Ordnance Survey CEO: Ask three questions before proposing a new business idea

In this instalment of our weekly video series, My Business Leader Secret, we talk to Nick Bolton, who became CEO of Ordnance Survey in 2023. 

Ordnance Survey was founded in 1791 and specialises in making detailed maps of Great Britain. It is owned by the government but operates like a business. It recently reported annual revenues of more than £180m.

It is perhaps best-known for its colourful paper maps used by hikers. The same information is now available in digital form in its app, used by 6 million people.

But the company is also a digitally-focused data business that collaborates with many start-ups and larger businesses to help them fulfil their business goals. It has more than 6,000 customers in the public sector, 2,000 customers for its premium data service and 450 licensed partners.

These companies can benefit from the National Geographic Database of Great Britain. This digital master map contains more than 500 million unique geographic features covering everything from the density of local housing to the length of hedgerows. There are 20,000 changes made daily, and it is kept up-to-date with satellite technology. The data is stored in a secure server room at the company's headquarters in Southampton.

Bolton joined Ordnance Survey after a career in the private sector. In his previous role as CEO of Oxford Metrics, he led the company that developed the avatar technology used in the Abba Voyage show.

There are three key questions you have to ask when proposing a new business idea, says Bolton in his advice for the My Business Leader Secret series. These boil down to "insight, customer appeal and unit economics".

First, what is the new insight you are offering? "What is it that you see that others don't see, which when they do see it, they won't be able to unsee it?"

Then you need to figure out how it will appeal to the customer group that you have identified. "If you haven't got clarity on that," says Bolton, "you shouldn't start spending money on anything because you don't know where that pound is best applied."

Finally, look at the unit economics and calculate if there are enough customers to "address in a readily repeatable way", make a profit and grow.

Bolton says many would-be entrepreneurs come to him for advice and there is another thing he likes to tell them. "Do your research and prototype your business idea on someone else's payroll. Work out a way to be paid while you learn if the idea is viable.

"Too many [would-be entrepreneurs] jump in blind, without having done enough research."

In other words, embrace the side-hustle.

Watch the rest of the My Business Leader Secret series.