Branduin’s winning formula for helping SMEs grow revenue

He co-founded Branduin Business Support in 2011 with a group of like-minded business advisors with extensive knowledge and experience in starting, growing, and running successful businesses. Branduin collaborates closely with Local Authorities and Chambers of Commerce to provide its members and local business communities with access to quality-assured business support to drive economic growth. The Branduin team has a range of skills to assist with business owners from every stage of business development from start-up to exit.

“In 2019 we found that a lot of SMEs wanted to win new contracts but needed help, so we launched our Fit To Bid® supplier development programme” said Nauzar.

“We completed a pilot project with Ealing Council and Heathrow Airport which was remarkably successful. Owing to the pandemic we changed our delivery model and went online, and we haven’t looked back!”

Nauzar is always innovating and expanding the services Branduin offers by adapting to the needs of the SMEs they support, and he is proud that Fit To

Branduin team is currently delivering UKSPF Supplier Ready Fit To Bid® programmes for Ealing, Hillingdon, Brent, Watford, and Wandsworth Councils; having previously delivered for Hounslow and Hammersmith & Fulham Councils.”

Bid® is listed as an approved supplier on the UK Government website: https://www.gov.uk/businessfinance-support/fit-to-bid

“The Branduin team is currently delivering UKSPF Supplier Ready Fit To Bid® programmes for Ealing, Hillingdon, Brent, Watford, and Wandsworth Councils; having previously delivered for Hounslow and Hammersmith & Fulham Councils.”

The Fit To Bid® programmes are delivered in three different ways: online skills masterclass workshops, 1-2-1 tender advice sessions, and regular inperson Meet the Buyer events.

Other services successfully delivered on behalf of several Local Authorities across London & SE England include GOALMAPPER® business recovery and regeneration programme to help SMEs Reboot, Recover and Grow; Fortuna® Women in Business entrepreneurship support; and SalesMapper® peer groups for scaleups. New services in the pipeline include Fit For Finance® business resilience; and Fit To Export® to help SMEs grow in international markets.

“We have excellent relationships with many Chambers and local SMEs – which is a key reason to our success,” he said. “Like any business, our strategic challenge is to win new business, in our case, from Local Authorities. The operational challenge is getting more SMEs to come to our programmes. People book and do not turn up. As an SME, I can empathise with that, but you have to allocate time to work on your business. Most SMEs are too involved within their business and become a bit inward-looking. You need to allocate some time for strategy development, ideally with the assistance of an experienced business advisor or mentor.”

“As a business leader, you need to be adaptable and resilient, and you need someone to push you when you need to work on the business in order to grow.

“We have to continue to work on that by engaging with Chamber members. Everyone has at least one critical issue that they want to overcome, and speaking to other Chamber members is good for SME business owners.”

Branduin has a team of around 10 self-employed advisors, each with their own area of expertise. The company also regularly takes on interns from local universities to assist with business development and admin support.

“Most of our advisors have been with us for many years, and three procurement experts joined us this year. Fit To Bid® is beginning to take off so we are looking for more advisors to join us.”

Branduin joined Hillingdon Chamber of Commerce in 2016. “If you have a sound value proposition the Chamber management will put you through to the right people. We got to work with Hillingdon Council through the Chamber.”

Nauzar is enormously proud of what he has achieved with Branduin and feels a great sense of satisfaction in the knowledge that the Branduin team is helping other businesses to grow.

“Branduin is an enabler for businesses to do what they want,” he said. “We help them to identify their key challenges and address them, whether they are a start-up or they need help to grow and scale up. We specialise in helping SMEs achieve revenue growth. What gives us great satisfaction is knowing we have helped so many businesses – and it’s an amazing feeling.”

As well as advisors located across London and the South East, Branduin also has a procurement advisor based in Lancashire who delivers bid skills workshops and 1-2-1 sessions in the North West, North East, and Yorkshire.

“That’s how we want to grow,” said Nauzar. “We have an ambition to license our intellectual property and our proven Fit To Bid® methodology. We first thought about it before Covid but had to pause it. We now want to expand across the UK, and I would also like to talk to large Chambers in the Middle East and India, licence it internationally, and get local advisors and consultants involved to help local SMEs win more contracts.”

Nauzar belongs to the Zoroastrian religion, and is proud that he, his wife and two sons all have Master’s degrees. “If you want to do well in your career, invest in yourself and do a Master’s degree,” added Nauzar, who has two granddaughters.

“Personally, my proudest achievement is my family, with special thanks to my wonderful wife Dina who supported me when I had to travel all over the world during my international assignments with multi-national companies.”

“Professionally, I am proud of starting up a business and evolving the business model.”

“I’m also a keen golfer and in Dec 2001 I got a hole-in-one at the prestigious Emirates GC in Dubai – money can’t buy things like that!”

If you want to know more about Branduin and how we can help you achieve your goals, visit www.branduin.co.uk or reach out to us at nauzar@branduin.co.uk.