Change Multiplies
Opportunities
WHY WE DO WHAT WE DO
arcanum
/ˈar-ka-num/noun
a profound secret or mystery known only to a few
a secret and powerful remedy; an elixir; specialised knowledge
Over many years of working with organisations, one pattern has become clear. Most Family Businesses and SMEs don’t struggle because of lack of effort, talent, or ambition. They sometimes struggle because growth brings complexity, decisions become harder, and what worked before no longer fits the stage the business has reached.
Too often, the wrong solutions are applied at the wrong time. Arcanum was created to help leaders see their situation more clearly, make better decisions, and navigate growth with confidence, combining practical experience with proven frameworks and disciplined business thinking to build lasting value.
If you can picture it and
it takes time that's OK.
But if you can't picture it,
it's not going to happen.
About Mark J. Stradling
Helping SME's in Asia with Growth and Transition
Building on this belief, Arcanum reflects the experience and perspective of its founder, Mark Stradling.
Originally from Harrogate in the UK, Mark has lived and worked in Asia for more than 35 years, primarily in Malaysia, Singapore, and Hong Kong. His career began in corporate leadership roles across sales, marketing, and business development with organisations in Europe and Asia, including Alcan, Heuga, Sirdar Group, Reed, The Grey Group, and EMAP. Many of these roles involved start-up operations, new market entry, and business expansion—experience that now underpins his work with growing organisations.
In 2007, Mark founded Arcanum Asia in Singapore to help organisations address the practical challenges that emerge as they grow—particularly around communication, decision-making, leadership alignment, and organisational change. In 2013, operations were extended to Malaysia. Since then, Arcanum has delivered more than 280 projects across Family Businesses, SMEs, and multinational organisations, supporting initiatives estimated to contribute over US$3.5 billion in value through revenue growth, improved performance, and business transformation.
Mark works closely with a small number of long-standing global partners, including Corporate Lifecycles (USA) and Sales Optimisation (NZ), bringing proven frameworks into Asia and adapting them to local business realities.
His work focuses on applying cognition, visualisation, and structured thinking to real business situations, helping leaders clarify complex challenges, strengthen decision-making, and communicate with impact. This practical integration of insight and application is why Mark is often described as a “Business Alchemist”, someone who combines experience, structured thinking, and context to create meaningful change.
In addition to his work with Arcanum, Mark is President of the Malaysia British Society, supporting cultural and business connections between the UK and Malaysia. He is also an accredited HRDC trainer, enabling eligible Malaysian organisations to access funded development programmes.
Thrive Don't Just Survive
Understanding where your business might be today, and what it must do next to grow with confidence
Most SMEs and start-ups begin with the same goal: to grow and succeed. Yet at some point, many find themselves shifting from building the business to simply trying to keep it under control.
This rarely happens by design. More often, it is the result of
well-intended decisions that no longer fit the organisation’s
stage of development.
SMEs are the backbone of most economies. However, as they grow and mature, they move through predictable lifecycle stages. Each stage not only brings new opportunities, but also increasing complexity. Strategy, structure, delegation, decision-making, and ways of working all need to evolve as the organisation progresses.
The challenge is that what creates success at one stage can create problems in the next. When leaders are not clear about what the business needs—and what it has outgrown—growth slows, frustration increases, and the organisation begins to strain.
Thrive, Don’t Just Survive is a complimentary 90-minute interactive session that introduces the Corporate Lifecycle framework.
It helps leaders recognise where their organisation is today, understand the challenges ahead, and make more confident decisions about how to move forward.
The session explains how organisations progress toward the Prime stage, where flexibility and control are balanced, performance is sustainable, and the business is positioned to build long-term value.
This session can be delivered at your office for your leadership team at a convenient time, including lunchtime or after work.
