Home Grown changes the script

by Matthew Burgos

When is a private club more than just a private club? In a post-pandemic world, members are looking for more than just a well-stocked bar and fast WiFi — they're searching for access to like-minded creatives, insights on how to build their business and mentoring opportunities. Meet Home Grown, a thoroughly modern private membership club.

Housed in a stunning six-storey Georgian edifice in the heart of London, Home Grown is a private members' club that caters to a global community of entrepreneurs, investors and business leaders, providing them with resources to support their growth and self-improvement. Amidst high-ceilinged interiors and stylish decor, members mingle with peers and bounce ideas off each other, a philosophy that fuels the club’s evolution.

With over 4,500 members, the club is more than just a pretty space—it actively meets the needs of its enclave by expanding their network, reviewing their financial models, assisting them in identifying leadership strengths and weaknesses, offering access to new markets, fine-tuning business skills and devoting time to their physical and mental well-being. And in this world, who couldn’t use a little of that kind of help?

Welcome to 44 Great Cumberland Place, Marylebone, London. Photo courtesy of Home Grown.

According to online financial resource Fundera, 20% of small businesses fail in their first year, 30% fail in their second year, 50% fail after five years and 70% fail in their tenth year. As for more established companies, Harvard Business Review cites ‘active inertia’, or a company's unwillingness to adjust to changes in its environment (such as a pandemic), as a factor in their decline.

According to a Forbes article on why entrepreneurs and businesses fail, at least ten variables contribute to entrepreneurial failure, including extravagant business aspirations, a lack of capital and support, subpar soft skills and market invisibility.

The goal of Home Grown is to help members avoid decline and up their game. It offers pitching events, partner conferences, and investor dinners, where members get an opportunity to seek and apply for funding and to socialise with various industry experts and leaders. Through these events, the club proves its multiplier effect thesis: the more support a member has on their radar, the more likely they can scale up their market shares, break into new markets and boost their incomes and earnings.

Home Grown’s membership options vary from full access to the Marylebone club to virtual membership for online events. Potential members should express their interest by filling out an online form or sending an email; Home Grown then evaluates whether it can meet their ambitions and personal aspirations.

In a study published by the Federal Reserve Board, the pandemic caused the permanent closure of more than 200,000 establishments in the US alone during its first year. To counter that trend in the UK, Home Grown has introduced Green Shoots, a new programme that will support five chosen founders who are working towards the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals.

As the club puts it: “The five successful entrepreneurs will receive full membership and access to the community of Home Grown for a period of six months, mentoring by experienced entrepreneurs and investors, and take part in a programme of comprehensive workshops with Home Grown partners in the realms of Legal, Accounting, Marketing, HR and Supply Chain. They will have access to exclusive networking opportunities within Home Grown’s global network of visionary entrepreneurs, industry experts, and business leaders, including the opportunity to pitch to investors.”

Several Home Grown members testify to the added value the club offers, with Neil Thompson, founder of events industry community The Delegate Wranglers, explaining why entrepreneurs, investors and business leaders count on the club. “It’s more than just an office in London. It’s a community. It’s a place to network with other business people. Most of all, it’s got that super-friendly and positive vibe; you just can’t wait to get there each time.”

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Homegrownclub.co.uk