Anda di halaman 1dari 5

CELEBRATING ENTREPRENEURS

The 10,000 Small Businesses programme has enabled us to focus on our vision and values. It has also helped us to engage our team and clients with our passion for discovery.
Lloyd, CEO and Co-Founder

the times | Monday November 18 2013

1GM

49

Business

Celebrating entrepreneurs
In association with

Euprotec, Manchester

Funding provides the firepower for a new company to take flight


Small businesses with big ideas are ready to break out of their niches, writes Katherine Griffiths
TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER BETHANY CLARKE

Tackling the intellectual challenge


Chris Forsyth

Goldman Sachs is committed to helping UK entrepreneurs create jobs and drive local economic growth.
During the 10,000 Small Businesses programme, Lloyd created a growth plan that enabled him to double the size of his biotechnology company. With the leadership skills he gained through the programme, he has developed the careers of the scientists on his team and positioned his company for continued growth.

earching for new drugs that halt mankinds growing immunity to antibiotics and finding new ways to stay at the forefront of mobile phone technology may present very different challenges, but successful small businesses in both areas are united by a common need. They must find ever more capital to fund their expansion. Adam Whitehouse, for example, started out with a single mobile phone shop in Stoke-on-Trent almost 13 years ago and now runs a high-security compound reconfiguring thousands of mobile phones a day. He believes that the shackles have been taken off his growth because he has struck an innovative deal with MarketInvoice, a niche company that finances potentially large amounts of invoices for a small margin, giving him funding up front for expansion. His business, TMT First, has grown from turnover of less than 1 million a decade ago to a projected 26 million in the year that ends next May. Indeed, with the flexible funding now in place, TMT Firsts turnover target for 2016 to 2017 is more than 70 million. Its services include cutting-edge ways to wipe old mobile phones, reconfigure them for new markets around the world and recover data that most other people in the industry believe is unrecoverable. Clients include Carphone Warehouse, large mobile phone manufacturers and the police. Lloyd Payne set up his research and development business to seek ways to combat resistance to antibiotics just as global markets froze in the wake of Lehman Brothers collapse in 2008. The scientist believes that he is on the brink of very significant expansion if he can secure the funding. Mr Paynes company, Euprotec, had a significant contract win this year working with international partners to develop a product that could help to save the lives of wounded soldiers

Lloyd Paynes anti-infective research company Euprotec has already made a positive impression in the biomedical industry

on the battlefield for the US Department of Defence. The agreement presents a large opportunity for Euprotec to grow in the United States, as well as Britain and Europe. The company requires extra financial firepower so that it can increase its laboratory space and add to its business development team, responsible for selling its services to new clients. Mr Payne is confident that the US contract will make the company attractive for investors. For R&D businesses such as Euprotec, working out how to protect intellectual property is a very complicated and time-consuming

Do the vision thing


Lloyd Payne top tip: Understand what your strengths are and where you are not as strong. Bring in a great team and work hard at engaging them, setting a vision and culture. Adam Whitehouse top tip: Dont be afraid to ask for help and to seek out people who have trodden the path that your vision is taking you down. You will be surprised at how willing successful people are to give free and good advice.

area and requires expertise which is often not in your business, he said. TMT First also invests significantly in research and development. Some of the companys people have been poached by rivals, Mr Whitehouse said, but the damage is limited by the speed at which technology changes. For both men, many years of knocking on doors and trying hard to build a network of contacts is paying off. The relationships did not come easily, but once youve got Carphone Warehouse, they will make the introductions to Sony or Nokia. We were fortunate to make connections with the right people early on, Mr Whitehouse said.

Several rights protect different intellectual property assets. They are: patents, trade marks and copyright. This complex patchwork protection throws up challenges. For registered rights, such as patents and trade marks, unless entrepreneurs are aware and resourceful enough to apply for them, they may not have any protection at all. For patents it is crucial that the claimed invention is kept secret until the application is successfully filed, or protection will be compromised. If the value of a business lies in trade secrets rather than the more formal IP rights, the sharing and exploiting of those secrets must be managed carefully through tightly drafted contractual wording, particularly with staff, contractors and business partners. There are significant gaps in protection. Ideas and concepts, business plans and strategies, even recipes, will not be protected at all, unless they can somehow be squeezed into a formal IP pigeon hole. It is vital for small businesses to manage their contractual relationships carefully, particularly in relation to IP. If an entrepreneur is using a third-party design agency or technical consultancy to support its product or brand development, there need to be written terms in place at the outset protecting the businesses confidential information and specifying that any rights in the consultants output are owned by the business. Without clear written terms to the contrary, the law will usually consider the consultant to be the owner of any IP in the work it carries out for its clients. Dealings with other third parties must be equally rigorous if the IP is to be protected. These agreements need to be in place from the outset. 6 Chris Forsyth is a partner at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

A time for bankings big beast to lie down with business small fry
Katherine Griffiths

To learn more, visit gs.com/10ksb-uk


2013 Goldman Sachs. All rights reserved.

What has the world of high finance to do with small businesses? On the face of it, not a lot, but Goldman Sachs, a name synonymous with the former, has been investing time and money for the past three years in helping entrepreneurs around Britain. Having started as a partnership with Leeds University Business School in 2010, Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses has expanded to include four other universities across the country, with

Sad Business School at the University of Oxford as its national partner. In all, 600 entrepreneurs have been through or are in the programme, which consists of 100 hours of study over four months. The programme was created on the back of analysis showing that the impact on the economy of high-growth small businesses around the country is disproportionate to their size. As a result, businesses are selected on the basis of their prospects, as well as their record. Michelle Pinggera, Goldmans chief

of staff for Europe, said: We do not target lifestyle businesses or start-ups. They have to be established businesses with aspirations to grow . . . Businesses that have come through the programme include everything from manufacturers to services and hospitality. Through its network of universities, which also include Aston Business School, Manchester Metropolitan and UCL, the programme runs eight cohorts a year. Local accountancy and legal firms are briefed on its existence so that

they can mention it to clients, as well as councils and business bodies spreading the word. Interested entrepreneurs submit information about their business and what they hope to achieve. Some are then invited for an interview with a four-person panel including a Goldman representative. There are about 100 applicants for each intake. Successful candidates are taken on in groups of 25 to 35. The cohorts are then broken down into smaller numbers for some sessions, such as when the group discuss ideas

a key part of the programme. There are also pro bono legal sessions and specialists brought in to talk about areas such as procurement or marketing. Results indicate that the programme makes a significant difference. More than three quarters of participants have reported that they increased their headcount, compared with a quarter of all small businesses in the UK. Two thirds of those who have been through the programme said that they were growing revenue, compared with a third among all small businesses.

the times | Tuesday November 19 2013

1GM 1G

49 50

the times | Wednesday November 20 2013

1GM 1G

55

Business

Business

Celebrating entrepreneurs
In association with

Celebrating entrepreneurs
In association with

Women delivering real leadership in a multibillion-pound industry


Charity is not be dismissed lightly, despite lingering stereotypes, reports Angela Jameson
TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER, BETHANY CLARKE

Vine Trust branches out beyond its roots in Walsalls worst pub
Partnership is the key to providing a second chance for young people, reports Daniel Allen
TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER BETHANY CLARKE

Its time to break down the barriers


Andre Spicer

Start-ups need to make a fast start


Barry Evans

or many, the stereotypical image of the not-for-profit sector is one of do-gooding, canvas shoe-wearing, middle-aged women and Michelle Wright hates it. How can it be true when leading British charities control 56 billion of assets and when they run essential services? The 37-year-old is anything but a stereotype herself. After almost five years as development director at the London Symphony Orchestra, the former professional violinist set up on her own four years ago in a very different line of work. Her business, Cause4, advises charities on strategy and fundraising and has grown from two employees to thirty in only four years. The charity sector is dominated by women, who make up 68 per cent of the workforce, and yet it is shy about shouting about its female leaders, Ms Wright believes. This couldnt be a better sector to show women in very strong leadership positions, but we just have to make more of it. The problem is, perhaps, deep-rooted. The rapid growth of her company has led Ms Wright to put in place a graduate trainee scheme, yet she has concerns about the lack of confidence displayed by many female graduates. Too many female graduates seem spoon-fed to pass exams and even the very talented ones are not work-ready. Im not seeing female graduates with the confidence to do something and the curiosity to find out more. I want to see our graduates become the next generation of leaders of charities and social enterprises, and training and mentoring is an essential part of that development. Cause4 started in 2009 with a turnover of 121,000. That has now reached 911,000 and it has raised almost 8 million for its charity clients

Michelle Wright, centre, has made a success of her Cause4 advisory business and she wants other women to follow suit

in the community, sports and arts. Anne OConnors business, run with her husband Keith, is in a sector typically dominated by men, but this has been no impediment. Fleetsolves background was in the automotive world, where the company designed biofuel engines for buses, tractors, trucks and motor sport. Now it has moved into renewable energy by making, installing and operating combined heat and power units for commercial premises, including the first carbon-neutral supermarket for Tesco and Harrogate International Conference Centre. We have managed to get a good team of powerful women together who have been there from early days, Ms OConnor said. Whether you are male or female, the most important

Top tips
Anne OConnors tip: Always see the opportunity, even on the days when everything is going wrong. Believe in what you do and enjoy it Michelle Wrights tip: Learn from your peers. Whatever discipline you are in, people are having similar difficulties so learn from networking with other entrepreneurs

thing is that you do what you say you are going to do. When the company is recruiting, its priority is to get the best person for the job, regardless of gender, from female administrative support staff to female engineers. The business was founded in 2002

with no external funding. It has gone from turnover of ja mere 46,000 then to turnover of 6.5 million today, with 15 big clients. Keiths passion is engines and I was very involved with the dirty end of the business in the early days, too, Ms OConnor said. When you tell people that you have your own business, they think that youre out on the golf course the whole time. Its quite the opposite. Keith designed all the technology himself and, when we first installed the Combined Heat & Power [mini power stations], it was us out there at 3am responding to call outs to start with. So we really understand the challenges people face. In order to get a company like ours off the ground, you have to devote a lot of time to it. It is your life.

When we think about successful entrepreneurs, those who come to mind first are the likes of Sir Richard Branson, Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou or Mark Zuckerberg, very different characters with one thing in common. They are men. Things are beginning to change. Net-a-Porters Natalie Massenet, Songkicks Michelle You and Unrulys Sarah Wood are part of wave of female entrepreneurs helping to change how women think about their career choices. Women make up about 30 per cent of entrepreneurs around the world, yet in Britain men are twice as likely to try to start a business and there has been a little change in the past decade. In 2002, only about 3 per cent of women were thinking about starting a business; in 2011, this had gone up to about 5 per cent. The first barrier for women is stereotypes and a lack of role models. The second is mindset: women are likely to be more cautious and less optimistic than men when thinking through business opportunities. The third barrier is finance: women are often hesitant to seek funding for ideas through loans or seeking equity. The final barrier is lack of childcare: despite some exceptions, women continue to bear the brunt. If we are interested in breaking down such barriers, there are steps we can take. First, increase the number of women entrepreneurs in the public eye. Second, ensure that there are more female mentors for women who want to be entrepreneurs. Third, form mixed-gender entrepreneurial teams. Fourth, ensure women have equal access to finance. And finally, it is important that we support budding entrepreneurs with support for factors such as childcare. 6Andre Spicer is Professor of Organisational Behaviour at Cass Business School

he Vine Trust has come a long way since it took over a derelict West Midlands pub once notorious for drugs, prostitution and violence. That was in 1989 and in the years since the trust has been so successful in building partnerships that, according to Kevin Davis, its chief executive, its model of social enterprise and community development is beginning to spread. Like any small business, the trust has to balance its books and generate enough income from its activities or from investment in its enterprises to cover costs. According to Mr Davis, as a charity, the trusts accounts are subjected to even closer scrutiny than many organisations and nearly 25 years of successful operations have proven its financial sustainability. Conceived simply as a means of bringing young people together, the trust runs a mix of services that include employment training, education and a new 3 million youth centre housing start-up businesses, performance space and training rooms. Not bad for an organisation that began life in in Mar Daviss words the worst pub in Walsall. Mr Davis, 39, joined the trust in 1997. They asked if I could bring some vision to the operation. What I discovered was that we couldnt do the job on our own. So we started a number of partnerships, conversations with people, to help to overcome some of the challenges our young people were facing. It started with a donation of flat-pack furniture from Ikea, which we used as a low-risk means of giving young people some training. When the local store had problems one weekend with a contractor who was meant to assemble items for the companys bargain corner, he spotted an opportunity. The trust stepped in, a partnership was agreed and Project 390 was born, giving work experience to

Kevin Davis began the Vine Trust merely as a means of bring young people together, but it has grown hugely since then

hard-to-employ young people. The project takes its name from the designation Ikea gives to reject goods that still have a marketable value. That was descriptive of the young people we were working with who have had knocks and bruises but, if you give them some time and energy, you can get them back into the bargain basement, Mr Davis said. The enterprise side of the Vine Trust specialises in de-risking relationships between employers and young people. Its success has led to productive partnerships with businesses in a range of sectors. Mr Daviss passion for developing employment opportunities for marginalised young people is matched by a desire to build models of education that meet their needs. I discovered that the type of education

Kevin Daviss top tip


Be audacious. Dont be afraid to ask see the opportunity and exploit it. Im not embarrassed to ask the chairman of IBM for input or for Ikea to be supportive of our growth

we were offering our hard-to-educate kids what schools were offering wasnt working for them. After a successful bid by the trust, in partnership with the local Queen Marys Grammar School, the Walsall Studio School opened its doors to students in September. Studio schools combine core subjects with work experience and employment skills and the Walsall edition, Mr Davis said, is the first to be run by a social

enterprise. This isnt just an alternative school. Were serious about education we got the best school in our area to partner with us and were serious about preparing young people for industry and work. Key to the trusts success is having a compelling vision. Youre not trying to create some Marxist utopia. Youre dealing with the reality of what we can do together. In these hard times when money is scarce, particularly in the public sector, people have got to start thinking differently about how we can create meaningful growth, especially in those areas that are under more challenge because of the shrinking state. Weve got to do things differently; weve got to try to articulate something that allows those areas not to be forgotten.

What banks are looking for is evidence that money lent will be repaid and this requires a thought-through plan that should include budgets demonstrating cashflow, forecast income and expenditure, contracts and contingency arrangements. I always advise my customers to, as far as possible, take a no surprises approach. I encourage businesses to see me early in the process and to invite me to visit their workplace. This enables me to understand how the business works and to work with it to access funding. This also means that if a challenge or an opportunity emerges quickly, I am much better placed to provide prompt assistance. Of course, budding entrepreneurs and start-ups rarely have a track record. This circle is hard to square. Banks provide debt finance, not equity we are not Dragons Den! We do not take punts, nor do we take a stake in the company or a share of its profits. Yet this does not mean that banks cannot help start-ups. Last year we helped more than 100,000 such businesses. My end-goal is to lend money to those that come to see me, but I also provide advice and guidance. Sometimes, I cannot offer a loan at the first asking, but, through regular contact, support and networking, once start-ups get up and running they can access loans further down the line. Through my experience supporting businesses to develop and grow, I know the commitment required and what a hard slog it is. I have enormous respect for the ingenuity, originality and sheer determination of entrepreneurs. My advice is plan early, research your market well and seek advice. 6Barry Evans is the regional director for the South-West and Wales, RBS/NatWest

Inspirational books to get you going on the long road to success


Katherine Griffiths

Building community links may mean going back to the classroom


Daniel Allen

Many entrepreneurs say there is no substitute for learning on the job, but a significant number also point to books that have inspired them. Here are some that stand out from the pack. Good to Great, by Jim Collins The 2001 book seeks to explain why some companies transform themselves into market leaders and others do not. It aims to show that there is a pattern that business leaders can follow for success and breaks the guide down into seven

characteristics. Leaders must confront the brutal facts about a situation but at the same time never give up hope. The E-Myth: Why Most Businesses Dont Work and What to Do About It, by Michael Gerber The book considers the mistaken belief that most businesses are started by people with budding business skills, when most are created by experts in a particular field who start out knowing nothing about business. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen Covey Named by Time magazine in 2011 as

one of The 25 Most Influential Business Management Books, the blockbuster apparently made a big impact on Bill Clinton when he was President. It prepares readers for a fundamental change in approach to life and introduces seven habits. A Book About innocent: Our Story and the Things Weve Learned, by Dan Germain, Richard Reed, John Hamilton The founders of the smoothie brand say: We started innocent from scratch, so weve learnt a lot of things by getting stuff wrong. Some other

lessons have come from listening carefully to people cleverer than us. And some stuff we just got lucky on. Choose Yourself!, by James Altucher The author argues that everything that seemed safe, such as employment, retirement and the Government, no longer is. Its on you to make the most important decision in your life, he writes. The Founders Dilemmas, by Noam Wasserman The Harvard Business School professor explores the key early decisions and pitfalls faced by

entrepreneurs and investors and outlines options for start-ups. Anyone Can Do It, by Sahar and Bobby Hashemi The book describes turning Coffee Republic from an idea into a high street brand. The authors seek to dispel the idea that entrepreneurs are inherently special people. Why Should Anyone be Led by You?, by Robert Coffee and Gareth Jones The authors set out to demonstrate what it takes to be a leader who can inspire employees to achieve outstanding results.

Small businesses want to engage with the communities around them, according to Stephen Howard, chief executive of the charity Business in the Community. The problem is that they are not always clear how to go about it. Nevertheless, it is not something that they should overlook. Its part of how you build the brand and reputation, and its part of how you recruit, retain and develop the best people, Mr Howard said, adding that

for small businesses beginning to look at how they can work more closely with the local community, schools and colleges are the place to start. Education usually seems closer to what the business is trying to do, perhaps because theyve been students themselves or have children in local schools or because they will at least on occasion have been involved in a work experience situation. One of the keys to success, he believes, is to keep it simple and not to be overwhelmed by the bigger

issues, such as youth unemployment, inequality or, as he put it, feeling as if you have to boil the ocean. It can sometimes feel like: Wow, all these things are way too big for my little business. But if you think of it in terms of how you can spend a little bit of dedicated time in a local school, in a structured way with a programme that has been thought-through already, then you dont have to invent anything, you just have to carry it out. Running an education programme alongside other businesses can bring

extra benefits. Then it becomes not only an interesting individual engagement for your organisation but perhaps even a more collaborative one and a networking one. Working with local social entrepreneurships or social enterprises is another way forward, although Mr Howard acknowledged: We often find that community activists and social entrepreneurs speak a different language to the business people. Their idea is that business is only about making money and yet we know its purpose isnt just

about maximising returns. If it were, it wouldnt last very long. Its got to be about delivering value to customers, delivering quality, all those kinds of things. And when you begin to think about it in that context, its clear that business is a force for good. It is also important to remember that engagement with local schools or any other community organisation is a partnership, Mr Howard said. Its not one-way traffic. Youre going to deliver, but youre also going to benefit. And youre going to be surprised how much comes from it.

the times | Thursday November 21 2013

1G

57

the times | Friday November 22 2013

1G 1GM

61

Business

Business

Celebrating entrepreneurs
In association with

Celebrating entrepreneurs
In association with

Apprentices show resolve to learn technology and communication


A young Sheffield company is putting its trust and future in young recruits, reports Katherine Griffiths
TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER BETHANY CLARKE

Courage to broaden horizons pushes growth to a new level


Two small businesses have found foreign markets the key to success, writes Katherine Griffiths
TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER BETHANY CLARKE

Exporting is a challenge, but we are here to help


Lord Green of Hurstpierpoint

Valuable help that you cant afford to miss


Jason Holt

ll 25 employees at Resolve IT Solutions received an iPad this year as a thank you from the boss for their contribution to what had been the companys best year. The gift was a microcosm of what Andrew Seaton believes has made his business a success a thoroughly modern mixture of technology and communication. The 33-year-old believes that the fast growth of his Sheffield-based technology support company, set up when he was 24 and just out of university, is because Resolve tries to give clients a good experience, rather than making them feel like a problem. He does this by persuading employees to focus as much on their communication skills as their technical ability. Part of his business model is the recruitment of a large number of young people as apprentices, relative to the companys size. They are trained quickly to become IT engineers dealing with clients, who stretch nationwide and range from small businesses to a trust that runs 34 schools. Resolve has hired a total of five apprentices, four of whom have stayed, and a sixth is about to join. I dont see it as a pool of cheap labour. I think it is strategic to do this, Mr Seaton said. The advantages of recruiting candidates as young as 16 and 17 is that they dont have the bad habits of experienced IT engineers, who can be offputting when a client calls for help, he believes. Enthusiasm for computers is important Mr Seaton, who sits in on the interviews, likes to hear about applicants taking apart their own computers or loving gaming but, more crucial is that they can talk about their favourite

Andrew Seaton, right, puts one of his apprentices through his paces at his Resolve IT Solutions business in Sheffield

film or football team, demonstrating strong communication skills. Resolve then invests in training the new recruits over several weeks, broken up with time in a classroom and stints in the office learning how the business works. Alessandro Calamita was Resolves first apprentice, joining in 2010. Now 21, he is a member of the senior management team overseeing three other engineers. I had the interview with Resolve on the Thursday and I was already training on the Monday, he said. You can progress really quickly. Rather than just making the tea and

Andrew Seatons top tip


Decide what your highest-value activity is and delegate the rest Im really lucky to have a great team of fantastic people around me so that I can do this

coffee, you can take on real responsibilities. That is the whole culture and loyalty comes from that. The mixture of young and slightly more experienced staff has served Resolve well. Having started with two

schools and some individuals who came to the company thanks to an initial leafleting campaign by Mr Seaton, the business has more than 200 clients, some of which are overseas. Turnover has jumped from 15,000 in 2004 to 1.2 million this year. As the business grows, one of its challenges is dealing with other aspects of running a business, including financial and risk controls. When I started it was just me and a car, Mr Seaton said. Now I know it is not just me that gets frustrated and that I have a much larger network that I can chat to,

As the owner of Holts Group, a small but busy group of enterprises, I am often caught up in the everyday intensity and rigmarole of a demanding business. In that frame of mind, I can think of nothing else other than what is here and now. How could I possibly take on an apprentice who cant run with the job from the moment they start? How could anybody else in the team support and teach a youngster and take time out of their day? Were all at breaking point as it is without risking our time on training a youngster. Theyll probably leave, anyway. And if I didnt have the advantage of knowing what I know, I would understand the majority of employers who say: Apprentices, what do they have to do with me? Arent they just for manual trades? The vast majority of businesses fall into this trap. In fact, more than 90 per cent of small businesses in England do not take the leap of faith to take on their first apprentice. But I wish they would and I will tell you why. In the course of leading and writing a review for the Government, I spoke with several hundred businesses that employ an apprentice, and not a single one said they wished they had not. On the contrary, they cannot say enough good things, and every one has plans to hire more and not one is in the manual trades. This aligns precisely with my first-hand experience. It is why I have seven apprentices now (out of a workforce of 100) and why my most trusted lieutenants started as apprentices. 6 Jason Holt is the chief executive of Holts Group

Business growth plan a key element of easing the way to success


Mark Hart

hen German shoppers look online for something cosy to wear, they search for ponchos, while Aussies love the colour that Brits know as American tan. These are just a couple of the cultural differences that Niamh Barker, managing director of the Travelwrap Company, has discovered since sales soared overseas. Ms Barker used to work for Pfizer, the pharmaceuticals group, and travelled extensively. On an aircraft she preferred to tuck her favourite cashmere jumper around her, rather than use a scratchy inflight blanket. When she stopped work to take care of her family, she devised a shaped cashmere wrap that sells for more than 200 and has fans from the fashion glitterati to world-weary business travellers. Travelwrap, launched in 2007, has sales of 350,000, 35 per cent of which are from exports to nine countries, including Australia, Japan and the United States. Ours is a onesize-fits-all product, knitted in the UK, she said. We had strong British brand credibility and no sizing issues, so the product sells well online. Progress hasnt been entirely straightforward. Weve had to introduce parallel websites in different languages, so we now have six, Ms Barker said. Weve also had to refine the search engine optimisation elements of the sites, so that overseas search engines will find us and offer multiple currency transactions. Travelwrap decided to offer free standard delivery to anywhere in the world to reduce the barriers to overseas purchases. But you still need old-fashioned offline sales and marketing, so we now have representation in Munich to manage our German public relations and marketing and manage introductions to the wholesale market in their own

Niamh Barker says that Travelwrap Company offers its website in six languages and features free international delivery

language, she said. The German office opened recently and soon the company hopes to open small outposts in its other big overseas markets of Australia and the US. Ms Barker has been on three overseas trade missions this year with UKTI to Japan, Belgium and Austria.

Tips from the top


Niamh Barker Harness social media to build your brand and engage with your customers; you cant not these days, and it works Jim Griffin Know your business plan inside out. Live with it, change it, dont just put it in a drawer

im Griffin was about to walk away from his acoustic and thermal insulation business 18 months ago. I was feeling bad that I hadnt managed to run it better than I had. We werent making money and we were not moving forward, he said. How things have changed. Automotive Insulations, which had 40 staff two years ago, now has 120. Next March the manufacturer will move into new premises in Rugby that are twice as big as its old site and it has

expanded into Sweden and Germany this year. The company, founded in 1966, has its roots in the automotive business. However, it is also moving into other insulation products, including insulation for hard floors. Turnover in Germany is set to climb from 500,000 to 5 million by the end of June because of some big contracts that the group has won with

original equipment manufacturers. Recruiting in Germany has been surprisingly easy and production wages have been lower than I had expected, Mr Griffin said. Funding the overseas expansion has been the biggest obstacle because British banks would not sanction funds for overseas operations. In Germany he has made provisions to finance the new operation for more than a year until it is able to finance itself. Switching banks in Britain has also helped to provide banking contacts on the Continent. Sales rose from 5 million in January last year to 12 million in September this year and are set to be 16 million next year and between 24 million to 30 million in 2015 on the basis of orders already signed off.

Just over two years ago, I invited the Prime Minister to launch the National Challenge to increase the number of companies exporting from one in five to one in four. The Government has made exporting a high priority. UK Trade & Investment, its international trade promotion department, and UK Export Finance, the Governments export credit guarantee agency, aided by chambers of commerce, trade bodies, banks, accountancy firms and lawyers, are focused on providing support to small businesses entering or growing in the export market. UKTI and embassy staff around the world are putting an immense effort into assisting UK companies. In our key markets British business centres are being set up for companies to use office space, make connections and get the latest market information. Businesses can benefit from a plethora of help expert advice on getting ready to export from international trade advisers based around the UK and from in-market specialists, as well as access to funding to go to trade shows worldwide and join overseas trade missions. I have travelled to 56 countries as Trade Minister, and everywhere I go Britain receives a very warm welcome and a call for more British businesses to enter their markets. Our business ethos, creativity and high-quality products and services place UK companies in prime position to succeed overseas. UK Export Finances new products are aimed at SMEs, providing guarantees and insurance to help to secure contracts and, where appropriate, direct funding. UKEF has advisers around the UK and in key overseas posts to support UK business on the ground. Businesses of all sizes, whether start-ups or established companies, need to think of exporting as a logical next step. All the evidence from surveys conducted by academia, the private sector and government shows that companies that export become significantly more efficient, they earn more, they last longer, they are more robust and, crucially, they create more jobs. The benefits are clear. 6 Lord Green of Hurstpierpoint is Minister of State for Trade and Investment

A business growth plan for an established enterprise has a dual focus: the strategic development of the business itself, which sits alongside an operational review of the competencies and capabilities of the entrepreneur and the management team. The business growth plan is a powerful tool driven by the personal growth aspirations of the entrepreneur (including a coherent exit strategy) and is the means of assembling opportunities for growth into a plan that is possible to deliver. It is a way to kick-start faster growth by tying down the

opportunities and prompting decision-making based on strategic discussions internally and externally that will crystallise vision and promote the required action. To write a business growth plan you need to: 6 have a clear vision and presentation of the core values of the business; 6 present the growth opportunities for the business in terms of clients, products and services (for example, in specialist or emerging markets, short term, mid-term); 6 develop sales and marketing plans for the business in response to these growth opportunities, setting out a clear value proposition, market

growth forecast, pricing strategy and competitor analysis; 6 understand the business inputs necessary to achieve growth (for example, an organisation chart for growth, focusing on key personnel and skills required, key supplier relationships, operations review and modifications required); 6 construct a financial statement of growth projections (ie, a three-year cashflow forecast) and how the growth will be financed; 6 set out an implementation plan that includes action steps, resources needed and a timetable, including an exit strategy for the owner; 6 develop a series of metrics critical to the successful implementation of

the growth plan, designed to allow the business owner to assess operations and proactively make adjustments to keep the business on track a business growth dashboard working alongside a risk audit for the business. Developing a business growth plan with the input of external scrutiny and challenge is an essential part of the process and it is important to get connected to networks of like-minded business owners and business advisers and mentors who can add significant value. Rapid business growth cannot normally be achieved without the injection of external financial resources in whatever form, whether it be debt-and-equity finance (formal

venture capital or informal angel investment) or support from a variety of government schemes (eg, UK Trade & Investment, the Technology Strategy Board and the Regional Growth Fund). Experience has shown that the possession of an up-to-date business growth plan has made it easier for a range of small business owners to attract the external resources, including finance, to transform their businesses from profitable growing regional businesses to ones with a faster growth trajectory servicing national and international markets. 6 Professor Mark Hart is chairman of Small Business and Entrepreneurship, Aston Business School

How to respond when the grand vision becomes a cold reality


Timothy Barnes

New ventures are started for many reasons, with one of the most common routes beginning with someone doing a job they like in a big company and thinking they want to do it for themselves. They start out small and wake up one day to realise they are managing a substantial business. For example, do you know how big your business can be before you have to start worrying about maternity and paternity leave? Do you even know when you

would have to start paying VAT? Government websites are increasingly good at offering the factual information, but everyone running a small business must be aware that learning how to do these things either themselves or by bringing in and managing others to do them is a critical part of their role and not a distraction from the real job. Do you do or do you lead? An unsettling point for many comes when, for the first time, small business leaders realise that their business has clients they have never

met. If you have spent five years or more building up a business, worrying about your reputation and chasing every last detail, then letting go of some of those close relationships can be hard. But it must happen if the business is to grow. In my experience, this tends to be when companies reach about 20 to 25 staff. This varies hugely by industry but, for every business leader, there is a point when you simply dont know what everyone in your business is doing every day and you need to shift from doing to leading.

Is growth found at home or away? The UK is one of the best places to start and build a business. There comes a point, though, when ambitious small companies want to look farther afield. Too often, there is a tendency to cultivate traditional and natural trading relationships overseas, such as the United States and the rest of the English-speaking world, but better knowledge and research might tell you that opportunities are to be found in developing or alternative markets. But doing business overseas is often hampered by a lack of local cultural

understanding. Think about the value of exchanging gifts in China. Smallbusiness leaders must take the time to learn complex new markets properly. So wheres the help? If you dont have the experience inhouse, borrow it from those who do. You can make use of groups such as the China British Business Council or trade missions, such as those organised by UK Trade & Investment. Decent local accountants should be highly prized, and universities can help with short-course programmes. 6 Timothy Barnes is director of UCL Advances

Through the programmes peer-to-peer learning, I gained the skills to successfully grow my business.
Rich, Managing Director

Shadow Robot Company, London

Goldman Sachs is committed to helping UK entrepreneurs create jobs and drive local economic growth.
Following the 10,000 Small Businesses programme, Rich developed a business strategy that enabled him to signicantly grow the revenues of his robotics company and position his company for international growth.

To learn more, visit gs.com/10ksb-uk


2013 Goldman Sachs. All rights reserved.

Anda mungkin juga menyukai