On The Business Show on Marlow FM on 6th June 24, my guests were house sitting business owner Lamia Walker and business advisor Richard Knight, who joined me to talk about their work, and discuss a range of business news stories.

I started with a track from the Hilary playlist- The Cure with “Boys Don’t Cry” – https://youtu.be/9GkVhgIeGJQ?si=UshzWkp2oYNa3YyW is where you can hear it.

Richard then spoke about his work with Bizpedia, a high-end business club, which is a networking group for people running medium to large businesses – see more at https://www.bizpedia.com/.

Connect with Richard via https://www.linkedin.com/in/bizpedia-richard/.

Lamia then spoke about HouseSitMatch – as you might expect it’s a cross between Airbnb and Match.com - an international network facilitating house sitting and pet sitting all over the world.

For more see https://www.housesitmatch.com and their reviews (4.9 / 5.0) are at https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/housesitmatch.com. Depending on when you’re reading this, their 20% Off Discount code of PERFECT20 might still work!

Connect with Lamia at https://www.linkedin.com/in/lamia-walker/.

Richard’s music choice was “Can the Can” by Suzi Quatro, because he heard it recently and thought we’d like to too - listen at https://youtu.be/7SXWgC0SLCA?si=-1rdvhgLMei_xYNX .

His business story was https://www.fsb.org.uk/resources-page/how-to-tackle-mental-ill-health-in-your-firm.html - how does one do that, and is the answer different for small businesses?

Lamia’s music was next – “Get the Party Started”, by Pink. She chose it because she uses it to energise her. Hear it at https://youtu.be/mW1dbiD_zDk?si=a9cdOtrRlP4V5uPX.

She then chose https://www.thetimes.com/business-money/companies/article/right-to-disconnect-rules-company-emails-wfh-0qb6qsk6r - should the onus be on the sender or the receiver?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cjrr5ee5zv8o was suggested by me. Great story - large issue – think about value. Did you notice they’re all 5 letter words??

We then talked about marketing in a downturn, based on https://www.fsb.org.uk/resources-page/marketing-tips-during-a-downturn.html which Richard found. Should marketing be the first spend to be cut, or the last?

The last song is another from the Hilary playlist - hear Joy Division with “Transmission” at https://youtu.be/6dBt3mJtgJc?si=hhG_pJlUe2SxLLV_ .

Connect with me at https://www.linkedin.com/in/enterprisedoctor/ and join our group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/enterprisedoctorbusinessshow/.

Clips of all episodes are at https://www.youtube.com/user/EnterpriseDoctor/ - please subscribe there, and within your podcast app!

Copyright Marlow FM Ltd 2024. Reproduced here by kind permission of Marlow FM Ltd.

On The Business Show on Marlow FM on 23rd May 24, my guests were digital marketing consultant Leona Laurie and web developer David Horne, who discussed their work and some business news stories.

From the Hilary playlist, my first music choice was Orange Juice with “Rip It Up” – listen at https://youtu.be/UzPh89tD5pA?si=0Bo_6W_qDmU5mbwh.

Leona then spoke about her work in digital marketing – that’s mainly B2B, aligning a digital marketing strategy to their specific business goals. She elaborated on that, as well as talking about the ongoing value of blogs.

Connect with her via https://www.linkedin.com/in/leonalaurie/ .

David then covered his work running Kehorne and the difference between the web development that they do and the web design that others do – it’s about the tech.

Connect at https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidkehorne/ - his website is https://kehorne.digital/ .

His music choice was “Hercules” by Aaron Neville, because this is better than the ska version - hear it at https://youtu.be/NGGRi2CEFu8?si=IjDeMi4R1anZSxFj .

Leona stories were - https://www.chieflearningofficer.com/2024/05/10/spatial-computing-and-the-future-of-workplace-learning/ https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/stmd/niac/niac-studies/pulsed-plasma-rocket-ppr-shielded-fast-transits-for-humans-to-mars/ and https://www.indiatoday.in/science/story/mangalayaan-2-isro-mars-mission-sky-crane-helicopter-rover-2538652-2024-05-13 .

It's all about AR, VR & MR – does that help you? If not, have a listen – it’s worth doing!

She chose “Ballroom Blitz”, by Sweet, because she thought her brother-in-law’s band would be great at playing it so they added it to their repertoire! Hear it at https://youtu.be/mPQPdYttl7U?si=XjtYlKZZ0I_hFePg .

David then chose https://www.itv.com/news/meridian/2024-04-10/film-studio-goes-into-administration-following-writers-and-actors-strikes and tied in https://www.maidenhead-advertiser.co.uk/news/areas/196501/marlow-residents-vote-no-to-multi-million-pound-film-studios-plan.html. Do we need more studio space? Or less??

https://www.bucksfreepress.co.uk/news/24330458.marlows-pub-park-festivalgoers-share-experiences/ was my story - what a great business model!

The last song was from the Hilary playlist - hear Aztec Camera with “Oblivious” at https://youtu.be/2B2Sc2G_5ZA?si=O9e6e_qjkeRCbs8j .

Join our FB group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/enterprisedoctorbusinessshow/.

Copyright Marlow FM Ltd 2024. Reproduced here by kind permission of Marlow FM Ltd.

In today’s episode of The Enterprise Doctor Business Show, my guest is Sarah Dhanda, who at the time was Head of Policy and Partnerships at Enginuity. Sarah has now retired – lucky her!

Enginuity is a charity dedicated to finding new ways to close skills gaps in UK engineering and manufacturing, and their website is at https://enginuity.org/ .

This was recorded during National Apprenticeship Week, and we discussed Enginuity’s concerns about a 4% fall in completion rates of overall apprenticeships, a warning that the higher education sector is going to struggle to meet the government’s target rate of 67% achievement, if the situation isn’t tackled.

Furthermore, of concern is that the Engineering and Manufacturing achievement rates in England for females, non-white ethnic minorities, and learners with disabilities are consistently lower than their corresponding groups.

If you want to connect with me, to talk about the mentoring and coaching I deliver to small businesses, or if you think you'd be a good guest on the show, please do let me know. You can do that via https://www.linkedin.com/in/enterprisedoctor/ .


To contribute to (or just read) conversations about this episode, please join the podcast's Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/enterprisedoctorbusinessshow/ .

And my website is at https://enterprisedoctor.co.uk/.

On the YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/user/EnterpriseDoctor you can hear clips of other episodes – please subscribe there!


And within your podcast app, remember to like this episode (if you like it!), leave us a great review, and please do subscribe there too, to ensure new episodes hit your app as soon as they're released.

These words and the content of the podcast are © Enterprise Doctor 2024.

Welcome to today’s episode of The Enterprise Doctor Business Show. My guest today is former Coronation Street star Sean Wilson, who knows all about taking a leap of faith and switching career.

He’s sharing his story of how he left acting behind and started his own cheese empire as almost 7 million people are looking to switch careers this year.

Sean, who’s now won awards for his new business, spoke his switch from soaps to cheddar and his tips for having the confidence to try something new. Along the way he extolled the virtues of the Association of Accounting Technicians, on whom you can see info at https://www.aat.org.uk/ , while Sean’s website is at https://www.artisan-farm.co.uk/ .

If you want to connect with me, to talk about the mentoring and coaching I deliver to small businesses, or if you think you'd be a good guest on the show, please do let me know. You can do that via https://www.linkedin.com/in/enterprisedoctor/ .


To contribute to (or just read) conversations about this episode, please join the podcast's Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/enterprisedoctorbusinessshow/ .

And my website is at https://enterprisedoctor.co.uk/.

On the YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/user/EnterpriseDoctor you can hear clips of other episodes – please subscribe there!


And within your podcast app, remember to like this episode (if you like it!), leave us a great review, and please do subscribe there too, to ensure new episodes hit your app as soon as they're released.

These words and the content of the podcast are © Enterprise Doctor 2024.

On The Business Show on Marlow FM on 25th April 2024, my guests were business finance expert Adam Cooper and professional organiser Helena McBride, who joined me to talk about their work, and to discuss a range of business news stories.

As I was recently in Hong Kong, my first music choice had to be Siouxsie and the Banshees with “Hong Kong Garden” – go to https://youtu.be/Y-l9GQJRl9Y?si=LBhIN97nkueoh05F to hear it.

Helena then spoke about her work as a professional organiser – it’s so much more than “a bit of a tidy up”! We included an update on a range of her marketing activities, not least appearing on “The Hotel Inspector” as the expert specially selected by Alex Polizzi.

Connect with Helena via https://www.linkedin.com/in/helenathespacemaker/ and her website is at https://thespacemaker.co.uk/ .

Adam then spoke about his work running at team of fractional Chief Finance Officers and the advantages to businesses of 10-50 employees of using their services in this way.

Connect with him at https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamfcooper/ and his website is at https://www.accfinancesolutions.com/ .

His music choice was “Running up that hill” by Kate Bush, because his family (in particular his son) love the track. You can hear it at https://youtu.be/wp43OdtAAkM?si=ktCmIYXRgoVQHN_t .

He then chose a story featured at https://bmmagazine.co.uk/in-business/smes-see-strong-start-to-2024-despite-hiring-caution-and-sustainability-concern/ - he wanted to highlight this positive news, but we did dig in to some of the negatives too.

We then played Helena’s choice of music – “Locked out of heaven”, by Bruno Mars. She chose it just because it’s such a great song! You can hear it at https://youtu.be/e-fA-gBCkj0?si=IVuurQ30W9q8LTOL to add to the billion plus views there.

She then chose for us the story at https://www.bucksfreepress.co.uk/news/24267297.tried-morrisons-good-go-bag-quality/ - is this a good way to deal with the financial risk of having to dispose of unsold goods?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68850766 was my story for us to discuss – was this the second great business pivot by Netflix, or was it their plan from day one?

The last song is for me inextricably linked with Australia, another country I recently visited. You can hear Midnight Oil with “Beds are burning” at https://youtu.be/ejorQVy3m8E?si=8o-MQjJmzYdUbZLb.

You can connect with me at https://www.linkedin.com/in/enterprisedoctor/ and join our Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/enterprisedoctorbusinessshow/.

My website is at https://enterprisedoctor.co.uk/.

Clips of all episodes are at https://www.youtube.com/user/EnterpriseDoctor/ - please subscribe there, and within your podcast app!

Copyright Marlow FM Ltd 2024. Reproduced here by kind permission of Marlow FM Ltd.

On today’s episode of The Enterprise Doctor Business Show, my guest is Liz Mayers, Co-founder and Director at EDI Accreditation, a firm providing accreditation for organisations, large and small, committed to improving Equality, Diversity and Inclusion for their people.

The business benefits achieved by having a diverse team, who are treated equally and fairly, in an environment where they can flourish as their authentic selves, are well documented.

We talked about how the business came to be, and the expertise that the founders bring to the table, as well as some detail on the benefits to businesses of gaining the accreditation.

You can connect with Liz via https://www.linkedin.com/in/lizmayers/ and their website is at https://ediaccreditation.com/ .

If you want to connect with me, to talk about the mentoring and coaching I deliver to small businesses, or if you think you'd be a good guest on the show, please do let me know. You can do that via https://www.linkedin.com/in/enterprisedoctor/ .

To contribute to (or just read) conversations about this episode, please join the podcast's Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/enterprisedoctorbusinessshow/ .

And my website is at https://enterprisedoctor.co.uk/.

On the YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/user/EnterpriseDoctor you can hear clips of other episodes – please subscribe there!

And within your podcast app, remember to like this episode (if you like it!), leave us a great review, and please do subscribe there too, to ensure new episodes hit your app as soon as they're released.

These words and the content of the podcast are © Enterprise Doctor 2024.

In today’s episode of The Enterprise Doctor Business Show, my guest is Steve O’Connor, Director of the Rover & Rowing Museum in Henley-upon-Thames.

I know Steve as I belong to the Henley Business Partnership and their lovely venue hosts the Partnership’s monthly networking events.

We talked about the museum, what it does, and for whom. And it’s quite a broad offering!

But the meat of the conversation focussed on the flow of Steve’s journey from the world of business into the third sector and we explored how that business experience has been of value to the charity, and the differences between the two.

That included the challenge of balancing loss-making projects of benefit to the wider community against those losses – how do you value an intangible?

You can connect with Steve via https://www.linkedin.com/in/steven-o-connor-a14b1a6/ and the museum’s website is at https://rrm.co.uk/ .

If you want to connect with me, to talk about the mentoring and coaching I deliver to small businesses, or if you think you'd be a good guest on the show, please do let me know. You can do that via https://www.linkedin.com/in/enterprisedoctor/ .

To contribute to (or just read) conversations about this episode, please join the podcast's Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/enterprisedoctorbusinessshow/ .

And my website is at https://enterprisedoctor.co.uk/.

On the YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/user/EnterpriseDoctor you can hear clips of other episodes – please subscribe there!


And within your podcast app, remember to like this episode (if you like it!), leave us a great review, and please do subscribe there too, to ensure new episodes hit your app as soon as they're released.

These words and the content of the podcast are © Enterprise Doctor 2024.

In today’s episode of The Enterprise Doctor Business Show my guest is Chris Mills, Global Head of Customer Success at Slack.

Towards the end of 2023 they did some research into the plans for 2024 of small businesses, and the skills required. Changing how business conduct internal communications came out as one of the most important things to do, but how do we do that?

And how will Slack change to stay at the forefront of technology?

These questions and more were addressed!

You can connect with Chris via https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopherwmills/ and if you’re not yet a happy Slack user like me, the website is at https://slack.com/intl/en-gb/ .

And if you want to come up with your own reasons for the company name, please do let me know, but keep it both clean and polite!

If you want to connect with me, to talk about the mentoring and coaching I deliver to small businesses, or if you think you'd be a good guest on the show, please do let me know. You can do that via https://www.linkedin.com/in/enterprisedoctor/ .

To contribute to (or just read) conversations about this episode, please join the podcast's Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/enterprisedoctorbusinessshow/ .

And my website is at https://enterprisedoctor.co.uk/.

On the YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/user/EnterpriseDoctor you can hear clips of other episodes – please subscribe there!

And within your podcast app, remember to like this episode (if you like it!), leave us a great review, and please do subscribe there too, to ensure new episodes hit your app as soon as they're released.

These words and the content of the podcast are © Enterprise Doctor 2024.