Scale for Success

Starting a business is the easy bit.

Surviving and then growing it is far harder.

Scaling it to morph into a bigger venture is perhaps the toughest step of all, with a gigantic failure rate. Suddenly, it becomes much more difficult to manage and sustain the disparate factors and elements involved.

I know those struggles from learning them the hard way. I set out to write Scale for Success to help others avoid the traps that I fell into.

I had the help of an inspirational array of some very special entrepreneurs from across the globe, people recognized as experts in a particular field, and names behind household brands, but all of whom who know what success looks like.

Together, the have shared their amazing stories, and how they survived scaling and have also shared practical and adaptable advice and guidance that you can take away and apply in your own business.

With insights from world-renowned figures in industries such as tech, pharma, wine, marketing and clothing, this book provides an eclectic array of ideas and approaches that have already been tried and tested in the entrepreneurial world.

Between them, they take you through the vision, the strategy, financing, marketing and sales, and developing team, warn of the various dangers and also help you look ahead at the future.

The book is all about growth, how to scale and how to scale successfully.

Ever since I was a small child, I have spent as much time reading as possible. I dreamt of writing books. But that dream got side-tracked by life, as dreams so often do.

While it may have taken me a rather long time to achieve, I am incredibly delighted that my first book is due to be published in 2021.

The courage to write the book might never have appeared if it hadn’t been for the help and encouragement of various people along the way. These include Kate Bassett, now at Management Today,

but who gave me my first break, publishing me many moons ago in Real Business. And then Hunter Ruthven, who took over as my editor at Real Business for many years and was always incredibly kind and encouraging.

During those years, I developed a fascination for entrepreneur’s stories. Entrepreneurs come in all shapes and sizes, but nearly all have fascinating tales to tell. When I am interviewing, I am often caught with regret that I cannot do another book just about that person.

Sometimes it is the sheer determination. I think of Adrian Falk whose mantra was “I believe” and wrote off from Australia to Park Avenue, aged 18 to get a job and experience in advertising.

Or how Alyson Friedensohn bought a one-way ticket to from the East Coast to California because someone had told her Silicon Valley was the best place to start a business.

I think of the strange and random sources of their inspiration – how Keiron Sparrowhawk was watching someone having an MRI when inspired to create an app which is changing the mental health of millions.

Then there is the x-factor that made them successful, which is sometimes just an outrageous nerve. I think of Simon Paine sending a plastic dinosaur with a cover letter asking if potential clients asking if their approach to enterprise was still in the Jurassic Period and if their business advisors were extinct.

I think of the determination such as Cody Sperber who had failed to get a single deal in nine months in business, and yet found it in himself to turn around and give real estate one more go. He has gone on to be one of America’s top real estate people.

As I read business publications and networked with high growth entrepreneurs, I also realized that I learn best from entrepreneurs. Of course, I am far from alone in this, hence the enormous success the real Titans have with their books.

When my publisher allows, I will tell you more about this book (not to mention thanking one more editor for their patience and encouragement). However, I can say to you without the publisher’s help and the generosity of many entrepreneurs who helped me with it along the way, there might not have been any book at all.

It was a long time coming, but I finally got around to putting my very first book together, drawing on all my thoughts and experiences and the wisdom of others. At the moment, it is in the editing stage. As soon as there is a firm release date, I will share that with you too.

Finally, as I seem to be on a roll of thanks, there would definitely not have been any book without the encouragement of my son, Jack.

As always, I write for entrepreneurs and about entrepreneurs, and this book is no different. It is for them, and you, the reader. I hope you enjoy it and I hope you find it useful.