Six places to look for scale-up business support in 2018

With a record five million small businesses operating in the UK, many of which were founded in the past decade, a number of these companies are now looking to grow. Good news is, there's plenty of scale-up support on offer. Enterprise Nation founder Emma Jones shares six places to look to ensure your business is positioned to scale in 2018.

EO Accelerator

The Entrepreneurs’ Organisation (EO) is a global network of entrepreneurs, dedicated to helping each other learn and grow.

EO offers the Accelerator program, which is for companies with a turnover of £250,000+ per annum, yet with an aim to reach £1million+ and join EO which is the eligibility criteria.

There is no cost to participate in the EO Accelerator and EO takes no equity in your business, but you do get a whole load of value, with advice and training on people, sales and marketing, finance’ and strategy at monthly roundtable sessions.

There's an information event on the afternoon of 22 January in London for any interested companies. To find out more, contact Andy Clayton who can outline the sign-up process.

Moonshot Academy

A new company and team, including Entrepreneurial Spark founder Jim Duffy, have come together to go into companies with growth potential and act as a growth swat team.

Moonshot supports founders to work on the business, not in it, offering advice on branding, strategy and execution.

They only take money out of the business when you successfully raise funds and Moonshot takes a percentage of that raise. Applications are now open!

Grocery Accelerator

In the food and drink sector? Then this one is for you!

Launched by industry and entrepreneurial veterans, this accelerator does take equity in your company and, in exchange, gets you ready to sell to the large multiples and supermarkets.

They've had success with brands including Jim Jams and Arctic Power Berries. Could they do the same for you?

Goldman Sachs 10,000 small businesses

Having operated in the UK since 2010, this is one of the most established scale-up programmes in Britain.

As described: "the core of the programme is a high quality, practically-focused business and management education, delivered over 100 hours through a blend of online and in-person residential sessions. The programme will include three residential sessions and will rotate between residential and online learning."

Each participant gets support to develop their own individual growth plan and there's also an opportunity to network with alumni of the programme. This is one scale-up initiative that gets rave reviews from entrepreneurs who have experienced it.

ScaleUp Institute

Less of a programme in its own right, this is more of a hub on all things scale-up.

The organisation, launched by serial entrepreneur Sherry Coutu, has had the most significant impact on getting the topic of scale-ups on the government and business agenda.

Now headed by Irene Graham, the Institute website carries research on scale-ups across Britain, current programmes, and recommendations to ensure scale-ups continue to be supported.

Enterprise Nation

We will continue to provide events, content and resources to help scale-ups.

StartUp 2018, the biggest small business event of the New Year, is jam-packed with entrepreneurs who've grown massive businesses including Olly Olsen, co-CEO of The Office Group, a business valued at £500m and John Treharne, founder of The Gym Group, which turned over £73.5m in 2016.

We're also running a unique event focused on growth at Twickenham Stadium on 24 January. Join us, O2 Business and the England Rugby Women's team for tips on how your business can perform at the highest level. The event includes a stadium tour and top class networking.

Our popular ScaleUp conference will return for a 2018 edition and don't forget our big investment in creating a new online platform to help you better connect with the advisers who can help you grow.

We will continue to post content in the blog's growing your business section and look out for exciting new resources focused on growth and raising finance in 2018.

If 2018 is your year to scale, these are resources you’ll want to consider!