52
roundtable: entrepreneurship ... continued from previous page
Williams revealed he had gained such support through The Prince’s Trust, which had also provided ’soft loans’. (Williams is now a Young Ambassador for the Prince’s Trust).
Griffiths and Hawkeswood noted the Catch 22, that while young entrepreneurs could more easily start their own businesses, they could miss out on industry experience; the ’learning from their own mistakes’ aspect of early employments. Online information and instruction was very helpful but personal mentoring was still a gap to be filled.
The value of peer-group sharing of experiences, and networking activities should not be underestimated added Davis. “Sometimes running a business can be a lonely place and you need professional support or a group of like-minded individuals to speak to.“
Hawkeswood: “There are networks like that but they come at a price, both in terms of time and money. However, I have clients who think they are invaluable.“
Both Griffiths and Chapman said they had reasonably close relationship with professional advisers. “I am also very lucky to have a business partner who is chalk to my cheese, but we work together very well, added Chapman.
Griffiths: “Chalk and cheese is great. If
everyone was like me it would be awful. Everyone on my team is better than me at something, and I am enjoying building the business with them.“
Davis: “If you are a good leader you recognise where you need support and you surround yourself with the right people. I know what I am not good at, and that’s certainly made a difference to my business over the past three years.“
The challenges of leadership could lead to the decision to sell a business, Chapman commented. Some people reach an ambition threshold at which they are comfortable and don’t actually want to take things further and suffer the increased difficulties.
The challenging search for suitable staff
This was a key leadership challenge, the Roundtable agreed.
Recruitment in Chapman’s insurance sector is dominated by the big corporate operators, but “... fortunately for us none of those have an office in Southampton any more, and we have gained insurance professionals from their local close-downs. But, it will become more difficult, and we will have to bring in young talent and train them up.“
Griffiths: “Talent is the number one thing we struggle with. It’s not developing new products or marketing, just the recruitment and retaining of the right people and creating a work culture that is exciting, interesting and attractive to them. We have been growing rapidly, which allows job opportunities, but we can’t pay top quartile rates and we have to build it up in other ways.
“Fortunately, I have built a great team, and a good test of that was that I went to the US for two months and when I got back the business was still there.“
Davis of Reality HR confirmed that many of her clients were having problems in building their teams: “We spend about 80% of our time helping them find talent. It’s difficult, but that’s for good reasons. It’s because they are successful and growing.“
Internal upskilling of staff was one answer, but where recruitment was necessary most SMEs had difficulties in attracting skilled candidates. “The big piece of work SMEs need to do is around their employment branding and what makes them different and a great place to work.“
Davis said she had also taken time away from her business, for four weeks, to deliberately test her management structure. “They did a brilliant job, which will give them confidence for the future because my plan is to slow down, take more holidays and then maybe work towards an MBO or continue in an arms-length chairmanship role.“
Who’s going to turn the lights out?
David Murray
www.businessmag.co.uk
Hunt stated that a significant part of BCMS work was still trade-to-trade sales, often linked to retiring owners with a lack of succession. But, based on the 2,000-plus delegates annually attending BCMS advisory seminars, he could see changing trends such as younger owners exiting earlier, more opportunities for MBO
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – SOLENT & SOUTH CENTRAL – OCTOBER 2014
teams, even vendor-backed buyouts. “It comes back to being creative as an adviser and the bespoke and flexible nature of exiting a business these days.“
Begbour: “We help people connect with the right people, whether that is a corporate finance firm or professional tax or legal adviser. Too many people try to go it alone without the right advisory team around them, then they discover they should have started to plan their journey three to four years earlier. The key thing is getting the right management team and arrangements in place so that you can be plucked out, and the business will still stand on its own two feet.“
James Hawkeswood
“The earlier that you can start planning for exit the better,“ Hunt agreed. “There are a whole host of things you may need to address early on.“ Most entrepreneurs also did not want to leave their staff saddled with debt or poor management, he added. “There is usually a fair chunk of altruism in any successful transaction, which entrepreneurs don’t always get the credit for, certainly not in the mainstream media.“
Begbour: “Seeing people post-transaction is fascinating emotionally, because many entrepreneurs have built up their businesses from nothing over many years. They have turned the lights on in the morning and off at night. For some, it is more than their family, and suddenly it is gone. You often see them go to quite a low point, trying to reconnect with their family, wondering if they have the energy to start up another business, or should they invest in a growing business – trying to fill the void.
“We always advise such clients not to do anything with their money for at least six months, because it can take a very long time to get through that emotional journey of selling a business.“
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60