Business Live: for curious entrepreneurs and social entrepreneurs

We're talking about radio in episode 317 of Business Live. There's been a surge in listener numbers for local and community radio stations since the pandemic, and we explore why, with guests Sangita Basudev of Sheffield Live! and Shahid Ali of Link FM.

It was Local Radio Day this week, highlighting the value of local radio to communities and celebrating the unique relationship between local broadcasting and listeners.

Local radio has helped people to reduce isolation, tell their stories, keep in touch with local and relevant news, and hear journalists put people in authority to account. And a new piece of research has found that two thirds of UK adults now appreciate and value journalism more since the global coronavirus pandemic began.

Sangita and Shahid both go into detail about how Sheffield Live! and Link FM are serving their audiences in 2020.

And Sangita reveals an ambitious plan to expand choice for radio listeners tuning to digital radio in Sheffield and Rotherham, through small scale DAB (what's that? Listen to find out). Shefcast Digital, a social enterprise, could bring over 20 new digital radio stations to the airwaves.

Timings:

• 0 - 3:10 Introduction
• 3:10 Sangita Basudev, Sheffield Live!
• 22:31 Shahid Ali, Link FM
• 36:36 Updates: Social Enterprise UK's Choose Communities and #BuySocial campaign; a CBE for Matt Smith of Sheffield-based social investor Key Fund; Sheffield Hallam named the best university for degree apprenticeship training at a national awards ceremony; a telephone patent clinic from the Business and IP Centre Sheffield.

Tony Robinson OBE is my guest for episode 316 of Business Live. Tony has hard won advice for anyone who runs their own business or is thinking about starting one. And he’s someone who has waled the walk and earned the right to give that advice having started and run businesses for over 30 years.

This wide ranging chat also covers bootstrapping rather than borrowing, why small is beautiful and what Tony sees as a natural progression from E.F. Schumacher's views on "economics as if people mattered."

We talk about what makes Tony so angry with business stadium speakers and scammers and why he’s using his new book The Happipreneur - Why #MicroBizMatters? written with Taryn Lee Johnston, to support a not-for-profit campaign group, #ExcludedUK, that acts as an "inclusive alliance for the excluded."

Also in this episode: Applications are open for the Community Business Trade Up Programme, run by the School for Social Entrepreneurs (SSE), in partnership with Power to Change. Up to £10,000 grants plus peer support could be available.

And almost £100m has been spent through Social Enterprise UK's "The Buy Social Corporate Challenge" according to new figures. 24 of the UK’s biggest businesses have signed up.

How do you make sales easy? What's the difference between a prospect and a suspect – and why should you treat each differently?

Steve Knapp is the author of a best-selling sales book and one of the people behind a programme called Plan.Grow.Do, which offers fully funded training here in the Sheffield City Region. He has plenty of tips about effective selling in today's show, and describes the structure and content of the Plan Grow Do programme – perhaps your business could benefit?

Andy Freeman of Space to Breathe was one of 50 business leaders who piloted Plan Grow Do earlier this year. The results for Andy were transformational - he describes how in this episode.

Also on today's show: the Chancellor's Winter Economy Plan statement included a replacement for the furlough scheme, and a number of other measures designed to support businesses and protect jobs. Will they do that? We cover what they are and some reactions.

Plus Danny Kruger's new report, Levelling up our Communities, was published this week. Commissioned by the government, it includes measures which might enable more social enterprises and small businesses to win public sector contracts. Details of those later on.

Here's a super retail success story. 20 months ago Kelly Wright launched The Refillery – now Edinburgh's largest plastic-free and ethical shop.

She left a well-paid corporate job to launch the business. Even before Covid-19 some folk might have had doubts about launching a bricks-and-mortar retail business when many high streets are struggling. It was certainly a 'huge financial risk' for Kelly, she says: 'at times I couldn't breathe...'

But The Refillery has gone from strength to strength, smashing through Kelly's first-year targets, becoming a local community hub as well as a thriving business, winning an award from an international foundation, and adapting through lockdown.

Why did Kelly leave a job she loved and was good at to launch The Refillery? How did she fund its startup costs? How did she adapt during lockdown? What have been the biggest challenges – and what is she most proud of? And what's next for the business? Kelly covers it all in this interview.

Also in this episode: social enterprise in Africa offers 'job creation on steroids' according to new British Council report.

Timings:

0-3 introduction and almost-a-rant from me
3:37 Kelly Wright interview
3:50 What The Refillery in Edinburgh sells
5:06 Kelly's previous career and why she launched the business after working on initiatives to reduce packaging and wanting to make a positive – and radical – change
8:14 Was it frightening to make this leap?
9:00 The key moment which helped Kelly when she nearly gave up her dream and continued in her job – but instead, pushed through to make The Refillery happen
11:05 How The Refillery became a lifeline in recent months
12:00 What Kelly did to adapt and protect customers' and colleagues' health as a result of Covid-19 – and how she launched a click-and-collect service
16:07 How Kelly financed the business using her own savings and support from DSL Business Finance
17:41 The challenge of finding the right premises (and another rant from me!)
20:00 How The Refillery has totally surpassed Kelly's expectations
21:36 In July The Refillery won the Environmental Sustainability category in the Citi Microentrepreneurship Awards – how is Kelly using the cash prize?
22:22 Launching 'The Refillery Community' nationwide and how this will scale-up plastic-free retailing
25:00 These are UK-wide plans, including for Sheffield and other cities
28:53 Some great advice Kelly had early on
30:20 Wrapping up Kelly's interview and contact details
31:07 Have your say! Sheffield City Region LEP's strategic economic plan
32:25 'Job creation on steroids' – study finds social enterprise offers opportunity to create jobs and reboot economies (additional reporting from the Thomson Reuters Foundation)
36:32 Wrapping up this episode and how to put yourself forward as a future guest

Would you like a slice of £250,000 to start a business which will solve a pressing problem? 

Em Scicluna joined me on the show today to tell us about a new scholarship programme for 18-22 year olds, launched by business accelerator TwinklHive.

Em is TwinklHive's Resident Growth Manager at Twinkl Educational Publishing. She outlines what’s the scholarship includes, who can apply and how to do so, and what Twinkl are looking for.

Em also covers some other entrepreneurs supported by TwinklHive before this scheme – and her own background before taking on this role.

Also on the show: a bumper bonanza of business book recommendations with excerpts from interviews with purpose-driven entrepreneurs Johnny Pawlik and Sarah David, each talking about books which made a dramatic, powerful impact on their businesses and their lives.

The word went out: tell me about a book which helped you in business. And Jane Austin of Persuasion Communications got in touch with an intriguing choice: not "Persuasion" by her near namesake Jane Austen, but Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre.

Jane explains how re-reading Jane Eyre gave comfort through the difficulties of the pandemic – and how great novels like this offer lessons we can all benefit from in terms of communicating with others with more empathy and understanding.

The Brontës and Thomas Hardy are immersive and as relevant as ever, says Jane, and the characters in these books engender many values of great use at the moment: in business, in life.

Timings:

0 - 2:17 introduction,
2:17 Jane Austin,
25:46 Another chance to hear a recent interview with Mihaela Gruia,
46:00 Wrapping up.

"In a world when a lot of things are hard and tough, art is leading the way to beauty and some of the best things that we can achieve in our humanity, I love art." Jean-Michel Ledru.

Much is written and said about effective management. But sometimes actions don't follow words. So it was wonderful to hear from Jean-Michel Ledru, CEO of Merci Maman, a five million-turnover personalised jewellery company.

Ledru's passion for people and mission as a manager and in business to contribute to their happiness and growth is clearly underpinned by actions. 

How do you nurture a culture where people are joyful to work and empowered to try new things? A business where "magic" thrives? What does effective management mean in practice? Can it be learned? Ledru gives a thorough insight into his management and leadership philosophy in this interview.

Now 58, he has worked in more than 25 countries in Europe and Africa holding varied CEO roles, running a business selling musical instruments online, then creating the startup incubator in one of the top business schools in Europe. He took up the role at Merci Maman three months ago and I hope you'll enjoy his thoughtful and frank answers in this episode. Here are the timings:

• 0 - 2:36 Introduction.
• 2:36 Jean-Michel Ledru's career: 14 years at Burger King, traveling widely; CEO of a food business in South Africa, then CEO of a chain of seafood restaurants in France; launching his own business; then 10 years at EDHEC Business School.
• 6:30 How Jean-Michel became CEO of Merci Maman and why he was so excited to take up the role.
• 8:40 Merci Maman and the message on Ledru's own personalised jewelry.
• 10:40 If you want the customers to feel something magical, you need something magical in the business itself. How Ledru nurtures an environment in which magic can thrive.
• 12:46 Why "try" is one of Merci Maman's values, and what happens if it doesn't work.
• 13:30 The impact of "Analysing Performance Problems" – a management book by Robert F. Mager and Peter Pipe published in 1991.
• 14:40 "As a manager, when people don't succeed you fail."
• 16:20 Jean-Michel also recommends "The Mind Illuminated" by John Yates, covering meditation (which he has practiced for 25 years) and neuroscience.
• 18:30 We are all different, and need to find our own paths to health and well-being: whatever makes us happy and joyful, says Jean-Michel, who runs because he likes it.
• 22:15 Painting, art, and all forms of creation.
• 23:07 How and why did Merci Maman's sales grow so much recently? Jean-Michel explains.
• 26:40 Working internationally: experiences and advice.
• 30:00 The crucial importance of diversity, listening, and letting people try things.
• 32:20 Why I think you should read Figuring by Maria Popova.
• 33:17 How to put yourself forward to be on the show.
• 34:01 Countdown to Art in the Gardens in Sheffield's Botanical Gardens.
• 36:26 Wrapping up.

There's a lots of smoke and mirrors in online retail, especially when it comes to suppliers of PPC, SEO and other services necessary to build a successful ecommerce store.

But Paul Clapham knows how to choose the right partners so his business, Uskees, gets the results it needs. 

There can be smoke and mirrors around the word 'sustainable' too, especially when it comes to fashion. The industry is notorious for the detrimental environmental and human impacts of fast fashion. Now, brands and labels are desperate to append the term 'sustainable' to their business, often with no clear explanation of what that means.

In this episode, Paul covers:

• what he means by 'fast fashion' and how Uskees stands against this
• why Uskees moved from selling other firms' clothes to launching their own clothing range
• the principles of sustainability in Uskees' clothing, including materials, packaging, avoiding plastics, repair kits and more
• mistakes he's made when working with SEO and PPC partners – and how he now chooses and works with people to get results and share the rewards
• why he chose Shopify as the platform for online sales
• the life and business-changing impacts of two books he recommends, 'Why We Sleep' by Matthew Walker and 'Factfulness' by Hans Rosling, Ola Rosling and Anna Rosling Rönnlund

Also in this episode: Sheffield well-being startup, Champion Health, launched by young social entrepreneur Harry Bliss, has expanded with support and investment from education publisher Twinkl.

The media has become notorious for its barriers to social mobility. It’s easy for a young person to gain work experience and secure paid internships if they have a parent with connections; it can be impossible for people without access to a network to gain experience.

Think that's not a problem? Even if you don't care about inequality of opportunity then the numbers should convince you: businesses which are more diverse and more inclusive perform better, according to multiple varied pieces of research.

Many businesses want to become more inclusive. What do they need to do? Listen to Arit Eminue. She runs DiVA, a recruitment and training organisation specialising in creative, business, and digital apprenticeships. She’s supported at least 1000 individuals into employment through apprenticeships and paid internships. 

In this episode Arit describes how she's helped people into work; what skills are in biggest demand; how businesses can become more inclusive and her five-step framework (LATTE) to support efforts to be anti-racist. 

She also covers her own journey from foster care to multi-award winning entrepreneur with clients including media brands such as All3 Media, Sony Music, the BBC, Warner Music, Endemol Shine UK, Warner Bros, the Southbank Centre, Fremantle and UK Music.

Arit also tells me about her (brilliant) YouTube channel, and the book she recommends the most. Listen to find out what it is.

Our second guest in this week's show is sales expert Paul Durrant. He responded to my call for entrepreneurs to name the books which made the most impact on their business. I was looking for practical points which people had read and implemented.

Paul made the leap from employee to business owner six years ago, catalysed by the book he recommends. His sales consultancy business is now thriving. And he's now an author himself.

Paul tells us more about the tools and learning he acquired from his recommended book, and his own book containing practical sales tips. He has a clear, succinct piece of sales advice in this episode too.

Timings:

• 0 - 1:58 introductions
• 1:58 - 28:39 Arit Eminue
• 28:39 - 41:01 Paul Durrant
• 41:01 get in touch, funding, events and wrapping up

Links mentioned in the show:

• Arit's LATTE framework: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/you-scared-being-called-out-racist-pull-up-chair-have-arit-eminue/ and YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwbKi8RaDavlQsvbCy_qE1A
• Her business: https://www.divaapprenticeships.com
• Find Paul's own book (on Amazon) here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Entrepreneurial-Sales-practical-entrepreneurial-sales-savvy/dp/1916230407/
• Paul's business: https://pdtsalesconsultancy.co.uk/
• Sheffield City Council's support for Sheffield businesses: https://www.sheffield.gov.uk/home/your-city-council/coronavirus-support-for-business
• Business Sheffield's August virtual workshop programme http://www.welcometosheffield.co.uk/business/events

It waits for no-one and if lost is never found again. Free yet priceless. We're talking of course about time: many business leaders wish they had more of it.

Victoria Moffatt, the founder of LexRex, knows how to get more time. Her firm specialises in helping lawyers communicate. A former lawyer herself, Victoria read The Four Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss soon after it was published. The book "blew her mind." She describes why in this interview.

Soon after launching LexRex, Victoria needed to outsource. Effective outsourcing is a tenet of The Four Hour Workweek, and Victoria put many of its principles into action. But outsourcing well can be challenging. Many business leaders really struggle with it. Victoria covers the mistakes she made and her three crucial steps to outsourcing effectively.

Also in this episode: Tony Gibbs of Marque is an avid reader of business books. What's his top book recommendation and why? How did he put what he learned from it into action? Listen in to find out.

Some readers get inspired by business books but then move to the next one – and the one after that – without implementing what they learned. Victoria and Tony both love reading, but it's clear they changed their businesses and how they work as a result of the books they discuss in this episode. These books boosted their businesses, perhaps they can boost yours too.