Your Business Focus Group

Show Notes In This Episode... Roundup from your hosts… David, Mike & Leon – on episodes 52 - 66 This round up podcast takes you through the highlights of interviewing some amazing guests, the learnings taken from episode 52 to 66. Your hosts Dave, Mike and Leon give a very humourous and honest insight into how its been and the memorable moments.

Show Notes In This Episode… Roundup from your hosts… David, Mike & Leon – on episodes 41 – 51 This round up podcast takes you through the highlights of interviewing some amazing guests, the learnings taken from episode 41 to 51. Your hosts Dave, Mike and Leon give a very humourous and honest insight into how its been and the memorable moments. Listen in and please link back to the podcasts that you haven't heard before or review the ones you have listened to before and want to now listen to again – the links are all here for you to use – making life easy.

Show Notes In This Episode? Keep on Stepping 'The Self-Success Speaker', helping Leaders, leadership teams and their employees to increase their effectiveness in the workplace. Joy created the 'Keep Stepping!®' Programme following 20+ years of business experience in the fields of marketing and trade relations management with the Dolmio and Uncle Bens brands, area sales management with Avon Cosmetics, design in the textile industry, customer service at Next PLC as well as management training. Her knowledge and skill take on a broader spectrum when taking into account her 30+ years of working with and leading teams of musicians and singers to produce top notch productions within the local community in which she lives. In short, Joy knows how to bring out the best in the people she works with     The Golden Sugar Lump - Every Good Gift is given for two reasons – the improvement of ourselves and the improvement of others Best advice ? Small, Regular and Grande Small – Be Objective (Take sto

Show Notes In This Episode? From Barrister to Running Author Mindy Gibbins-Klein is a multi-award-winning international speaker, bestselling author and executive coach and strategist specialising in thought leadership and thoughtful leadership. She is best known as Founder of The Book Midwife – a global book coaching brand that has helped over one thousand entrepreneurs to plan, write and publish their books! However, Mindy believes that a book is not the entire story!  Too many people write books without having a thought leadership strategy, and in some cases without having out enough thought or the right kind of thought into it! Mindy believes that these days entrepreneurs need to dig deep and bring out something truly special, which can be expressed in their writing and speaking.  The art of thoughtful leadership can be utterly transformational for all concerned.     The Golden Sugar Lump - Thought Bites – If you want people to speaking and writing about you then you need to be sp

Show Notes In This Episode? From Barrister to Running Author RUTH FIELD is The Grit Doctor. She lives in North London with her husband and twin sons. She is the author of RUN FAT B!TCH RUN and THE RUN FAT B!TCH RUN MARATHON GUIDE, and a columnist for the IRISH TIMES. Her most recent book is GET YOUR SH!T TOGETHER     The Golden Sugar Lump - Hard is the new black (The New Vogue) Best advice ? Small, Regular and Grande Small – Know when to change tack. Be adaptable and have a mentor Regular – Focus, Focus, Focus – do one thing really well Grande – Keep fit and healthy – Regular exercise and eating well will maximise your creativity and productivity Tips Jar Get outside now for some exercise for 20 minutes. Coffee Shop Book Shelf / Resources Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth Run Fat Bitch Run (Grit Doctor) by Ruth Field Fancy some more, connect Web – https://gritdoctor.wordpress.com/ LinkedIn – https://uk.linkedin.com/i

Show Notes In This Episode? From Cleaning Cars as a Teen to CEO Coach Paul McGee has unique insights and an engaging delivery style that has captured the attention of people around the globe making him universally recognized as 'The SUMO Guy'. Paul feels as passionately about SUMO now as he did 20 years ago when he first started because he knows the difference it can make to people's lives. He continues to spread the SUMO message through his best-selling books and sold-out presentations to audiences ranging in size from intimate workshops to packed conference halls. The overwhelming majority of audience say they find SUMO makes a genuinely positive difference and in many instances is literally life-changing. The Golden Sugar Lump - SUMO – Shut Up Move On – or Stop Understand Move On Best advice ? Small, Regular and Grande Small – Leaders are readers – make time to read, listen, develop Regular – Stay Humble – be real – apologise and move on Grande – Have a coach – The higher y

Show Notes In This Episode? From Cleaning Cars as a Teen to CEO Coach As a serial and (often) successful business leader, owner, and innovator, I have a keen understanding of the value of strategic connections – and an equally ardent aversion to clutter, noise, fluff, and drudgery that gets in the way of your success. As the Introducer, I seek to acquaint you not only with the power of networks – but with enhanced results and greater opportunity.   In a commoditised world, the only unique offerings we have is…ourselves. I can help leaders, executive teams, and entire audiences determine who you need to know, and who and what they need to know, to produce sustainable business (and personal) results. As a lifelong advocate and lover of all things that have to do with business or people, I have extensive experience in idea generation, converting opportunities into success, driving profit, networking, facilitating change, defining company direction, and leveraging my technical abilities. The key takeawa

Show Notes In This Episode… Humour is a business skill Tim Gard has made that quantum leap between business and humour – who says you can't have fun at work – clearly you should have fun at work!   He is a member of the speaker hall of fame an elite honour shares by fewer than 143 other people worldwide. Past members include President Ronald Raegan. Tim has travelled over 2 million miles speaking at over 2000 events from London to Las Vegas. He is an author and office ex-stressories inventor living in Portland Oregon with his two cats and fiancée Sophia. The Golden Sugar Lump - I am going to have ? and nobody will stop me! Best advice – Small, Regular and Grande Small – Never coast – that only happens when you are going down hill Regular – Do the right thing Grande – Stay in touch with the fundamentals so you can grow  – 'If there is no led in the air there is no meat in the freezer' Tips Jar Find out what makes you and others laugh and connect with it Coffee Shop Book Shel

Show Notes In This Episode… The customer is not king they're the idiot with the problem Marcus helps owners, CEOs and Mds fix problems with their sales, sales management and sales recruitment. His average client grows by more than 100% in the first year.   He helps them stop making wrong hires; win complex sales against bigger rivals with deeper pockets and more resources; drive up profits and cut sales cycles The Golden Sugar Lump - Do the opposite Best advice – Small, Regular and Grande Small – Get Help – Vulnerability is a key strength Regular – Hire Admin support so you can sell Grande – Build referral partnerships mutually supporting each other Tips Jar Design your ideal customer – who are they? Seriously Coffee Shop Book Shelf / Resources Mark Goulston – Just Listen Stephen Covey – 7 habits of successful people Kerry Patterson – Change Anything Charles Duhigg –  Smarter Faster Better Fancy some more, connect Web – http://www.london1.sandler.com/ LinkedIn –&nbs

Show Notes In This Episode… What's in the bottom drawer An entrepreneur and speaker who has worked in schools and with businesses since 2006 after 17 years in the wrong jobs. Bernie – as everyone except his mum calls him – has spoken to more than 95,000 people, with his business Innovative Enterprise, has worked with dozens of businesses to develop challenges and events for young people and develop their careers, he is a testicular cancer survivor, the inventor of Enterprise Soapbox – a business in a box – and is fortunate enough to have a brilliant family made up of his wife of 20 years Val and two daughters – Millie 22 and Ruby 16.   Bernie lives in the South Lake District. Bernie speaks about why your attitude is crucial to your success, how businesses can connect to young people and their community through Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives and how to grab life by the balls! The Golden Sugar Lump - Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% what you about it– Attitude – Charles R Swindol

Show Notes In This Episode… Default to Yes! Steve Bustin is a business communication expert who helps businesses communicate better – with their customers, their staff, their prospects and the wider world.   He's a prize-winning journalist and award-winning speaker who started his career working for BBC News before running his own PR agency for 12 years. He now works as a consultant and coach for businesses and business leaders who want to engage with their audience – via the media, the stage or the online channels. In this interview he's going to be sharing lots of tips on how small businesses and entrepreneurs can harness the power of the media to promote their products and services and raise their profile with a wide range of businesses and consumers. The Golden Sugar Lump - Default to YES! Best advice – Small, Regular and Grande Small – Go and sit somewhere else – go for a walk Regular – Break it Down Grande – Get Help – don't sit and suffer Tips Jar Get some PR – GoTo www.Re

In This Episode… STANDING OUT from the crowd Mark Lee is a professional speaker whose message has lessons for business owners and professional advisers who want an alternative to the longer term process of building a personal or business brand. Like many of our listeners, Mark faces all the challenges that go with running a one-person business. He has no employees but does engage support and help from independent suppliers.   Less conventionally Mark is Treasurer of The Magic Circle and often slips some tricks into his talks. He originally trained and qualified as a chartered accountant in the early 1980s.  Clearly not a typical accountant he migrated into training and public speaking many years ago. Most of his presentations are focused on helping audiences who want to be better remembered, referred and recommended. Mark explains how they do this by STANDING OUT from the crowd without investing a fortune in marketing or branding. The Golden Sugar Lump - Stress is like a rocking

Show Notes In This Episode… If it was easy In Darren's own words – I'm a Paralympian, multiple medallist, behaviour change expert, researcher, team building guru, social entrepreneur, and music nut (say any phrase, and I'll tell you which song it's a lyric in). And of course, I'm about getting outstanding results for my clients, finding those game changers that make a difference, and sharing wonderful anecdotes that illustrate my message.   My background, I've spent more than twenty years as an international sports hopper, over nine years as a code monkey, and nearly seven years as a classroom junky, which means I've clocked up thousands of hours of experience in sport, business and education, without looking a day over thirty. Below are skills I've been endorsed for and causes I care about. My motto is seize the moment The Golden Sugar Lump - If it was easy everybody would be doing it! Best advice – Small, Regular and Grande Small – How do you know that its true? Regular – Don't take t

Show Notes In This Episode… – Influential Communication – The leaders voice: Expressing the extraordinary and influencing in a new world Known as «The French Voice of Paramount Pictures in Canada», Nabil is a seasoned speaker and an expert in Influential Communication who voiced, directed and produced hundreds of Hollywood blockbuster trailers. As a speaker and expert in delivery skills, he helps business executives and professional speakers unleash their true potential to communicate at a deeper level and craft and deliver a highly inspirational message to their audience.   With three decades of advertising and marketing/communications experience, a wide range of organizations have used his consulting and production services to enhance their message and establish a strong brand. He has directed and produced all of the French-language television and radio commercials for Paramount Pictures in Canada since 1989. The Golden Sugar Lump - Inform – Influence – Inspire Best advice – Small, Regular and G

Show Notes In This Episode… Running in whatever way you can As an Olympic and Paralympic coach, Keith Antoine's focus is on performance improvement, both on a personal level and within teams. Keith has held numerous national coaching positions, working with juniors, seniors, men and women 100m, 200m and 400m runners, where he has trained big names such as Denise Lewis, Richard Whitehead, and personally coached Darren Campbell. Combining his experience in management training and athletics, Keith delivers high-energy motivational presentations.   Over 10 years in I.T and as Voice & Data Comms Project Manager in small, rapidly growing and large multinationals so understands the business context 25 years of learning and development in the coaching arena Now, described as Performance Coach, in both Track & Field Athletics and business. GB Olympic & Paralympic Coach, on the team in London 2012, personal coach to 3 medallists (1 x gold, 2 x silver), prep for Rio Uses same principles and practi

Show Notes In This Episode… Enthusiasm, Persistence & Determination to Succeed! Gordon describes himself as an “ordinary bloke” made good by combining a moderate brainbox with an unquenchable passion for hard work, enthusiasm, persistence in the face of resistance and sheer bloody minded determination to succeed!   Gordon is a food and beverage specialist who built his career in the corporate world with global giants like Kipling Cakes, United Biscuits, Seagram and PepsiCo, most notably building the now huge Tropicana fruit juice business from start up in  UK in1991and UK’s No 1 juice brand worth £150m by 2004 when he left to start his own consultancy business. Since then he’s dedicated himself to inspiring SME business leaders to learn how to harness the genius of their people to achieve the ultimate goal of successful business with happy people. He has some radical views on business leadership and motivation and on what he believes to be the generally

Show Notes In This Episode… How to Grow your business NOW! When we talk about growing your business, few people have the unique combination of; First business aged 21 Two books with Forewords by Sir Richard Branson Director at Cranfield and Warwick Business Schools a client list to die for including Google plain common sense…stuff that works   No magic, silver bullet promises here. Just straightforward, honest and practical ways to grow your business. As a result of listening you will get a better understanding how successful business do grow and what you need to grow your own business. The Golden Sugar Lump - “Just f*****g do it!” Best advice – Small, Regular and Grande Small – “Think outside the box…” Regular – “Marketing 101… why buy from you and what makes you different?” Grande – “when you are starting your business, FIX your financial model. How are you going to make money!”

Show Notes In This Episode… Turning Your Ideas Into Evergreen Product Income Peter Thomson is now regarded as one of the UK’s leading strategists on business & personal growth. Starting in 1972 he built 3 successful companies – selling the last to a public company, after only 5 years trading, for £4.2M enabling him to retire at age 42. Since then Peter has concentrated on sharing his proven methods for business and personal success via audio & video programmes, books, seminars and conference speeches.   He specialises in helping individuals and companies to achieve their challenging goals – whilst remaining true to their core identities. With over 100 audio & 100 video programmes, 3 books and numerous booklets written and recorded he is Nightingale Conant’s leading UK author. The Golden Sugar Lump - “People will never consistently do… who they aren’t” “We need to know who people are at their identity level and not their

Show Notes In This Episode … Sarah Fox is an international speaker, trainer and contract strategist. With simplicity as her aim, she created a fully functional construction contract in just 500 words – a new paradigm in trust-based and collaborative contracts. She is the author of a series of 500-WordContracts™ for various industry. The Golden Sugar Lump - “Great things come in small packages”   Best advice – Small, Regular and Grande Small – “Read your existing contracts and read them objectively. Do they build or break trust” Regular – “Start challenging the clauses that you do not understand” Grande – “What you write is what you meant… so write your own contract   Coffee Shop Book Shelf Purple Cow by Seth Godin Playing Big by Tara Mohr   Fancy some more, connect Web – http://www.500words.co.uk LinkedIn -  https://www.linkedin.com/company/1685904 FaceBook -  https://

Show Notes In This Episode… From DJ to Lead Generation Coach Leon Streete has spent over 18 years creating, marketing and growing Small Businesses and Brands successfully throughout the UK and Internationally. He has worked on start-up projects right through to multi million pound projects From humble beginnings in the Red Light district of his home city, Wolverhampton. Leon runs a Digital Marketing business that make a positive difference in people’s lives, both in terms of Results and Quality. His Digital Marketing Agency Young Cow, yes that’s right not a Dairy, has a purpose of educating business owners in being more successful at Marketing in their businesses.   He’s excited to share his journey with you, the things that work, the things don’t and how to live a more fulfilled life, both at home and in business. The Golden Sugar Lump - “Together we rise.” “When you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe, you will be successful” Eric T