Swingers, business lessons, and the story behind a UK tech giant

Welcome to Business Matters. In this edition, we hear from Swingers - the crazy golf club CEO Matt Grech-Smith on why proof of concept can work wonders for your business, our Expert Caspar Lee shares the five things he wishes his 20-year-old self knew about business and Sage CEO Steve Hare joins us on our podcast to discuss leadership and how he bounced back from being told he’d never work in the City again.?

Swingers CEO: A pop-up gave us our breakthrough?

Matt Grech-Smith and Jeremy Simmonds had a crazy idea back in 2014. Why not take mini golf, transplant it into an indoor venue, and then throw street food and cocktails into the mix?

The highly-Instagrammable experience was a major success, in part due to the success of their five-month trial, which was run in a “leaky” London warehouse. It had so much interest that the website crashed and they were booked out for months.?

On the back of this success, Grech-Smith and Simmonds were confident to move forward with their idea with an eager audience and excited investors.?

Caspar Lee: 5 things I wish my 20-year-old self knew about business?

Caspar Lee recently turned 30 and for the first time found himself reflecting on the decade prior. So, he has?put together a list of five things he wishes his 20-year-old self knew about business in the hope that some of them will resonate with you.???

1. Do what you love and you will never work a day in your life’ is b******t, especially for entrepreneurs.???

1. Ideas are easy, execution is hard?

1. Get comfortable being uncomfortable?

1. Sell the problem you solve, not the product you make?

1. Learn to love the numbers?

Read more here?

Sage CEO Steve Hare: The story behind a UK tech success?

Sage is exactly the sort of company the UK needs more of. It is the biggest UK tech company on the stock market, valued at more than ￡10bn, and it is based in the north east. ?

In our latest podcast, we discover how it became a FTSE 100 giant and dig into the leadership of CEO Steve Hare , who rebuilt his career after being told he would never work in the City again...?

You can listen to the episode on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.?

Business Leader Growth Workshop ?

Each month, we hold Growth Workshops hosted by our owner Richard Harpin , who founded and grew HomeServe into a company worth more than ￡4bn. With his impressive business acumen, we're helping the next generation of UK business leaders scale-up their companies. The workshops are a fantastic opportunity for growth-minded business leaders who are ready to apply Richard’s 8 Secrets to building a ￡billion business to their organisations.?

Join us at our next Growth Workshop?

Business Leader awards finalists revealed?

This week, we announced the finalists for our Business Leader South West Awards. An important night in the business calendar, these awards highlight the best of business across the southwest of England.?

Congratulations to all our finalists! We’ll see you in September for what promises to be another great evening.?

Join us for this years’ celebrations?

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?? Why this is the summer of the quiet vacation?

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