I am unsure of which programme meets my business needs.
If you are unclear where you are in your scale-up journey, then we recommend you signing up for a free-of-charge 30 minute chat with Mel Archbould to explain where your business is at, and Mel can talk you through the options which will get you to your desired outcome in the smoothest approach possible.
What happens if one of the topics covered in the Are You Scale-Up Ready? Assessment programme is my area of expertise i.e. we are an accountants, looking to scale, we don’t need the topic on finance.
The programme is flexible and can be adapted around individual customer requirements. The core topics are essential to successfully scaling. So we would suggest you cover the subject just to ensure it is aligned with scale-up requirements i.e. investment required, but then any spare time can then be adapted to focus on an area which you need to re-cap or dive deeper within.
I am a director in the business, but not the Managing Director. I believe we need to address how ready we are to scale. How should I introduce this to the board of directors?
The programmes are designed around the business as a whole, and the leadership team which will be championing the scale-up journey. We advise to book an on-line chat with Mel Archbould to discuss the business requirements, and then agree on next steps to present the options to the CEO / MD and board of directors.
I have discovered a big issue, potentially very serious, within my business, and I do not know where to turn to. Can Cloud-Busting help?
Absolutely. We offer the MD Sounding-Board service.
For one-off issues where the MD / CEO requires a confidential, independent experienced person to talk to, outside of the business stakeholders (accountants, bank, investors, shareholders, directors) the MD Sounding-Board acts as exactly that. Contact via email, telephone or book in a 30 minute chat to organise a time & date to get together with Mel Archbould. If possible, these meetings are better done face-to-face, but otherwise they can be on-line. Often they need to be out of hours, or off site. What ever is needed, Cloud-Busting will accommodate. The objective is to ensure the MD / CEO has a clear strategy / plan and also correct approach, to resolve the issue and keep the business on track for its scale-up journey.
What’s the first thing we need to look at to safely grow the business?
Cloud-Busting’s Are You Scale-Up Ready? Assessment Programme covers the full spectrum of the business to identify any areas which are not ready and need some work. The end of the programme, then puts the actions into an order of priority. It is following the order of priority that will successfully scale your business. Following a different path, often results in experiencing Groundhog Day. Each business will have a different order of priority based on how they assess themselves. Cloud-Busting guides you to getting the actions in the right order to reduce wasting time and resources, losing key people, damaging your brand and reputation.
I am the founder CEO, and I wish to retire. I believe I have the right replacement for me, but they have not been a Managing Director before. I am concerned that it might not work out and the business will not continue to scale as strongly as it is already doing. Can Cloud-Busting assist me in mitigating the risk?
Yes! Cloud-Busting offers a First-time MD / CEO Onboarding programme.
It is a big risk, but also a fantastic opportunity for both you and also the new CEO. We offer a 6 month and 12 month onboarding programme, which focuses on the key aspects of leadership within the organisation, how to communicate and the importance of establishing positive relationships with all the business stakeholders. As part of this programme we run a confidential MD Sounding-Board service, where specific challenges and opportunities are discussed, enabling the new CEO to confidently move forward. The programme is flexible and can be adapted around the new MD’s key requirements.
This programme offers peace of mind to investors, exiting MD’s, shareholders and banks. As well as putting in a much needed support framework to make the next chapter for the organisation a success.
We are a family-owned business but we are having difficulty bringing through family members into the company. We need to recruit to scale but we are unsure where to draw the line between family members in key roles, and non-family members in key roles. Can Cloud-Busting assist?
Mel Archbould, Cloud-Busting’s founder, has extensive family-business experience. We suggest you book in for a 30-minute chat first to outline the issue, and then look to progress to Cloud-Busting’s Family-Business Scale-Up programme which specifically addresses succession-planning, family council, family involvement, non-family leadership and management. This is run with both family members and non-family members, and includes separate confidential discussions with family members to fully understand direction and vision for the business and the future.
We have grown to 40 people now, I am the MD. I started the company 10 years ago. We have been profitable and so far, had a good lifestyle as a result. One of my original managers, now in a senior role, does not seem happy, they are putting obstacles in front of everything I put forward. I have tried to talk to him, but he is not opening up. I can’t continue to grow the company unless he is onboard. Can Cloud-Busting help?
There could be several reasons for his change in attitude. And you are right, these need to be shared and understood. As company’s grow, the culture often changes (new people, more distance and hierarchy between the MD and the teams), things don’t run as they did 10 years ago. We often encounter groups of employees who speak of things used to work, and groups of employees who thrive on change. There is a place for all with careful planning. We run Scale-Up Success Factor workshops to help organisations address, in detail, the areas of the business that either resist scaling or are not ready to scale.
Transition to Your Scale-Up Accountability Chart is the workshop that would help you address why change is necessary. We believe to successfully scale you need the right people in the right seats doing the right things. The workshop would be a good place to start to introduce organisation and culture evolvement to your senior team. We educate on why change is required and create a collaborative experience where the team adopts “blue-sky thinking” to address what structure the organisation will need to scale, identify gaps, ensure accountability and how the culture will reflect throughout.
