ENTREPRENEUR STORIES
LUDO CHAPMAN, THE INNOVATION PRACTICE
STEVE ELLIS, STAFFORDS ACCOUNTING
STEWART MCTAVISH, IDEASPACE
Steve’s our accountant. His help has been fundamental to our success and our survival. There are basic things that are absolutely crucial to running a business – get them right and everything runs smoothly, but get them wrong and all sorts of bad things happen. For example, suddenly running out of cash, failing a due diligence process for a funding round or exit, missing out on R&D tax credits or missing tax and Companies House filing deadlines, or employees paying too much tax on options. These basics are easy to ignore, hard to fix and there are lots of them. It’s important to be open and honest here and say that I am not very organised, and I struggle with these basics. That’s OK, because I have an accountant like Steve. He tolerates me and my disorganisation, which means we can be effective in doing what needs to be done. We're a good match, and that means the basics get done. From hundreds of thousands of pounds of R&D tax credits, to VAT filings, to fixing shareholder filings, to (at one point) taking the business to within a whisker of running out of cash. Steve’s help in nailing the basics has steadied what would otherwise have been a rocky and potentially perilous journey to where 10to8 is now.
Ludo is one of the best mentors and business strategists I’ve met. There’s a old adage that goes something like: “99% of genius is hard work and 1% is inspiration.” That resonates with me as I’ve seen the following in businesses I’ve worked with: Many start-ups spend too much time thinking up lots of new ideas (inspiration) and not enough time doing the actual implementation (hard work). Many scale-ups spend too much time implementing and not enough time thinking about what they’re implementing and why. ups are very good at creating a framework that helps them make better decisions on which ideas to pursue and why. There’s always a surplus of ideas. Good, constructive thinking moves a business’ strategy forward and provides a framework for future decisions. It should reduce wasted time, point the hard work in the right direction and focus ideas on the company's mission. It is the framework that builds the value of the business. This is what Ludo does and has done for 10to8 and many other businesses I’ve been involved in. If you’re trying to build a business, you and your team need to know what to do. You need to share and build on a vision with your team. Without this work, you risk failing to build any value in your business as you go about the day-to-day – or get stuck dreaming up ideas. Ludo knows that everyone underestimates the difficulty, size and importance of this task – including me – but it is also what delivers the biggest upside to your business. Neither start-ups nor scale-
Stew runs IdeaSpace. He has created a brilliant environment and community for start-ups. 10to8 has been through some major ups and downs: we’ve gone from a team of 15 down to core of three and back up again. The right environment is priceless. A fast growing, or shrinking, team needs something flexible that reflects its own ambitions and character. It's essential to attract and build an ambitious team, to keep them focused and to build team cohesion. We found IdeaSpace, and it has made all the difference to our success. For 10to8, without a nice environment of like-minded people to sit next to, activities and events (that I didn’t have to organise), we might not have survived. It would not be currently thriving as it is now: close to cash neutral and more than doubling in revenue each year. Stew’s IdeaSpace provided space for 10to8 when we needed it. For a team of three, it was a lifeline. For a growing team, it flexed to meet our needs. Now it’s still a great place for a couple of us work once a week – away from our very own office.
Good, constructive thinking moves a business’ strategy forward and provides a framework for future decisions. It should reduce wasted time, point the hard work in the right direction and focus ideas on the company's mission"
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ISSUE 03
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