Institution news
Accountancy and business advisory firm, BDO, has worked with the Institution to produce a guide for members looking to commercialise new business ideas, technologies and products based on clean technologies.
Your Journey to Commercialising Cleantech provides insights into the practical considerations involved in making a business commercially viable.
It also helps to equip evolving cleantech companies, and many others, with the knowledge to tackle the key financial, operational and organisation challenges they will face as they grow. This includes start-ups as well as growing or mature companies looking to spin out new companies and ideas.
The Institution’s Head of Commercial Development Alastair Barr said: “I am sure the guide will be useful for many of our members and their commercial endeavours.
“It is ideal for ‘cleantech’, but the information in the guide is equally relevant to any area of innovation and R&D.
“It is relevant to start-ups and to businesses much further along their journey, including the stages of mass production, moving on and selling up.”
Over the years, BDO has considered hundreds of cleantech business proposals and met dozens of management teams. BDO has helped many of them achieve their commercial objectives, from raising money to selling their business, gaining market intelligence or finding partners for the next stage of product development. In this guide BDO share their insights as to ‘what works and what doesn’t’.
Businesses can all too often find themselves at an impasse, at least until some further commercial work is done. This could be because of the structure of the organisation, testing of the technology, or expectations of the management team.
Many common pitfalls can be avoided by building a commercial development strategy to run alongside the technical development pathways with which most management teams are familiar.
Simon Pringle, Head of Sustainability and Innovation at BDO said: “As with any sector characterised by innovation and populated by entrepreneurial businesses, the road from initial concept to market success is a tough one.
“The ability to access funding, to move from proof of concept to production reality, to protect intellectual property and create a strong, ‘backable’ management team are all essential factors for success.”
The guide is split into three sections and is designed for users to dip in and out, depending on what stage of evolution their business has reached.
Section 1: Early Stage Commercialisation - 'Gaining traction'
Section 2: Developing a Commercial Proposition - 'Shifting gear'
Section 3: Preparing for Exit - 'Hitting the accelerator'
The ambition of the guide is to help a greater proportion of businesses navigate the complex pathway from start-up to successful exit. It includes, and goes beyond, the innovation theme and shares BDO’s expertise with respect to the full journey.
Simon added: “Our hope is that engineers and cleantech entrepreneurs will keep coming back to our guide for support throughout the lifetime of their business. We really do hope that teams find it both informative and helpful.”
Download the free Your Journey to Commercialising Cleantech guide from the BDO website.
Find out more
If you would like to would like to discuss any of the issues raised in the guide, please don't hesitate to contact Simon Pringle, Head of Sustainability and Innovation at BDO or James Thomas, Corporate Finance Director at BDO, or your usual BDO contact.