When you start a business, you start a journey.
An exciting one, one with many unknowns, a lot of risk but with the opportunity for significant reward.
Your motivation (and anticipated reward) may be financial, impact, personal development or a mixture of those and other things. My experience of working with many 100s of starting entrepreneurs, is that it’s a blend.
You may be founding alone or with co-founders. You may be the founder-CEO of the established and profitable business.
Whatever the motivation, the starting point, the potential and the environment you’re starting out on – or have already started out on – you must think about what the path is for you and what the path is for the business that you have founded, or co-founded.
They are separate things: you and the business. You may own the business but the potential of the business may be different from your capability, longevity or interest level. Whatever your original motivation, the potential for the business – and it’s success in the context of that motivation, could well be much longer. It could be your legacy.
If money is the thing, selling or handing over your business rather than shutting it down is likely to be more profitable.
If impact is your motivation, then the greater impact may be made by the business when led by someone taking over the reins at the right time – or even in the custodianship of another organisation.
What if health, family circumstances or something else pulls you away from the business – what is your succession plan to ensure that legacy or financial security?
So, the journey of the founder(s) and the business are most likely to diverge at some point – and the premise of this project, is to help founders be in control of that journey and create options for themselves and their business, that satisfy both the original motivation and the potential for the business.
At The Founders Journey, we want to help you navigate that journey and this starts with looking at your responsibilities as founder, leader and owner of the business – through the eyes of governance. Governance is not a dirty word – it’s about what is best for the business in terms of delivering success for the founder(s). Governance is likely to be more about being entrepreneurial than about compliance – but essential to get right.
We have the following services to help founders at whatever stage of their journey:
Workshop
A 3- hour facilitated, interactive workshop with and for founders and NEDs at all stages in their lifecycle:
- For startup founders planning their growth journeys
- For scaleup founders wanting to maximise their own and their business’s potential and to ensure they have the best options for “exit” – whatever that may mean for them
- For established SME founder-CxOs wanting a refresh on their responsibilities and to build succession and resilience plans
- For current or aspiring NEDs and chairs wanting a refresh on their role in supporting founders on their journeys, through the lens of the founder journey.
Psychological Safety for Founder-CxOs
An interactive workshop and consultancy with and for founder-CxOs to create and maintain the right space for them to make the most of their board and to successfully manage their succession plan.
A 3- hour facilitated, interactive workshop with and for venture-backed and later-stage founders; and NEDs at all stages in their lifecycle:
- For venture-backed founders wanting to ensure they have the best options for “exit”, navigate the dynamics of investor-directors, shareholder agendas and when boards aren’t giving you what you want
- For established SME founder-CxOs wanting a refresh on their responsibilities and to build succession and resilience plans
- For current or aspiring NEDs and chairs wanting a refresh on their role in supporting founders on their journeys, through the lens of the founder journey.
Using the Balanced Board Scorecard
Consultancy to support founder-CEOs and Chairs in maximising the potential of their Board and hence the business and their own roles.
The Founder's Journey
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