People

ENTREPRENEUR CEO TO RUN AND INVEST CASH IN A NEW SME BUSINESS CONSULTANCY

THE OPPORTUNITY

I am looking for:

• An entrepreneur to join me, to sell and deliver Hawick Group’s business consultancy services to SMEs, focused on a fascinating mass market opening created by the demise of Business Link
• A leader with SME consultancy skills to take this business forward and capitalise (for us both) on the major developments that have been initiated already
• A Sales driven type with an eye for detail and a hands management approach, you will be keen to buy into a ready-made and fully resourced business and run it as the CEO
• A partner who is willing and able to invest his / her own real cash into this business, alongside me, in return for up to 50% of the shares
• Your personal and tangible commitment as CEO and as my business partner, to this venture

YOUR ACTIVITY

I want you to:

• Take a full-time hands-on role in taking the company forward, running the business as its Chief Executive
• Be involved personally, doing absolutely everything in the next 1-2 year build up period before you can appoint a line management structure to supplement the existing full time central team of 4. Specifically
• Organise the marketing, consisting of 3+ outbound call centres, website (being rebuilt right now), social media strategy
• Run the sales function, going out to field visits, closing sales personally, contracting with new clients and allocating Associate Implementers to them
• Project-manage client services including some delivery work yourself and through Associates, ensuring that the clients receive what you promised and Associates are paid strictly against milestones and to required work standards
• Compile business plans and budgets for board approval and take responsibility for company business and financial performance
• Develop efficient business methods and processes making best use of existing and new systems and technology investment
• Recruit, train, manage, motivate and develop staff and Associates to deliver their work reliably and productively
• Cooperate with other businesses to maximise client returns and opportunities

RETURN ON YOUR INVESTMENT

Your investment will be:

• An agreed amount between £10,000 and £50,000
• Shares will be allocated at £10000 per 10% up to 50% (ie £10K - £50K investment), representing a very substantial discount to the Founder’s existing investment of £100K
• Your cash will go directly into the business

Your return will be:

• A negotiated salary based on the investment level and agreed business forecast
• Performance bonus against plan and budgets
• Dividend based on retained cash profits
• Reasonable expenses
• A capital value for your shares
• Most of all, it will be a function of the creative energy that you and I put into the business which will be rewarded by a potential 7-figure exit in 5 years

YOUR PROFILE

You will need to be someone who:

• Loves the challenge of selling
• Gets up early every day to tackle the excitement of building a new business
• Has run small businesses and enjoys that
• Is experienced at selling and delivering business services to SME owners
• Likes a methods-driven approach to work
• Has the self confidence and belief to invest in yourself
• Wants to be in business for yourself but not by yourself
• Takes a long term view of business success

ABOUT THE COMPANY

• Hawick Group is a business performance improvement specialist, focused on small firms
• It is the core of a new network of companies to serve small businesses with practical business performance solutions, supporting one another with services
• The Company is based on the substantial IP assets of and founded by, the core team from the most established and best known firm in the SME performance improvement field, with 25 years innovation and leading edge experience behind it
• Based in modern (owned) offices close to Central London, in Maida Vale, W9 I am looking for an entrepreneur to work with me to reach every UK SME Owner. This will free me (the Founder) to develop the associated entrepreneur-led network of businesses that are already in advanced negotiations
• Hawick Group gains new clients through direct marketing its business diagnostic service, see www.hawickgroup.com\dashboard for an example. This identifies where and to what extent a prospect can improve performance and at the sales visit, we also show him/her how
• You, or a Lead Implementer will then negotiate a contract on the spot, setting out the objectives to be achieved, the timescale and the price. The unique proposition being that we get our hands dirty (instead of selling advice) working inside the client’s business to install professional processes and teaching the owner how to use and profit from them for a guaranteed project ROI
• Using a well proven model, we are about to commence handpicking and training Associate Lead Implementers (experienced in business management and consultancy) to manage territories all over the UK. They will attend the sales appointments booked by the call centres, analyse the issues, propose solutions and contract with new clients. They will then deploy Associate Technical Implementers, also handpicked and trained, to deliver the promised hands-on client work
• The implementation teams are guided by more than 50 modules that deal with every type of business challenge ranging across: marketing; operational; financial; technology; and people issues
• Typical client results that follow are: more new customers; more client retention; increased profits and cashflow; raised efficiency; enhanced productivity and a major rise in the sale value of the business
• This model is now operating successfully with a developed team and a number of clients. It is ready for you to replicate in order to commence regional then national expansion as described above
• A dynamically run consulting firm should need very little capital to get started (hence the small investment) and is capable of generating serious profits and cash reserves
• The real trick however is to develop it into a self sustaining structure with subscription-type income and management continuity, to give the business the capital resale value which will provide both the income opportunity and the wealth at exit for the owners

Next step:

• 1. Please write me a succinct email identifying where you feel there is enough convergence between us for a useful discussion
• 2. Whilst I know that you will not be able to tick every one of these many boxes, an essential requirement is that you are able and willing to make a cash investment in return for a substantial ownership stake and therefore, control
• 3. If there is a potential fit I will respond with a non disclosure agreement followed by much information and a meeting
• 4. Beyond that we will work on a business plan setting out how we will grow to 7 figure annual sales within 3 years