The NXTGEN Show

For this mini-series I've teamed up with business coach extraordinaire and scaleup expert, Neale Lewis and we'll be tackling the many challenges for business owners and entrepreneurs brought about by the Coronavirus.

Neale has vast business experience, working alongside some of the top business minds in the world such as Verne Harnish, working with a variety of high performance business leaders, executives and entrepreneurs and going in deep behind the scenes of multi-million pound businesses across a wide variety of sectors, helping them to achieve their most ambitious big hairy audacious goals.

In this first episode, we take a look at the two key areas that business owners should be focusing their attention on as we get used to the UK "lockdown" and really begin to feel the effects of a drastic drop in business activity.

Neale shares PLENTY of actionable, practical and extremely sound business strategies, tactics and insights that could see you coming out of the other end of this approaching storm in a stronger position.

So, get your pen and paper or your Evernote ready and let's dive in!

Welcome to episode 32 and in this week’s brilliant business interview you’ll discover the following three entrepreneurial insights;

1) Why, with the right attitude and mindset, devastating events can turn out to be blessings in disguise – even if it doesn’t feel like it at the time.

2) The power of having honest conversations with your business partners and what can happen if you let things fester and go unsaid.

3) The importance of crafting time to work on your own business, as well as your clients’.

So, stay tuned for all of that and so much more on this week’s episode of the truth about business!

In today’s episode, I talk business with the four entrepreneurs at Think3.

After all four had built a great relationship working together in a previous business, they were all faced with the challenge of being made redundant at the same time as the company went into administration.

Determined not to let that get the better of them and with a total belief in their own ability, they decided to unite, took the plunge and launched a business together. 

That Business is Think3, a forward-thinking creative design agency in Derby and the team has just celebrated its one year anniversary. 

After a brilliant first year of being in business, they’ve not only broken through that initial 12 month barrier where 20% of new businesses fail, they’ve done it in style – doubling the size of the team and continuing to grow from strength to strength.

But it’s not been without it’s challenges, both as individuals and as a team.

In this episode, we take a fresh and really candid look into what it’s like being in business not just for the first time, but as a group of four friends who decided to risk it all and become the masters of their own destiny. 

This interview was recorded before the business community had really started to feel the impact of the Corona virus. 

With many difficult decisions currently being made and so many worlds being turned upside-down, this episode is a brilliant, real-life example of turning a negative situation into a huge opportunity that turns out to be a blessing in disguise.

You know, success leaves footprints...

So, let’s take a walk with four passionate, enthusiastic and inspiring business owners - this is the story of Think3.

Click "play" and get ready for "The Truth About Business"......

Welcome to episode 31 and in this week’s brilliant business interview you’ll discover the following three entrepreneurial insights;

1) The power of focusing on one social media platform when building your presence, but the risks that also come with putting all of your eggs in one basket.

2) The consequences of being an extremely driven entrepreneur and why taking some time out to reflect, refocus and relaunch is essential.

3) Why you must be “obsessed” to build a great brand and business.

So, stay tuned for all of that and so much more on this week’s episode of the truth about business!

In today’s episode, I talk business with Wade Smith.

After not really knowing in which direction he wanted to take his life, Wade found himself on a marketing apprenticeship where he earned just enough money to get by.

Desperate to be able to provide for himself and his partner Megan, they borrowed £10 from their Grandad to make a batch of 12 doughnuts that they sold to a friend through Facebook for £10.

And the rest, as they say, is history.

Today, Doughnotts has become a confectionary sensation that has swept through the Midlands, with four stunning locations and a social media presence of over 100,000 followers. 

Wade and Megan have turned that borrowed £10 into a £1.6 million business empire and this is the story of how it all began.

This was an honest, raw and real insider look into what it takes to build a successful business including all of the trappings that come with it, but also the sacrifices, hardships and unexpected challenges that the team at Doughnotts have battled through to become the business they are today

You know, success leaves footprints...

So, let’s take a walk with the Co-founder of Doughnotts and master baker extraordinaire, Wade Smith.

Click play and get ready for "The Truth About Business!"

Welcome to episode number 30 and in this week’s brilliant business interview you’ll discover the following three business insights;

1) A simple play on words that led to a 600% increase in sales.

2) Are there really any friends when it comes to building a successful business?

3) The upsides and downsides of building a business with your family.

So, stay tuned for all of that and so much more on this week’s episode of the truth about business...

In today’s episode, I talk business with Michael Brain, who is also my Dad.

Michael is the Co-Founder of the successful, Derby born & bred and nationally acclaimed estate agency firm, "Hannells" which provides people focused services in residential sales, residential lets and student lettings.

The "eureka" moment came for Hannells back in 2003 after Michael and his business partner (then wife), Alison, were watching a TV programme about estate agents which mentioned in the end credits that there were no qualifications required to start out on your own.

That triggered a sequence of events and 17 years later Hannells has grown exponentially, only to then be hit hard by a devastating recession, weathered the downturn, recovered and grown again, has had numerous members of the family join, some only to leave and then come back again AND has won multiple outstanding awards including being named as the very best estate agency in the country at the 2019 EA Masters Awards.

This was another brilliant interview with, dare I say it, an inspirational entrepreneur who embraces going against the grain and has no problem ruffling a few feathers along the way.

And for the first time Michael shares his own story, the challenges he faced and the lessons he learned along the way including a few home truths about working with family thrown in for good measure.

You know, success leaves footprints...

So, let’s take a walk with the Co-Founder of Hannells Estate Agents and my old man, Michael Brain.

 ----------------------------------------------------- 

Before we do, I want to give a quick shout out to Ali West who left a brilliant 5 star review on iTunes for the show.

He said:

“I listen to many podcasts and this one is awesome! I recently listened to Benjamin's podcast with Matt Elliott. I really enjoyed the questions asked and the way Benjamin got his guest to open up and provide great insights into business. This podcast is packed full of value. I highly suggest you give it a listen and subscribe! Keep up the great work!”

Thanks for your great comments Ali, clearly a man of good taste and is also a fellow podcaster who specialises in health, fitness and wellbeing with "The Kinetic Fitness Show".

 ----------------------------------------------------- 

Click play and get ready for “The Truth About Business“… 

Welcome to episode 29 and in this week’s fantastic interview with a twist you’ll discover the following three business insights;

1) If you have a burning desire to start something, should you actually wait until the time is right.

2) Why disaster can lead to great things when you have a powerful “Why” and you approach it with resilience. 

3) Why you just have to be prepared to face the unexpected, regardless of how much you plan.

So, stay tuned for all of that and so much more on this week’s episode of the truth about business!

Before Philip & Stephen launched their current business, they had both managed to transition from being employed into self-employed entrepreneurs and although they were in totally different sectors and had different reasons for wanting to be their own boss, it appears that fate eventually brought them together.

After getting fed up with attending the same old networking events, Philip and Stephen decided to create something new, something fresh and something innovative that business owners and entrepreneurs of all types could look forward to being a part of and so, KuKu connect was born.

Fast forward four years and despite being told that the local market was saturated and they were destined to fail, despite Stephen losing everything in a previous business venture through no fault of his own they decided to follow their passion and the dynamic duo are now creating a huge buzz throughout the Midlands business scene, having been invited to the Queen’s garden party, are being invited as guest of honours to ribbon cutting events, being featured on the front cover of magazines and have created nothing short of a connecting movement. 

This was a brilliant interview with two inspirational business owners who were totally honest about what it’s really like to run a business - the pros, the cons, the challenges, the lessons learned and the sacrifices they’ve had to make to get to where they are today. 

You know, success leaves footprints...

So, let’s take a walk with the proud owners of KuKu connect, Philip Brooks-Stephenson and Stephen Goddard.

Click play and get ready for The Truth About Business...! 

Welcome to episode 28 and in this week’s business interview you’ll discover the following three golden insights;

1) The truth about network marketing businesses and why there are so many misconceptions.

2) How being able to keep the promises that you make to yourself is crucial to building resilience and longevity.

3) Why most of us over-estimate what we can achieve in a year, but under-estimate what we can accomplish in a decade.

So, stay tuned for all of that and so much more on this week’s episode of the truth about business...

In this episode, I talk business with Matt Elliott.

Since starting out his career at his local pet store at the age of seven, Matt spent some time in the Armed forces with aspirations of becoming a bodyguard, but found he had a passion and a skill for being a personal trainer and helping people to live happier and healthier lives.

After leaving the forces, Matt’s talent was discovered by Adidas and for the next two years he served as a Global Fitness Ambassador, where he enjoyed the life of a rock star being flown business class all around the world, staying in the finest hotels and performing personal training to hundreds of people at a time in stadiums around the globe.  

On his return, Matt was determined to launch a business for himself and after looking into a variety of options, he stumbled upon Herbalife. A billion-dollar, network marketing business that had the backing of the likes of Christiano Ronaldo and the LA Galaxy.

Starting from scratch, Matt grew his business exponentially over the first two years and almost a decade later, Matt is a permanent feature in the Herbalife top 2% in the world with a team of over 1,500 people and once again enjoys a lifestyle similar to that from the Adidas days. 

This was a brilliant interview with another inspirational, high performance entrepreneur who has cracked the code to building an incredibly successful network marketing business and openly talks about the misconceptions that many people have about this type of setup. 

You know, success leaves footprints...

So, let’s take a walk with the passionate, successful and life-changing health and nutrition entrepreneur, Matt Elliott.

Click play and get ready for The Truth About Business!...

Welcome to episode 27 and in this weeks’ interview you’ll discover the following three golden insights;

1) The dark side of entrepreneurship and the serious effects it can have on both your physical and mental health.

2) How far should you push your children to becoming entrepreneurs or is it best to let them find their own way?

3) Why not thinking big enough at the outset can eventually lead you to “niching” yourself out of business.

So, stay tuned for all of that and so much more on this week’s episode of the truth about business...

In this week’s episode, I talk business with Sean Price.

Sean’s entrepreneurial career started early and by the time he was in his late teens, he had sold his university project, rather than handing it in to be assessed for his final grade. 

At 18, he started his first company from the back of his bedroom and over the next 10 years, grew the business to become a globally know force in the agency industry until he turned 28 when he welcomed his new born son and decided to take some time out to semi-retire. 

After spending time mentoring tomorrow’s generation of entrepreneurs and failing to ignite a passion for golf, it wasn’t long before Sean was back at it and after taking up key senior positions in several IT Businesses, his eyes were opened to a sector of the industry in which he knew that he could build something special.

This eventually led to the creation of Velez which Sean launched with a hand-picked team of successful industry experts back in January 2019. 

Since then, the business has experienced rapid growth, already becoming an internationally renowned player in the managed services field and being recognised by the top advisory firms in the world with the team being officially recognised by Gartner in September 2019.

Sean now spends a large amount of time travelling around the globe spending time with his team and meeting with multi-million dollar business owners and CEOs in the states to secure new sales contracts and pick the brains of some extraordinary high performance people.

This was another brilliant interview with another inspirational entrepreneur who is already extremely accomplished and is destined for even bigger things.

And Sean hasn’t had it easy. He openly talks in this interview about the physical and mental health problems that can often come with being an obsessively driven entrepreneur.

You know, success leaves footprints...

So, let’s take a walk with the jet-setting, go-getting, international businessman and CEO of Velez Managed Services, Sean Price!

Click play and get ready for “The Truth About Business“… 

In this week’s episode of The Truth About Business, you’ll discover the following three business & entrepreneurial insights:

1) Why it’s not always about building the biggest, it’s about building a business that suits you.

2) Why swallowing your pride and having the courage to ask for help will speed up your success.

3) Why reading books and learning is crucial, but sometimes you just have to do it your way. 

So, stay tuned for all of that and so much more on this week’s episode of the truth about business...

For more brilliant business interviews with inspirational entrepreneurs, head over to http://www.benjaminbrain.co.uk.

Today, I talk business with Rachel Hayward.

After falling into the world of Charity work, Rachel discovered that she had a real passion for helping others that opened her eyes to a totally new perspective.

With her sights set on becoming Managing Director by the time she was 35, Rachel managed to turn that dream into reality but when the economy took a nose-dive and purse strings tightened, she decided to take her destiny into her own hands and left.

After making a promise to herself and setting a deadline to launching her own business, Rachel stayed true to her pledge and when the time came, took a leap of faith to become a full-time entrepreneur. 

This eventually led to the birth of Ask The Chameleon where Rachel delivers high quality bid writing and consultancy services that get results at a cost-effective price. 

Five years later and Rachel is still going strong having secured over £12,000,000 in grant funding and contracts for her clients.

As well as Rachel being nominated for two Outstanding Women’s awards, Ask the Chameleon itself was a big winner in the Small Business 100 awards for 2018 and was also the Federation of Small Business Micro Business of the Year 2019 for the East Midlands.

This was another brilliant, candid interview with an inspirational entrepreneur who has a true passion for helping others and also gives an awful lot back to the community with the work she does outside of her business.

You know, success leaves footprints...

So, let’s take a walk with an award winning, contract securing powerhouse and owner of Ask The Chameleon, Rachel Hayward!

 Click the play and get ready for “The Truth About Business“… 

In this week’s episode of The Truth About Business, you’ll discover these three golden business insights:

1) The power of focusing on asking “what if” instead of wondering “if only.”

2) Why taking over an existing business and implementing a new culture can be more challenging than starting from scratch.

3) How if you’re already driven, having access to great mentors is like adding rocket fuel to an already burning inferno.

So, stay tuned for all of that and so much more on this week’s episode of the truth about business...

In this week’s episode, I talk business with Gareth Love.

After starting out at his parent’s estate agency just half an hour after receiving his GCSE results, Gareth’s path soon led him away from the family business and into the world of mortgages.

It was something he soon found he not only had a raw passion for, but was also very good at. After riding out the financial crisis back in 2008, Gareth found himself in the company of some outstanding mentors which led him to acquiring an existing mortgage business in August 2018.

Since then, he has grown the business from 8 mortgage advisers to over 30 and has transformed the culture, results and growth of the business through a strong set of core values and a genuine passion for helping his team to be the very best versions of themselves.

This was another brilliant interview with an inspirational entrepreneur who has his sights set on the very top and knows with absolute certainty that he will do whatever it takes to get there. He’ll leave you feeling inspired and enthused – and he’s still only 32. 

You know, success leaves footprints...

So, let’s take a walk with a man with a serious mission and owner of the game-changing Mortgage Experts, Gareth Love.

Before we do, I just want to give a quick shout out two of our amazing listeners this week who each left the show a brilliant 5 star review on itunes.

First off, thank you to "VLovegrove", who said:

“I’ve enjoyed every episode I’ve listened to so far. Some episodes have compelled me to seek out the individuals and work with them. You end up feeling that you already know them and can see if they fit within your own values. Looking forward to hearing more Ben.”

 And also, a big shout out goes out to "AndySand" who said:

“A genuinely great podcast. Ben’s a great interviewer and his guests are very open about both the highs and lows of their business journey.”

Thank you so much to both of you.

They are amazing reviews and every single one means a LOT to me!

If you enjoyed this episode and fancy a shout out on next week’s show – you know what to do!

Get ready for The Truth About Business...

As part of the BBC's "upload" service, BBC Radio Derby asked me to produce a special five minute episode of The Truth About Business which was aired at 9.15pm on Thursday 30th January 2020.

The episode was a compilation of answers from all of the guests that had featured on the show so far to the same question;

"What's the one piece of advice you'd pass on to your younger self before you started out in business?"

It turned out to be a fantastic mini-episode and thank you to the BBC for giving me the opportunity to get on their airwaves!

Click play and get ready for a special episode of The Truth About Business!