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Jon Dudgeon, Blu Sky co-founder and chief executive

Columnist

How specialist support can help your scale-up journey

Scaling a business is one of the most exciting and challenging times for any owner. 

You can finally see your hard work paying off. However, you can also feel extreme pressure and face a lot of questions. 

Whether it's rising costs from national insurance contributions, changing regulations, navigating private investment, expanding the team or implementing new systems, you will have several plates to juggle. 

These challenges require more than ambition alone to overcome – they also need specialist expertise and a clear strategy.

You can’t – and shouldn’t – try to do everything solo. 

One of the most effective ways to manage this transition is to build a wall of support around you.  

Bringing in professional expertise gives you access to the right specialism at the right time.

Whether that’s legal, HR, marketing or finance, the right advice can streamline your scale-up journey, enabling you to focus on the vision, rather than being in the weeds.

Finance, in particular, can be a make-or-break factor in growth.

It’s one thing to have a great product and a receptive market, but it’s another to manage cash flow, keep investors confident and make informed decisions on expansion. 

That is where the value of a virtual finance officer really comes into play. 

Instead of hiring a full-time chief finance officer too early, you can tap into a flexible service that provides the same expertise at a fraction of the cost. 

It means you gain senior-level insight into forecasting, fundraising and compliance without carrying the overheads of a permanent hire before you’re ready.

Time and again, we see the businesses who scale most smoothly are those who take finance seriously from the outset. 

They use virtual chief finance officer and finance teams to stay ahead of their numbers, and avoid the common traps of underestimating tax liabilities or overstretching cash reserves. 

They make decisions with clarity, rather than solely ‘gut feel’. 

And when the time comes to bring in a permanent chief finance officer, they do it from a position of strength, with the right systems and processes already in place.

It’s not about replacing the role of leadership or instinct: it’s about making sure your instinct is backed by data, compliance and future-proofed thinking. 

In a changing business environment, with cost pressures, regulatory shifts and market uncertainty, the need for flexibility and professional support has never been greater.

So, chief executives, be clear on your vision, but don’t go it alone. 

Surround yourself with specialist advisers who bring genuine expertise and who share your values.

Invest in finance early, even if through a virtual model, to give your business the best chance of scaling sustainably. 

And recognise that scaling up is not a straight line, it’s a journey with hurdles, difficult decisions and even the occasional setback. 

Having a trusted support system means you can navigate these challenges with confidence.

Jon Dudgeon is co-founder and chief executive of North Shields, Newcastle and London-based accountancy and business advisory firm Blu Sky

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