11/09/2026
💡I’m just back from Ideas Fest - like Glastonbury for Business - and my biggest takeaways were:
1) connectivity on day 1 was terrible, so no WhatsApp, WiFi or phone calls possible. Which meant everyone had to talk to each other! Considering one of the main purposes of the festival is networking, this was a sure-fire way of making that happen. Some of the best conversations I had were with complete strangers, now connections, and have sparked some mutual business ideas.
2) AI is divisive, but not in the way you might think. Used in the right way, it’s accelerating business growth and automation is allowing smaller businesses to compete with larger ones in new ways. But it was also hailed as a distraction, not adding significant value to a business set to sell, and creating genuine concerns around data security and integrity. So, brilliant in the right places, but not brilliant without purpose.
3) almost every conversation I heard from the most successful entrepreneurs in the room referenced the unsexy side of setting up a successful business - diligent practices of good structures and processes, data housing and strategic frameworks. Often, when things are growing exponentially and resources are lean, the need to focus on making growth happen ignores the need to form a stable base. This is where the cracks in scaling businesses then appear and it’s harder to retro-fit solutions than deliberately build them as you go. The advice from multiple exited founders? Start with the end in mind.
💠If you were in the field too - what were your takeaways? What did I miss that’s a must-see next year??
👋 I’m Emma, growth advisor to established business owners looking to scale, sell or just have an easier business to run.
