About Dogwood Core

Registered business

Dogwood Core Business Advisory is the official registered business name. We operate from Hobart, Tasmania, and serve clients across Australia through in-person and video engagements.

Established 2016

Helen Marsh founded Dogwood Core in 2016 after a decade in operations roles with regional professional services firms. She noticed the same pattern repeatedly: capable teams losing margin because their proposals described hours instead of outcomes, and because scope boundaries were never written down.

The practice grew through referrals from accountants and industry associations who saw clients struggle at the proposal stage — not because the work was poor, but because the offer was vague.

What we believe

Good advisory starts with how work is actually done, not with a template borrowed from a different industry. We spend time on site or in working sessions before recommending package structures. Positioning language should sound like the people who deliver the service, not like a marketing agency’s generic brochure.

Helen Marsh

Helen holds a Graduate Certificate in Business Administration from the University of Tasmania and previously managed client delivery for a mid-size consulting firm in Melbourne before returning to Hobart. She advises on scope and pricing only — she does not provide legal, financial, or tax advice.

Working with clients

Most engagements involve the owner and whoever writes proposals or quotes. We prefer direct conversation over long email chains. Documents are delivered in editable formats so your team owns them after the engagement ends.

Community

Dogwood Core contributes pro-bono offer reviews to two Tasmanian small business mentoring programmes each year. We also publish field notes on our blog for firms doing this work themselves before they are ready to hire advisory support.