How Businesses Scale Up with Success

We’ve helped thousands of clients to scale up effectively and have learned some common themes in all cases.

Our Founder, Colin Mills, has distilled it down to a framework which our CFO’s use regularly – the Scale Up Framework.

And one key factor in order to scale up with success? It often starts with the founder/business leader – the mindset that characterises these individuals is distinctive.

Not so much what they do, or their intelligence – but they have a certain way of thinking.

So, what have we learned in our 22+ years of helping businesses to scale up with success?

 

Scale Up with Success

 

1. Obsession

Most business owners that scale up with success are obsessed with their business. They live it, breathe it, drink it!

Not in an unhealthy way, but they will often have a driving passion that drives them forward. Their deep involvement and passion create a strong foundation for growth and resilience.

 

2. Strategy

Successful managers have managed to find a way to be working ON the business not IN the business – not consumed with the operations.

They have successfully scaled by always being on the lookout for emerging opportunities – ones that align with their strategic plan and business goals.

Sometimes these leaders can be considered visionaries, other times more operational in nature. They have found a way to work on the business rather than consumed in the business, by always thinking in an entrepreneurial way.

 

3. Inspirational

Their style of leadership is more by inspiration than management by command control.

This means that employees and colleagues alike are attracted to these people because they can be quite inspirational.

Inspirational does not always mean extrovert – often these individuals are quite introvert. But they have a strong belief and a true vision as to where they are going. And we have seen this is quite attractive to bringing in great talent, which obviously helps the business.

 

4. Learning, not Unlearning

As businesses develop, the scale up mindset is very smart at realising there are certain things in the business that you need to make sure you don’t unlearn. They can distinguish between what needs to be preserved and what can be adapted or changed. This ability to learn and apply new strategies while maintaining foundational principles is key to sustained growth.

 

5. Goal Orientation

Leaders who scale up well have a view of the future and are driven by goals. It’s not all about the money, but goals can be characterised around their team, their customers, and organised around the business mission.

Having some clear goals that are strong at high level but have been developed to be distilled down through the organisation.

 

 

The Scale up with Success Mindset

So, we can see the founder’s mindset can be explained by a few characteristics. We’ve observed these over many years of working with businesses of all sizes, across all industries.

These include a passionate obsession with the business, strategic focus, inspirational leadership, a commitment to learning, and a strong orientation towards goals.

 

 

What next?

In order to scale up with success, increase cash, profit and valuation and do work that excites and inspires you, you need to build rock solid financial foundations. Our superstar CFOs will help you construct a world class finance function to enable you to achieve your life’s ambition.

What do you really want from your business and life? Contact us and let us take ownership of your finance function so you can spend your time doing what you really want to do.

We can help with:

• Strategic Planning
• Sell/Exit
• Identify Risks
• Review Business Plan
• Source Funding
• Operational Skills
• Improve Systems & Controls
• Implement KPI Reporting
• Increase Profit
• Improve Cash Flow
• Business Support
• Tighten Up Compliance
• Optimise Tax & Legal
• Audit Outsourcers
• Building Strong Banking Relationships