• Sculpd: How Giles Bootstrapped His Air-dry Pottery Business To Over £1m Turnover In One Year
    Jun 28 2021

    In this episode, I speak to Giles Harrison, a co-founder of Sculpd, a home-pottery craft kit business. Born in lockdown and now selling internationally, Sculpd is taking pottery further than it’s ever been before. Developing a modern approach to home crafts has been a core focus of the business. 
    Since launching, they have sold over 100,000 air dry pottery kits to over 60 countries. Sculpd is now at the forefront of driving an increase in the UK’s growing DIY movement. 


    Giles talks about how they managed to launch in one week and grow the business without any investment or outside funding and continue to expand through cash flow.


    Giles speaks about how the crafts industry is community-led and how they have embraced the close culture of loyal crafters.
    This episode is packed with great lessons Giles has learnt in his first year of business, from learning about the target market to refining the customer personas. It's one not to miss!

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    36 mins
  • Rogue Productions: How Dean Rogers Creates Memorable Experiences Through Fun
    Jun 7 2021

    In this podcast episode, I chat with Dean Rogers, founder of Rogue Productions, a theatre company that makes games, or a game company that makes theatre, depending on who you ask... Either way, they’re all about letting audiences play! They make award-winning escape games, immersive theatre, treasure hunts, experiential events, interactive plays. 

    Dean is a pioneer of immersive entertainment. He has been behind some of London’s biggest immersive successes and some of his previous work includes the hit immersive theft experience Heist which he co-created with difference Engine, Time Run and The Crystal Maze Live Experience.

    Dean talks about how his experience in acting and being involved in the creation of escape rooms like the heist, where participants needed to escape a three-storey building with a stolen painting!

    Dean talks about his recent launch -The Perfect Crime. The Perfect Crime will combine immersive theatre, live, action, a gripping storyline, problem and puzzle solving and a race against the clock. From the creators of the sell-out ‘Heist', this is guaranteed to be another truly unique immersive experience!

    We talk about what makes a great immersive experience, the perfect price, the best group size and what makes a good Kickstarter campaign. This is definitely one to listen to.

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    47 mins
  • Little Lion Entertainment: How Tom Presold £1m Tickets Before Launching His Business
    May 24 2021

    In this episode, I talk with Tom Lionetti-Maguire, the founder of Little Lion Entertainment, an immersive experience business that created the Crystal Maze experience. 


    Tom and I spoke about how his acting background helped him discover his competitive socialising business idea. Tom talks about how he managed to launch his business with £1m presale tickets on the IndieGogo crowdfunding platform. This allowed Tom to launch and have a successful first year without spending any money on marketing! 


    Since launching, Tom has expanded to Manchester and putting on other experience shows. We also discuss why people love being active and passive.

    This is another great episode interviewing a strong UK business that is growing rapidly.


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    50 mins
  • Zoom 1hr: How To Bootstrap A Challenger Food Delivery Business
    May 10 2021

    In this podcast episode, I chat with Dave Hamlet, a co-founder of Zoom 1hr, an on-demand ordering platform and delivery service.

    Dave talks about how his experience in the army and working in sales influenced his journey to building Zoom 1hr with his co-founder, Kevin. Having worked in large FMCG brands like Gatorade and Monster, he took his learnings from these big corporates to help him build Zoom 1hr.

    Zoom 1hr is challenging the likes of Deliveroo and Just Eat, but focusing on rural areas in the UK, starting from their home town Shropshire, they have managed to grow the business to turnover £665k in 2020 and on track to deliver over £2.5m in 2021.

    We discuss the importance of branding and building a strong culture as a business leader, how their Non-executive board have added value, how Dave hires people on a Skill-Will axis.

    This is another great episode interviewing a strong UK business that is growing rapidly.


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    59 mins
  • NOQ: How Param Aims To Solve Long Queue Times With NOQ App
    Apr 19 2021

    In this podcast episode, I chat with Param Kanabar the CEO of NOQ. NOQ is a food and drink ordering app solution to solve the pain of long queues. Param thought about the idea while at a festival in Portugal. Param and his co-founders have bootstrapped the business and managed to launch in the midst of COVID. Param talks about his service-for-equity deal with a software development house and his plans for 2021 after their Seedrs fundraising.


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    57 mins
  • HairFare: How Murat Started A Hair And Beauty Marketplace With Supply First
    Apr 5 2021

    In this podcast episode, I chat with Murat Feimoglu, co-founder of HairFare, a hair & beauty chair rental marketplace platform. Murat and his co-founder identified that a lack of technology and innovation in the hair and beauty industry left a fragmented way for hairdressers and beauty specialists to find new locations to work. HairFare also provides a better way for shop owners to market their underutilised space and chairs by listing them on the platform.

    Murat talks about launching his business during COVID and using a PR agency to gain awareness. We also discuss the business model of HairFare and how big the freelancer hairdresser market is in the UK.

    We also discuss how HairFare managed their Seedrs fundraising and the involvement required. This was a really interesting interview with Murat, I highly suggest giving it a listen to find out more about HairFare.


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    35 mins
  • Primrose Bakery: How Martha Swift Built Her Business With Passion And Grit
    Mar 29 2021

    In this episode, I talk with Martha Swift, the owner of Primrose Bakery, a London-based cake shop. Martha founded the business more than 14 years ago and over that time grew the business to three locations.


    After expanding the business to multiple locations, Martha eventually realised she was becoming further removed from what she loved doing most - baking and being closer to customers, so she decided to go back to basics and scale back the business and as a result enjoys being a business owner once again.


    We discuss how tough it is to run a business when you are so attached and want to ensure high quality and the challenges of managing multiple locations.
    Martha also discusses she uses WhatsApp to connect with customers easier.
    This was a great interview with a seasoned entrepreneur, Martha shares her story filled with passion, sweat flour, and joy.


    This was a great episode as I spoke to the two founders full of passion and clarity about their brand.


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    57 mins
  • Better Nature: How To Build A Mission-driven Business Without Compromise
    Mar 22 2021

    In this podcast episode, I chat with Elin Roberts and Christopher Kong, co-founders of Better Nature, a conscious food-tech company. Better Nature is trying to introduce the wonders or tempeh to the world. Tempeh is made from fermented soybeans and high in protein. It originates from Indonesia, but Better Nature has been busy in the kitchen seasoning and cooking it up to make it more appealing to markets outside of Asia.


    Chris and Elin talk about their journey developing the idea and launching their online business, which has seen tremendous growth in 2020, its first trading year.
    With a strong team and mission-driven brand, Better Nature looks poised to continue its success. They talk about their mouth-watering open rate of 35% in their monthly newsletter. We discuss their use of Google Ads and how they think about branding.


    This was a delightful episode as I spoke to the two founders full of passion and clarity about their brand.


    Visit the It's Just Business website today.
    Follow us on Instagram @itsjustbusinesshq

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    1 hr and 9 mins