It sounds like a simple question, but the roles and responsibilities of a marketing team will vary vastly depending on who you are speaking to and their level of experience in engaging a marketing task. It's easy to assume that the marketing function is the creative services element of a business, making things pretty and managing the advertising channels/expenditure. While those are the 'sexier' marketing tasks, they only represent one aspect of marketing and more importantly an aspect that is declining in comparison to the more current practices. Since the Global Financial Crisis and the loss of trust CEOs had in their fellow marketing officers, there has been a trend towards providing stronger financial alignment within marketing teams and being able to substantiate ROI with every expenditure. So whilst, brand and advertising are important elements - they no longer form the bulk of the marketing activities (even if they still consume the bulk of the budget). In this episode, we discuss the role of marketing in when it comes to creative services and being a strategic support pillar for the rest of the business.

One of the key topics new business owners are interested in exploring in more detail is product development. Depending on your background and skills, you may already have an idea of what product you want to offer. But the key consideration is, what approach should you take to bring your product idea into the market. In this episode we explore some considerations when it comes to developing physical products. We also discuss how changes across the globe including the Pandemic and China might impact the product development and sourcing process.

As an extension to our last episode, we take a deeper dive into bootstrapping in in this episode. Why? because when it comes to funding a business idea, bootstrapping is our recommended approach. Having said that, we also acknowledge that it is also one of the hardest ways to launch and grow your business.  In this episode we discuss what it means to bootstrap your business and how you can apply key principles to effectively bootstrap your idea.

In this episode we explore different funding options available to founders and startups or any other business owner who is looking to expand their operation through innovation. From bootstrapping to venture capital investment pitching, we discuss some core considerations when choosing a path to follow. 

Everyone has a plan when they first venture into the world of business. A business plan, more specifically. But not all business plans are written. This is particularly true if you are the only stakeholder or investor.  However, even if you are starting up a business as a one man show, there will eventually come a time where a third-party person asks you for a copy of your business plan. At that point, you'll likely have one drafted up, with a considerable amount of effort, that even you are proud of the research you present. But once the business plan is gazed over it gets filed away and you begin to wonder whether, or not, the plan ever provided value. You may even wonder why banks, landlords and investors place so much value on a document that goes into your filing cabinet and is based on a strategy that assume the future (which we all now is hard to predict if you have no historical data). In this podcast episode, we discuss  the downsides and upsides of having a written business plan. Join us on the debate. 

This episode explores the idea of starting a business. In particular, how we might romanticise that idea and what the reality really looks like for many business owners and start-up founder.