Start. Scale. Sell.

Description

A practical, accessible guide to the three main life stages of a business that most entrepreneurs will experience

Whatever you’re
going through with your business, and whatever stage you’re at, this book can
help. Entrepreneur Nick Suckley has built four start-ups and managed three
exits over the last 20 years, through good and bad economic times and all the
ups and downs, the challenges and joys, of being your own boss.

He’s distilled his
many years’ experience – good and bad – into these 75 life-lessons for starting,
growing and selling companies.

Start. Scale. Sell. will help you
navigate your journey as a business owner.
Discover:

·     
the importance of acting like an entrepreneur – even before you take the
plunge;

·     
the simple Golden Rule for maximising profits

·     
why investing in yourself and your own learning is so crucial

·     
how to hustle and when to pivot

·     
the secrets to building a strong brand

and much more.

These bite-sized
lessons offer accessible, no-nonsense advice for even the most time-poor
entrepreneur. It’s a blueprint for business success from an author who has been
there, done it and has several T-shirts to prove it.

Nick Suckley is a
successful serial entrepreneur with the battle scars to prove it. Now you can
take advantage of the lessons he learnt the hard way.

Part 1 Lessons on how to get
started

Lesson 1: The Founder’s
Mindset. Treat yourself as self-employed even if you have a job.

Lesson 2: It’s all
about spotting the opportunity. Is there a market for what you are doing?

Lesson 3: Don’t
underestimate how long it will take. Use the time from idea to execution
wisely.

Lesson 4: Take time
with your business plan. You won’t think of everything but it will help.

Lesson 5: The Six-Month
effect. Hope for the best and plan for the worst.

Lesson 6: Banks –
beware

Lesson 7: Look after
your business by looking after yourself

Lesson 8: How hard do I
need to work? Have I earned my money today?

Lesson 9: Push versus
pull factors in getting started

Lesson 10: Get real
about where your sales will come from

Lesson 11: Having
little to lose in the early days means you can be ballsy. Don’t underestimate
the power of offering an outside view.

Lesson 12: Making money
while you sleep

Lesson 13: Raising
external investment: beware the pitfalls

Lesson 14: Company
valuations: getting to your first £1 million – and beyond

 

Part
2. Lessons for the growth phase

Lesson 15: Sweat
equity:  you can only sell shares in your
company once, so be smart about how much you trade, and for what

Lesson 16: Just do it

Lesson 17: Walk the
walk #1:  establish your company values

Lesson 18: Walk the
walk #2:  decide what will you stand for

Lesson 19: Get your
shareholdings right and adjust them if need be. It will avoid more serious
problems down the line.

Lesson 20: Understand
how you make money. Get your finances in order

Lesson 21: Why
productivity matters

Lesson 22: Manage your
cash as if your life depends on it

Lesson 23: Why every
company needs a war chest

Lesson 24: Hustling for
growth. Why you should ask for business...but you can’t hustle for ever

Lesson 25: Don’t be
afraid to pivot. Especially if it is better for your customers

Lesson 26: It’s not all
glory scaling a business. Be prepared to roll up your sleeves

Lesson 27: How to build
successful joint ventures

Lesson 28: Growth
phase: building a money-making machine

 

SCALE

Part
3: Lessons for Scaling Up: The Coming of Age phase

Lesson 29: Perception
is reality #1: how an office move can re-invigorate growth

Lesson 30: Perception
is reality #2: your brand is far more important than you realise

Lesson 31: Do you
really need a non-executive board? Or should you be looking elsewhere?

Lesson 32: Everyone
needs an elevator pitch. Here’s how to write one.

Lesson 33: Insight can
be an effective way to engage with potential customers

Lesson 34:  Get the right management information and use
it to inform your decision making

Lesson 35: How building
a coaching culture can help you avoid problems before they become critical

Lesson: 36: Red Team
can help you make better decisions

Lesson 37: Remove the
temptation for fraud wherever you can

Lesson 38: The resource
trap: how to ensure you have the right resource in the right places.

Lesson 39:
Diversification:  take care when
launching or investing in other businesses

Lesson 40: Pick your
battles: when to let a legal challenge go

Lesson 41: The downside
of a successful JV

Lesson 42: Building
technology? Understand what you’re getting into, and the skills you’ll need

Lesson 43:
Opportunistic approaches versus a planned exit. When should you start thinking
(seriously) about an exit?

 

Part
4: Lessons for Scaling Up: Surviving tough times

Lesson 44: Showtime

Lesson 45: Be brutally
realistic about how much business is on the horizon

Lesson 46: Bite the
bullet – sometimes redundancies are better than endless uncertainty

Lesson 47: Never make a
loss. It means you will never lose control

Lesson 48: Use the
Power of Three to maintain focus and direction

Lesson 49: Every
downturn is different. Sometimes you just need to sit it out 

Lesson 50: The
Importance of investing in yourself. Why lifelong learning is important

Lesson 51: Don’t
agonise over rates of staff turnover. Employees are more mobile than ever and
people are going to leave

Lesson 52: Stronger
marketing will bring more sales and help you survive a downturn.

Lesson 53: How to
identify and avoid poor performing sales people

Lesson 54: Hire slow
and fire fast

 

Part 5:
Lessons for Scaling Up: Building Scale for Sale

Lesson 55: Your role as
CEO

Lesson 56: The
importance of scale: getting to £1m profit

Lesson 57: Why
founder-shareholder alignment is critical

Lesson 58: Boosting
profitability: use the right tools

Lesson 59: Ramping up marketing and sales: have clear
product pitches and marketing messages - and use them

Lesson 60: Build a
high-performance team – and be ready to give them the autonomy they need to
make a difference

Lesson
61: Getting sale ready – plan ahead and give yourself 12 to 18 months.

 

SELL

Part 6:
Lessons for Selling Up

Lesson 62: Don’t allow
a well meaning buyer distract you from the job you need to do post sale  .

Lesson 63: Timing and
the economic cycle; the impact on deal structure 

Lesson 64: Don’t let
your emotions get in the way of the right deal – focus on the bigger picture
and don’t fixate on small details.

Lesson 65: The right
advisor can help you reach the widest audience of potential buyers. Beware
doing it yourself.

Lesson 66: Your
Investor Memorandum is your shop window. Spend time getting it right; you can
only sell your company once.

Lesson 67: Meet as wide
a range of suitors as you can. Demand can come from interesting places you
hadn’t previously considered.

Lesson 68: Think beyond
the deal. Do not ignore the fact that you will be living with what comes after
the transaction

Lesson 69: Don’t be
afraid to walk away from a bad deal – even if it is from an appealing buyer

Lesson 70: Don’t be
afraid to pause the whole process if need be. It’s emotionally tough but the
right deal will come along eventually

Lesson 71: Deal
structures and securing a premium

Lesson 72:  The deal that is right for the company may
not be right for all the individuals concerned

Lesson 73: Anticipate
due diligence – and prepare for it to be a full-time job when the time comes

Lesson 74: Keep lawyers
in their place. They can easily derail a deal

Lesson 75: Think about
what happens post-sale

Subjects

• Books
• Professional resources
• Entrepreneurship
• Strategic management

Informations

• Published by: Practical Inspiration Publishing
• Published: 30 July 2020
• Reads: 0
• EAN13: 9781788601856
• Language: English
• Document size: 3 MB

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