In an era of poly-crisis, navigating risk and uncertainty has become a top focus area for business leaders. According to recent research from EY, 42% of CEOs globally view geopolitical, macroeconomic and trade uncertainty as the primary disruptor to achieving growth targets.
Against this backdrop, leaders must become more agile and resilient to stay positioned for growth. Here, four leaders talk about how they have responded to adversity and share tips on how scale-up companies can build resilience to continue growing even in turbulent times.
There’s a great deal of uncertainty in some of the markets we operate in. As an organisation, we have team members in 34 countries spread very broadly across the globe, and we have customers in even more locations. The impact of that uncertainty is people are then cautious about making long-term plans, and that feeling can ripple through an entire organisation.
One benefit of being a scale-up business is that you’re constantly faced with challenges as you grow. You’re doing things you’ve not done before and so your teams need to adapt and change quite quickly. The culture within a scale-up business tends to be one of acceptance of uncertainty. Resilience comes from that agility. It’s baked into the business.
It’s cultural rather than structural. We have a credo of what we call radical responsibility. Because we’re distributed across every time zone, we can never be in a position where a team member has to wait on a manager to make a decision. Their manager could be 12 hours away, so two days could have passed by the time they’ve taken that decision. We have a culture of devolved responsibility and autonomy. That is a real strength when you’re dealing with tough times, just as it is in better times, because people can respond and take action quickly. The same things that drive high performance during times of adversity are the things that also drive high performance when the grass is green and the cows are fat. You want your team to be able to execute quickly, make smart decisions and move ahead of others.
One recent global workforce challenge has been having employees from countries on two sides of a conflict, which is difficult for the entire organisation. We addressed that issue by seeking wise external counsel and being really transparent. That meant getting up in front of the business and saying what we were doing and how we were responding.
When it comes to building resilience, the best time to start is when you’re not in the thick of it. A large part of that involves fostering a culture that can deal with change – whether it’s positive or negative.
We’ve grown quite rapidly. And the way I always describe it is that it started as something relatively small, and then we put more Lego blocks on top. It’s not just about hiring the right people – it’s also about building the right infrastructure to support growth and help the team work efficiently. As we grow, the process is a bit like adapting a cake recipe – we need to adjust the ingredients depending on how big we’re making it and ensure that they’re the right ones.
For me, resilience is a driving force. When I hit an uncomfortable stage, that’s when resilience kicks in as an opportunity to make something better. I take a step back, review the data, assess what’s working and return to that simple analogy: which ingredients aren’t right, where’s the imbalance and how can I adjust? I do this regularly.
As a leader, I also work on myself a lot, not so much on the business level but where I’m off balance as an individual. If I’m not going to the gym, for example, I know I’m probably not paying attention to what’s going on around me, and that is where my resilience starts to drop.
As an events business, we were really tested by Covid. Just the June before, we’d been named one of the UK’s top 100 fastest-growing private companies, so we were on a steep growth trajectory. Then the pandemic hit, and we had to let a lot of people go. But once we were able to safely run events again, we saw significant growth in a six-month period, and our growth has remained strong since, and we were listed in The Sunday Times 100 again in 2025. I repaid everyone who stayed and who took a pay cut, and some of those we had to let go have since returned.
The way you build resilience through that kind of adversity is by being open, honest and transparent because resilience is really a question of whether people have got your back. We’re talking about individuals in a paid job and if it’s too much stress, they will just leave and get another job. So it’s about taking people on a journey with you and ensuring that they get what you’re trying to do because if they believe in what you’re doing, they’re always going to fight your corner.
One of the biggest challenges we have faced as a business is entering new markets. History is full of case studies of UK businesses trying to crack America, and therefore it is vital to understand the nuances and differences between the two markets. But even with the right product-market fit, the scale and scalability of the US is a big challenge – it’s almost a start-up within a scale-up.
This means we have to manage the expectations of the different teams within those markets. We have to make sure the teams are motivated and we have the right people for the stage the business is at. You have to ask yourself those questions, otherwise you can get a bit comfortable and miss opportunities.
One of the biggest lessons we have learned from this experience is that scaling a business is never a straight path. We went through a journey where we raised a lot of money and we thought ‘Let’s expand in the US’, and we probably over-baked that. We tried to expand into four states and hired a big team, but it didn’t get the growth that it needed. So we had to go through a period of reducing that footprint and shrinking the US team, which obviously had an impact on morale. So that forced us to redefine our strategy. We decided to focus on just one state, nail that state and scale from there. We learned that to be resilient, you need to take things in small steps.
As a scale-up, you also need to be ultra-focused on cash runway and cash burn, and you always have to think a quarter or two quarters ahead. As a young entrepreneur, particularly a first-time founder, sometimes you don’t immediately think like that because you get enamoured with seeing your products in the market. But if you don’t keep an eye on those two metrics as you start to scale, it will lead you to challenging times – no matter how many great ideas you have.
Another way to build resilience for the business and on a personal level is having a good network. You need a core group of people who you can really talk to about the challenges you face and share some victories with as well. I like to find people who are at a similar stage to me, as well as those who have moved into that next stage because you can learn from them.
Resilient leaders today are clear on their purpose and able to adapt without losing sight of long-term goals. They are able to communicate openly, empower their teams and build cultures that thrive in uncertainty.
Just as important is personal resilience. Leaders who invest in their own wellbeing are often better equipped to lead through adversity. And when resilience is embedded across the organisation, more people can respond effectively when challenges arise.
Growth rarely follows a straight line. It’s in the moments of challenge that leadership style, a team’s cohesion and ultimately the business model can be truly tested. Entrepreneurs often find opportunity in market turbulence, and those who stay confident and make bold decisions while others hesitate can gain real competitive advantage.
It’s also important to remember that you don’t have to do it alone. Trusted investors and advisers can offer invaluable perspective and support. At EY, we see time and again how strong networks, like those built through EY Entrepreneur Of The Year, can help founders navigate uncertainty and emerge stronger.
At EY, we help growing businesses build resilience by equipping them with the tools, insights and networks to navigate uncertainty. Through programmes like EY Entrepreneur Of The Year, we connect founders to a global community of peers and mentors who’ve faced similar challenges.
We support business leaders with services such as exit readiness, helping them assess their business through an investor lens, and financial advisory to optimise cash flow and capital structure. We also offer guidance and economic insights to support informed, agile decision-making.
By combining these capabilities, we strive to help founders turn uncertainty into opportunity and build a foundation for long-term value.
Explore more insights on growing your business at the Scale-Up Junction hub, or contact [email protected] for tailored support
In an era of poly-crisis, navigating risk and uncertainty has become a top focus area for business leaders. According to recent research from EY, 42% of CEOs globally view geopolitical, macroeconomic and trade uncertainty as the primary disruptor to achieving growth targets.
Against this backdrop, leaders must become more agile and resilient to stay positioned for growth. Here, four leaders talk about how they have responded to adversity and share tips on how scale-up companies can build resilience to continue growing even in turbulent times.
There’s a great deal of uncertainty in some of the markets we operate in. As an organisation, we have team members in 34 countries spread very broadly across the globe, and we have customers in even more locations. The impact of that uncertainty is people are then cautious about making long-term plans, and that feeling can ripple through an entire organisation.
