By Marcus Nicholls and Ariel Endean
The podcast currently has 25 episodes available.
Shifting from running a number of very successful Caltex Petrol Station franchises to a Signarama franchise was always going to be a big shift especially given neither Melissa nor Gary Marshall had any experience in the signage/printing field.
Fast forward five years and they are winning awards and leading the field in many areas.
Have a listen to find out how this entrepreneurial duo has achieved so much success in such a small amount of time.
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Some Secret Sauce highlights from this episode:
#1
The one thing we've tried to instill in everyone in the business is that we need to be positive.
#2
When you are a husband and wife team running a business, there are things that might be becoming overwhelming for you that you can discuss with your partner that you couldn't talk about with staff members.
#3
Differentiate yourself with professionalism, speed to market and the quality of your work.
#4
Keep honing your skills & don’t miss an opportunity to study, learn, grow.
#5
Make sure your weekends are yours and take time to have your own hobbies. You've got to find that time either after work or on weekends to have your own time to do what you like otherwise you’ll burn out.
Magic happened when Nicola & Alexandra Coccia, a talented Chef & Sommelier respectively walked away from fine dining to return to their Italian & French roots. In their restaurant Osteria Il Coccia they embrace quality produce cooked over wood in a charcoal oven and match it with wine sourced from winemakers, focused on a smaller production, organic, biodynamic & respecting the earth. The result is simple, high-quality, delicious food. But getting here was not easy. Discover how Nicola & Alexandra overcame some pretty big business and relationship hurdles to create a successful restaurant that’s in sync with who they are. There’s lots of wisdom here so pour a glass of wine and settle in for a great listen.
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Some Secret Sauce highlights from this episode:
#1 - Everyone can fall down but not everyone are good to stand back up.
#2 - Everything that we do in life has happened in one month. Every decision is always very fast. We don't think too much. We just decide and go flat out. We like the challenge. We both like that. Like the constant change.
#3 - Our staff is our family.
#4 - As a business couple, you are always together. Not like enjoying your time off together relaxing but at least you are together.
Bio
Nicola’s passion for cooking stems from his fond memories of his grandmother rolling fresh sheets of pasta in her kitchen. This is where he learnt to handle every ingredient with passion, respect and love.
Alexandra pays homage to her two favourite regions, Beaujolais in The Rhone Valley where she grew up and the South West of France where her mother lives. She invests her time looking at new generation winemakers, focusing on smaller production, organic, biodynamic & respecting the earth. Chef Nico grew up in Naples and found a love for cooking with his hands as he watched his grandmother roll sheets of pasta in her kitchen.
Nico’s respect for each ingredient and the way it’s prepared shines at Osteria il Coccia where every ingredient is fresh, sustainable and organic (where possible). Nico’s philosophy is that food needs little intervention, just a little love and a little heat (fire). Nico is one of the only chefs in Australia to have a kitchen built around fire.
Nico trained in Italy before working in El Bulli, New Zealand and Sydney – and now luckily for the central coast –resided on Ettalong Beach. He has previously worked at Otto, Quay, Fratelli & Ormeggio before moving to Bowral where he worked at Biota. Nico and his wife Alexandra received 1 hat at their previous restaurant Bistro Officina in Bowral.
Alexandra is French Italian and is responsible for the eclectic wine list at Osteria il Coccia. Alexandra is strict when selecting the wines available at the restaurant and her ethos is to showcase regions she loves, share her knowledge and encourage guests to drink something totally different. The wine list boasts drops from Nico’s home of Naples & Puglia, wines from her parents region where she grew up & Beaujolais where she spent many years harvesting with friends.
Taking a small garden maintenance business and turning it into an Industry award-winning landscape & design company is no small feat. Find out how Colin & Lisette of Costata Landscape & Design managed to do this whilst simultaneously growing their loving relationship. Hint - It involved some hard days and robust fights, but as they say “Great things are worth fighting for…..and about". Have a listen to pick up some awesome Business Couple Secret Sauce.
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Some Secret Sauce highlights from this episode:
#1
At some point, you have to start really thinking about what jobs and clients you want to take on and which ones you don't. It has to be a good match if you are going to work together.
#2
Surround yourself with good people all throughout your business structure. And find a good supportive business community.
#3
As a business couple, we have very different personalities. And we work differently as well. However, our skills complement each other, which is why it works so well. It's always been this way.
#4
If you're working together as a couple in business, challenging times are going to happen where you are stressed and fighting.
But don't let it pull the rug out from under your feet.
In the first year or so you might be thinking “This isn’t working. This shouldn't be happening”. But it's all part of the process as you grow your business and your relationship.
#5
Celebrate your milestone in the business: winning an award, completing a project, getting a fabulous new client.
#6
Use people outside the business to supplement the skills you don't have. We have used a business advisor, a financial advisor, we have an accountant. Whenever it’s needed we use professionals to help our business. Don't try and do it all yourself.
#7
Hug every day.
Bio
Our business partnership has been in existence for 30 years and we have been partners in life for 38 years.
We currently work together within our landscape design and management business, Costata Landscape Design, Colin as a landscape designer and myself as a building designer. We also project manage the installation of our projects which are mostly on the NSW Central Coast.
Our office is in our house and that is one manifestation of our life/work approach. We have built this business around our skills and our love of design and construction whilst living as ourselves, in our own surroundings.
Whilst this could sound idyllic, it has not always been a clear and easy process to shape this business around our somewhat different personalities.
We are proud of where we are now in our work and our personal achievements
What do you do with an empty cool room left from a previous business? Start a mushroom business of course. That’s what Kim and Christine Margin did and worked out how to grow mushrooms along the way. Have a listen for some great Secret Sauce pointers on Love, Business and Mushrooms.
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Some Secret Sauce highlights from this episode:
#1
For romance, we plan special meals once a week. We cook something fantastic and enjoy it with a glass of wine. It's nice eating together. Food is love. We put on the wood-fired oven and sit down in front of it and hold hands while listening to music.
#2
As a family, it’s good to have two to three proper business meetings a year to discuss problems, brainstorm ideas and map out your goals. We’d all vote on new ideas which meant everyone felt like we were moving forward together.
#3
Our first selling model didn’t work so we changed it.
Originally we sold our mushrooms to wholesalers and they wanted a cheap price, mushrooms that were all the same size and expected us to pick twice a day. We were exhausted and not happy so decided to change our approach and sell direct to customers via Farmer’s markets.
We liked to engage with our customers and did a great job of it.
From that moment on it made a big difference to both our happiness and the success of the business.
#4
Communication is a big part of business couple success. We make lists of things we want to achieve together. Otherwise, you’ll just amble along doing the same thing. If you're driven to change, you've actually got to do it. Figure out, how you’re going to change, and then do it.
If we think something has got to be done, we don't put it off. We just do it.
Bio
Margin’s Mushrooms is a farmer-owned family business. We grow three types of mushrooms: White Mushrooms, Swiss Browns and Oyster Mushrooms.
We sell direct to the public from our farm and at Farmer’s markets from Sydney to Newcastle including Gosford Farmers Markets.
Margin’s Mushrooms started off as a bit of an experiment to see if a cool room from our old ice cream factory would be suitable for us to grow mushrooms.
We put in the effort had some successes and failures and great support from the industry and Neal Marland.
In June 2011 we expanded our operation into the old Woy Woy Abattoirs which had been closed and unused for 7-8 years.
The whole family jumped in and helped with the setup. My wife Christine finished her work, managing a coffee shop, and joined the business full time, My eldest son Charlie held his part-time job but worked full time on the mushroom farm. Our youngest son George who was doing his final year at school helped out whenever he could.
We had a team going for a couple of months. Fred Nichols the owner of the abattoirs pitched in and helped every day, My mother made lunches for everyone and my father helped me all day every day for months while we recycled the cool rooms into our mushroom farm.
We produced our first crop in 2011 rolling out room 2 about a month later. After a few more months we commissioned room 3 and about 2 years later we commissioned Room 4.
Along the way we have continued to tune up our mushroom growing skills. We have a collaborative approach to this where we discuss our growing decision so we all benefit from the experience.
How did a traveling Aussie and a beautiful Guatemalan woman meet, fall in love & start a successful skincare company that only sells 100% natural handmade products? Listen in to find the answer and also discover how to grow a business ethically! Toby & Rosie definitely have some great Business Couple Secret Sauce to share so grab a cuppa and have a listen.
SPECIAL OFFER: 10% Off all Toby & Rosie products. Just use the code naturalme18 at the checkout.
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Some Secret Sauce highlights from this episode:
#1
If you're meant to be doing something, doors will open up as long as you put the work in.
#2
Knowing that we've changed someone's life for the better. Helped them heal something that’s bothered them every day for years is so rewarding. It's incredible.
It’s what feeds that spirit or energy in us to keep creating and keep going with helping people.
#3
When we get stuck. I say NO/STOP, we need to find help. Get out of your comfort zone, remove your ego, and go out and find someone who can coach you and help you to break through because otherwise, you won't last.
#4
Word of mouth can only take you so far.
Bio
Our natural skincare & soaps reflect the passion we have for a healthy, ethical and sustainable lifestyle.
We’re based in Lake Macquarie NSW, Australia and we personally handcraft all of our products using
only the purest, freshest and healthiest ingredients possible.
Our story began in 2009 in Guatemala, when a girl named Rosie, whilst studying at University, went to a party on the beach. Toby, an Australian traveling through Central and South America saw Rosie and it was love at first sight. We dated and spent the next few months building our love together until Toby picked Rosie up in a canoe on the beautiful Lake Peten on New Year’s Eve and proposed.
We came back to Australia together and in 2011, we got married in a beautiful ceremony in Byron Bay. Eventually, our love of nature and the environment got us making our own natural products, just for ourselves but the more we learned about how bad most skincare was the more motivated we became to share our ideas and creations with friends and family.
Whilst researching how to be as healthy as possible, we found that so much attention gets placed on what to eat, but not on what you put on your skin. When you consider that what you put on your skin ends up in your body, it’s just as important, maybe more so because, with skincare, you’re basically digesting chemicals and poison.
Marcus & Ariel - Business Couples Secret Sauce -
We were lucky enough to be invited by Brendan Rogers to be guests on his “The Culture Of Things” podcast program. https://brendanrogers.com.au/podcast/
It was a great experience but did feel a little weird having the table turned and being interviewed instead of the usual deal of us asking the questions.
Hope you enjoy listening and getting to know a little bit more about us and our story.
SPECIAL OFFER - Mention this podcast & one of Brendans top 3 takeaways from below and we'll give you 25% any of our coaching programs.
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Brendan Rogers top 3 Take-Aways:
#1
Leaders get everyone on the same page.
#2
Complimentary skill sets are a foundation of success. As a business couple it is very important that each of you understand your strengths and weaknesses. Play to your strengths and ensure there is absolute clarity about the responsibilities of each partner.
Get clear on this and take action.
#3
Celebrate the wins.
Taking time to do this is important.
Business is a grind. If you don’t stop to reflect on what you’ve achieved the grind can become more and more daunting.
Bio Description
Marcus Nicholls & Ariel Endean are Business Coaches & Consultants, Speakers, Authors, and occasional relationship rescuers.
They have been in Business & a relationship for a quarter of a century. During that time they have bought, built, managed & sold a seven-figure business without it costing them their relationship.
Business Couples Success was born from those years where at times they struggled and could have really benefited from a strong supportive community of like-minded entrepreneurial Business Couples.
They work directly with Business Couples to maximize their profits, improve their systems, and strengthen communication throughout their business and relationship.
They also run a Podcast called “Business Couples Secret Sauce” where they interview successful Business Couples to get their tips, tricks, and stories and how they have built a successful business without destroying their relationship.
Their goal is to help Business Couples get the same level of Wealth, Health & Happiness into their lives that they have.
They believe that gaining knowledge and implementing what you learn is key to any Business Couples Success which is why they call themselves learners of life. Courses, books, podcasts, events, conferences, business network groups are all part of what helps them be a happier more successful business couple which in turn helps the clients they work with.
Their motto “Stronger Together” means you achieve more with the person you love most right by your side in Business and life.
What happens when you work together 24/7, share the same values, and understand the difference between Business time and family time? You get great business couple success. That’s what Bruce and Freya have done for 30 plus years. Tune in for inspiration on how they've done it!
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Some Secret Sauce highlights from this episode:
#1
When we're in the business channel, we talk about business. When we’re in the Family Channel, we try very hard not to talk about business. If we're at home and we talk about business, we realise we’re taking time out of family time so we make sure it's focused time to do it. You need to be disciplined about being on the right channel at the right time.
#2
Good communication takes place when you pick the right time. A time when you're both not exhausted, and you are able to sit down and talk about things.
#3
It’s important to know exactly how much money you've got, how much you owe, and how much is coming in. You must have a handle on that if you want to run a successful business.
Description
They say in business, you need to constantly evolve to survive. Well, boy is this the case with Coachwood Nursery that has been adapting and pioneering in the plant business for 50 years. Listen in to hear how Ruth & Peter have achieved ongoing success in both love and their retail nursery/dried flower emporium through good times and bad.
SPECIAL OFFER! Mention the word “Podcast” and receive a discount on any of their upcoming workshop days!
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Some Secret Sauce highlights from this episode:
#1
You have to be prepared to think outside the normal box. You have to be prepared to consider all possibilities and options to change your business if it's not working. We've had to do that to survive.
#2
You don't want to come home at the end of the day's work and just talk about the business because you really do need to have some space and get away from it. It's important to have other outlets, apart from the business so you can get a break from work and each other. It’s very important to have separate interests as well.
#3
We’re always looking for ways of doing things better. And we've always been experimental even now. Always improving and rising to the challenge. We rarely do the same thing twice in a row.
Bio & History
Coachwood Nursery was registered with the Department of Agriculture in the 1970's and then expanded when Ruth married Peter in 1979.
Peter completed his training in Horticulture at the Hawkesbury Agricultural College and Ruth at the Ryde Horticultural College.
Ruth managed an Indoor Plant Shop at Wamberal while building a wholesale nursery at Matcham. Peter worked at a retail nursery at Erina Heights, then joined Ruth at Coachwood Nursery.
They also initiated and built a new retail garden Centre at Foresters Beach, which they sold after two years to focus on their wholesale nursery at Matcham.
They moved the nursery to a larger site at Somersby in the 1990's.
For decades they exhibited at Garden Show around Australia and are now open to the public each month at special Open Days and hold regular onsite workshops and at other businesses on the Central Coast.
They are passionate gardeners.
Peter's main focus is edible plants and Ruth's is ornamental.
Both both love all types of plants.
Mr & Mrs Claus - Santa - Business Christmas Presents and Delivery.
Description
Imagine designing, making and delivering a Billion Christmas presents every single year. That’s what business couple Mr & Mrs Clause AKA Santa & his wife have been doing for as long as anyone can remember! We can only imagine the stress of that deadline.
Listen in to find out where they get their inspiration from, how they keep the romance alive, and what they give each other for Christmas.
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Some Secret Sauce highlights from this episode:
#1
If you’re lucky enough to get a good elf (staff member) I'm telling you now. Just stick with them. Give them whatever they want.
#2
You can't go past an ice bath for physical recovery, especially after a big night of delivering presents. It’s the best recovery tool yet.
#3
The crisp air of the North Pole is fantastic for a ruddy complexion and turmeric lattes will sort out any cold-weather arthritis problems.
For this episode we thought it would be fun to share a little bit of our story in getting "Business Couples Secret Sauce" up and running and where we are looking to take it moving forwards.
Keeping in mind we've been a business couple for a long time now but starting a podcast is a new direction for us. We haven't started one before. So we thought it'd be cool to share our story on how that's going.
We'll be checking in every quarter to share the learnings that we've had along the way.
Enjoy!
Our Why - why did we start Business Couples Secret Sauce?
We love learning. We're lifelong learners. We love going to business seminars and reading books and listening to podcasts on relationships and business. What we discovered though was that there was a lot of content for businesses individually and relationships individually but not much on people being in business with their other half and what the unique advantages and challenges are of being a business couple.
We wanted to meet a lot more business couples and get the low down on how to be a successful business couple. So we thought the best way would be to go and interview them and share their story and wisdom through a weekly podcast. We wanted to learn about the challenges they are having, and what tips and tricks that they might have, that we can take into our relationship and into our business.
We thought how cool would it have been if we had this ourselves 25 years ago. To listen to business couples sharing how they're doing it.
It's our gift to business couples. It's our way of putting in and giving back.
The podcast currently has 25 episodes available.