Ingenuity

In 2022 we left Cambridge for Cape Town. We whacked our stuff in this container … We needed a radical change: Change of countries Change of scene Change of lifestyle It was the early days building New and needed to cut costs to improve the chances of success and mitigate risk — it was essential. Cape Town gave me the breathing space financially with the brilliant bonus of good friends, good people and nature/weather. Have you been? We’re back in the UK now for various reasons. Trying to keep up the health and fitness isn't easy here – but working on it! Cape Town is a superb place to live and build a business. Like anywhere, it has it’s challenges. Being back in the UK enables us to build on progress and lay foundations for a better future. Have you considered making big changes to open new doors? 2025 is a new year for us all. Anything new on the horizon? Best, Ian #founder #travel #digitalnomad #startup ⚪ Solo/small business owner ? It’s like trying to build a plane while you’re flying it. No big deal, right? If you’re ready to cut through the chaos, I’m running half-day and full-day sessions to help you sharpen your sales, marketing, business model, and legals—all in focused power sessions. With 15 years in business and plenty of start-ups of my own, I’ll help you go from “figuring it out” to “got this sorted” fast. Ready to take off? DM me for more info.

Don’t you just love this reframe?! ❤️ Not all training is equal #motivation #inspiration #lawyer

Solo/small businesses often can't run without their owner being active constantly and that can cause revenue to tumble when they're absent ... Building a remote digital business/consultancy? Join the borderless boardroom and be part of the network ... Dr. David Wolff pictured in the video from a recent session talking to the members about finding ways to get our business to work with us, and building on momentum. Or they lose out to competitors who are available. We're helping people avoid that. The market couldn't be more competitive right now and the economy is kinda taking a dive in many ways. That means for those people who step up, it's the biggest opportunity of a lifetime. Why not join a club of fellow entrepreneurs who are getting ready to build their business nationally or internationally? We don't sell you some kind of magic formula (we're not charlatans). We get real with you, and work collaboratively with you to help you develop the solution that enables you to take the fastest, easiest route (which will probably still be really hard, let's be honest). The Ingenuity team #consultant #coach #growth #mindset >>> We're keen to collab/partner with business advisors who want to level up to become part of our circle. Contact Ian Greig MBA for more info.

27 months ago I stood on shaky ground. Every day, the sheer weight of it was immense ... Cashflow was a trickle, raising funds seemed like an impossible dream, and those first customers were a mirage on the horizon. I vividly remember staring at the city lights and up at the stars every night. I asked myself whether what I was doing was worth it. I decided I had to keep pushing. I’ve had businesses that worked and failed in the past, but I knew that New was completely different. The problem is massive: millions of people are priced out of legal services. Legal professionals want to help founders, but they’re constrained by the system. There was a gap, and I was working on hitting it. I knew it could work. Armed with passion and research data, I doubled down. I refined my marketing and strategy, focusing on the fundamentals. Slowly but surely, the tides turned. Awesome customers started enquiring. An angel investor put some money in to boost me along. I would never have given up. However, I would have moved on if the data told me otherwise. If you're also building a business to live a good life, let's connect. The next big opportunity is always just around the corner. Ian #consultant #life #mindset #positive

Raising investment isn’t that hard 🤷♀️ Said no founder ever. But why does it feel such an uphill battle? Having a groundbreaking idea that you just know the world is waiting for isn’t enough for someone to write a cheque. A harsh reality I see time and again coming as a bit of a shock for early-stage entrepreneurs. Me too, to an extent, and here’s snippets of what I’ve learned:   ↳ Investors want more than just a concept. They're looking for evidence that your idea can translate into a viable business. Evidence can take many shapes - a prototype, early adopters, or at least a solid proof of concept. ↳ Traction is Queen. I didn’t fully appreciate just how focused on metrics and traction investors are. Even at the pre-seed stage, they want to see user engagement, growth potential, and early signs of product-market fit. ↳ Demonstrate why your team is amazing. Lone rangers can be seen as risky, so clearly articulate where your support is coming from and who your first hires are. The idea might be brilliant, but investors do bet on the team. They want to see a diverse skill set, relevant experience, and the ability to execute. ↳ We live in the UK. UK peeps, unfortunately, by nature we are particularly risk averse. Compare that to markets like the US, UK investors tend to be more conservative. ↳ You need to stand out from the crowd. There’s a thriving startup ecosystem with many fantastic founders all vying for attention from the same cheque books! So what can you do? ↳ Create a Proof of Concept I've spoken to founders whose POCs have been Excel spreadsheets, What'sApp Group, and small physical community. Not products but a way of demonstrating that people outwith their nearest and dearest love the idea. ↳Generate traction Don't let not being 'live' stop you from gaining traction. Easy ways of doing this include: - Website waitlist sign-ups - Social proof. Build a presence on social media and engage with your target audience to create a following. - Letters of intent from potential parters, demonstrating a good pipeline. ↳Find relevant support A strong advisory board and potential execution partners with proven track records will demonstrate your growth potential. ↳Engage with potential investors They don't bite. Connect with investors who are interested in your sector and invest at early stage. There's tools like Scribe and shipshape.vc that are super helpful. And remember your investors will be with you for a while, so make sure you can work with them as well as take their money! ↳Join likeminded communities You are not alone. There's a ton of great communities in the start-up space, so find your tribe. For fundraising and general support, my go to recommendations are Female Founders Rise, FounderCatalyst, Hotbed, and Startup 2 Standup. Let me know if you'd like an intro. As I get my ducks in a row for our next raise, what great lessons can you share with entrepreneurs like me?

What I respect about my clients & team: (1) Creative (new ideas & new ways of doing things) ... (2) Collaborative (all about getting further faster collectively) (3) Compassionate (actually care about helping/changing society) (4) Courageous (not content without risk and adventure) (5) Committed (to making a better life/career/world) We've got some big plans to cover legal aspects of advisory, creative and tech space for consultants, trainers, speakers, creatives and tech businesses. We've identified growth opportunities for our clients, team and collaborators, and Ingenuity club members. More to come soon! Pics: a bit of fun creating unique futuristic scenes! Have a good one. Ian New #legal #consultant #coach #mindset

Classic illustration. What people don't always think about is how it's not just an obstacle course in terms of work, it's the impact that has on finances, relationships, mental health etc. Sometimes you could be at a low physically, mentally, financially and the people closest to you can be stressed and questioning your progress etc, and then 6 months later the variables switch in any direction. The main thing is knowing you're doing the right stuff as eventually things usually work – whether they work slightly, or work in a big way, is a different matter altogether!. #mindset #coach #consultant #legal

A deeply serious new founder/coaching trend: People have more coaches than a professional sports team, yet the only thing running is their credit card. In their quest for entrepreneurial enlightenment, founders are assembling an Avengers-like roster of coaches: - life coaches - business coaches - marketing coaches - mindfulness coaches - coaches to help them manage all the coaching - coaches to advise on how to make sure the other coaches are the real deal Each coach promises to be the magic bullet they've been searching for. Yet the closest they've come to a breakthrough is breaking through their budget ceiling. At this point, they're considering hiring a financial coach to figure out how to afford all their other coaches. You'd think with all that coaching, every founder would be the next Sara Blakely Zuckerberg by now. Jokes aside, there are some epic coaches out there. If you're reading this, you must be one of them. In fact, it's guaranteed (but also not guaranteed – T&Cs apply). Have you noticed the trend? On that note – we've got a growing network of professional businesspeople, e.g. Dr. David Wolff, helping members at the Ingenuity club: a coach, mentor, advisor, serial entrepreneur and investor: David has founded 35 companies, acquired 128 and successfully exited 18 businesses. I'm also here to help and not too far behind with having co/founded 8 businesses, bought/sold some assets here and there, and a whopping zero exits. If you're a coach and want to be a better coach, or you're a coach or founder and want a better coach, then join Ingenuity. If I was your coach, I'd recommend it. Ian Ingenuity #coach #mindset #mentor #consultant

A deeply serious new founder/coaching trend: People have more coaches than a professional sports team, yet the only thing running is their credit card. In their quest for entrepreneurial enlightenment, founders are assembling an Avengers-like roster of coaches: - life coaches - business coaches - marketing coaches - mindfulness coaches - coaches to help them manage all the coaching - coaches to advise on how to make sure the other coaches are the real deal Each coach promises to be the magic bullet they've been searching for. Yet the closest they've come to a breakthrough is breaking through their budget ceiling. At this point, they're considering hiring a financial coach to figure out how to afford all their other coaches. You'd think with all that coaching, every founder would be the next Sara Blakely Zuckerberg by now. Jokes aside, there are some epic coaches out there. If you're reading this, you must be one of them. In fact, it's guaranteed (but also not guaranteed – T&Cs apply). Have you noticed the trend? On that note – we've got a growing network of professional businesspeople, e.g. Dr. David Wolff, helping members at the Ingenuity club: a coach, mentor, advisor, serial entrepreneur and investor: David has founded 35 companies, acquired 128 and successfully exited 18 businesses. I'm also here to help and not too far behind with having co/founded 8 businesses, bought/sold some assets here and there, and a whopping zero exits. If you're a coach and want to be a better coach, or you're a coach or founder and want a better coach, then join Ingenuity. If I was your coach, I'd recommend it. Ian Ingenuity #coach #mindset #mentor #consultant

Are you selling at scale to thousands – live or via recordings? Great presentations build your brand and attract customers, partners and talent ... Are you managing to persuade people and grow like you want to? Communication and presenting are at the heart of business: On video, stage, in meetings, when talking to customers, business partners, colleagues, etc. On that note, we bring you our newest guest: Andrea Pacini, of Ideas on Stage. Andrea is an expert in this space – an author, speaker, and presentation coach. He helps business owners, leaders and their teams become more confident presenters so they can inspire their audiences, increase their influence, and make a bigger impact Developing our talking/presenting skills and getting ourselves out there can do far more for us than investing in other areas. From meetings and boardrooms to stages to virtual speaking gigs and webinars. That's why we are putting energy into helping people with public speaking gigs and training at Ingenuity and New. I hope you can join. Ian #consultant #coach #publicspeaking #mindset DM me any time if you want to hear more about Ingenuity and our guest speaking gigs or opportunities to collaborate with us.