Within the full interview we covered a range of topics including mental health, being authentic online, her own journey and the need to be resilient, and also the best advice she's ever had. Maureen is someone I genuinely respect and her 31 years in business (in one of the most competitive industries there is) is testament to Maureen's obsession with customer service and her strive to be the best. A fabulous guest and well worth a watch. 

The aim of the Growth Strategy Podcast is to share the stories of real people who have real businesses. We unpick some of the business strategies behind the brands, discuss market trends and also share knowledge, ideas and the best advice they've ever had.  Time codes: 0:00 - Introduction 2:23 - Why recruitment businesses are inherently difficult  4:41 - Maureen's story 7:26 - The importance of authenticity as a business owner 9:07 - Maureen's journey from school to entrepreneurship  22:31 - First year in business 31:22 - The dynamics of a family business 35:47 - Sustaining business growth and remaining competitive 38:19 - Standing for what you believe in as a business  52:04 - What is the best piece of advice to your younger self?  56:05 - What advice would you give to your younger self?

The Roadmap MBA is a CPD certified training course which provides the real world skills to grow a business, aimed at organisations of less than 250 people. 🏆👍🏻  SMEs account for 99% of the business population and the challenges smaller businesses face are different. They require a no-nonsense approach to deliver value quickly.  

The Roadmap MBA was created to give a real world grounding across a range topics including sales, strategy, marketing and management with a particular focus on your personal and professional brand.  

For established businesses this course will help you drive your business forward. It will improve your team’s real world grounding in leadership, management, marketing and sales.  For entrepreneurs this will help you improve your strategy, increase sales and gain a competitive advantage over competitors.  For career professionals this course will give you confidence to make the next step in your career.  

Find out more about the Roadmap MBA here 📈 https://lnkd.in/dtEwR6p​​​​ 

#business​​​​ #education​​​​ #RoadmapMBA​​​ #startups​​​ #growth​​

Many thanks to my wonderful guest Michael Richardson, MD and Founder of ACT GROUP 📈🔩 If you don't know Michael he's a fantastic businessman and you should certainly check out his business.  Within the interview we covered his early career, the power of apprenticeships, launching and growing a business, the challenges faced along the way and the best advice he's ever had!  

The interview was LIVE at 4pm on Monday 24 May 2021 across LinkedIn LIVE, Twitter, YouTube and Facebook. ⭐️ 

The podcast is also shared across iTunes, Spotify and Google. 🎧  The aim of the Growth Strategy Podcast is to share the stories of real people who have real businesses. We unpick some of the business strategies behind the brands, discuss market trends and also share knowledge, ideas and the best advice they've ever had.  

The Roadmap MBA is a CPD certified training course which provides the real world skills to grow a business, aimed at organisations of less than 250 people. 🏆👍🏻  SMEs account for 99% of the business population and the challenges smaller businesses face are different. They require a no-nonsense approach to deliver value quickly.  The Roadmap MBA was created to give a real world grounding across a range topics including sales, strategy, marketing and management with a particular focus on your personal and professional brand.  

For established businesses this course will help you drive your business forward. It will improve your team’s real world grounding in leadership, management, marketing and sales.  For entrepreneurs this will help you improve your strategy, increase sales and gain a competitive advantage over competitors.  For career professionals this course will give you confidence to make the next step in your career.  

Find out more about the Roadmap MBA https://www.roadmapmba.com/  

#business​​​​ #education​​​​ #RoadmapMBA​​​  #startups​​​ #growth​​

Many thanks to my wonderful guest Simon Clayton. Within the full interview we discussed Simon's career to date, but also discuss how he came about to launch his businesses, writing his first book, all things marketing and the best advice he's ever had!   The interview was LIVE at 4pm on Monday 17 May 2021 across LinkedIn LIVE, Twitter, YouTube and Facebook. ⭐️ The podcast will be shared shortly after on iTunes, Spotify and Google. 🎧  The aim of the Growth Strategy Podcast is to share the stories of real people who have real businesses. We unpick some of the business strategies behind the brands, discuss market trends and also share knowledge, ideas and the best advice they've ever had.

The Roadmap MBA is a CPD certified training course which provides the real world skills to grow a business, aimed at organisations of less than 250 people. 🏆👍🏻  SMEs account for 99% of the business population and the challenges smaller businesses face are different. They require a no-nonsense approach to deliver value quickly.  The Roadmap MBA was created to give a real world grounding across a range topics including sales, strategy, marketing and management with a particular focus on your personal and professional brand.  

For established businesses this course will help you drive your business forward. It will improve your team’s real world grounding in leadership, management, marketing and sales.  

For entrepreneurs this will help you improve your strategy, increase sales and gain a competitive advantage over competitors.  

For career professionals this course will give you confidence to make the next step in your career.  

Find out more about the Roadmap MBA here 📈 https://www.roadmapmba.com/​​​​ #business​​​​ #education​​​​ #RoadmapMBA​​​ #startups​​​ #growth​​

Many thanks to my wonderful guest yesterday Chris Rabbit. Within the course of the interview, not only did we discuss a whole range of wonderful business topics, we also discovered that we grew up one street apart. 🤯 Topics included: developing entrepreneurship in young people, naming and branding your business, self funding a startup, raising finance in seed rounds and the best advice he's ever had! 📈  

Find out more about Meeow here: https://meeow.co/  

The interview was LIVE at 4pm on Monday 10 May 2021 across LinkedIn LIVE, Twitter, YouTube and Facebook. ⭐️ 

The podcast is also shared on iTunes, Spotify and Google. 🎧  

The aim of the Growth Strategy Podcast is to share the stories of real people who have real businesses. We unpick some of the business strategies behind the brands, discuss market trends and also share knowledge, ideas and the best advice they've ever had.  

Time codes: 

0:00 Intro to the Growth Strategy Podcast 

1:18 Growing up in Liverpool 

3:25 Pivoting after losing your business during COVID 

8:52 School life 

10:27 Potential does not stop at school 

11:09 Developing entrepreneurship in young people 

12:10 Getting started in careers 

14:00 The work ethic required in recruitment 

16:33 Starting a catering business in a golf club 

19:40 Learning to become a chef 

22:55 Launching online networking startup MEEOW 

29:11 Does a working class background give you more grit and determination? 

31:37 Naming and branding your startup  

35:09 Bootstrapping your startup  

38:14 Closing your first funding round 

41:18 The mindset required to grow a startup 

44:03 Loving being an entrepreneur 

44:58 Recognising your core community 

49:01 The best advice you've ever had? 

The Roadmap MBA is a CPD certified training course which provides the real world skills to grow a business, aimed at organisations of less than 250 people. 🏆👍🏻  SMEs account for 99% of the business population and the challenges smaller businesses face are different. They require a no-nonsense approach to deliver value quickly.  

The Roadmap MBA was created to give a real world grounding across a range topics including sales, strategy, marketing and management with a particular focus on your personal and professional brand.  

For established businesses this course will help you drive your business forward. It will improve your team’s real world grounding in leadership, management, marketing and sales.  For entrepreneurs this will help you improve your strategy, increase sales and gain a competitive advantage over competitors.  For career professionals this course will give you confidence to make the next step in your career.  

Find out more about the Roadmap MBA here 📈 https://lnkd.in/dtEwR6p​​​​ #business​​​​ #education​​​​ #RoadmapMBA​​​ #startups​​​ #growth​​

Many thanks to my wonderful guest Ian Farrar yesterday, MD of Far North and also host of the Industry Angel Business Podcast!! 😁 🎧 🏆  Within the full interview we covered a whole range of topics, including  Ian's early days at school, the joys and challenges of launching a business, what goes into starting a podcast and also the desire to climb Mount Kilimanjaro! 🤯 📈 🏔

Timecodes: 0:00​ Intro 1:23​ Intro to Ian Farrar 4:55​ Life at school 12:48​ Getting your first job 15:42​ The opportunities in smaller businesses 17:10​ Starting your first business 27:10​ Launching a podcast 38:27​ Podcast setup for starting out 42:04​ Best podcast guest ever 44:59​ Worst podcast guest ever 46:07​ The 8 hour podcast 52:37​ The best advice you've ever had? 

The Roadmap MBA is a CPD certified training course which provides the real world skills to grow a business, aimed at organisations of less than 250 people. 🏆👍🏻  

SMEs account for 99% of the business population and the challenges smaller businesses face are different. They require a no-nonsense approach to deliver value quickly.  

The Roadmap MBA was created to give a real world grounding across a range topics including sales, strategy, marketing and management with a particular focus on your personal and professional brand.  For established businesses this course will help you drive your business forward. It will improve your team’s real world grounding in leadership, management, marketing and sales.  For entrepreneurs this will help you improve your strategy, increase sales and gain a competitive advantage over competitors.  For career professionals this course will give you confidence to make the next step in your career.  Find out more about the Roadmap MBA here 📈 https://lnkd.in/dtEwR6p​​​​​ 

#business​​​​​ #education​​​​​ #RoadmapMBA​​​​ #startups​​​​ #growth​​

I had the absolute pleasure to speak to Tim Ward 🚀, CEO of Opportuni 🙌🏻 Tim is a super smart, super nice guy and over the course of the interview we spoke on a whole range of topics including his early career, the challenges of running a business, the huge opportunity in public sector tenders, raising finance, and also launching his exciting new start-up. 📈 🏆

Time codes: 0:00​ Introduction to Tim 3:06​ Early years 11:15​ The benefits of Stoicism  13:18​ Tim's career before starting a business 16:21​ Adapting your business in the early years 17:18​ The benefits of joining BNI 19:12​ The biggest challenges as a new business owner 23:48​ Launching bid and research company Opportuni 35:31​ Advice for raising capital for your startup 41:32​ The best advice you've ever had 50:54​ Wrap up  

The Roadmap MBA is a CPD certified training course which provides the real world skills to grow a business, aimed at organisations of less than 250 people. 🏆👍🏻  SMEs account for 99% of the business population and the challenges smaller businesses face are different. They require a no-nonsense approach to deliver value quickly.  

The Roadmap MBA was created to give a real world grounding across a range topics including sales, strategy, marketing and management with a particular focus on your personal and professional brand.  For established businesses this course will help you drive your business forward. It will improve your team’s real world grounding in leadership, management, marketing and sales.  For entrepreneurs this will help you improve your strategy, increase sales and gain a competitive advantage over competitors.  For career professionals this course will give you confidence to make the next step in your career.  

Find out more about the Roadmap MBA here 📈 https://lnkd.in/dtEwR6p​​​​​ 

#business​​​​​ #education​​​​​ #RoadmapMBA​​​​ #startups​​​​ #growth​​

I recently had the pleasure of speaking to David Smallman - business professional, radio host and now author, with his latest book "Smallman - Making sense of Business" 🗣📈💡  Within the interview we will discuss David's career to date, but also delve into some of the concepts and life lessons from the book, the process of writing and publishing on Amazon, and the best advice he's ever had! 🏆

The Roadmap MBA is a CPD certified training course which provides the real world skills to grow a business, aimed at organisations of less than 250 people. 🏆👍🏻

SMEs account for 99% of the business population and the challenges smaller businesses face are different. They require a no-nonsense approach to deliver value quickly.

The Roadmap MBA was created to give a real world grounding across a range topics including sales, strategy, marketing and management with a particular focus on your personal and professional brand.

For established businesses this course will help you drive your business forward. It will improve your team’s real world grounding in leadership, management, marketing and sales.

For entrepreneurs this will help you improve your strategy, increase sales and gain a competitive advantage over competitors.

For career professionals this course will give you confidence to make the next step in your career.

Find out more about the Roadmap MBA here: www.RoadmapMBA.com

#business​​​​ #education​​​​ #RoadmapMBA​​​ #startups​​​ #growth​​

Within the conversation we discuss running and growing a business, personal and professional development and everything he loves and hates about the course! 😳❌

The Roadmap MBA is a CPD certified training course which provides the real world skills to grow a business, aimed at organisations of less than 250 people. 

SMEs account for 99% of the business population and the challenges smaller businesses face are different. They require a no-nonsense approach to deliver value quickly.  

The Roadmap MBA was created to give a real world grounding across a range topics including sales, strategy, marketing and management with a particular focus on your personal and professional brand.  

For established businesses this course will help you drive your business forward. It will improve your team’s real world grounding in leadership, management, marketing and sales.  

For entrepreneurs this will help you improve your strategy, increase sales and gain a competitive advantage over competitors.  

For career professionals the skills taught on this course will support your personal development giving you confidence to make the next step in your career. 

Find out more about the Roadmap MBA here https://www.RoadmapMBA.com​​​​

#business​​​​ #education​​​​ #RoadmapMBA​​​  #startups​​​ #growth​​

Many thanks to my guest Aaron Lawson-Clark from Mercia Asset Management PLC. Within the interview we discuss private equity, the North East's investment community, the challenges business owners face raising finance, Aaron's own career, and the best advice he's ever had! 🏆  

The aim of the Growth Strategy Roadmap™ interview series is to share the stories of real people who have real businesses. We unpick some of the business strategies behind the brands, discuss market trends and also share knowledge, ideas and the best advice they've ever had.  

The Roadmap MBA is a CPD certified training course which provides the real world skills to grow a business, aimed at organisations of less than 250 people. https://www.RoadmapMBA.com/​​ 

Hire me. https://www.RoadmapMBA.com/steve​​ 

#livestream​​ #podcast​​ #businessstrategy​​ #realpeople​​ #realstories​​ #startups​​ #growthstrategyroadmap​​ #roadmapmba​

Many thanks to my wonderful guest earlier, Jeni Smith from Networking KnoWho. 

Across the interview Jeni shared her story of starting multiple businesses and the power of business networking. Really worth a listen. 

The aim of the Growth Strategy Roadmap™ interview series is to share the stories of real people who have real businesses. We unpick some of the business strategies behind the brands, discuss market trends and also share knowledge, ideas and the best advice they've ever had.  

The Roadmap MBA is a CPD certified training course which provides the real world skills to grow a business, aimed at organisations of less than 250 people. https://www.RoadmapMBA.com/  

Hire me. https://www.RoadmapMBA.com/steve  

#livestream #podcast #businessstrategy #realpeople #realstories #startups #growthstrategyroadmap