Essential business advice for musicians with James Fagan and for personal trainers with Chris Mason

James Fagan is a multi-instrumentalist, bouzouki, guitar and mandolin player, singer and doctor. James and partner in music and life Nancy Kerr have toured internationally as Kerr Fagan, have thousands of fans across the world, and been named Best Duo in the BBC Folk Awards twice. James has performed with other hugely-acclaimed artists including Eliza […]

Allen Holland: One Sold, One Given jackets plus crowdfunding and manufacturing tips

New radio show interview: Allen Holland on the Nessh Jacket, a high-tech jacket which smashed its crowdfunding target. For every jacket sold one is given to a person affected by homelessness. Plus manufacturing, product design, licensing and international business advice.

Flourish and Zen – new interviews: Nickala Torkington and Nick Middleton

Nickala Torkington runs Flourish, a social enterprise which support women to create the change they see needed through peer learning, crowd sourcing, mentoring and investment. Nick Middleton is an innovator in golf coaching, equipment and technology whose approach has been described as revolutionary.

Can Blockchain reduce the ‘card tax’ on business – new radio show podcast

Barry James – an authority in crowdfunding, blockchain and FinTech – is angry about what he describes as an unjustifiable charge levied on small businesses to process debit and credit card payments. But he has a solution, revealed in this podcast.

Lackadaisical pitchers make ink-slingers livid

It’s easy to think that if you’ve done something noteworthy, journalists will write about you. But you need to remember something crucial: can you make their lives easier? Are you giving them information that is relevant? And, if you are pitching them to cover you, are you ready to respond rapidly to any queries they have?

Women hit their crowdfunding targets more than men – across sectors and the world

Yesterday The Crowdfunding Center and PwC published the new joint report, Women Unbound: Unleashing female entrepreneurial potential, which explores the experience of women in achieving finance raising success through seed crowdfunding compared with more traditional finance raising routes. I was one of the two lead authors of the report.

Crowdfunding tips for business mentors; Sheffield’s alternative information centre

Many businesses and social enterprises have described in conversations on my business radio programme how they have used crowdfunding to test their market, reach customers, or access finance to build their business. But if you’re a business advisor and your clients are asking you about access to finance and how to run a successful crowdfund, […]

Gaza Sky Geeks; Maps and Makers – new podcast

Here’s your latest radio show podcast. Today’s Business Live, broadcast on Sheffield Live FM and internet radio this morning, featured live studio guest Richard Osborne, of From the Workshop, and an interview recorded yesterday with Elizabeth Shassere and Laura Bennett about the Gaza Sky Geeks programme. Richard is a craftsman who creates beautiful objects – […]

Animated wallpaper; restrictive employment clauses; low-carbon economy

This week’s radio show features designer Sarah Jane Palmer of Muriel Design; Jay Bhayani of Bhayani HR Employment Law on a new Governmant consultation about restrictive employment clauses; and David Garlovsky talking about working in the low-carbon economy.

Ruth Lucas of Rovernighter interviewed

An in-depth live interview with Ruth Lucas of Rovernighter. Ruth discussed product development, design iteration, access to the market, funding, intellectual property, marketing, and sources of advice and support for entrepreneurs. In January Rovernighter was selected as the Virgin StartUp of the Week, and at the end of March the business was named by Theo Paphitis as a Small Business Sunday #SBS Award recipient.