Why People Are Your Secret Sauce for Proper Business Growth.

Right then, let's have a proper chat about scaling your business. While most founders are busy faffing about with swanky tech and dreaming of being the next Deliveroo or Revolut, they're missing something rather fundamental. Some of the brightest business minds, from Lord Sugar to Sir James Dyson, have been banging on about one thing:

It's all about the people.

Getting the Right People Round the Table

John Doerr (think of him as the American version of BGF's Stephen Welton) came out with this cracker: "I will take fifty percent of the blame for hiring the wrong person, but I will take one hundred percent of the blame for keeping them too long." Bit harsh, but fair enough.? Our own Lord Bamford of JCB fame has always said something similar - you're only as good as the people who show up to work each morning. Just look at how that philosophy turned a small garage in Uttoxeter into a global powerhouse.

The Culture Bit (Frightfully Important)

Here's a brilliant one from Peter Drucker: "Culture eats strategy for breakfast." Spot on. Just ask Julian Richer of Richer Sounds - he built an empire by putting his people first, even giving them the company. Not exactly your typical Mayfair hedge fund approach, is it??? Richard Branson (proper British success story, this one) puts it rather well: "Train people well enough so they can leave, treat them well enough so they don't want to." Look at how that's worked out for Virgin Atlantic - they've managed to give British Airways a run for their money, haven't they?

Playing at Being Boss

Dame Sharon White at John Lewis Partnership knows a thing or two about this. When she says “every partner matters”, she's not just paying lip service to the employee-owned model - she's following in the footsteps of John Spedan Lewis, who knew that giving people a stake in the business was more motivating than any bonus scheme. Even Timpson's, with their upside-down management approach, proves the point. James Timpson gives his front-line staff more decision-making power than most FTSE 100 boards. Bonkers? Well, they're doing rather well for a shoe repair shop, wouldn't you say?

Making Customers Properly Chuffed

Simon Sinek hit the nail on the head: "Customers will never love a company until the employees love it first." Just look at Greggs - they've gone from a humble Newcastle bakery to a national treasure, largely because their staff really seem to take pride in their heritage and actually enjoy serving up those pasties and sausage rolls. The folks at Waitrose (sorry, 'Partners') have been proving this point for years. When you own a slice of the business, you tend to care a bit more about whether Mrs Thompson from number 42 finds her Earl Grey tea in the right aisle.

When the Good Stuff Happens

Want to know where proper innovation comes from? Take Arm Holdings - they didn't become Britain's biggest tech success by keeping their engineers locked in a Cambridge science park. It was about letting bright people bounce ideas off each other, probably over a pint at The Eagle.? Then look at Ocado - they didn't revolutionise grocery delivery by following Tesco's playbook. They let their tech boffins run wild with robot ideas that probably sounded completely mad in the beginning.

The Plot Twist

Jim Collins, advisor, student, author and teacher of what makes great companies tick, drops this bombshell: "Great vision without great people is irrelevant."

What's Next Then?

Even traditional firms like Rolls-Royce know the score. Their CEO Warren East (before he stepped down) was always banging on about how their success in aerospace wasn't just about fancy engineering - it was about having people who obsessed over getting every detail right.

Look here, as we're hurtling towards this future of AI and whatnot (just ask DeepMind, another British success story), here's the fascinating bit - the human element isn't becoming less important. It's becoming more crucial than ever. Because while machines can do the number-crunching and automate the boring bits, it's your people who turn ordinary growth into something properly extraordinary.

Ready to scale up? Start by having a good look at who's on your team. And maybe take a leaf out of the book of Pret A Manger - their staff aren't just chipper because of the free coffee. They've built a culture where people actually want to come to work (even if it means dealing with grumpy London commuters at 7 am).

Fancy a cuppa while you think about it? What about Yorkshire Tea? They're another company that seems to have figured out this whole people thing rather well...