In 2015, Johnson explained that conference call provider Powownow was expecting to add in excess of 80 or 90 thousand users in the UK. He also pointed to figures from 2010 and 2014 to showcase the progress, saying: ?Revenue was ?6.3m in 2010, and for 2014 it was £14.1m. Our headcount was 30, and for 2014 that was up to 70. Then the minutes a month in calls were 20m for 2010 and 50m for 2014.
Founded in 2004 by?Paul Lees, who had previously worked with BT and was increasingly frustrated with the unsuccessful ways of the conference calling world, Powwownow has gone from strength to strength. Johnson was only brought on board four years ago to help navigate the sale of the company.
“I was looking at key drivers for success, but also routes to future growth as those buying want to know especially for private equity how they’d be able to sell it on in three to five years,” Johnson said at the time.
We had a few more questions for Johnson though, and below are his answers.
(1) Tell me more about your background and what lessons you learned while working in industries such as aviation, shipping and property.
While the industries are fundamentally different, the principles are the same. Businesses go through life cyclesAnd depending?on what stage they are at ?whether they areA’start-up, growing business or mature business, the key areas of focus are just tweaked.
Forexample, cash is always important?but for different reasons. It’s very critical in the early stages?of a business, where it’s more about survival rather than optimising return on investmentAnd it’s also crucial for?growing businesses who?want to re-invest. For a mature business, it’s more about cash management, giving the shareholder a return and not just investing in the core.
(2) After struggling to get the word out in its early days, Powwownow has been growing at quite a tidy rate how is the company still facilitating that growth?
We ve kept true to our principles of investing in marketing and new product development. Each year we invest 20 per cent of the revenue in marketing, which means it increases every year.
Continue to find out how to maintain company culture in your decision making.
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(3) What are the key skills needed for an FD to successfully take up the challenge of scaling a company?
There are several things that are needed, firstly you need a good handle on the finances, but still have to remain agile. Remember you’re a back office function that is there to facilitate future growth, so try to keep your finance team lean and have the processes in place, so that as your business grows, your finance team doesn’t need to grow at the same pace. You want to grow the departments that are fundamental to business growth, normal sales and marketing.
Also, investing more in technology rather than people to manage more customers. For example, in-house billing systems and information management allows you to be agile and flexible in how you work.
(4) It was suggested that the founders had wanted direction after after cultivating a successful entrepreneurial startup. What was your first port of call and how do you still maintain that culture in your decision making?
The founders wanted to pass over running of the business to a management team so they could go on and do different things. So the first port of call was for us to evaluate where we were and then where we wanted to go. We asked the question “Can these people get us there “. It’s important to us to maintain the culture, we want it to be a fun lively place to work with likeminded people.
(5) Since being brought on board to help navigate the sale of the company, how has your role grown?
It’s a lot less about functional reporting, more about strategic commercial initiatives and leadership. As well as Identifying and managing the risks and opportunities.
(6) Do you believe the expectations placed on FDs have grown?
Yes, the role is much more forward looking than it once was. Producing the accounts is the first step in looking at the business and evaluating it, but it is the piece after that is key. Suggesting a new initiative whether to maximise growth or minimise potential risks. The role is now more commercial focused with an expectation of being involved in all the department’s and not purely finance.
