Investing in management

One of my biggest lessons in recent years has been the realisation that you must invest in great management if you want to build a great business.

Starting and growing a ‘bootstrap business’ i.e. one with little/no funds is tough.

I made the decision early on in my entrepreneurial journey that I’d only build a business organically.

I didn’t want to saddle myself with loads of debt or give away huge portions of my business to investors and relinquish control.

I guess this approach works for me, as I’ve only ever intended to build a boutique business, not a big business.

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The problem with bootstrapping your business is that funds are always tight.

Every £1 you make you want to re-invest back into the business to grow but there is never enough money to go around.

One of the biggest hurdles I’ve found is having the funds to build great management teams.

I didn’t have the funds to bring in ‘management level salaries’, so only had one option.

Train people from the ground up.

It’s more work, it takes a lot longer, but it’s far cheaper.

From 2018-2023 I built a team from the ground up, and over the years started to form a home grown management team.

This was good to a point, but it had it’s limitations.

• Lack of external experience outside of our agency
• Lack of commercial awareness
• Lack of real-world processes and systems management

These were just some of the things I realised to be true.

We hit a glass ceiling and I knew things had to change in a big way.

I took a long, hard look in the mirror.

I have many classic entrepreneur traits.

I’m curious, impatient, decisive.

I like taking calculated risks. I’m adaptable and determined to succeed.

What I’m not good at, is what a great business needs.

Processes. Systems. Organisation. Controls.

A great business needs managerial calm alongside the entrepreneurial chaos.

That’s exactly what I’ve invested in this past year and it’s been a game-changer.

I’ve brought in the most experienced, most senior (and most expensive) people into my business in the past 12 months and it’s been transformative.

Every business needs great management, as well as that entrepreneurial flair that drives growth.

Every day I’m witnessing the type of managerial prowess within our four walls, the likes of which I could only dream of doing myself.

So I want to wrap up this weeks personal insights by asking you to think about your business, your team and ask yourself these questions:

• What role do you play in your business?
• Do you have the management team that you need to achieve your goals?
• If not, what are you doing about it?

Investing in experience, in expertise in the right people to bring skills that you do not have is the fastest way to catapult your business forward.

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