In episode 44 of The Business Secret Podcast James speaks with Sion O'Boyle from SPO Property Management. 

SPO Property Management operates a short term rental and property sourcing business. The short term rental business currently operates in Cardiff but soon to be in Merthyr and Pontypool. Essentially they take on landlord rental properties, pay them guaranteed rent for a term of 3 years or more, upgrade them, furnish and decorate then put out to our clients on a short term let basis from a few nights to weeks at a time. Then a bolt on to this business is their Sourcing business which operates across the South East part of Wales sourcing properties for time poor clients who are looking to get into property but do not have the time or knowledge to start.

Sion started investing in property back in 2012 where he bought his 1st investment property by working alongside university and saving up his student loan to then put to his 1st buy to let. From there he saved up every year to keep buying assets until a few years ago he became educated in property and grew the portfolio quickly.

Michael is the author of "Foxy Monkey", a UK finance blog about investing for Limited companies, tax and financial independence. He is the founder of the Company Investing Academy, a place where business owners can learn how to put their business cash to work.

Over the past 5 years, Michael has helped dozens of business owners explore their tax options and maximize their investing potential. His blog has been read more than a million times and is listed in the top 30 investment blogs in the UK.

For James Parfitt's first ever Podcast recording, he had the pleasure of speaking with Bev Logan - creator and owner of Badass Mother Runners.

Badass Mother Runners is a sportwear brand targeted at mums who run. Originally founded as a ‘side hustle’ by marketer and mum of 2, Beverley Logan. The brand now boasts an extensive award-winning product range as seen on celebrities such as writer and mental health campaigner Briony Gordon and adventurer Anna McNuff.

BAMR is online retail based and sportwear is shipped all over the world. With a huge online following BAMR has become a global online community platform where women support women every single day. Women are empowered in their running journeys and all sizes and abilities are celebrated! This helps inspire women to believe in themselves and has a positive effect on their mental health.

The brand and product range have grown extensively from simple hoodies and casual tees to a full technical running kit catalogue.

Listen to Bev talk about her inspiring journey to building her own business. How she survived and thrived from receiving negative feedback and terrible treatment in her previous job role, find out the reason why she does what she does and the amazing things she has achieved in only 3 years of running the business.

Ryan Englin is the CEO of Core Matters. At Core Matters, they help you think differently today to create new opportunities tomorrow. They guide and coach you to implement a proven system to connect the right employees with your company. By working side by side with you to find, recruit, and retain your most important assets, they help you push past the status quo and grow your team in the best way possible.

Delivering an amazing experience on the outside of your company begins with having the right employees on the inside. Your people – the core of your business – are the ones who will make your company rise to the top. And that’s why they focus on them.

In this episode, Shaun Hiscox talks with Ryan about how he works with businesses to help implement recruitment processes to help find the 'right' people for the job. He goes on to discuss how important it is for business to be focused on their recruiting/recruitment process, as finding customers is the easy part of business, finding the right staff/team members is where the real challenge is. He explains to Shaun how there are 3 experiences that every business has: 1) The Brand Experience, 2) The Customer Experience and 3) The Employee Experience - the final one being the 'core' aspect. If you create a great experience for your employees, then they will create a great experience for your customers and happy customers will take care of your brand and reputation. 

TOM DEANS Ph.D.

Intergenerational Wealth Expert & Best-Selling Author of Every Family's Business and Willing Wisdom

Dr. Tom Deans is the author of, Every Family’s Business -- the best-selling family business book of all-time -- selected by The New York Times as one of the Top Ten Books Business Owners Should Read. With more than a million copies sold in more than 100 countries, the book provides the framework for his public lectures and seminars. Having delivered more than 1000 speeches in 26 countries – his long-awaited sequel -- Willing Wisdom was released to critical acclaim and is already a Globe and Mail and New York Times best-seller.

Both of Tom’s books deal with the intergenerational transition of family wealth. Like his books -- his talks are unconventional and contrarian.

Previously, Deans was the CEO of a large multinational family business, has worked in government relations, and has been the president of a railway. Tom has been featured in numerous magazines and journals and is a frequent guest on CNBC, Money Line and BNN. Tom is a highly sought after international public speaker on Succession Planning, Wealth Management and Philanthropic giving. With his family selling businesses for more than $100 million, prepare to unlearn everything you thought you knew about Business Succession Planning.

Deans earned his Ph.D. from the University of Warwick in England.

His speeches aren’t just about money and clever tax plans. They’re about giving his audience the confidence and inspiration to view Estate Planning as a rare opportunity to transition wisdom to family, community and country.

In this Podcast, Tom gives valuable ideas that will help you transition a Business to family or even outside of the family, help you to protect your family Wealth in an operating Business and start the important family conversations about Estate Planning.

He talks about how family Business transitions are very poor right now, why this is so and how often, leaving a legacy isn’t an initial thought when people start up a new Business. He goes on to discuss how viewing your Business as a legacy is a ‘dangerous wealth destroying idea’. Tom ends by sharing his 3 tips with us on what Business Owners should do after listening to this Podcast.

This fascinating and thought-provoking Podcast with Dr. Tom Deans is not to be missed!

In this next episode of The Business Secret Podcast, Oliver chats to Angela Durrant of Maverick Communication. Angela is a visibility and growth coach/consultant who specialises in helping people grow their confidence in stepping out from being employed to thriving in the Self-Employed/Business Owner world.

Angela talks about the importance of visibility, ways to get yourself 'known' in your industry, as well as really knowing who your audience is. She then goes on to tell us about 'The Visible Club' she has created during lockdown for Business Owners, Teams and Leaders. 

What makes Angela special in this sphere of many ‘coaches’ is her background and experience and the unique perspective she brings to the message of making yourself visible. 

In this next episode of The Business Secret Podcast, Paul chats to none other than keynote speaker, charity founder, and positive force Julie Kent MBE. 

Julie gets down to detail about how she came to be awarded her MBE in December 2020, after setting up the Emily Kent Charitable Trust many years ago and going on to spend the last 30 years raising much needed funds. 

Julie also talks about why she thinks the power of giving is so strong, how she's adapting to lockdown life, and why her biggest marketing tool of all is Social Media.

In this next episode of The Business Secret Podcast, Tom is joined by founder of Mobi Game and owner and director of Sport Xtra, Rob Oyston.

Rob started Soccer Schools with his old school friend and has since gone on to help communities, school children, and care home residents have amazing experiences through sports and physical activity. He's even gone on to partner with world famous Welsh boxing legend, Joe Calzaghe starting Calzaghe Mini Dragons. Mini Dragons is dedicated to helping children get a better understanding of their health and wellbeing by supporting them with non-contact boxing, Anti Bullying lessons, and their personal development. 

In this episode, Rob tells us about how everything started for him, the emotions he felt while he helped a 109 year care home resident play Dodgeball, his lifelong passion for sport, his struggle with serious illness, and why it's important to know that when you start a business you don't need to know absolutely everything.

Join Oliver in this next episode of The Business Secret Podcast as he chats to professional Golfer, Rhys Davies. Although not your typical Business Owner, Rhys often compares his Golfing career to owning and running his own Business and says that there's a lot of comparisons to be made. Rhys has played in 170 European tournaments, he's taken part in 10 major championships, and he currently holds 5 course records including the Celtic Manor Ryder Cup course. Rhys tells Oliver that Golf is a service and that, like a Business Owner, he's always measuring up against other people who provide the same service. His biggest piece of advice is to trust yourself and be bold. 

In this first episode of 2021 Tom chats to Stephen Cleary. Stephen owns and runs 'Carnival Content' from Welsh ICE. Carnival Content is a content marketing and a production company. 

In this episode talks about how his biggest risk was putting all of his savings into starting a new business, why good customer service is too important to get wrong, and why he enjoys Deep-House music.