6 Factors limiting SMEs from achieving their financing ambition.

In the world of business funding, startups appear to be well catered for through angel networks, crowdfunding campaigns, pitching competitions and more. Private and Corporate investors are keen to tap into new skill and innovation that would expand their own profitability and productivity. Great news for startups - but things start to change when these businesses "reach development capital stage – with a viable, revenue- generating concept and a clear line of sight to profitability.  Business owners struggle to raise capital to fund business growth," says Alison Coleman, a business writer with a keen interest in the growth of startups, [...]

2018-06-18T12:29:03+00:00 June 18th, 2018|News, SME Growth|0 Comments
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Building a sustainable SME business through effective Corporate Governance

SMEs represent the backbone of the UK economy. In fact, many economies globally. They are positive about growth, they are planning for growth, and they're focussing on long-term business success. And when we look at some of the latest statistics coming from the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, it is clear that SME business is strong, and isn't going anywhere, in a hurry. There were a record 5.7 million private sector businesses at the start of 2017. This is an increase of 197,000 since 2016, and 2.2 million more than in 2000. The number of employing businesses increased by [...]

2018-06-05T09:05:56+00:00 June 5th, 2018|News, SME Growth|Comments Off on Building a sustainable SME business through effective Corporate Governance
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Amidst a British economy slow-down, 2 major growth opportunities continue to boom.

As the news breaks on the results of the first quarter of UK growth, with economists fearing that Britain’s economy is losing momentum as growth falls to just 0.1% - the weakest since 2012, the blame game begins. Some blame the snow, some blame the government. Some blame a lack of funding support for emerging SMEs while others simply wallow in their economical slump and stagnation. The Guardian reports that the consumer has played a leading role in the significant slowdown of the services sector in the UK, with the considerable drop of services output and contribution to GDP growth [...]

2018-05-21T08:55:12+00:00 May 21st, 2018|News, SME Growth|Comments Off on Amidst a British economy slow-down, 2 major growth opportunities continue to boom.
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The SME powerhouse: The industries driving the British economy

In a recent blog post, we discuss the phenomenon that is the Brittelstand: a name-sake to Germany's Mittelstand: A powerhouse of SMEs driving the Germany economy through innovation, agility and long-term growth focus. And in the UK, the same trend is fast developing. Delving into industry-specific characteristics of this growth, in Germany, Mittelstand firms often manufacture and sell niche products, and as a result, the growth of construction and manufacturing businesses surpasses that of  IT start-ups for example, as they "have less venture capital", according to Winfred Weber, professor of management at Mannheim University of Applied Sciences. But things in [...]

2018-04-12T10:15:49+00:00 April 12th, 2018|News, SME Growth|Comments Off on The SME powerhouse: The industries driving the British economy
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From the Inside – Out: Growing your SME towards exponential growth

Talk about under-productivity, and an awkward hush settles over the room like a giant, white elephant. Let's get back to semantics for a second: Productivity: A measure of the efficiency of a person, machine, factory, system or department in converting inputs into useful outputs There's a reason why CFPro Ventures, and our extended specialist partner network have built up years of experience in delivering exponential growth results for those we have worked with: We've focussed on building businesses that are agile, can cope with fluctuation, established the right business culture armed with a team of people who are driven to deliver [...]

2018-04-04T12:18:47+00:00 April 4th, 2018|SME Growth|Comments Off on From the Inside – Out: Growing your SME towards exponential growth
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Angry Societies and the growth of Socially Responsible Investment

Angry Societies: A growing phenomenon steeped in socio-political turmoil and economical unhappiness. Reto Hess, Head of Single Security Research Equity, Industrials & Utilities at Credit Suisse describes the phenomenon as this:  "The years of hyper-globalisation helped reduce inequalities across countries but raised inequalities within them, especially in the developed ones," and as a result, today we're seeing the birth of a new kind of economic trend -  business for good.  But when you're looking for a funding partner that shares your vision to deliver positive impact, are you looking in the right places? From Oliberté (the world's first Fair Trade [...]

2018-03-14T12:15:06+00:00 March 14th, 2018|News, SME Growth|Comments Off on Angry Societies and the growth of Socially Responsible Investment
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How does your business fit into the business growth spectrum?

The progression from startup to mature business is a long, and sometimes arduous, journey. Businesses in all stages of growth face problems, but they all have the ability to look forward and learn about where they will be heading if their success continues. This CFPro Ventures guide explores the various levels of growth and helps you understand where your business may, with the right planning and the right support, be heading!   Stage one: Development of your idea Referred to by some as the ‘seed’ stage, this is the time when you are exploring the possible avenues in which you [...]

2017-12-21T11:43:19+00:00 January 18th, 2018|News|Comments Off on How does your business fit into the business growth spectrum?
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Is your Telecoms business ready for the disruption ahead?

Our economy is in a constant state of flux. Disruptive technology is transforming antiquated business strategies to speed up towards business fitness for tomorrow,  consumer behaviour is dictating internal change management and business transformation operations, and organisations all over the world are doing their best to keep up, while trying to carve out a growth strategy that outplays, outwits, outlasts. When it comes to the Telecommunications industry, tech disruption is no longer the new kid on the block. The industry as a whole is being driven by mobile money, machine-to-machine intelligence and cloud-based intelligence, to name just a few. But [...]

2017-08-30T10:09:21+00:00 August 30th, 2017|News|Comments Off on Is your Telecoms business ready for the disruption ahead?
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How to keep your stakeholders happy when the chips are down

Keeping stakeholders engaged and happy – no matter what the project, business or investment, is probably one of the most important activities that you as a business leader will be required to undertake. Keeping stakeholders engaged and happy – no matter what the project, business or investment, is probably one of the most important activities that you as a business leader will be required to undertake. When the going is good, stakeholders are generally happy, but when the chips are down, and things don’t seem as rosy, that’s when effective stakeholder management truly starts to show its value.  Here are 6 ways [...]

2017-07-20T13:54:05+00:00 July 20th, 2017|News|Comments Off on How to keep your stakeholders happy when the chips are down
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