How to grow your business sustainably

Kevin Brent, who runs BizSmart, baed in Bromsgrove, has helped hundreds of businesses plan their growth in a successful and sustainable way.

Of the three companies covered in this feature, he highlights UniqueIQ and Sign Solutions as having reached the eight-12 employee “staging post” he refers to in the scale-up journey.

“Recognising that the next one was around 20 to 25 people, they needed to decide whether to focus on short-term profits or longer-term scale and value by pushing on – and if scaling up, how to navigate the financial “valley of death”. Sign Solutions decided external funding would minimise the risk and time taken. The other featured company, Graffica, scaled organically through strong partnerships to build proprietary software and effectively create two businesses in one.

“Recognising the next staging post in your scale-up journey, and planning how to navigate the valley of death in between is essential. Having a structured approach to scaling and access to a sounding board of your peers can give you the confidence and support to spread your wings.” www.biz-smart.co.uk