THROB (The Reality of Business)

In this episode of THROB, Paul Chapman and Bertie Cordingley delve into a crucial topic that many entrepreneurs and business professionals grapple with: the art of delegation and letting go.

Running a successful business requires juggling multiple responsibilities, but attempting to handle everything alone can lead to burnout and hinder growth. Join Paul and Bertie as they share their own experiences and insights, along with expert advice, on the importance of delegation and building a reliable support system.

With their trademark humour and practical advice, Paul and Bertie will empower listeners to overcome the fear of letting go and guide them towards building a strong team and embracing the power of delegation.

Whether you're a solopreneur looking to grow your business or a manager aiming to optimise your team's performance, this episode will provide valuable insights and actionable tips to help you unleash your full potential. So, tune in to THROB and learn why it's time to let go and start achieving more together!

In this insightful episode of 'THROB - The Reality of Business', hosts Bertie Cordingley and Paul Chapman explore the transformative power of questioning in business.

They delve into the significance of 'why' and how it can unravel hidden issues, improve operations, and even boost profits. They discuss the reluctance of many to ask critical questions and how this habit could indirectly sabotage businesses.

Drawing from their experiences with both small and large-scale businesses, Bertie and Paul also reveal how such a simple practice can alleviate stress, enhance understanding across departments, and help businesses thrive even under pressure.

Join them as they offer practical advice and techniques to help any business owner ignite change by simply asking 'why?

Welcome to THROB, the podcast that explores the reality of business. Hosted by Paul Chapman and Bertie Cordingley, THROB brings you candid conversations, talking about what business looks like in the real world.

In todays episode, Paul and Bertie tackle the tough questions facing businesses today, such as how to use AI to improve your workflow.

With their irreverent humor and sharp insights, Paul and Bertie cut through the buzzwords and jargon to provide a down-to-earth perspective on what it takes to succeed in business today. So whether you're a seasoned marketing pro or a curious newcomer to the field, tune in to THROB and discover the secrets to success in the era of AI and marketing.

Is it always all about the profit?  We are big fans of profit, and the reality is that there are some things that you can do that will can always bring you more.  But should you?  Is there a line?  

The reality is you will have something in you / in your business that has huge value to someone that you are not "selling" or worse still giving away for free.  And more often than not it will have a massive profit margin.

It may or may not be something that you actually sell, it may be who you know, what you don't use, or the people that you have sold to - or not - but you have something that other people don't have and something really want - and they would pay you for.

Your assets should not stay unsqueezed...

As Bananarama (and those lovely chaps from the Fun Boy Three) once told us, it's not what you do it's the way that you do it.  Do you seek out the issues in your business? 

The reality is, it's your processes that make - or lose you money.  And because there are so many good retail processes out there if people can buy what you sell from someone in a way that is easier, less frustrating, quicker (and a load of other adjectives) they just will.

The reality is that in pretty much any situation in life  - and in business - getting it right can almost always be distilled down into the simple edict of "Don't be a d*ck".

It's even a strap-line for some businesses and a well-used mantra by arguably the world’s most successful sporting dynasty.

But - and as ever it's a sizeable one - so SO many people just ignore the sage advice from some of the world’s best and continue to wend of their merry d*ckish way, and it never ends well.

Sure its almost impossible to get ads and marketing wrong?  The world is festooned with brilliant ads that really work and are lauded by all and sundry - clear copy and paste-able templates to make sure you own marketing has the best possible starting point - they are like the worse hidden secrets ever.  

Yet the reality is still there are genuinely rubbish ads - of all types - that really defy all the "rules" and common sense of marketing - yet year after year, time after time people just peddle the same old sh*t - or are we missing something?

Inexplicably, some business just genuinely seem to dislike their customers.  People are really trying to give them (in some cases large amounts of) money, yet they treat them as if their are an irritation.  Its short sighted and downright odd given where the power balance is between buyer and seller in todays world.

The reality is whilst most business will ignore this as "not something that happens in our world" it often does somewhere in that business.  And weirdly some industries are "well known" to be worse than others but rarely seem to change.

The reality is if you give your customers a reason to by - there and then.  They probably will.  It's as old as "would you like fries with that" and as new as Singles day and if a business can totally make up a day and then sell $139 billion in 24 hours (thats $1.6 million a second) just by giving people reason to spend, then you can do so too -  and you probably should.

It's not what you do it's WHERE you do it.  Your beautiful perfect customers are also found in places that often have very little to do with what you sell.  As long as you know them well enough you can appear in a place that your competitors haven't ever thought of - and. then the only you need to do is not be a d*ck.

This week we are talking about why Bertie gets turned away from clubs, Paul's bad choice of biscuits and how labels really matter.  

Every industry has identical products that are being sold for polar opposite prices and it all comes down to what "information" sits around the product and not the product itself.  

The reality is what you call what you sell makes the difference between making money and making up the numbers.

It's a good one.

The reality of business is that customer loyalty is dead (in fact it probably never existed) all those customers that you think will only ever buy from you are just one click, or irritation away from buying from your competitor.

Tie this into the fact that getting a customer is the most expensive part of marketing and keeping them is the most profitable not putting real focus on keeping your existing customers happy is madness.

In possibly most middle-class conversation ever this month we are exasperated by businesses that don’t go above and beyond to do whatever it takes to keep their customers paying them.

The reality is most people could make way more money by selling exactly the same thing they do now but by doing it differently.   Same product triple (or more) the profit.

There is significantly less money in your product than there is in HOW you sell it.  As Bertie relives one of (!) the most expensive hours of his life we delve it why the experience is where the money is, question if it's sustainable and despair at how most business owners mock those that offer it.

The reality is - in today's world - the customer holds ALL the power.  And that means that if you are making it in any way harder for your customer to buy from you - you will lose them.  Now while this (hopefully) sound obvious (and I am sure you are telling yourself that it doesn't happen in your business...) this kind of sabotage really happens in most businesses.  It needs to be looked for and it needs to be fixed - because if you don't there are a myriad of options where customer can spend the money they were going to give to you.

In the first episode of Season 2, we look at some real world examples, how it happens and what you can do about it.

You can't run a business without making mistakes - as we've proved countless times, (including on this podcast).  In the last episode of season one Bertie and Paul talk about mistakes in business and share some of their biggest screw ups.

It's the single most expensive cost in your business and the thing that is most likely to sabotage what you are trying to achieve, this week we are talking about hiring people.

Everyone has a business idea inside them and for most people that where they stay.  But when and if the time comes to turn that idea into something real - where the hell do you start.

In this episode Paul and Bertie are talking about what to do, what to avoid, is it actually a good idea and what you can do really early on to give your business the best chance of delivering what you want it to, well before you start shelling out your life savings.

You all know that guy you meet at networking who wears their "busy-ness" as a badge of honour.  They are so keen to tell you just how long it has been since they had a break, as if they want you to be impressed by how little life they have....it's madness

Kevin Costner has lied to you.  Just because you build it, does not mean they will come.  You have to be selling.  The. Whole. Time.  And because every market is crowded that means every part of your business is part of the sales process.

As the Beegees wisely told us “Its only words” but clichés are ten a penny when you run a business, but while most people will tell you they don’t listen to them (which is usually a lie) maybe you should? 

Because whilst they are the low hanging fruit of business advice, some of them may really have legs and will help you move the needle...possibly

Almost by definition if you run/start a business there is an element of leadership.  Often most people consider this as a “down the line” issue, as you expand and get a team etc but the reality is  - with any business pretty much from day one you HAVE to bring people along with you, whether that is explaining the concept or trying to get across what is in your head to your web designer or be someone that funders can see as a person who can spearhead a project - a lot of it comes down to the qualities associated with leadership... and we all know a rubbish leader and how damaging they can be

One of the idiosyncratic things about running a business is that it's success (or failure) often roots back to your ability to make decisions.  

Whether it's the really big, important decisions, or the small, mundane, day-to-day stuff,  that capacity to make the decision and move on is a big factor that determines the results you achieve.

Start a business and you’ll never be short of opinions but as the wise man once said – opinions are like a******s everyone has one and most of them stink. But - your business will move quicker, make less mistakes and will make more money if you learn from other people’s experience and advice.

In this episode we're talking about how to work out who to listen too, who you should ignore,  how to tell the difference and why it's crucial.

Let's be honest, a lot of running a business is pretty rubbish.  Whilst there is a lot of smooth, there is undeniably a stack load of rough too – that

often doesn’t get talked about – until now.

What should you spend your money on?  Cash is always king but no business ever grew without parting with some of it.  But how do you know what spends will help you move forward and which just aren't going to make any difference?

In this episode Bertie and Paul take a look at where you should put your money and why and what spends you just don't need to to make - and why.  Plus they'll share their own best and worst investments...

Practical conversation, based on real experience.

Bertie Cordingley and Paul Chapman, talk frankly about their earliest (well as early as their jaded memories allow) forays into business, what they did, what they learned and why.

Real time business lessons with just a hint of irreverence.