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Building a Business for the long term around your ethics — ScaleUp Radio

Building a Business for the long term around your ethics

1 May 2023

Show notes

May 1, 2023

Hello I’m Granger Forson

www.bizsmart-gloucestershire.co.uk or find me on LinkedIn.

This time on ScaleUp Radio I speak with Neil Cullen, the owner of Energise Technology.

 

Energise Technology focuses on helping the not for profit, charity & education markets with a number of pillars including Technical Consultancy / Software development / Tech advice & Tech skill training. They are based in Tetbury, but as you will hear their staff can be located anywhere in the world. Neil started the business in 2017 with the aim to grow organically and develop the business around his ethics.

 

It is interesting hearing Neil’s story about how some key change points in his life led to creating the business and how it has grown by taking on one member of staff each year.

 

As always, we cover a lot of ground, including:

 

 - Choosing the right customer that fits your ethics can lead to beneficial cash flow discussion for both parties.

 - When the business leader is needed to step in to ‘do the developer work’, they are subject to the same standard of quality & feedback as everyone else.

 - Aiding your customer to be successful in growth, allows your business grow alongside them.

 

What is so fascinating about this conversation with Neil is how he has from day one built his business around a ‘big business structure’ so that he is not stuck in the owners trap we so often talk about.

 

You may not be a ‘techy’ person, but I know that you’ll get so much out of this episode.

 

Neil can be found here:

linkedin.com/in/neil-cullen-4a013954

 

https://www.energisetechnology.co.uk/scaleup

 

hello@energisetechnology.co.uk

 

 

Resources:

 

Cobalt Red by Siddharth Kara - https://www.waterstones.com/book/cobalt-red/siddharth-kara/9781250284303

 

Diary Of A CEO - https://stevenbartlett.com/the-diary-of-a-ceo-podcast/

 

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/

 

Scaling up your business isn't easy, and can be a little daunting. Let ScaleUp Radio make it a little easier for you. With guests who have been where you are now, and can offer their thoughts and advice on several aspects of business. ScaleUp Radio is the business podcast you've been waiting for.   If you would like to be a guest on ScaleUp Radio, please click here: https://bizsmarts.co.uk/scaleupradio/apply   You can get in touch with Granger here: grangerf@biz-smart.co.uk   Kevin's Latest Book Is Available!    Drawing on BizSmart’s own research and experiences of working with hundreds of owner-managers, Kevin Brentexplores the key reasons why most organisations do not scale and how the challenges change as they reach different milestones on the ScaleUp Journey. He then details a practical step by step guide to successfully navigate between the milestones in the form of ESUS - a proven system for entrepreneurs to scale up.    More on the Book HERE - https://www.esusgroup.co.uk/

Liked this conversation? Bring the same thinking to your business.

ScaleUp Radio is hosted by Kevin Brent — founder of Smart90, author of the Entrepreneurial ScaleUp System (ESUS), and the same Kevin who works directly with founders inside the G90 Summit.

The Summit is a structured half-day — quarterly, virtual via Zoom — where founders and their teams get clear on the three to five things that must happen in the next 90 days, and leave with a plan committed to making them happen.

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Next session: 26th June 2026 · £97 for a standalone seat · smart90.co.uk/summit