If you talk to seasoned CFOs right now, you’ll more than likely hear the same…
For many founders, raising funding can be something of a double-edged sword. On the one hand, capital unlocks growth, on the other, funding can come with strings attached, and in some cases, a loss of strategic control.
Tech startups today sit at the intersection of enormous opportunity and mounting risk. On one hand, global IT spending is projected to grow by 9.3% this year according to Deloitte, driven in part by surging demand for AI and digital transformation. On the other hand, the rapid pace of change, macroeconomic volatility, and shifting investor sentiment mean that even high-growth companies can find themselves vulnerable.
Launching a new business is exhilarating – the energy, the creativity, the vision of building something that’s uniquely yours. But the statistics are sobering. According to ONS data, around one in five UK businesses fail within the first year, and nearly half don’t make it to their fifth birthday.
Scaling a business is one of the most exciting milestones on any entrepreneur’s journey. But it’s also a common point where things can start to unravel. The truth is, what gets you to one level of success rarely takes you to the next. And that can include your team.
In a world awash with AI headlines and tech disruption, Sara Daw, CEO of The CFO Centre, cuts through the noise with a compelling message – AI isn’t coming to take our jobs, it’s coming to transform them. And for company leaders and the finance teams that support them, the implications are both profound and empowering.
Congratulations! You have successfully navigated the first steps of building your own business. You’ve proved the initial concept has a market and your business is starting to grow. You may have bootstrapped to date by using your savings or taking on investment from the support of friends and family. You may even be further along than this and going down the path of bringing in outside investors to help scale further.
There’s no doubt about it, SME entrepreneurs, business leaders, and owners are remarkable individuals.
