The first client is the hardest

For any new business venture, the first client is always a toughie. Business Leader’s new venture is a membership programme that aims to help mid-sized companies scale up. Our first client might be tougher than most. They’re a media and events outfit with a real desire to become a giant. Their name is Business Leader.

Our new client’s growth strategy is simple but ambitious. Rebrand the magazine, achieve national name recognition and, yes, launch a new membership programme to help medium-sized companies scale up. I’ve met with all the staff and had some fascinating conversations. The only disappointment was the meeting I had with Business Leader’s head of membership where I ended up speaking to myself.

Still, I think Business Leader can achieve its aims. What’s interesting is it has genuine skin in the game, a concept beloved by essayist Nassim Nicholas Taleb among others. Taleb argues that you shouldn’t listen to advice from anyone who doesn’t stand to lose something if the advice doesn’t work out. So it helps that, at Business Leader, we’ll be following the same scaling-up programme as our members.

The services we will be providing, and the strategies we will be recommending, are the same as those we use ourselves. And it’s impossible for us to be successful without our members being successful too.

As you have no doubt read at other points in this magazine, Business Leader’s driving purpose is to help ambitious founders and CEOs scale up their businesses. To that end, the magazine and membership are two sides of the same coin. If there’s anything you read in this publication that you would like to adapt for your business, we can help turn that advice into action. The magazine will give you the information. And the membership will handle the implementation.

Craig Wilmann, Business Leader head of membership, talking to himself

As this column develops, I will keep you updated with how we are getting on. Thankfully, we have already ensured that our first client won’t be our last. The membership won’t properly get started until the summer but we are already some way towards filling the waiting list. If you’re the founder or CEO of a mid-sized company who wants to scale up, feel free to get in touch directly. I’d love to speak to you. It will be a welcome break from talking to myself.