. In practice, that means I see what's possible, spot what others miss, and find a creative way through.
Whatever we're building, the goal is the same: a business that works, and room to grow it bigger.
Build it. Fix it. Scale it. Your way.
A business that keeps growing, without it all depending on you.
I help you shape the idea, find a way through the problems in front of you, and build the systems, tech and habits to scale it.
If it looks impressive from the outside and feels exhausting on the inside, I've been there.
How I work
Big business habits, built your way.
You don't need to run like a corporate. You need the habits that help good businesses grow: making clear decisions, solving problems like a champion, and knowing what actually moved the needle.
It's a mindset, and it runs on two loops, whether you're building something new or fixing what's stuck.
- The business loop
- Find it. Choose it. SPARC it. Check it. Zoom out, find the opportunity or the blocker, choose what matters most, then check it moved the business before you go again.
- The process loop
- Scope, Plan, Action, Review, Continuous improvement. Zoom in and build or fix that one thing properly, so it holds as you grow.
Founder types
Four kinds of founder. One you want to be.
Most of us are a mix. The goal is to spend more of your time as a Builder.
The Hustler
Always on, always busy. Plenty of momentum, but not much of it adds up.
The Doer
Gets things done. Just not always the right things, in the right order.
The Dreamer
Big ideas and big vision. Turning them into something real is the hard part.
- The goal
The Builder
Vision and follow-through. Makes clear decisions, solves problems creatively, and keeps growing.
Starting points
Where to start.
Zero to Something.
How to take an idea from your head to something real: shape it, test it, and build the first version with the right tools.
For the ideas that have been sitting in your notes app for too long.
Coming soonFrom the desk
Latest on
the blog
Practical thinking on strategy, creative problem solving, tech and AI for founders building something of their own.
Frameworks you can use on Monday, lessons from the farm and the boardroom, and the occasional rant about bad business advice.
Plain English. No fluff. Always usable.
Read the blogWhat I stand for
Build on solid ground. Then aim higher.
Every business is built on the same six foundations. Get them working together and there's no ceiling on what you can build.
The six foundations
Strategy
Know where you're going, and what you're saying no to.
Products & services
Sell the things that actually make you money.
Customers
Know exactly who you're for, and make sure they know it too.
Systems & operations
Stop the same problem landing on your desk every week.
Performance
Decide from your numbers, not gut feel at 11pm.
Sustainable growth
Grow in a way the business, and you, can keep up with.
Six things I won't budge on
Success is yours to define.
Your business doesn't have to look like anyone else's to be a success.
Build it to scale before you scale it.
Growth multiplies whatever's underneath, solid or wobbly.
You don't need more advice. You need fewer inputs.
Conflicting, one-size-fits-all advice is the problem, not the lack of it.
Big business habits belong to small business too.
Clear decisions, good data, solid routines. None of it is secret.
Tech should make you better, not busier.
AI works best on top of clear thinking. Get that right and it becomes a real advantage.
I'm not going to do it for you.
We build it together. You run it. If it only works while I'm in the room, it's not a solution.
Businesses don't improve by accident. You have to build it in.
Work with me directly, or build alongside other founders inside the Milking Ducks membership.