IoD London spotlights entrepreneurs

Alastair King, Chair, IoD London Region said, “I am delighted with the redefinition of YDF London to spotlight Entrepreneurship. I see this as a central strategy for us to exponentially grow and support our membership in the next couple of years in London. If you are an Entrepreneur, I invite you to join this Special Interest Group and be part of an excellent community of entrepreneurs.”

Reena Dayal, Interim Chair of IoD Central London said, ‘We have always attracted a vibrant mix of entrepreneurs – from small and micro to mid-sized business businesses. There is an immediate opportunity for us to better serve this community and create an environment that supports entrepreneurs through each stage of their journey. Watch this space as we launch a strategy to showcase entrepreneurs and invite IoD London members to become part of the Entrepreneur Special Interest Group Leadership team. It is game on!

So, how will we ensure the Entrepreneur Special Interest Group (SIG) becomes the place for entrepreneurs and start-ups to grow their business? Through offering strategic opportunities for this community to Connect-Develop-Influence. Jack Swallow, recently appointed as Chair of this Group, listed three areas as being central to achieving our mission.  This will be further fine-tuned with the core leadership team of this community and member feedback.

1. Connect: Events that matter

We will host several connecting events over the coming months. Huge amounts of knowledge can be shared when we get together – so connecting will remain a crucial step in our strategy implementation.  These connecting events will be put on for both members and non-members and will likely be organised following a keynote speaker on one of the Knowledge Bank sections.

2. Develop: Knowledge Bank

This will become a whole database on hints and tips for start-ups providing valuable information at each stage of your company’s lifecycle. It will be broken down into three sections: Start Up, Scale Up and Maturity phase.

These will be delivered through videos, interviews, and keynote speakers. Through sectioning the ‘Knowledge Bank’ this way, every start-up will be able find a segment that closely resembles their stage and support them in their journey to reach the next section. The knowledge bank will only be available for members of this community.

3. Influence: Podcasting

Although very lockdown-esque, its advantages transcend lockdown(‘s). Entrepreneurs are busy people. They may not be able to attend every Connecting event or spend time reviewing the knowledge bank – but they might find time to listen to podcasts or perhaps contribute to them. It is a great channel to influence or be influenced with stories, ideas and strategies that inspire.

These podcasts will be broken down into two categories. The first category will be “Success Stories”. This will focus on start-ups that have ‘made it’.  The second category will be “Journey Stories”. This will focus on start-ups that have not yet ‘made it’ and are still going through ‘start-up’ phase or the ‘scaling’ phase and we will continue to follow their story.

Call to Action

On behalf of the IoD Central London committee, Jack, Chair of Entrepreneur SIG and Stephen McKenzie IoD Central London Branch Manager, encourage Entrepreneurs with a start-up at any size, industry or maturity level and who are open to sharing their story, to please reach out to [email protected] for podcasting opportunities. In addition, if you are an IOD London member and have an early interest to be part of the initial strategy building and/or, be part of the SIG Leadership team or SIG community, please use the same email ID to register your interest.

Ultimately, we are here to support you, our members. Whilst we have ideas on how best to support you, we need your feedback to help drive this SIG forward. Please reach out with what you would like to see we will do all we can to accommodate this.