Advisory & corporate finance
In short No one culture works better than another More staff, and a recent influx of new joiners New managers with different experiences and perspectives Less identification and contact with the founding team Purpose and focus less coherently understood A different strategic focus that has not landed “Culture eats strategy for breakfast”, someone once said. … Continue reading Is your business culture holding you back?
In short Why leaders hesitate, and what the data says instead Fear of a deflating response to the survey Cynicism about what different generations want A belief that it only creates pressure on pay Not knowing what would actually help A recent report by Be The Business that compared productivity in the UK compared to … Continue reading Four barriers to employee engagement
In short 95% of executives are dissatisfied with innovation in their business A business focus on finding better ways to do things Engagement and the creative capacity of employees Infrastructure that supports collaboration and learning Deep contextual understanding of the marketplace Willingness to act, learn and fail fast safely The benefits of creating an innovative … Continue reading Five behaviours to promote innovation
If you are a scale up business, you will already be familiar with the challenge of growing with limited financial resources. Our article ‘Considerations for Scale-ups when raising funds’ outlines some of the common solutions in addition to fundraising support we provide clients. Do you lack financing to sufficiently scale? The Scale Up Institute notes … Continue reading Access to Finance Challenges for Scale up Businesses
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
In short Finance is often the hardest team to scale Over-spec: a senior hire brought in to clear accumulated issues Grow and build: your existing finance lead develops with the business DIY: the founder runs finance on intuitive software Outsourcing: a practice handles bookkeeping, payroll and year end Virtual CFO: a sounding board, flexed to … Continue reading What Should Your Scale Up Finance Team Look Like?