100 Stories of Growth - Insights from Entrepreneurs

11 10 INSIGHTS FROM ENTREPRENEURS FOREWORD broadest sense – covering emotional, human, intellectual and financial capital – shows how we can offer great support to growth-focused entrepreneurs. Taking part in the capital debate Now that the UK has largely solved the access to finance conundrum, more venture capitalists, crowdfunders and financiers are eager to fund UK SMEs. Very often, attractive offers of investment or finance mean that entrepreneurs are increasingly taking on investment at a very early stage. But without a more developed foundation of resilience that entrepreneurs tend to build up over time, many have to learn very quickly how to deal with very eager providers of capital while also running their own companies. Achieving this combination can be rather daunting for entrepreneurs. As the 100 Stories of Growth campaign has evolved, it has become increasingly clear that the SME investment ecosystem needs to prioritise founder education and development about wellbeing and mental health linked to the pressures of taking on financial capital. That’s why we’ve launched the Don’t Lose It initiative – helping the investment community to engage more supportively and proactively in founders’ wellbeing and mental health. Capital providers and other advisers can help entrepreneurs manage certain emotional and mental health aspects associated with running a business by understanding when best to take on external capital and from which sources. For their own part, entrepreneurs should fully understand what their own professional and personal risk-reward equation will look like when they raise capital. Entrepreneurs will also help alleviate the stress associated with growing a business by focusing on greater clarity about financial management and planning, and prioritising investment provider due diligence when they consider investment options. Where the financial capital raised is patient by definition, and meets an entrepreneur’s growth timeframe, this combination improves the positive experiences of growing a business. We know that the human capital aspects of growing a business are perhaps the most important. It is people who run and make businesses succeed. So a strong focus on fostering a company-wide entrepreneurial mindset, suitably incentivised senior management teams and commitment to peer learning are vitally important. As nearly two-thirds of the entrepreneurs we’ve spoken to in the campaign are actively exporting, there should be more focus on growth by nurturing and developing even more international relationships. The strong connections fostered with people in all markets go a long way to improve companies’ growth ambitions.