The Grafter Blog
Insights and strategies for ambitious founders
Understanding the Difference Between Sales and Growth
Introduction Picture your business as a beloved garden. Sales are the flowers that bloom today, bringing immediate colour and joy. Growth is...
Why SaaS Investors in 2025 Are Banging On About Profitability
There was a time, not that long ago, when the go-to advice for SaaS founders was basically: “Burn money like a skip fire and worry about pro...
Uncover Operational Bottlenecks to Elevate Your Profits
How to Spot Operational Bottlenecks That Are Costing You Profit Introduction Your business is a living, breathing organism, and like any com...
Mastering Exit Planning: Timing Your Business Sale Perfectly
Introduction to Exit Planning for Business The perfect business exit is rather like brewing a proper cup of tea – rush it, adn youR...
PharosAI – Revolutionising Cancer Care
We are very proud to share that the team at PharosAI announced that they have been awarded £18.9M from the UK government’s Research Ve...
Helping the NHS deliver actual outcomes AND increasing your turnover
Helping the NHS deliver actual outcomes AND generating revenue for your organisation This pivot from Software As A Service to Software With...
The Grafter Partners with F+L to help Founders raise investment
**FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE** **The Grafter Partners with F+L to help Founders raise investment** London, 6th January – The Grafter, a leading b...
Restoring a Boat: Improving a Business
I’m Chris Kranz and back in July this year (2024), I made 2 pretty big changes in my life. Firstly, I bought a 40 year old boat with t...
Why do we still need women's events?
Our fearless leader attended SiS Women’s Health “facilitating impact in women’s health innovation” where female founders and investors...
Mastering Fundraising Preparation: Essential Steps for UK Founders
Introduction Fundraising looms on the horizon of every ambitious startup like a mountain that must be climbed – intimidating from a di...
Greatness = imagination + execution
I loved this quote when The Grafter’s Jo popped it into my LinkedIn thread. It resonated with me strongly about the role I play on the team....
Chris Kranz On Joining The Grafter part 2
Hey folks! My name is Chris Kranz, and I’ve recently joined The Grafter as Chief Technology Officer. If you’ve been following the story so f...
5 Smart Alternatives to Taking Investment for UK Businesses
Let’s be honest. Taking investment for your UK business can sometimes feel like handing over the TV remote at Christmas: someone else gets c...
Chris Kranz on Joining The Grafter
Hey folks! My name is Chris Kranz, and I’ve recently joined The Grafter as Chief Technology Officer. I could say all those throw-away things...
The Grafter Partners with BizCrunch to Empower Founders in Business Exits
**Press Release** **FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE** **The Grafter Partners with BizCrunch to Empower Founders in Business Exits** London, 5th August...
Rachel Murphy Nominated for Female Business Leader
We’re excited and proud to announce Rachel Murphy’s nomination for Female Business Leader category at the prestigious National Business Wome...
Rhys Parfitt Joins The Grafter as Shareholder
Today we announce that Rhys Parfitt has become a shareholder in The Grafter and takes on responsibility for leading the teams delivering Gro...
Bagging our first silverware!
We are delighted to share that our CBO Rachel Murphy has been nominated by one of the companies on our 8 Figure Exit program as an Intuitive...
Interview with Rachel Murphy at BAPCO
Earlier this year Rachel Murphy keynoted at BAPCO in Coventry. Have a watch of her reflections of the event and the types of technology show...
Building The Grafter: May & June 2023
As anticipated it’s been a whirlwind over the last 8 weeks since launching The Grafter. It is important to me that I am building in th...
Launch event Blum Connect Tech Canal
This was for Blum Connect’s new business launch and was being supported heavily by Sam Allsop-Hall’s crew, Tech Canal! Here I was talking ab...
HRGo Kenilworth
I was a keynote for HR Go, a £170 million turnover recruitment company. They have a family office as part of the business where all their jo...
Sussex Clinical Foundation Trust Digital Innovators Conference
I took to the stage straight after chief nurse, Natasha Phillips. She was exceptional – a true professional and flawless public speaker with...
Normal gets you Nowhere Podcast with Sean Barrett
It was such a privilege being on Sean Barrett’s podcast Normal Gets You Nowhere! With a name like that, there was no way I was declining. I...
BAPCO 2023: Police, Fire & Emergency Services Conference After dinner event and Keynote
I’d been sent to Coventry in the past, but it’s always nice to be sent there to do something you love doing: talking. You’ll obviously know...
Public Speaking: Legal and General
You’ll obviously know all about my public speaking, but you can read my take on how to maximise your exposure at speaking events. I was invi...
Chapter 16 — Decide What’s Next
This is the (ten) million-dollar question. I’ll start with another big thank you to my fiancee, Yvonne. She gave me the space and support to...
Chapter 15 — Invest In Yourself
My investing in myself story really started nearly 9 years ago. I decided I wanted to get sober. My sobriety was the point where I really to...
Chapter 14 — Realise what you’ve achieved
For me, I: couldn’t quite comprehend that it had happened felt like a rockstar, as I’d autographed more paperwork than ever before felt like...
Chapter 13 — Breathe…just breathe
As I’ve previously mentioned, a lot of the new business for Difrent sat with me. Then I found my time was consumed with due diligence and th...
Chapter 12 — Sell Your Business
TV-style recap moment: So, we’re in the middle of a global pandemic, the shit is as real as real can get and we have three offers on the tab...
Chapter 11 — Expect the Unexpected
Towards the end of 2019 and into the New Year, I had eye surgery twice. As if once wasn’t enough — Do it again! The operations were a succ...
Chapter 10 — Celebrate Your People
I know I’ve mentioned people as variables that can go either way when it comes to adding value. This chapter isn’t a continuation where I ju...
Chapter 9 — Getting Shit Wrong
Let’s face it, none of us like to get things wrong, but in digital delivery we know it’s all about fail fast. We learn immediately, we move...
Chapter 8 — Maximise Your Exposure
It’s no exaggeration when I say I’ve lost count of the number of events we attended over Difrent’s journey. There were the ones we attended,...
Sorting the wheat from the chaff. Is becoming a Chartered Management Consultant the answer to better rates and improved outcomes for clients?
Last week I did a cheeky shout out on Twitter about an hour before my formal assessment as part of the Chartered Management Consultancy qual...
Chapter 7 — Generate Strategic Business
It was about four months into my time at Difrent that we landed our first strategic deal. This was for the NHS — one of the largest employer...
Chapter 6 — Getting the business going
When I first landed at Difrent back in November 2017 things really were… well, different! Steve had built a 10% margin recruitment business,...
Chapter 5 — Build Your Brand
When it comes to the actual naming of Difrent, many people have laid claim to it and I’ve heard umpteen stories of how the name came about!...
Chapter 4 — Devise Your Plan
So, the Strategy bit really started between me and Steve when we were over in India hooning around Mumbai on Royal Enfield motorbikes. I mea...
Chapter 3 — Plan Your Approach
I’ve never been much of a shrinking violet. Those who know me know I’m honest and straight to the point. It makes things a lot easier, doesn...
Chapter 2 — Find Your Motivation
One of the most common questions I get asked is, What motivates you? There are a few things that really motivate me, and I certainly wouldn’...
Chapter 1— Be Difrent
width=”400px” height=”102px” frameborder=”0″ scrolling=”no”> Well, here I am: the end of an...
Hamster wheels, Battery Hens and The Matrix
I’m doing a Leadership Programme for Entrepreneurs at the minute which I started about 6 weeks ago and to be honest its like your normal pro...
Don't bother with an MBA….. build a business
I’ve always been fascinated with business for as long as I can remember and I’ve spoken many times before about setting up ̵...
7 Years sober – I quit fearing myself and started trusting myself
Today I am 2556 days sober. I got sober on the 1st Feb 2014. I had probably been trying to get sober actively for 5 years before 2015 and I...