~expansion~


‘As a small company you want entrepreneurs around you – people who are always looking for new means of growing a business and who can handle some of the uncertainties businesses are facing today’


they produce as well as receiving a profit share bonus. CEO Nick Stevens says, ‘We have thought


from the outset that as management we would rather build a bigger pie and accept a smaller slice of it, engendering a culture of ownership and excitement, than create an “us and them” working environment between directors and employees.’ An added incentive for company


stakeholders to encourage intrapreneurship is when there is an opportunity for investment up for grabs. Media technology company Forward Internet gives its developers up to 20 days per year of ‘innovation leave’, allowing them to take time off their main activity to work on their pet projects. These then often have the potential to turn into main projects within the company, which Forward would then finance.


forwArd thinkinG


Robin Landy was originally hired as an information architect to work on a mobile phone comparison site under the umbrella of Forward, but he found himself thinking more about launching his own price comparison venture, InvisibleHand. However, he did not consider leaving to work on his idea. ‘The company has a great level of technical expertise. I thought I was already in the right place to develop the product and due to the culture of the company in encouraging intrapreneurship, I wanted to stay,’ he says. After Landy built a prototype and pitched the idea to his managing


20 business xl


director, the company agreed to finance it in exchange for an equity stake. Other innovations to come out of the


company include a luxury parrot cage that grew to be the biggest parrot cage retailer in the UK and energy comparison site uSwitch. ‘You don’t have to seek permission to try something new,’ says Landy. ‘There is a supportive environment for new projects – you know you can go out, experiment and take the time to do it.’ Ideas generated within a company do not


have to relate directly to its core activities to benefit the business. Market research business MBA & Company allows employee Romy Fawehinmi to work for one day a week on his start-up company, a rental property platform for students that has been through a round of VC funding. The company draws on the experiences of


Fawehinmi’s start-up and uses them to its own benefit. CEO Daniel Callaghan says that Fawehinmi has come up with a highly successful viral strategy for his own company


and in turn shared the knowledge to boost MBA & Company’s social media campaign. ‘We’ve seen our Twitter traffic increase substantially since he started on his company as we have seen what he has done on his own venture and have benefited from his learnings,’ says Callaghan.


cry freedom


Callaghan adds that allowing intrapreneurial benefits is a good way of keeping staff enjoying working. ‘If you give people freedom as opposed to trying to control them you maintain a greater sense of loyalty.’ He also notes the value in being in the


presence of other strategic thinkers. ‘As a small company you want entrepreneurs around you – people who are always looking for new means of growing a business and who can handle some of the uncertainties businesses are facing today.’ It is clear that while some businesses


thrive on the concept of empowering staff to make key decisions, others may feel their situation is less conducive to intrapreneurship. DDI UK’s Newhall argues, ‘Organisations sometimes focus too much on skills employees need and think they need to hire people in when really they should just focus on the environment that is going to stimulate high levels of creativity and innovation.’ For the good of commerce in


Britain and the subsequent much- hoped-for private sector growth, many such companies would do well to revise their stance. ■


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