Great entrepreneurs are not great because they started a company; they're great because they were able to scale it.
They run businesses with established growth strategies and scalable business models, meaning they’re not only much more likely to survive, they will thrive.
That’s why the Entrepreneurs’ Forum has developed the Scale-up Leader’s Academy, fine tuning it over the last 10 months to compliment the way we already help the North East’s most aspirational business owners.
Scaling-up isn’t easy for any business. It takes planning as well as strong leadership and management skills. There will be an increase in the number of employees, customers, products and services provided, as well as the possibility of multiple locations to operate.
The Scale-up Leader's Academy has had a transformative effect on our business. The process of learning from inspiring speakers, learning new growth strategies and embedding that knowledge with a business coach is a really unique format.
Joanna Feeley, Managing Director of Trend Bible. The second cohort of the Scale-up Leader’s Academy gets underway this January, offering practical advice in a compelling and easy to understand way. Exploring what it means to scale-up, the six-month programme will prepare business owners to face the challenges of fast growth, helping them to build an actionable plan that will achieve their goals.
“The Scale-up Leader’s Academy has had a transformative effect on our business. The process of learning from inspiring speakers, learning new growth strategies and embedding that knowledge with a business coach is a really unique format.
“The most impactful part for me has been being able to access one-to-one time with a dedicated mentor and crucially, getting to openly discuss growth issues with other business leaders.
“Every month, we’re all trying to implement the knowledge we’ve acquired, and so there’s a readymade network there for discussing what worked and how best to apply it.
“Running a business can be a pretty isolated experience but the Academy has provided me with an approachable, encouraging environment to tackle the challenges we all face as high growth business leaders.” Joanna Feeley, Managing Director of Trend Bible.
If you lead a high-growth business and have ambition to grow quicker, benefiting from a mix of inspirational events, scale-up coaching workshops and the opportunity to learn from those who have been there and done it all before, will help you to draw up a blueprint from which you will be able to accelerate your growth sustainably.
Adopting the Gazelles International Coaches framework of using the Four Decisions of growth, the Academy will not only help you to avoid costly mistakes, it will show you how to put some simple ideas into practice to transform the way you work, helping you to build a successful scale-up strategy for your business. One that minimises risk and helps you to overcome the barriers to long-term sustainable growth:
Leadership Skills: we will help you to shape the vision of your business and develop your own leadership capability.
Skills & Culture: studying the motivations of staff and discussing the best ways to find and retain the right people with the right skills will help you to drive your business forward.
Sales & Marketing: by exploring techniques and tips that help you to access new customers and expand into new markets, you will not only impact positively on your cash flow, but drive long-term growth.
Operations & Time Management: everyone is time poor, but by correctly allocating resources, prioritising and bringing clarity to the processes within your business, you can improve productivity and support fast-growth.
Finance & Funding: by identifying the right combination of finance and improving your liquidity, you can better fund your high-growth ambition.
“The Scale-up Leader’s Academy is a fantastic, thought-provoking and insightful programme for fast growing business leaders.
“The Entrepreneurs’ Forum has created an environment where it has been possible to meet, work and learn with a group of like-minded individuals over a sustained period of time.
“In addition we’ve gained valuable insight into how successful organisations have scaled up through structured learning and coaching.
“The impact has been immediate and is on-going!” Richard Lane, Co-Founder of durhamlane
To apply to join the 2018 Scale-up Leader's Academy and for more information, contact Steven Gibson at the Entrepreneurs' Forum on 0191 500 7780 or steven@entrepreneursforum.net
