Blog

We keep hearing that starting a business is easier than ever. But growing that business into something sustainable, that flourishes and lasts? Less so! The pressure to rapidly deliver on growth commitments is something every Founder faces. I know only too well. I’m now one of them.

Founders make big commitments.

To fundraise
To create vision and excitement
To inspire others to come with you on your journey

But that journey is a team effort. To avoid the mistakes that mean 90% of start-ups fail, you need to surround yourself with the right people.

They need to know and share your vision, goals and objectives
They need to be clear how they are achieving them
They need to be accountable, when you’re not around

It’s fine for a Founder to not have all the answers – in fact it’s pretty healthy! Ever got stuck in a rut then talked it out with a colleague? It works a treat. Everyone could benefit from an experienced second opinion and support with managing focus and staying on track. Founders need to bounce ideas around. Fresh perspective is critical to the growth of your business.

For many Founders, this role can be filled with a compatible Chief Operating Officer – a hugely important and strategic hire. It demands a unique set of skills, complementary and supplementary to those of the CEO. A professional yin and yang, as it were!

As a former COO myself, I have experience in growing a business from 100 to 500 employees. We took that business into 4 new markets, taking its market presence to 9 locations in total.

A COO’s role is anything but siloed. Operations, structuring teams, commercial growth and acquisitions, product and technology development. Depending on the business and the Founders’ experience, all these (and more!) can fall under their responsibility.

We started The Growth Works with the mission to be there for Series A or B Founders and plug that gap. To enable startups to grow more rapidly and sustainably. With our COO on tap services, we identify growth solutions and resolve business problems with you.

We do this across commercial, operations, team and technology, helping you achieve your own mission, and deliver on your commitments.

I set up The Growth Works following my own COO experience and then some fascinating consultancy projects with startup founders. These engagements were focused on helping the organisations quickly build effective teams and delivering rapid, sustainable growth solutions. My experience of building teams and driving strategic growth comes from within both startups and corporates.

I’ve been doing this for 20 years. It’s clear to me that there is a real need for this service. This business grew and developed from that very need! The role of COO can be described as that of an ‘integrator’ – connecting people, processes and systems right across the business. Identifying opportunities and solving challenges associated with growth.

Now as a Founder myself, I’m experiencing my own challenges. For example, I’ve been forced to think long and hard about how to communicate the value proposition of The Growth Works and its uniqueness in the market.

This is harder than you think when you embark upon this journey! It falls only to you, the founder, to ensure potential customers truly understand its uniqueness, value and relevance.

And until you 100% nail your value proposition, its unique position in the market – and most importantly – how to clearly and succinctly communicate this, it will be on your mind constantly!

As your business grows beyond just you, keeping your vision and mission in mind is key. I’m in that exciting phase right now. I’m working with a small family of specialists who I really, really trust. I now have to think more operationally – what do I need from others, what do they need from me? What are our goals each day, each week?

Personally, I love seeing businesses take shape and flourish, and I take joy in helping founders succeed in growing high performing, sustainable businesses. We identify action plans and growth strategies that work for the client and their unique challenges. We then rapidly embed those solutions into the business.

Bringing a fresh voice and perspective into a business faced with daily challenges can be just what it needs to innovate.

More importantly, our on tap COO services are exactly that. Turned on and turned off, according to business need, budget and prioritisation. It’s your business, and you and your team need to take ownership of the strategies and action plans we make together. We can come in and come out, bringing in the right people at the right time, where you’ve not yet hired specific roles.

Growth is the most important success factor for any business. A factor which is common to all, yet the challenges along the way are most certainly unique.