Category: Growth

Time short entrepreneurs understand that a reliable infrastructure scales their business

by hayleyfray

The Scale Up Institute’s last report identified ‘infrastructure’ as one of the key challenges for scale up businesses. While not clearly defined, the term appears to refer to the ecosystem of local hubs and enterprise agencies available. If you are a scale up business (sales growth > 15%; hitting sales of £10m or more; or … Continue reading Time short entrepreneurs understand that a reliable infrastructure scales their business

Common pitfalls for high growth business leaders

by hayleyfray

Leaders read articles like this one, but if you do, you’re probably alone. The Scale Up Institute’s last report identified one of the biggest challenges for leaders as ‘the solitary nature of leadership.’ So what does it mean to go it alone? There are a variety of approaches to developing personal leadership skills, from peer-to-peer … Continue reading Common pitfalls for high growth business leaders

Five steps to creating an effective Venture Board

by hayleyfray

While there is extensive analysis available on how boards of established companies should operate, especially those in the public interest or publicly traded shares, there is very little guidance on how to make venture boards (for fast growing scale up businesses) work effectively. Most companies have a set of obligations in their Articles that are … Continue reading Five steps to creating an effective Venture Board

Top five reasons why businesses fail to scale

by hayleyfray

‘Only 4% of UK businesses grow to have more than 10 staff’ is the worrying statistic released in this year’s Scale Up Institute report.  Whilst the UK typically ranks highly when it comes to the level of entrepreneurship,  James Anderson of Baillie Gifford’s Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust acknowledges that ‘the UK culture doesn’t celebrate the … Continue reading Top five reasons why businesses fail to scale

Time to focus on value creation

by hayleyfray

Value creation is an integrated approach to optimising shareholder value. Value creation is based on developing and applying value drivers (sometimes called ‘value builders’) that help articulate commercial development and also support higher transaction values. By not drawing on the experience of best practices successfully applied by other businesses, founders can risk leaving money on … Continue reading Time to focus on value creation

How do you drive value when fundraising?

by hayleyfray

In the absence of a clear guide, many founders and their boards will chart a steady and linear progression in value, supported by revenue or profit growth, starting at the implied valuation of the initial investment and heading towards a target valuation with valuation reference points to validate this approach.  In determining the target value … Continue reading How do you drive value when fundraising?

How do you drive value when selling your business?

by hayleyfray

Business valuations are typically assessed by using one or more of the following approaches as follows: Selection will depend on the sector and the first two are the most common for businesses trading as a going concern; discounted cash flows will more frequently be applied for more mature businesses, which can be relevant for businesses … Continue reading How do you drive value when selling your business?

Considerations for Scale-ups when raising funds

by hayleyfray

“Only 0.05% of startups raise venture capital” (Entrepreneur). The market is notoriously difficult for start ups but can be equally challenging for scaling and venture stage businesses. The risks of getting it wrong are not just that you don’t raise enough funds but also include giving away too much equity, incurring high investor costs or … Continue reading Considerations for Scale-ups when raising funds

Four key benefits of having a part time finance director

by hayleyfray

Part time finance directors are a popular choice for high growth and ambitious business leaders. If you are defining where this is right for your business, here are four key benefits  How we can help: We provide experienced part time finance directors who take responsibility for moving your business forward who have the support of … Continue reading Four key benefits of having a part time finance director

How to return to growth? Ten growth hacks

by richardspilsbury

As outlined in our previous article, the recovery is unlikely to be linear yet there will be good growth prospects for many businesses. While the competitive landscape has changes, references to the ‘new normal’ dangerously suggest there will be a paradigm shift, with new fundamentals and where totally new rules apply. Instead we see an … Continue reading How to return to growth? Ten growth hacks