SyndicateRoom recently published a report titled Top 100: Britain’s Fastest-Growing Businesses that profiles the UK’s 100 fastest-growing companies on the basis of the way they have built value over the past three years. It is based on data from independent research agency, Beauhurst.
These firms were ranked by valuation increase over a three-year period, the companies in this report are some of the most promising scale-up businesses in the UK, and they’re doing some remarkable things, from redefining our relationship with money to literally recreating the sun’s power on Earth. Together, they span 12 sectors, employ 10,200 people and generate £605,945,417 in revenue.
We asked what pieces of advice the people behind the Top 100 would give to entrepreneurs aiming to make the list next year. This is what they had to say.
Kris Naudts, CEO and Founder, The Culture Trip:
‘Don’t expect growth overnight – that’s a key piece of insight. This will not happen if you’re at day one, it will not happen at day 365. Whatever you know will be challenged as you go along your journey, and it’ll take time. In this kind of nimble startup space, you just need to allow for a little bit of time to figure it out. And the time you lose, you will more than recoup from the learnings.’
Gary Steele, Chairman, HiLight Semiconductor:
‘Oh dear, that is a tricky one! I guess it’s a mixture of a lot of things. You need to get a great team, the right finances and be lucky with the market. But it’s also down to patience and leadership, and the faith and trust you hope to inspire.
‘My mum gave me a poem when I first went to university – If by Rudyard Kipling. I don’t
suppose it was written for entrepreneurs, but the advice is quite applicable. In fact, I was recently asked to do some entrepreneur training. I think I’ll base my presentation on the poem. It sums up a lot of the things that I consider important for success.’
Zack Sabban, CEO and Co-founder, Festicket:
‘Whatever the market, whatever the product, always create value for customers. Whether you’re operating in the consumer or B2B space, this is crucial. That’s where you’re going to differentiate yourself as a fast-growing, successful business. For us it was about improving the music festival booking experience, and we’ve created this product by continually coming back to the end user.’
Dan Vahdat, CEO and Co-founder, Medopad:
‘Be patient and just keep surviving until you thrive. Work hard and hire the best people. You have to be resilient and develop a good product, and the breakthrough will come.
‘It took us a lot of time and effort to get where we are now and we had to constantly adjust
to our partners’ and customers’ demands so that we could create the right product for their needs.’
Nic Gorini, CEO and Co-founder, Jools Drinks:
‘Focus on the business. I’ve seen fellow entrepreneurs get distracted during the growth period and it doesn’t end well. I truly believe that if you focus on the business, then fundraising becomes a natural addition to it and evolves.’
Alister Rollins, CEO and Founder, MoveGB:
‘Go slow to go fast. Take your time. If your concepts are strong, you’ll make it big. Make sure you’re systematically building a machine when you build your startup. Put gas into it and make it work.’
Peter Behrens, COO and Co-founder, RateSetter:
‘Have very simple, definable goals so you know exactly what you’re trying to accomplish, and then do everything within your power to execute that plan. Simplicity is everything.’
Jonny Nicol, CEO and Founder, Stratajet:
‘Everybody knows if you’re going to do a startup, you’ve got to be dedicated. However, I believe that dedication is not enough – you have to go fully into obsession. You need to be so involved that nothing can stop you. I believe that this old adage is true: it’s impossible to fail at something if you don’t give up. I look back over the past six and a half years, and admit that any sane person would have thrown in the towel! But it has been worth it and my advice to other entrepreneurs is: don’t let anything else get in the way.
