Episode #246 - Get The Culture Right, And You're Well On Your Way To Success - with Sam Fenton-Elstone

Jun 5, 2023

You're going to want to listen to this episode today I interview Sam Fenton-Elstone, who is the co founder and CEO of Anything Is Possible and there's so much to listen out for.

They are in the media, creative and technology space, which is a very competitive market space, but they've carved out a really strong position and they've grown over the last five years to 50 people. 

So from a standing start to 50 people, 5 million pounds in turnover, looking to open up their third and fourth offices very shortly. 

So they've grown very rapidly and I want you to listen out to how clearly Sam can articulate what makes them different from the other agencies that are out there. And also how clearly he can articulate the source of their competitive advantage and I think that's really key. 

We talk quite a lot about strategy and culture, Sam keeps coming back to those things. It's clear that they've got a lot right in their strategy and have been very, very clever. And they're also very focused upon culture. In fact, so much so that their fundamental belief is that anything is possible, which they made the name of the company and it flows through everything that they do, right through from recruitment to how they manage the team and the business and how they deal with clients – so it is embedded throughout the business.

This discussion is full of great insights, great advice from somebody that's built a 50 people business within a five year period including that time over lockdown, and actually I want you to listen out to his approach as to how they how they handled the pandemic. 

So let me not spoil any more. Let's go straight over and listen to the rest of Sam’s story.

 

Sam can be found here:

linkedin.com/in/samfentonelstone

https://aip.media/

[e-mail]

 

Resources:

Rebel Ideas by Matthew Syed - https://www.waterstones.com/book/rebel-ideas/matthew-syed/matthew-syed-consulting-ltd/9781529348408

Good Strategy, Bad Strategy by Richard Rumelt - https://www.waterstones.com/book/good-strategy-bad-strategy/richard-rumelt/9781781256176

Audible - https://www.audible.co.uk/

OS Maps - https://shop.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/apps

 

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[e-mail]

 

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Drawing on BizSmart’s own research and experiences of working with hundreds of owner-managers, Kevin Brentexplores the key reasons why most organisations do not scale and how the challenges change as they reach different milestones on the ScaleUp Journey. He then details a practical step by step guide to successfully navigate between the milestones in the form of ESUS - a proven system for entrepreneurs to scale up. 

 

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