The ScaleUp Institute is calling all fast-growing businesses and encouraging them to participate in the 2018 Scaleup Survey - the UK’s largest survey of its scale-up ecosystem.

The Scaleup Survey is now in its fifth year. Its influence and importance has grown rapidly, as it focuses attention on what high-growth firms such as yours most value and need.

The survey should take about 15- 20 minutes to complete. The deadline for completions is‎ Monday 3 September 2018.

Thank you for your time, scaleup companies generate £1trn for the UK economy and employ 3.5m people - it is vital to hear your views to break down the barriers to further growth.

What No One Tells You About Starting Your Own Business

No One Tells You How to Run Your Day

When you wake up in the morning, your agenda is completely up to you. It’s not like you have some magic biz fairy that drops a checklist for you to accomplish by 6pm that evening.

Nah. I wish.

Instead you have to manage your time and make sure you stay on tasks. It also means you have to keep coming up with new projects and continue to innovate as much as you can.

You also don’t have anyone to quality check your work, there are a useful  work tool that makes our job easier.I recommended. That’s on you. So any spelling errors (I’m guessing there are probably five or six in this blog), quick decisions, emails, quality control, technology fails or anything else falls on you. ON YOU. Even if you literally didn’t have anything to do with it – it’s definitely your fault. You run the day. You are the boss. You are the end all be all. Accountability is your new bestie. And it can be paralyzing and exciting and nerve-racking and thrilling all at the same time. So my advice is to embrace the fact that you’re el jefe, cause you ain’t going anywhere.

It’s Expensive

Awhile ago I was having a conversation with a friend about small business crowdfunding and cash lenders. He is *super* well off but was being a good sport and trying to talk to me about the stress of money. As a business owner you always have to be conscious of your expenses; it’s the name of the game.

As we were discussing these dynamics, I whined about how sometimes I feel like my money gets in a lovers spat with the bank and packs up a suitcase and runs away.  My friend empathetically nodded and said something to the extent of, “That makes sense, though. You have a starving baby at home.”

I wasn’t sure if he was talking about Andrew or Blush. Both fit the bill. But after about a two second pause I decided to go with the latter. And honestly, I hadn’t heard a better description of owning a business in a long time.

Blush devours everything. It wants so much energy and money that you would seriously think it was a spoiled teenager demanding a first class sweet sixteen birthday party complete with a performance by Miley and a petting zoo in the back. So my relationship with Blush is a constant balance. What does Blush need vs. what can Blush afford. Sometimes I overshoot and sometimes I undershoot, and it’s hard.

It really helps that I work from home. Office space isn’t cheap, plus I don’t think many girls would want to have sessions with a life coach who is sitting in a public workspace anyway. The silver lining is that every Blush purchase is a tax write off (yay!) and I’m investing my money in something that continues to provide returns. So yes it’s difficult, but it’s also worth it.