Next Steps for Business

As we approach the end of another Financial Year end how have you fared?Have you met your goals?Reached your targets?Adjusted your plan through out the year?When you submit your figures to your accountant will it be a surprise where your business is at OR you have a good idea on what they will come back with?You can't change the past but if you've not stayed on top of your finances throughout the year, then you can start to plan next year's finances.Dave and Marie talk through what steps you should have been doing this last year, why its important and how you can gear yourself for the coming year.They provide a list of tips and good practises for you to tackle this coming year, so you will be on top of your finances and have no nasty surprises back from your accountant!What strategies do you adopt to ensure you are on top of your finances?

As you come to the end of the Financial Year end, what can you do with spare money to be TAX effective?How can you combine this with planning for your future?To help answer these questions Dave brings in guest, Neil Wattam, Director and IFA of Wattam Kirby Mee. Neil draws on his extensive Financial Advice and brings a number of interesting ways you can invest your money, reducing Tax and providing for your future.What tips do you have for planning for your future?Are you prepared for your next phase of life?

Negotiation appears in so many ways Both parties have requirements but how do you ensure both parties win?Or do you go for Win Lose, where you walkaway the victor and heck ti their thoughts?In this podcast Dave talks through where negotiation is required and some simple steps and examples on how you can walk away with what you want.What steps do you follow in negotiation? Do you go for Win regardless of the other side? Do you often cave in when confronted with other situations? 

Why?Three powerful letters which should be the bedrock of your decision making.How is it so powerful?Well if you can fully understand Why you are doing the job you do, why you are working towards something then when the winds of hardship come blowing you will be able to continue rather than collapse.It is the motivation top performers pick themselves up, dust themselves down and keep on keeping on.In this podcast, Dave talks through the key aspects of know your why and how it can help you make 2022 to be a winnerWhat is your Why?

Hot on the heels of last week's Goal Setting Podcast we were asked about more details on goal setting and what you need to do to ensure your goals are successfulCue this podcastSo how do you ensure you realise your goals?What additional steps should you consider to succeed at your goals?How do setting targets help achieving goals?What aspects of targets do you need to focus soon to ensure the targets are relevant?All of these questions are more are tackled by Dave as he runs through further fundamentals on achieving your goals.What tips do you recommend to undertake to be successful in goal setting and achievement?

New Year, New Goals but how do you know you have set great goals?A business should be annually renewing their goals at a minimum as well as monitoring their progress throughout the year. What steps should you undertake to ensure your goals are fit for purpose?How will you know if your goals are the right level?Are there any steps you can take to ensure your goals stretch you enough for growth or are too ambitious?Should you have over ambitious goals?What is a good goal? What are they made up of?Dave and Marie talk through smart goals and a second way of setting goals.How often do you renew your goals?Are your goals easy to achieve?

Everyone has a book in side them, so they sayGreatBut what do you need to do to make it happen?What steps should you take to undertake this?Is there a process you can undertake to make it easier?To answer all of these questions, Dave decided to bring Marion Parrish, The Accidental Manager who has recently published her own book.Marion explains the steps she used to publish her own book successfully.With this information, what is stopping you writing and publishing your own book?

Struggling to recruit?Finding potential employees facing to turn up to interviews?Struggling with a strategy to take on staff?What steps should you undertake to be successful recruiting?Dave is joined by Marion Parrish, Director of The Accidental Manager Coach.Marion explains why the job market is like it is, How you can take steps to improve your recruitment process, gain a higher uptake policy and retain existing staff

Procrastination is common but is a massive killer to productivity.The tempting thing to put work off that you don't want to do by over thinking or "dilly dallying". Fear of failure, fear of it being too difficult, reluctance of what people will say all all symptoms of not starting work or starting it but not finishing it.So how do you overcome it?How do you recognise it in you?Assuming you want to be highly productive then this podcast is for you.Dave talks through steps you can take to recognise you are falling in to procrastination and what you can do.What steps do you take to fight procrastination? Do you fight procrastination? 

How well are you ready for the coming Holiday Season?Have you considered how you are going to cope with your team out?Your suppliers taking a break?You taking a well earned break? Or should you?Dave talks you through Short Term, Medium Term and Long Term planning, Additionally, this is activity you need to be performing NOW!Give yourself a chance this December

What is High Performance? How can your team achieve high Performance?What steps do you need to undertake to make your team a High Performance Team?Dave ponders this and brings in Coach, LinkedIn Live Streamer, Mentor, Leadership Expert and fellow Brummie Andrew Jenkins from PDX ConsultingAndrew has so many years working with Leadership teams that he helps organisations grow Andrew brings in so much personal experience in to the show and explains how you can generate your own high performance team.What steps do you take to ensure your team is high performing?

So many of us now are working from home or have a home office.We had to make do during the Pandemic but now we get to choose.Some of us have decided to set up a full time office at home, be it, converting a guest bedroom, set up a chalet in the garden, converting a brick building in the grounds or working from the dinning room table.Whatever you decided is applicable to your circumstances, how do you make the most of it?What steps can you do to ensure you are operating effiiciently?Need some ideas on how you can improve?Look no further, as in this podcast, Dave is joined by Adrea Yorston, Director and Chief Designer at Interior SquirrelAndrea has so many years of experience as a designer and her views on how you can make the most of your work environment are superb. She shares her knowledge on what you need to consider, how you can keep your items safe and even how you can repurpose environments when you are not working.You can even see some of their creations on houzz. 

The 7 Habits of highly Successful People by Dr Stephen CoveyWhy is it a must read?How does it help a business leader in their personal and business life?What are the 7 steps?Who should read it?All of these questions and many more will be answered by Dave in this podcast.Dave walks through the 7 Steps and how he has applied them to his life, both business and personal. He takes time to highlights some of the key points on why you should read this book.Rather being dictatorial on what you should do, Dave simply outlines how he has been affected by the book and gives you little tasters on some of the book's contents so you know how good it is,Have you read it yet?Is it about time you read it again?

Are you in control of your time or do you feel you are at the beck n call of others?Looking for inspiration on how you can master your life?What does mastery look like?How would you feel if you lived your life on your terms?Dave brings in super podcast fan Fahimah Adam, barrister and director of No 7 Legal Services to talk through her approach to life and business. Fahimah has been on an epic voyage for the last 10 years working out what is right for her. She candidly explains her motivation and her secrets in this no holds bared talk through her focus.What steps are you taking to get the lifestyle you want?

A key attribute to being a business owner is ResilienceWhy?Lots is thrown your way. The battle between Getting Stuff Done (GSD) and developing yourself, people, products & services, direction of the business, changes in the market, compliance... the list goes on.So how do you handle this?In this podcast Dave talks through some components to this key attribute and how you can help yourself.Worth listening for all business owners, senior management and aspirational career minded individuals

In life, like in business we have our "book"To get the most out of life we need to balance our book, but what does that mean?Dave takes you through how you can balance your book.How you can consider looking after yourself, which we have heard on previous podcasts how important making time for yourself is. Dave outlines areas on where you can look after yourself and how you can get more out of lifeWhat is your approach to life and work? How do you strike your balance?

Its so important to stay on top of the constant changes happening on Social Media to ensure you are maximising your reach. Arguably an important part of your Marketing StrategySo what's changing on LinkedIn?What new features can you now use on your profile?Who would know?Well Dave called upon Chief Socalite, Queen of Social Media, Karen Cureton, Director of Cureton Consulting Ltd. Karen covers all of the  latest updates on LinkedIn, in her usual, friendly, straightforward manner. Explaining it well to Dave, so that he can understand

Struggling to get motivated?Wondering how to get stuff done?Struggling with symptoms of CBA?Are there any techniques which can spur you on to delivering more? Doing the things you want to get done?In this podcast Dave talks through some great techniques you can deploy which will help you through the minefield of being motivated Dave uses real world examples on how he achieves so much in a day, week and year. All of this he does highly motivated. He shares this so you can go from strength to strength. Why not try his steps to motivation to get yourself going?

If i said to you I can give you an hour back a day would you believe me?Are there any techniques you can apply to reclaim your day?Are there any disciplines you could adopt to make you more effective?Do you make time for self improvement, sleep, wellbeing?In this podcast Dave talks through some steps you can undertake which will allow you  to Own you day.What techniques do you apply to take control?

What is the difference between Flexible Working and Hybrid working?What should a business owner consider to support Flexible Working?Are there any pitfalls for Flexible Working?To help answer these questions and many more Dave is joined by Sue Grogan from joinedupwork.co.uk Sue helps Dave learn about the pitfalls of flexible working and how you can avoid them 

So we've heard about the apprenticeship from the Apprentice's POV (see episode 72) but what is the scope of Apprenticeships? Who can undertake an apprenticeship?What is the cost of them?What does it take to undertake them?What are the alternatives to doing an apprenticeship?These questions and more we try to answer in this episode with the help of Mark Tonks from Orange and Blue UK. Mark has appeared on podcasts in the past covering leadership. To see how he brings his leadership training to the benefit of the apprentice

In a mini series thinking through apprenticeship and the benefits it brings to your company, the individual as well as the economy we ask the questions to guests who are affected by it. This not only includes business owner, HR professionals but also the apprentices themselves.So from the apprentices Point Of View (POV) what is it like? A skivvy's job or do they learn much? What benefits do they see in performing the role? Why do the apprenticeship role? How does it affect their long term career? What will it lead to?We aim to answer all of these questions and more.What's special about this episode?Well Dave interviews his own son, Jacob Wilkes, who is an apprentice at WorkPRJake, at 21, is possibly older than most apprentices however, he's had an interesting route to where he is and why he took the role on. He candidly explains the steps that lead him to working with WorkPR and how they are helping him form his career

Filming is easy right?You've got a script. You've storyboarded what you're going to do. You've got your cast.Is that all you need to press record?Not quite... to take the mystery out of the other steps required Dave speaks to James from Johnson & Connolly James handles all of the video production within J&C and happily tells Dave his top tips of what you need to consider before pressing record. He covers his 3 Cs and 3 Ss.What tips can you suggest you need to do to prepare for fiiming?

Organic growth for your business is a sure and steady way to grow your business, however how do you attract the right people for your business?How do you ensure you keep the right people at your business?What steps can you perform to ensure your offer to a candidate is taken up?Dave talks to Caroline Hunt from Emerald Starfish about recruitment. Caroline has years of experience in recruitment and not only wants to help candidates but works with businesses to ensure they get the right candidates to join organisations but also for them to stay there.What tips do you have for your recruitment policy?

So how can diversity help a leader?What do we mean by diversity?One this podcast Dave is joined by Annette Cairns, Director of Green Shed Talent Development Annette works with multiple disciplined industries in developing leaders and management training. She brings her insights in to how diversity helps a business and their leaders.A truly interesting discussion between Dave and Annette to help new leaders to consider more ways in which to grow and get their team delivering to their best by enjoying and utilising the differences rather than simply being clones

As the business owner you are often the figure head of the business, representing the services of your business, but how do you develop you?With Marie not well Dave invites an old pal on to this week's podcast, Simon Hill. Simon started his career as a trainee producer on Kerrang! Radio under the tuition of Tim Shaw (Car SOS fame).He's grown his career in to other radio stations, presented on TV as well as regular DJing in clubs. He's grown his own brand, adapting to opportunities and areas of his own personal interest.How are you developing your personal brand?What tips can you give in developing your brand to others?

We've discussed leadership traits with some brilliant experts over a number of podcasts but how does it work in the real world?To get an unbiased opinion we decided to talk to Richard Stone, entrepreneur, owner of multiple business including Stone Contracts to see his view points on leadership and leadership style.Richard has many years of leadership experience which he brings candidly to the talk. He talks on how his attitude was when he was much younger, how he has developed as a person and how mental health is important to him.Additionally, who he uses to improve himself.

We all know how useful video can be as part of your marketing strategy.However, what should we be filming?Do you have a strategy on how you deploy videos?Wel wonder no moreDave and Marie are joined by their editor James Connolly from Johnson & Connolly who by day films and edits videos as part of the visual marketing.James talks through their recommended "top 7 films" a business should have.He explains in detail the reason each one is needed and how it will help your business.He also suggests a priority order you should make a start and how you can then take it on developing as you go

Ever wondered why some businesses under perform?Wonder if you are doing all you can to make the most of your business?What steps should you be doing to get the most out of your business?if you're thinking about setting up a business, have recently set a business up or you've been running your business for a while but don't think its performing like it should this podcast is for you.Dave and Marie chat through a list of reasons why business under perform and what you could do about it.What additional steps do you know that businesses frequently miss?

What makes a great leader?How do you become a great leader?Are great leaders born or made?These questions and more are asked and answered by Dave and Marie's guest Annette Cairns of Green Shed Talent Development. Annette delivers Leadership training so is ideally based in outlining steps that leaders can look to adopt in order to become Great.How many of these tips do you already do?What steps can you recommend for others?

Is it worth putting time in to Personal Development?What does it bring?How do you transform yourself?We believe it is a big contributor to your own success. Now success means different things to different people but if we want to achieve bigger and better things for ourselves, be it your career, your business, your home life, your romantic life, your spiritual life, it takes investment.Dave and Marie talk through what Dave believes about personal development, what drives him onwards and why.IF we can work out our reason of Why then we a reason to invest.How do you fit all of this in?Dave lists a plethora of ways you can find those gaps in your busy schedule.Dave mentions The Compound Effect which was written by Darren HardyHe also mentions authors Jim Rohn, Dr Stephen Covey

Recently been promoted and unsure how to act?How about setting up your new business and struggling to understand what priorities should be acted upon?What about a colleague who's recently been given a bump up on the career ladder but isn't performing well. You're not sure what but know there's something wrong?Perhaps you've been a head of a department or company and you have a high turn over of staff, wondering why?What ever the basis this podcast is worth a listenDave and Marie talk through the steps you need to go through in order to help transform you from a worker for someone else in to a great leader. Be it a business leader of your own business, a senior manager for a large company or a director of a SME. Which ever it is there's a transformation that is required. These key areas are highlighted and discussed on why its important.Do you have any good pointers for other struggling managers?

You've all heard about Work Life Balance but we don't think that's what you should look at, instead it should be all about Work Life Boundaries.However, what are they?What Steps could you take to spot how you are wasting time or effort?What Steps can you take to spot you are blurring your boundaries?What impacts will you suffer from if you don't manage these?What are the tell tale signs of Burn Out or overwhelmed?As a business leader, what questions should you ask to check on your team?What are the benefits of getting this right?To answer all of this Dave & Marie bring Tamson from Amara Coaching & Training

Why do start ups fail?What steps can you as a business owner undertake to ensure your business, be it a new start up or an established one, to ensure you don't become one of the failing statistics?Dave and Marie chat through a whole host of steps you can employ to save your business going under.At the end of the day they don't want your business to fail but in fact want them to prosper and grow hence the reason for all of these podcasts!

Got a business idea but wonder if you're the right person to start a business?Recently started a business again questioning if you're a business owner?Why did Dave and Marie start Next Steps or their own businesses?In need of some motivation to get your business off the ground?All of these and more are covered in this podcast.

So looking for a better visualisation on Sales Techniques? Struggling to remember all of the steps a complex sales takes to get over the line?We have a guest today, Ade Fleet from Salesade who uses a great association with elephants and how you can apply this to complex sales.Ade spends time with Dave and Marie to explain his system and how it can help your business.

How do you move from being a good leader to a great leader?How do you get the most out of your team?How do you be in tune with your team so you can help spot blockers, remove road blocks and pull together as a team?Just because you are there for your team does not mean you do their job but does mean you support them.Answers to all of these and loads more supplied by today's guest Tamson Amara, Director of Amara Coaching & Training. Her insights in to human psyche, based on her training on the Chimp Paradox brings so much. Listen and hear what she has to say on how you can look to improve your leadership

Things are opening up but how can you gain the winning edge?What steps should you be looking at doing within your business to catch the wave of activity?What should you consider within your business?Dave and Marie chat through their belief on how the economy has performed in the first quarter, how this current quarter is performing and how the next few months will pan out.Then what steps you should be considering so you make the most of it, not to over extend and what you can do to make a difference to your businessWhat steps are you doing with your business to sneak ahead of the competition and maximise this opportunity?

What is Business Continuity?How does it apply to my business?Dave and Marie talk through 5 key areas you should consider to be provisioning for within your business.Scarily more than 50% of businesses do not have a Business Continuity plan.Even more scarily out of those that do, over 30% haven't even implemented it yetFurther scary stats that up to 20% of business actually test it.Are you one of those businesses?What should you be thinking about?What areas should you cover?Can you afford not to plan and implement one?

Ever fancied writing your own eBook?How hard is it? What do you do with it?What should it be on?Why should I bother to write an eBook?Well Dave has asked these questions and decided to talk to Marie and Sue Grogan about it as they have written their own books.Sue, who has appeared on the podcasts before talking about Wellbeing, and is a Director of Joined-up Working Associates. She has written a number of paperbacks but recently embarked on writing her own book, inspired by our Marie.If you were to write an eBook, what would it be on?

Happy Anniversary to us! One year's of podcasting, so this one is so differentThe show gets hijacked by Fahimah, Director of No7 Legal Services, who turns the tables on hosts Dave and MarieFahimah fires numerous questions on Dave & Marie to get a better understanding of who these hosts are.Learn about Marie's shoe collection, Dave swimming with sharks, why and how they started Next Steps For Business, Red or Purple for Marie and confessions!You'll learn about them, something you might not want to know!Can any of you beat Dave's list of hobbies?

What is the Chimp Paradox?How can it help me as a Business Owner?A key aspect of leadership is understanding yourself and how your thoughts affect how you related to others, and how you manage/ direct others.If you can assess and support your own thinking then you can begin to control the way you operate and then get the most out of those you are responsible.In this podcast Dave & Marie are joined by Tamson Amara, Director of Arama Coaching & Training, who has oodles of experience working the area of this neurology having worked with Dr Steve Peters. Tamson explains how this can help you take control.

So we've all heard about Wellbeing, some people and businesses may even apply it, but why should your business have a Wellbeing Strategy? If people are well and turn up for work what's the point? Just another buzzword that's used at the moment?Dave and Marie question that exact item in today's podcast. How do they resolve it?They bring in Sue Grogan, Director of Joined-Up Working Associates.  Sue has so many years of experience in Wellbeing that Dave and Marie can mine to get the answers we all want to know.Sue covers the benefits of a business adopting and exercising a wellbeing strategy which aids business growth.Want to know more? Listen to Sue, Dave and Marie discuss this critical topic.Got any questions write to info@nextstepsfor.biz  

Do you have a Business Plan?If not, why not?If so, when was the last time you reviewed it?Why bother?Well that's what this episode is all aboutMarie asks Dave what are the benefits of reviewing your Business Plan, and Dave supplies 5 damn good reasons to review it.As a business owner you need to have a good grasp on your business plan, it provides so much benefit to you and your business. Allows to to focus on what is important and ensures you have clear goals being achieved.What are your reasons for having a business plan?

Why should you be held accountable? You run your own business so you answer to no one right?Well apart from taxes and some demanding customers that's true ... but is it a good thing?Being held accountable for company improvements, deliveries and profits is a good thing!It drives you on, ensures you meet your goals and gets you the success you are craving for.So how and more why?Dave and Marie discuss the reasons that you should be held accountable and how you can set it up.What are your best tips on being held accountable and how?

Contracts - Why should a small SME or solopreneur spend scarce money on drawing up contracts? What's in it for them? What could go wrong if you don't?Aren't these legal eagles difficult to deal with? Charge you for lifting the phone?Well hopefully this podcast changes your mindset on a number of these questions.Dave and Marie are joined by Fahimah Adam, Director and Barrister from No 7 Legal ServicesFahmiah is approachable, well experienced and helps us myth bust a number of preconceived notions that we often form around the legal service.Fahimah answers some tricky questions from Dave and Marie, including why you should consider have a contract and the benefit of it sat on a shelf. What is the worst that could happen if I don't have a contract? When should you consider drawing up a contract?How often should you review your existing contracts?Do you need a contract if you have insurance?

Forming and maintaining positive habits is a great way to operate in a successful way, which breeds a successful outcome.In this episode Dave and Marie talk through 6 habits you should consider to adopt in your daily operations. Consciously adopting habits, working on good habits allows you to grow.The 6 steps, all interwoven discussed in the podcast cover ones that all people can benefit from, especially Business Owners.My favourite quote in this one? "When you're inside the jar you can't see the label ..." ... what was Marie on about? Have a listenWhat are your good habits you have which you want to share with others? 

A new budget for 2021 is launched by the British Government but how does it affect me and my business?Dave and Marie talk through the various aspects of the business focusing on how it affects individuals, business owners and their businesses.Marie uses her analysis to breakdown the vast array of items discussed in the budget and Dave asks those awkward questions you want answers to.Dave also summarises it in less technical aspects which Marie can then flesh out.Are you a winner or a loser in this budget?Will the government sting you for a lot more tax just when you don't need it as you're trying to get on your feet or have they been more sympathetic?Listen and find out!

What do you say when you want to build a relationship with a prospect or a new customer?How do you get past the gatekeeper?How should you prep?Do you hammer the phone for 8 hours a day?If you were to prepare for a call what do you need to think about?If you're not sure, this podcast is for you.Dave and Marie speak with Angela Padfield from Anicca Digital about those very questions.  Angie is a tried and tested Sales Agent with many years of experience.Angie speaks plainly about her approach to knocking down barriers, building rapper and a strong relationship with prospects and customers all in an aid to help you do the same.

Its tough in business at the moment and we all need as much help as we can to get things moving at the  moment, so Dave and Marie have put their heads together and come up with 5 hacks which will stimulate business growth.Without spilling the beans in this write up, I can let you know these are tips you can all do, that don't have to cost a fortune but will make a difference to your business.Without business growth we have stagnation, shrinkage and ultimately collapse.Which of the 5 hacks is your favourite?Which one(s) have you applied to your business?Share with us how it has made a difference to your business

Incentivising Sales People is a real can of wormsPay them too much for little work and get little work out of themReward them too little and you demotivate themCap their earnings and you cap their work and salesGive them a blank cheque and the business cannot afford itSo what do you do?Well thankfully we have Andy Neal from Astute Sales Solutions join Dave and Marie to discuss his top tips on how you can get the right balance.Dave and Marie bring in their experiences to Andy so its not all focused on how great Sales people are and as a result this podcast is a well rounded view on how you can motivate all players and not just the Sales Team but the Sales Team feel like they get a good deal.What are your experiences in Sales and Sales Incentives?