Ian Brookes FRSA

𝟕 𝐭𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐏𝐒 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐓-𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 1️⃣ Understand each consultant’s domain expertise and look for complementary adjacencies 2️⃣ Understand their background and help them identify how they can apply this to their work 3️⃣ Create opportunities for them to work with peers who have complementary domain expertise rather than exact overlap 4️⃣ Collaborate on creating, and commit to supporting, an Individual Development Plan that includes diverse learning and experience components 5️⃣ Invite them to mentor someone who is not working in their core knowledge domain 6️⃣ Provide opportunities for them to publish or present their knowledge to a broad audience 7️⃣ Celebrate them when they apply their breadth of knowledge in support of their depth of expertise What approaches have you found to be effective? What benefits do you see in adopting a T-shaped approach for consultants? 📞 P.S. DM me if you want to discuss how to support your PS team become more T-shaped.

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"It doesn't happen overnight...." 5 years later... ....to think that I started Virtualnonexecs following the exit of my previous business (2016 in a PE backed MBO) to where it is now.... definitely NOT a hobby! 🤯🤯🤯😳😳 As Virtualnonexecs has grown into the UK's largest and most active non-executive and chair community, we've reached an exciting new chapter. With over 21,000 members advising upwards of 40,000 boardrooms, our reach has skyrocketed, positioning us as the go-to platform for facilitating off-market deals through our DealDirect platform. We have also amassed over 5000 members who are interested in investing (actively as a NED/Chair or as a purely passive investor). The aggregate funds stand at a whopping £350,000,000+ We've dealt with 100s of Private Equity, VC, Family Office and other funds who use Virtualnonexecs to solve their board-advisory hires without the enormous cost of using a headhunter. I suspect was have saved companies £10m+ in recruiter fees alone. Check out https://lnkd.in/d3na7CEC 9 weeks ago we launched a new feature - "DealDirect" - to help members take their clients' businesses to market (anonymously) and here are some highlights: 📈 130+ off-market deals listed in the first three months 💼 £1.2 billion+ in deal flow across 30+ sectors   🔄 33% of deals are business exits, the rest focus on capital raises   💰 £6m+ average revenue for businesses listed (highest was £80m)   🤝 £1.8m average capital requirement A brief snapshot of recent deal-flow examples: ✅ £20m revenue, £3m EBITDA specialist travel company ✅ £18m revenue, £8m EBITDA energy/carbon trading firm ✅ £13m revenue, £6m EBITDA specialist online vehicle leasing company ✅ £7m revenue, £2.5m EBITDA consultancy (already in exclusive talks with PE via DealDirect) ✅ £6.4m revenue, £1m EBITDA UK/US services business raising funds for global expansion ✅ £5m revenue, £500k EBITDA (projected to £10m revenue, £1m EBITDA) B2B2C e-comm in civil/traffic; co-founder exit ✅ £4m revenue, £800k EBITDA manufacturer; retirement sale ✅ £3m revenue, £1m EBITDA SaaS business (engaged with a VC via DealDirect) Also included: 💸 £15m debt raise  💸 £10m debt raise   💸 £4m debt raise   💸 30+ £500k capital requirements 💸 Impending £300m property backed Buy Out (Coming very soon!!) By enabling non-executives and chairs to anonymously list their clients’ businesses, ensuring confidentiality while connecting with top-tier buyers, investors, and M&A advisers, we have won more off-market deals for our sell-side advisory clients than I thought possible (and it is August!!) If you’re interested in learning how your advisory firm can get involved with these off-market opportunities, let’s connect - DM me. #DealDirect #OffMarketDeals #MergersAndAcquisitions #BusinessGrowth #PrivateEquity #VentureCapital #NonExecutives #BoardAdvisory

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The latest TAB Blog I’m sharing is on delegation. Gallup research amongst CEOs of large corporates found a correlation between being an effective delegator and producing better growth for the business (link in the blog). Whilst running an SME business is a somewhat different role, the benefits of delegation are numerous, including time saving, better wellbeing for those delegating (not just owners), team development and retention, and often a better quality of service or product.  I find these benefits are often transparent to owners, but it can be difficult to achieve. The blog offers a few thoughts on how to delegate successfully. And sometimes you’ve just got to press the button, let go, and make it happen. That’s just what one of my TAB Exeter members did at a board recently: committing to several actions to delegate certain tasks - and doing so within 24 hours! That little bit of peer accountability is often an effective kick-starter. https://lnkd.in/e8VGyARr #delegation #lettinggo #exeterbusiness #devonbusiness #tabboards --------------------------------------------------------------------------- I’m Rick and I help local business owners feel (even) happier about running their businesses. I do this by helping them identify and achieve whatever it is that will make this happen. It might be profitable growth, but it’s nearly always other things too. And then the monthly business owner boards I run help by providing meaningful support, fresh ideas and accountability and the private 1-2-1s with me assist with clarity, planning, and experienced help from someone who knows what it is like to run a medium-sized business. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

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SaaS stands for Software as a Service... but I have recently heard it used as Subscription as a Service. Subscription business model is how some good companies become great companies. Comment below with your thoughts on Subscription bases business model Ian Shapiro Tracey Earl Lee Foster Ian Earl - Business Networking David Gay Rachael Brooks #saas #subscription #business

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Like the healthcare and prison systems in the UK, the fundraising system for SMEs and not-for-profits is broken. Shockingly, more than 95% of grant applicants are unsuccessful and over 98% fail to secure angel or VC investment. Additionally, over 80% of startups struggle to obtain or afford loans. This scenario leads to wasted time, money, and resources that SMEs can scarcely afford, with economic growth and job creation severely impacted. Will / should the new Government therefore launch a strategic review and consult with stakeholders to help make the fundraising system fit for the future? #UKstartups #fundraising #investment #startupsUK

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A thought-provoking read on the crucial role of Finance, particularly for smaller growing SMEs. In my experience, many business founders who are typically practitioners or sector experts often oversee the finance function until the business inevitably outgrows it. Check out this article for valuable insights and don't miss the chance to join an upcoming webinar on maximizing EBITDA in your business. Interested in growing your skills and understanding as a leader, get in touch. https://lnkd.in/eqb6JKH8

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The next Venture.Community Pillar (no.4) - Force Multipliers Venture.Community is a Venture Society and Equitable Accelerator When our fellows, specialists or community buy into a Venture.Community - (eg. the Cooperative Venture Society of South Yorkshire Limited), they're likely able to claim SEIS or EIS tax relief on their investment. In addition to the tax benefit, which can be 50% back, the Venture.Community returns them 5% APR and their investment is withdrawable after a period of time - (capital at risk of course). The capital in the society is used to support the trade of "building venture companies", and we work with partners to support with acceleration funding for our open startup acceleration calls. The combination enables us to write lines of credit to support our trade - Interest-free trade credit terms for startups that are due on your next fundraise. The funding support enables us to tolerate a degree of failure to raise whilst the society maintains a surplus and can sustain support for the long term. In gaps between funding, trade credit will be smaller or more costly, and our members will have to accept greater exposure to bad debt - but we'll be able to persist - rather than have an ecosystem that regularly dies. For startups, this means your accelerator includes a credit that doesn't dilute your equity early, and you can spend it on services from society members to help get you to your next inflection point and add value, to raise bigger and improve your trajectory. We generally expect a startup to more than double its valuation through this acceleration journey - which means 2x the raise and a much higher trajectory. During that next fundraise, the startup company accelerated may be eligible for SEIS or EIS and our angels and members may participate or even lead this round! We'll help bring the round together by leveraging the personal investor connections of the membership that endorse the startup and founder at demo day. There's some good force multipliers in there for everyone, that's the power of coming together in the Venture.Community ! #startups #southyorkshire #venture #vc #founders #angels #sheffield #seis #eis

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The latest blog from D7 Advisers covers the dangers of inadvertently allowing an adviser to act as a shadow director, and what less experienced company founders and new boards can do to avoid it.

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⚠️ 𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆. 𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐒𝐌𝐄 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐞𝐫, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 ⬇️⬇️⬇️ The new UK government means employment changes are on the horizon; these are fundamental to your business and designed to kickstart economic growth, which comes as a sigh of relief for employees. 🚨 with every upside, there's a downside. If you are an SME business, hold on to your hats because this means there's a lot more risk when employing people and employee rights. Any SME business/business owner who doesn't have an HR support may be curious about how these changes may impact you and your business 😟 ☝🏼Lifting basic minimum rights in the workplace by introducing changes; ☝🏼National Minimum Wage ☝🏼48-hour working week ☝🏼28-days paid holiday ☝🏼Parental leave ☝🏼Greater protection from unfair dismissal ☝🏼Trade unions and collective bargaining If you don't have HR support, here are three options to consider; 😵‍💫 You can carry on and hope on a wing and pray that you don't run into trouble (and if you do, you might compromise your business). 😵‍💫 You can hire someone immediately and hope they can do the job (BUT you need to know what great HR looks like... otherwise, it might be hard to spot the right HR partner). 😵‍💫 You can get me on board and advise you/support you on the best way forward that's right for your business ⬇️⬇️⬇️ which de-risks your business and saves you energy, time and money. In a nutshell, I can support SMEs and business owners in two ways; 𝐇𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐬. I have an extensive background in people and culture. I provide interim and ad-hoc HR and Business support to help SME organisations scale, grow, evolve, and transform to optimise, achieve, and retain high performance. If you need short-term HR/Business leadership or ongoing support, I'm here to help. 𝐇𝐑 & 𝐁𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐂𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠. As a certified coach, I support leaders in developing their resilience and mindset to navigate change and transformation. In just 30 minutes, we can clarify what can help you and your business navigate these changes successfully and thrive during changing times. Book a call at https://lnkd.in/eAVXR7r4. ___ 👋 Hey, I'm Zoe! On a crusade to transform minds, lives and businesses. I offer fractional/interim HR, Executive Coaching and Facilitation. 🔔 Hit that follow for daily doses of empowerment. 🤝 Evolve and Thrive: DM to discover how we can journey together. ❤️ Save & Share: spread the word; you never know who needs support. #SME #HR #ukgovernment #changeready #evolution #employmentlaw #businessowner #employee #ukemploymentlaw #fractionalhr #interimHR #employeerelations #businessowner #smallbusiness

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techUK recently asked me to share views on #scaleup #investment challenges, which are condensed into a 3 minute blog post below. Hopefully an interesting read for UK tech entrepreneurs, VCs and policy makers... The opportunity to improve the landscape is clear. 🇬🇧

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Mutuality is a core pillar of Venture.Community. Most accelerators get their value from the relationship and comradery of cohort. At Venture.Community, you're in with a great crowd of members, but the value goes far beyond that, you're ability to massively increase your valuation and the size of your raise within our framework and approach; and with the support of our Fellows. Our approach is not about what you pay, but what you share with each other. Everyone buys-in and everyone is a beneficiary. Thus, it's very, very, very good value.

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For SME businesses and startups across all sectors - Don’t miss out on the latest funding and investment news plus get insider tips on getting your business funding ready. Reserve your seat now https://lnkd.in/ea3efV9d #businessgrowth #Funding #innovation #investment

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At Tinderbox we are often ask what type of clients we work with and how do we help them. This question is not as easy to answer as it first appears. The types of clients is the easy bit: we typically work with owner-managed SME businesses in all sectors and we have hundreds of case studies and testimonials from clients we have worked with since our founding in 2009. The second part is the difficult bit because we deliver a bespoke solution to specifically address the business' needs at that time and we use specialist expert resource to deliver that solution. Our purpose is to help businesses be more successful and ignite their business performance 🔥 So if you are a business owner whose business is successful but now not growing to meet your aspirations….. are an experienced but frustrated business owner who is working more hours than you would like and don’t even have time to help your clients let alone spend time with your family….. are a business owner whose business has grown successfully but has now plateaued and is stagnating….. are a business owner or Managing Director who has grown a successful business and is now struggling to recruit and retain good quality people leaving more work on your plate….. are busy and successful business owner who has built a successful business and has recently decided to exit the business but have been told you are unlikely to be able to achieve what you think it is worth….. own a successful business and would now like to grow it significantly, but are not sure how to go about doing that….. own a successful business and want to start to plan a successful exit that fully realizes the value of your business….. are a busy, driven and ambitious business owner and you are time poor, at times it can feel that your business is like a golden cage – demanding all, or at least, most of your thoughts, time and energy and leaving you with little time to enjoy the fruits of your labour ….. are a driven and ambitious business owner with aspirations for your business to be more successful but you are not sure how to deal with the current challenges….. are a successful business owner facing challenges and nothing you and your team are trying is working….. 🆘 Can we help you? YES, WE CAN! 🎬 If you are curious to learn more about Tinderbox and why we are different, or curious to learn more about how Tinderbox can help your business be more successful, contact me at [email protected] #businessleadership #businessleaders #ownermanagedbusiness #businessowners

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Calling fellow startup founders based in or around London... this is a great event that we (adeus) have attended a few times. It's not your typical start up pitch event. It's the opportunity to intro your business to a really friendly room of business people who are open to sharing ideas and providing advice to founders early in their journeys. ___ Join VOCASOs next MIC NIGHT event in London, near London Bridge on Tuesday 5th November from 6pm. Up to 15 founders each do a 1-minute elevator pitch to our member community of seasoned executives, sharing their company's tale and toughest business hurdle ahead. It's not a pitch for money but an opportunity to gain the insights desired for that next stage of growth. A great chance to connect with potential perfect match mentors or advisors within the community who have the expertise or connections you relish. Spaces are limited. Learn more about the event and RSVP or add your name to wait list here: https://lnkd.in/e3iRy9Uf     VOCASO, a fee-free community of founders and advisors. An ecosystem that brings its members, all senior executives aspiring to become Mentors, Advisors and NEDs together with growth companies seeking wisdom and door opening connections to drive growth. VOCASO kick-starts board careers today to impact the economy of tomorrow.

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If you have been holding off selling your business, now is the time to review that decision. Two increases in CGT coming down the track for SMEs

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Can your professional network ever be too big? If your network could still benefit from the addition of more smart, like-minded leaders of small and medium size businesses from across the UK, then why not try isme|&|connect? Registration link 👇 #uksmes #uksmallbusiness #betterbusinesstogether #networking

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Our webinar series is going really well and our next one, Running a thriving practice, is taking place on 6th June. Sign up details are in the post below. Look forward to seeing you there. 👏👏 #privatehealthcare #privatepractice #privatepracticesuccess Vicky Garbett Jo Mitchelson Simon Marett Hayley Thomas

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