Wherefromhere? PLATO ‘Catalyze’s’ growth

As founder and owner-manager of wherefromhere, a UK location-based software company, I had big plans to take on the World. But wherefromhere was my first business and I was an IT-geek, not a business leader. We had got started well, with some great clients and a small team, but I needed to take the next step to really building a growing, sustainable business.

I had heard of many business support programmes, training schemes, seminars, events etc. and looked at lots of them, but what I really wanted was to spend some time with other people in a similar situation to me - peers I could learn from who had faced some of the challenges I faced.

That’s when I came across PLATO – a peer support and mentoring programme for owner-managers of small- and medium-sized businesses with growth aspirations. It sounded like just what I was looking for – an opportunity to be part of a group of about 10 like-minded owner-managers who would meet every month for 2 years, facilitated by people from much larger businesses who had already achieved the kind of success I wanted. I was attracted by the opportunity to form long-term, trusted relationships with these people and to access some of the wider capabilities that the facilitator ‘parent’ companies had available.

But more than anything, I was attracted by the opportunity to spend at least 3 hours a month working ‘on’ the business and not ‘in’ it – day-to-day my working life was taken up with winning business, running projects and ‘doing the do’, but I knew that to really move my business forward I had to take some time to step back and look at the future – and address some of the things which I was just avoiding in the day-to-day.

My region in the UK was just about to start a PLATO pilot, to see how the model would work in the UK environment – PLATO had become very successful helping SMEs in Ireland and Belgium. I jumped at the chance to be one of the first PLATO members, so I joined one of the 12 pilot groups.

The first thing that struck me was the diversity of my fellow group members – ranging from businesses a little smaller than mine, to some that were much bigger, and from all sorts of different sectors – furniture, security, adhesives, IT, manufacturing, etc. etc. And it soon became clear that the diversity was a big strength – we each had different experiences to bring to the table to share which would help each other out. For example, one member, Martin, was used to buying up failing companies and then bringing them into his own business. Another, Wayne, was a sales super-star. A third, Sue, was an IT-whiz with a long history of winning Government contracts.

As our group formed and developed, it became clear that most of the challenges each of us was facing around the table had been seen, faced and usually solved by one of the other members in the group. And in those situations where that wasn’t the case, the facilitators from the parent companies (one a vehicle manufacturer and the other an IT supplier) could bring in people from their organisations with relevant experience or skills to help the group.

We also had access to the wider PLATO ‘network’, so could tap into experience from the other groups in the pilot, or even other PLATO companies from other countries. Plus the PLATO administration (in this case, Business Link, the local government-funded business support organisation), had access to expert speakers who could address the group.

For me, the core of PLATO were the monthly meetings, where quickly we established a real trust round the table which meant we could be honest about how things were going and therefore be truly helpful – and challenging when needed! In addition, there were seminars and other wider-group events organised by PLATO which helped us networked and addressed some themes which were common across the network and these provided an added dimension.

Each month I really looked forward to my PLATO meetings – that 3 hour slot when I truly got ‘out’ of the business to work ‘on’ it, and to work ‘on’ my fellow members’ businesses too – bringing some of my own experience to the table. They were truly energising sessions.

For me and my business, PLATO really helped me to achieve my growth aspirations – during my time in PLATO I met Bob, an owner manager in a different PLATO group. Bob had a consulting business, Catalyze, which had some innovative software tools to help its consulting processes. Independently both Bob and I were looking for ways to ‘take that next step’ in growth, and we met at a cross-group event. He wanted to group his software capability and I was looking for new avenues for wherefromhere.

As we got to know each other it became clear that the smart thing to do was to put our two businesses together. That way we each double our size immediately and get over that next step!

Over the next few months, I discussed my thinking with my PLATO group and got some very helpful advice and guidance on aspects such as structuring the merger, managing intellectual property, testing the combined value proposition etc. I even used the group to act like a client so I could try out the new sales pitch of the combined businesses.

All of this was extremely useful and before long, wherefromhere and Catalyze had become one and we’ve been going from strength-to-strength ever since.

My PLATO experience also gave me lots of other valuable help – on many matters concerning employment, sales and marketing, business planning, strategy, health and safety, raising finance and so on. To me, the long-term value that PLATO brought is demonstrated by the fact that most of my group members are still in regular contact, even 3 years after we completed the programme!

And PLATO even had a part to play in me coming to New Zealand to set up a local Catalyze office. Not only did my time on the programme give me the confidence to move overseas and set up a new office from nothing, I also used the wider PLATO network to make contacts here. And I was very pleased to discover that as I was making my move over, the Ministry for Economic Development were considering running a PLATO pilot in NZ.

Now that pilot is up and running I am delighted to be able to be a part of it, as chair of the Steering Group, because as an SME owner-manager, I believe so strongly in the PLATO model that I am keen to do whatever I can to help it work here.

Paul Gordon, Director Catalyze (Asia-Pacific)