The Truth About Scaling

From global expansion to maintaining an entrepreneurial culture when your once-lean team hits 100 – June’s SME XPO was packed with vital advice from the hard-won experience of founders and business leaders across all sectors.

Growing internationally is tough, exhausting, and full of mistakes - but also deeply rewarding when grit and strategy pay off.

Talking on a stage about ‘Going Global - launching into new markets and territories around the world’, Founder of Elite Business, Scott English, kept it real: “You will make mistakes, no matter how much research you do. But it’s about energy. Going international takes resource, and you need to fully commit. Be prepared to fly thousands of miles, get jet lagged, and put your life and soul into it.”

David Golding, Head of Global Innovation Partnerships at Innovate UK, said the Government-backed body can help entrepreneurs ease the complexity: 

Tim Harris from Lumon, a currency specialist that supports thousands of SMEs expanding abroad, underlined the hidden hurdles. “Cash flow is one of the biggest challenges we see. Businesses transact in multiple currencies and FX losses can be a killer. Forecasting becomes harder in new markets. We always advise: build a plan and know your exposures.”

Another key feature from this year’s Expo - which attracted over 4000 visitors - was how personal and founder-focused brands are having to become. Ishveen Jolly, founder of Serena Williams-backed sports marketing tech firm OpenSponsorship, said:

“Two years ago, barely 15% of FTSE 100 CEOs were posting on LinkedIn. Now it’s 85% and many are posting sweaty running videos. We live in a world of image. It’s performative, but it’s the norm. You have to be the face of the brand"

She stressed discipline. “Running a company is a process. Creativity gets you started, but everything - hiring, fundraising, marketing - is scientific. Accelerators really helped me to learn: here’s what outreach looks like, this is what asking for referrals looks like, this is what the first meeting should look like.”

Marine Tanguy, founder of MTArt Agency, warned scaling-up can be personally tough. “As a single founder, you carry the financial worries alone. You can’t tell your team, can’t panic your board. You have to show up in comms and pitch while you're losing sleep. But you get better at it. Mental health matters. I didn’t know how to look after my mental health at 25. I came close to burnout a few times. Now I know better.”

Jack Smith, CEO of Love Finance, was adamant that data analytics were vital for successful scaling, and offered the simple metaphor that he follows in his fast-growing firm, which deploys tens of millions of pounds every month to SMEs:

Julie Chen, who is aiming to grow her bamboo toilet roll firm The Cheeky Panda to a £50 million business, said the biggest challenge now is internal alignment. “We’ve scaled fast. Now we’ve got senior managers from different backgrounds, and it can slow decision-making. So as CEO, I’ve got to be very clear on our mission, and lay out a framework so the team can make aligned decisions quickly.”

Nathan Reed, founder of MEGA Events, hammered the point home: “Delegation isn’t enough. You have to attract and retain responsible, capable people. And then build dashboards. You can’t be everywhere, but if your reporting is tight, you’ll know if things are going off track.”

The ultimate takeaway was, as OpenSponsorship’s Jolly put it:

“Lead with purpose. Make sure your product has something unique. And be prepared to show up, in every way.”