Commercial Leadership: Build the Systems and Operations for Growth

Make sure your systems, processes and operations can keep pace with growth – without adding unnecessary complexity. Growth can expose the cracks in a business. Processes that worked with a smaller team become inefficient. Information gets harder to find. Decisions take longer. People develop their own ways of doing things. And the business can become increasingly reliant on a few key people to keep everything moving. This practical session will help you step back and consider whether the way your business operates today is ready for where you want it to go next. You'll explore where operational bottlenecks and dependencies could restrict growth, what needs to become more consistent or efficient and where better systems, processes or technology could make the biggest difference. This session will help you: • Identify the operational bottlenecks that could hold back growth • Recognise where the business relies too heavily on particular people or knowledge • Consider which processes need to become more consistent as you grow • Explore where systems and technology could improve efficiency • Think about what to standardise – without creating unnecessary bureaucracy • Identify practical changes that could give your business greater capacity to grow You'll also have the opportunity to discuss your challenges with other leaders of growing Oxfordshire businesses, test ideas and learn from their experiences. Who is it for? This session is designed for founders, Managing Directors, CEOs and senior leaders of Oxfordshire businesses employing 3+ people. It will be particularly relevant if you're asking yourself: • Could our current systems cope if the business grew significantly? • Where are the bottlenecks slowing us down? • Are we wasting too much time on manual or inefficient processes? • Does too much knowledge sit with one or two people? • Where could technology or automation genuinely make a difference? • How do we introduce more structure without becoming bureaucratic? What to expect This isn't a session about creating processes for the sake of processes. The session combines practical expert input, discussion with other business leaders and real-world experience to help you identify where stronger operations could make your business more efficient, resilient and easier to grow. You'll have the opportunity to apply the thinking to your own business and leave with clearer priorities for strengthening the operational foundations that matter most. Part of Commercial Leadership for Growth This event is part of Enterprise Oxfordshire's Commercial Leadership for Growth Programme, designed to help leaders of growing businesses tackle the commercial challenges that emerge as their businesses develop. You can attend this session as a standalone event, or join other sessions in the programme: 20 October – Define Your Strategy and Growth Choices Make better growth decisions and focus on the opportunities that matter. 3 November – Choose Your Model, Pricing and Sales Strategy Create more profitable growth and develop a stronger sales engine. 17 November – Making Financial Decisions for Growth Use your numbers to make better investment and growth decisions. 1 December – Build the Systems and Operations for Growth Make sure your systems and operations can support the next stage of growth. 15 December – Build Your Team and Lead for Growth Build a team that takes greater ownership and reduce dependency on you. Participants will also have the opportunity to join a facilitated Peer Advisory Programme, bringing live business challenges to a trusted group of fellow leaders for practical support, challenge and accountability. You don't have to attend every session, although we would encourage you to join those most relevant to the challenges facing your business. Eligibility This is an Enterprise Oxfordshire Business event for Oxfordshire-based businesses. To attend, your business must: • Be based in Oxfordshire • Employ 3+ people • Have completed the Enterprise Oxfordshire Business Support Tool since 1 November 2025 If you haven't yet completed the Business Support Tool, please do so as part of your registration. Business Support Tool - Enterprise Oxfordshire Business Minimal Financial Assistance (MFA) scheme The Growth Hub programme operates a Minimal Financial Assistance (MFA) scheme. All SMEs which receive support under this programme are being aided under the UK Subsidy Control Act (2022) and The Subsidy Control (Gross Cash Amount and Gross Cash Equivalent) Regulations (2022 No. 1186). MFA allows a beneficiary to receive up to £315,000 of Subsidy over a three-fiscal year period (i.e. the current and previous two fiscal years). The value of MFA given is the gross cash amount or the gross cash equivalent of the subsidy. The MFA value of this webinar is £1041.25. At the end of each financial year, we are required to tell you the total amount of support you have received from Enterprise Oxfordshire. By signing up to the event you are consenting to us holding your data in line with our Enterprise Oxfordshire Privacy policy to allow us to do this. We will only send promotional emails about new products, special offers or other information which we think you may find interesting if you opt in to marketing. By signing up to the event you are consenting to us holding your data in line with our Enterprise Oxfordshire Privacy policy. You may receive text messages with information about emergencies under our business resilience scheme however you can opt out of these at any time by replying to any text”