What sets Home Grown apart from other business members’ clubs is its unwavering commitment to entrepreneurial growth. Through strategic partnerships with some of the most prestigious organisations in the business space, including Harvard Business Alumni, Coutts and Beauhurst, Home Grown provides unrivalled access to the best in the business, allowing members to take their businesses to the next level.

The club also offers tailored members’ benefits, such as marketing and leadership coaching, scaling up strategy and brand development. With initiatives such as Green Shoots, supporting businesses with a sustainable focus and the Investment Series, Home Grown goes beyond in its mission to foster growth, providing expert workshops and guidance to promising businesses looking to make their mark.

Home Grown is a private members’ club situated in the heart of Marylebone, dedicated to fostering the growth of businesses in a luxurious, business-focused environment. With its blend of elegance and contemporary design, Home Grown combines the best of both worlds to create a space that is both refined and dynamic. With 35 bedrooms, private dining rooms, business lounges, and meeting suites, the club is designed to foster professional introductions and collaborations. With a membership package that offers an extensive array of benefits and events, including exclusive business talks, leadership seminars, and invite-only dinners, it’s no wonder that the club has attracted over 1,300 seasoned entrepreneurs, investors and global business leaders.

Home Grown’s Rockstar Series, has been welcoming entrepreneurs such as Levi Roots, Kelly Hoppen and Richard Farleigh to name a few. This time round, they took their flagship series to the stage, sharing their challenges and the good the bad and the ugly side around scaling and exiting a business on the road to Hotel Gotham in Manchester.

But why Manchester?

According to reports, Manchester’s tech start-ups raised a staggering £532m in 2022, making it the largest UK amount outside of London. The city is an ideal place to start a business, with access to talent from five universities and the largest campus in Europe, access to grants, funding and support. On top of that, it is also less expensive than London. Businesses in the North West account for 10% of all companies across the UK, and the Greater Manchester area has the highest number of businesses with 443,649. It, therefore, comes as no surprise, then, that they chose Manchester as their city host.

Guests and members, who had come from all over Greater Manchester, wasted no time exchanging business cards and ideas. The stage was set for a night of electric insights from one of the country’s most successful entrepreneurs.

During her conversation with ScoreApp Co-Founder Daniel Priestley, Jo Fairley, the co-founder of Green & Black’s, shared her story from start, scale to sale to Cadbury and learnings and much more.

Some key takeaways from the conversation:

Being underestimated can be a blessing in disguise. When others don’t believe in your abilities or potential, it creates space for you to surprise them and prove them wrong. This can be a powerful motivator to push yourself beyond what you thought was possible and achieve even greater success.

Knowing who to sell to is essential. Understanding your customer base allows you to tailor your messaging and approach to best resonate with them and meet their needs. This is necessary for building a successful business that truly connects with its audience.

Remember to stay true to your values even as you grow. By scaling up small business values and practices, even unintentionally, you can have a positive impact on the industry as a whole and inspire others to follow suit.

Take rest and prioritise hobbies and exercise. In today’s hustle culture, it’s all too easy to burn out and sacrifice our health and well-being in pursuit of success. Taking care of ourselves and making time for activities that bring us joy is essential for sustaining success and avoiding burnout.

Having to be flexible in business as rigidity in an idea doesn’t always work. Whilst it’s important to have a clear vision and strategy, it’s also important to be willing to adapt and pivot as circumstances change. Being too rigid in your thinking or approach can hold you back and prevent you from taking advantage of new opportunities.

Jo’s insights served as a reminder that success in business requires not only hard work and dedication but also a strong sense of purpose and values.

Unleash your business potential at Home Grown

As guests departed from Hotel Gotham, they left with a sense of fulfilment and enlightenment, eagerly anticipating what more is to come. Home Grown will continue to foster further London-Manchester cross-activities, fuelled by the belief that expanding an entrepreneurial community to the UK’s capital city can create boundless opportunities.

Paul Manivannan, a Manchester-based Home Grown member and CEO of MacxTech is no stranger to the Home Grown community and often visits to explore the vibrant opportunities London has to offer.

“The vibe at Home Grown is incredible,” Paul has said. “Everyone exudes warmth and a genuine care for the club. The service is top-notch, the rooms comfortable, and the breakfast excellent. Everything is effortless, even responding to emails at 3 am. Events are fantastic, with great speakers sharing valuable insights. It’s a brilliant place and I look forward to spending more time here.”

Home Grown has an unwavering commitment to providing exceptional service, networking opportunities and access to successful entrepreneurs like Jo Fairley making it the go-to destination for ambitious entrepreneurs and scale-ups seeking to expand their businesses beyond their cities.

After the success of the first Rockstar on the Road in Manchester, Home Grown, continues the series bringing it to the South West to Bristol on Thursday  27th September, in partnership with Business Leader.

The original article published by Business Leader can be found here.

Looking to scale up your network? To find out more call 020 3928 8088 or email: membership@homegrownlcub.co.uk.

If you’re interested in enriching your entrepreneurial experience and finding a strong community of entrepreneurs, investors and business leaders then contact our membership team at Home Grown.