The business lessons Britain’s top entrepreneurs want you to know

When you’re busy building a business, the amount of decisions you need to make can often feel overwhelming.
 
Suddenly, you’re expected to be an expert in every aspect of your business’ operations, from finance to marketing, and everything in between. 
 
One of the best ways to learn can be to hear from those who’ve already walked that path. Which is why Help to Grow: Management Essentials brings together case studies from some of the UK’s top entrepreneurs, like Ben Francis of GymShark and Darina Garland from Ooni. 
 
In a series of interviews – interspersed with bite-sized lessons on the foundations of creating and growing a small business – they share their best advice for those starting out, and the things they wish they’d known along the way.  

From growing a business to investing in your people, here's a round-up of some of their words of wisdom… 

Every successful business needs to start with clarity about what it offers, and the gap it fills. Ooni founders Darina Garland and Kristian Tapaninaho discovered theirs in the kitchen. “We knew we could make pizza that tastes ok at home, but wanted to be able to make pizza that tastes like it would in Italy or even our local pizzeria,” says Darina. Kristian worked out the missing ingredient was heat: proper pizza needs a super-high temperature, and the ovens on the market that could deliver it were large, impractical for the home and expensive. “He couldn't believe there was nothing smaller,” Darina explains. “He saw this gap in the market, not just something he wanted for us, but ‘why does this not exist?’ and thought, ‘I'm going to invent it.’"

Martin McKay founded TextHelp, a literacy and dyslexia software developer, in Northern Ireland in 1994, inspired by his father losing the ability to speak after a stroke. What began as assistive technology for stroke and MND patients grew into a product helping people read, write and communicate with confidence. Three decades on, TextHelp is now known as Everway and supports over 250 million customers, with more than 500 employees worldwide.  

For them, growth meant looking beyond home shores. “If you want to grow a decent sized business in Northern Ireland you have to export,” Martin says. After expanding into Scotland and the wider UK, the company set its sights on the US. “It took seven years of really consistent effort to break even over time in the US. I can remember a couple of times thinking about withdrawing from the market... but 20 years later we're the clear number one.”  

Making a success of new markets takes operations, finances and management that are fit for growth, which is why the Help to Grow: Management Essentials course also covers the business support available, including from government agencies. 

Great marketing can only take you so far. When South Wales brewery Tiny Rebel set out to build a national brand, the team knew quality had to come first. “You can have amazing branding but if you've got a rubbish pint, no one will go back for a second one or a third one,” says Chief Finance Officer Hannah Williams, who stresses the importance of exceeding expectations at every stage of the customer journey. Co-founder Gazz Williams agrees consistency is everything: “It takes a long time to build that trust in people and for them to keep coming back, but it's very quick to lose it. It could take five years to build it and a week to lose it.” 

However big your team, looking after your people matters, and several entrepreneurs on the course say creating a sense of inclusion and belonging is crucial to growth. “We try and approach everything with a culture-first mentality,” says Ben Francis, co-founder and CEO of fitness clothing brand Gymshark. “There isn't a one size fits all approach to people management... we tailor support to each individual, empowering managers through training to help support their teams.” 

Martin McKay of TextHelp (now Everway) agrees people make or break a business: “You need to invest in people, develop your staff, develop yourself... you've got to give your people a career path and a reason to come to work in the morning.” 

At Mackies, MD Stuart Common takes a similar view: “We could have the very, very best products in the world but if we don't have the right people working in the right way then our products will never get to the markets that we want them to get to.”  

It's tempting to spend on customer-facing elements like flashy marketing, but neglecting the behind-the-scenes basics, such as digital infrastructure, can be costly. Gymshark learned this the hard way when its website crashed on Black Friday in 2015, costing around $150,000 in lost sales.  

“It's all well and good having a great brand and a great product, but without a proper, robust tech system, with genuine operations that can go and ship those products and fulfil what we’ve agreed with the customer everything is useless,” says Ben Francis. “If you've got a super strong front end and no back end, you'll have what happened to us in 2015, where things will fall over. It's really important that you invest in the back end of your business.” 

Knowing your data, and which parts of it matter most, helps you spot problems before they escalate. Ben Francis has his key metrics sent to him every week, so warning signs are caught early. “You need to understand the key metrics that truly, truly drive the business because then […] you can get down to the nitty gritty and understand the real detail of the business just by looking at some key numbers, and that’s really important because then you can see red flags early. If you really understand these metrics then you know the issues you should be looking in to.” 

What links all these stories is that none of these businesses got where they are by accident. Whether it was spotting a gap no one else had filled, riding out a tough market, or changing direction when customers moved on, each founder made deliberate choices and kept learning as they grew.  

To see the full interviews and learn more about how you can build a business fit for the future, sign up to the Help to Grow: Management Essentials course here.