Scaleup programmes
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BizSmart
Leadership Capacity
Impact for scaleups
81
Scaling businesses supported in 2024
£1.8m
finance raised
28%
average profit increase 12 months after programme
36%
won new procurement contracts
Key sectors
BizSmart gives scaling business owners the tools they need to navigate their growth journey, increasing profits and value while also making their businesses easier to manage. Its structured Scaleup system – Flight Academy – is tailored to business needs, focusing on the major challenges to scaling identified by the ScaleUp Institute.
SmartBoards, its structured flagship service provides peer-to-peer business support in scaling up. Bringing together six participants from diverse backgrounds and non-competing sectors, it provides a structured framework to enhance leadership capability, strategic focus, and execution. The programme is built around Smart90, a 90-day planning cycle that fosters accountability and consistency. There are two levels: The Leader’s Edge SmartBoard, which helps leaders adopt a Managing Director mindset and drive results through others, and The CEO Mastery SmartBoard, an exclusive mastermind group and coaching programme for established business owners. Monthly sessions focus on key ScaleUp Pillars, with members identifying challenges, engaging in spotlight discussions, and committing to clear actions that drive measurable progress. Additionally, learning is supplemented through an online platform offering over 30 modules and 80 supporting video tutorials, while an online software is available to participants to track progress, align team members and capture plans.
In the past year, BizSmart has supported 81 scaling business leaders, increasing their confidence, leadership capacity and ambition and now provides it’s Smart90 quarterly productivity and engagement service as a standalone service, supported by bespoke Smart90 software to drive productivity and engagement through focus, joint responsibility and individual accountability. Active users of Smart90 have shown a 7 fold greater net profit growth than average over the last 12 months. Furthermore, 63% of the participants have identified new markets or products, 18% have started to export, and 36% secured new procurement contracts; while they have raised £1.8 million in finance.
BizSmart is primarly supporting businesses based in Worcestershire but has developed a franchise model with expansion into Gloucestershire and Birmingham. Additionally, BizSmart is collaborating with accountants to integrate its 90-day planning approach and Smart90 software into their client networks, expanding the reach of its programmes while enhancing accountants’ business advisory capacity. Its ScaleUp Radio podcast has now achieved 44,500 downloads and has featured interviews with over 400 scaleup founders since December 2022.
