- May 26
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incredible things happen when you focus on growth
We combine the ambition and vision of business leaders with our deep expertise to develop a practical strategy to get the business where it needs to be.
Each step an achievable action. The right level of involvement depending on your needs. Access to hands-on expertise where it will have most impact.
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Our tried-and-tested Business Growth Programme is the foundation of how we work with businesses – creating clear direction, outcomes and accountability for everyone involved
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With our combined experience and in-depth knowledge, we’ll tailor the solutions and advice you need to build success for your business and maximise returns for shareholders.
Our clients work with actus for a clear plan to drive and manage your business growth and strategies that will increase the profitability and asset value of your business.
Dan Egerton
Partner
+44 (0)7879 845 845
Skype. dan_egerton
Dan believes that by improving the way teams work together and creating a high performing team is the most effective way to deliver against strategy and increase long-term value. Whether operational change, strategic direction or hands-on support are needed, Dan's expertise and experience across diverse sectors and businesses means he is able to break down barriers to an organisations' growth and profitability.
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Talk ain't cheap. It's expensive – and destructive
Companies often confuse talking with doing.
They think that talking about doing something is the same as doing it. That planning is the same as doing. That giving presentations is the same as doing. That making reports is the same as doing. Or even that making a decision to do something is the same as doing it.
All these errors occur with alarming regularity in companies today.
Mistaking talk for action is no simple error - talk can drive out action. Studies into the way meetings work show that negative people are perceived as smarter than positive people. In other words, that being critical is a sign of higher intelligence.
You see this attitude in business all the time. The fastest way for me to seem smart is to cut you down. You come up with an idea, and I come up with a thousand reasons why that idea won't work.
Everyone now sees you as dumb and me as smart — and we've created an environment where no one wants to come up with ideas.
7 questions to ask when developing your organisational design
Businesses are dynamic systems. And like all systems, they work best when their components are aligned and working smoothly together. For many businesses, organic growth, opportunistic client wins and the necessary focus on clients often creates a structure of convenience rather than one optimised for effective delivery. It’s important then, to review this structure objectively and decide if it’s fit for purpose or in need of change.
So, when developing your organisation's structure, ask yourself these seven questions:
1. Does this help me achieve my vision? Referring back to your business vision and mission statement regularly will allow you stay consistent with the changes you want to make. It’ll also help to assure you that you’re heading in the right direction.
2. What’s best for the business? A useful exercise is to review your structure around what the business needs rather than who's in it.
3. Does this align with the culture and values of the business? Sometimes change just needs to happen. However, getting people on board with changes is easier if they see that developments are consistent with what the business stands for.
4. What do our clients want? Take time to understand how your clients buy from you and what their journey through your business involves for them. This will help you develop closer relations with clients and provide for their current and future needs.
5. What type of service do I want to deliver? Build your organisational structure around the type of service you’re planning to deliver. If you deliver multiple services, think about how you can structure them to work smoothly together.
6. Is my structure helping me deliver more profitability? Make sure your structure allows you to deliver your services efficiently, with the right level of resourcing to maintain good margins.
7. Would I be able to scale the business quickly? If you win a new client or develop a new service offering, your structure will need to allow for rapid growth. It will also need to be resilient enough to stand up under pressure.
Any changes you make need to fit with your existing business systems. Alternatively, you can modify your systems, such as HR processes, to accommodate the changes. Plan change carefully to minimise disruption. By going through a systematic process, the logic behind the changes will be clearer. This will also make it easier for you to move to your new structure while keeping up with the day-to-day running of the business.
Managing for profit
All too often, good revenue or sales performance fails to translate to the bottom line.
I recently gave a talk, Managing for Profit, at Kingston Smith in London W1. It was a practical session to provide insights into why some businesses achieve good profits year on year, and the importance of viewing profit as an objective, not a consequence.
To manage for profit you need a profit plan which runs over the whole business. You need to establish what is practical and possible for the business in a given year. It should be challenging to management but not excessively optimistic.
There are six key elements to a good profit plan:
1. Make performance a key responsibility. The responsibility for generating profit has to be taken across the business. Different people will come at it from different perspectives, so there needs to be ownership at the top but also down the business.
2. Understand how you charge. To understand where profit is made (or lost) your rate card should reflect the full operating costs of the business. You need to set clear utilisation targets and track against them.
3. Tightly control resource management. The phasing of revenue and people costs must be matched as consistently as possible. Importantly, project management should not be an ad-hoc activity.
4. Set clear new business objectives. Businesses need a clear new business model with strategies and tactical plans for both existing clients and new prospects. Consider both reactive and proactive initiatives.
5. Measure revenue confidence. Conduct account reviews each month. This will make your forecasting more accurate. It will make account leaders responsible for the projections they’ve provided in prior months.
6. Regular performance reporting. Businesses should measure both revenue activity and operating performance regularly. Develop a clear dashboard that consists of the metrics and KPIs needed to run the business. Measure and communicate performance regularly and clearly.
It’s important that a profit plan is not just a document. It’s a culture and mindset where every action and decision is considered in the context of its impact on profit.
Maximise the value of your business Part 1 – Business value: what it is and how it’s determined
Why are some companies are more valuable than others when they all have access to the same talent, resources, clients and knowledge? It’s a big question, so we’re going to tackle it in an eight-part blog series. Over the next few weeks, we’ll look at exactly value is, what drives it - and how you can maximise it.
Would you buy your business? To focus your mind on the value of your business, imagine for a moment that you want to sell it and put yourself in your potential buyers’ shoes. To you, your business is the sum total of your hard work and dedication. It probably represents many a late night, some big personal sacrifices and no small amount of risk.
Very little of which will be of interest to your hardheaded business buyers. What they’re looking for are real commercial assets with clear profit potential.
V = P x M
When it comes to putting a figure on the value a business – especially agencies - the most commonly used formula is: value = profit x multiple
Profit is your business’s historic financial performance. The multiple is its future earning potential.
Typically, most business owners see increased sales and improved margins as the way to raise the value