ABP Scores Two Mentors Named in Britain’s Top 50 Business Advisers

Britain’s Top 50 Business Advisers of 2014 Announced  – ABP Coaches Celebrate Recognition

Two South East based business coaches have been named as one Britain’s top 50 business advisers.

Both Warren Knight and Daryl Woodhouse who offer business advice to help local early stage entrepreneurs, as well as consulting established larger businesses, were picked from hundreds of advisers from around the UK for their work with SME’s, looking to fast-track their growth opportunities.

Daryl, Founder and Executive Chairman of nationally established business growth consultancy Advantage Business Partnerships (ABP), said: “It is all too easy for business management teams to get distracted and lose sight of what’s important to its founders and what they’re trying to achieve – there’s a strong risk that without good strategic advice you can wake up one day with a business that doesn’t bring you the satisfaction you long for. And what’s worse, because you arrived there through a series of a hundred small compromises over several months, you didn’t see it coming.

“Good advice can help you put simple systems and practices in place to make sure that the business stays on track and does what you wanted it to, and hoped it would.”

Warren, a social media expert and entrepreneur operating in London and a key Business Growth Partner at ABP, was delighted to not only make the top 50, but in fact, the top 10. He said;

“Technology touches every part of our lives. By understanding how technology can be used in a companie’s go-to-market strategy, it really helps increase brand awareness and drives sales. This is why I am so passionate about helping SME’s”

Warren recently launched his new book “Think #Digital First”, a step by step guide designed for a creative entrepreneurs, business owners as well as sales and marketing managers. Whilst Daryl who also has his first book in the works, is currently promoting ABP’s highly successful and free Business Performance Assessment tool – the SPA platform.

The awards are run by small business network Enterprise Nation, which asked thousands of businesses to nominate an adviser that had helped them to build and grow a sustainable business.

The awards, which set out to highlight the work done behind the scenes by experts helping Britain’s army of SME businesses to build and grow, revealed a rich vein of dedicated supporters for the UK’s expanding entrepreneurial culture.

Emma Jones, founder of Enterprise Nation said: “These business advisers are the unsung heroes behind Britain’s booming small business culture.

“The awards have uncovered some incredible work that has helped firms take steps towards sustainability and growth by taking a strategic look at their business.

“Research shows that those firms that take advice do better than those that don’t – and it stands to reason that good advice can help avoid some of the damaging, early mistakes entrepreneurs can make that can often force them to give up.

“There is now an increasing interest in taking strategic advice to overcome some of these behavioural barriers and unlock growth potential.”

Daryl and Warren’s top tips for growing a business are:

• Question everything you’re told.
• Ask others established entrepreneurs what they wish they’d asked for with hindsight – if you don’t know any, book yourself onto free business networking events (Eventbrite is a good place to find some).
• Make sure you actually get around to running your business and don’t spend all your time talking about it.

A Government report entitled Growing Your Business, written by Enterprise Adviser Lord Young suggested if Britain’s smallest firms were to take on just one more employee each, it would eradicate unemployment in the UK.

He said: “The evidence is unequivocal: businesses that seek and engage external help are more likely to grow. But much more needs to be done to encourage firms to invest in their capability.”

A report from the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce suggested by 2018 there would be more than five million people working for themselves in this country – exceeding the number working in the public sector for the first time.

The award nominees were judged by a distinguished panel including Emma Jones, and representatives from professional bodies including the ICAEW, as well as the Department for Business, Industry and Skills, StartUp Loans and James Layfield, the founder and entrepreneur behind Central Working.