Real World Entrepreneurship

In this episode Alan and Bhairav discuss their experiences of entering new overseas markets and the different approaches you can take

In this podcast we cover:

• When you should think about entering new markets
• What kinds of approaches you should take
• The different approaches they have taken
• What are the key criteria for a successful foray into a new territory

Founder isolation. It is a real phenomenon and something that can be quite crippling for an entrepreneur during the early stages of starting a new business

In this podcast we take a deep dive into founder isolation, how you can suffer from it even though you have a team around you and what we have done to overcome that feeling

In this week's episode Alan and Bhairav go searching for that mythical beast called "Work Life Balance"

Is there such a thing? Can you truly switch off as a business owner?

Most importantly, how can you get over the feeling of guilt when you do take time off and how do you ultimately take time off and actually enjoy the fruits of your labour...?

In this episode Alan and Bhairav talk with Hassan Peymani who with a group of friends, left school and joined the World Poker Tour

Hassan was not a great poker player but travelled the world with his friends who were and as he was touring he had the idea to pick up a camera and record what was going on

Fast forward a few years and Hassan had one of the most successful video production companies dedicated to Poker

Hassan talks about his experience starting a business in an industry he had no knowledge of and how he learnt by doing and how he has carried forward that mentality into everything he does

In this week's podcast we're talking to Robert Flint from Adviserly.io

Robert is a lawyer turned entrepreneur and in this podcast we talk to Robert about how the switch changed his opinion of lawyers, what entrepreneurs need to have in place from a legal perspective when they start a business and how he sees the world now that he has made the switch to founder

In this episode Bhairav and Alan discuss the concept of business resilience:

• What do we mean by business resilience?
• What is the difference between business resilience and business continuity
• How do you make a business resilient?
• What about you as a founder? How can you become resilient?

As a company do you have a plan in place for when something goes wrong? Do you know who to call, what to say, how to ensure that the business doesn't grind to a halt?

Listen to our real world examples of what can happen and how you can protect your business

In this episode Alan and Bhairav talk about what you need to think about if you are going to seek funding to grow:

• What do we mean by financing vs funding?
• Do you actually need funding?
• What does it make sense to raise funding for?
• What do you need to have in place in order to raise funding?
• What types of funding are there out there?
• How do you monitor spend?

In this podcast Alan and Bhairav discuss the things you need to know before you launch your idea and the steps you need to take in order to test it in the marketplace:

1. Define your proposition/idea by creating a MVP to demo and a sales leaflet that describes its features and benefits
2. Create a persona of your hottest prospect target customer
3. Identify six real prospective customers that fit that profile
4. Get on the phone (or email) and secure meetings
5. Pitch…
6. .…then listen…carefully to the good and the bad and get views on how you could do things differently
7. Ask for a purchase order
8. Review what you’ve learned
9. Iterate
10. Test again 

In this podcast Alan and Bhairav talk about the things you need to make sure you keep in mind when bringing a co-founder on board:

1. Start by understanding your strengths and weaknesses
2. Choose co-founders with complimentary operational skills
3. Choose co-founders with complimentary personalities
4. Make sure you share a clear vision for the business
5. Make sure you share a clear modus operandi
6. Make sure you understand what they want from the journey
7. Check references…do your due diligence
8. Make sure you would be happy to be stuck in an elevator with them 

In this episode Alan and Bhairav talk about the top things entrepreneurs should know before the embark on hiring their first employees. The top tips are:

1. Your first hire is the hardest
2. Be honest about your needs
3. Be open about how you work
4. It will take a long time to find the right person
5. Accept that you'll hire the wrong person
6. They get paid first
7. Know your selection criteria
8. Learn how to fire
9. Understand the admin
10. Understand your obligations