The Parentpreneur Accelerator Podcast

In this episode, I'm talking all about delegation! I used to find delegation a real pain. I knew it was vital that I share my workload in order for me to concentrate on pressing matters. However, I found the process of handing over tasks slow and time consuming due to the amount of training and questions to be answered. The work I got back was often of a lower quality than I produced and I ended up doing everything all over again. 'Delegating' became counterproductive for me, so I struggled on bearing the lion's share of duties. It brings me great pleasure to say, this is no longer the case! I have now found an effective and speedy ways of delegating work, whilst maintaining high standards. In this podcast, I go into detail on what I now do differently that makes delegation simple and pain free. You'll hear how to get better quality results, more efficient performance, and how to ensure the task never comes back to be redone. Show notes: https://www.parentpreneur.com/podcast-040-how-to-make-delegation-easy

In this episode, I am proud to present Colleen Wong the brains behind Gator Watch, a watch, phone and tracker for kids. The high-tech yet easy to use safety device allows parents to track their children via GPS and Wifi, and enables phone calls between parent and child. The watch is produced by Colleen’s company Techsixtyfour. In the interview we discuss how Colleen has managed to get such great PR, with Colleen becoming a finalist for New Entrepreneur of the Year in 2016, being listed as one of the 50 most inspiring female influencers and entrepreneur across Europe in 2017, and being invited to 10 Downing Street to showcase the Gator Watch. We also explore Colleen’s journey from leaving investment banking, becoming a mum, starting her tech business and building it up into a team of 8 people. We’ll learn how exactly how she gained so much traction with her startup in a short amount of time, how she balances her business and her family life (and some of the challenges she has with finding time with her partner), and what advice she has for other parentpreneurs. Show notes: https://www.parentpreneur.com/039-colleen-wong-selling-tech-safety-devices-for-children/

In this episode, we are joined by London-based father of two, Somesh Selvachandran. After working for ten years as an Executive Director in the technology department of a global investment bank Somesh took the leap to co-found a startup. In this interview we explore what has and hasn't helped him along the way. As well as, why he describes himself as a feminist, life on the silicon roundabout as a parent and what Parentpreneurs can do to improve equality. Show notes: https://www.parentpreneur.com/podcast-038-somesh-selvachandran-feminism-equality-and-the-silicon-roundabout

In this 37th episode, I am honoured to be joined by fellow Parentpreneur, Poonam Gupta OBE, founder of PG Paper. After emigrating from India to Scotland, Poonam opened her startup in 2003. The paper company has since grown into a multi-million-pound enterprise, exporting paper globally and proudly standing as one of Scotland’s biggest exporters. Poonam has achieved great successes, whilst raising two children, and undergoing a lot of personal trauma. Between 2006 and 2008, Poonam suffered from a rare form of bone tuberculosis which left her in a wheelchair for 18 months and she was faced with the possibility that each day could have been her last. Despite this heartache and stress on the family, she never gave up, survived, and being cured, doubled her business in the following year. Poonam was awarded an OBE for her contributions to business and charity. She supports many charities, including Action For Children, Elephant Family, Virat Kohli, The Scottish Circle, and Oxfam. Poonam has also formed Women’s Business Mentoring, which strives to help Scottish Women to become successful. In this interview, we discuss how Poonam built her highly successful international paper business, how Poonam managed to keep her business afloat during some very challenging times, what it has been like to run her business as part of a married couple, and her experiences of the challenges faced by women when starting and building businesses. Show notes: https://www.parentpreneur.com/podcast-037-poonam-gupta-obe-building-a-one-of-scotlands-biggest-exporters-whilst-raising-two-children/

In episode 036 of the podcast I chat with fellow Parentpreneur and friend Dr Caroline Purkhardt. In this interview, we cover Caroline’s captivating story of how she moved to France from the UK as a 'trailing spouse', then later left her husband and found her new identify as an entrepreneur running a holiday lodge in the Alps. We also explore some of the concepts and techniques from Caroline’s book, ‘Stillness in Action’ including a technique for enjoying your work by engaging both left and right brains. Show notes: https://www.parentpreneur.com/podcast-036-dr-caroline-purkhardt-running-a-business-abroad

Its the start of a new year, which is a great time to reflect on the previous year, and lay out your plans for the year ahead. In this episode I'm going to help you to accelerate your progress towards your goals, regardless of what they are, to help you make the next 12 months your best year ever! Specifically, we'll cover how to set objectives that inspire and motivate you, how to develop a plan that will help you progress quickly towards your objectives, and how to set up daily rituals that help keep you on track.

In episode 034 I am very proud to be interviewing Juliette Toop, a Parentpreneur who I’ve been working with through my accelerator program. Through the program she has been exploring and developing her product market fit, but already has had a lot of experiences that I’m looking forward to sharing with you. This interview will be especially valuable for those of you considering taking the leap to becoming an entrepreneur, or perhaps in the primary stages while still trying to find the right customer, product or business model for you. Show notes: https://www.parentpreneur.com/podcast-034-juliette-toop-taking-the-leap-to-becoming-an-entrepreneur/

In this episode, I speak to Bryony Thomas, entrepreneur and author of award-winning book Watertight Marketing, a fantastic book that helps small business owners get calm control of their business growth. Before founding Watertight Marketing, Bryony held a series of Marketing roles including 3 years as Director of Marketing Operations at Experian. She’s been running her own businesses since 2008, and now uses her public speaking and coaching programmes to show businesses and entrepreneurs how to make marketing pay. In this episode we discuss ‘how to really understand what your customers want and need'. Specifically, we cover what questions we need to ask, how to ensure we collect sufficient input from our target customers, and how we should be using what we learn. Show notes: https://www.parentpreneur.com/podcast-033-bryony-thomas-how-to-understand-what-your-customers-want-and-need

Dan is one of the finest business minds I know, with incredible critical thinking and a wealth of knowledge built up through a level of personal development that few can match. For just one example, I believe he is currently aiming to read a book PER DAY this year, and was at one time one of the fastest speed readers in the world. Dan also uses his expertise to buy and turn around businesses, often changing their business model to turn a floundering business into one that turns a healthy profit. So, Dan is the perfect person to join me on this podcast, where we'll be discussing ‘how to find the right business model for your business'. Specifically, we'll discuss some of the different ways in which a business can make money, what we need to know to pick the right model, and which business models work particularly well for startups. Show notes: https://www.parentpreneur.com/podcast-032-dan-bradbury-how-to-find-the-right-business-model-for-your-business/

In this episode, I talk to fellow parentpreneur, Erin Thomas Wong. After the birth of her first son in 2008, Erin left her career in television production and became a jewellery franchisee. After a couple of years enjoying the freedom that self-employment gave her through the franchise, Erin started a series of her own companies. First, Pitter Patter Hub, that provides events and classes for parents with young children in Ealing, in West London.Then she started Ealing Mums in Business with her co-founder Shelley Henderson, providing courses and classes for local businesses. Most recently, Erin has launched an online community for Mumpreneurs to support them in networking with each other and sharing advice. Erin and a her co-founder have been awarded a Mumpreneur Top 100 award, and been recognised by their local MP for their efforts in supporting local businesses. In this interview we discuss what it’s like to build businesses whilst also bringing up 2 kids, how Erin started business as a franchisee, how she handles the challenges of running multiple businesses at the same time. Show notes: https://www.parentpreneur.com/podcast-031-erin-wong-franchisee-to-serial-entrepreneur/