Coaching to achieve High Business Growth

Are you thinking of starting a strategic review of your business and have ambitions for growth? Don’t miss out on government investment, match funding and business development coaching through the Growth Accelerator Programme.

If you’re not familiar with Growth Accelerator, it is the premier support service that helps ambitious
business owners based in England achieve rapid sustainable growth, with the Government co-
investing and making a major contribution towards the overall cost of the support package offered
by the scheme. There are 4 areas of available support: Business Development, Access to Funding, Growth through Innovation and Leadership and Management.

What’s impressive is that the scheme is genuinely unlocking new high growth potential and, even
more encouragingly, it is literally coming from anywhere. In other words as long as the management team has the ambition and determination to develop skills to make it happen you don’t have to be a start-up business, based in London or other city centres to achieve success.

How do you know if it’s right for you? The initial consultation with a Growth Manager normally
results in a 3-part strategy and marketing review to highlight and resolve the blockages that are
preventing your business from breaking through into full-scale growth. At this point you will be
assigned a Growth Accelerator Coach, like me, who will meet with your leadership to identify what
needs to be done and set you on course to get things done.

What are the key issues that need addressing? In my experience the biggest needs are:

1. Getting the leadership team, who are constantly pulled back into operational issues, to step
   back from the business and think strategically. This doesn’t always come easy.
2. Getting individual members of the leadership team to understand each other’s thinking and
   re-aligning them to the overall vision and strategy.
3. Identifying skills gaps and training needs to make sure the business delivers the anticipated
   growth.

How quickly the scheme produces results depends on how well the business acts on what needs to be done to get there, but the feedback is good. A report published by Growth Accelerator in
September 2013 said that 3,400 businesses are increasing turnover more quickly and 3,100 are
increasing employment at a faster rate as a result of working with Growth Accelerator. 78% said the initial assessment provided clarity on how to drive growth, 77% said they got something from
Growth Accelerator that they couldn’t get elsewhere and 94% of businesses receiving Business
Development coaching said they have achieved an outcome they couldn’t have by themselves.

So whether you’ve been in business for many years or are a relative newcomer, if growth is your
goal and you have the determination and motivation to make it happen then now’s a great time to
act. As an accredited Growth Accelerator coach I can refer you to a Growth Manager to get you started, so get in touch Tel: 01778 424640.

Growth Accelerator – Delivering results 1 Year On

The Department of Business, Innovation and skills has published the first annual report on the GrowthAccelerator scheme.

What’s impressive is that the scheme seems to be genuinely unlocking new high growth potential, with only 32% of the 6,000 or so businesses that have participated in the scheme so far having sought strategic business advice previously in the last 2 years.
Reported feedback includes:

• Significant impact – 78% said their initial assessment provided clarity on how to drive growth
• 77% said they got something from GrowthAccelerator that they couldn’t get elsewhere
• 94% of businesses receiving Business Development coaching have achieved an outcome they couldn’t have by themselves

Key findings in the report include

• 3,400 businesses are increasing turnover more quickly and 3,100 are increasing employment at a faster rate as a result of working with GrowthAccelerator
• Ambition, dedication and inspiration in management teams are the most vital factors in achieving high growth for businesses.
• Businesses using the service are happy with the advice they have received – 97%say they’d recommend GrowthAccelerator
• Based on this experience, high growth comes from businesses of any size, age or sector or in any geographical location. In other words you don’t have to be a start-up business, based in London or other city centres to achieve success on the programme.

The scheme now aims to generate 55,000 new jobs and £2.2bn of economic growth within three years. That’s great news for business.