ScaleUp Radio

Scaling up your business isn't easy, and can be a little daunting. Let ScaleUp Radio make it a little easier for you. With guests who have been where you are now, and can offer their thoughts and advice on several aspects of business. ScaleUp Radio is the business podcast you've been waiting for. If you would like to apply to be a guest, just click here: https://bizsmarts.co.uk/scaleupradio/apply Kevin's New Book Is Now Available! 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/

Episode #654: ScaleUp Club: Brand Promises. Say It, Mean It, Live It - with Jake Young 10/19/2026

Episode #654: ScaleUp Club: Brand Promises. Say It, Mean It, Live It - with Jake Young What does your business really promise its customers – and would your team, your suppliers and your customers all give the same answer? This special edition of ScaleUp Radio was recorded live at our latest ScaleUp Club, where we explored the theme “Brand Promise: Say it, mean it, live it.” Rather than our usual one-to-one conversation, this episode brings together three parts of the ScaleUp Club session: an AI Pulse update from Paul Rhodes of Green Gorilla Software, some thoughts from Kevin Brent on why brand promise is a strategic issue rather than simply a marketing one, and a practical Q&A with returning ScaleUp Radio guest Jake Young, founder and CEO of The Food Guys International. First up: Paul Rhodes and the AI Pulse Paul opens the session by tackling something that is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore: AI slop. As AI makes it easier to produce more content, Paul argues that businesses risk producing communications that all sound the same – and, more importantly, losing the human voice that made them distinctive in the first place. His standout message is simple: “AI does the filing. But it should never do the voice.” Paul shares three practical ways businesses can use AI without surrendering their authenticity. Build an insight library from customer conversations, capturing the language customers actually use to describe their problems, frustrations and objections. Build a story bank from the real experiences that already exist inside the business, rather than asking AI to invent generic content. And build a messaging bank that brings those customer insights and authentic stories together into consistent communications. There is a useful challenge here for any founder: take a recent customer conversation and find three phrases your customer used that you would never have written yourself. Those phrases could be far more powerful than the polished marketing language you are currently using. Brand Promise: Say it, mean it, live it That leads naturally into this ScaleUp Club's main theme. Every business already makes a promise, whether it has formally written one down or not. Your brand isn't simply your logo, visual identity or strapline. It's what people conclude about the business from what actually happens when they deal with you. We explore a simple three-part test: Say it. Can you clearly articulate the promise you are making – and is it distinctive enough that a competitor couldn't simply say exactly the same thing? Mean it. Are you genuinely prepared to make decisions based upon that promise, even when doing so costs you something? Live it. Is that promise consistently delivered through your people, processes, suppliers and customer experience – particularly when the founder isn't there? That final point is where brand promise becomes a ScaleUp issue. A powerful promise that only the founder can deliver isn't yet a scalable asset. Q&A with Jake Young Returning ScaleUp Radio guest Jake Young joins us to take that discussion into the realities of scaling. Jake is founder and CEO of The Food Guys International, working with founder-led restaurant, food and beverage and hotel groups to move from founder-dependent businesses towards systems-led organisations that are better equipped to scale, attract investment or ultimately be sold. And his central point is that brand runs much deeper than marketing. If you make a promise around quality, service, sustainability or anything else, it has to flow through the operating model, people, supply chain and economics of the business. As Jake puts it, you first need to understand what it means to win within your four walls. Only once you can consistently deliver that experience internally does it become something you can successfully replicate elsewhere. The discussion explores the common founder belief that “nobody can do what I do”. Jake doesn't necessarily dispute that initially. Instead, he asks the more important question: how do you make what you do trainable and transferable? That's the difference between replacing one bottleneck with another person and actually building a system. The Q&A also covers: • Why documenting a founder's knowledge is essential to removing founder dependency • How to identify whether a bottleneck is caused by technical expertise, control or process • Why transferring responsibility to another individual isn't the same as creating a system • How service businesses can turn expertise into defined, trainable offers • The role of an “executive sponsor” when clients are reluctant to let go of the founder • How to assess suppliers as genuine scaling partners rather than simply looking for the cheapest price • Why consistency, responsiveness and quality can justify paying a supplier a premium • How the appropriate unit of scale changes according to the business model • Why scaling sometimes requires changing the revenue model rather than simply selling more of the same thing • The importance of deciding what you ultimately want the business to become before deciding how far or fast it should scale The one key thing... A brand promise only becomes a scalable asset when the business can deliver it consistently without depending upon the founder. Saying it is marketing. Meaning it influences the decisions you make. Living it means building the people, processes, suppliers and systems that make the promise true every time. And that is what makes it transferable and scalable. Before you go Most founders I speak to feel busy but frustrated. Plenty is happening, but they're frustrated that they aren't moving forward at the rate they want to. Success creates more options, pulling founders and their teams in different directions. Here's what more than 500 interviews on ScaleUp Radio have taught me: the founders who scale choose less, and deliver all of it. That's what the G90 Summit is for. It's a structured half-day where we cut through everything competing for your attention, agree the three to five things that must happen in the next 90 days, and build the rhythm to make sure they do. From the frustration and chaos of more, through the discipline of less, to the rhythm of done. Quarterly. Virtual. £97 a seat. Smart90.co.uk/summit Make sure you don't miss future episodes by subscribing to ScaleUp Radio wherever you like to listen to your podcasts – and give us a follow. You can also nominate a guest for ScaleUp Radio if you know someone with an interesting ScaleUp story. Jake can be found here: /episode/index/show/scaleupradio/id/43321159

Episode #653: From Kitchen Table to Entrepreneurship - with Carole Duck 10/14/2026

Episode #653: From Kitchen Table to Entrepreneurship - with Carole Duck What happens when you spot a problem in your own life, create a solution at home, and gradually discover there could be a much bigger business hiding inside it? In this episode of ScaleUp Radio, Kevin Brent talks to Carole Duck, founder of Duxanall Dogbedz, about building a product-led business from the kitchen table, bootstrapping its growth and finding opportunities to move from a handmade product towards a more scalable and potentially higher-margin business. Carole’s original product came from a very practical problem: a puppy that kept chewing expensive dog beds. Her solution was a raised, slot-together wooden bed with a machine-washable hammock-style fabric base. It can be flat-packed for travelling or storage and comes with what Carole calls her “fur-ever” guarantee, including replacement parts for chew damage. Seven years in, she says nobody has yet needed to claim against that guarantee. But this conversation goes well beyond dog beds. Carole talks openly about starting small, receiving a £500 grant that helped her increase production, moving from her kitchen into a dedicated garden workshop and experimenting with different routes to market, from markets and social media to online sales and retail. One particularly interesting part of the discussion is pricing. Carole’s approach has been deliberately simple: material cost multiplied by two, plus £20 for her own wage. The logic behind the multiplier was to generate enough money from one sale to fund materials for two more beds. As the business develops, however, there is an interesting strategic question around where the greatest value lies. That can be seen in the development of the Barlow Bed for very large breeds. The idea emerged after a standard bed bowed under the weight of a St Bernard. Rather than simply seeing a product failure, Carole spotted a different customer need. The resulting design uses much heavier 4x4 timber, steel crossbars and specialist wicking fabric designed to improve airflow. Carole says owners of breeds such as St Bernards can spend between £400 and £800 on suitable orthopaedic beds. That creates the potential for a very different premium niche from the original product. Perhaps the most striking part of Carole’s story, though, is what she ultimately wants the business to achieve. Her ambition is to create a factory in Little Hulton, Salford, providing flexible employment for women returning to work who may otherwise struggle because of childcare, health or other barriers. Her vision includes a flexible “timeshare” approach to working hours and even an on-site crèche. It is a useful reminder that scaling a business does not necessarily have to be about size for its own sake. A clearer purpose can help determine what you want the business to become and therefore what needs to change to get there. In the conversation We explore how Carole turned a personal frustration into a commercial product, why demonstrating the product face-to-face has been so valuable, what a £500 grant meant at an early stage, the realities of pricing a handmade product, using useful content rather than constant selling to build engagement, identifying a premium niche, and the challenges of moving from founder-led production towards a genuinely scalable operation. We also discuss Carole’s much bigger ambition to use the business to create flexible employment opportunities in her local community. The standout message A problem can become an opportunity when you stop treating it simply as something that went wrong. The Barlow Bed is a great example. A standard product struggling under the weight of a St Bernard exposed an underserved customer with a very different need and potentially a much higher willingness to pay. The one key thing The one key thing to take away from this episode is to look closely at where your customers are stretching the limits of what you currently offer. That may be where your next, and potentially more valuable, market is hiding. Before you get into the episode Most founders I speak to feel busy but frustrated. Plenty is happening, but they are frustrated that they are not moving forward at the rate they want to. Success creates more options, pulling founders and their teams in different directions. Here’s what more than 500 interviews on ScaleUp Radio have taught me: the founders who scale choose less, and deliver all of it. That’s what the G90 Summit is for. It is a structured half-day where we cut through everything competing for your attention, agree the three to five things that must happen in the next 90 days, and build the rhythm to make sure they do. From the frustration and chaos of more, through the discipline of less, to the rhythm of done. Quarterly, virtual, £97 a seat. Smart90.co.uk/summit Carole can be found here: /episode/index/show/scaleupradio/id/43207733

Episode #652: Is Command and Control Holding Your Business Back? - with Peter Laughter 10/12/2026

Episode #652: Is Command and Control Holding Your Business Back? - with Peter Laughter In this episode of ScaleUp Radio, Kevin Brent is joined by Peter Laughter for a fascinating discussion about distributed leadership, why traditional command and control management is increasingly becoming a constraint on growing businesses, and what leaders can do instead. Peter knows the command and control model from experience. He grew a staffing business from around $500,000 to $12 million in revenue in five years. But that success eventually exposed a problem familiar to many growing businesses: when too many decisions and too much responsibility sit with the person at the top, the leader can become the bottleneck. For Peter, one of the turning points came when his business suffered a dramatic fall in candidate reviews. His instinct was to devise the solution himself. But an employee called Becky challenged his approach and suggested something much simpler: manage candidate expectations better from the outset. It worked. And it helped Peter recognise something important. The answers to a business's problems often already exist somewhere within the organisation. The leader's job isn't necessarily to provide those answers, but to create an environment in which they can emerge. That idea sits at the heart of distributed leadership. Peter argues that this becomes even more important in what he describes as an "age of acceleration". AI and other rapidly developing technologies are creating challenges and opportunities at a speed and complexity that make it increasingly unrealistic for one person, or even one senior leadership team, to have all the answers. Instead, businesses need structures that allow decisions to be made closer to where the knowledge sits. Importantly, this doesn't mean abandoning structure. Peter compares distributed leadership to jazz. It may sound spontaneous, but great improvisation happens within a strong framework. In the same way, distributed leadership is about creating enough structure for people to exercise judgement, contribute ideas and take responsibility without descending into chaos. We explore examples including Haier, Morning Star and W. L. Gore & Associates, and how organisations have created systems that allow leadership, innovation and decision making to emerge throughout the business. Peter also introduces his 3D framework: Discover, Define and Do. Discover Start with a meaningful question and gather perspectives from the people closest to the issue rather than assuming the leadership team already knows the answer. Define Understand the skills, interests and assets that exist across the team, and bring together the people who can contribute to solving the problem. Do Choose a meaningful but achievable result, work towards it in short sprints, and then review what worked, what was learnt and what new capabilities were created. It provides a practical way for leaders to experiment with distributed leadership without attempting to redesign their entire organisation overnight. There is also a provocative discussion about AI. Peter believes many large organisations risk making a fundamental mistake by treating AI primarily as a mechanism for reducing headcount. In doing so, they may remove people who possess critical organisational knowledge while simultaneously creating a pool of experienced, AI-enabled talent capable of joining or creating smaller disruptive competitors. For SME leaders, that potentially creates an enormous opportunity. One standout message Devolve decisions to where the information sits. If the person closest to the customer, problem or opportunity has better information than the person at the top, forcing every decision upwards doesn't create control. It creates delay. In this episode we discuss • Why command and control leadership increasingly makes the leader the bottleneck • Peter's journey from growing a staffing business rapidly to questioning his own leadership model • How one employee's simple solution changed Peter's thinking about leadership • What distributed leadership actually means in practice • Why distributed leadership requires structure rather than an absence of structure • What jazz can teach us about autonomy and collaboration • How Haier, Morning Star and W. L. Gore have approached distributed decision making • Peter's Discover, Define, Do framework • How to experiment with distributed leadership without creating organisational chaos • Why leaders need to discover the capabilities already sitting within their teams • The danger of using AI purely as a cost cutting exercise • Why disruption of large organisations could create significant opportunities for SMEs The one key thing... The one key thing is that scaling doesn't require the founder to become better at having all the answers. It requires them to build an organisation capable of finding answers without everything having to come through them. For any owner manager who feels that too many decisions still land on their desk, Peter's challenge is worth considering: is maintaining control actually protecting the business, or has it started restricting its ability to grow? From more, to less, to done Before we get into the episode, most founders I speak to feel busy but frustrated. Plenty is happening, but they're frustrated that they aren't moving forward at the rate they want to. Success creates more options, pulling founders and their teams in different directions. Here's what more than 500 interviews on ScaleUp Radio have taught me: the founders who scale choose less, and deliver all of it. That's what the G90 Summit is for. It's a structured half day where we cut through everything competing for your attention, agree the three to five things that must happen in the next 90 days, and build the rhythm to make sure they do. From the frustration and chaos of more, through the discipline of less, to the rhythm of done. Quarterly. Virtual. £97 a seat. Find out more at Smart90.co.uk/summit. Peter can be found here: /episode/index/show/scaleupradio/id/43207378

Episode #651: Transforming Chaos into Calm: The Boutique Housekeeping Revolution - with Caroline Chilly and Harriet Greenmount 10/07/2026

Episode #651: Transforming Chaos into Calm: The Boutique Housekeeping Revolution - with Caroline Chilly and Harriet Greenmount In this episode of ScaleUp Radio, Kevin Brent is joined by Caroline Chilley and Harriet, co-founders of Boutique Housekeeping, a business that is changing the way busy families think about support in the home. Boutique Housekeeping sits in the space between a traditional cleaning service and employing full-time household staff. Its house managers provide a much broader service, helping with housekeeping, tidying, laundry, shopping, meal preparation, errands and PA-style tasks. But this conversation is about far more than housekeeping. It is a fascinating ScaleUp story about finding the right positioning, creating a repeatable methodology, building a culture that attracts the right people and, crucially, recognising when the founders themselves need clearer roles. Caroline started the business around ten years ago after spotting a gap while working in care. Growth was deliberately steady for much of that period as life circumstances shaped the pace of the business. More recently, however, things have accelerated. One of the biggest changes came when Caroline and Harriet adopted the Visionary and Integrator model described in Rocket Fuel. Caroline took the Visionary role while Harriet became the Integrator. That clearer division of responsibility has helped unlock a new phase of growth. One standout message from the conversation is that the biggest competitor is often not another business at all. It is the status quo. For Boutique Housekeeping, that means families continuing to struggle on, trying to manage everything themselves. For many growing businesses, the same principle applies. The challenge is often helping customers recognise that the way they are currently doing things has a cost. From cleaning service to home management An important turning point came through one of Boutique Housekeeping’s early clients. By observing how a highly organised household worked, Caroline and Harriet began to understand that the real value was not simply in completing individual household tasks. It was in creating an environment that worked consistently without the family having to think about everything. That insight eventually became their Calm Code. The five stages are: Space Remove clutter and create space, with a clear home for everything. Order Organise those spaces so that things are easy to find, use and put away. Clean Once the home is organised, establish the standard required to keep it clean. Provision Make sure everyday essentials are available before they are needed, avoiding unnecessary last-minute problems. Systems Introduce routines that reduce the number of decisions the household needs to make. The goal is not simply a tidier home. It is to reduce the mental load carried by busy families and release time and attention for the things that matter more. There is a strong business lesson here too. Systems become valuable when they remove repeated decisions and allow people to focus their energy where it can make the greatest difference. Scaling through people rather than simply adding people Boutique Housekeeping’s growth model depends heavily on finding the right house managers. Their recruitment process focuses on experienced, highly motivated people who are capable of taking responsibility rather than waiting to be told what to do. Many have previously held management positions. Once recruited, house managers are supported through the Boutique Housekeeping Diploma, helping the company create a consistent standard of service as it grows. That combination of recruitment, training and culture matters. Caroline and Harriet want their team to have autonomy and to focus on outcomes for the client. Communication between the founders, house managers and clients is supported through Slack, while a dedicated “Superstar Moments” channel shares positive client feedback and celebrates examples of great work. The roles themselves have also been designed around the realities of people’s lives, including opportunities to work around school hours. That creates an interesting alignment between the needs of Boutique Housekeeping’s employees and many of the families they serve. Founder roles and the Visionary Integrator relationship Another important part of the conversation is Caroline and Harriet’s working relationship. Around 18 months ago they introduced the Visionary and Integrator structure. Caroline focuses on vision, ideas and where the organisation is heading. Harriet focuses on turning those ideas into execution and making sure the organisation can deliver. After around a decade of relatively steady development, this change has played a significant part in accelerating growth. The next leadership challenge is already appearing. As the organisation becomes larger, Harriet can no longer be the point through which everything flows. Boutique Housekeeping is therefore starting to introduce another layer of management. It is a challenge many ScaleUp businesses eventually encounter. The structure that gets a business to one stage is rarely the structure that will get it to the next. The ambition Boutique Housekeeping’s five-year ambition is to build a national UK presence. Alongside the commercial goal is a broader purpose: to increase the status and recognition of professional domestic work and create worthwhile careers for the people delivering it. Longer term, Caroline and Harriet can see the potential to build the foundations of a global service. In this episode we discuss • How Boutique Housekeeping identified the gap between cleaning and complete household management • Why the status quo can be a bigger competitor than another company • Moving from selling tasks to selling a valuable outcome • How the Calm Code became a repeatable service methodology • Why systems reduce both operational friction and mental load • Recruiting people with the ability and confidence to take ownership • Using training to protect quality as a business grows • Creating a culture built around autonomy and positive reinforcement • Caroline and Harriet’s Visionary and Integrator relationship • Why clearer founder roles helped accelerate growth • Adding a new management layer as the organisation scales • Boutique Housekeeping’s ambition to grow nationally and ultimately internationally The one key thing The one key thing is that scaling became easier when Caroline and Harriet stopped relying purely on themselves and deliberately created clarity around the model, the people and their own roles. A repeatable methodology gives customers a consistent experience. Training gives good people the confidence to deliver it. And clearly defined leadership roles allow founders to spend more time doing the work where they add the greatest value. That combination is what starts turning a founder-dependent business into a genuinely scalable one. Smart90 and the G90 Summit Before we get into the conversation, most founders I speak to feel busy but frustrated. There is plenty happening, but they are frustrated that they are not moving forward at the rate they want to. Success creates more options, and those options start pulling founders and their teams in different directions. Here is what more than 500 interviews on ScaleUp Radio have taught me: the founders who scale choose less, and deliver all of it. That is what the G90 Summit is for. It is a structured half-day where we cut through everything competing for your attention, agree the three to five things that must happen in the next 90 days and build the rhythm to make sure they do. From the frustration and chaos of more, through the discipline of less, to the rhythm of done. Quarterly. Virtual. £97 a seat. Smart90.co.uk/summit Caroline & Harriet can be found here: How well is your home supporting your success? Is your home helping you succeed or constantly tripping you up? Take the assessment and receive 6 quick wins you can implement immediately so that your home life becomes the support you deserve in achieving your dreams. Resources: Traction by Gina Wickman - They Ask You Answer by Marcus Sheridan - Tony Robbins - Slack - /episode/index/show/scaleupradio/id/43122023

Episode #650: The Art of Leadership: Empowering Founders to Scale Their Businesses - with Tom Van Dyke 10/05/2026

Episode #650: The Art of Leadership: Empowering Founders to Scale Their Businesses - with Tom Van Dyke What happens when the thing that got your business growing becomes the very thing stopping it from scaling? In this episode of ScaleUp Radio, Kevin Brent is joined by Thom Van Dycke to explore a challenge that will be familiar to many founder led businesses: growth initially comes because of the founder’s network, relationships, energy and ability to sell. But eventually, there are only so many people the founder knows and only so many hours in the day. At that point, the founder can become the bottleneck. Thom’s own journey into business is unusual. After spending around 20 years as a pastor, he left ministry in 2020 and moved into entrepreneurship. Starting as a copywriter, he reached $10,000 a month by his fourth month before gradually evolving his business towards working with established founder led companies. Today, his approach centres on helping businesses develop their own frameworks for positioning, marketing, sales and lifetime value rather than blindly following somebody else’s blueprint. One phrase captures that philosophy particularly well: “Adapt, don’t adopt.” There is no universal formula for building a successful business. Geography, background, customers, market conditions, team and the founder themselves all change the answer. The founder’s plateau One of the big themes in our conversation is the point where founder driven growth stops working. In the early days, being highly sales focused can be an enormous advantage. Founders use their personal relationships, reputation and energy to win work. But eventually the network runs out, the diary fills up and capacity becomes the constraint. Scaling then requires something different. The business has to become capable of generating opportunities, converting them and serving customers without everything passing through the founder. Thom shared the example of one client who, after just two months of working on this transition, was able to take their first weekend off in three years. That is a useful reminder that scaling is not simply about increasing turnover. It is also about creating a business that no longer depends on the founder being permanently available. Four frameworks for sustainable growth Rather than prescribing a generic blueprint, Thom works around four areas: Positioning What genuinely makes the business different and gives customers a reason to choose it? Marketing How does the company consistently attract the right opportunities rather than simply more enquiries? Sales How does the business create a repeatable way of converting those opportunities without relying entirely on the founder? Lifetime Value How does the business continue creating value through repeat work, referrals and re engaging previous customers? The important point is that these frameworks need to fit the business rather than forcing the business to fit somebody else’s system. Positioning is about much more than marketing One of the standout parts of our discussion is the role positioning plays throughout a business. Strong positioning can support better pricing because customers understand why the company is different. It can help with recruitment because potential employees understand what the organisation stands for. And it can improve consistency because the whole team has a shared answer to the question: why should somebody choose us? But that only works when positioning moves beyond the founder. If only the owner can explain what makes the company special, the business is still dependent on the owner. The whole team needs to understand it, believe it and be able to communicate it. Scaling means becoming a leader Thom identifies three important ingredients for making that transition: True leadership Investing in people and culture rather than simply directing activity. Humility Being prepared to ask the team for feedback and hear answers the founder might not necessarily want to hear. Positioning Creating a clear shared understanding of what makes the business different. Together, these help the founder move from being the person responsible for everything towards becoming the person who creates the environment in which others can succeed. The opportunity in “AI proof” businesses We also discuss Thom’s focus on founder led businesses such as skilled trades, often with teams of around eight to ten people. These businesses can face a very different set of scaling challenges from technology businesses or solopreneurs. Demand may not be the problem at all. Instead, they may be struggling with capacity, finding good people and protecting margins. Thom talks about businesses where margins can be around 2% when an industry benchmark may be closer to 8%. He also makes the point that marketing does not just have to attract customers. In businesses affected by talent shortages, it may also need to attract employees. And because the underlying skilled work is much harder for AI to replace, these businesses potentially have significant long term resilience. The one key thing The one key thing from this conversation is that scaling starts when the founder stops trying to be the answer to everything. The founder’s energy, relationships and skills may have created the growth, but the next stage requires leadership, trust, clear positioning and repeatable systems that other people can use. Or, in Thom’s words: Adapt, don’t adopt. Build the approach that fits your business rather than copying somebody else’s blueprint. Smart90 and the G90 Summit Before we get into it, most founders I speak to feel busy but frustrated. Plenty is happening, but the business is not moving forward at the rate they want. Success creates more options, and those options can pull founders and their teams in different directions. Here’s what more than 500 interviews on ScaleUp Radio have taught me: the founders who scale choose less, and deliver all of it. That is what the G90 Summit is designed to help with. It is a structured half day where we cut through everything competing for your attention, agree the three to five things that must happen in the next 90 days, and build the rhythm to make sure they do. From the frustration and chaos of more, through the discipline of less, to the rhythm of done. Quarterly. Virtual. £97 a seat. Smart90.co.uk/summit Make sure you don’t miss any future episodes by subscribing to ScaleUp Radio wherever you like to listen to your podcasts. You can also nominate someone with an interesting ScaleUp story to join Kevin on a future episode. Thom can be found here: Resources: My Burning Story by Minister Sarudzai Dorcas - Alex Hormuz - The Culture Code by Daniel Coyle - /episode/index/show/scaleupradio/id/43121473

Episode #649: Building A Business That Can Run Without You 09/30/2026

Episode #649: Building A Business That Can Run Without You In this episode of ScaleUp Radio, host Kevin Brent is joined by entrepreneur Rachel Hill, whose journey takes us from building and selling a multi site childcare business to breathing new life into a closed model village and launching a new consumer brand almost by accident. Rachel started Hillside Childcare at just 26, converting a granny flat into a 16 place nursery as a way of helping to pay a new mortgage. That first nursery eventually became a four site operation looking after 299 children. What makes Rachel’s story particularly interesting is not simply the growth. It is what she learnt about making a business repeatable, creating a strong culture, managing one of the largest costs in a people intensive business and, ultimately, building a company capable of operating without her. That last point became particularly important when Rachel decided to sell. After years of being the person everyone turned to when something went wrong, the pressures following COVID left her questioning whether she still wanted to be the one responsible for fixing every problem. The decision to sell came remarkably quickly. During a dog walk, Rachel decided it was time. Rather than formally taking the business to market, she approached an established buyer directly through LinkedIn. Five months later, the deal was complete. Rachel handled much of an intensive due diligence process herself because she wanted to protect her staff and families from unnecessary uncertainty. She also rejected the first offer, negotiated a price she was comfortable with and ultimately achieved a clean exit with a one off payment and no requirement to remain with the business. One of the standout lessons from the conversation is this: A business that can operate without its owner is not only easier to run. It can also be considerably more valuable when the time comes to sell. Rachel had developed systems, policies, procedures and a management structure that meant Hillside was not completely dependent upon her day to day involvement. That independence became an important asset during the sale. But selling Hillside did not mean Rachel stopped being entrepreneurial. While the sale was taking place, she bought Bondville Model Village, a closed and run down one acre attraction containing around 200 miniature buildings. Rachel saw the potential in an underdog. After months of renovation, Bondville reopened, but the first version of the business model was not right. Trying to operate throughout the year meant the winter numbers simply did not work. Rather than persist with the original plan, Rachel changed it. Bondville became a seasonal attraction, creating a business model better suited to customer behaviour and the economics of the site. That willingness to change direction appears again in Rachel’s latest venture. Unable to find the right candles for Bondville’s gift shop, she created her own. The result was 45 by Rachel Hill, a range of candles inspired by the model village, each incorporating a miniature keepsake and its own story. They repeatedly sold out, leading Rachel to explore how the range could grow beyond Bondville through a dedicated Shopify store. In this episode Kevin and Rachel discuss: • How a 16 place nursery became a four site childcare group serving 299 children • Why replication and strong operating systems were critical to growing Hillside • How Rachel maintained consistency as the business expanded across multiple locations • Why staffing became one of the toughest challenges in the business, particularly after COVID • The importance of culture and creating genuine buy in from the team • Why Rachel closely monitored staff wages as a percentage of turnover • The pressures that come when the founder remains the organisation’s ultimate problem solver • What finally prompted Rachel to sell Hillside • Why she chose an off market approach rather than putting the business openly up for sale • How she approached a potential acquirer directly through LinkedIn • What five months of due diligence looked like from the seller’s side • Why Rachel kept the sale confidential from the wider team during the process • How she valued the business using profit multiples and property values • Why being prepared to reject the first offer mattered • The value of building a company capable of running without its owner • Why Rachel bought a closed model village while simultaneously selling another business • How Bondville was renovated and relaunched • Why Rachel abandoned the original year round operating model • The importance of accepting quickly when the economics of an idea do not work • How a product created to solve a problem in Bondville’s gift shop became a new business opportunity • Why Rachel believes entrepreneurs should benchmark themselves against the best rather than simply comparing themselves with local competitors • The value of hiring people who are stronger than you in the areas where you are weak The one key thing Build the business so that it does not need you. Rachel’s experience with Hillside demonstrates why owner independence matters long before an exit is being considered. Systems, procedures, capable managers and a strong culture helped Rachel grow across multiple sites. They also meant that when she eventually decided to sell, the buyer was acquiring a functioning business rather than simply buying Rachel’s job. For any owner manager thinking about ScaleUp, that creates an important question: If you disappeared from the business for three months tomorrow, what would stop working? The answers are likely to point directly towards the systems, people and responsibilities that need attention next. Rachel’s ScaleUp philosophy Rachel describes her approach as “go big or go home.” Rather than benchmarking yourself only against the businesses around you, she believes in looking at the organisations doing something exceptionally well and asking what can be learnt from them. Equally, founders do not have to be good at everything. Rachel recognises her own strengths as creative and entrepreneurial and brings in people who can handle areas where she is weaker, including technology. That allows the founder to spend more time doing the things where they can create the greatest value. Before you listen Most founders I speak to feel busy but frustrated. Plenty is happening, but they are frustrated that they are not moving forward at the rate they want to. Their success creates more options, pulling them and their teams in different directions. Here is what more than 500 interviews on ScaleUp Radio have taught me: The founders who scale choose less, and deliver all of it. That is what the G90 Summit is for. It is a structured half day where we cut through everything competing for your attention, agree the three to five things that must happen in the next 90 days and build the rhythm to make sure they do. From the frustration and chaos of more, through the discipline of less, to the rhythm of done. Quarterly. Virtual. £97 a seat. Visit Smart90.co.uk/summit Listen to the episode Listen to the full conversation with Rachel to hear the story behind Hillside Childcare, the realities of selling a business, the reinvention of Bondville and the entrepreneurial thinking behind 45 by Rachel Hill. Make sure you do not miss future episodes by subscribing to ScaleUp Radio wherever you listen to your podcasts. And if you know somebody with an interesting ScaleUp story, you can nominate them as a future guest for ScaleUp Radio. Rachel can be found here: Instagram - Connect with Bondville Model Village Bondville Model Village () Instagram - Facebook – /episode/index/show/scaleupradio/id/42992483

Episode #648: Focus, Data and Building a Business That Can Scale - with John Readman 09/28/2026

Episode #648: Focus, Data and Building a Business That Can Scale - with John Readman In this episode of ScaleUp Radio, host Kevin Brent is joined by John Readman, founder of ASK BOSCO and Modo25, to explore what it really takes to turn a big idea into a focused, scalable business. John's journey offers a particularly useful lesson for founders: sometimes scaling isn't about doing more. It's about narrowing your focus. ASK BOSCO was created to tackle a problem familiar to many e-commerce businesses. Marketing teams can see return on ad spend, finance teams can see profitability, and platforms such as Google, Meta and TikTok all report their own versions of performance. But those numbers don't necessarily add up to a clear answer to the question that really matters: Where should we spend our next pound to generate the most profit? ASK BOSCO brings those disparate sources together, de-duplicates the data and helps businesses connect marketing activity with commercial performance. But the technology is only part of John's ScaleUp story. One of the standout moments in our conversation is John's account of being told that ASK BOSCO's original strategy was simply too broad. Rather than defending the original plan, the team listened, narrowed its focus and rebuilt the proposition around the Shopify ecosystem. That decision created a much clearer route to market and helped underpin a £4.1 million investment from Gresham House Ventures. The standout message Focus can be a growth strategy. The temptation when building an ambitious business is to serve more markets, add more features and pursue more opportunities. John's experience suggests the opposite can sometimes create far greater value: choose the market where you can win, remove friction and execute relentlessly. We also explore the people and culture behind the businesses. John talks about creating a high-performance environment based on trust, transparency and accountability. That includes a four-day working week on full-time pay, measuring people on outputs rather than hours, monthly visibility of KPIs and even creating a deliberate "not-to-do" list. There's an interesting influence from military discipline too: punctuality, clear processes, teamwork and people knowing what's expected of them. In this episode, we discuss: Why marketing ROAS and actual business profitability can tell very different stories How ASK BOSCO creates a clearer view of marketing performance Why linking product profitability to individual campaigns matters The decision to pivot from a broad analytics proposition to a Shopify-first strategy Why external advice can be invaluable when it challenges your assumptions Raising £4.1 million in venture capital and what investors bring beyond money Building a scalable SaaS model through the Shopify ecosystem Why human onboarding and support can be a competitive advantage in an increasingly AI-driven market Using a four-day week to focus on outputs rather than inputs Creating a "not-to-do" list to protect strategic focus Using a small number of annual "Big Rocks" to create alignment How transparency, discipline and trust shape company culture John's longer-term ambition for ASK BOSCO The one key thing... Scaling often means having the confidence to choose less. ASK BOSCO became more investable and potentially more scalable when the team stopped trying to solve the problem for everybody and committed to a clearly defined ecosystem. For founders facing dozens of apparently good opportunities, John's story is a reminder that the question isn't simply "What could we do?" It's "What should we deliberately choose not to do so we can execute the things that matter?" From more, to less, to done Most founders I speak to feel busy but frustrated. Plenty is happening, but they're not moving forward at the rate they want to. Often that's because success creates more options, pulling founders and their teams in different directions. More than 500 interviews on ScaleUp Radio have reinforced something important: the founders who scale choose less, and deliver all of it. That's what the G90 Summit is for. It's a structured half-day where we cut through everything competing for your attention, agree the three to five things that must happen in the next 90 days, and build the rhythm to make sure they do. From the frustration and chaos of more, through the discipline of less, to the rhythm of done. Quarterly. Virtual. £97 a seat. Smart90.co.uk/summit Listen to the full episode to hear John's ScaleUp journey and the lessons he's learned from building, focusing, funding and leading growing businesses. Resources: Black Box Thinking – Matthew Syed ( website) The One Minute Manager – Kenneth Blanchard Who Moved My Cheese – Spencer Johnson Fish – Stephen C. Lundin PODCASTS (John Readman’s own podcast.) – John Warrillow .fm CONTACT /episode/index/show/scaleupradio/id/42990533

Episode #647: How to Codify Your Company’s Genius and Escape Commoditisation - with Simon Bowen 09/23/2026

Episode #647: How to Codify Your Company’s Genius and Escape Commoditisation - with Simon Bowen What makes your business genuinely different? And, more importantly, could your team explain it without you in the room? In this episode of ScaleUp Radio, Kevin Brent talks with Simon Bowen about the Models Method, the power of visual thinking, and why growing businesses need to codify the distinctive thinking that sits behind what they do. Simon argues that many founder-led businesses have something genuinely special, but much of it remains locked inside the founder’s head. As the business grows, that thinking can become diluted internally. The result is that customers increasingly struggle to see the difference externally, leaving price as the easiest point of comparison. One of the standout messages from the conversation is: Internal dilution leads to external commoditisation. Simon describes a company’s distinctive thinking as its source code. Marketing and sales may be the visible interface, and processes may determine how work gets delivered, but underneath them sits the way the business thinks about problems and creates value. The challenge for a scaling business is to capture that thinking so other people can understand, communicate and apply it consistently. In this episode, Kevin and Simon explore: Why founders often find it difficult to articulate how they think rather than simply what they do How failing to codify a company’s genius can lead to internal dilution and ultimately commoditisation Why visual models can become a shared vocabulary across a growing organisation Simon’s Iceberg Model, moving from the customer’s known problem through the hidden problem to the deeper, often unarticulated, “ache” Why identifying that unknown problem can move a customer conversation away from price and towards value The three ingredients of an effective model: geometry, content and choreography How models can help leaders facilitate difficult conversations without making the discussion personal Simon’s Conflict Resolution Matrix and the four positions of Prisoner, Sniper, Student and Volunteer The idea of a Genius Model as the source code for how a company thinks Simon’s 20/80/20 framework: created thinking, curated solutions and the way they are uniquely integrated Why codifying founder knowledge matters increasingly as a company scales and more people become responsible for delivering its value The one key thing… If the thinking that makes your company special exists only in the founder’s head, it becomes harder to scale without diluting it. Codify that genius so your team can understand it, communicate it and reproduce it. There’s also a powerful lesson here about customers. What they initially ask you to solve may only be the tip of the iceberg. Businesses that can identify and articulate the deeper problem customers feel but cannot yet name become sense-makers, and that can fundamentally change the value conversation. A question for your next 90 days What part of the value your business creates still depends too heavily on knowledge or intuition sitting inside your head? Most founders I speak to feel busy but stuck. Plenty happening, but no real clarity on what matters most this quarter. Here’s what more than 500 interviews on this show have taught me: the founders who scale choose less, and deliver all of it. That’s what the G90 Summit is for. A structured half-day where we cut through everything competing for your attention, agree the three to five things that must happen in the next 90 days, and build the rhythm to make sure they do. Quarterly, virtual, £97 a seat. Smart90.co.uk/summit Make sure you don’t miss future episodes by subscribing to ScaleUp Radio wherever you listen to your podcasts, and nominate a guest if you know someone with an interesting ScaleUp story. Scaling up your business isn't easy, and can be a little daunting. Let ScaleUp Radio make it a little easier for you. With guests who have been where you are now, and can offer their thoughts and advice on several aspects of business. ScaleUp Radio is the business podcast you've been waiting for. If you would like to be a guest on ScaleUp Radio, please click here: You can get in touch with Kevin here: Simon can be found here: /episode/index/show/scaleupradio/id/42952228

Episode #646: ScaleUp Club - Aligning Personal & Business Goals - with James West 09/21/2026

Episode #646: ScaleUp Club - Aligning Personal & Business Goals - with James West This episode of ScaleUp Radio is a little different. We’re taking you inside one of our monthly ScaleUp Club sessions, where members get the opportunity to explore some of the challenges that come with building and scaling a business, share their experiences and put questions to our guest. This month, our main theme was Aligning Personal & Business Goals, and we welcomed back James West, co-founder of ONLE, for a Q&A about building a business that supports the life you actually want to lead. We also had an AI Pulse update from Tim Winstanley, looking at AI watermarking, the implications for businesses using AI-generated content, and why every business needs to start thinking seriously about its AI policy. When the business starts running your life For many founders, one of the original attractions of starting a business is freedom and control. Yet, as the business grows, it can produce exactly the opposite. James and his wife and co-founder Kelly created ONLE partly because they wanted greater control over their lives. Their personal circumstances, including caring for a daughter with severe special needs, meant that flexibility wasn't simply a nice-to-have. But as ONLE grew, James and Kelly found themselves personally hosting all the networking meetings. The business they had created to provide greater freedom was filling their calendars and making holidays and strategic thinking increasingly difficult. It is a challenge many founders will recognise. The discussion explored the importance of turning the usual planning process around: rather than deciding what the business needs and fitting your life around it, start by defining what you want your life to look like and then ask what the business needs to become to make that possible. Practical tools discussed included: A Balance Wheel, scoring different areas of your life from 1 to 10 each quarter and identifying where attention is needed. A Bucket List, bringing personal ambitions into annual and quarterly planning rather than putting them off until some undefined point in the future. Extending the same thinking to your team, understanding what individuals want to achieve and finding ways of connecting those aspirations with the goals of the business. Scaling ONLE beyond its founders James also shared how ONLE tackled one of the classic barriers to scale: too much of the customer experience depending on the founders. Their answer has been the Pod Owner model. Rather than James and Kelly personally nurturing every networking group, responsibility is delegated to local pod owners. An important distinction emerged from the conversation: running a meeting and nurturing a community are not necessarily the same skill. ONLE therefore looks for people who naturally make newcomers feel welcome and who want to build relationships within their communities. It is a useful example of a wider ScaleUp lesson: delegation isn't simply about giving somebody your tasks. It can mean designing a model where the right people take ownership of the things they are naturally better placed to do. AI Pulse: watermarking, trust and the value of expertise Tim Winstanley's AI Pulse brought a very different issue into the room: the developing world of AI watermarking and what greater transparency around AI-generated content could mean for businesses. The discussion explored the prospect of statistical fingerprints being embedded within AI-generated text, allowing content to be identified as AI-generated even after it has been copied and pasted. That raises an important question for businesses. If AI-generated content can increasingly be identified, how will customers interpret that label? The issue isn't necessarily whether the work is good or bad. It is about credibility, transparency and whether a business can demonstrate that appropriate human judgement has been applied. The discussion highlighted the importance of developing a clear AI policy, including approved tools, human review, disclosure and appropriate safeguards around business and client data. One member shared their experience of implementing a comprehensive AI policy, restricting use to an approved tool, training the team, adapting client terms and conditions and requiring third-party suppliers to follow appropriate policies. The one key thing… Start with the life you want to create, then build the business that can deliver it — rather than allowing the business to dictate the life you're able to have. James and Kelly's experience with ONLE is a good illustration. Scaling wasn't simply about growing the networking business. It was about redesigning it so that growth no longer required the founders to be present everywhere. And perhaps that's one of the most useful questions any founder can ask: Is the business you're scaling taking you closer to your definition of success, or further away from it? From busy to focused: the G90 Summit Most founders I speak to feel busy but stuck. Plenty happening, but no real clarity on what matters most this quarter. Here's what more than 500 interviews on this show have taught me: the founders who scale choose less, and deliver all of it. That's what the G90 Summit is for. It's a structured half-day where we cut through everything competing for your attention, agree the three to five things that must happen in the next 90 days, and build the rhythm to make sure they do. Quarterly, virtual, £97 a seat. Find out more at Smart90.co.uk/summit. /episode/index/show/scaleupradio/id/42950368

Episode #645: Scaling Through Change: Leadership, Diversification and Building a Stronger Manufacturing Business - with Suzie Siddall 09/16/2026

Episode #645: Scaling Through Change: Leadership, Diversification and Building a Stronger Manufacturing Business - with Suzie Siddall In this episode of ScaleUp Radio, host Kevin Brent is joined by Suzie Siddall, CEO of Opus International Products, a Warwickshire-based precision engineering and manufacturing business working across automotive, aerospace, defence, industrial and medical sectors. Suzie’s story is one of leadership through significant change. Having moved from Managing Director to CEO following the death of the company’s founder in 2024, she has had to balance continuity with the need to reshape the business for its next stage of growth. Today, Opus has a team of around 33 people and significant UK manufacturing capability across CNC machining, injection moulding and vacuum casting. The business has grown from its original sourcing model into a sophisticated manufacturing operation supporting customers from prototype and engineering development through to production. But this conversation is about much more than manufacturing. It explores what happens when a leader has to move away from being involved in the day-to-day operation and start thinking differently about strategy, governance, risk and the future of the business. From operational leader to CEO One of Suzie’s biggest challenges has been making the transition from Managing Director to CEO. Rather than simply taking on more operational responsibility, she recognised that the business needed her to spend more time looking ahead. An important part of that transition has been the creation of a formal Board of Directors, combining members of the internal leadership team with external experience and challenge. The board now meets monthly, focusing on strategy, business trajectory and the trends behind the numbers rather than simply reviewing operational activity. It is an interesting lesson for any growing owner-managed business: better governance is not about adding bureaucracy. Done well, it creates the space and challenge needed to make better strategic decisions. Diversification without abandoning what works Automotive has historically represented around 75–80% of Opus’s revenue. That concentration has helped build the business, but it also creates risk when the automotive market becomes volatile. Suzie and the team have therefore set a clear strategic objective: bring automotive down to around 40% of total revenue. Crucially, the plan is not to shrink the automotive business. Instead, Opus intends to grow its work in sectors including MedTech, defence, marine, off-highway and aerospace so that the overall business becomes larger and more diversified. The team has approached diversification systematically, looking at where investment is expected over the next five years and identifying sectors where Opus’s existing capabilities can transfer successfully. Its IATF 16949 automotive accreditation and experience of high-tolerance, quality-critical manufacturing provide a strong base, while further accreditation, including AS9100, forms part of opening additional opportunities. Don't diversify just because a market looks attractive A particularly useful lesson from Suzie is the importance of understanding what capabilities can genuinely transfer into a new sector. Moving into a new market is not simply a sales exercise. It requires understanding the standards, accreditations, buying processes, networks and expectations of that sector. Opus has therefore combined market analysis with networking and sector engagement, including involvement with Make UK Defence. That creates a useful principle for other scaling businesses: diversification works best when there is a strong overlap between an attractive market and something your business already does exceptionally well. Helping customers cross the “valley of death” One of the standout messages from the conversation is Suzie’s description of the gap between designing something and being able to manufacture it successfully at scale. That is where Opus aims to become much more than a component supplier. The business works collaboratively with customers to solve manufacturing challenges, taking projects from concept and prototype towards repeatable production. For Suzie, those customer partnerships are an important differentiator. Rather than simply waiting for a drawing and producing a part, the team wants to understand the problem the customer is trying to solve and contribute its engineering and manufacturing expertise. Standout message: The strongest supplier relationships are built when you stop simply supplying what a customer asks for and start helping them solve the problem behind it. Hiring for attitude Suzie also talks about the people behind the business. Opus has deliberately built a mixture of experienced team members and younger people and apprentices coming into manufacturing. Her recruitment philosophy is straightforward: hire for attitude and willingness to learn, because technical skills can be taught. That philosophy is supported by an open culture where employees have access to senior leaders, lessons learned are shared and people can see the connection between the work they do and the finished products created for major brands. The use of external HR also gives employees access to an impartial source of support outside the management structure. Leadership through difficult circumstances Running throughout the conversation is the subject of resilience. Suzie’s move into the CEO role came in exceptionally difficult circumstances, yet one of her priorities was maintaining stability for the team while continuing to move the company forward. External advice, openness with employees and the willingness to bring new perspectives into the business have all played an important role. Rather than believing that being CEO means having every answer, Suzie has deliberately surrounded herself with people who can challenge her thinking. For scaling leaders, that may be one of the most valuable lessons from the episode. The one key thing Growth is not just about winning more of the same work. Sustainable scale comes from deliberately reducing concentration risk, building leadership around you and creating the space to work on where the business needs to go next. In this episode, we discuss Suzie’s transition from Managing Director to CEO Leading a business through significant personal and organisational change Why Opus introduced a formal Board of Directors Moving from operational management towards strategic leadership Why external challenge can improve decision making Reducing dependence on a single market Opus’s strategy for moving from 75–80% automotive revenue towards 40% Identifying attractive new sectors without losing strategic focus Transferring manufacturing capabilities into MedTech, defence, marine and aerospace The importance of accreditation when entering new markets Building genuine partnerships with customers Helping clients bridge the gap between product design and production Hiring for attitude rather than skills alone Developing apprentices alongside experienced employees Transparency, communication and maintaining team stability Why resilience and outside support matter when leadership gets difficult About Suzie Siddall Suzie Siddall is CEO of Opus International Products, a UK precision engineering and manufacturing company based in Leamington Spa. Opus supports customers from engineering development and prototyping through to production, with capabilities including precision CNC machining, injection moulding and vacuum casting. The company has traditionally had a strong position within premium automotive manufacturing and is now deliberately expanding its presence across sectors including defence, medical, aerospace and industrial applications. Smart90 Most founders I speak to feel busy but stuck. Plenty happening, but no real clarity on what matters most this quarter. Here’s what more than 500 interviews on this show have taught me: the founders who scale choose less, and deliver all of it. That’s what the G90 Summit is for. A structured half-day where we cut through everything competing for your attention, agree the three to five things that must happen in the next 90 days, and build the rhythm to make sure they do. Quarterly. Virtual. £97 a seat. Find out more at Smart90.co.uk/summit. Don't miss future episodes Make sure you don’t miss any future episodes by subscribing to ScaleUp Radio wherever you like to listen to your podcasts, and why not give us a follow. You can also nominate a guest for ScaleUp Radio if you know someone with an interesting ScaleUp story. Explore the full ScaleUp Radio archive and find details of future episodes through Smart90.co.uk/scaleup-radio. The description of Opus’s current capabilities and diversification direction is also supported by the company’s current site; its May 2026 announcement specifically describes the new board as supporting governance, strategic growth and sector diversification. Suzie can be found here: Resources: How to Be Sad by Helen Russell - /episode/index/show/scaleupradio/id/42882920

Episode #644: From Generalist to Niche: Scaling Through Focus, Certification and Community - with Janet Tanguay 09/14/2026

Episode #644: From Generalist to Niche: Scaling Through Focus, Certification and Community - with Janet Tanguay What happens when you stop saying yes to everything and commit to the part of your business that customers really want? In this episode of ScaleUp Radio, host Kevin Brent talks to Janet Tanguay, founder of The Hammock Way of Life, about the journey from broad business consulting to building a scalable business around vision boarding, coach certification and a growing global community. Janet's story is a great example of how focus can unlock growth. The turning point came during and after the pandemic. Janet had been using vision boarding to help businesses think creatively about their future, and demand began to grow. Rather than treating that demand as just another service opportunity, she recognised the market signal and made a deliberate decision to niche. Importantly, that also meant saying no. Janet turned down a significant project that didn't fit the direction she had chosen. That decision gave her the space to commit properly to the vision boarding opportunity, and she believes it accelerated the subsequent growth of the business. But finding a niche created another challenge: how do you scale something that depends on your own expertise and delivery? Janet's answer has been certification. She developed a programme to train and certify other coaches in her methodology, with Module 1 accredited for CPD in the UK and Module 2 progressing through the process. The model combines online learning, live Q&A and curated resources, enabling Janet to build a global network of independent practitioners rather than relying on a traditional employee model. What is particularly interesting is that the real value isn't simply the certification. It's the community around it. Members share resources, learn from each other and collaborate when clients need expertise outside their own areas. The community continues to develop its knowledge too, including work around aphantasia and making vision boarding more accessible to visually impaired people. Rather than trying to protect the methodology through highly restrictive agreements, Janet's approach is to make the network valuable enough that people want to remain part of it. That creates an important lesson for any founder thinking about scaling through partners, licences, franchises or certification: Don't just create a method people can buy. Create an ecosystem they don't want to leave. Removing the founder bottleneck Janet is now tackling another familiar ScaleUp challenge: removing herself from the centre of the business. At one stage she found herself facing 18 meetings in a single day, a pretty clear indication that the founder had become a bottleneck. Her longer-term ambition is to exit the business within the next few years, but she wants an exit that protects the purpose, vision and values she has created. That means systemising now. She is looking at bringing in operational leadership and strengthening areas including CRM, IT and marketing so the business can operate successfully without depending on Janet for everyday delivery. There's a valuable distinction here. Building a business that generates income for its founder isn't necessarily the same thing as building a business that somebody else could own. Word of mouth isn't necessarily accidental We also discuss Janet's approach to marketing. Much of her growth comes through referrals and word of mouth, but Janet doesn't simply wait for recommendations to happen. She deliberately brings well-connected people into events and experiences, knowing that if they see the value first-hand they're likely to talk about it. It's a useful reminder that word of mouth can be cultivated. We also hear the story behind Janet's book, Hammock Way of Life: Leaping Toward Joy, including an unexpected appearance on a Times Square billboard and how that visibility itself created another potential business opportunity. The standout message Perhaps the strongest ScaleUp lesson from Janet's journey is: Growth accelerated when she became clearer about what the business was going to do and, just as importantly, what it wasn't going to do. Choosing a niche meant turning down work. Scaling the niche meant turning her knowledge into a repeatable methodology. And building something that can ultimately exist without her means deliberately removing herself as the bottleneck. Those are three very different stages of the same journey from founder-led business to scalable organisation. In this episode, we explore Why customer demand prompted Janet to pivot from general consulting into a specialist niche Why saying no to a large opportunity helped rather than hindered growth How certification can turn founder expertise into a scalable model Why community can become a competitive advantage How Janet is building an international network without creating a large employee base The importance of systems when you're trying to remove founder dependency Why Janet is thinking about her eventual exit years in advance How to cultivate word-of-mouth marketing rather than simply hoping for referrals What a Times Square billboard taught Janet about unexpected opportunities The one key thing Scaling often starts with choosing less. Janet's experience demonstrates that focus isn't simply about becoming more efficient. It means having the confidence to decide where the greatest opportunity lies and saying no to work that distracts from it. Once you've made that choice, the next question is how you build systems, people and a community that allow the idea to grow without everything continuing to depend on you. Feeling busy but stuck? Most founders I speak to feel busy but stuck. Plenty happening, but no real clarity on what matters most this quarter. Here's what more than 500 interviews on this show have taught me: the founders who scale choose less, and deliver all of it. That's what the G90 Summit is for. It's a structured half-day where we cut through everything competing for your attention, agree the three to five things that must happen in the next 90 days, and build the rhythm to make sure they do. Quarterly. Virtual. £97 a seat. Find out more at Smart90.co.uk/summit. And if you know somebody with an interesting ScaleUp story who would make a great guest for ScaleUp Radio, you can nominate them for a future episode. Recommended Resources Books Tech Contact LinkedIn: Web: Insta: /episode/index/show/scaleupradio/id/42873085

Episode #643: Trust Isn’t a Feeling. It’s a KPI - with Rob McKenna 09/09/2026

Episode #643: Trust Isn’t a Feeling. It’s a KPI - with Rob McKenna What if one of the biggest constraints on your ability to scale is something you’re not measuring at all? In this episode of ScaleUp Radio, Kevin Brent is joined by Rob McKenna for a fascinating discussion about trust: how to measure it, why founders frequently misjudge it, and why building trust isn’t about creating a perfect culture. Rob introduces the WiLD Trust Index, a framework designed to turn trust from something intangible into something leaders can measure, understand and deliberately improve. For founders, there’s a particularly important message here. Delegation and succession aren’t simply transfers of responsibility. They’re transfers of trust. And the ability of an organisation to maintain and repair trust without the founder could ultimately become an important part of the value of the business. Most business owners measure revenue, profit, cash, sales and productivity. But how many measure trust? That matters because people remain one of the biggest challenges facing growing businesses, yet Rob points out that only around 4% of KPIs are people based. So perhaps we’re measuring the outputs while ignoring one of the things driving them. Rob’s work challenges the idea that trust is simply a feeling. Through the WiLD Trust Index, trust can be examined across 33 drivers at three different levels: Personal: what is happening within us, including things such as vulnerability. Team: the patterns between people, including reliability and the way colleagues behave towards one another. Organisational: the conditions around people, including alignment with the organisation’s mission. This produces a Net Trust Score, alongside insight into the individual factors affecting trust. Rob shares the example of one organisation whose score improved by 30 points in seven months after making trust an explicit KPI. But measuring trust is only part of the conversation. Trust is built through repair, not perfection One of the standout ideas from this episode is that high-trust organisations aren’t organisations where things never go wrong. People disappoint each other. Commitments get missed. Leaders make mistakes. Difficult conversations happen. What matters is what happens next. Rob describes the importance of creating an infrastructure for repair, where grace, forgiveness and honest communication allow people to rebuild trust when it has been damaged. That creates an interesting distinction between vulnerability and transparency. Vulnerability is the openness to being hurt and therefore requires courage, while transparency is the openness to being seen. For founders trying to create stronger leadership teams, that difference matters. Do you know how much your team actually trusts you? Rob also introduces his Trust Quadrant, which looks at both team and organisational trust. Organisations can fall into four broad categories: Stronghold, where both are high; Islands of Trust, where team trust is high but organisational trust is low; Shell of Trust, where organisational trust is high but team trust is low; and Jungle, where both are low. One of the most striking findings Rob shares is that around 48% of individuals in the research are working in Jungle organisations. There is another uncomfortable finding for business leaders. CEOs in high-trust Stronghold organisations tend to have a reasonably accurate view of trust, or even underestimate it. CEOs in low-trust Jungle organisations are more likely to overestimate how much trust exists. In other words, the founders who most need to address trust may be the least likely to recognise the problem. Delegation is a trust transfer There’s also a powerful connection here with one of the perennial ScaleUp challenges: getting the business less dependent on its founder. We often think of delegation as transferring tasks, decisions and accountability. Rob reframes it as a transfer of trust. The same applies to succession. Replacing a founder or senior leader isn't simply about finding somebody capable of performing the role. The organisation also needs to transfer the relationships and infrastructure that allow trust to survive and, crucially, to be repaired when something goes wrong. That potentially makes an organisation’s trust infrastructure an asset in its own right, particularly when a founder starts thinking about succession, exit and valuation. In this episode, we explore: Why trust should be treated as a measurable business KPI The disconnect between people problems and the KPIs businesses actually track The 33 drivers behind the WiLD Trust Index Personal, team and organisational trust Why speed and cost can reveal the consequences of trust The difference between measuring trust outcomes and measuring the drivers themselves Why repair matters more than trying to create a perfect culture Vulnerability versus transparency The four types of organisation in Rob’s Trust Quadrant Why CEOs can have a dangerously inaccurate picture of trust How delegation becomes a transfer of trust rather than simply a transfer of tasks The role trust plays in succession and reducing founder dependency Why an infrastructure of trust could ultimately contribute to business value The standout message Trust isn’t built by never getting things wrong. It’s built by creating the ability to repair things when you do. That changes the leadership challenge. Instead of asking, “How do we stop trust ever being damaged?”, founders can ask, “Have we built a business that knows how to repair trust when something inevitably goes wrong?” The one key thing The one key thing from this conversation: if trust matters to the performance and value of your business, stop treating it as an invisible feeling. Measure it, understand what drives it, and build the mechanisms to repair it. Smart90 / G90 Summit Most founders I speak to feel busy but stuck. Plenty happening, but no real clarity on what matters most this quarter. Here’s what more than 500 interviews on ScaleUp Radio have taught me: the founders who scale choose less, and deliver all of it. That’s what the G90 Summit is for. A structured half-day where we cut through everything competing for your attention, agree the three to five things that must happen in the next 90 days, and build the rhythm to make sure they do. Quarterly. Virtual. £97 a seat. Smart90.co.uk/summit Scaling up your business isn't easy, and can be a little daunting. Let ScaleUp Radio make it a little easier for you. With guests who have been where you are now, and can offer their thoughts and advice on several aspects of business. ScaleUp Radio is the business podcast you've been waiting for. If you would like to be a guest on ScaleUp Radio, please click here: You can get in touch with Kevin here: Rob can be found here: Resources: Whole Leaders, Wild Trust by Rob McKenna - The Speed of Trust by Stephen M R Covey - The Fog of Work by Adam Tarnow - /episode/index/show/scaleupradio/id/42735465

Episode #642: Building to Sell, Starting Again and Where AI Changes Business Value - with Gavin Bell 09/07/2026

Episode #642: Building to Sell, Starting Again and Where AI Changes Business Value - with Gavin Bell What would you do differently if you knew from day one that somebody else would eventually need to run your business? In this episode of ScaleUp Radio, I’m joined by Gavin Bell, entrepreneur and founder of Yatta, the paid media agency he deliberately built to be sellable before its acquisition by Velstar in 2024. Gavin’s story is particularly interesting because selling Yatta wasn’t something that simply happened after years of building the agency. It influenced how he designed the business from the outset. Inspired by Built to Sell, Gavin moved away from building a business around his own personal brand and expertise. Instead, he created packaged services, recurring revenues, repeatable systems and, crucially, a business capable of delivering without him. That meant progressively removing himself from sales and client delivery, bringing in people who could take over those responsibilities and resisting the temptation to maximise his own income at the expense of the value of the company. The result was a business attractive enough to be acquired by Velstar, with Gavin negotiating the original two-year earn-out down to nine months and ultimately leaving after eight. There’s an important lesson here for any founder, whether or not you currently intend to sell. The one key thing: build a business that works without you before you need it to work without you. The disciplines that make a company sellable are often the same disciplines that make it scalable: recurring revenue, clear propositions, good people, repeatable systems, healthy profit and reduced dependency on the founder. Today, Gavin is applying some of those lessons to a very different venture. Talo is an online lifestyle pharmacy focused on treatments that people may be less comfortable discussing with their GP. Its longer-term ambition is much bigger: moving towards what Gavin describes as precision health, using diagnostics, personal data and AI to help create increasingly personalised and proactive healthcare. One of the interesting aspects of Talo’s approach is that, in a market where technology is often being used to remove human interaction, Gavin is deliberately putting some of it back in. For its weight loss offering, Talo plans an upfront consultation followed by ongoing coaching. The intention is to improve outcomes, create greater trust and tackle the high customer churn seen in a market where customers can easily move between providers and introductory offers. We also explore how AI is changing Gavin’s approach to building the business. Rather than spending heavily on developers to test every new idea, Gavin is using AI development tools to create prototypes before passing them to professional developers. That makes experimentation faster and considerably cheaper. But Gavin believes there is a much bigger strategic implication. If AI makes software increasingly quick and inexpensive to reproduce, simply owning proprietary code may become much less of a competitive advantage. The real value could increasingly sit elsewhere: in your customer relationships, proprietary data, distribution, marketing capability and, most importantly, your ability to demonstrate that what you do actually produces results. That is a significant question for founders thinking about where the long-term value of their businesses really lies. In this episode, we discuss: • Why Gavin deliberately designed Yatta to be sold from the beginning • What Built to Sell changed about his approach to entrepreneurship • Why recurring revenue and packaged services helped make Yatta attractive to an acquirer • How he progressively removed himself from sales and client delivery • Why optimising company profit can sometimes matter more than maximising founder income • The hiring constraint that ultimately limited Yatta’s growth • How the Velstar acquisition came about • Why Gavin negotiated his earn-out from two years down to nine months • What starting again feels like after successfully exiting a business • Talo’s approach to the online pharmacy and weight loss markets • Why adding human coaching can create differentiation in a technology-led market • How Gavin is using AI to dramatically reduce the cost and time involved in prototyping • Why customer data, marketing systems and proven outcomes could become more valuable than proprietary software • Gavin’s vision for precision health and more proactive, personalised healthcare • Why Facebook advertising is outperforming Google for Talo • Why successful paid social requires large amounts of creative testing and patience • Why founders need to give marketing channels enough time to learn before deciding they do not work Standout message As technology becomes easier to build, the competitive advantage moves away from the technology itself and towards the customer, the data, the distribution and the outcomes you can prove. That makes this a fascinating conversation not only about selling a business, but about what makes a business valuable in the first place. Feeling busy but stuck? Most founders I speak to feel busy but stuck. Plenty happening, but no real clarity on what matters most this quarter. Here’s what more than 500 interviews on this show have taught me: the founders who scale choose less, and deliver all of it. That’s what the G90 Summit is for. It’s a structured half-day where we cut through everything competing for your attention, agree the three to five things that must happen in the next 90 days, and build the rhythm to make sure they do. Quarterly, virtual, £97 a seat. Smart90.co.uk/summit And if you know somebody with an interesting ScaleUp story who would make a great guest for ScaleUp Radio, you can nominate them for a future episode. Scaling up your business isn't easy, and can be a little daunting. Let ScaleUp Radio make it a little easier for you. With guests who have been where you are now, and can offer their thoughts and advice on several aspects of business. ScaleUp Radio is the business podcast you've been waiting for. If you would like to be a guest on ScaleUp Radio, please click here: You can get in touch with Kevin here: Gavin can be found here: Resources: Built To Sell by John Warrillow - The E-Myth by Michael E Gerber - Asana - https://asana.com/ Wispr Flow - https://wisprflow.ai/ /episode/index/show/scaleupradio/id/42733035

Episode #641: From Founder Led to Systems Led: Building a Business That Can Scale Without You - with Jake Young 08/31/2026

Episode #641: From Founder Led to Systems Led: Building a Business That Can Scale Without You - with Jake Young What makes a business genuinely valuable? For many founders the answer isn't more customers, more turnover or even more profit. It's creating a business that can thrive without depending on them every single day. In this episode Kevin Brent is joined by entrepreneur, investor and business strategist Jake Young to explore why founder dependency is one of the biggest barriers to sustainable growth and successful exits. Jake shares the frameworks he uses with businesses ranging from ambitious SMEs through to organisations preparing for institutional investment and IPOs. From defining your end game through to building systems, governance and teams, this conversation is packed with practical advice for founders who want to scale with purpose. One standout message: You don't build a valuable business by making yourself indispensable. You build it by making the business work without you. In this episode we discuss Why founder liability destroys enterprise value Why you should define your end game before building your strategy The difference between founder led and systems led businesses Jake's Five Pillar "Four Walls" framework for building defensible businesses How the Delegation Matrix helps founders systematically let go Why focusing on outcomes beats micromanaging processes How governance becomes a competitive advantage as businesses grow Lessons from hospitality that apply to every growing business Key Takeaways Founder dependency is expensive If your business cannot operate without you, buyers see risk rather than value. Building systems rather than dependence increases both scalability and enterprise value. Start with the end in mind Whether your goal is an exit, legacy, acquisition or long term ownership, that destination should influence every major strategic decision. Build inside your Four Walls Jake explains his framework covering: Market Fit Brand Operating Model Profit Architecture Human Capital Together these create a business that competitors find difficult to copy. Delegate intelligently Use teachability versus business impact to decide what should leave your desk first. Delegation is not about lowering standards. It is about freeing founders to focus where they create the greatest value. About Jake Young Jake Young is an entrepreneur, investor and adviser with businesses spanning hospitality consultancy, governance, branding and consumer products. His portfolio includes: The FoodGuys Samari One of One Chaocello Across these ventures Jake focuses on helping organisations become scalable, investable and strategically valuable. Resources Find out more about Jake via LinkedIn. Discover more ScaleUp Radio episodes at smart90.co.uk. Most founders I speak to feel busy but stuck. Plenty happening, but no real clarity on what matters most this quarter. Here's what more than 500 interviews on this show have taught me: the founders who scale choose less, and deliver all of it. That's what the G90 Summit is for. A structured half day where we cut through everything competing for your attention, agree the three to five things that must happen in the next 90 days, and build the rhythm to make sure they do. Quarterly, virtual, £97 a seat. Visit Smart90.co.uk/summit. Scaling up your business isn't easy, and can be a little daunting. Let ScaleUp Radio make it a little easier for you. With guests who have been where you are now, and can offer their thoughts and advice on several aspects of business. ScaleUp Radio is the business podcast you've been waiting for. If you would like to be a guest on ScaleUp Radio, please click here: You can get in touch with Kevin here: Jake can be found here: Resources: Diary of a CEO Podcast - Alex and Leila Hormozi - Jocko Willink - The Agentic Enterprise by Martin Hofman - Novagentica - /episode/index/show/scaleupradio/id/42572910

Episode #640: Why smart leaders still make bad strategic decisions - with David Mansfield 08/24/2026

Episode #640: Why smart leaders still make bad strategic decisions - with David Mansfield Making decisions as a founder or leader is rarely about having perfect information. In this episode, Kevin Brent is joined by David Mansfield, strategist, board adviser and researcher into strategic decision making, to explore why so many intelligent leadership teams still make poor strategic choices and what business owners can do to dramatically improve the quality of their decisions. Drawing on doctoral research and decades of board experience, David explains why the process behind a decision matters far more than simply reaching an answer. He shares practical techniques that help leaders combine intuition with evidence, avoid common thinking traps and create greater buy in from their teams. One standout message from this episode is simple but powerful: Validate intuition with data, and validate data with intuition. In this episode you'll discover Why nearly half of strategic decisions fail despite being made by experienced leaders Why the way you make decisions is more important than the decision itself David's developing nine step framework for making better strategic decisions How to slow down decisions without slowing down your business Why founders often become victims of the qualities that made them successful The importance of challenging assumptions before committing to action Why communication can be the difference between success and failure at board level How to recruit advisers and non executives without creating long term governance problems Why every scaling business should invest in strategic finance earlier than they think The "Boat Rule" for keeping meetings focused on what really moves the business forward Why chasing every opportunity can become one of the biggest barriers to sustainable growth Key takeaways One of David's biggest lessons came from serving as a non executive director of Game Group, where concerns over cash flow were dismissed until the business eventually collapsed. Looking back, David realised that while the analysis was correct, the communication wasn't persuasive enough. That experience sparked years of research into how leaders actually make decisions under pressure. For founders, David highlights one recurring challenge. The resilience, determination and stubbornness needed to build a business can eventually become a weakness if it prevents leaders from listening to advice or recognising when circumstances have changed. He also makes a compelling case for building financial capability much earlier by progressing from bookkeeper, to fractional CFO, to full time finance director as the business grows. Clean financial information enables better decisions, stronger investor confidence and healthier growth. The one key thing Great strategic decisions aren't driven by instinct or data alone. The best leaders deliberately test each against the other before acting. About Smart90 Most founders I speak to feel busy but stuck. Plenty happening, but no real clarity on what matters most this quarter. Here's what more than 500 interviews on this show have taught me: the founders who scale choose less, and deliver all of it. That's what the G90 Summit is for. A structured half day where we cut through everything competing for your attention, agree the three to five things that must happen in the next 90 days, and build the rhythm to make sure they do. Quarterly, virtual, £97 a seat. Scaling up your business isn't easy, and can be a little daunting. Let ScaleUp Radio make it a little easier for you. With guests who have been where you are now, and can offer their thoughts and advice on several aspects of business. ScaleUp Radio is the business podcast you've been waiting for. If you would like to be a guest on ScaleUp Radio, please click here: You can get in touch with Kevin here: David can be found here: Resources: What They Don't Teach You at Harvard Business School by Mark McCormack - How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie - Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss - /episode/index/show/scaleupradio/id/42497765

Episode#639: Designing organisations that scale by putting people first - with Peter Rimmer 08/17/2026

Episode#639: Designing organisations that scale by putting people first - with Peter Rimmer Growing a business isn't just about strategy, systems or structure. As organisations grow, founders often discover that the biggest obstacle isn't the market. It's themselves. In this episode of ScaleUp Radio, Kevin Brent is joined by Peter Rimmer, founder of Tusk Consulting, to explore why scaling successfully requires founders to evolve alongside their businesses. Peter shares why organisation design should start with people rather than process, how founders can overcome the fear of letting go, and why creating a culture where both hiring and leaving are positive experiences is essential for long term growth. One standout message from the conversation: "The biggest barriers to growth are often the conversations leadership teams aren't having." In this episode we discuss: Why organisation design must combine strategy, operating model and human dynamics. The warning signs that your current business model has reached the end of its first growth curve. Why founders often struggle to let go of the approaches that originally made them successful. How to build the confidence to recruit for the business you want, not just the one you have today. The transition from being the person with all the answers to becoming a leader who enables others to think. How Nancy Klein's Thinking Environment helps leadership teams make better decisions together. Why culture should actively manage both successful recruitment and positive exits. How a clear Employee Value Proposition creates trust from day one. Why former employees can become some of your strongest ambassadors. Peter's own entrepreneurial journey from HR into organisation design consultancy. About Peter Rimmer Peter Rimmer is the founder of Tusk Consulting, a consultancy specialising in human first organisation design. Working primarily with charities, social enterprises and purpose led organisations ranging from around 50 to more than 5,000 employees, Peter helps leadership teams align strategy, structure and culture so organisations can grow sustainably. Rather than relying purely on data or process redesign, Peter focuses on the quality of leadership conversations and the human dynamics that ultimately determine whether strategy succeeds. The one key thing... Scaling doesn't require founders to have more control. It requires them to build the confidence to let go, develop others and create an organisation that can succeed without depending on them. Smart90 G90 Summit Most founders I speak to feel busy but stuck; plenty happening, but not always clear on what genuinely matters most this quarter. If that's you, the G90 Summit is worth a look. A structured half day where we work through everything competing for your attention, get clear on the three to five things that must happen in the next 90 days, then commit to them and build the system to make sure they actually happen. Quarterly, virtual and just £97 per seat. Find out more at Smart90.co.uk/summit. Connect If you enjoyed this episode, make sure you subscribe to ScaleUp Radio wherever you listen to podcasts. If you know someone with an inspiring ScaleUp story, we'd love to hear from them. You can nominate a future guest via the details in the ScaleUp Radio show notes. Scaling up your business isn't easy, and can be a little daunting. Let ScaleUp Radio make it a little easier for you. With guests who have been where you are now, and can offer their thoughts and advice on several aspects of business. ScaleUp Radio is the business podcast you've been waiting for. If you would like to be a guest on ScaleUp Radio, please click here: You can get in touch with Kevin here: Peter can be found here: Resources: Range by David Epstein - /episode/index/show/scaleupradio/id/42437835

Episode #638: ScaleUp Club - Seeds, Nets and Spears: Building Predictable Lead Generation 08/10/2026

Episode #638: ScaleUp Club - Seeds, Nets and Spears: Building Predictable Lead Generation Growing a business beyond founder-led sales is one of the biggest challenges many SMEs face. In this special ScaleUp Club edition of ScaleUp Radio, Kevin Brent is joined once again by returning guest Dhanushka Tennakoon from RE24 for an interactive Q&A session exploring one of the biggest questions facing growing businesses: How do you create a predictable flow of new opportunities instead of relying on referrals and hope? Alongside the discussion, Kevin also shares this month's AI Pulse update, covering one of the most talked about AI stories of recent weeks and what it means for business leaders. Whether you're approaching your first £1 million in turnover or looking to build a more scalable commercial engine, this session is packed with practical ideas you can implement immediately. In this episode AI Pulse: What happened when Anthropic's latest language model was reportedly withdrawn shortly after launch and what founders should take from the rapid pace of AI development. Why so many businesses become trapped by founder dependency. Understanding Aaron Ross's Seeds, Nets and Spears framework for predictable lead generation. Why referrals alone rarely create a scalable business. How targeted outreach can open entirely new markets. The importance of balancing new customer acquisition with growing existing client relationships. Why choosing the right niche can transform growth. How RE24 pivoted from multiple industries to becoming specialists in data centres. Practical advice for reducing reliance on founder-led sales. Live coaching with ScaleUp Club members on applying the framework to their own businesses. Key discussion points AI Pulse Kevin shares the latest developments from the AI world, including the reported security concerns surrounding Anthropic's latest model and what this tells us about the extraordinary pace of AI capability. Rather than simply chasing every new tool, founders should focus on understanding where AI can genuinely improve decision making, productivity and business performance. Seeds, Nets and Spears The central discussion explores Aaron Ross's well-known framework: Seeds High trust opportunities generated through referrals, introductions and existing relationships. Nets Scalable marketing activities including content, SEO, social media and broader awareness campaigns. Spears Highly targeted outreach aimed at carefully researched organisations where there is a strong strategic fit. The key message is that healthy businesses develop all three rather than relying on a single source of leads. Why niche matters Dhanushka shares RE24's journey from trying to serve multiple industries to focusing specifically on data centres. That decision created: a clearly defined customer profile faster buying decisions stronger market positioning more effective sales conversations predictable growth opportunities Rather than chasing every opportunity, focusing on one market allowed the business to build genuine expertise and competitive advantage. Live ScaleUp Club coaching A highlight of the session is the discussion with Paul Rhodes from Green Gorilla Automation. Like many growing businesses, sales currently depend heavily on the founder and warm introductions. Together, the group explores how carefully researched "Spears" could help create a more repeatable sales process while reducing founder dependency. Practical actions After listening, consider these three actions: Review where every lead has come from over the last six months. Categorise your activities into Seeds, Nets and Spears. Identify one repeatable activity within each category and commit to executing it consistently. One standout message Predictable growth doesn't come from doing more marketing. It comes from building a balanced system that consistently creates new opportunities. The one key thing If your pipeline depends mainly on referrals or the founder, your business isn't yet scalable. Creating a deliberate mix of Seeds, Nets and Spears is one of the fastest ways to build predictable growth. Smart90 Most founders I speak to feel busy but stuck; plenty happening, but not always clear on what genuinely matters most this quarter. If that's you, the G90 Summit is worth a look. A structured half day where we work through everything competing for your attention, get clear on the three to five things that must happen in the next 90 days, then commit to them and build the system to make sure they actually happen. Quarterly, virtual, £97 a seat. Smart90.co.uk/summit /episode/index/show/scaleupradio/id/42342975

Episode #637: ScaleUp Radio Shorts - Why focus beats hustle every time 08/07/2026

Episode #637: ScaleUp Radio Shorts - Why focus beats hustle every time Choose Less. Scale Better. Three founders. Three wake up calls. One lesson every business owner needs to hear. What do an authority strategist, a sales leader and an AI entrepreneur have in common? Far more than you might think. In this special edition of ScaleUp Radio Shorts, Kevin Brent and Louise Blunt reflect on three recent conversations with Erica Holthausen, Gulliver Burns and Lee Nazari. Despite completely different industries and experiences, all three arrived at the same conclusion: sustainable growth doesn't come from doing more. It comes from choosing less, focusing better and building the systems and trust that allow businesses to scale. Along the way they discuss burnout, delegation, profit, purpose, AI, authority and why execution beats endless learning every time. In this episode Why revenue without profit is one of the biggest traps founders fall into The hidden cost of chasing "more" instead of focusing on what matters Why authority beats endless content marketing The difference between learning and implementation How burnout forced both Gulliver Burns and Lee Nazari to completely rethink success Why trust and delegation sit at the heart of every scalable business How AI should challenge your thinking rather than replace it The importance of execution rhythms, deep work and disciplined focus One standout message The founders who scale don't do more. They choose less, then execute brilliantly. Key takeaway The businesses that grow sustainably are built on clarity rather than complexity. Profit matters more than turnover. Delegation matters more than control. Focus matters more than activity. Featured Episodes Erica Holthausen — Building authority without the content treadmill Gulliver Burns — From burnout to better business foundations Lee Nazari — Using AI to make recruitment more human If you haven't already listened to the full interviews, they're well worth adding to your playlist. Smart90 Most founders I speak to feel busy but stuck. Plenty happening, but no real clarity on what matters most this quarter. Here's what more than 500 interviews on this show have taught me: the founders who scale choose less, and deliver all of it. That's what the G90 Summit is for. A structured half day where we cut through everything competing for your attention, agree the three to five priorities that matter over the next 90 days, and build the rhythm to make sure they actually happen. Quarterly • Virtual • £97 per seat Find out more at Smart90.co.uk/summit About ScaleUp Radio ScaleUp Radio is hosted by Kevin Brent and brought to you by Smart90, sharing practical conversations with entrepreneurs and business leaders who have successfully scaled their businesses. This episode was produced with the aid of AI, with editorial review by the ScaleUp Radio team. /episode/index/show/scaleupradio/id/42345570

Episode #636: How Not to Scale: Why Revenue, Ego and Hustle Can Destroy Your Business - with Gulliver Burns 08/03/2026

Episode #636: How Not to Scale: Why Revenue, Ego and Hustle Can Destroy Your Business - with Gulliver Burns What happens when you build multiple multi-million-pound businesses... but almost lose yourself in the process? In this episode of ScaleUp Radio, Kevin Brent is joined by entrepreneur Gulliver Burns, who has experienced both extraordinary growth and devastating setbacks. From building a call centre with over 200 employees before the age of 25 to creating a multi-million-pound automotive business, Gulliver has learned the hard way that scaling without strong foundations comes at a significant cost. Rather than another success story, this conversation is a refreshing look at how not to scale a business. Gulliver shares why chasing revenue instead of profit, tying your identity to your business and growing without financial discipline can ultimately lead to burnout, poor decisions and unnecessary risk. The discussion also explores leadership, developing people, creating resilient systems and why the greatest investment a founder can make is often in themselves. One standout message "Revenue is vanity. Profit, cash flow and freedom are what actually allow a business to scale sustainably." In this episode you'll discover Why rapid growth without financial foundations often creates bigger problems instead of bigger businesses. The dangerous trap of measuring success by turnover, employee numbers and external recognition. Why every founder should build cash reserves before chasing further growth. How paying yourself properly creates long-term wealth rather than simply owning an expensive job. The importance of separating your personal identity from your business. Why emotional decisions cost founders millions. How to create a team that genuinely believes in the vision. Practical leadership techniques for motivating people every day. Why every conversation with a team member is an opportunity for coaching and development. How simple daily systems create consistency even in high-pressure sales environments. The importance of building leaders who can run the business without constant founder involvement. About Gulliver Burns Gulliver Burns is an entrepreneur, business mentor and speaker who has built and exited multiple seven-figure businesses. His entrepreneurial journey has included building one of Australia's largest telecommunications call centres before creating a highly successful automotive business through innovative digital marketing. Today he openly shares both the successes and failures from those experiences, helping founders avoid the common mistakes of scaling too quickly, neglecting financial fundamentals and allowing business success to define personal identity. Key Takeaways ✅ Slow down before you speed up. Scaling weak systems simply magnifies existing problems. ✅ Revenue doesn't equal success. Profit, cash flow and financial resilience are the real scorecard. ✅ Pay yourself properly. Your business should create personal wealth, not just impressive turnover. ✅ Build cash reserves. Financial buffers give founders choices during difficult periods. ✅ Don't let your business become your identity. Objective decisions become much easier when your self-worth isn't attached to business performance. ✅ Leadership is development. Every interaction with your team should help someone become better. ✅ Great businesses run on systems. Consistency, accountability and strong leaders create sustainable performance. The one key thing... Don't build a business that looks successful. Build one that actually creates freedom. G90 Summit Most founders I speak to feel busy but stuck; plenty happening, but not always clear on what genuinely matters most this quarter. If that's you, the G90 Summit is worth a look. A structured half-day where we work through everything competing for your attention, get clear on the three to five things that must happen in the next 90 days, then commit to them and build the system to make sure they actually happen. Quarterly, virtual, £97 per seat. Scaling up your business isn't easy, and can be a little daunting. Let ScaleUp Radio make it a little easier for you. With guests who have been where you are now, and can offer their thoughts and advice on several aspects of business. ScaleUp Radio is the business podcast you've been waiting for. If you would like to be a guest on ScaleUp Radio, please click here: You can get in touch with Kevin here: Gulliver can be found here: Resources Claude - Sabri Suby - /episode/index/show/scaleupradio/id/42264405

Episode #635: Can we still trust a CV in the age of AI? - with Lee Nazari 07/29/2026

Episode #635: Can we still trust a CV in the age of AI? - with Lee Nazari Artificial Intelligence has made applying for jobs easier than ever. It has also made it much harder for employers to identify the best candidates. In this episode of ScaleUp Radio, Kevin Brent speaks with entrepreneur Lee Nazari, founder of Interviewa, a platform using conversational AI and on camera interviews to help recruiters, universities and job seekers cut through the growing noise created by AI generated CVs. Following a life changing personal tragedy, Lee chose to build something with genuine purpose. The result is Interviewa, a business focused on creating fairer, faster and more authentic recruitment and admissions processes while helping candidates prepare for interviews with confidence. One standout message from this conversation is: "The CV is becoming less valuable. The conversation is becoming more valuable." Lee explains why businesses need to rethink how they assess talent and why execution, partnerships and data are becoming the real competitive advantages in an AI powered world. In this episode we discuss: Why AI generated CVs are creating huge challenges for recruiters How Interviewa uses conversational AI to screen every candidate through video interviews The importance of follow up questions and authentic conversations How anti cheat technology helps maintain interview integrity Why transparency builds trust when candidates know they are speaking with AI How universities are using Interviewa to improve admissions and student employability The new AI Job Consultant helping people identify career opportunities they may never have considered How one recruitment agency achieved a 25 times return on investment using Interviewa Why execution is now a stronger competitive advantage than simply having a good idea Building defensibility through partnerships, proprietary data and compliance Lessons in leadership, delegation and trusting great people Why every business owner now needs AI literacy About Lee Nazari Lee Nazari is the Founder of Interviewa, an AI powered interview platform transforming recruitment, university admissions and interview preparation. Interviewa combines conversational AI, intelligent screening and personalised interview summaries to help organisations make better hiring decisions while giving candidates a fairer opportunity to demonstrate their potential. The one key thing The businesses that win with AI will not simply automate existing processes. They will redesign them around better conversations, faster decisions and stronger human outcomes. Smart90 Most founders I speak to feel busy but stuck. Plenty is happening but it is not always clear what genuinely matters most this quarter. If that sounds familiar, the G90 Summit is worth a look. It is a structured half day virtual workshop where we work through everything competing for your attention, identify the three to five priorities that will have the biggest impact over the next 90 days, then build the system to make sure they actually happen. Quarterly, virtual and just £97 per seat. Find out more at Smart90.co.uk/summit. Scaling up your business isn't easy, and can be a little daunting. Let ScaleUp Radio make it a little easier for you. With guests who have been where you are now, and can offer their thoughts and advice on several aspects of business. ScaleUp Radio is the business podcast you've been waiting for. If you would like to be a guest on ScaleUp Radio, please click here: You can get in touch with Kevin here: Lee can be found here: /episode/index/show/scaleupradio/id/42179575

Episode #634: Why Your Content Isn't Winning Clients and What to Do Instead - with Erica Holthausen 07/27/2026

Episode #634: Why Your Content Isn't Winning Clients and What to Do Instead - with Erica Holthausen Most business owners know they should be creating content. Yet many find themselves stuck on a relentless treadmill of blogs, social posts and newsletters that consume huge amounts of time without generating meaningful opportunities. In this episode of ScaleUp Radio, Kevin Brent is joined by Erica Holthausen, founder of Catchline Communications, to challenge one of the biggest assumptions in modern marketing: that more content equals more business. Erica argues that authority doesn't come from publishing more. It comes from having a clear point of view, writing with conviction and building a body of work that demonstrates genuine expertise. Drawing on her own journey from attorney to marketing strategist and writer, Erica explains why founders should stop chasing algorithms and instead create fewer, more valuable pieces of content that position them as the obvious expert in their field. Along the way they explore why narrowing your focus actually creates more opportunity, how founders can avoid hiding behind marketing instead of selling, and why AI should enhance your thinking rather than replace it. One standout message from this episode: Your perspective is your greatest competitive advantage. AI can imitate information, but it cannot replicate your lived experience, judgement or point of view. In this episode you'll discover Why the traditional content marketing model often fails founder-led businesses. The difference between content marketing and a genuinely content-driven business strategy. How creating less content can produce significantly better commercial results. Why your unique perspective builds authority faster than generic expertise. What Erica calls the "Credibility Chasm" and how founders can bridge it. Why narrowing your niche is often the fastest route to growth. How writing becomes a powerful business development tool rather than simply a marketing activity. Why many founders unconsciously use content creation to avoid having sales conversations. How to use AI intelligently without losing your authentic voice. The daily habits Erica uses to produce consistently high-quality work. Key Takeaways Stop running on the content treadmill Many founders have been taught that success comes from publishing constantly across multiple platforms. Erica believes this approach creates exhaustion rather than authority. Instead of producing endless content simply to stay visible, invest your time creating thoughtful pieces that demonstrate genuine expertise and create lasting value. Quality consistently beats quantity. Your perspective is your real differentiator Expertise alone is rarely enough. The businesses that stand out have a distinctive point of view on the problems they solve. By identifying the industry assumptions you disagree with and confidently presenting a better way, you create trust, memorability and stronger client relationships. This is something AI simply cannot manufacture. Cross the Credibility Chasm Many founders win their first clients through personal relationships and referrals. However, scaling beyond those early adopters requires a different level of authority. Erica explains how businesses often become trapped by taking work that isn't quite aligned with where they want to be, gradually building the wrong reputation. The solution is to become known for one thing exceptionally well. As Kevin shares from analysis of more than 300 ScaleUp Radio interviews, the most consistent theme among genuinely differentiated businesses is a willingness to narrow their focus. Writing should support business development Rather than publishing content simply to attract attention, use it to strengthen existing relationships and create meaningful conversations. A well-written article can: Demonstrate expertise. Nurture prospects. Give clients confidence. Open sales conversations. Reinforce your positioning. Content should support revenue generation, not become an end in itself. Action beats endless learning One of the biggest barriers to growth is confusing learning with progress. Founders often consume books, podcasts and courses while delaying the difficult work of speaking to prospects or implementing new ideas. Knowledge only creates value when it's applied. AI is an editor, not the author Erica isn't anti-AI. She simply believes it should support human thinking rather than replace it. Use AI to: Edit. Challenge assumptions. Improve clarity. Test ideas. Don't ask AI to generate your original thinking. Your insights and experience remain your biggest competitive advantage. Erica's ScaleUp Story Erica's career has taken an unusual path. Beginning as an attorney, she moved into nonprofit marketing before building a successful freelance writing business and eventually founding Catchline Communications. A pivotal project involved helping consultant Roger Dunn reposition his business from an implementation provider to a trusted strategic adviser. That experience fundamentally changed Erica's thinking about writing. She realised the real value wasn't producing content. It was helping experts change how the market perceived them. Today she works with founders, consultants and experts who want to become recognised authorities in their field. Books and Resources Mentioned Essentialism by Greg McKeown A practical guide to focusing on what matters most through the disciplined pursuit of less. Deep Work by Cal Newport The inspiration behind Erica's daily commitment to two hours of uninterrupted focused work. OnePageCRM A deliberately simple CRM that keeps business development focused on taking the next action. The One Key Thing Stop trying to be everywhere. Become known for something. Authority isn't built through volume. It's built through clarity, consistency and the confidence to share a distinctive point of view. About Erica Holthausen Erica Holthausen is the founder of Catchline Communications, where she helps consultants, founders and subject matter experts use strategic writing to build authority, differentiate themselves and attract higher-value opportunities. Her approach replaces high-volume content marketing with thoughtful, perspective-led writing that strengthens reputation and supports business growth. Smart90 Most founders I speak to feel busy but stuck; plenty happening, but not always clear on what genuinely matters most this quarter. If that's you, the G90 Summit is worth a look. It's a structured half day where we work through everything competing for your attention, get clear on the three to five things that must happen in the next 90 days, then commit to them and build the system to make sure they actually happen. Quarterly, virtual and just £97 per seat. Find out more at Smart90.co.uk/summit. Don't miss future episodes If you enjoyed this conversation, subscribe to ScaleUp Radio wherever you get your podcasts. And if you know someone with an inspiring ScaleUp story, we'd love to hear from you. Details on how to nominate a future guest are available in the show notes. Scaling up your business isn't easy, and can be a little daunting. Let ScaleUp Radio make it a little easier for you. With guests who have been where you are now, and can offer their thoughts and advice on several aspects of business. ScaleUp Radio is the business podcast you've been waiting for. If you would like to be a guest on ScaleUp Radio, please click here: You can get in touch with Kevin here: Erica can be found here: Resources: Essentialism by Greg McKeown - Deep Work by Cal Newport - Steal Like An Artist by Austin Kleon - OnePage CRM - /episode/index/show/scaleupradio/id/42179380

Episode #633: ScaleUp Radio Shorts: AI, Hidden Costs and Getting Back to Your Zone of Genius 07/24/2026

Episode #633: ScaleUp Radio Shorts: AI, Hidden Costs and Getting Back to Your Zone of Genius What do artificial intelligence and cost optimisation have in common? At first glance, not much. But when Kevin Brent and Louise Blunt compare two recent ScaleUp Radio interviews, a clear theme emerges. Whether you're using AI to remove administration or reviewing supplier contracts to eliminate unnecessary costs, the goal is exactly the same: Freeing founders to spend more time doing what only they can do. In this ScaleUp Radio Shorts episode, Kevin and Louise explore the practical lessons from conversations with Julie Begbie, founder of the AI Confidence Club, and Ryan Olson from ERA Group, uncovering how better systems create more time, more profit and better businesses. In this episode you'll discover: Why most business owners still aren't getting the best from AI How to create an AI "Business Brain" that produces content in your own voice Why AI should replace admin, not the work you genuinely love doing How to identify your own Zone of Genius and spend more time there The million-dollar donut story and what it teaches about supplier relationships A simple three-step framework for finding hidden profit in your business Why delegation without monitoring quickly becomes abdication How unconscious bias affects recruitment and limits growth Why scaling successfully starts with recognising your own limitations One standout message Scaling isn't about doing more. It's about removing everything that stops you doing what matters most. Key takeaway The biggest opportunities to improve your business are often already there. AI can give you back valuable time, while reviewing operational costs can release cash that's already inside your business. Together, they allow founders to focus on the work that creates the greatest value. Resources mentioned AI Confidence Club Julie Begbie's AI Super Sheet ERA Group Gallup StrengthsFinder Greg McKeown's Essentialism About Smart90 Most founders I speak to feel busy but stuck. Plenty is happening, but it's not always clear what genuinely matters most this quarter. If that's you, the G90 Summit is worth a look. It's a structured half-day where we work through everything competing for your attention, identify the three to five priorities that matter over the next 90 days, then build the accountability and execution system to make sure they happen. Quarterly, virtual, £97 per seat. Visit Smart90.co.uk/summit to find out more. ScaleUp Radio Shorts is hosted by Kevin Brent and Louise Blunt and is brought to you by Smart90. This episode was produced with the aid of AI, with final editing and review by the ScaleUp Radio team. /episode/index/show/scaleupradio/id/42194785

Episode #632: Using AI to Build a Happier, Smarter Business - with Julie Begbie 07/22/2026

Episode #632: Using AI to Build a Happier, Smarter Business - with Julie Begbie Can AI actually make your business happier? Many business owners hear about AI and immediately think about efficiency, automation or replacing people. Julie Begbie takes a very different view. Her philosophy is simple. AI should remove the work you don't enjoy so you can spend more time doing the work that gives you energy. That creates a happier founder, a better customer experience and ultimately a stronger business. In this episode Julie shares practical ways any SME owner can start using AI without becoming a technology expert, whilst also explaining how to build systems that genuinely support business growth. One standout message from our discussion: "AI isn't here to replace your people. It's here to free your people to do more human work." In this episode we discuss Why every business needs an AI "Super Sheet" before expecting good AI results How AI becomes another member of your team rather than just another piece of software The simple daily habits that consistently grow visibility and audiences Why founders should spend more time in their Zone of Genius Using AI to improve delegation and hiring decisions Building systems that support scale instead of creating more work The importance of giving AI context before expecting quality output Practical rules around confidentiality and protecting sensitive business information Common misconceptions that stop business owners getting started with AI The AI Super Sheet One of Julie's biggest recommendations is creating what she calls an AI Super Sheet. Rather than starting every prompt from scratch, the Super Sheet becomes the business brain behind every AI conversation. It includes: Your products and services Your ideal customer Your brand voice Your values Your unique difference Your offers Frequently asked questions Common customer problems Instead of repeatedly explaining your business, AI already understands how you work, who you serve and how you communicate. The result is dramatically better outputs, faster content creation and far more consistent messaging. AI as another team member Julie encourages business owners to think about AI exactly as they would a new employee. A new recruit cannot perform well without onboarding. Neither can AI. Once you've given it context, clear instructions and feedback, it becomes an incredibly scalable member of the team. It can: Draft marketing content Produce first drafts Help create systems Build job descriptions Assist with planning Support customer communication Leaving your human team free to focus on creativity, relationships and higher-value activities. Daily habits that compound Julie is a big believer in consistency over intensity. Rather than spending one afternoon every few weeks on marketing, she recommends simple daily habits. Her AI-generated weekly content framework includes: Monday Behind-the-scenes stories that build trust. Tuesday Questions that encourage audience engagement. Wednesday Short educational videos explaining what you do. Thursday Clear calls to action. Friday Testimonials and social proof. Combined with just 10 to 30 minutes of daily audience-building activity, these habits create consistent long-term growth. Scaling through delegation Julie also shared her "Skills for Scale" thinking. Many founders accidentally become the bottleneck because they continue doing work they have simply become good at rather than work only they can do. She recommends defining your true Zone of Genius before deciding: What AI should handle What should be delegated to people What only the founder should retain Interestingly, Julie follows exactly the same delegation process whether assigning work to AI or another employee. Responsible AI Julie also addressed two common concerns. Confidentiality Never upload anything you wouldn't be comfortable discussing on a public train. Where confidential material is involved, anonymise names and sensitive information before using AI. She also recommends turning off model training where AI platforms allow this. Environmental impact Julie explained that a typical AI prompt uses roughly similar electricity to boiling a kettle or watching around an hour of Netflix. While AI does consume energy, understanding the context helps business owners make informed decisions. The one key thing Treat AI like a team member, not a magic tool. Give it context, train it properly and it becomes one of the most scalable assets in your business. About Julie Begbie Julie Begbie helps small business owners confidently use AI to simplify marketing, automate repetitive work and build happier businesses through practical, accessible systems. Her AI Confidence Club provides ready-made AI tools, templates and coaching designed specifically for non-technical business owners. Smart90 Most founders I speak to feel busy but stuck; plenty happening, but not always clear on what genuinely matters most this quarter. If that's you, the G90 Summit is worth a look. A structured half-day where we work through everything competing for your attention, get clear on the three to five things that must happen in the next 90 days, then commit to them and build the system to make sure they actually happen. Quarterly, virtual, £97 a seat. Smart90.co.uk/summit Scaling up your business isn't easy, and can be a little daunting. Let ScaleUp Radio make it a little easier for you. With guests who have been where you are now, and can offer their thoughts and advice on several aspects of business. ScaleUp Radio is the business podcast you've been waiting for. If you would like to be a guest on ScaleUp Radio, please click here: You can get in touch with Kevin here: Resources: Streamyard - Zoom/Teams but with addition of an A.I. transcription service. Julie can be found d here /episode/index/show/scaleupradio/id/42128665

Episode #631: The Million-Dollar Donut: How Hidden Costs Are Holding Back Your Growth - with Ryan Olson 07/20/2026

Episode #631: The Million-Dollar Donut: How Hidden Costs Are Holding Back Your Growth - with Ryan Olson What happens when a successful corporate executive decides he wants more control over his future? After 22 years at Intel, Ryan Olson had built an impressive career leading business development teams, managing global partnerships and helping create a billion-dollar pipeline. But two rounds of corporate layoffs became the catalyst for a very different path. In this episode of ScaleUp Radio, Ryan shares how he transitioned from corporate leadership into business ownership through the ERA Group franchise, helping mid-sized businesses uncover hidden costs, improve profitability and free up cash for growth. One of the strongest insights from this discussion is that many businesses focus relentlessly on generating more revenue while overlooking significant opportunities to improve profit through smarter cost management. Along the way, Ryan shares the memorable "million-dollar donut" story, explains why franchise ownership appealed more than launching a startup from scratch, and reveals some of the hidden expenses many businesses fail to spot. In this episode: Ryan's journey from Intel to entrepreneurship Spending 22 years building a successful corporate career at Intel Managing global teams and strategic partnerships Why two layoffs changed his perspective on career security Deciding to pursue entrepreneurship through a franchise model Lessons learned about building credibility outside a major global brand Why Ryan chose a franchise model The appeal of a proven system and established methodology Access to marketing support, technology and training Building a business while reducing startup risk The long-term value of creating a saleable asset Why the ERA Group mission resonated personally Understanding the ERA Group model Helping businesses optimise operational expenses Working primarily with companies between £8m and £250m turnover A contingent fee structure that aligns incentives Only getting paid when savings are successfully delivered Creating win-win outcomes for clients The power of specialist expertise Leveraging a network of over 1,000 consultants worldwide Accessing deep category specialists across multiple industries Collaborating rather than competing within the franchise network Delivering expertise beyond a single consultant's background Hidden costs that impact business growth The million-dollar donut freight story Why supplier relationships sometimes hide inefficiencies Insurance cost optimisation opportunities Technology subscriptions for employees who have already left Missed warranty reimbursement revenue The importance of regularly reviewing supplier contracts Ryan's practical 3-step approach to cost optimisation Know your spend Audit vendors, contracts and payment terms Understand exactly where money is going Focus on high-impact opportunities Prioritise one or two categories first Concentrate effort where returns are greatest Monitor and verify results Ensure negotiated savings are actually realised Build ongoing accountability into the process Key Takeaways Growth isn't always about increasing revenue; improving profitability often starts with understanding existing costs. Hidden expenses frequently exist in long-standing supplier relationships. External expertise can uncover opportunities internal teams simply don't have time to investigate. Franchise ownership can provide an attractive route into entrepreneurship through proven systems and support. Cost optimisation creates additional cash that can be reinvested into strategic growth initiatives. One Key Thing The quickest route to improved cash flow is often not finding more customers but uncovering the costs hiding in plain sight inside your existing business. About Ryan Olson Ryan Olson is a Cost Optimisation Consultant with ERA Group. Following a 22-year corporate career at Intel, he transitioned into entrepreneurship through the ERA Group franchise model. Ryan helps mid-sized businesses identify hidden costs, improve profitability and unlock cash that can be reinvested into growth. About ERA Group ERA Group helps organisations improve profitability through operational cost optimisation. Using a performance-based fee structure, the business works with clients to identify, validate and implement sustainable cost savings across a wide range of expenditure categories. Scaling up your business isn't easy, and can be a little daunting. Let ScaleUp Radio make it a little easier for you. With guests who have been where you are now, and can offer their thoughts and advice on several aspects of business. ScaleUp Radio is the business podcast you've been waiting for. If you would like to be a guest on ScaleUp Radio, please click here: You can get in touch with Kevin here: Resources Libby - What happens when a successful corporate executive decides he wants more control over his future? After 22 years at Intel, Ryan Olson had built an impressive career leading business development teams, managing global partnerships and helping create a billion-dollar pipeline. But two rounds of corporate layoffs became the catalyst for a very different path. In this episode of ScaleUp Radio, Ryan shares how he transitioned from corporate leadership into business ownership through the ERA Group franchise, helping mid-sized businesses uncover hidden costs, improve profitability and free up cash for growth. One of the strongest insights from this discussion is that many businesses focus relentlessly on generating more revenue while overlooking significant opportunities to improve profit through smarter cost management. Along the way, Ryan shares the memorable "million-dollar donut" story, explains why franchise ownership appealed more than launching a startup from scratch, and reveals some of the hidden expenses many businesses fail to spot. In this episode: Ryan's journey from Intel to entrepreneurship Spending 22 years building a successful corporate career at Intel Managing global teams and strategic partnerships Why two layoffs changed his perspective on career security Deciding to pursue entrepreneurship through a franchise model Lessons learned about building credibility outside a major global brand Why Ryan chose a franchise model The appeal of a proven system and established methodology Access to marketing support, technology and training Building a business while reducing startup risk The long-term value of creating a saleable asset Why the ERA Group mission resonated personally Understanding the ERA Group model Helping businesses optimise operational expenses Working primarily with companies between £8m and £250m turnover A contingent fee structure that aligns incentives Only getting paid when savings are successfully delivered Creating win-win outcomes for clients The power of specialist expertise Leveraging a network of over 1,000 consultants worldwide Accessing deep category specialists across multiple industries Collaborating rather than competing within the franchise network Delivering expertise beyond a single consultant's background Hidden costs that impact business growth The million-dollar donut freight story Why supplier relationships sometimes hide inefficiencies Insurance cost optimisation opportunities Technology subscriptions for employees who have already left Missed warranty reimbursement revenue The importance of regularly reviewing supplier contracts Ryan's practical 3-step approach to cost optimisation Know your spend Audit vendors, contracts and payment terms Understand exactly where money is going Focus on high-impact opportunities Prioritise one or two categories first Concentrate effort where returns are greatest Monitor and verify results Ensure negotiated savings are actually realised Build ongoing accountability into the process Key Takeaways Growth isn't always about increasing revenue; improving profitability often starts with understanding existing costs. Hidden expenses frequently exist in long-standing supplier relationships. External expertise can uncover opportunities internal teams simply don't have time to investigate. Franchise ownership can provide an attractive route into entrepreneurship through proven systems and support. Cost optimisation creates additional cash that can be reinvested into strategic growth initiatives. One Key Thing The quickest route to improved cash flow is often not finding more customers but uncovering the costs hiding in plain sight inside your existing business. About Ryan Olson Ryan Olson is a Cost Optimisation Consultant with ERA Group. Following a 22-year corporate career at Intel, he transitioned into entrepreneurship through the ERA Group franchise model. Ryan helps mid-sized businesses identify hidden costs, improve profitability and unlock cash that can be reinvested into growth. About ERA Group ERA Group helps organisations improve profitability through operational cost optimisation. Using a performance-based fee structure, the business works with clients to identify, validate and implement sustainable cost savings across a wide range of expenditure categories. Scaling up your business isn't easy, and can be a little daunting. Let ScaleUp Radio make it a little easier for you. With guests who have been where you are now, and can offer their thoughts and advice on several aspects of business. ScaleUp Radio is the business podcast you've been waiting for. If you would like to be a guest on ScaleUp Radio, please click here: You can get in touch with Kevin here: Resources Libby - What happens when a successful corporate executive decides he wants more control over his future? After 22 years at Intel, Ryan Olson had built an impressive career leading business development teams, managing global partnerships and helping create a billion-dollar pipeline. But two rounds of corporate layoffs became the catalyst for a very different path. In this episode of ScaleUp Radio, Ryan shares how he transitioned from corporate leadership into business ownership through the ERA Group franchise, helping mid-sized businesses uncover hidden costs, improve profitability and free up cash for growth. One of the strongest insights from this discussion is that many businesses focus relentlessly on generating more revenue while overlooking significant opportunities to improve profit through smarter cost management. Along the way, Ryan shares the memorable "million-dollar donut" story, explains why franchise ownership appealed more than launching a startup from scratch, and reveals some of the hidden expenses many businesses fail to spot. In this episode: Ryan's journey from Intel to entrepreneurship Spending 22 years building a successful corporate career at Intel Managing global teams and strategic partnerships Why two layoffs changed his perspective on career security Deciding to pursue entrepreneurship through a franchise model Lessons learned about building credibility outside a major global brand Why Ryan chose a franchise model The appeal of a proven system and established methodology Access to marketing support, technology and training Building a business while reducing startup risk The long-term value of creating a saleable asset Why the ERA Group mission resonated personally Understanding the ERA Group model Helping businesses optimise operational expenses Working primarily with companies between £8m and £250m turnover A contingent fee structure that aligns incentives Only getting paid when savings are successfully delivered Creating win-win outcomes for clients The power of specialist expertise Leveraging a network of over 1,000 consultants worldwide Accessing deep category specialists across multiple industries Collaborating rather than competing within the franchise network Delivering expertise beyond a single consultant's background Hidden costs that impact business growth The million-dollar donut freight story Why supplier relationships sometimes hide inefficiencies Insurance cost optimisation opportunities Technology subscriptions for employees who have already left Missed warranty reimbursement revenue The importance of regularly reviewing supplier contracts Ryan's practical 3-step approach to cost optimisation Know your spend Audit vendors, contracts and payment terms Understand exactly where money is going Focus on high-impact opportunities Prioritise one or two categories first Concentrate effort where returns are greatest Monitor and verify results Ensure negotiated savings are actually realised Build ongoing accountability into the process Key Takeaways Growth isn't always about increasing revenue; improving profitability often starts with understanding existing costs. Hidden expenses frequently exist in long-standing supplier relationships. External expertise can uncover opportunities internal teams simply don't have time to investigate. Franchise ownership can provide an attractive route into entrepreneurship through proven systems and support. Cost optimisation creates additional cash that can be reinvested into strategic growth initiatives. One Key Thing The quickest route to improved cash flow is often not finding more customers but uncovering the costs hiding in plain sight inside your existing business. About Ryan Olson Ryan Olson is a Cost Optimisation Consultant with ERA Group. Following a 22-year corporate career at Intel, he transitioned into entrepreneurship through the ERA Group franchise model. Ryan helps mid-sized businesses identify hidden costs, improve profitability and unlock cash that can be reinvested into growth. About ERA Group ERA Group helps organisations improve profitability through operational cost optimisation. Using a performance-based fee structure, the business works with clients to identify, validate and implement sustainable cost savings across a wide range of expenditure categories. Scaling up your business isn't easy, and can be a little daunting. Let ScaleUp Radio make it a little easier for you. With guests who have been where you are now, and can offer their thoughts and advice on several aspects of business. ScaleUp Radio is the business podcast you've been waiting for. If you would like to be a guest on ScaleUp Radio, please click here: You can get in touch with Kevin here: Resources Libby - Ryan can be found here Email: /episode/index/show/scaleupradio/id/42128625

Episode #630: ScaleUp Radio Shorts - Humaning, Tech, and True Focus: Lessons from Melissa Thornley and Vicki Ayton 07/17/2026

Episode #630: ScaleUp Radio Shorts - Humaning, Tech, and True Focus: Lessons from Melissa Thornley and Vicki Ayton In this edition of ScaleUp Radio Shorts, Kevin Brent and Louise Blunt reflect on two fascinating conversations with leadership expert Melissa Thornley and social entrepreneur Vicki Ayton. Although their businesses couldn't be more different, both guests arrive at remarkably similar conclusions. Sustainable growth isn't driven by working harder or adopting the latest technology. It's built by developing better leaders, creating resilient teams, maintaining genuine human connection, and focusing attention on what matters most. From emotional intelligence and feedback cultures to AI, climate resilience and practical productivity systems, this episode explores what founders should really be investing in as they scale. In this episode You'll discover: Why trying to do everything yourself is one of the biggest barriers to scaling The importance of emotional intelligence alongside artificial intelligence Why managing your attention is far more important than managing your time How resilient businesses are built through resilient people Practical ways to build accountability without creating blame Why community, collaboration and purpose create stronger organisations How technology should support human judgement rather than replace it Why writing things down can still outperform another productivity app The role of kindness and self-compassion in high-performing teams One standout message "Wherever your AI skills are, your emotional intelligence needs to be at the same level." It's a simple reminder that as technology accelerates, the businesses that thrive will still be the ones that communicate well, build trust and genuinely understand people. The one key takeaway Technology may improve efficiency, but people create sustainable growth. Invest in leadership, relationships and focus first. About our guests Melissa Thornley is a leadership and emotional intelligence consultant who helps organisations develop resilient leaders, stronger communication and healthier workplace cultures across industries ranging from manufacturing to emergency services. Vicki Ayton is the founder of BizEd Projects, a Community Interest Company helping communities improve digital inclusion, employability, environmental resilience and local skills development. Resources mentioned Emotional Intelligence (EI) Artificial Intelligence tools including ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini Focused Space virtual co-working Smart90 G90 Summit Smart90 Most founders we speak to feel busy but stuck. Plenty is happening, but it's not always clear what genuinely matters most this quarter. If that's you, the G90 Summit is worth a look. It's a structured half-day session where we work through everything competing for your attention, identify the three to five priorities that will move your business forward over the next 90 days, then build the systems and accountability to make sure they actually happen. Quarterly, virtual and just £97 per seat. Find out more at Smart90.co.uk/summit. Produced with the aid of AI This episode of ScaleUp Radio Shorts was researched, structured and produced with the aid of artificial intelligence, with editorial review and final approval by the ScaleUp Radio team. /episode/index/show/scaleupradio/id/42116245

Episode #629: Why Resilience is the Missing Link in Accountability - with Melissa Thornley 07/15/2026

Episode #629: Why Resilience is the Missing Link in Accountability - with Melissa Thornley ScaleUp Radio Show Notes Melissa Thornley: Why Resilience is the Missing Link in Accountability What if the reason accountability isn't sticking in your business has nothing to do with performance management and everything to do with resilience? In this episode of ScaleUp Radio, Kevin Brent is joined by Melissa Thornley, leadership coach, consultant and founder of Melissa Thornley Consulting. Melissa works with leaders operating in high-stakes environments including emergency services, government agencies, manufacturing, construction and technology businesses. Her mission is simple but powerful: helping people improve "how we human together". Drawing on more than 20 years in the film and advertising industry, including leading teams through significant organisational change, Melissa shares why resilience and accountability are inseparable, why self-compassion is an underrated leadership skill and how leaders can create stronger, more accountable teams through better conversations. In this episode: Why accountability and resilience are two sides of the same coin The shift from time management to attention management How self-awareness helps leaders make better decisions under pressure Why asking "What happened?" creates better accountability than asking "Why?" A simple framework for giving effective feedback The importance of assuming positive intent in your team Why self-compassion creates stronger leaders than self-confidence alone How emotional intelligence becomes even more important in the age of AI Practical techniques for managing energy, focus and resilience Lessons from leading through change and conflict Melissa's journey Melissa spent more than two decades working in film and advertising, including twelve years at an international editing company. At the age of 34, she found herself managing a business, navigating complex change and handling team conflict with little formal leadership training. Working with an executive coach transformed her approach. The frameworks and support she received became the catalyst for a complete career change. Since launching her consultancy in 2013, Melissa has built a thriving business almost entirely through referrals and community relationships. Practical leadership tools from Melissa Focus on attention, not time Rather than trying to manage every minute of the day, Melissa encourages leaders to manage their attention. Regularly checking in on your energy levels and identifying the next best use of your time creates better results than simply working harder. Assume good intent Most people come to work wanting to do a good job. Starting from this assumption changes the quality of conversations and reduces unnecessary conflict. Replace "Why?" with "What?" When something goes wrong, asking "Why did you do that?" often creates defensiveness. Instead ask: What happened? What was challenging? What got in the way? What support would have helped? These questions create learning rather than blame. Use the 1-2-3 feedback loop Melissa's simple review framework: What worked? What would we do differently? What should we stop doing? Used consistently, this creates continuous improvement without complexity. AI requires EI As artificial intelligence becomes more embedded in our organisations, Melissa believes emotional intelligence must develop alongside it. Empathy, resilience, communication, conflict resolution and assertiveness remain critical human capabilities. The more technology advances, the more valuable these distinctly human skills become. One key takeaway Resilience is not something you need after accountability fails. Resilience is what makes accountability possible in the first place. Standout quote "Self-compassion is a more useful foundation for growth than self-confidence because confidence is built through action, while self-compassion allows us to keep moving when things don't go to plan." Scaling up your business isn't easy, and can be a little daunting. Let ScaleUp Radio make it a little easier for you. With guests who have been where you are now, and can offer their thoughts and advice on several aspects of business. ScaleUp Radio is the business podcast you've been waiting for. If you would like to be a guest on ScaleUp Radio, please click here: You can get in touch with Kevin here: G90 Summit Most founders I speak to feel busy but stuck; plenty happening, but not always clear on what genuinely matters most this quarter. If that's you, the G90 Summit is worth a look. A structured half-day where we work through everything competing for your attention, get clear on the three to five things that must happen in the next 90 days, then commit to them and build the system to make sure they actually happen. Quarterly, virtual, £97 a seat. Melissa can be found here: Bonus Download Page - Resources: Permission To Feel by Marc Brackett - Ten Percent Happier Podcast - Focused Space - /episode/index/show/scaleupradio/id/42033125

Episode #628: Bridging Research, Digital Skills and Community Impact - with Vicki Ayton 07/13/2026

Episode #628: Bridging Research, Digital Skills and Community Impact - with Vicki Ayton What happens when academic research, climate resilience, digital inclusion and community development all collide? In this episode of ScaleUp Radio, Kevin Brent is joined by Vicki Ayton, Founder of BizEd, a Community Interest Company (CIC) that exists to bridge the gap between research and real-world community impact. What started as a response to a local library closure has evolved into a growing community hub delivering digital inclusion support, climate resilience education, research projects and policy work across Shropshire and beyond. Vicki shares the realities of building a sustainable CIC, the challenges of balancing commercial income with social impact, and why digital skills are now fundamental to both business success and community resilience. In This Episode From Research to Real Impact Vicki explains how her background in climate and environmental research highlighted a common challenge: excellent research often fails to reach the people who need it most. BizEd was created to translate knowledge into practical support for communities and businesses. A pivotal moment came when the local council approached BizEd to replace services lost when a library closed due to RAAC concrete concerns. That request became the catalyst for creating a physical community hub. Why BizEd Chose a CIC Structure One of the most fascinating discussions centres around the decision to become a Community Interest Company rather than a charity. Vicki explains: Why financial resilience matters for community organisations How BizEd generates 60–70% of its income through trading activities The dangers of becoming overly reliant on grant funding How organisations can lose community trust when grant-funded projects disappear The CIC model provides greater flexibility to trade and generate sustainable income, helping create long-term impact rather than short-term projects. The CIC Catch-22 The conversation highlights a significant challenge faced by many social enterprises. While CICs are encouraged to trade and become self-sustaining, they are often excluded from support programmes available only to registered charities. Examples include: Free software licences Digital infrastructure grants Technology support programmes Meanwhile, charities often have access to these benefits but face restrictions on how much income they can generate through trading activities. It's a structural challenge that many social enterprises continue to face. Climate Resilience is a Business Issue Climate change is no longer a future concern. Vicki explains why businesses need to focus on resilience today, including: Managing disruption caused by extreme weather Protecting supply chains Supporting employee wellbeing during heatwaves Preparing for changing customer and community needs Rather than focusing solely on sustainability, businesses must also prepare for adaptation and resilience. Digital Skills are Now Essential A major theme throughout the conversation is the importance of digital capability at every level. Vicki breaks digital skills into three areas: Foundation Skills Email Online services Digital communication Accessing information safely Workplace Skills Productivity software Collaboration tools Digital workflows Data management Advanced Skills Artificial Intelligence AI risk management Data analysis Automation opportunities She also highlights the growing overlap between green jobs and digital capability, where data and technology skills are becoming increasingly valuable. Why Young People May Hold the AI Advantage For many small businesses, hiring experienced AI specialists isn't realistic. Vicki argues that younger people often bring natural AI fluency and experimentation skills that SMEs can benefit from immediately. For owner-managers looking to improve productivity, younger team members may already hold valuable expertise that businesses are overlooking. Building Community Hubs That Actually Work One of BizEd's biggest lessons is that community needs rarely exist in isolation. Someone seeking digital support may also need: Benefits advice Banking assistance Employment support Access to other local services Vicki shares her vision for integrated community hubs that bring multiple services together under one roof, making support more accessible and effective. Productivity Tools and Personal Effectiveness Despite operating in a highly digital world, Vicki's favourite productivity tool is surprisingly simple. Her trusted Busy Bee physical diary remains the cornerstone of her planning system. The discussion explores: Why writing things down improves thinking Managing the overlap between work and home life The importance of finding tools that suit your working style BizEd itself takes a tool-agnostic approach, using Trello, Notion, Planner and other platforms depending on team and client preferences. The focus is on removing barriers to collaboration rather than enforcing a single system. The One Key Thing Building sustainable impact requires balancing purpose with commercial reality. The organisations that create lasting change are the ones that develop the resilience to generate income while staying true to their mission. Standout Quote "Digital skills are no longer optional. They are the foundation of resilience for individuals, communities and businesses alike." About Vicki Ayton Vicki Ayton is the Founder of BizEd, a Community Interest Company focused on climate resilience, digital inclusion, research translation and community impact. Through education, community engagement and policy work, BizEd helps bridge the gap between knowledge and practical action. Scaling up your business isn't easy, and can be a little daunting. Let ScaleUp Radio make it a little easier for you. With guests who have been where you are now, and can offer their thoughts and advice on several aspects of business. ScaleUp Radio is the business podcast you've been waiting for. If you would like to be a guest on ScaleUp Radio, please click here: You can get in touch with Kevin here: G90 Summit Most founders I speak to feel busy but stuck; plenty happening, but not always clear on what genuinely matters most this quarter. If that's you, the G90 Summit is worth a look. A structured half-day where we work through everything competing for your attention, get clear on the three to five things that must happen in the next 90 days, then commit to them and build the system to make sure they actually happen. Quarterly, virtual, £97 a seat. Vicki can be found here: Resources: The Good Growth Podcast - David Gallagher on Substack - Jenny Anderson on Substack - BusyB Diaries - Trello - Notion - Monday - Google Meet - /episode/index/show/scaleupradio/id/42032765

Episode #627: ScaleUp Radio Shorts - Burnout, Boundaries and Better Businesses 07/10/2026

Episode #627: ScaleUp Radio Shorts - Burnout, Boundaries and Better Businesses In this episode of ScaleUp Radio Shorts, Kevin Brent and Louise Blunt bring together three powerful conversations from recent ScaleUp Radio guests: Dan Glyde, Megan Robinson and Sam Eaton. Whilst their businesses are very different, they all arrived at remarkably similar conclusions about what it really takes to build a business that grows sustainably. From avoiding burnout to empowering your team and creating systems that scale, this episode is packed with practical ideas you can implement straight away. In this episode we discuss: Why founders should think of themselves as cognitive athletes How burnout often arrives long before we recognise it Why people pleasing damages both relationships and business performance Setting boundaries that improve focus and client expectations Megan Robinson's approach to taming the "Advice Monster" Why asking three questions is often better than giving one answer How empowering managers creates better leaders Sam Eaton's counterintuitive advice to build an unscalable business first Why simple systems outperform complicated ones How scorecards and ownership create accountability The leadership transitions every growing business must navigate Why treating employees as career partners builds stronger businesses Key Takeaways • Sustainable growth starts with looking after yourself before your business. • Great leaders ask more questions than they answer. • Boundaries aren't selfish. They create better service, better focus and better decisions. • The strongest businesses are often built on simple, repeatable systems rather than complexity. • As your business grows, your leadership style has to evolve with it. The One Key Thing... Scaling isn't about doing more. It's about creating the habits, systems and leadership that allow your business to grow without burning you or your team out. Mentioned in this episode Dan Glyde – Positive Masculinity Megan Robinson – eLeader Experience Sam Eaton – MindAbility Consultancy If you enjoyed these insights, make sure you also listen to each of the full-length interviews where we explore their stories in much greater depth. Most founders I speak to feel busy but stuck; plenty happening, but not always clear on what genuinely matters most this quarter. If that's you, the G90 Summit is worth a look. A structured half-day where we work through everything competing for your attention, get clear on the three to five things that must happen in the next 90 days, then commit to them and build the system to make sure they actually happen. Quarterly • Virtual • £97 per seat Find out more at Smart90.co.uk/summit Know someone with an inspiring ScaleUp story? We'd love to hear from them. Visit ScaleUp Radio to nominate a future guest. This episode of ScaleUp Radio Shorts was produced with the aid of AI. /episode/index/show/scaleupradio/id/42031845

Episode #626: Closing The Leadership Expectation Gap - with Megan Robinson 07/08/2026

Episode #626: Closing The Leadership Expectation Gap - with Megan Robinson Why do so many talented managers struggle when they step into leadership roles? It's a challenge that affects businesses of every size. High performers are often promoted because they're brilliant at what they do, yet they're rarely given the skills, tools, or support needed to lead people effectively. In this episode of ScaleUp Radio, Kevin Brent speaks with Megan Robinson, Founder of eLeader Experience, about what she calls the "Leadership Expectation Gap" and why it is costing organisations far more than they realise. Megan shares how businesses can move leaders from being stuck in the weeds to becoming influential people developers who create stronger teams, better performance and higher retention. In this episode: Why leadership and management are not the same thing The hidden cost of promoting technical experts into leadership roles without support Why poor leadership can account for significant revenue loss How a coaching-first approach develops leaders rather than simply training them The importance of moving from giving answers to asking better questions Why influence is the true measure of leadership The practical habit that can instantly improve your leadership effectiveness Lessons from scaling a coaching business beyond founder capacity Why pricing for future growth matters from day one The Leadership Expectation Gap Many businesses promote their best salesperson, engineer or technical specialist into management. The problem? Success as an individual contributor requires a completely different skill set from success as a leader. Without support, managers often continue doing the work themselves rather than developing their people. They become trapped in day-to-day operations, limiting both team performance and business growth. Megan explains how this expectation gap contributes to employee turnover, disengagement and significant financial costs for organisations. Developing Leaders, Not Just Training Them Megan founded eLeader Experience with a mission to make leadership development accessible to everyone. Her approach combines the depth of executive coaching with the structure of leadership training through a flexible blend of workshops, group coaching and one-to-one support. The goal is simple: Develop leaders who can think, influence and empower others rather than simply complete tasks. Stop Feeding the Advice Monster One of the most practical insights from this conversation comes from Michael Bungay's concept of the "Advice Monster". Many leaders believe they add value by providing answers. The reality is often the opposite. By immediately offering solutions, leaders reduce accountability, limit team growth and miss opportunities to uncover the real issue. Megan shares a simple challenge: Ask at least three questions before giving advice. This creates better conversations, develops critical thinking and empowers people to take ownership of their own solutions. The One Key Thing The one key thing from this episode is that leadership is influence, not expertise. The moment leaders stop trying to have all the answers and start asking better questions is the moment their teams begin to grow. A Standout Quote "Leadership is influence. Nothing more, nothing less." This simple principle underpins Megan's entire approach and provides a powerful framework for anyone looking to become a more effective leader. Megan's ScaleUp Essentials Book Recommendation American Icon by Bryce G. Hoffman - Podcast Recommendation The Look and Sound of Leadership - Technology Recommendation HubSpot - Zapier - Client Acquisition Strategy Relational networking and meaningful conversations. No magic formula. No shortcuts. Just building genuine relationships. About Megan Robinson Megan Robinson is the Founder of eLeader Experience, helping organisations develop leaders through a coaching-first approach that combines leadership training, executive coaching and practical development programmes. Megan can be found here Smart90 and the G90 Summit Most founders I speak to feel busy but stuck; plenty happening, but not always clear on what genuinely matters most this quarter. If that's you, the G90 Summit is worth a look. A structured half-day where we work through everything competing for your attention, get clear on the three to five things that must happen in the next 90 days, then commit to them and build the system to make sure they actually happen. Quarterly, virtual, £97 a seat. Smart90.co.uk/summit Connect To learn more about ScaleUp Radio, nominate a future guest or explore further resources, visit Smart90.co.uk. Make sure you subscribe to ScaleUp Radio wherever you listen to podcasts so you never miss an episode. /episode/index/show/scaleupradio/id/41934610

Episode #625: Why Authentic Leadership Starts With Looking After Yourself - with Daniel Glyde 07/06/2026

Episode #625: Why Authentic Leadership Starts With Looking After Yourself - with Daniel Glyde What happens when the very traits that helped you succeed become the ones that push you towards burnout? In this episode of ScaleUp Radio, Kevin Brent sits down with Daniel Glyde, founder of Positive Masculinity, to explore how business owners and leaders can build sustainable success by developing a healthier relationship with themselves first. Daniel shares his personal journey from BBC producer to coach, following a severe burnout and panic attack in 2018. His experience led him to challenge the traditional expectations many men place on themselves and ultimately build a business focused on helping men create authentic identities, stronger self-belief and healthier lives. The conversation explores why so many founders fall into people-pleasing, perfectionism and overwork, and how setting boundaries can actually improve performance, leadership and business growth. In this episode: Daniel's journey from burnout to business owner How years of emotional suppression and people-pleasing led to chronic anxiety and burnout The wake-up call that forced him to reassess his priorities Why putting yourself first is not selfish but essential Understanding Positive Masculinity Daniel's framework is built around three core principles: Know yourself Be yourself Love yourself Together these help men develop an authentic identity based on values rather than external validation. The hidden cost of people-pleasing Daniel explains the difference between: Being kind and supportive Saying yes when you really mean no He shares why many founders unintentionally create stress, resentment and poor performance by failing to establish healthy boundaries. Building a business through community Daniel has created a three-level business model: A free WhatsApp community with weekly accountability and support A paid mastermind programme focused on peak performance Premium one-to-one coaching helping clients overcome procrastination, perfectionism and self-doubt What leaders can learn from authenticity The discussion explores: Why vulnerability builds trust The power of saying "I don't know" How leaders can model healthier behaviours for their teams Creating cultures that support wellbeing without sacrificing performance Daniel's non-negotiables for peak performance 8+ hours sleep 30+ minutes meditation daily 30+ minutes walking daily 2+ hours of genuine rest every day Daniel can be found here Books that shaped Daniel's thinking Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself – Dr Joe Dispenza - The Power of Now – Eckhart Tolle - A Return to Love – Marianne Williamson - Conversations with God – Neale Donald Walsch - Technology helping Daniel scale Daniel uses Claude AI extensively for research, content creation and automating parts of his outreach process. - The one key thing Many founders believe they need to sacrifice themselves to build a successful business. Daniel argues the opposite. Sustainable growth starts when you stop abandoning your own needs and begin leading from a place of authenticity, energy and self-respect. Standout Quote "Your business can only grow sustainably to the extent that you look after yourself." Smart90 Most founders I speak to feel busy but stuck; plenty happening, but not always clear on what genuinely matters most this quarter. If that's you, the G90 Summit is worth a look. A structured half-day where we work through everything competing for your attention, get clear on the three to five things that must happen in the next 90 days, then commit to them and build the system to make sure they actually happen. Quarterly, virtual, £97 a seat. Smart90.co.uk/summit /episode/index/show/scaleupradio/id/41931600

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