How can a conference help me scale my business?
We think you need three things to scale:
1. Capital
2. Capacity
3. Competencies
Three things that are dependent on your size, scope, where you are on your scaling journey.
Let’s start with competencies. You know your business better than anyone else, but do you need deeper knowledge or skills in specialist areas? Or a critical friend who acts as a strategic sounding board for you? For instance, would a non-executive director help if they had experience with major-multiple retailers, or accreditations such as B Corp, BRC, Organic etc. Perhaps a NED that’s worked for a bank and know their way around the debt and equity issues? We will be hearing from experienced NEDs.
Moving on to capacity. Let’s say you need to get a 3rd party supplier to supplement your production, how do you budget for a contract packer? What if you want to make the case for capital expenditure to improve automation and increase productivity, but you don’t have the cash, how do you finance the investment? How do you cost the capital expenditure versus the working capital of outsourcing? How do you measure the efficiency and costs to do a fair comparison? We will debate these issues at the conference.
And finally, capital. Not all capital is the same. Thinking about capital as an ingredient for your food or drink business may help you to give the same level of thought about its attributes and how it enhances your business as you would a key ingredient in your food products, and not leave it until it’s in short supply, which is never a good time to buy anything. Frequently food and drink businesses get into a position where they are running out of cash and are tempted to borrow whatever is offered, rather than shop around. The conference will not only discuss capital but its many sources. We will have banks, asset finance providers, invoice finance providers and equity investors in the room keen to talk to who might be in the market for their services. Banks are in the business of lending, it’s just the risk, price and security that makes the conversation awkward sometimes.
So, are you coming to our first Sustainable Scale Up conference, Money To Grow? Ready to meet banks, experienced non-executive directors, accountants who can make understanding your money easier and professionals who can help you persuade these sources that you can scale sustainably. Where better to talk about money than at an iconic Welsh business, The Royal Mint!
We look forward to welcoming and inspiring you to find money to grow.