92. When should you hire, raise or expand? The lessons from Forest Bikes | Caroline Seton

When do you hire, when do you raise, and when is expansion actually the right move?In this episode of All About Business, James sits down with Forest co-founder Caroline Seton to pull back the curtain on how a London startup scaled to over two million rides a month. From using smart pricing to make customers do the heavy lifting in logistics, to navigating 33 separate sets of local regulations, Caroline breaks down the raw operational tactics and tough strategic trade-offs required to build, survive, and scale an asset-heavy business.Caroline gives a clear blueprint for turning operational headaches into profit drivers as they explore protecting margins through relentless asset care, knowing exactly when to double down, or kill an idea that isn't working.Timestamps 01:38 Why Forest Started10:32 Expanding Across London15:09 Maintenance at Scale21:38 Proof It Was Working31:33 ULEZ and Space Reallocation38:26 Making London Cycle Capital44:50 Founder Advice and TailwindsLinks Follow James Reed on LinkedInFollow Caroline Seton on LinkedInFind out more about Forest Bikes and their services HERESubmit your application to Reed’s Entrepreneurs Fund for a chance to a £20,000 grant HEREAll About Business is brought to you by Reed Global. Learn more HERE This podcast was co-produced by Reed Global and Flamingo Media. If you’d like to create a chart-topping podcast to elevate your brand, visit Flamingo-media.co.uk