Businesses rate confidence highly for survival

A Cranfield School of Management product story
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk editorial team Jan 17, 2006

A survey of almost 90 participants in 2005 showed that confidence is the one recurrent theme that links with a bright future, even if prospects are uncertain.

The economic outlook remains highly uncertain, but businesses that can plan their future with confidence are more likely to succeed.

That is the message from the Business Growth Programme (BGP) at Cranfield School of Management.

A survey of almost 90 participants in 2005 showed that confidence is the one recurrent theme that links with a bright future, even if prospects are uncertain.

BGP Programme director Gerard Burke said: "Confidence stems from clarity over where the business is going, and how it is going to get there.

It does not come overnight, but through a structured process of thinking about the business, and exposing your ideas to robust scrutiny from other people.

Programmes like BGP help ambitious owner-managers develop a robust and credible plan for business growth and personal development." In two weeks another 56 ambitious owner-managers will start the BGP January 2006 programme, and places are going fast for the next programme running in May.

Since 1988 over 700 businesses have taken part in BGP, making it the UK's biggest, longest-running programme of its kind.

Many are local to the area and some are household names, like Cobra Beer and Hotel Chocolat.

Since attending BGP in 2000 Hotel Chocolat has increased its turnover more than four times, and now has stores in seven locations, including Milton Keynes, Cambridge, St Albans and Watford.

Justin Lochhead, co-founder and managing director of Leighton Buzzard,UK-based Euroway Leasing attended BGP in May 2005.

Euroway was already very successful, butLochhead found himself at a 'cross-roads' following the loss of a founding member at the start of 2005.

"BGP gave me clarity of thought and, more importantly, much more confidence in my personal ability," says Lochhead.

"I also had the chance to measure the business against our competitors.

The outcome of the programme was a three-year business plan, taking us to the end of 2008, in which we intend to double the size of the company from our current turnover of GBP 7.8m to over GBP 15m.

Initial figures for 2005 are on budget and our sales and marketing strategy looks set to produce more than our budgeted growth and profit for 2006.

I view BGP as possibly one of the best investments that I have made in the business since its inception," he said.

"All our research tells us that businesses that know where they are going are far more likely to get there," comments Burke.

"That inner confidence communicates itself to members of staff, to customers and suppliers alike.

If you believe in yourself, and you have a robust plan to support you, other people are much more inclined to do so as well.

Our resolution for 2006 is to deliver the benefits of BGP to more people than ever before.".

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