Month: February 2026

If you know you need to change your business for the better, it’s probably time to find a business transformation specialist. Business transformation specialists like Get Ahead can help you identify what changes you need to make and help you put the right processes in place to achieve your goals.

In this blog, we talk to Natasha, one of our busy regional directors, about business transformation and the support you need when you’re driving change forward.

What is business transformation?

Natasha: Business transformation is a very broad term that refers to almost any kind of business change. It might be strategic, operational or to do with expansion. You might change direction and break into a new market, or change culture to attract a more specific type of client. All of these are ways of transforming your business for the better. 

What can a business transformation specialist do?

Natasha: A business transformation specialist can help you in a variety of ways. Perhaps you’re aware that you need to make a change but you don’t know what that change might look like. Or perhaps you know exactly what you need to do but don’t know quite how to do it. 

The first way a business transformation specialist can help is by working with you to identify the change you need to make, and how to make it.

A transformation specialist can also help you access to right support during a time of change. 

What does a business need during the transformation process? 

Natasha: I’ve noticed that, when a business is taking a new direction, they need expert input, flexibility, and an insight into best practice. 

  • Expert input

I love helping business owners unpick their strengths and weaknesses to identify what needs to change – it’s the first step on the journey. Get Ahead also has a network of business coaches who can support you with goal setting. With the strategic overview in place, the next step is to decide how to put it into practice. Expert input can help you pin down where your transformation budget would be best spent, ensuring the best return on investment.

  • Flexibility

If you haven’t done something before, you might not know how much of it you need, what level you need it on or how much it will cost. That’s why it’s important to find a flexible solution that enables you to experiment. Once the experiment is over, you might choose to continue with flexible working, or recruit a permanent team member to take the new process forward. It’ll even give you the option to put it down to experience and try something else. 

  • Best practice

When you’re transforming your business, you might not know how much better it could be. So when you’re choosing business transformation support, look for a solution that will show you what best practice looks like. It’s easy to reject an idea because you don’t know how to deliver it well. But when you bring in someone who is already an expert in that area, they’ll provide high quality work that will help you evaluate whether the idea is worth pursuing. Get Ahead’s team of virtual experts provide outstanding support in a variety of areas, including business administration, finance, HR, marketing and social media.

Get Ahead – business transformation specialists

If it’s time to transform your business, we hope you’ll talk to Get Ahead. We have regional directors like X up and down the country – they can’t wait to talk to you about your business, where it is now and where it could be going. They can link you up with any number of virtual experts to deliver your new priorities and take your business to the next level. What are you waiting for? 

PS – to find out more about what we do, you can follow us on LinkedIn.

Why It Makes No Commercial Sense for Directors to Do Their Own Admin (And When to Change That) 

As a Regional Director supporting more than 40 businesses across Yorkshire, I regularly work with growing SMEs with a turnover of between £5m and £20m.

There is a consistent pattern. The business scales. Revenue increases. The board formalises. Governance expectations rise.

And yet directors are still managing their own diaries. Formatting board packs late in the evening. Chasing actions. Rebooking travel. Clearing inboxes. Updating operational spreadsheets.

Not because they lack support. And not because it is required at their level. More often, it is because in the moment it simply feels efficient to “just do it myself”. Over time, it has quietly become the default.

But at a certain stage of growth, that approach stops making commercial sense.

What Is Board-Level Administrative Support?

Board-level administrative support is structured operational assistance that enables directors to focus on strategic decision-making rather than diary management, document preparation or governance tracking.

It is not simply PA support. It is about protecting leadership capacity and strengthening governance processes as businesses mature.

In SMEs approaching or exceeding £10m turnover, the cost of misallocated leadership time becomes increasingly significant.

Should Directors Do Their Own Admin?

Directors are perfectly capable of managing their own administration. The real question is whether it represents the highest commercial return on their time.

A director in a £15m business may cost the organisation £70–£80 per hour once salary and overheads are included. If five hours a week is absorbed by administrative activity, that equates to nearly £20,000 per year – time not spent on strategy, growth or governance.

That is not a criticism. It is arithmetic.

Beyond the cost, there is emerging research showing that many boards today are not positioned to add maximum value. Recent UK analysis of boardroom effectiveness found that only one-third of board directors believe their board is essential to value creation, with many boards focused disproportionately on backwards-looking reporting rather than forward-thinking strategy and growth planning.

This highlights a deeper issue: if boards are structured in a way that limits strategic focus, any diversion of director time into operational tasks compounds that constraint. In growing businesses, leadership time is one of the most expensive and scarce resources available. How it is deployed matters.

The Hidden Cost: Opportunity, Not Efficiency

The greater risk is not the hourly cost. It is the opportunity cost of time lost for reflection, thinking and strategy.

Industry insight suggests that directors are increasingly overwhelmed with information and under-prepared for meetings, in part because boards are not set up effectively and directors are expected to absorb huge volumes of operational detail.

This overload makes it harder to engage deeply with strategic priorities, especially in leaner organisations where external executive support is not yet formalised.

In a £15m business, a 1% margin shift represents £150,000. Even modest improvements in strategic clarity can outweigh the cost of structured support many times over.

The risk is not that directors cannot do their own admin.
The risk is that they are.

When Should a Business Formalise Board Support?

There is no single turnover trigger. But there are warning signs:

  • Board meetings are dominated by operational detail
  • Directors regularly prepare board materials outside working hours
  • Governance documentation lacks structure
  • Follow-up actions are inconsistent

These are not failures. They are growth signals.

As organisations mature, informal systems that worked at £3m rarely sustain £15m.

Protecting leadership capacity is a sign of organisational maturity, not extravagance.

What Effective Board Support Looks Like in Practice

Board-level support typically includes:

  • Coordinating structured board agendas
  • Preparing coherent, accurate board packs
  • Tracking decisions and actions
  • Managing governance documentation
  • Aligning director diaries with strategic priorities
  • Ensuring follow-up is completed between meetings

In one of our larger SME clients, providing consistent support to the Commercial Director has released meaningful leadership capacity back into revenue-driving activity. Preparation is sharper. Follow-up is tighter. Strategic focus has improved.

The change was not dramatic. But it was material.

Governance Is Ultimately a Capacity Question

Board effectiveness is not just about who sits around the table.

It is about whether those individuals have the time and clarity to exercise sound judgement.

In growing SMEs, directors often remain highly operational long after the business has outgrown that model.

Supporting directors operationally does not dilute their involvement. It enables better oversight, stronger governance and more considered commercial decisions.

It moves leadership time back to where it has the greatest impact.

In Summary

  • Director time is one of the most valuable resources in a growing SME.
  • Administrative activity carries a measurable financial and strategic cost.
  • Structured board support improves governance and commercial focus.
  • Protecting leadership capacity signals organisational maturity.

If you sit on the board of a scaling business, it may be worth asking one simple question:

Are you spending your time where it delivers the highest commercial return?

Because capability is rarely the issue.

Capacity often is.

Great on paper. Risky in reality.

Partner marketing rebates can look like guaranteed income. In practice, they are one of the easiest revenue streams for businesses to lose.

For IT resellers, payments providers, wholesalers and other partnership-led businesses, rebate income is almost always conditional. Campaigns must be delivered to agreed specifications, within fixed timeframes, and supported by clear evidence. If any part of that process breaks down, rebate income can be delayed or lost entirely.

What is a partner marketing rebate?

A partner marketing rebate (often funded through Marketing Development Funds (MDF)) is a financial incentive offered by vendors to partners, resellers or distributors.

In return for delivering agreed marketing activity, such as digital campaigns, content, or events, the partner can claim back part or all of the campaign cost.

Rebates are not automatic. They typically depend on:

  • Campaigns being delivered exactly as agreed
  • Activity running within defined dates
  • Evidence being submitted in the correct format
  • Reporting being completed on time

If these conditions are not met, the rebate may be reduced, delayed, or rejected.

Why partner marketing rebates are riskier than they appear

On paper, partner rebates look straightforward. In reality, they introduce several operational risks.

Common risk factors include:

  • Fixed deadlines tied to quarter or year-end
  • Detailed and sometimes inconsistent evidence requirements
  • Multiple stakeholders across marketing, sales and finance
  • Competing priorities within internal marketing teams

Partner campaigns are often treated as “additional” work rather than revenue-critical activity, increasing the likelihood that delivery or evidence will slip.

What typically goes wrong with partner marketing rebates

In practice, partner marketing rebates are most often lost or delayed for the same reasons:

  • Campaigns are launched too late to meet deadlines
  • Evidence is gathered retrospectively rather than during delivery
  • Screenshots, links and reports are stored inconsistently
  • Ownership of rebate claims is unclear
  • Marketing teams are under pressure at peak periods

When even one requirement is missed, the entire rebate claim can be invalidated, even if the campaign itself ran.

The hidden cost of missed partner marketing obligations

The impact of a missed rebate is not just administrative.

Lost or delayed rebate income can result in:

  • Reduced profitability from partner relationships
  • Lower return on marketing investment
  • Tension between marketing, finance and commercial teams
  • Increased stress and last-minute pressure at quarter-end

Because rebate income is often high-margin revenue, losing it has a disproportionate impact on the bottom line.

How businesses can reduce partner marketing rebate risk

Businesses that consistently secure partner rebates take a more disciplined approach to partner marketing.

Effective approaches include:

  1. Treating partner marketing as revenue-critical, not optional
  2. Planning evidence requirements before campaigns launch
  3. Capturing proof as activity happens, not retrospectively
  4. Assigning clear ownership for delivery and reporting
  5. Adding flexible capacity at quarter- and year-end pressure points

Many organisations also bring in specialist partner marketing support to ensure campaigns are delivered correctly and evidence is captured in real time.

Proof in practice: reducing quarter-end pressure and scaling delivery

Lisa, Regional Director at Get Ahead, works closely with businesses running multiple partner and MDF campaigns. She sees quarter-end pressure as one of the biggest risk factors for missed or delayed rebate income.

“We streamline partner digital marketing activity to remove quarter-end pressure from the in-house marketing team.”

Why this matters:
When pressure builds at quarter-end, delivery quality and evidence capture are often the first things to suffer. Removing that pressure significantly reduces the risk of campaigns slipping or rebate claims being rejected.

Client perspective: XMA

XMA is a large UK IT solutions and services provider managing a high volume of partner-led digital campaigns across multiple vendors.

“We work with Get Ahead in a flexible capacity and the value that flexibility brings has been invaluable to our marketing team. Their support on partner-led digital campaigns has helped us scale activity quickly without adding internal overhead. They understand our brand, our vendors, and the pace we operate at and work seamlessly within our existing processes as an extension of our in-house team. From planning and execution through optimisation, their digital campaign support is consistently reliable, effective, and easy to work with.”

Flexible, on-demand partner marketing support allows teams to scale activity, meet partner requirements, and protect rebate income without increasing permanent headcount.

When partner marketing support makes sense

External support is most valuable when:

  • Internal teams are stretched or at capacity
  • Multiple partner campaigns run simultaneously
  • Deadlines cluster at quarter- or year-end
  • Rebate income is commercially significant

In these situations, the cost of additional support is often outweighed by the revenue it helps protect.

Partner marketing rebate FAQs

Are partner marketing rebates guaranteed?
No. Rebates are conditional on delivery, timing and evidence. Even small gaps can affect payment.

What happens if a campaign misses the deadline?
In many cases, missing a deadline can invalidate the entire rebate claim.

Who is responsible for evidencing partner campaigns?
Responsibility should be clearly defined, but in practice this is often where problems arise.

Can rebate income be delayed even if campaigns run?
Yes. Delays in submitting evidence or reporting can delay payments by weeks or months.

In summary

Partner marketing rebates can deliver valuable income, but only when campaigns are delivered properly and evidenced correctly.

Capacity gaps, unclear ownership and quarter-end pressure are the most common reasons rebate income is lost. Businesses that plan for these risks and allocate resources accordingly are far more likely to secure the revenue their partnerships promise.

If you’d like to firm up your rebates, you can read more here or contact us today to find out more. 

Access to Work funding could be the transformation your business needs. Whether you’re increasing the diversity of your team, tapping into a vital skill set or adapting for an existing employee, applying for funding could be the solution.

In this blog, we look at Access to Work funding and how it can transform your business.

What is Access to Work funding?

Access to Work is a government scheme aimed at enabling people with disabilities of all kinds to get more from their working lives. Under the Equality Act 2010, employers have to make “reasonable adjustments” to accommodate their team members’ needs. However, some adaptations fall outside this, like specialist equipment. This is where Access to Work funding comes in. It can cover solutions such as coaches, sign language translators and mental health support services. It can also pay for travel support and adaptations for premises. And it also covers the cost of disability awareness training for colleagues of people receiving Access to Work funding.

You can apply for Access to Work funding to support the needs of disabled people you already employ or are about to employ. You can also apply if one of your existing team members becomes disabled and needs extra support to continue in their role. If you’re self-employed and have a disability, you can apply to Access to Work to fund the additional support you need to run your business.

How can Access to Work help transform your business?

Access to Work breaks down the barriers to employing someone with the right skills and experience.  And with exactly the right person in the job, you can take your business to the next level. 

Employ the best person for the job

For example, you might be looking for a new team member. You find a really strong candidate, but they have a disability which means they need specific computer software to do their job. Only your budget can’t cover the cost of the software. This is where Access to Work comes in – it could pay for the software, enabling you to employ a person who could make a tangible difference to your business. 

Gain new perspectives

Everyone has something to bring to the workplace. And when you diversify your workforce, everyone benefits. Employing people who have a different experience of the world is a great way to learn about different perspectives and transform what you offer. 

This could lead to your business offering new products and services. Or it might change your marketing – even your operation – for the better. 

Raise standards in equality, diversity and inclusion

It’s easy to think we’re all the same – and in lots of ways, we are! But when we work with a more diverse group of people, we can all grow as human beings. Becoming more inclusive is a valuable type of business transformation, raising standards in corporate practice and generating business growth. 

How can Get Ahead help with Access to Work

Get Ahead supports businesses with Access to Work in three ways. 

  1. Our team of experts can support businesses to apply for Access to Work funding, freeing up business leaders to concentrate on their core tasks. 
  2. We can also provide the support you might be looking to fund, like business coaching, diary management, note taking and more. 
  3. Our HR team can help employers navigate the Equality Act 2010 so you know you’re complying with UK law. They can also support you in developing inclusive job adverts, policies and handbooks so you can attract and keep the right candidates to transform your business. 
Access to Work with Get Ahead

Get Ahead can help you get the most from Access to Working funding. To find out more, explore our Access to Work pages. Follow us on social media too and find out what we’re up to!