Cleanzine: your weekly cleaning and hygiene industry newsletter 18th April 2024 Issue no. 1110

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Soapbox: Are you taking advantage of all the support available to aid growth

"Realise your growth potential," argues Barbara Spiller, GrowthAccelerator Business Development and Innovation Coach and Director of n.b. marketing - a marketing and business development consultancy that includes several companies operating in the UK and international cleaning & janitorial industry in its client list.

Rapid growth potential of Small and Medium sized businesses (SMEs) is being realised across all sectors, locations and lifecycles in England, according to GrowthAccelerator, the government-backed advice and support service, which has been tasked with delivering 55,000 new jobs and £2.2bn economic growth within three years.

What's impressive is that the scheme is genuinely unlocking new, high growth potential - and, even more encouragingly, it is literally coming from anywhere. In other words as long as the management team has the ambition and determination to develop skills to make it happen you don't have to be a start-up business, based in London or other city centres to achieve success.

If you're not familiar with GrowthAccelerator, it is the premier support service that helps ambitious business owners based in England achieve rapid sustainable growth, with the Government co-investing and making a major contribution towards the overall cost of the support package offered by the scheme.

Access to the programme is focused on businesses with high growth potential that employ fewer than 250 people and have a turnover of less the £40m and there is a sliding scale of contribution size depending on the business size.

A small business employing up to four employees, for example, could receive a support package worth £3,500 for a fee of £600 (+VAT) while a medium sized business employing 20-250 people pays £3,000. Both would be entitled to another £2,000 per senior business manager of matched funding for Leadership and Management development.

Support is provided through four different forms of activity: access to finance, business development, growth through innovation and leadership and management. Which route you take is determined by a Growth Manager who works with you on a bespoke growth plan or 'Scope of Support', matches you to a Growth Coach and grants access to workshops and masterclasses. The programme is designed to unblock the issues and smooth out the kinks that are holding back breakthrough growth in the business.

How do you know if it's right for you? The feedback given in a report published by GrowthAccelerator in September 2013 said that 3,400 businesses are increasing turnover more quickly and 3,100 are increasing employment at a faster rate as a result of working with GrowthAccelerator. Some 78% said the initial assessment provided clarity on how to drive growth, 77% said they got something from GrowthAccelerator that they couldn't get elsewhere and 94% of businesses receiving Business Development coaching said they have achieved an outcome they couldn't have achieved by themselves.

In summary, high growth can come from any businesses of any size, age or sector or in any geographical location. If growth is your goal and you have the determination and motivation to make it happen then now's the time to find out more. An initial free consultation can be arranged via an accredited Growth Coach or through the scheme's website:

www.growthaccerator.com
If you'd like to speak to a Growth Accelerator coach about how the programme works in practice, contact n.b. marketing:

T: 01778 424640
E: [email protected]
W: www.business-growth.net

14th November 2013