The document discusses scaling up businesses and overcoming obstacles to growth. It defines a scale-up as a business with an ambition to double in size within a short period of time. Common obstacles to scaling up include access to talent, funding, and customers. The document advises focusing on developing a track record, demonstrating conviction and belief, and prioritizing revenue generation in order to appeal to investors. Successful entrepreneurs exhibit repeat behaviors like being remarkable, valuing discretionary effort, and maintaining proximity to revenue or investment.

1. @simondevonshire
www.tallmanbusiness.com
@tallmanbusiness
From Start-up to Scale-up.
National Enterprise Network
November 2015
Simon Devonshire
Entrepreneur. Investor. Business blogger.

3. • Why does Scaling-up matter?
• What is a Scale-up?
• What are the common obstacles to Scaling-up?
• What do investors look for?
• How do I Scale-up?

4. • Start-up explosion
• Corporate implosion
• 5.4m businesses in the UK
• Scale-ups contribute more to the economy
• revenue generation
• employment creation
Why does Scaling-up matter?

5. • Noun / adjective / verb?
• Not a number of employees
• Scaling-up is a mindset
• Typically articulated by entrepreneurs as:
“an ambition to double”
Ie. in a short period of time
What is a Scale-up?

6. Doing business has become a
high performance sport.
Assertion: Scale-up or die.

7. • Access to Talent
• Access to Funding
• Access to Customers
My observations of what scales-up (and what doesn’t); and what gets
investment – as follows . . .
What are the common obstacles to Scaling-up?

8. Common Characteristics of an Entrepreneur:

9. 1. Demonstrable track record of proven achievement.
2. Life experience.
3. Ideally, fresh.
4. Conviction. Purpose. Belief. Compelling back-story.
What investors look for:
Inevitability.

10. 1. Self-managed confidence.
2. Compromising perfectionists. The final 20% offers diminishing returns.
3. Instinctive.
Intuition.
What investors look for:

11. The repeat behaviours common to successful entrepreneurs:
Be Remarkable.

12. Greatly Value
Discretionary Effort.
The repeat behaviours common to successful entrepreneurs:

13. The Eighths.
The repeat behaviours common to successful entrepreneurs:

14. The MPA.
The repeat behaviours common to successful entrepreneurs:

15. Proximity to Revenue
or Investment.
Scale-up measure of success:

16. Thank you.
@simondevonshire www.tallmanbusiness.com @tallmanbusiness