Address
21 York Place, Leeds LS1 2EX
50 Liverpool Street, London, EC2M 7PY
Phone:
0113 220 6550
It’s tough out there. We know this; and the reason we do, is because we speak to company owners and business leaders every day. In any economic environment, finding the right solutions and exploring options is crucial for early-stage growth businesses as well as more established players.
At Flint Hyde, we understand the complex challenges that come with scaling a business, and whilst we champion leadership talent placements, we also believe that our advisory services can offer invaluable support.
We asked Associate Director of Consumer, James Murray, for his thoughts on the importance of advisory and seeking expert advice for businesses on the growth journey:
“A few years ago, I asked a CEO who was exiting an SME that he had helped build what he would have done differently if he had his time again – ‘I’d have armed myself with advisors far earlier in our growth instead of trying to carve out the perfect role for someone and not committing to it.’ It’s totally understandable for a growing business to do this, it’s hard to know what the right next hire is. It’s costly, both financially and if it isn’t the right hire. You really don’t know if that CFO or CMO or Head of Talent for that matter is exactly the right hire for the business right now.”
It’s understandable for a growing business to face uncertainty about the next hire. The financial and strategic costs of a wrong hire can be significant, and determining if a specific role such as CFO, CMO, or Head of Talent is the right fit can be daunting. This is where working with advisors makes a profound difference. Advisors bring a wealth of experience, having navigated similar challenges and growth trajectories. As James puts it:
“The advantage of working with advisors is they have probably been there and done it and made those mistakes or taken those risks before. Maybe they took a business from £5m to £50m, maybe they are an industry veteran who knows the challenges of the global market, maybe they simply have a black book of retail contacts or are just a fantastic marketer with some capacity to advise you.”
At Flint Hyde, we encourage businesses to reach out even when they are uncertain about their next steps. Our role is to listen to your challenges and growth aspirations and connect you with advisors who can help. James shares an instance where a client hesitated to call due to lack of a clear brief. However, a simple conversation about their challenges led to a solution:
“As a business, you don’t always need to be certain about what hire you want to make next, you can simply come and talk to us about what challenges you are facing or how you would like to grow, and we can introduce you to people who can help. I know a client of mine who didn’t want to call me because they weren’t sure of the exact skills they needed, they didn’t have a job description and a clear brief and didn’t want to look like they didn’t know their business; thankfully, they picked the phone up and a more general chat inevitably led to discussing this challenge and how we could help solve it.”
The benefits of seeking advisory support are evident in the success stories of our clients. As James illustrates:
“In the next two weeks, I have three advisors going in to spend some time with the founders of three growing businesses. They are all very different; I suspect one may join the business in a non-exec capacity, one will remain as an advisor, and one will probably be too senior for what the client really needs but is happy to explore options. All those individuals will help those founders move forward, but the meetings are only happening because the founders approached us and said, ‘I’m not sure where to go with this, can we have a chat about it…'”
The journey of growth doesn’t have to be a solitary one. At Flint Hyde, we are here to support you in figuring things out and managing the complexities of scaling your business, ensuring you have the right talent, advice and resources at every step.