Date: 31 May 2023
Author: David Hall, Beverley Park Homes
Many entrepreneurs run out of steam after 10 to 15 years. The UK is still in uncertain economic times following Brexit and COVID with productivity levels amongst the lowest in Europe.
The good news is that one solution to these issues is to find and unleash the entrepreneurial talent within a business. This can revitalise the business’s fortune.
This has been pioneered in several businesses in an FEO Pilot programme and the results have been very encouraging. Projects successfully completed include;
• Partnering to create new clients and with key suppliers
• Creating new business
• Reducing costs and improving cash flow and profits.
• Business development/sales
• Performance management
• Developing systems and processes
The key is finding and liberating the entrepreneurial talent within your business, with the business owner giving key individuals the time and support to deliver, bring best practice from outside the business to create solutions, and inject energy and pace into the process.
Case Study 2023
Trudy Youngs – Beverley Park Homes
I have 25 years’ experience working within global businesses providing services which include Customer service, distribution/warehouse, exporting, pre-press artwork production, global brand management, on-line workflow management.
I am passionate about leading teams with effective communication, clear goals, respect, trust and ambition. I have demonstrated this on large scale projects. Delivering company initiatives on time, on budget and with exceptional teamwork.
KEY SKILLS: Communication, team leadership and people management, process improvement, developing client relationships.
I have always had a passion for new business and change. I have racked my brains over the years to have my own business, however the idea has not presented itself.
I took a risk back in 2021 to work with David Hall on a smaller business. This was to be the start of working together and my hope at the time was to be part of creating a new business.
After a short year of providing the business with full visibility of finance and a clear process I left to Join David to work with him over his two larger businesses, Minster Leisure homes and Beverley Park Homes. I was placed in the business to start to build a foundation to grow.
David introduced me to the FEO team and the opportunity to present myself and a project with the support of the team - Unleashing the entrepreneur within
My Project is Performance management
Why - My vision for the business when joining was to have a team dedicated to managing the full supply chain including sales with clear goals and objectives, tracking performance KPI's.
My position in the company has played an important part (sitting on the outside of the business looking in ), having no emotional ties with the team David had worked with for the past 6 years allowed me to make business decisions on change within the structure. First steps. This is an ongoing process as the business is developing and the teams responsibilities are changing we are finding the staff may have the knowledge however they may not have the ability to truly drive and lead the business. My lack of industry knowledge although can be a weakness in some cases has also been a strength to open up more ‘why’ discussions.
Process/Workflow
Working with our key partner Zoho we now have a CRM to manage sales and ERP (resource planning tool) - As the business has changed dramatically over the past 6 months the processes have also changed - this has been and continues to be a challenge however each week we are making the right steps on improving the processes to support the changes.
Managing some of the key changes :
• Merged both businesses in February 23
• Product change
• Tupe'd Staff over
• Provided Contracts for all staff
• Provided job Descriptions
• In the process of extending factory at Tickton to manage increased production of a more standard product
• Employed a Sales Director
• Some difficult staff decisions made and executed
• Improved our service to the customer providing credit facility
Data
We are starting to gain momentum with the data gathering and visibility of all activities/costs - we are working on next actions in the business to ensure we have more accurate data to work with, such as timings on the shop floor.
Major priority was understanding our financial status - We now have more visibility of costs which is overseen by our NOW Financial director, with a monthly meeting scheduled and a budget plan in-progress to be closely monitored.
Closely man managing the data on outputs provided some quick wins with stabilizing production within the Minster site - this was a start to on-board the production managers with responsibility and ownership of lost time.
Structuring a purchasing department has provided immediate focus on savings on materials. we now have full BOM within the system to manage.
The journey is longer than I maybe expected with this project however both myself and David know we are on the right road to successfully having full visibility with clear goals and responsibilities for each department. I have a deadline to have the KPI's in place and running for the end of the year.
We have recognized recently the time is now to work on our Mission, Vision and strategy in more detail to share with the business which we understand is key to supporting the above.
During the process I have attended the Unleashing the entrepreneur within This has helped me to stay focused and take on good advice from all parties.
I have reached out to Lloyd Atkin from Bio D who provided me with some good insight on a factory visit I have gained support from One-Point regarding sales - More of these activities with other manufacturing Companies would be beneficial. If I ever thought I do not have time for the off-site I have soon changed my mindset - going out of the work place and been surrounded by positive input has been invaluable.
My final review/presentation of my project took place on on the 17th May 2023 and both myself and David attended. The project is not complete, however I was in a position to share the progress and outcome so far and I expect I will keep these valuable contacts I have gained through this process for the rest of my career which has to be one of the main benefits.
My understanding from Davids point of view is having a right hand person to trust rely on to be honest and drive change for the needs of the business and its future (to not always agree).
David Hall comments
There is no doubt that Trudy has made a huge difference to my companies, to have someone that I trust 100% by my side has been and will always be one of the most important aspects to me. I have gained an awful lot through the FEO over the years and now to see a key member of the team also benefiting is amazing. FEO was always something that I went off to do on my own, this was fine for my personal development but when it comes to the support required to implement this level of structure in a growing business then Unleashing the entrepreneur program could not have come along at a better time. Hope this way of thinking can be expanded on by FEO over the coming years.
Great work Trudy as always and a big thank you to Martin Lauer and team FEO.
