c1574 goldmansachs booklet 375x285

8/12/2019 C1574 GoldmanSachs Booklet 375x285

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CELEBRATING ENTREPRENEURS


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the times |Monday November 18 2013

Bu

Funding provides the firepowerfor a new company to take fligh

What has the world of high finance todo with small businesses? On the faceof it, not a lot, but Goldman Sachs, aname synonymous with the former,has been investing time and moneyfor the past three years in helpingentrepreneurs around Britain.

Having started as a partnershipwith Leeds University BusinessSchool in 2010, Goldman Sachs10,000 Small Businesses hasexpanded to include four otheruniversities across the country, with

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

Small businesses withbig ideas are readyto break out of theirniches, writesKatherine Griffiths

S

earching for new drugs thathalt mankinds growingimmunity to antibiotics andfinding new ways to stay at the

forefront of mobile phonetechnology may present very differentchallenges, but successful smallbusinesses in both areas are united bya common need. They must find evermore capital to fund their expansion.

Adam Whitehouse, for example,started out with a single mobilephone shop in Stoke-on-Trent almost13 years ago and now runs ahigh-security compoundreconfiguring thousands of mobilephones a day. He believes that theshackles have been taken offhisgrowth because he has struck aninnovative deal with MarketInvoice, aniche company that financespotentially large amounts of invoicesfor a small margin, giving himfunding up front for expansion.

His business, TMT First, has grownfrom turnover of less than1 million adecade ago to a projected26 millionin the year that ends next May.Indeed, with the flexible funding nowin place, TMT Firsts turnover targetfor 2016 to 2017 is more than70 million. Its services includecutting-edge ways to wipe old mobilephones, reconfigure them for newmarkets around the world andrecover data that most other peoplein the industry believe isunrecoverable. Clients includeCarphone Warehouse, large mobilephone manufacturers and the police.

Lloyd Payne set up his research anddevelopment business to seek ways tocombat resistance to antibiotics justas global markets froze in the wake ofLehman Brothers collapse in 2008.The scientist believes that he is on thebrink of very significant expansionif he can secure the funding.

Mr Paynes company, Euprotec, had

a significant contract win this year working with international partnersto develop a product that could helpto save the lives of wounded soldiers

on the battlefield for the USDepartment of Defence. Theagreement presents a largeopportunity for Euprotec to grow inthe United States, as well as Britainand Europe.

The company requires extrafinancial firepower so that it canincrease its laboratory space and addto its business development team,responsible for selling its services tonew clients. Mr Payne is confidentthat the US contract will make thecompany attractive for investors.

For R&D businesses such asEuprotec, working out how to protectintellectual property is a verycomplicated and time-consuming

area and requires expertise which isoften not in your business,he said.

TMT First also invests significantlyin research and development. Someof the companys people have beenpoached by rivals, Mr Whitehousesaid, but the damage is limited by thespeed at which technology changes.

For both men, many years ofknocking on doors and trying hard tobuild a network of contacts is payingoff. The relationships did not comeeasily, but once youve got CarphoneWarehouse, they will make the

introductions to Sony or Nokia. Wewere fortunate to make connectionswith the right people early on,MrWhitehouse said.

Tackling intellectuchallenge

Several rights protect diffintellectual property asse

patents, trade marks and This complex patchworthrows up challenges. Forrights, such as patents anmarks, unless entrepreneaware and resourceful enapply for them, they mayany protection at all.

For patents it is crucial claimed inventionis kepuntil the application is sucfiled, or protection will becompromised. If the valubusiness lies in trade secrthan the more formal IP rsharing and exploiting of secrets must be managed through tightly drafted cowording, particularly withcontractors and business

There are significant gaprotection. Ideas and conbusiness plans and strategrecipes, will not be protecunless they can somehowinto a formal IP pigeon h

It is vital for small businmanage their contractualrelationships carefully, parelation to IP. If an entrepusing a third-party designtechnical consultancy to product or brand developneed to be written terms ithe outset protecting the confidential information specifying that any rightsconsultants output are owbusiness. Without clear wto the contrary, the law wconsider the consultant toowner of any IP in the woout for its clients.

Dealings with other thimust be equally rigorous

be protected. These agreeto be in place from the ou6Chris Forsyth is a partne

Freshfields Bruckhaus Der

Do the vision thing

Lloyd Payne top tip: Understandwhat your strengths are andwhere you are not as strong.Bring in a great team and workhard at engaging them, setting a

vision and culture.Adam Whitehouse top tip: Dontbe afraid to ask for help and toseek out people who havetrodden the path that your visionis taking you down. You will be

surprised at how willingsuccessful people are to give freeand good advice.

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

Chris Forsyth

Katherine Griffiths Sad Business School at theUniversity of Oxford as its nationalpartner. In all, 600 entrepreneurshave been through or are in theprogramme, which consists of 100hours of study over four months.

The programme was created on theback of analysis showing that theimpact on the economy ofhigh-growth small businesses aroundthe country is disproportionate totheir size. As a result, businesses areselected on the basis of theirprospects, as well as their record.

Michelle Pinggera, Goldmans chief

of staff for Europe, said: We do nottarget lifestyle businesses or start-ups.They have to be establishedbusinesses with aspirations to grow. . . Businesses that have comethrough the programme includeeverything from manufacturers toservices and hospitality.

Through its network of universities,which also include Aston BusinessSchool, Manchester Metropolitan andUCL, the programme runs eightcohorts a year.

Local accountancy and legal firmsare briefed on its existence so that

they can mention it to clients, as wellas councils and business bodiesspreading the word. Interestedentrepreneurs submit informationabout their business and what theyhope to achieve. Some are theninvited for an interview with afour-person panel including aGoldman representative.

There are about 100 applicants foreach intake. Successful candidates aretaken on in groups of 25 to 35. Thecohorts are then broken down intosmaller numbers for some sessions,such as when the group discuss ideas

a key part of the programare also pro bono legal sespecialists brought in to taareas such as procuremenmarketing. Results indicaprogramme makes a signidifference. More than throf participants have reporthey increased their headcompared with a quarter businesses in the UK. Twthose who have been throprogramme said that theygrowing revenue, comparthird among all small bus

Celebrating entrepreneursIn association with

TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER BETHANY CLARKE

earn more, visit gs.com/10ksb-uk

ring the10,000 Small Businessesprogramme, Lloyd created a growth plan that enabled

m to double the size of his biotechnology company. With the leadership skills he gained

ough the programme, he has developed the careers of the scientists on his team and

sitioned his company for continued growth.

3 Goldman Sachs. All rights reserved.

oldman Sachs is committed to helpingK entrepreneurs create jobs and drivecal economic growth.

Lloyd, CEO and Co-FounderEuprotec, Manchester

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.


3/5

es |Tuesday November 19 2013 49

Business

Women delivering real leadershipn a multibillion-pound industry

ntrepreneurs say there is noe for learning on the job, butant number also point toat have inspired them. Here that stand out from the pack.

to Great, by Jim Collins001 book seeks to explaine companies transform

ves into market leaders ando not. It aims to show thata pattern that businessan follow for success and

he guide down into seven

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

ity is not bessed lightly,te lingeringotypes, reportsla Jameson

or many, the stereotypicalimage of the not-for-profitsector is one of do-gooding,canvas shoe-wearing,

middle-aged women helle Wright hates it.n it be true when leadingharities control56billion ofd when they run essential

7-year-old is anything but ape herself. After almost fivedevelopment director at theSymphony Orchestra, therofessional violinist set up onfour years ago in a veryline of work. Her business,

advises charities on strategydraising and has grown fromloyees to thirty in only four

harity sector is dominated bywho make up 68 per cent of

kforce, and yet it is shyouting about its femaleMs Wright believes. Thisbe a better sector to shown very strong leaderships, but we just have to makeit.roblem is, perhaps,oted. The rapid growth of hery has led Ms Wright to put inraduate trainee scheme, yet

concerns about the lack ofce displayed by many females. Too many females seem spoon-fed to pass

nd even the very talentednot work-ready. Im notmale graduates with thece to do something and theto find out more.t to see our graduatesthe next generation off charities and social

ses, and training andng is an essential part of thatment.

4 started in 2009 with aof121,000. That has now911,000 and it has raised8million for its charity clients

in the community, sports andarts.

Anne OConnors business, runwith her husband Keith, is in a sectortypically dominated by men, but thishas been no impediment. Fleetsolvesbackground was in the automotiveworld, where the company designedbiofuel engines for buses, tractors,trucks and motor sport. Now it hasmoved into renewable energy bymaking, installing and operatingcombined heat and power units forcommercial premises, including thefirst carbon-neutral supermarket forTesco and Harrogate InternationalConference Centre.

We have managed to get a good

team of powerful women togetherwho have been there from early days,Ms OConnor said. Whether you aremale or female, the most important

thing is that you do what you say youare going to do.

When the company is recruiting, itspriority is to get the best person for

the job, regardless of gender, fromfemale administrative support staff tofemale engineers.

The business was founded in 2002

with no external funding. It has gonefrom turnover of ja mere 46,000then to turnover of6.5million today,with 15 big clients.

Keiths passion is engines and Iwas very involved with the dirty endof the business in the early days, too, Ms OConnor said. When you tellpeople that you have your ownbusiness, they think that youre outon the golf course the whole time. Itsquite the opposite.

Keith designed all the technologyhimself and, when we first installedthe Combined Heat & Power [minipower stations], it was us out there at3am responding to call outs to startwith. So we really understand the

challenges people face. In order to geta company like ours off the ground,you have to devote a lot of time to it.It is your life.

Its time tobreak downthe barriers

When we think about successfulentrepreneurs, those who come to

mind first are the likes ofSir Richard Branson, Sir SteliosHaji-Ioannou or Mark Zuckerberg,very different characters with onething in common. They are men.

Things are beginning to change.Net-a-Porters Natalie Massenet,Songkicks Michelle You and UnrulysSarah Wood are part of wave offemale entrepreneurs helping tochange how women think about theircareer choices.

Women make up about 30 per centof entrepreneurs around the world,yet in Britain men are twice as likelyto try to start a business and there hasbeen a little change in the pastdecade. In 2002, only about 3 per centof women were thinking aboutstarting a business; in 2011, this hadgone up to about 5 per cent.

The first barrier for women isstereotypes and a lack of role models.The second is mindset: women arelikely to be more cautious and lessoptimistic than men when thinkingthrough business opportunities. Thethird barrier is finance: women areoften hesitant to seek funding forideas through loans or seeking equity.The final barrier is lack ofchildcare:despite some exceptions,women continue to bear the brunt.

If we are interested in breakingdown such barriers, there are steps wecan take. First, increase the number ofwomen entrepreneurs in the publiceye. Second, ensure that there aremore female mentors for women whowant to be entrepreneurs. Third, formmixed-gender entrepreneurial teams.Fourth, ensure women have equalaccess to finance. And finally, it isimportant that we support buddingentrepreneurs with support for factors

such as childcare.6Andre Spicer is Professor ofOrganisational Behaviour at Cass

Business School

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

Andre Spicer

e Griffiths characteristics. Leaders must confrontthe brutal factsabout a situation butat the same time never give up hope.

The E-Myth: Why Most BusinessesDont Work and What to Do AboutIt, by Michael Gerber

The book considers the mistakenbelief that most businesses are startedby people with budding businessskills, when most are created byexperts in a particular field who startout knowing nothing about business.

The 7 Habits of Highly EffectivePeople, by Stephen Covey

Named byTimemagazine in 2011 as

one of The 25 Most InfluentialBusiness Management Books, theblockbuster apparently made a bigimpact on Bill Clinton when he wasPresident. It prepares readers for afundamental change in approach tolife and introduces seven habits.

A Book About innocent: Our Storyand the Things Weve Learned, byDan Germain, Richard Reed, JohnHamilton

The founders of the smoothiebrand say: We started innocent fromscratch, so weve learnt a lot of thingsby getting stuff wrong. Some other

lessons have come from listeningcarefully to people cleverer than us.And some stuff we just got lucky on.

ChooseYourself!,by JamesAltucherThe author argues that everything

that seemed safe, such asemployment, retirement and theGovernment, no longer is. Its on youto make the most important decisionin your life,he writes.

The Founders Dilemmas, byNoam Wasserman

The Harvard Business Schoolprofessor explores the key earlydecisions and pitfalls faced by

entrepreneurs and investors andoutlines options for start-ups.

Anyone Can Do It, by Sahar andBobby Hashemi

The book describes turning CoffeeRepublic from an idea into a highstreet brand. The authors seek todispel the idea that entrepreneurs areinherently specialpeople.

WhyShouldAnyonebe Ledby You?,byRobertCoffeeand GarethJones

The authors set out to demonstratewhat it takes to be a leader who caninspire employees to achieveoutstanding results.

lebrating entrepreneurs

es |Tuesday November 19 2013 50

Business

In association with

Toptips

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

TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER, BETHANY CLARKE

the times |Wednesday November 20 2013

Bu

Vine Trust branches out beyondits roots in Walsalls worst pub

Small businesses want to engage withthe communities around them,according to Stephen Howard, chiefexecutive of the charity Business inthe Community. The problem is thatthey are not always clear how to goabout it.

Nevertheless, it is not somethingthat they should overlook. Its part ofhow you build the brand andreputation, and its part of how yourecruit, retain and develop the bestpeople,Mr Howard said, adding that

Building community links may mean going back to the classro

Partnership is thekey to providing asecond chance foryoung people, reportsDaniel Allen

T

he Vine Trust has come along way since it took over aderelict West Midlands pubonce notorious for drugs,

prostitution and violence.That was in 1989 and in the yearssince the trust has been so successfulin building partnerships that,according to Kevin Davis, its chiefexecutive, its model of socialenterprise and communitydevelopment is beginning to spread.

Like any small business, the trusthas to balance its books and generateenough income from its activities orfrom investment in its enterprises tocover costs. According to Mr Davis, asa charity, the trusts accounts aresubjected to even closer scrutiny thanmany organisations and nearly 25years of successful operations haveproven its financial sustainability.

Conceived simply as a means ofbringing young people together, thetrust runs a mix of services thatinclude employment training,education and a new 3million youthcentre housing start-up businesses,performance space and trainingrooms. Not bad for an organisationthat began life inin Mar Davisswords the worst pub in Walsall.

Mr Davis, 39, joined the trust in1997. They asked if I could bringsome vision to the operation. What Idiscovered was that we couldnt dothe job on our own. So we started anumber of partnerships,conversations with people, to help toovercome some of the challenges ouryoung people were facing.

It started with a donation offlat-pack furniture from Ikea, whichwe used as a low-risk means of givingyoung people some training.Whenthe local store had problems oneweekend with a contractor who wasmeant to assemble items for thecompanys bargain corner, he

spotted an opportunity.The trust stepped in, a partnershipwas agreed and Project 390 wasborn, giving work experience to

hard-to-employ young people. Theproject takes its name from thedesignation Ikea gives to reject goodsthat still have a marketable value.That was descriptive of the youngpeople we were working with whohave had knocks and bruises but, ifyou give them some time and energy,you can get them back into thebargain basement,Mr Davis said.

The enterprise side of the VineTrust specialises in de-riskingrelationships between employers andyoung people. Its success has led toproductive partnerships withbusinesses in a range of sectors.

Mr Daviss passion for developingemployment opportunities for

marginalised young people ismatched by a desire to build modelsof education that meet their needs. Idiscovered that the type of education

we were offering our hard-to-educatekids what schools were offering wasnt working for them.

After a successful bid by the trust,in partnership with the local QueenMarys Grammar School, the WalsallStudio School opened its doors tostudents in September. Studio schools

combine core subjects with workexperience and employment skillsand the Walsall edition, Mr Davissaid, is the first to be run by a social

enterprise. This isnt just analternative school. Were seriousabout educationwe got the bestschool in our area to partner with usand were serious about preparingyoung people for industry and work.

Key to the trusts success is havinga compelling vision. Youre nottrying to create some Marxist utopia.Youre dealing with the reality of whatwe can do together. In these hardtimes when money is scarce,particularly in the public sector,people have got to start thinkingdifferently about how we can createmeaningful growth, especially inthose areas that are under morechallenge because of the shrinking

state. Weve got to do thingsdifferently; weve got to try toarticulate something that allows thoseareas not to be forgotten.

Start-upsneed to ma fast star

What banks are looking fevidence that money lent

repaidand this requirethought-through plan thainclude budgets demonstrcashflow, forecast incomeexpenditure, contracts ancontingency arrangemen

I always advise my custfar as possible,take a noapproach. I encourage busee me early in the procesinvite me to visit their woThis enables me to underthe business works and toit to access funding. This that if a challenge or an oemerges quickly, I am muplaced to provide prompt

Of course, budding entrand start-ups rarely have record. This circle is hard Banks provide debt finanequity we are not DragWe do not take punts, noa stake in the company orits profits.

Yet this does not meancannot help start-ups. Lashelped more than 100,00businesses. My end-goal imoney to those that comebut I also provide advice aguidance. Sometimes, I caloan at the first asking, buregular contact, support anetworking, once start-uprunning they can access ldown the line.

Through my experiencbusinesses to develop andknow the commitment rewhat a hard slog it is. I haenormous respect for the originality and sheer deteentrepreneurs. My adviceearly, research your mark

seek advice.6Barry Evans is the regiofor the South-West and W

RBS/NatWest

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

Barry Evans

Daniel Allen for small businesses beginning to lookat how they can work more closelywith the local community, schoolsand colleges are the place to start.Education usually seems closer towhat the business is trying to do,perhaps because theyve beenstudents themselves or have childrenin local schools or because they willat least on occasion have beeninvolved in a work experiencesituation.

One of the keys to success, hebelieves, is to keep it simple and notto be overwhelmed by the bigger

issues, such as youth unemployment,inequality or, as he put it, feeling as ifyou have to boil the ocean.

It can sometimes feel like: Wow,all these things are way too big for mylittle business. But if you think of it interms of how you can spend a littlebit of dedicated time in a local school,in a structured way with aprogramme that has beenthought-through already, then youdont have to invent anything, youjust have to carry it out.

Running an education programmealongside other businesses can bring

extra benefits. Then it becomes notonly an interesting individualengagement for your organisation butperhaps even a more collaborativeone and a networking one.

Working with local socialentrepreneurships or socialenterprises is another way forward,although Mr Howard acknowledged:We often find that communityactivists and social entrepreneursspeak a different language to thebusiness people. Their idea is thatbusiness is only about making moneyand yet we know its purpose isnt just

about maximising returnsit wouldnt last very long. about delivering value to delivering quality, all thosthings. And when you begabout it in that context, itbusiness is a force for goo

It is also important to rthat engagement with locany other community orga partnership, Mr Howardnot one-way traffic. Yourdeliver, but youre also gobenefit. And youre goingsurprised how much com

Celebrating entrepreneurs

the times |Wednesday November 20 2013

Bu

In association with

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



4/5

Apprentices show resolve to learnechnology and communication

ss growth plan for aned enterprise has a duale strategic development ofness itself, which sitse an operational review of thencies and capabilities of theneur and the management

usiness growth plan is atool driven by the personal

aspirations of theneur (including a coherentegy) and is the means ofng opportunities for growthan that is possible to deliver.way to kick-start fasterby tying down the

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

ung Sheffieldany is putting itsand future ing recruits, reportserine Griffiths

A

ll 25 employees atResolve IT Solutionsreceived an iPad this yearas a thank youfrom the

boss for their contributionhad been the companys beste gift was a microcosm ofdrew Seaton believes hass business a success ahly modern mixture ofgy and communication.

3-year-old believes that thewth of his Sheffield-based

gy support company, set upwas 24 and just out ofy, is because Resolve tries to

nts a good experience, ratherking them feel like a problem.this by persuading employeesas much on theirication skills as theirl ability.f his business model is theent of a large number of

eople as apprentices, relativempanys size. They are

quickly to become ITrs dealing with clients, whoationwide and range fromsinesses to a trust that runsls. Resolve has hired a total

pprentices, four of whomyed, and a sixth is about to

t see it as a pool of cheapthink it is strategic to doSeaton said.

dvantages of recruitinges as young as 16 and 17 is

y dont have the bad habitsenced IT engineers, who can

tting when a client calls forbelieves. Enthusiasm forrs is important Mr Seaton,in on the i nterviews, likes tout applicants taking apart

n computers or lovingbut, more crucial is that

talk about their favourite

film or football team, demonstratingstrong communication skills. Resolvethen invests in training the newrecruits over several weeks, broken upwith time in a classroom and stints inthe office learning how the businessworks.

Alessandro Calamita was Resolvesfirst apprentice, joining in 2010. Now21, he is a member of the seniormanagement team overseeing threeother engineers.

I had the interview with Resolveon the Thursday and I was alreadytraining on the Monday,he said.You can progress really quickly.Rather than just making the tea and

coffee, you can take on realresponsibilities. That is the wholeculture and loyalty comes from that.

The mixture of young and slightlymore experienced staff has servedResolve well. Having started with two

schools and some individuals whocame to the company thanks to aninitial leafleting campaign by MrSeaton, the business has more than200 clients, some of which areoverseas. Turnover has jumped from15,000 in 2004 to 1.2million thisyear.

As the business grows, one of itschallenges is dealing with otheraspects of running a business,including financial andrisk controls.When I started it was just me and acar,Mr Seaton said. Now I know itis not just me that gets frustrated andthat I have a much larger networkthat I can chat to,

Valuable helpthat you cantafford to miss

As the owner of Holts Group, a smallbut busy group of enterprises, I am

often caught up in the everydayintensity and rigmarole of ademanding business. In that frame ofmind, I can think of nothing elseother than what is here and now.

How could I possibly take on anapprentice who cant run with the jobfrom the moment they start? Howcould anybody else in the teamsupport and teach a youngster andtake time out of their day? Were allat breaking point as it is withoutrisking our time on training ayoungster. Theyll probably leave,anyway.

And if I didnt have the advantageof knowing what I know, I wouldunderstand the majority of employerswho say: Apprentices, what do theyhave to do with me? Arent they justfor manual trades?

The vast majority of businesses fallinto this trap. In fact, more than90 per cent of small businesses inEngland do not take the leap of faithto take on their first apprentice.

But I wish they would and I will tellyou why. In the course of leading andwriting a review for the Government,I spoke with several hundredbusinesses that employ an apprentice,and not a single one said they wishedthey had not.

On the contrary, they cannot sayenough good things, and every onehas plans to hire more and not oneis in the manual trades.

This aligns precisely with myfirst-hand experience. It is why I haveseven apprentices now (out of aworkforce of 100) and why my mos ttrusted lieutenants started asapprentices.6Jason Holt is the chief executiveof Holts Group

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

Jason Holt

rt opportunities and promptingdecision-making based on strategicdiscussions internally and externallythat will crystallise vision andpromote the required action.

To write a business growth planyou need to:6 have a clear vision andpresentation of the core values of thebusiness;6 present the growth opportunitiesfor the business in terms of clients,products and services (for example, inspecialist or emerging markets, shortterm, mid-term);6 develop sales and marketing plansfor the business in response to thesegrowth opportunities, setting out aclear value proposition, market

growth forecast, pricing strategy andcompetitor analysis;6 understand the business inputsnecessary to achieve growth (forexample, an organisation chart forgrowth, focusing on key personneland skills required, key supplierrelationships, operations review andmodifications required);6 construct a financial statement ofgrowth projections (ie, a three-yearcashflow forecast) and how thegrowth will be financed;6 set out an implementation planthat includes action steps, resourcesneeded and a timetable, including anexit strategy for the owner;6 develop a series of metrics criticalto the successful implementation of

the growth plan, designed to allowthe business owner to assessoperations and proactively makeadjustments to keep the business ontracka business growth dashboardworking alongside a risk audit for thebusiness.

Developing a business growth planwith the input of external scruti nyand challenge is an essential part ofthe process and it is important to getconnected to networks of like-mindedbusiness owners and business advisersand mentors who can add significantvalue. Rapid business growth cannotnormally be achieved without theinjection of external financialresources in whatever form, whetherit be debt-and-equity finance (formal

venture capital or informal angelinvestment) or support from a varietyof government schemes (eg, UKTrade & Investment, the TechnologyStrategy Board and the RegionalGrowth Fund).

Experience has shown that thepossession of an up-to-date businessgrowth plan has made it easier for arange of small business owners toattract the external resources,including finance, to transform theirbusinesses from profitable growingregional businesses to ones with afaster growth trajectory servicingnational and international markets.6Professor Mark Hart is chairman ofSmall Business and Entrepreneurship,

Aston Business School

lebrating entrepreneurs

es |Thursday November 21 2013 57

Business

In association with

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


the times | Friday November 22 2013

Bu

New ventures are started for manyreasons, with one of the mostcommon routes beginning withsomeone doing a job they like in a bigcompany and thinking they want todo it for themselves. They start outsmall and wake up one day to realisethey are managing a substantialbusiness.

For example, do you know how bigyour business can be before you haveto start worrying about maternity andpaternity leave?

Do you even know when you

How to respond when the grand vision becomes a cold realit

W

hen Germanshoppers look onlinefor something cosy towear, they search for

ponchos, whileAussies love the colour that Britsknow as American tan.

These are just a couple of thecultural differences that NiamhBarker, managing director of theTravelwrap Company, has discoveredsince sales soared overseas.

Ms Barker used to work for Pfizer,the pharmaceuticals group, andtravelled extensively. On an aircraftshe preferred to tuck her favouritecashmere jumper around her, ratherthan use a scratchy inflight blanket.

When she stopped work to takecare of her family, she devised ashaped cashmere wrap that sells formore than 200 and has fans fromthe fashion glitterati to world-wearybusiness travellers.

Travelwrap, launched in 2007, hassales of350,000, 35 per cent ofwhich are from exports to ninecountries, including Australia, Japanand the United States. Ours is a one-size-fits-all product, knitted in theUK,she said. We had strong Britishbrand credibility and no sizing issues,so the product sells well online.

Progress hasnt been entirelystraightforward. Weve had tointroduce parallel websites in differentlanguages, so we now have six, MsBarker said. Weve also had to refinethe search engine optimisationelements of the sites, so that overseassearch engines will find us and offermultiple currency transactions.

Travelwrap decided to offer freestandard delivery to anywhere in theworld to reduce the barriers tooverseas purchases. But you stillneed old-fashioned offline salesand marketing, so we now haverepresentation in Munich to manage

our German public relations andmarketing and manage introductionsto the wholesale market in their own

language,she said. The Germanoffice opened recently and soon thecompany hopes to open smalloutposts in its other big overseasmarkets of Australia and the US. MsBarker has been on three overseastrade missions this year with UKTI toJapan, Belgium and Austria.

Jim Griffin was about to walkaway from his acoustic andthermal insulation business 18

months ago. I was feeling bad that Ihadnt managed to run it better than Ihad. We werent making money andwe were not moving forward,he said.

How things have changed.Automotive Insulations, which had 40staff two years ago, now has 120. Next

March the manufacturer will moveinto new premises in Rugby that aretwice as big as its old site and it has

expanded into Sweden and Germanythis year. The company, founded in1966, has its roots in the automotivebusiness. However, it is also m ovinginto other insulation products,including insulation for hard floors.

Turnover in Germany is set to

climb from500,000 to 5 million bythe end of June because of some bigcontracts that the group has won with

original equipment manufacturers.Recruiting in Germany has beensurprisingly easy and productionwages have been lower than I hadexpected,Mr Griffin said.

Funding the overseas expansionhas been the biggest obstacle becauseBritish banks would not sanctionfunds for overseas operations. InGermany he has made provisions tofinance the new operation for morethan a year until it is able to financeitself.

Switching banks in Britain has alsohelped to provide banking contactson the Continent.

Sales rose from5 million inJanuary last year to 12 million inSeptember this year and are set to be

16 million next year and between24 million to 30 million in 2015 onthe basis of orders already signed off.

Exportinga challengbut we arhere to he

Just over two years ago, I Prime Minister to launch National Challenge to incnumber of companies expone in five to one in four.

The Government has mexporting a high priority. Investment, its internatiopromotion department, aExport Finance, the Goveexport credit guarantee aby chambers of commercbodies, banks, accountan

lawyers, are focused on psupport to small businessor growing in the export m

UKTI and embassy stafworld are putting an imminto assisting UK compankey markets British businare being set up for compoffice space, make connecget the latest market infor

Businesses can benefit plethora of help expergetting ready to export international trade advisearound the UK and from specialists, as well as acceto go to trade shows worldjoin overseas trade missio

I have travelled to 56 coTrade Minister, and everyBritain receives a very waand a call for more Britishto enter their markets. Ouethos, creativity and highproducts and services placompanies in prime positsucceed overseas. UK ExpFinances new products aSMEs, providing guaranteinsurance to help to securand, where appropriate, dfunding. UKEF has advisethe UK and in key oversesupport UK business on t

Businesses of all sizes, wstart-ups or established cneed to think of exportingnext step. All the evidencsurveys conducted by acaprivate sector and governthat companies that exposignificantly more efficienmore, they last longer, therobust and, crucially, theymore jobs. The benefits ar

6Lord Green of HurstpieMinister of State for TradInvestment

Tips from the top

Niamh BarkerHarness social media

to build your brand and engage with

your customers; you cant not these

days, and it works

Jim GriffinKnow your business plan

inside out. Live with it, change it,

dont just put it in a drawer

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

Lord Green of Hurstpierpo

Timothy Barnes would have to start paying VAT?Government websites areincreasingly good at offering thefactual information, but everyonerunning a small business must beaware that learning how to do thesethingseither themselves or bybringing in and managing others todo themis a critical part of theirrole and not a distraction from therealjob.Do you do or do you lead?

An unsettling point for manycomes when, for the first time, smallbusiness leaders realise that theirbusiness has clients they have never

met. If you have spent five years ormore building up a business, worryingabout your reputation and chasingevery last detail, then letting go ofsome of those close relationships canbe hard.

But it must happen if the businessis to grow. In my experience, thistends to be when companies reachabout 20 to 25 staff.

This varies hugely by industry but,for every business leader, there is apoint when you simply dont knowwhat everyone in your business isdoing every day and you need to shiftfrom doing to leading.

Is growth found at home or away?The UK is one of the best places to

start and build a business. Therecomes a point, though, whenambitious small companies want tolook farther afield.

Too often, there is a tendency tocultivate traditional and naturaltrading relationships overseas, such asthe United States and the rest of theEnglish-speaking world, but betterknowledge and research might tellyou that opportunities are to be foundin developing or alternative markets.But doing business overseas is oftenhampered by a lack of local cultural

understanding. Think aboof exchanging gifts in Chbusiness leaders must taklearn complex new markeSo wheres the help?

If you dont have the exhouse, borrow it from thoYou can make use of grouthe China British Businestrade missions, such as thorganised by UK Trade &Decent local accountantshighly prized, and univerhelp with short-course pr6 Timothy Barnes is direc

Advances

Celebrating entrepreneurs

the times | Friday November 22 2013

Bu

In association with

Courage to broaden horizonspushes growth to a new levelTwo small businesseshave found foreignmarkets the key tosuccess, writesKatherine Griffiths



5/5

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

Following the10,000 Small Businessesprogramme, Rich developed a business strategy

that enabled him to significantly grow the revenues of his robotics company and position

his company for international growth.

2013 Goldman Sachs. All rights reserved.

Goldman Sachs is committed to helpingUK entrepreneurs create jobs and drivelocal economic growth.

Rich, Managing DirectorShadow Robot Company, London

Through the programmes peer-to-peer

learning, I gained the skills to successfully

grow my business.

c1574 goldmansachs booklet 375x285

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