Episode #486 - Balancing Growth, Culture, and Family in ISO Quality Services - with Jennifer Appleton
Release Date: 06/04/2025
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info_outlineIn this episode of ScaleUp Radio, Kevin Brent sits down with Jennifer Appleton, the dynamic Director behind ISO Quality Services, a Worcester-based business that's been helping companies achieve ISO certifications for over two decades. Jennifer shares the story of how this family business has scaled from a local consultancy to a global service provider, supporting clients in over 28 countries.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
🔹 The Business Model: ISO Quality Services thrives on a hybrid revenue model combining upfront implementation fees with a recurring client maintenance model—making for a stable and predictable cash flow. With around 550 clients and a team of 22 in-house employees, plus a network of 20-24 subcontractors, the company has reached a £1.5M turnover and is ambitiously heading toward £2M.
🔹 Challenges of Scaling: Jennifer opens up about the hurdles that come with growth, including staff retention, external impacts like Google algorithm shifts affecting lead generation, and the ongoing challenge of staying competitive with larger firms, especially on salary offerings.
🔹 Family Business Dynamics: Having joined the business her father started 25 years ago, Jennifer reflects on the complexities of leading a family-run company—balancing different viewpoints while always prioritising what’s best for the business.
🔹 Culture & Development: A robust six-month induction process, regular feedback cycles, and mental health support are just a few of the ways ISO Quality Services invests in its people. Jennifer emphasises the importance of aligning employees with the company’s values and long-term vision.
🔹 Strategic Leadership: From quarterly planning to bi-weekly ops meetings, Jennifer shares how structured leadership and planning have helped the business stay on course with its long-term goals.
🔹 Marketing Evolution: With lead generation once dominated by Google search, Jennifer talks about the pivot toward referral-based business and networking—especially as digital algorithms and AI tools like ChatGPT shift the landscape.
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For now, continue listening for the full story from Jennifer.
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Drawing on BizSmart’s own research and experiences of working with hundreds of owner-managers, Kevin Brent explores the key reasons why most organisations do not scale and how the challenges change as they reach different milestones on the ScaleUp Journey. He then details a practical step by step guide to successfully navigate between the milestones in the form of ESUS - a proven system for entrepreneurs to scale up.
More on the Book HERE - https://www.esusgroup.co.uk/
Jennifer can be found here:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/iso-certification-iso9001/
https://oakhouseworkspace.co.uk/
Resources:
Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Programme - https://www.goldmansachs.com/community-impact/10000-small-businesses/uk
Productivity Ninja by Graham Allcott - https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/how-to-be-a-productivity-ninja-updated-edition-worry-less-achieve-more-and-love-what-you-do-graham-allcott/2491926?ean=9781785784613
7 Habits Of Highly Effective People by Stephen R Covey - https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-7-habits-of-highly-effective-people-revised-and-updated-30th-anniversary-edition-stephen-r-covey/3555997?ean=9781471195204
Fireflies Notetaker - https://fireflies.ai/
HubSpot - https://www.hubspot.com/