Business inspiration from Leicester City

You would have been hard pressed not to have heard about Leicester City’s extraordinary Premier League title win earlier this week, an achievement scarcely believable considering the odds stacked against them. Some bookmakers quoted 5,000-1 for Leicester to win the league at the start of the season.

As a small business owner, it can sometimes feel like you are in your own David and Goliath story, but there are learnings we can apply from this ultimate sporting underdog tale to the small business world.

1. Spend wisely.

It would be inaccurate to portray Leicester City as paupers, the Deloitte Money League ranked them in the top 30 highest earning football clubs in the world for 2016. However the financial gulf between Leicester City and some of their rivals for the title was enormous, with Leicester’s wage bill around a quarter of Manchester United’s two seasons ago. For small businesses access to finance is integral for growth, but investing money in the right way is crucial to keeping ahead of the competition. Like Leicester, recruiting the right staff, with the right mentality, is crucial for success.

2. Teamwork makes the dreamwork.

Although they have some of the league’s outstanding players, a large part of Leicester’s success was driven by their ability to operate as a well drilled unit. Pundits and rival players have commented on how “The whole team all know their jobs, from front to back”, and Leicester’s tactics played to the strengths of the team. Your business may only have a small workforce compared to some of your competitors, but this provides an opportunity to really maximise the human capital available to you. Ensuring each member of staff knows their own role, and also their colleagues’, helps your business operate as a cohesive unit. In addition, setting collective goals for everyone to work towards as well as recognising that each employee will have their own individual ambitions, results in everyone pulling in the same direction.

3. Support from the top to the bottom.

From the boardroom to the changing room, each level of management within the Club looked to provide as much support as possible. For example, Leicester’s Thai owners flew a group of buddhist monks to the UK for most home games to bless the players before kick off, while the manager took the whole team out for pizza every time they achieved a clean sheet. Recognising even the smallest victory, by any employee at any level, helps build a culture that rewards and motivates your team to success.

4. Responding to setbacks.

One thing that surprised so many about Leicester’s season was just how consistent they were, responding to the inevitable bad results that occur over the course of the season instantly and decisively. Over the entire season, the longest Leicester went without a win is three games, and followed their last defeat with a ten game unbeaten streak. Likewise, when running any business setbacks are inevitable. What matters is how prepared your business is for when they occur, and most importantly, how you can apply the learnings that you and your team take from them.

We hope you have found this useful, and to find out if a business loan from Funding Circle is suitable for you, check your eligibility online in just 30 seconds.

The Funding Circle Team