FastForward

When you’re building your company it can be difficult to decide whether to build your personal brand alongside that of your business. In fact, often the profile of a founder gets overlooked. But your personal brand is one of the most valuable assets you can control. It can help you to establish credibility, increase your influence, generate sales, attract partnership conversations and expand your professional network. In short, a personal brand can help you to find focus and achieve your goals.  

Nikki Scrivener has more than 20 years experience in PR, communications and crisis management spanning several sectors including technology, retail, not for profit and professional services. Nikki co-founded Fourth Day PR in 2011, which is now based in six countries around the world.  

Nikki shares her advice on where to start with creating your personal brand, how to build credibility, and how much you should reveal about yourself!

Top takeaways: 

Host: Patricia Keating
Guest: Nikki Scrivener, co-founder Fourth Day PR https://www.fourthday.co.uk
Listening Time: 30 mins
Follow Tech Manchester:
Twitter: @tecmcr
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/techmanchester/

One of the most common questions we get asked at Tech Manchester is about raising business finance and getting investor ready. Raising capital isn't easy, it’s a competitive marketplace for startups – so how do you stand out in a sea of many?  

Abigail Britnell is a recruitment industry influencer, published author and advocate for women in business. With more than15 years in the recruitment industry, she now follows her passion for investing in and facilitating recruiters who have the desire to start their own independent recruitment business as a part of We are SSG. 

Fortune favours the prepared founder and Abigail shares her advice on how to get your startup investor ready, whatever the sector. 

Key takeaways:

- Writing your Business Plan: do your research, understand your numbers, demonstrate who you are and your vision, make it clear and concise. Don’t waffle - Understand your Pitch deck and use one theme- Include endorsements and testimonials - Let your personality shine through

Host: Patricia Keating
Guest: Abigail Britnell, recruitment industry influencer https://wearessg.com/portfolio/abigail-britnell/
Listening Time: 26 mins
Follow Tech Manchester:
Twitter: @tecmcr
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/techmanchester/

Nate Bailey is on a mission to inspire others to be better, do more and produce results that really matter.

Nate is a best-selling author and entrepreneur, having built multiple successful businesses in both insurance and real estate. He recently fulfilled his long-time dream of selling his insurance agency to follow his dream of being a full-time coach.
 
Prior to becoming an entrepreneur Nate was a Lieutenant, serving in the United States Army. As a Platoon Leader during Operation Iraqi Freedom, Nate was charged with the safety and leadership of 42 soldiers as they served in Kuwait.
 
In this podcast Nate explains his simple philosophy on life - "live you what you teach." He shares how its possible to push beyond your comfort zone to create a winning mindset and put yourself on the path to success in all areas of your life.

Key takeaways

- Look back and celebrate how far you've come. Appreciate the wins, however small.
- Look to the future and decide what it is you really want. Write down your goals and start taking steps towards them.
- Acknowledge your vulnerabilities and face them.
- We all have the power within us to create the person that we want to be. 
Host: Patricia Keating
Guest: Nate Bailey - author, entrepreneur, coach http://www.natebaileyspeaks.com/
Listening Time: 35 mins
Follow Tech Manchester:
Twitter: @tecmcr
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/techmanchester/

'Entrepreneurship is not an elite sport, it's a sport for everybody.'

Manchester has been a hub of innovation since the industrial revolution. With its thriving business landscape, collaborative approach to getting things done and and low operating costs it's a competitive location for business expansion and creation.

Tony Walker is deputy director of the Masood Enterprise Centre at the University of Manchester which helps to develop entrepreneurial startups and unlock talent. In this episode, recorded at Huckletree in Manchester, Tony speaks to Trish about the startup scene in the city, why work spaces are vital to successful incubation of new businesses and why the private sector needs to support a startup environment.

Top takeaways for entrepreneurs:

- Remember you're on a journey. You may take a few wrong turns and hit some dead ends but its important to keep going.
- Get people on board. Often a shared journey is more rewarding.
- Get yourself out there.
- Validate everything.

Host: Patricia Keating
Guest: Tony Walker, deputy director of the Masood Enterprise Centre https://www.alliancembs.manchester.ac.uk/study/masood-enterprise-centre/
Listening Time: 30 mins
Follow Tech Manchester:
Twitter: @tecmcr
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/techmanchester/

Hiring and developing great people is one of the toughest challenges you face when building and running a company. At the same time we all know that having the best people on the bus can sometimes decide between the life and death of your company.

HR consultant Olga Crosse has more than 20 years' experience in the industry. One of the most common problems she comes across is well meaning founders who think they are different, they trust their employees and truly believe that staff problems won’t affect them. A belief that is all well and good until someone throws a spanner in the works.

Problems range from serious allegations of discrimination to issues with someone coming in late, hungover or not at all because the dog chewed their phone, or their fish is sick, or their gran has died for the third time. The list of potential issues is endless and many are almost inevitable.

In this episode Olga shares some of the most common mistakes she sees founders make and discusses how they can be avoided or solved.

Top takeaways:
- Anything can happen when you're dealing with people
- Make sure you have written contracts
- Don't overlook references
- Tackle any issues immediately, ignoring them will only make the problem worse
- HR help doesn't need to be expensive. Find someone who can roll their sleeves up and get stuck in on the ground.
- Every problem can be solved!

Host: Patricia Keating
Guest: Olga Crosse, founder Crosse HR http://www.crossehr.co.uk/ 
Listening Time: 35 mins
Follow Tech Manchester:
Twitter: @tecmcr
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/techmanchester/

If you’re running a business chances are you’re selling something, whether that is a product or a service, or both. But, have you stopped to think about if you are maximising your potential profit by selling effectively?

Carole Gillespie is founder and CEO of People buy from People (PbfP) and the author of Flying Start: How to Make your Own Luck at Work.

During her career Carole has helped to grow a specialist change and programme management business from a turnover of £2 million to £15 million with virtually no competitive tendering and limited sales resource. She claims she’s never sold anything to anyone. In fact, she says throughout her career people have bought from her!

She is passionate about helping businesses 'punch well above their weight' through developing fair, lasting and productive relationships, ultimately making businesses more valuable and attracting investment for growth. In this episode she shares her tips to become an exert that people want to buy from.

Top takeaways:

- Try not to concentrate on helping people to understand what you do, instead help them to understand how what you do is relevant to them. To do that you must ask the right questions.
- Learn to think like a duck! (QCRSSS) Questions, Conversations, Relationships, Support, Sponsorship, Sales.

Host: Patricia Keating
Guest: Carole Gillespie, founder People buy from People https://peoplebuyfrompeople.co.uk
Listening Time: 28 mins
Follow Tech Manchester:
Twitter: @tecmcr
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/techmanchester/

Chi-chi Ekweozor is a social media marketer turned front end developer and software engineer. She started Assenty in January 2016 after witnessing firsthand the difficulty in prioritising questions submitted when the audience was invited to send in questions for conference speakers via SMS.

Assenty was designed to solve the problem of answering questions from an audience and a lot of thought, painstaking care and attention to detail to what event organisers want from a Q&A platform has been poured in to it. The platform has been used by a range of companies including PwC and BusinessCloud Magazine.

Chi-Chi talks with Trish about her startup journey so far, the challenge of raising funding and shares the advice she has learned along the way.

Key takeaways:
- Really think about whether you need a co-founder. Do as much as you can manage on your own before making that step.
- Don't forget how far you've come. Take time to reflect on your business journey.
- Be careful about setting artificial deadlines and putting yourself under undue pressure.
- Be open minded to change.

Host: Patricia Keating
Guest: Chi-Chi Ekweozor, founder Assenty www.assenty.com
Listening Time: 48 mins
Follow Tech Manchester:
Twitter: @tecmcr
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/techmanchester/

Growing up in Zimbabwe Codilia Gapare dreamed of becoming a lawyer, but the odds were stacked against her. As the country descended into political turmoil Cody's ambition to go to university became even more remote.

Following the breakdown of her relationship she made the difficult decision to move to the UK, leaving her young son behind.

After working hard to carve out a better life for herself and her family Cody was in touching distance of realising her dream of becoming a lawyer at the age of 36.

But just hours before her interview for Manchester Metropolitan University Cody was diagnosed with breast cancer. Although she was offered a place her illness forced her to drop out.

The experience of chemotherapy sparked a business idea and C-Lash was created.

In this podcast Cody shares she journey from refugee to cancer survivor to entrepreneur and motivational speaker.

Key quotes:

- On the decision to leave Zimbabwe: 'I either stayed with [my son] and starved with him, or I went to find a better life for the both of us.'
- Following her cancer diagnosis: 'I can't let a chapter of my life rewrite the whole book of my life.'
- Through chemotherapy 'I found out what I was capable of.'
- 'My best advise to anyone thinking of starting a business is to just start.'
- 'Reach out to others and value the community around you.'
- 'Be authentic and remember it's okay to be vulnerable.'

Host: Patricia Keating
Guest: Cody Gapare, founder C-Lash
 Listening Time: 40 mins
Follow Tech Manchester:
Twitter: @tecmcr
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/techmanchester/

When it comes to business financing there are several options available to founders. One trend which is gathering momentum is platform cooperatives. But, what are they and what types of businesses are suited to this type of model?

A platform co-op is a digital platform designed to provide a service or sell a product - that is collectively owned and governed by the people who depend on and participate in it.

To explain more about how the model works, what types of businesses can explore this type of funding and the benefits of a cooperative model Trish is joined by James de le Vingne, senior projects manager at Co-operatives UK and Emma Back, co-founder of Equal Care co-op, which to date has raised £410,000.

Key Questions:

- What are platform co-ops?

- What types of businesses are suited to a platform co-op model?

- What does shared ownership mean? How does it work?

- The advice for founders looking to invest in the co-op model

- What are the fundamentals for a co-founding team?

If you'd like more information visit:

www.uk.coop

www.unfound.coop

www.equalcare.coop

www.uk.coop/resources/platform-co-operatives-solving-capital-conundrum

https://platform.coop/

Host: Patricia Keating


Guests: James de le Vingne, senior projects manager Co-operatives UK and Emma Back founder Equal Care Co-op


Listening Time: 40 mins

Follow Tech Manchester:


Twitter: @tecmcr


LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/techmanchester/

When it comes to business financing there are several options available to founders. One trend which is gathering momentum is platform cooperatives. But, what are they and what types of businesses are suited to this type of model?

A platform co-op is a digital platform designed to provide a service or sell a product - that is collectively owned and governed by the people who depend on and participate in it.

To explain more about how the model works, what types of businesses can explore this type of funding and the benefits of a cooperative model Trish is joined by James de le Vingne, senior projects manager at Co-operatives UK and Emma Back, co-founder of Equal Care co-op, which to date has raised £410,000.

Key Questions:

- What are platform co-ops?
- What types of businesses are suited to a platform co-op model?
- What does shared ownership mean? How does it work?
- The advice for founders looking to invest in the co-op model
- What are the fundamentals for a co-founding team?

If you'd like more information visit:
www.uk.coop
www.unfound.coop
www.equalcare.coop
www.uk.coop/resources/platform-…g-capital-conundrum
platform.coop/

Host: Patricia Keating
Guests: James de le Vingne, senior projects manager Co-operatives UK and Emma Back founder Equal Care Co-op
 Listening Time: 40 mins
Follow Tech Manchester:
Twitter: @tecmcr
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/techmanchester/