100 Stories of Growth - Insights from Entrepreneurs

— KATE LESTER, FOUNDER, DIAMOND LOGISTICS 29 28 INSIGHTS FROM ENTREPRENEURS Money’s run out, your partners set up in competition, the office has just been broken into and drivers’ pay stolen. And a violent 6’6” man threatens you with extreme violence after sacking him for running over an elderly lady on her scooter. This was just one week of my first year in business. Those experiences gave me sleepless nights and I was pregnant at the same time. Over 26 years, I’ve built up resilience and it’s been a blessing. Brexit, down trade, fraud, and theft – they’re all a cinch in comparison. It’s all about resilience. And having a plan B because the stress of an inescapable corner is toxic.” Many founders we have spoken to during the fascinating process of building the 100 Stories of Growth campaign have remarkable energy and spirits. Before we move on to talking about human capital – the people who make high-potential businesses function – two founders tell us how they approach wellbeing and emotional capital in their daily work. EMOTIONAL CAPITAL Uncovering the pressures that come with funding As we highlighted earlier in this report, the access to finance debate championed by government and the wider SME investment community has, on a positive note, opened the flow of capital to fast-growing UK companies. It would appear that the extra funding comes with pressure, but wellbeing support for investee companies may be lacking. The concept of wellbeing experts at investment providers is a nascent development at forward-looking companies such as Octopus. We believe that responsible investment and finance providers need to focus just as much on the people running businesses, and their wellbeing, as they do on the potential profits that their clients generate for them. With reference to personal support, the campaign’s extensive conversations with entrepreneurs reveal that family and friends are a vital part of any support mechanism. And this reliance is set to continue for many of them. They conclude that it’s clearly not about sharing strategic decision-making or human capital concerns at the breakfast table. Instead, it’s about having reliable and loving support mechanisms in their lives to help them chase their dream to grow their business. But life is about choices and we can’t always achieve the work-life balance that favours everyone around us. The stark reality is that running a high-potential business means difficult decisions have to be made, as one company founder explains: “Success in one area usually can come with sacrifices in other areas, usually your private life. The pressure from work can add stress to the work-life balance, not seeing loved ones as much and they have to do some of the heavy lifting from a home-life perspective.” As discussed earlier in this report, resilience is the X factor that many successful fast-growth entrepreneurs share. So it is unsurprising that many find the inner strength and drive to cope with diverse events, often in very close succession, as one female founder shares with us: of entrepreneurs would like more wellbeing support from investors in the future 25%