Non-Executive Director for SMEs
Independent Boardroom Leadership
SCALE AND SELL YOUR SME WITH A PRACTICAL, HIGH-CHALLENGE, HIGH-EQ NED
Scaling an SME requires a definitive shift from daily management to strategic governance. Zingela steps into your boardroom as an independent Non-Executive Director, providing the rigorous accountability, objective challenge, and executive mentorship needed to de-risk operations, accelerate commercial growth and secure a premium exit.
We deliver critical boardroom capability across seven key pillars:
Strategic Guidance & Accountability: Connecting long-term vision to disciplined, daily action and continuous improvement.
Board Effectiveness & Governance: Managing performance evaluation, stakeholder representation and executive remuneration.
Financial Discipline: Strengthening financial management to improve resilience, cash flow controls and investor-readiness.
Risk & Compliance Oversight: Protecting the business through robust governance, ethics and proactive risk management.
Operational Margin Optimisation: Streamlining internal effectiveness to strengthen and protect margins.
Commercial & Sales Strategy: Developing sales strategy and skills to grow pipeline, open new markets and refocus on highest-value work.
Exit Strategy & Execution: Structuring and executing seamless transition strategies for existing shareholders, including preparation for sale and selling of the business.
Importantly, we are an industry-agnostic, people-first partner. Contact books and sector niches exhaust quickly. We focus entirely on what truly drives sustainable scale: the continuous development of signature behaviours, disciplined action, robust SME frameworks and a hybrid coaching-advisory approach that extracts the absolute best from your existing leadership team.
Battle-Tested Experience
Decades of on-the-ground execution scaling SMEs. We know where the structural breaking points are and how to navigate them.
High-Challenge, High-EQ Mentorship
A trusted "critical friend" providing rigorous accountability paired with deep psychological insight to align and motivate your leadership team.
High-Value Commercial Growth
We open doors to mid-market contracts, institutional networks and lucrative revenue streams to safely accelerate your scale-up journey.
SIMON FORD
bio
Simon Ford has built and sold multiple SMEs, both as a founder and a trusted advisor, giving him a lived understanding of what separates success from failure — the differences that make the difference.
Working alongside executive teams and international organisations, he creates high-performance cultures driven by a clear vision and the signature behaviours required to realise it.
As an NED, Simon challenges the status quo with one definitive question: “What is the evidence that your NED is bringing value today, and when will they no longer be needed?”
Simon isn’t in it for the title. Your success is his success.
“Working with Zingela has been transformative for both me and the business. Simon supported us out of a hole by helping us see what the business could become, and I genuinely believe we wouldn’t be here without him.
Our situation was understood, but we weren’t let off the hook — we were challenged to think differently and, most importantly, act. ”
“Having engaged with other advisors in the past, there is no comparison.”
