Business Growth Course

Gives you the practical tools to take your business to the next level

• Develop your strategy for growth
• Attract new customers and clients
• Recession-proof your business
• Become more profitable
• Motivate your people
• Plan your cashflow
• Improve your internal processes

Join a group of other small business owners and directors who are ready for growth.

Only 15 places available on each course - call 020 7939 9910 to apply now!

A personal note from Patrick White

When I left the corporate world and started out as an entrepreneur over 20 years ago, the world was a different place. The internet was still a tool used by academics to share research, new products had a life expectancy measured in years if not decades, and venture capitalists didn’t even exist. These days the marketplace can change overnight. Revolutionary products are now redundant within months and the economic climate can change in the blink of an eye.

What I’ve learned in my years as an entrepreneur is that you simply have to keep up with the pace of change and keep thinking strategically in order to survive. A business plan that was written just six months ago can be out of date tomorrow. You have to be ready to deal with the unexpected. Suppliers can go bust leaving you with no stock to sell. Pilots can go on strike for six months meaning no one can get to the hotel you’ve just bought—believe me, I know all about that because it happened to me!

If you don’t have a Plan B or aren’t quick enough to spot and then react to these types of situations, you can find yourself in hot water before you know it. When the cash runs out, the bank doesn’t care how profitable your business is on paper, they will quite happily pull the plug and shut you down.

Over the years I’ve successfully owned and sold 14 different businesses and through those experiences, I’ve learned what works and doesn’t work when growing small and medium-sized business. I’ve learned it the hard way through trial and error. Back then when I did my business degree, we only ever worked on case studies which talked about big international companies with the budgets and resources to match. Being an entrepreneur wasn’t fashionable enough to warrant being paid any attention on those sort of courses and it wasn’t easy to get access to practical information. Whenever people did talk about small businesses it was in a theoretical way and business owners were advised to follow the corporate organisations rules. The problem was it did not translate and people were wasting money trying.

I’m really pleased to be running the Business Growth Course. It’s allowed me to refine what I’ve learned from my years of getting my hands dirty as an entrepreneur and I’ll show you what works and what to stay away from. Plus I’m going to help you to create a step-by-step, practical plan for growing your business.

Because we’re not tied to any academic institutions, I’m free to give you the warts and all version and to tell it like it is. I don’t hold back. What’s the point? As a business owner yourself you simply don’t have the time to listen to someone who sounds like they’ve swallowed a management text book; but doesn’t have any idea what it’s like to be in debt up to your eyeballs waiting for that big cheque from a key customer...or has never put his home up as security on a venture that he knew in his heart was going to work...or knows the thrill of seeing a business he has created blossom into a successful enterprise with motivated staff and happy customers.

I’m really looking forward to meeting you on the Business Growth Course. If you enjoy the course half as much as I enjoy delivering it, I know you’re going to have a good time!

Best wishes,

Dr Patrick White—your trainer on the Business Growth Course

Here are just some of the problems you’ll solve as a result of coming on this course

"When we set up the business it grew rapidly, but now I feel like it’s starting to plateau. How can I move the business up to the next level?”
When businesses start up it’s often with a plan for the next 2-5 years in mind. As a director your focus has been on achieving the goals that you started out with. Now that you have achieved those goals, it’s time to shift your thinking up a gear. On the Business Growth Course you’ll discover how to ‘think outside the box’ and identify areas where you and the rest of the management team (if you have one) need to re-evaluate your goals and objectives. Why? To develop new strategies that will take you to the next stage in your evolution as a business.

“I’m so busy doing work for our current clients that I don’t have time to look for new business”
Often your clients come to you, because they like working with you. In fact your company’s unique selling point (USP) might be that clients deal with the partners or directors —they don’t get fobbed off with junior staff once you’ve won the contract. The problem here is your nose is always so close to the grindstone that you don’t have time to think strategically and plan for the future. In many businesses, this results in a feast and famine situation. In the good times you’re busier than you can handle and in the slow times there are no leads in the pipeline. On this course, you’ll find out how to still deliver a good service to your clients and customers while working to a plan that supports steady growth.

“I know that I need to delegate more, but no one else can do things the way I do—it’s all in my head and I don’t have the time to train anyone in how to do it.”
When it comes to exiting your businesses at a later stage, it is important to be able to leave behind a business that will operate without your daily input. On this course, you’ll be shown how to identify the work that you absolutely have to do yourself and differentiate it from operational tasks that can be delegated.

“The other people in my business don’t seem to ‘get’ where we’re going and what we need to do to get there. How do I get them on board and thinking about the bigger picture?”
When people are busy, it’s easy for them to forget or lose track of the reason they are in business in the first place. We will show you how to get across what you are trying to achieve in a simple, straightforward way so that everyone understands where your business is going and how they play a part in its success.

“We will probably need to get some investment to take the business to the next stage. Where do I start and what will investors want to see?”
The number one frustration of investors is that proposals put in front of them don’t give them the information they need to be able to make a decision on whether to invest money in your business. You will discover how to see things from their point of view and put together a proposal that sets out the essential information in terms that will engage their interest in your expansion.

“Our business plan did the job when we started but now it’s out of date. When will I ever find the time to do it and where should I start?
Most business owners and directors have at least a vague idea of where they are headed, but the act of committing it to paper makes it real. Time is a precious resource for everyone and it’s not always easy to take time out to think strategically. The beauty of this course is that in addition to the group sessions you are set homework which must be completed before the next session. This compels you to get your plans out of your head and into a useable document. When you finish this course with a personalised, practical strategy document that you’ll use as your reference for the coming months and years, you’ll thank us for being on your back and making you do it!

What's different about this course?

There are other courses out there which are geared towards helping you to grow your business—some are even free. Why should you book your place on this one and give up your valuable time to attend the sessions?

This is a practical course based on real-life experience. Developed and run by multi-millionaire serial entrepreneur Patrick White (who has owned and run over 14 businesses) this course will show you insider’s tips that Patrick has actually used to take existing businesses, turn them around and sell them at a profit.

Once you’re on the course, you’ll be able to talk over your specific situation and get tips from Patrick. Often these tips are worth several thousands of pounds because they stop you making costly business mistakes or they help you to maximise the new opportunities that are open to you.

Can’t I read this in a book—a business biography, for example? In order to get access to insiders’ tips like these, you need to be working personally with someone who has actually built businesses and helped others do the same, otherwise you can’t be sure that the tips are going to be right for your business. You cannot pick this wisdom up from books or from free articles on the internet, because the information covered on this course is far too valuable to be in the public eye!

Case Study "Just setting aside time to focus properly on planning was a major benefit.” Ian Cockburn, Managing Director, Rescue IT www.rescueit.co.uk As a result of attending the Business Growth Course in 2007, Rescue IT have come up with a radical new idea that is producing significant growth in the business in 2008. Ian says that what he loved about he course was the: Structured approach New questions it raised Stimulation of new thinking Discussion during sessions Focus on long-term objectives and how to achieve them

How does the course work?

There are two parts to the course:

Sessions 1-6:
Every week you meet up with like-minded business people who have their sights set on growing a successful, thriving business which can exist without their daily input. You get to know one another and you share ideas and tips on the course.

The sessions begin with Patrick talking you through one of the topics covered in the course. Then you work through exercises and business tools together, discussing how you can put them into practice. Between sessions you are set ‘homework’ to work on and discuss at the following session. By the end of the course, you will have a practical, comprehensive strategic business plan which is designed especially for your business.

Group sizes are 10-15 people to ensure that you get a high level of access to Patrick White throughout the course and so that you really get to know the other people on the course – a great opportunity for networking, partnerships and joint ventures!

Sessions 7-8:
Sessions 7 and 8 are one-to-one progress review sessions with an expert business coach/mentor who helps you with the issues specific to your own business. Each session lasts one hour and is delivered by telephone. You arrange a convenient time and date with your coach.

Depending on what you would like to be coached on, you could be working directly with Patrick or if you have specialist queries, we will arrange for you to have sessions with the expert coach on our team who has the right experience and knowledge to help you.

Most clients find these sessions to be invaluable because they help them to stay on track.

What You'll be Learning

Session 1: Vision and Goal Setting

Being clear about the company’s vision and where you are heading is essential if you are going to include other people in your plans. Indeed without a clear vision you can find yourself operating in a purely reactive way and never truly moving forward in any meaningful way.

In this session, Patrick will guide you through the key essentials of creating (or refining) your Vision Statement and show you how to set powerful business goals that give you the energy to see you through the tough times and keep you on a high when everything is running according to your plans.

What you’ll be covering in this session:

• The difference between Vision and Mission—they are absolutely NOT the same and shouldn’t be used as interchangeable terms, you’ll find out why
• Examples of the Vision Statements that are behind some of the greatest business successes in recent years, plus how to create your own Vision Statement
• Defining the Mission of your business
• Communicating the Vision and Mission internally to all your people, including ways to engage your staff with the principles of the Vision and Mission statements to ensure that they are properly understood
• Implementing the Vision and Mission—what needs to happen on a practical level to make them a reality
• What is a BHAG and how is it relevant to your business? You will be shown examples which illustrate how you can come up with your own BHAG
• Using the Balanced Scorecard and how to apply it to the key areas of your business from the Financial Perspective, the Customer Perspective, the Business Process Perspective and the Learning and Growth Perspective
• Setting realistic yet motivating Objectives, Measures, Targets and Initiatives
• Using Outcome Metrics

Session 2: Diagnostics

Decisions made reactively, on gut instincts, to take advantage of immediate opportunities can help to make a businesses successful in the early stages. One of the main drawbacks of using this approach is that it can be very hard to replicate success in the future if you don’t know what made you successful in the first place! It can also make you vulnerable to external and internal forces that you are simply not aware of.

The chances are that now your business is moving to the next stage in its evolution, that you will want to understand how to analyse the current position of your business, identify where there are opportunities to grow and to stop doing non-profitable activities.

In this revealing session, you’ll find out about the tools used to uncover exactly what’s happening in your business and in the outside world so that you can make informed strategic decisions on what to do next to grow your business.

What you’ll be covering in this session:

• The 10 Steps to Excellence
• The three steps to grow your business
• Using a SWOT Analysis in your business
• Understanding and using a PESTLE Analysis—find out how different external forces impact on your business and how your customers and clients will buy in the future.
• Strategic Plan Assessment Tool—you’ll work through this in-depth tool which examines your Strategic Focus, Organisational Identity, Environmental Scans and Plans, Internal Scans and Plans, Products and Services, Reinvention and Renewal, Performance Measurement, Leadership and Strategy Process Effectiveness

Session 3: Strategy

The saying goes, “if you fail to plan, you plan to fail”. When preparing for growth in your business, it is essential to know exactly where the business is heading and how you are going to get there.

In this session you will be building on the work you have already done to set your Vision and Goals, and combining that with the in-depth knowledge you now have about your business from the Diagnostics session, to create a realistic plan for growth. During this session, you will start to work on the Strategy Document for your own business.

What you’ll be covering in this session:

• How far ahead can you realistically plan for?
• The key elements of Strategic Planning—Competitive Advantage, Adding Value, Mass markets vs. Niche Markets, Cost-Based Strategies & Market-Based Strategies
• Examining Contingency Plans and Growth Plans
• Corporate Culture—what is it, what drives it and how do you go about defining the culture of your company?
• Integrating your Strategic Plan with your Vision, Aims and Objectives
• Using Analysis tools such as SWOT and PEST within your Strategic Plan
• Porter’s Five Forces model and how this can be applied on a practical level within your business
• The resources that you need to implement your strategy
• 11 Different types of Strategies and how to choose the strategy/strategies that will enable your business to grow and meet your objectives

Session 4: Marketing

A good Marketing strategy is at the heart of a solid growth strategy. In order to increase your revenue and profitability, you first need to understand your customers’ needs, provide a product or service to meets those needs and let your customers know that the solution they are looking for exists!

What you’ll be covering in this session:

• The concepts behind a Marketing-led approach to business and the POISE model of Marketing
• Contents and Structure of a Marketing Plan and how each section is relevant to your business
• Marketing Research—working within the process, different types of Marketing research
• Using Marketing Research tools and techniques
• Applying analytical tools to your Marketing Plan
• Understanding Buyer Behaviour and what makes people decide to buy from you—you’ll be shown how this applies to both B2B and B2C customers
• Classification and segmentation of customers according to type and buyer behaviour
• Setting strategies according to the current stage of the Product Life Cycle and planning for New Product Development and Launch
• Applying the Boston Matrix and Ansoff’s Matrix to your business to identify which products you should be offering to which markets
• Pricing Strategies—you’ll be shown 13 different short-term and long-term strategies for using your price to position your products and services in the marketplace; as well as in the minds of your customers, and to generate sales
• Channel and Distribution Tactics—selling via agents, wholesalers, retailers and other intermediaries
• Communicating your message and promoting your products and services through appropriate media
• Relationship Marketing and Business Development strategies for forging strong business contacts
• Creating your own Marketing Flowchart which illustrates how you will execute your plans

Session 5: Business Planning

By this stage of the course, you will have covered a lot of ground in the group sessions and will have been working on your own strategy document for your business as part of your ‘homework’ between sessions.

In this interactive session you’ll translate your ‘big picture’ plans into financial forecasts and set measureable milestones. Even if financial planning isn’t your strongest skill, you’ll leave this session confident that you know how to manage your cash flow effectively and have the resources you need in place, when you need them, to grow your business in line with your strategy.

What you’ll be covering in this session:

• Financial Strategy—turning both your Growth Strategy Plan and your Marketing Plan into numbers, planning resources and creating a Cash Flow worksheet
• Recommended software to help you to plan and manage your finances
• Cash Flow and Profitability—why even very profitable businesses can fail due to cash flow problems
• Designing financial projections and forecasts for different audiences, e.g. directors, bank manager, investors
• Step-by-step details how to put together a forecast
• Common pitfalls in financial planning and how to avoid making the kinds of mistakes that could seriously harm your business
• Over 30 ways to improve your net Cash Flow, including ideas such as billing as soon as work has been done rather than waiting for the end of the month, adding late payment charges for slow payers, negotiating extended credit terms from your suppliers, factoring debts, using alternative financing methods, selling off obsolete or excess inventory, deferring dividend payments and more

You’ll also be shown that relatively small changes in your sales, pricing and cost structure can have a dramatic impact on your profitability. You may even be able to put this small change into practice as soon as you leave this session and see the difference it makes immediately to your bottom line.

Session 6: Project Management

Now that you have all of your plans in place, the next stage is to set out exactly what you’re going to do to start building momentum and growing your business.

This session will arm you with the key skills necessary to ensure that your business continues to operate efficiently and meets the needs of your current customers, while at the same time implementing a strategy for future growth.

What you’ll be covering in this session:

• Breaking down the key components of your strategic plans into projects with a start and end date.
• Defining types of projects and the implications on cost
• Step-by-step details how to establish what needs to be done and at which stage in the business’s growth
• Organising the people in your business into project teams and assigning roles and responsibilities, with clear-cut action plans and deadlines
• How to set out a clear project brief that can be followed easily and with the minimum of fuss
• Planning the project framework—the nuts and bolts of what needs to happen, who is responsible and how progress will be communicated internally
• Setting timescales for each stage of each project
• Creating a Work Breakdown Structure and dependency diagram with your team
• Using a Gantt chart to visually plan projects and keep on track with progress against schedules
• How to analyse resources and ensure that the business continues to operate efficiently while making progress on the projects
• Developing a Risk Management Plan—making sure that you have planned for all likely eventualities
• Key actions for Collect Status and Take Adaptive action
• Steps to take when the project starts to fall behind
• Key questions and actions for Close-Out of the project
• 10 ways to improve your Project Management

Sessions 7 and 8: Individual Coaching

Now that the group sessions have been completed, you will have your own personalised draft Strategic Plan, Marketing Plan, Business Plan and Project Plan.

You now have two private one-to-one coaching sessions with an expert coach on the subject of your choice to enable you to get private help and support on putting your plans into action.

What is coaching?
You may have heard of Life Coaching or Executive Coaching before. These two types of coaching usually focus on personal development which can include setting and achieving personal goals and objectives, planning career development, leadership development or improving ‘soft skills’.

The coaching sessions provided as part of this programme are Business Coaching sessions.

What’s the difference?

Business Coaching focuses primarily on what you as a business owner or company director needs to do next to make your plans happen. It’s very action-orientated and because you may be venturing into new territory where you will need a certain amount of guidance, you will work with the coach who has the most relevant experience to help you.

How do the coaching sessions work?
You have 2 x one hour coaching sessions as part of this course. Each session takes place at a pre-arranged time telephonically—you set the dates and times with your coach according to your schedule.

Before your coaching session, you need to let your coach know what you would like to focus on during that session and it is best to spend some time thinking about whether you have any specific questions or challenges that you would like to discuss with your coach.

What will I be covering in coaching sessions?
You set the topic for the coaching sessions, so what you cover is entirely up to you—within reason!

Typically people who take part in the course use the sessions for:

• Clarifying certain points covered on the course
• Getting honest feedback on their plans
• Planning how to communicate the strategy to other people in the business
• Using the coach as a sounding-board for ideas
• Planning for important meetings, e.g. presentations to the bank or investors, negotiations with customers or suppliers, or briefing the other directors on taking the plans forward.
• Working on ‘soft skills’ such as time management, interpersonal skills, being more assertive, presentation skills and managing people effectively
• Discussing Marketing Strategies and how to best position their company in the marketplace
• Dealing with challenges from competitors
• Adjusting to their new role as a Leader, not a ‘do-er’

Who will be coaching me?
Depending on what you would like to focus on in your coaching sessions, you may be working with Patrick White one-on-one or it may mean that you work with another coach from our team who is the expert in the area where you need more assistance. We will discuss this with you when you enrol on the course.

Is there an option to continue having coaching sessions after this course?
Yes, if you do wish to continue to have private sessions with your coach, please let us know and this can be arranged. We will discuss fees with you before you make a decision.

Case Study "...we have already completed and achieved many of the set goals." Ed Belderbos, Managing Director, Belderbos Landscapes Ltd, www.belderbos.co.uk Extract from an email to Patrick White: (reproduced with permission) “Dear Patrick, I'm just about to present the revised Business Strategy to some of the team. We completed this several months ago with you and looking at it now it is surprising to see that we have already completed and achieved many of the set goals. The course was great and I really appreciate all the work you did and the enthusiasm you generated which was a great inspiration and has spurred Belderbos Landscapes on to bigger and better things. Regards, Ed”

Answers to Frequently Asked Questions

Who is the course designed for?
This course is designed primarily for the directors or partners of small and medium-sized business (typically 2-50 staff). Because the course is focused on the strategic direction of the company, it is not suitable for more junior members of staff or those who do not have strong senior management level influence.

I’ve just started my business. Is this course going to be right for me?
Most people who attend this course have already been in business for a few years, have an existing customer base and are ready to take their business to the next level, i.e. they are now ready to grow it considerably. If this is your first time running a business or you have not yet started trading, then you will probably find coming on this course to be a little premature. If you have run businesses before or you have been a director in another business and you are planning to grow your new business quickly then this course may well be right for you. If you are still unsure whether this course is suitable for you, the best thing to do is to call us and talk through your circumstances. We will give you our honest opinion—it’s not in our interests to reserve your place on this course if it’s not the right course for you or the right time attend.

What kinds of people come on the course?
The course attracts business owners and directors from a cross-section of industries and sectors. What they have in common is a real desire to succeed. We notice that all of the people who go on to make big wins in their business had come to the course with a can-do attitude, an open mind and a willingness to take responsibility for the future success of their business. They are self-motivated and are keen to get buy-in from the other people involved in their business, be they co-directors or partners, direct reports or more junior staff.

Can I bring the other directors from my business along?
Our clients tell us that one of the main benefits of having a cross section of businesses represented on the course is that they can get ideas and inspiration from people in other sectors. Our clients also value the networking opportunities and new business friendships that are formed on the course, so for this reason we do not allow more than 2 people to attend from any one company. If you would like to involve more than 2 people in the strategic direction of your company, we recommend that you speak to us about running the course in-house for you. Depending on the number of people involved, this may actually work out more cost-effective for you than attending the open course.

My business is quite unique. How do I know that you’ve got the right experience to help me?
Every business is unique. Each provides their products and services to their customers in different ways, manages their internal processes in different ways and communicates their message to the outside world in different ways. That said, the principles behind planning the growth of an organisation are common to all industries, professions and sectors. These principles apply, whether you are running a professional services firm, bringing an innovative new product to market or managing teams of people to deliver a specialist service to a particular group of people. The plans that you develop throughout the course will be individual and unique to your organisation. The course caters for all types of organisations and you take from the course the parts that are most suitable for you—you won’t be persuaded to, for example run an radio advertising campaign if that’s not going to be appropriate for your market or your customers. Rest assured that Patrick White who runs the course has well over 34 years of hands-on business experience and during that time he has worked in and invested in organisations in the following sectors:- Merchant Banking, Insurance, Computers, Motor Vehicle Distribution, Tropical Agriculture, Property, Mining, Manufacturing, Hospitality, Retail, IT, Food and Beverages, Fuel and Oil Distribution, and Management Consultancy. In his capacity as an investor and a consultant, he has successfully advised many, many business owners on how to take their organisation to the next level. While he may not have first-hand experience in a business exactly like yours, he is an expert in helping people like you to plan for taking the next step with your business—and that is what this course is designed to do for you.

Do you offer an industry-specific version of this course?
No. Attending this course involves you examining your business in detail and making important strategic plans for the future. To avoid any conflicts of interest between course delegates, we encourage people from different sectors to attend so that you can talk openly about your business and any challenges you are facing.

Do I need to have any academic qualifications to attend this course?
No. This is a very practical course and while much of the content is similar to the content of an MBA course, you don’t need any prior qualifications to attend.

Does this course lead to an academic qualification?
No. This is a practical course for business owners, directors and partners. It is designed to help you to grow your business rather than lead to an academic qualification.

I’m in a profession where I need to log my CPD hours. Will the hours invested on this course qualify?
Yes, in most cases they do as they cover management skills. Please check the CPD requirements for your own profession and we are happy to provide evidence of your attendance on this course for your record card.

I’ve done an MBA in the past—will this course teach me anything new?
A number of our clients who attend this course have already completed an academic MBA. They tell us that what they love about this course is that it takes the theoretical principles they were already familiar with and shows them how to apply them directly to their own businesses. When they did their MBA it had been from a corporate perspective and this course presented the information in a way that was relevant to SME businesses. One client commented that “it’s one thing to know what to do and another to actually do it”. They said that the homework element of the course (and the peer pressure that came along with it!) had forced them to do the strategic planning they had been putting off for ages!

This course seems very commercial. I run a not-for-profit organisation. Will this course be suitable for someone like me?
Yes. The principles behind growing your organisation to achieve your desired outputs and targets are the same as for profit-making companies. The financial part of the course will help you to plan for any fund-raising activities and to manage the budgets that you have so that you do not waste any money unnecessarily. More and more not-for-profit organisations are looking to the private sector for guidance on how to run the organisation more efficiently and how to be more accountable to all of their stakeholders, including trustees and funders.

I’m more of a hands-on person—I’m not an academic. Will this course be over my head?
This depends very much on you. Patrick White is very skilled at putting concepts into everyday terms that most people understand. The course does require you to set aside time to do some very practical ‘homework’ which you need to have completed before the next session. It will most likely require you to do some research when you’re finding out about your marketplace and will involve you being familiar with the financial position of your company. If once you have started the course you begin to feel at all overwhelmed, you have the option to start your one-to-one coaching sessions early so that you can get individual support when setting your strategy.

David Stanton completed the Business Growth Course in 2007 "I felt that having the course held over a number of weeks allowed me time to implement new ideas without feeling swamped. I also had the time to go over the homework with colleagues which in turn developed more new ideas whilst also acting as a forum to make others feel more part of the business and increasing their understanding of where the business should be heading and what factors affect this." David Stanton, Director, Admiral Voice and Data www.admiralgroup.com

If I can’t attend one of the sessions, can I send someone else in my place?
For you to get the most from this course, you really need to be able to commit to attending every session of the course otherwise you will be left behind. Each session builds on what you have done in prior sessions, so even if you were to send a substitute it is unlikely that your business will benefit to the same extent as if you attended all of the sessions yourself. Much of the learning on the course comes from the discussions and case studies. You will not be able to get the same insights by reading the course material on its own or by talking to someone who attended the course in your place.

What if I have an emergency and can’t attend at short notice or I am delayed and have to arrive late?
The decision to miss a session or to arrive late is yours alone. Please understand that you will miss out on the content covered on the course and that arriving late can be disruptive to other members of the group. It is your responsibility to do whatever you can to make sure that you can attend all of the sessions. In the event that you absolutely have to miss a session, you can opt to take one of your coaching sessions early to enable you to catch-up before the next session.

Do you offer any kinds of guarantees about the results I’ll get from coming on this course?
How much you get from the course hugely depends on how much you put into the course. Our experience shows us that our clients typically double or triple their business as a result of coming on the course—you might have a different experience and could achieve even better results.

5 Reasons to Choose SME Academy's
Business Growth Course

1. Our training really works!
   Business owners and directors consistently report that they leave our courses energised and motivated to put their plans into action—and they do!
2. We put our money where our mouth is!
   We are so confident in the quality of our courses that we are one of the few (if not the only) training company prepared to offer clients a 100% Full Money-Back Guarantee if you fail to get results from this course.
3. We are specialists in Business Growth
   We know how to grow a business successfully because we’ve done it ourselves and helped others to do the same. Your trainer on the Business Growth Course has first-hand experience of exactly what it takes to make a business grow and he’ll show you how to implement this success in your business.
4. We are committed to your success
   We only consider ourselves to be successful if you’re successful as a result of attending our courses. That’s why we build one-to-one coaching into the Business Growth Course so that you have access to tailored help and support when putting your plans into action. We are with you every step of the way for as long as you want us to be!
5. The results are lasting
   We have spent years perfecting a training model that produces long-lasting results. We give you materials that are practical and easy to use so that the course manual becomes a working document rather than something to prop up a wobbly desk or lift up your computer screen!

Introducing Your Trainer

Dr Patrick White is an international business growth consultant and trainer who is a very successful businessman and entrepreneur in his own right.

Leaving behind a corporate career where he rapidly rose through the ranks to the level of CEO, he started investing in small businesses with potential for growth. He rolled up his sleeves and transformed the businesses he acquired within a short period of time and then sold them on either to the existing management team or to private investors. Unlike some investors who achieve improved profitability through slashing costs and selling off assets (which ultimately is unsustainable), he always left a solid business in the hands of capable staff who were well placed to continue in the business’ success.

Patrick initially trained as a Chartered Accountant and holds a PhD in Organisational Behaviour, an MBA and good deal of common sense!

More Details About the Course

Course Venue
All group sessions are held at our training centre in London Bridge. The address is Delta House, 175-177 Borough High Street, London SE1 1HR. The centre is 2 minutes walk from Borough tube station and 7 minutes walk from London Bridge tube station.

Course Dates & Times
We know that you are busy running your company, so the Business Growth Course offers you the choice of three different streams so that you can choose the option that works for you. Because there are only 15 places available on each stream, we advise that you book early to ensure that you can reserve a place on the course that is most convenient for you.

November/December 2008: Tuesday Evenings 6-8pm

Book now only 4 places left!

January/February/March 2009: Thursday Evenings 6-8pm

February/March 2009: Thursday Afternoons 3-5pm

March/April 2009: Thursday Evenings 6-8pm

Group Size
There will be no more than 15 people on your course to allow you the maximum opportunity to ask questions about your business and get answers. The small group size gives you the chance to get to know the other people on the group, share ideas and work together.

Can I do this course privately or in-house with my colleagues?
Yes, there is the option for us to customise the course for you in-house. Please call us on 020 7939 9910 for more details.

How do I book a place on this course?
You can either book below (scroll down) or you can call us on 020 7939 9910 now.

N.B. Because group sizes are limited to a maximum of 15 people, please contact us as quickly as possible to reserve a place on the course dates most convenient for you.

Applying for the Course

This course is not for everyone. Nor should it be.

The people who most stand to benefit from this course are the people who are serious about building their business and really going for growth. That means it’s for a specific people at a particular key stage in the development of their business.

If you are serious about challenging yourself and the people around you to do what it takes to move your business to the next level, you will have already understood the clear benefits of enrolling on the Business Growth Course.

You’ll have appreciated that this course is offering you something quite unlike other training courses. It gives you the chance to work with a self-made multi-millionaire serial entrepreneur who will share with you the insights he learned along the way. Someone who can stop you from making potentially disastrous mistakes in your business, and show you how to spot opportunities, to really focus on what’s important and organise your business so that you’re operating at maximum efficiency.

Some business owners, directors and partners in organisations with real potential, simply aren’t ready for a course like this.

They aren’t prepared to take an honest look at how their business is performing. Or to draw a line under what’s gone before and to change what’s not working. Or to take personal responsibility for the success of their business—they are too busy pointing the finger at their colleagues, their staff, their customers, the economy or anyone other than themselves.

When you enrol on this course, the buck stops with you.

You are the person who can change the course of your business.
You are the person who accepts what needs to change.
You are the person who can take the necessary steps.

For this reason, we won’t accept everybody who applies for this course. If they show signs that they aren’t ready for the course we will, politely, decline their application.

Why? There are a number reasons and we think it’s only fair that we explain them to you before you make the decision to apply for a place on the course.

The reasons that we are selective about the people we allow to take part in the course are:

1. From an ethical point of view, we won’t take people’s money if we don't think that they are going to do anything with what they learn on this course. It’s not a passive course, you need to be prepared to do something with what you learn on the course. You know the saying, “You can take a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink”? The same applies with this course. There’s no point enrolling on the course if you aren’t ready to so something as a result of it. This is also why we offer a 100% Full Money Back Guarantee. We know that if the right people are on the course, they will quite easily earn their money back in a short period of time through cost savings and efficiencies, and through improved profits and increased turnover. The knowledge and wisdom you get from this course are worth so much more to your business than the course fees.
2. The people who are ready for the course deserve to be in the company of other people who are at a similar stage in their development. We don’t want negative people or people who blame others when things go wrong, dragging down the tone in the group sessions. It’s just not fair on the people who are prepared to muck-in and work on getting results. That said, there is a lot to be learned from when things have gone wrong and something good has been salvaged from a tricky situation! The sharing of experiences (both good and bad) on this course is invaluable. If you have success stories or even horror stories that would stop other people making the same mistakes that you made —you’ll be welcome to share them on the course!
3. Sometimes people try to book onto our courses because they want to sell to the other people on the course. While the course does offer the opportunity for networking, we prefer that any business relationships come about naturally rather than someone coming with the sole intention of selling their services to the other people in the group. Selling’s not what the course is about. There are plenty of networking groups where people can openly promote their services to other members of the group. We have been involved in a number of them ourselves. The difference is when you go to a networking group, you know that the purpose of being there is to meet new people and sometimes to pick up sales leads. When you enrol on the Business Growth Course it’s because you want to take a long, hard look at your business and plan how you are going to build it over the next phase of its evolution. This involves discussing your current challenges and your growth strategy with the other people in the group. You can’t do that if you think that everyone else in the group is a potential customer or supplier. You’ll be spending too much time trying to impress people to think about what you need to do to build your business—and when that happens nobody wins. If we think that someone applying to join the course is doing it purely to pick up sales leads, quite frankly we will not allow them to join the group. If you’re considering this course for the right reasons, we know you’ll understand. The right people will know instinctively when it’s appropriate to help other group members out if they provide the goods and services others need to take their business to the next level and when it’s inappropriate or intrusive. Of course, if you are in any doubt about the etiquette of passing your card around at a group session, you can ask us! We want you to network and possibly to form alliances with other people in the group, when both parties feel the same way. We take exception to people who aren’t interested in either their own development or the development of the other people, and are using our course to ‘hunt’ for leads.
4. We take pride in the successes of our clients. It’s demoralising working with people who don’t put in the effort needed to make positive changes in their business. It’s frustrating for us and it’s frustrating for you. We only accept people onto the course if we can see potential for growth as they will see good results from this course. If you know that there is room for growth in your business and you want to improve on the performance of your business, then we invite you to apply for a place on the Business Growth Course.
5. Part of the power of the Business Growth Course is in the subtle peer pressure. Here we’re talking about the ‘homework element’ of the course where you need to have completed your homework exercises before the next session. In essence, when you are surrounded by ambitious business people who you can see are achieving their goals and objectives, they spur you on to achieve more than you would if left to your own devices. For this peer pressure to be effective, the people on the course need to be ready to push themselves forward and keep up with the group. If we have an inkling that someone applying to join the course won’t be able to keep up with the homework between sessions on an on-going basis, it is probably better for everybody that they don’t attend. The homework really isn’t that time-consuming. It will only take a couple of hours of thinking and planning time each week. Most people on the course spend one evening or a couple of hours at the weekend doing their homework. Some block out a couple of hours in their diary during working hours to work on it because they have personal commitments during their own time. If you really can’t devote a couple of hours each week for 6 weeks to the important task of growing your business, you’re not taking it seriously enough and you are unlikely to see the results you want from this course.

We hope that you understand our reasons for being selective about who can come on the Business Growth Course. I’m sure you’ll agree that it isn’t for everybody.

In fact, you probably already know if this course is the right choice for you.

If something that we have said above has ruled you out—perhaps you saw the course as an opportunity to sell your services or maybe you know that you’re not able to put in the work needed to grow your business right now—then it’s good that you’ve made the decision. It’s better for you to wait until you are ready for this course so that you get the full benefit when you do decide to do it.

However, if you feel that you’ve got what it takes to transform your business and you’re eager to meet other people who feel the same way and want to get started, then you can scroll down to apply or call us on 020 7939 9910.

Once we have received your application via this site, you can expect to receive a call from us to talk through your application and make sure that the course is right for you.

Remember, there are only 15 places available on each course, so to get your preferred course dates, it’s advisable contact us as soon as you’ve made a decision on which dates are best for you.

How much does the course cost?

Having read this far, you might be thinking that the Business Growth Course is going to be very expensive.

Indeed you’ll have noticed that much of the content is of the level that you would expect on an MBA course. An academic MBA course, which is mainly geared towards large companies, will typically cost you somewhere in the region of £25,000 to £45,000 depending on where you study.

When you’re a corporate high flier with the salary to match, these fees might seem like good value (even if they are a bit of a stretch). After all, you’re learning and networking with other people like you—people in large companies who have large budgets to spend. You value looking at Case Studies from top international companies because they examine the kinds of projects that you’re involved with (or will be involved in once you’ve got your MBA!) on a daily basis.

However, we hear time and time again from people who left the corporate world to get involved in a small, entrepreneurial company find what worked in the corporate environment didn’t work in the same way for SMEs. Where an MBA might teach you about how to sell your product or services to a mass market, it doesn’t usually teach you how to deal with customers as individuals with their own particular needs. It doesn’t teach you how to be nimble and spot and exploit opportunities as they happen—the sorts of skills that are essential when running a small business.

So would investing £25,000-£45,000 be a worthwhile investment for a director or partner in a small, but growing organisation? Perhaps if you want to network with people in large companies, but there are more cost-effective ways to do that! If you want to learn the ins and outs of what it takes to make a small business successful (even if you have ambitions to be a large company one day) then a conventional MBA might not be the route for you.

In reality, most successful entrepreneurs hire people with MBAs to do the donkey-work for them when they get to a size that warrants having someone on the team who studied an MBA!

Or they find a firm of management consultants who have an endless resource of bright MBAs who enjoy detail work.

So if you didn’t want to do an MBA, how else could you get your hands on the first-hand knowledge and wisdom covered in the Business Growth Course?

One option is to find someone who has achieved great business success as an entrepreneur and ask them to be your mentor. There are some great business leaders out there, but often they aren’t able to put into words what made them successful.

They learned through trial and error what worked and what didn’t, and they absorbed the kind of wisdom that only experience can give you so deep into their being that it became unconscious. They’ll probably talk to you about their gut instinct or that they just ‘knew’ that something was going to sell. But if you asked them to break-down their thought process into a step-by-step guide that you could copy or ‘model’ they probably couldn’t tell you.

They can usually answer a straight question if you asked them, but they might not be able to spot where the gaps in your knowledge were, or they will assume that you know the things that seem obvious to them. The problem is that while you’re learning through experience in your business, to a certain extent you don’t know what you don’t know. This means that you can’t even ask them a straight question about it because you don’t know that you need to know about it!

How long would it take for you to learn from someone in this way? How many lunch meetings, rounds of golf or dinner parties would it take to distil what they tell you into practical steps that you could use? Months? Years? And if you’re in a business that could at some level compete with theirs, they might not tell you the full story anyway.

Another way might be to attend business conferences and events where they book successful business people to speak about what made them successful. These events usually have an impressive line-up of speakers who each share their insights into business success. They are very inspirational, but because you’re often sharing them with a hundred or more delegates, the amount of information you can tap into which is relevant for your business is limited. You would probably need to go to lots of these events to pick up enough tips to be able to apply something practical in your business. And you’d still be working it out on your own.

Let’s say that one of these conferences costs you about £500—£1,000 each time—we’re not talking about the cheap or free events where the main speaker only brushes over a subject for 45 minutes at most, we’re talking about the events where you get a good line-up of people who give you quality content. In addition to your time away from the business, the costs soon stack up and you could have spent £10,000 or more trying to access the same sort of information that you’ll get on the Business Growth Course. Bear in mind, that you’ll still be working on your own and could make expensive mistakes because you don’t have someone to guide you.

You’re probably wondering when you’re going to find out how much the Business Growth Course costs, and from what we’ve been saying so far you are probably preparing yourself for a shock. If that’s how you feel, then sit down.

The shock is that it’s not going to cost nearly as much as you might think.

The fees for the Business Growth Course are only £1,200+VAT. The fee includes all the group sessions, your course manuals, an honest review and critique of your Business Plan (something that is worth the whole of the course fees on its own!), two individual coaching sessions where you talk about your business, plus all drinks and refreshments at the group sessions.

Why are the course fees so low?

There are a number of reasons. Firstly Patrick White is in the enviable position of not having to work—unless he wants to. He tried retirement and it didn’t suit him. For someone who loves business this much and has such an active mind, pottering around the garden or playing golf simply isn’t all that appealing. What this means for you is that he doesn’t rely on the income from course fees.

However, just because he doesn’t need the money doesn’t mean that you don’t need to pay for the course. Experience has shown us that people who aren’t committed to the success of their business are prepared to skimp on the advice they get. You know the saying “you get what you pay for”? In order to differentiate the value to your business of working with Patrick as opposed to working with someone who is employed to give business advice (but has never run a business themselves), there needs to be a indication of the monetary value of the advice. The insights you’ll get from this course FAR outweigh the fees you pay to be on the course. But if we didn’t charge a decent amount of money, you wouldn’t be as committed to the course.

We have found that the more people pay for advice, the more they listen to it and take action on it. If you’ve ever worked as an in-house professional in a large company, you’ll know that you could have the solution that your business needed but no one listened to you. A consultant comes in and tells the CEO the same thing (but for a large fee) and they listen!

The second reason that the fees are so low is that we are a small company ourselves. We don’t need to hire expensive offices with a team of people answering phones or making out-bound calls. We work with a select number of people who are serious about growing their businesses. We usually work on their premises and we can pass the cost savings on to you.

Grants Available for Selected Businesses

If your business is based in London and employs between 5 and 249 members of staff, you may be eligible for a grant of up to £1,000 to part-fund attendance on this course. This grant is available through Train to Gain and we will help you to apply for it. Please contact us using the form below to find out more.

Payment Options

Because we know that it can take a couple of weeks to start to experience the benefits of the Business Growth Course, we offer a number of payment options to help you to manage your cash flow.

If you would like to pay in full, you can do this by cheque, credit card or bank transfer as soon as your application has been accepted by us.*

Or if you would like to spread your course fees into three equal monthly payments, this can be arranged by setting up a Standing Order for £200+VAT per month for six months. The first payment will be due before you attend Session 1: Vision and Goal Setting.

* If you are accessing any funding to pay for this course, you will need to pay for the course in full before you start so that we can send you a receipt.

Apply Now

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Once you have submitted your application, you can expect to receive a phone call from us within 2 working days to discuss your application.

Alternatively you can call us now on 020 7939 9910 to discuss your application.

SME Academy, HRM Consultants Ltd, Delta House, 175-177 Borough High Street, London SE1 1HR Tel: 020 7939 9910