2h ago

Episode #645: Scaling Through Change: Leadership, Diversification and Building a Stronger Manufacturing Business - with Suzie Siddall

In this episode of ScaleUp Radio, host Kevin Brent is joined by Suzie Siddall, CEO of Opus International Products, a Warwickshire-based precision engineering and manufacturing business working across automotive, aerospace, defence, industrial and medical sectors. Suzie's story is one of leadership through significant change. Having moved from Managing Director to CEO following the death of the company's founder in 2024, she has had to balance continuity with the need to reshape the business for its next stage of growth. Today, Opus has a team of around 33 people and significant UK manufacturing capability across CNC machining, injection moulding and vacuum casting. The business has grown from its original sourcing model into a sophisticated manufacturing operation supporting customers from prototype and engineering development through to production. But this conversation is about much more than manufacturing. It explores what happens when a leader has to move away from being involved in the day-to-day operation and start thinking differently about strategy, governance, risk and the future of the business. From operational leader to CEO One of Suzie's biggest challenges has been making the transition from Managing Director to CEO. Rather than simply taking on more operational responsibility, she recognised that the business needed her to spend more time looking ahead. An important part of that transition has been the creation of a formal Board of Directors, combining members of the internal leadership team with external experience and challenge. The board now meets monthly, focusing on strategy, business trajectory and the trends behind the numbers rather than simply reviewing operational activity. It is an interesting lesson for any growing owner-managed business: better governance is not about adding bureaucracy. Done well, it creates the space and challenge needed to make better strategic decisions. Diversification without abandoning what works Automotive has historically represented around 75–80% of Opus's revenue. That concentration has helped build the business, but it also creates risk when the automotive market becomes volatile. Suzie and the team have therefore set a clear strategic objective: bring automotive down to around 40% of total revenue. Crucially, the plan is not to shrink the automotive business. Instead, Opus intends to grow its work in sectors including MedTech, defence, marine, off-highway and aerospace so that the overall business becomes larger and more diversified. The team has approached diversification systematically, looking at where investment is expected over the next five years and identifying sectors where Opus's existing capabilities can transfer successfully. Its IATF 16949 automotive accreditation and experience of high-tolerance, quality-critical manufacturing provide a strong base, while further accreditation, including AS9100, forms part of opening additional opportunities. Don't diversify just because a market looks attractive A particularly useful lesson from Suzie is the importance of understanding what capabilities can genuinely transfer into a new sector. Moving into a new market is not simply a sales exercise. It requires understanding the standards, accreditations, buying processes, networks and expectations of that sector. Opus has therefore combined market analysis with networking and sector engagement, including involvement with Make UK Defence. That creates a useful principle for other scaling businesses: diversification works best when there is a strong overlap between an attractive market and something your business already does exceptionally well. Helping customers cross the "valley of death" One of the standout messages from the conversation is Suzie's description of the gap between designing something and being able to manufacture it successfully at scale. That is where Opus aims to become much more than a component supplier. The business works collaboratively with customers to solve manufacturing challenges, taking projects from concept and prototype towards repeatable production. For Suzie, those customer partnerships are an important differentiator. Rather than simply waiting for a drawing and producing a part, the team wants to understand the problem the customer is trying to solve and contribute its engineering and manufacturing expertise. Standout message: The strongest supplier relationships are built when you stop simply supplying what a customer asks for and start helping them solve the problem behind it. Hiring for attitude Suzie also talks about the people behind the business. Opus has deliberately built a mixture of experienced team members and younger people and apprentices coming into manufacturing. Her recruitment philosophy is straightforward: hire for attitude and willingness to learn, because technical skills can be taught. That philosophy is supported by an open culture where employees have access to senior leaders, lessons learned are shared and people can see the connection between the work they do and the finished products created for major brands. The use of external HR also gives employees access to an impartial source of support outside the management structure. Leadership through difficult circumstances Running throughout the conversation is the subject of resilience. Suzie's move into the CEO role came in exceptionally difficult circumstances, yet one of her priorities was maintaining stability for the team while continuing to move the company forward. External advice, openness with employees and the willingness to bring new perspectives into the business have all played an important role. Rather than believing that being CEO means having every answer, Suzie has deliberately surrounded herself with people who can challenge her thinking. For scaling leaders, that may be one of the most valuable lessons from the episode. The one key thing Growth is not just about winning more of the same work. Sustainable scale comes from deliberately reducing concentration risk, building leadership around you and creating the space to work on where the business needs to go next. In this episode, we discuss Suzie's transition from Managing Director to CEO Leading a business through significant personal and organisational change Why Opus introduced a formal Board of Directors Moving from operational management towards strategic leadership Why external challenge can improve decision making Reducing dependence on a single market Opus's strategy for moving from 75–80% automotive revenue towards 40% Identifying attractive new sectors without losing strategic focus Transferring manufacturing capabilities into MedTech, defence, marine and aerospace The importance of accreditation when entering new markets Building genuine partnerships with customers Helping clients bridge the gap between product design and production Hiring for attitude rather than skills alone Developing apprentices alongside experienced employees Transparency, communication and maintaining team stability Why resilience and outside support matter when leadership gets difficult About Suzie Siddall Suzie Siddall is CEO of Opus International Products, a UK precision engineering and manufacturing company based in Leamington Spa. Opus supports customers from engineering development and prototyping through to production, with capabilities including precision CNC machining, injection moulding and vacuum casting. The company has traditionally had a strong position within premium automotive manufacturing and is now deliberately expanding its presence across sectors including defence, medical, aerospace and industrial applications. Smart90 Most founders I speak to feel busy but stuck. Plenty happening, but no real clarity on what matters most this quarter. Here's what more than 500 interviews on this show have taught me: the founders who scale choose less, and deliver all of it. That's what the G90 Summit is for. A structured half-day where we cut through everything competing for your attention, agree the three to five things that must happen in the next 90 days, and build the rhythm to make sure they do. Quarterly. Virtual. £97 a seat. Find out more at Smart90.co.uk/summit. Don't miss future episodes Make sure you don't miss any future episodes by subscribing to ScaleUp Radio wherever you like to listen to your podcasts, and why not give us a follow. You can also nominate a guest for ScaleUp Radio if you know someone with an interesting ScaleUp story. Explore the full ScaleUp Radio archive and find details of future episodes through Smart90.co.uk/scaleup-radio. The description of Opus's current capabilities and diversification direction is also supported by the company's current site; its May 2026 announcement specifically describes the new board as supporting governance, strategic growth and sector diversification. Suzie can be found here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/suzie-siddall-2436ba47/ https://www.opusproducts.com/ https://www.instagram.com/suzie_opus/ Resources: How to Be Sad by Helen Russell - https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/how-to-be-sad-the-key-to-a-happier-life-helen-russell/b4ab79ef582e4fe1?ean=9780008384593&bkshp-astro=t

2d ago

Episode #644: From Generalist to Niche: Scaling Through Focus, Certification and Community - with Janet Tanguay

What happens when you stop saying yes to everything and commit to the part of your business that customers really want? In this episode of ScaleUp Radio, host Kevin Brent talks to Janet Tanguay, founder of The Hammock Way of Life, about the journey from broad business consulting to building a scalable business around vision boarding, coach certification and a growing global community. Janet's story is a great example of how focus can unlock growth. The turning point came during and after the pandemic. Janet had been using vision boarding to help businesses think creatively about their future, and demand began to grow. Rather than treating that demand as just another service opportunity, she recognised the market signal and made a deliberate decision to niche. Importantly, that also meant saying no. Janet turned down a significant project that didn't fit the direction she had chosen. That decision gave her the space to commit properly to the vision boarding opportunity, and she believes it accelerated the subsequent growth of the business. But finding a niche created another challenge: how do you scale something that depends on your own expertise and delivery? Janet's answer has been certification. She developed a programme to train and certify other coaches in her methodology, with Module 1 accredited for CPD in the UK and Module 2 progressing through the process. The model combines online learning, live Q&A and curated resources, enabling Janet to build a global network of independent practitioners rather than relying on a traditional employee model. What is particularly interesting is that the real value isn't simply the certification. It's the community around it. Members share resources, learn from each other and collaborate when clients need expertise outside their own areas. The community continues to develop its knowledge too, including work around aphantasia and making vision boarding more accessible to visually impaired people. Rather than trying to protect the methodology through highly restrictive agreements, Janet's approach is to make the network valuable enough that people want to remain part of it. That creates an important lesson for any founder thinking about scaling through partners, licences, franchises or certification: Don't just create a method people can buy. Create an ecosystem they don't want to leave. Removing the founder bottleneck Janet is now tackling another familiar ScaleUp challenge: removing herself from the centre of the business. At one stage she found herself facing 18 meetings in a single day, a pretty clear indication that the founder had become a bottleneck. Her longer-term ambition is to exit the business within the next few years, but she wants an exit that protects the purpose, vision and values she has created. That means systemising now. She is looking at bringing in operational leadership and strengthening areas including CRM, IT and marketing so the business can operate successfully without depending on Janet for everyday delivery. There's a valuable distinction here. Building a business that generates income for its founder isn't necessarily the same thing as building a business that somebody else could own. Word of mouth isn't necessarily accidental We also discuss Janet's approach to marketing. Much of her growth comes through referrals and word of mouth, but Janet doesn't simply wait for recommendations to happen. She deliberately brings well-connected people into events and experiences, knowing that if they see the value first-hand they're likely to talk about it. It's a useful reminder that word of mouth can be cultivated. We also hear the story behind Janet's book, Hammock Way of Life: Leaping Toward Joy, including an unexpected appearance on a Times Square billboard and how that visibility itself created another potential business opportunity. The standout message Perhaps the strongest ScaleUp lesson from Janet's journey is: Growth accelerated when she became clearer about what the business was going to do and, just as importantly, what it wasn't going to do. Choosing a niche meant turning down work. Scaling the niche meant turning her knowledge into a repeatable methodology. And building something that can ultimately exist without her means deliberately removing herself as the bottleneck. Those are three very different stages of the same journey from founder-led business to scalable organisation. In this episode, we explore Why customer demand prompted Janet to pivot from general consulting into a specialist niche Why saying no to a large opportunity helped rather than hindered growth How certification can turn founder expertise into a scalable model Why community can become a competitive advantage How Janet is building an international network without creating a large employee base The importance of systems when you're trying to remove founder dependency Why Janet is thinking about her eventual exit years in advance How to cultivate word-of-mouth marketing rather than simply hoping for referrals What a Times Square billboard taught Janet about unexpected opportunities The one key thing Scaling often starts with choosing less. Janet's experience demonstrates that focus isn't simply about becoming more efficient. It means having the confidence to decide where the greatest opportunity lies and saying no to work that distracts from it. Once you've made that choice, the next question is how you build systems, people and a community that allow the idea to grow without everything continuing to depend on you. Feeling busy but stuck? Most founders I speak to feel busy but stuck. Plenty happening, but no real clarity on what matters most this quarter. Here's what more than 500 interviews on this show have taught me: the founders who scale choose less, and deliver all of it. That's what the G90 Summit is for. It's a structured half-day where we cut through everything competing for your attention, agree the three to five things that must happen in the next 90 days, and build the rhythm to make sure they do. Quarterly. Virtual. £97 a seat. Find out more at Smart90.co.uk/summit. And if you know somebody with an interesting ScaleUp story who would make a great guest for ScaleUp Radio, you can nominate them for a future episode. Recommended Resources Books Made To Stick – Chip Heath & Dan Heath Good to Great – Jim Collins Let Them – Mel Robbins Tech Go High Level Quickbooks Suno Claude ChatGPT Contact LinkedIn: Janet Tanguay Web: The Hammock Way of Life Insta: The Hammock Way of Life

Sep 9

Episode #643: Trust Isn't a Feeling. It's a KPI - with Rob McKenna

What if one of the biggest constraints on your ability to scale is something you're not measuring at all? In this episode of ScaleUp Radio, Kevin Brent is joined by Rob McKenna for a fascinating discussion about trust: how to measure it, why founders frequently misjudge it, and why building trust isn't about creating a perfect culture. Rob introduces the WiLD Trust Index, a framework designed to turn trust from something intangible into something leaders can measure, understand and deliberately improve. For founders, there's a particularly important message here. Delegation and succession aren't simply transfers of responsibility. They're transfers of trust. And the ability of an organisation to maintain and repair trust without the founder could ultimately become an important part of the value of the business. Most business owners measure revenue, profit, cash, sales and productivity. But how many measure trust? That matters because people remain one of the biggest challenges facing growing businesses, yet Rob points out that only around 4% of KPIs are people based. So perhaps we're measuring the outputs while ignoring one of the things driving them. Rob's work challenges the idea that trust is simply a feeling. Through the WiLD Trust Index, trust can be examined across 33 drivers at three different levels: Personal: what is happening within us, including things such as vulnerability. Team: the patterns between people, including reliability and the way colleagues behave towards one another. Organisational: the conditions around people, including alignment with the organisation's mission. This produces a Net Trust Score, alongside insight into the individual factors affecting trust. Rob shares the example of one organisation whose score improved by 30 points in seven months after making trust an explicit KPI. But measuring trust is only part of the conversation. Trust is built through repair, not perfection One of the standout ideas from this episode is that high-trust organisations aren't organisations where things never go wrong. People disappoint each other. Commitments get missed. Leaders make mistakes. Difficult conversations happen. What matters is what happens next. Rob describes the importance of creating an infrastructure for repair, where grace, forgiveness and honest communication allow people to rebuild trust when it has been damaged. That creates an interesting distinction between vulnerability and transparency. Vulnerability is the openness to being hurt and therefore requires courage, while transparency is the openness to being seen. For founders trying to create stronger leadership teams, that difference matters. Do you know how much your team actually trusts you? Rob also introduces his Trust Quadrant, which looks at both team and organisational trust. Organisations can fall into four broad categories: Stronghold, where both are high; Islands of Trust, where team trust is high but organisational trust is low; Shell of Trust, where organisational trust is high but team trust is low; and Jungle, where both are low. One of the most striking findings Rob shares is that around 48% of individuals in the research are working in Jungle organisations. There is another uncomfortable finding for business leaders. CEOs in high-trust Stronghold organisations tend to have a reasonably accurate view of trust, or even underestimate it. CEOs in low-trust Jungle organisations are more likely to overestimate how much trust exists. In other words, the founders who most need to address trust may be the least likely to recognise the problem. Delegation is a trust transfer There's also a powerful connection here with one of the perennial ScaleUp challenges: getting the business less dependent on its founder. We often think of delegation as transferring tasks, decisions and accountability. Rob reframes it as a transfer of trust. The same applies to succession. Replacing a founder or senior leader isn't simply about finding somebody capable of performing the role. The organisation also needs to transfer the relationships and infrastructure that allow trust to survive and, crucially, to be repaired when something goes wrong. That potentially makes an organisation's trust infrastructure an asset in its own right, particularly when a founder starts thinking about succession, exit and valuation. In this episode, we explore: Why trust should be treated as a measurable business KPI The disconnect between people problems and the KPIs businesses actually track The 33 drivers behind the WiLD Trust Index Personal, team and organisational trust Why speed and cost can reveal the consequences of trust The difference between measuring trust outcomes and measuring the drivers themselves Why repair matters more than trying to create a perfect culture Vulnerability versus transparency The four types of organisation in Rob's Trust Quadrant Why CEOs can have a dangerously inaccurate picture of trust How delegation becomes a transfer of trust rather than simply a transfer of tasks The role trust plays in succession and reducing founder dependency Why an infrastructure of trust could ultimately contribute to business value The standout message Trust isn't built by never getting things wrong. It's built by creating the ability to repair things when you do. That changes the leadership challenge. Instead of asking, "How do we stop trust ever being damaged?", founders can ask, "Have we built a business that knows how to repair trust when something inevitably goes wrong?" The one key thing The one key thing from this conversation: if trust matters to the performance and value of your business, stop treating it as an invisible feeling. Measure it, understand what drives it, and build the mechanisms to repair it. Smart90 / G90 Summit Most founders I speak to feel busy but stuck. Plenty happening, but no real clarity on what matters most this quarter. Here's what more than 500 interviews on ScaleUp Radio have taught me: the founders who scale choose less, and deliver all of it. That's what the G90 Summit is for. A structured half-day where we cut through everything competing for your attention, agree the three to five things that must happen in the next 90 days, and build the rhythm to make sure they do. Quarterly. Virtual. £97 a seat. Smart90.co.uk/summit Scaling up your business isn't easy, and can be a little daunting. Let ScaleUp Radio make it a little easier for you. With guests who have been where you are now, and can offer their thoughts and advice on several aspects of business. ScaleUp Radio is the business podcast you've been waiting for. If you would like to be a guest on ScaleUp Radio, please click here: https://bizsmarts.co.uk/scaleupradio/kevin You can get in touch with Kevin here: kevin@biz-smart.co.uk Rob can be found here: https://www.drrobmckenna.com/ https://www.wildleaders.org/ Resources: Whole Leaders, Wild Trust by Rob McKenna - https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/whole-leaders-wild-trust-the-courageous-path-to-personal-relational-and-organizational-change-rob-mckenna/8668b708e4ebdd5a?ean=9781394379279&bkshp-astro=t The Speed of Trust by Stephen M R Covey - https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-speed-of-trust-the-one-thing-that-changes-everything-stephen-m-r-covey/a4121f456343e740?ean=9780743295604&bkshp-astro=t The Fog of Work by Adam Tarnow - https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-fog-of-work-a-simple-approach-to-navigating-the-complexity-of-middle-management-adam-tarnow/6e307d6740dd6cd0?ean=9781394368136&bkshp-astro=t

Sep 7

Episode #642: Building to Sell, Starting Again and Where AI Changes Business Value - with Gavin Bell

What would you do differently if you knew from day one that somebody else would eventually need to run your business? In this episode of ScaleUp Radio, I'm joined by Gavin Bell, entrepreneur and founder of Yatta, the paid media agency he deliberately built to be sellable before its acquisition by Velstar in 2024. Gavin's story is particularly interesting because selling Yatta wasn't something that simply happened after years of building the agency. It influenced how he designed the business from the outset. Inspired by Built to Sell, Gavin moved away from building a business around his own personal brand and expertise. Instead, he created packaged services, recurring revenues, repeatable systems and, crucially, a business capable of delivering without him. That meant progressively removing himself from sales and client delivery, bringing in people who could take over those responsibilities and resisting the temptation to maximise his own income at the expense of the value of the company. The result was a business attractive enough to be acquired by Velstar, with Gavin negotiating the original two-year earn-out down to nine months and ultimately leaving after eight. There's an important lesson here for any founder, whether or not you currently intend to sell. The one key thing: build a business that works without you before you need it to work without you. The disciplines that make a company sellable are often the same disciplines that make it scalable: recurring revenue, clear propositions, good people, repeatable systems, healthy profit and reduced dependency on the founder. Today, Gavin is applying some of those lessons to a very different venture. Talo is an online lifestyle pharmacy focused on treatments that people may be less comfortable discussing with their GP. Its longer-term ambition is much bigger: moving towards what Gavin describes as precision health, using diagnostics, personal data and AI to help create increasingly personalised and proactive healthcare. One of the interesting aspects of Talo's approach is that, in a market where technology is often being used to remove human interaction, Gavin is deliberately putting some of it back in. For its weight loss offering, Talo plans an upfront consultation followed by ongoing coaching. The intention is to improve outcomes, create greater trust and tackle the high customer churn seen in a market where customers can easily move between providers and introductory offers. We also explore how AI is changing Gavin's approach to building the business. Rather than spending heavily on developers to test every new idea, Gavin is using AI development tools to create prototypes before passing them to professional developers. That makes experimentation faster and considerably cheaper. But Gavin believes there is a much bigger strategic implication. If AI makes software increasingly quick and inexpensive to reproduce, simply owning proprietary code may become much less of a competitive advantage. The real value could increasingly sit elsewhere: in your customer relationships, proprietary data, distribution, marketing capability and, most importantly, your ability to demonstrate that what you do actually produces results. That is a significant question for founders thinking about where the long-term value of their businesses really lies. In this episode, we discuss: • Why Gavin deliberately designed Yatta to be sold from the beginning • What Built to Sell changed about his approach to entrepreneurship • Why recurring revenue and packaged services helped make Yatta attractive to an acquirer • How he progressively removed himself from sales and client delivery • Why optimising company profit can sometimes matter more than maximising founder income • The hiring constraint that ultimately limited Yatta's growth • How the Velstar acquisition came about • Why Gavin negotiated his earn-out from two years down to nine months • What starting again feels like after successfully exiting a business • Talo's approach to the online pharmacy and weight loss markets • Why adding human coaching can create differentiation in a technology-led market • How Gavin is using AI to dramatically reduce the cost and time involved in prototyping • Why customer data, marketing systems and proven outcomes could become more valuable than proprietary software • Gavin's vision for precision health and more proactive, personalised healthcare • Why Facebook advertising is outperforming Google for Talo • Why successful paid social requires large amounts of creative testing and patience • Why founders need to give marketing channels enough time to learn before deciding they do not work Standout message As technology becomes easier to build, the competitive advantage moves away from the technology itself and towards the customer, the data, the distribution and the outcomes you can prove. That makes this a fascinating conversation not only about selling a business, but about what makes a business valuable in the first place. Feeling busy but stuck? Most founders I speak to feel busy but stuck. Plenty happening, but no real clarity on what matters most this quarter. Here's what more than 500 interviews on this show have taught me: the founders who scale choose less, and deliver all of it. That's what the G90 Summit is for. It's a structured half-day where we cut through everything competing for your attention, agree the three to five things that must happen in the next 90 days, and build the rhythm to make sure they do. Quarterly, virtual, £97 a seat. Smart90.co.uk/summit And if you know somebody with an interesting ScaleUp story who would make a great guest for ScaleUp Radio, you can nominate them for a future episode. Scaling up your business isn't easy, and can be a little daunting. Let ScaleUp Radio make it a little easier for you. With guests who have been where you are now, and can offer their thoughts and advice on several aspects of business. ScaleUp Radio is the business podcast you've been waiting for. If you would like to be a guest on ScaleUp Radio, please click here: https://bizsmarts.co.uk/scaleupradio/kevin You can get in touch with Kevin here: kevin@biz-smart.co.uk Gavin can be found here: https://mrgavinbell.com/ https://jointalo.com/ Resources: Built To Sell by John Warrillow - https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/built-to-sell-creating-a-business-that-can-thrive-without-you-john-warrillow/d0d51f969be59f14?ean=9798256105150&bkshp-astro=t The E-Myth by Michael E Gerber - https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-e-myth-revisited-why-most-small-businesses-don-t-work-and-what-to-do-about-it-michael-e-gerber/dc9f0ce70842d643?ean=9780887307287&bkshp-astro=t Asana - https://asana.com/ Wispr Flow - https://wisprflow.ai/

Aug 31

Episode #641: From Founder Led to Systems Led: Building a Business That Can Scale Without You - with Jake Young

What makes a business genuinely valuable? For many founders the answer isn't more customers, more turnover or even more profit. It's creating a business that can thrive without depending on them every single day. In this episode Kevin Brent is joined by entrepreneur, investor and business strategist Jake Young to explore why founder dependency is one of the biggest barriers to sustainable growth and successful exits. Jake shares the frameworks he uses with businesses ranging from ambitious SMEs through to organisations preparing for institutional investment and IPOs. From defining your end game through to building systems, governance and teams, this conversation is packed with practical advice for founders who want to scale with purpose. One standout message: You don't build a valuable business by making yourself indispensable. You build it by making the business work without you. In this episode we discuss Why founder liability destroys enterprise value Why you should define your end game before building your strategy The difference between founder led and systems led businesses Jake's Five Pillar "Four Walls" framework for building defensible businesses How the Delegation Matrix helps founders systematically let go Why focusing on outcomes beats micromanaging processes How governance becomes a competitive advantage as businesses grow Lessons from hospitality that apply to every growing business Key Takeaways Founder dependency is expensive If your business cannot operate without you, buyers see risk rather than value. Building systems rather than dependence increases both scalability and enterprise value. Start with the end in mind Whether your goal is an exit, legacy, acquisition or long term ownership, that destination should influence every major strategic decision. Build inside your Four Walls Jake explains his framework covering: Market Fit Brand Operating Model Profit Architecture Human Capital Together these create a business that competitors find difficult to copy. Delegate intelligently Use teachability versus business impact to decide what should leave your desk first. Delegation is not about lowering standards. It is about freeing founders to focus where they create the greatest value. About Jake Young Jake Young is an entrepreneur, investor and adviser with businesses spanning hospitality consultancy, governance, branding and consumer products. His portfolio includes: The FoodGuys Samari One of One Chaocello Across these ventures Jake focuses on helping organisations become scalable, investable and strategically valuable. Resources Find out more about Jake via LinkedIn. Discover more ScaleUp Radio episodes at smart90.co.uk. Most founders I speak to feel busy but stuck. Plenty happening, but no real clarity on what matters most this quarter. Here's what more than 500 interviews on this show have taught me: the founders who scale choose less, and deliver all of it. That's what the G90 Summit is for. A structured half day where we cut through everything competing for your attention, agree the three to five things that must happen in the next 90 days, and build the rhythm to make sure they do. Quarterly, virtual, £97 a seat. Visit Smart90.co.uk/summit. Scaling up your business isn't easy, and can be a little daunting. Let ScaleUp Radio make it a little easier for you. With guests who have been where you are now, and can offer their thoughts and advice on several aspects of business. ScaleUp Radio is the business podcast you've been waiting for. If you would like to be a guest on ScaleUp Radio, please click here: https://bizsmarts.co.uk/scaleupradio/kevin You can get in touch with Kevin here: kevin@biz-smart.co.uk Jake can be found here: jake@thefoodguys.co https://thefoodguys.co/ https://symari.com/ Resources: Diary of a CEO Podcast - https://stevenbartlett.com/doac/ Alex and Leila Hormozi - https://www.acquisition.com/ Jocko Willink - https://jocko.com/ The Agentic Enterprise by Martin Hofman - https://amzn.eu/d/0iI1unNO Novagentica - https://novagentica.com/

Aug 24

Episode #640: Why smart leaders still make bad strategic decisions - with David Mansfield

Making decisions as a founder or leader is rarely about having perfect information. In this episode, Kevin Brent is joined by David Mansfield, strategist, board adviser and researcher into strategic decision making, to explore why so many intelligent leadership teams still make poor strategic choices and what business owners can do to dramatically improve the quality of their decisions. Drawing on doctoral research and decades of board experience, David explains why the process behind a decision matters far more than simply reaching an answer. He shares practical techniques that help leaders combine intuition with evidence, avoid common thinking traps and create greater buy in from their teams. One standout message from this episode is simple but powerful: Validate intuition with data, and validate data with intuition. In this episode you'll discover Why nearly half of strategic decisions fail despite being made by experienced leaders Why the way you make decisions is more important than the decision itself David's developing nine step framework for making better strategic decisions How to slow down decisions without slowing down your business Why founders often become victims of the qualities that made them successful The importance of challenging assumptions before committing to action Why communication can be the difference between success and failure at board level How to recruit advisers and non executives without creating long term governance problems Why every scaling business should invest in strategic finance earlier than they think The "Boat Rule" for keeping meetings focused on what really moves the business forward Why chasing every opportunity can become one of the biggest barriers to sustainable growth Key takeaways One of David's biggest lessons came from serving as a non executive director of Game Group, where concerns over cash flow were dismissed until the business eventually collapsed. Looking back, David realised that while the analysis was correct, the communication wasn't persuasive enough. That experience sparked years of research into how leaders actually make decisions under pressure. For founders, David highlights one recurring challenge. The resilience, determination and stubbornness needed to build a business can eventually become a weakness if it prevents leaders from listening to advice or recognising when circumstances have changed. He also makes a compelling case for building financial capability much earlier by progressing from bookkeeper, to fractional CFO, to full time finance director as the business grows. Clean financial information enables better decisions, stronger investor confidence and healthier growth. The one key thing Great strategic decisions aren't driven by instinct or data alone. The best leaders deliberately test each against the other before acting. About Smart90 Most founders I speak to feel busy but stuck. Plenty happening, but no real clarity on what matters most this quarter. Here's what more than 500 interviews on this show have taught me: the founders who scale choose less, and deliver all of it. That's what the G90 Summit is for. A structured half day where we cut through everything competing for your attention, agree the three to five things that must happen in the next 90 days, and build the rhythm to make sure they do. Quarterly, virtual, £97 a seat. smart90.co.uk/summit Scaling up your business isn't easy, and can be a little daunting. Let ScaleUp Radio make it a little easier for you. With guests who have been where you are now, and can offer their thoughts and advice on several aspects of business. ScaleUp Radio is the business podcast you've been waiting for. If you would like to be a guest on ScaleUp Radio, please click here: https://bizsmarts.co.uk/scaleupradio/kevin You can get in touch with Kevin here: kevin@biz-smart.co.uk David can be found here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidjmansfield/ https://davidjmansfield.com/ Resources: What They Don't Teach You at Harvard Business School by Mark McCormack - https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/what-they-don-t-teach-you-at-harvard-business-school-mark-h-mccormack/e52571d3ef38f282?ean=9781781253397&bkshp-astro=t How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie - https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/how-to-win-friends-and-influence-people-dale-carnegie/82760854e5e9eaa2?ean=9789373070667&bkshp-astro=t Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss - https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/never-split-the-difference-negotiating-as-if-your-life-depended-on-it-chris-voss/14cac2e5f5322728?ean=9781847941497&bkshp-astro=t

Aug 17

Episode#639: Designing organisations that scale by putting people first - with Peter Rimmer

Growing a business isn't just about strategy, systems or structure. As organisations grow, founders often discover that the biggest obstacle isn't the market. It's themselves. In this episode of ScaleUp Radio, Kevin Brent is joined by Peter Rimmer, founder of Tusk Consulting, to explore why scaling successfully requires founders to evolve alongside their businesses. Peter shares why organisation design should start with people rather than process, how founders can overcome the fear of letting go, and why creating a culture where both hiring and leaving are positive experiences is essential for long term growth. One standout message from the conversation: "The biggest barriers to growth are often the conversations leadership teams aren't having." In this episode we discuss: Why organisation design must combine strategy, operating model and human dynamics. The warning signs that your current business model has reached the end of its first growth curve. Why founders often struggle to let go of the approaches that originally made them successful. How to build the confidence to recruit for the business you want, not just the one you have today. The transition from being the person with all the answers to becoming a leader who enables others to think. How Nancy Klein's Thinking Environment helps leadership teams make better decisions together. Why culture should actively manage both successful recruitment and positive exits. How a clear Employee Value Proposition creates trust from day one. Why former employees can become some of your strongest ambassadors. Peter's own entrepreneurial journey from HR into organisation design consultancy. About Peter Rimmer Peter Rimmer is the founder of Tusk Consulting, a consultancy specialising in human first organisation design. Working primarily with charities, social enterprises and purpose led organisations ranging from around 50 to more than 5,000 employees, Peter helps leadership teams align strategy, structure and culture so organisations can grow sustainably. Rather than relying purely on data or process redesign, Peter focuses on the quality of leadership conversations and the human dynamics that ultimately determine whether strategy succeeds. The one key thing... Scaling doesn't require founders to have more control. It requires them to build the confidence to let go, develop others and create an organisation that can succeed without depending on them. Smart90 G90 Summit Most founders I speak to feel busy but stuck; plenty happening, but not always clear on what genuinely matters most this quarter. If that's you, the G90 Summit is worth a look. A structured half day where we work through everything competing for your attention, get clear on the three to five things that must happen in the next 90 days, then commit to them and build the system to make sure they actually happen. Quarterly, virtual and just £97 per seat. Find out more at Smart90.co.uk/summit. Connect If you enjoyed this episode, make sure you subscribe to ScaleUp Radio wherever you listen to podcasts. If you know someone with an inspiring ScaleUp story, we'd love to hear from them. You can nominate a future guest via the details in the ScaleUp Radio show notes. Scaling up your business isn't easy, and can be a little daunting. Let ScaleUp Radio make it a little easier for you. With guests who have been where you are now, and can offer their thoughts and advice on several aspects of business. ScaleUp Radio is the business podcast you've been waiting for. If you would like to be a guest on ScaleUp Radio, please click here: https://bizsmarts.co.uk/scaleupradio/kevin You can get in touch with Kevin here: kevin@biz-smart.co.uk Peter can be found here: https://tuskconsulting.co.uk/ peter.rimmer@tuskconsulting.co.uk Resources: Range by David Epstein - https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/range-how-generalists-triumph-in-a-specialized-world-david-epstein/35c1839e592e618a?ean=9781035053049&bkshp-astro=t

Aug 10

Episode #638: ScaleUp Club - Seeds, Nets and Spears: Building Predictable Lead Generation

Growing a business beyond founder-led sales is one of the biggest challenges many SMEs face. In this special ScaleUp Club edition of ScaleUp Radio, Kevin Brent is joined once again by returning guest Dhanushka Tennakoon from RE24 for an interactive Q&A session exploring one of the biggest questions facing growing businesses: How do you create a predictable flow of new opportunities instead of relying on referrals and hope? Alongside the discussion, Kevin also shares this month's AI Pulse update, covering one of the most talked about AI stories of recent weeks and what it means for business leaders. Whether you're approaching your first £1 million in turnover or looking to build a more scalable commercial engine, this session is packed with practical ideas you can implement immediately. In this episode AI Pulse: What happened when Anthropic's latest language model was reportedly withdrawn shortly after launch and what founders should take from the rapid pace of AI development. Why so many businesses become trapped by founder dependency. Understanding Aaron Ross's Seeds, Nets and Spears framework for predictable lead generation. Why referrals alone rarely create a scalable business. How targeted outreach can open entirely new markets. The importance of balancing new customer acquisition with growing existing client relationships. Why choosing the right niche can transform growth. How RE24 pivoted from multiple industries to becoming specialists in data centres. Practical advice for reducing reliance on founder-led sales. Live coaching with ScaleUp Club members on applying the framework to their own businesses. Key discussion points AI Pulse Kevin shares the latest developments from the AI world, including the reported security concerns surrounding Anthropic's latest model and what this tells us about the extraordinary pace of AI capability. Rather than simply chasing every new tool, founders should focus on understanding where AI can genuinely improve decision making, productivity and business performance. Seeds, Nets and Spears The central discussion explores Aaron Ross's well-known framework: Seeds High trust opportunities generated through referrals, introductions and existing relationships. Nets Scalable marketing activities including content, SEO, social media and broader awareness campaigns. Spears Highly targeted outreach aimed at carefully researched organisations where there is a strong strategic fit. The key message is that healthy businesses develop all three rather than relying on a single source of leads. Why niche matters Dhanushka shares RE24's journey from trying to serve multiple industries to focusing specifically on data centres. That decision created: a clearly defined customer profile faster buying decisions stronger market positioning more effective sales conversations predictable growth opportunities Rather than chasing every opportunity, focusing on one market allowed the business to build genuine expertise and competitive advantage. Live ScaleUp Club coaching A highlight of the session is the discussion with Paul Rhodes from Green Gorilla Automation. Like many growing businesses, sales currently depend heavily on the founder and warm introductions. Together, the group explores how carefully researched "Spears" could help create a more repeatable sales process while reducing founder dependency. Practical actions After listening, consider these three actions: Review where every lead has come from over the last six months. Categorise your activities into Seeds, Nets and Spears. Identify one repeatable activity within each category and commit to executing it consistently. One standout message Predictable growth doesn't come from doing more marketing. It comes from building a balanced system that consistently creates new opportunities. The one key thing If your pipeline depends mainly on referrals or the founder, your business isn't yet scalable. Creating a deliberate mix of Seeds, Nets and Spears is one of the fastest ways to build predictable growth. Smart90 Most founders I speak to feel busy but stuck; plenty happening, but not always clear on what genuinely matters most this quarter. If that's you, the G90 Summit is worth a look. A structured half day where we work through everything competing for your attention, get clear on the three to five things that must happen in the next 90 days, then commit to them and build the system to make sure they actually happen. Quarterly, virtual, £97 a seat. Smart90.co.uk/summit

ScaleUp Radio

Episode #645: Scaling Through Change: Leadership, Diversification and Building a Stronger Manufacturing Business - with Suzie Siddall

Episode #644: From Generalist to Niche: Scaling Through Focus, Certification and Community - with Janet Tanguay

Episode #643: Trust Isn't a Feeling. It's a KPI - with Rob McKenna

Episode #642: Building to Sell, Starting Again and Where AI Changes Business Value - with Gavin Bell

Episode #641: From Founder Led to Systems Led: Building a Business That Can Scale Without You - with Jake Young

Episode #640: Why smart leaders still make bad strategic decisions - with David Mansfield

Episode#639: Designing organisations that scale by putting people first - with Peter Rimmer

Episode #638: ScaleUp Club - Seeds, Nets and Spears: Building Predictable Lead Generation

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ScaleUp Radio

Episodes

Episode #645: Scaling Through Change: Leadership, Diversification and Building a Stronger Manufacturing Business - with Suzie Siddall

Episode #644: From Generalist to Niche: Scaling Through Focus, Certification and Community - with Janet Tanguay

Episode #643: Trust Isn't a Feeling. It's a KPI - with Rob McKenna

Episode #642: Building to Sell, Starting Again and Where AI Changes Business Value - with Gavin Bell

Episode #641: From Founder Led to Systems Led: Building a Business That Can Scale Without You - with Jake Young

Episode #640: Why smart leaders still make bad strategic decisions - with David Mansfield

Episode#639: Designing organisations that scale by putting people first - with Peter Rimmer

Episode #638: ScaleUp Club - Seeds, Nets and Spears: Building Predictable Lead Generation

About

Information

More From MonkeyPants Productions