New entrepreneurs can often be so wrapped up in their brilliant idea that they fail to communicate it clearly to potential supporters, partners, investors - or anyone, really, who hasn't been part of their journey.   In this episode, communication specialist Mel Sherwood talks to Alex Bennett about how business founders can use simple tips to articulate clearly their aims and their ask.  Mel's background as a performer certainly helps her to communicate well, but anyone can learn how.

When Alison Wood found out that men in Kenya were giving schoolgirls sanitary pads as payment for sex, she got mad.   Then, she decided to do something about it.   Alison tells Alex Bennett the story of how, as an economics graduate from the University of Edinburgh, she founded a business making reusable pads for Kenya, and discovered another market for her products back home in the UK.

Bruce Ramsay, chief technology officer of Cyacomb (formerly Cyan Forensics) talks to Alex Bennet about his mission to clean up the internet and the challenge of doubling the size of his company during a global pandemic.  

SolarisKit founder and Impact Challenge 2019 founder Faisal Ghani, talks to Alex Bennett about his big idea to create flat packed, solar-powered water heaters for the developing world.  They talk about his inspiration, challenges along the way, and how participating in Converge helped him establish SolarisKit, now beginning production in Dundee.

Welcome to the Converge Challenge Podcast. This time it’s all about the next steps.

In the last episode you heard how it felt to go through the final of a business competition, and what it meant to win for our four entrepreneurs. But after that win, what next?

Money & Advice: The Lifeblood of New Businesses

I want to find out what they did with the money, for example – that seems pretty important. But, just as important is the professional advice. You see, winners are matched up with accountants, legal teams and a lot more – what did our four heroes learn from that in the year following their win.

For that matter, what did they learn in general, when they took those next steps? Because now, of course, the competition is over – it’s time to actually get to work. Time to run that business. And that’s when the learning begins in earnest.

So, let’s learn from their experience – from the good ones, and the bad ones. Starting with that lifeblood of the business, cash. Whether you get it through a competition, through investment or through a loan – what does that first chunk of cash mean for a new business?

What are YOUR Next Steps?

For our four entrepreneurs, their aim is scale. It’s the holy grail, for many others too. That means attracting millions to your vision – of users, of revenue, of profit. And building that worldwide brand. A company that changes the world. That’s the crazy thing, we’ve actually seen that done in our lifetime, in far shorter than our lifetime, and by students in their dorm rooms. Anything’s possible. With the right idea.

If that’s your aim, then Converge is a brilliant first step. Explore the website to find out more about the competition and to speak to the team about your idea.

Thanks again for listening to the show. That finishes up our first series of 4 episodes, but we’ll be back for more in the future. Get in touch with the converge team to let us know what you’d like to hear more of on the next season. If you’ve enjoyed the season, make sure you subscribe so you get future episodes automatically. Just search converge challenge on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen. And if you really enjoyed it, the best thing you can do to help us help more people is review and rate the show in the same place

The show was created by ThePodcastHost.com for the Converge Challenge. Many thanks to our four Entrepreneurs who provided the advice and stories on this episode – you heard Adam Brown, Chris Leburn, Susanne Mitschke and Rebecca Pick. And the show was narrated by me, Colin Gray. Thanks again for listening, and we’ll see you out there.

Welcome to the Converge Challenge Podcast. Last time we got into pitch preparation, but this time it’s time to deliver. We’re going to find out what it takes to present a great investor pitch.

Pitch Perfect

Our four entrepreneurs have made it to the big Converge final now – the last hurdle is to get in front of a team of judges and sell their idea. Not over 60 seconds this time either, but 10 minutes, and that’s followed by plenty of time for questions.

So, we’re going to delve deeper into how to prepare, how to calm the nerves, what they learned from the judges feedback and how it felt to win the competition.

By the end of this episode, you’ll be all set to deliver you own, for the Converge Challenge or otherwise. And hopefully you’ll feel a lot more calm about it.

What’s Next?

Always remember, if you need a bit of help with your idea, feel free to start by knocking on the Converge Challenge’s door. Or, maybe the website, at least to begin with. Contact us and find out how you can speak to the team about your business, or how to apply for the next challenge.

Don’t worry, though, we’ve more for you here too. On the next episode we’ll be delving right into what the companies did with the cash prize and the support after the challenge. What did they learn once the real work began?

Thanks for listening to the show – if you’ve enjoyed it, make sure you subscribe so you get future episodes automatically. Just search converge challenge on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen. And if you really enjoyed it, I’d really appreciate a review in the same place. Statistics show that people who review podcasts get asked much easier questions in pitches. Honest

The show was created by ThePodcastHost.com for the Converge Challenge. Many thanks to our four Entrepreneurs who provided the advice and stories on this episode – you heard Adam Brown, Chris Leburn, Susanne Mitschke and Rebecca Pick. And the show was narrated by me, Colin Gray. Thanks again for listening, and we’ll see you on the next one.