Saturday Strategy Johnny at Good2Great ®

On this episode of Saturday Strategy, host Johnny Themans welcomes Richard North, Co-Founder and CEO of Wow! Stuff, a company that builds brands and partners with licensed brands to deliver fun and innovative toys and pop-culture gifts, trading in over 30 countries around the globe. Richard is here to talk about his start-up journey, sharing expert advice for aspiring and beginner entrepreneurs and highlighting the importance of leveraging your network, work experience, and knowledge of the market.
Richard shares insight into effective hiring techniques, dealing with restlessness and failure as an entrepreneur, thinking outside the box, and leveraging money from stakeholders to grow your business. Then, he speaks on his experience overcoming challenges in growing a small business, acquiring and selling businesses, and building ecommerce platforms.
“Whether they’re customers or they’re people you meet through business, keep those contacts close and be kind, be nice to those people, you’ll need them.”   - Richard North
To learn more about Wow! Stuff, visit: www.wowstuff.com
About our Guest:
Richard North is the Co-Founder, Chief Executive Officer, and Chief Brand Officer at Wow! Stuff, which is a UK-based company that builds brands and partners with licensed brands, working until their brains hurt to deliver toys and pop-culture gifts that are really, really, INNOVATIVE, ON BRAND, IN UNIVERSE. ALWAYS!
Connect with Richard on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/richard-north-b91b8a9

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On this episode of Saturday Strategy, host Johnny Themans welcomes George Blakeway, Owner of The Fruitful Toolbox, which helps business owners create real, sustainable, behavioural and cultural change, develop world class leaders and managers, and transform organisational performance using Everything DiSC and The Five Behaviours.

Do you want to learn how to manage your team better and be the best leader you can be? George is here to talk about his strategic framework for team development and team management, as well as the advantages of his recently developed diagnostic team culture tool, Team Performance Scan. George also describes the critical roles of culture, recruitment, and skills-based development in building and retaining a successful team.

“We need to invest a bit more time and thought in: How do I get the most out of encouraging people to collaborate and to actually feel a sense of collectiveness?”  - George Blakeway

If you’re interested in improving the performance of your team and your organisation, tune in to learn the strategic tools and tactics that will help you become a better leader.

Team Performance Scan:

· Team Performance Scan is a tried and tested tool which enables teams to reach their full potential and deliver enhanced results

· TPS measures the 10 key themes of team performance and highlights strengths and areas for development

· TPS then suggests course of action to work on which will improve development areas

· TPS tracks improvement over time to maintain focus and measure your return on your investment

To learn more about Team Performance Scan, visit: www.team-performance-scan.com/about

About our Guest:

George Blakeway is a learning and development consultant, as well as the owner and Managing Director of The Fruitful Group and The Fruitful Toolbox. Working with some of the highest performing teams in both sport and business, George and his team have developed the Team Performance Scan. This powerful tool helps us measure, improve and track the success of our team as we strive to realise our business ambitions.

Connect with George on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/george-blakeway-b5560016

To learn more about The Fruitful Toolbox, visit: www.thefruitfultoolbox.com


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Host Johnny Themans welcomes Sophie Walton, a brand and social media expert, e-commerce and lead generation Facebook Ads marketer, and Founder of 3twleve, a talented, experienced team of marketing professionals on a mission to create impactful brands and marketing campaigns.

Did you know that Facebook is a great source of highly valuable and qualified leads for B2B companies? Sophie is here to talk about why your business could benefit from improving lead generation and marketing on Facebook, along with the four steps you should take to successfully market your business with Facebook Ads. She details how long you should run a Facebook ad campaign for, the importance of paying attention to on-site conversion, and how to offer attractive incentives to customers in your marketing.

“Whether you’re coming from a B2C or a B2B angle, Facebook Ads is a great platform to shout about your business, for sure.”     - Sophie Walton

Ready to showcase your small business in front of a large audience? Tune in to learn how!

About our Guest:

Sophie Walton helps SME businesses refine their brand and social media marketing strategies according to their business objectives and ideal target audience. She also strategizes, sets up and manages lead generation and e-comm Facebook campaigns that generate leads, sales, and drive business growth.

Sophie is passionate about branding, social media and Facebook advertising. She loves seeing the teams that she works with get excited about creative design, compelling social media content and leads and sales being generated through marketing activity to help their business flourish.

To learn more about 3twelve, visit: www.3twelve.co.uk

Connect with Sophie on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/sophie-walton-3877b221


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On this episode of Saturday Strategy, host Johnny Themans welcomes Josie Hadley, a leading expert in online marketing with over 30 years of experience specialising in social media as an accredited trainer and coach.

Have you ever had difficulty trying to build and launch a website for your business? Josie is here to talk about the best, quickest way to launch a professional website that looks great and showcases your value. She highlights the benefits of Go Paperless, which is an online platform that enables your business to access paper free document management computing solutions in a single point system.

“Go Paperless is an online portal, it’s much more than a digital business card… It is a way of sharing your personal and business credentials in one single place.” - Josie Hadley

Go Paperless is a powerful business tool for small and medium-sized businesses, like you, to increase your productivity and ROI, as well as present a professional profile to your clients and colleagues. This doesn’t replace your social media platforms, in fact, it enhances the effectiveness and the reach of your social media presence! Josie explains the main features of Go Paperless, the impact of going paperless on the environment, and how this savvy software improves your business’s customer relationship management (CRM).

“Websites are crucial, without a shadow of a doubt, for any business.”      - Josie Hadley

Whether you are a hair stylist, a therapist, a realtor, or a retail store… your online presence is an essential part of your success is a business. Josie will help you through the process of building a credible and attractive presence online.

Tune in next week for another episode of Saturday Strategy!

To learn more about Go Paperless and Josie Hadley, visit: www.gopaperless.eu/josiehadley

About our Guest:

Josie Hadley has become a leading authority for online marketing having worked in this fast moving and exciting arena for over eight years. She has extensive knowledge and appreciation of both SMEs and multi-national brands – working with clients such as Pirelli Tyres and Moet & Chandon – gained from 30 years’ experience.

Josie launched her business, Online Marketing Growth Limited, in 2015 after realising the growing potential to businesses who did not have a strong online presence. She manages a wide portfolio of clients’ accounts - giving her daily contact with each platform and keeping her fully abreast of current trends and working practises. She is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing.

Connect with Josie on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/josiehadley

Contact Johnny through WhatsApp: 07977 437360


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On this episode of Saturday Strategy, host Johnny Themans welcomes Andy Whyle, a Sustainability and Circular Economy Practitioner who’s an expert in advanced manufacturing. We’re all aware of the global environmental sustainability movement, but where should we start when incorporating sustainability into our business practices?

Andy is here to talk about how to run a greener business and why it’s a smart business decision that aligns with the goals of increasing sales and improving long-term efficiency and sustainability.

“Sustainability is a journey that you shouldn’t take on your own… it’s about understanding that your small part can contribute to a greater sum.”  - Andy Whyle

Andy highlights how three local businesses are putting sustainability standards into practice by addressing pollution and improving water quality. He then explains how people, planet, and profit are the 3 P’s of sustainability and gives insight into the incentives for business owners who are actively working to become more environmentally friendly.

“The customer is only going to buy from you if you give them what they want in a responsible manner.”    - Andy Whyle

He speaks on sustainability in the supply chain, specifically for SME’s, and the simple, yet powerful steps you can take to become a more sustainable business. Wondering how you and your business can become more eco-friendly? Tune in to learn how from an expert!

Tune in next week for another episode of Saturday Strategy!

About our Guest:

Andy Whyle is a Sustainability Specialist who has over thirty years’ experience of sustainable manufacturing. His specialisms cover sustainability leadership, circular economy, natural capital development, networking and collaboration.

As an IEMA Fellow, he Chairs the Circular Economy Network Steering and Corporate Sustainability Fellows Working Groups. Recognised as a Sustainability West Midlands Green Leader, he is a proven leading practitioner on a local, national and international basis. As a subject matter expert on the circular economy, he co-authored the Business Lens evidence chapter of the Government Office of Science - From Waste to Resource Productivity report, which was utilised to create the Resources and Waste Strategy. Andy has also utilised his experience for DEFRA advisory groups and the UK Resources Council, representing the manufacturing sectors’ material users and producers to increase circularity in the UK.

Connect with Andy on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/andywhyle

Contact Johnny through WhatsApp: 0 797-743-7360

Follow Saturday Strategy on Twitter: www.twitter.com/SaturdayStrate1

Follow Good2Great on Twitter: www.twitter.com/GOOD2GREAT_ltd


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On this episode of Saturday Strategy, host Johnny Themans welcomes guest David George, Founder and CEO of choiceMaster Limited. Technology advances at such a fast pace, that it’s important for us, as business owners, to try and keep up with it. With all the movements in artificial intelligence (AI), there are challenges that small businesses face when trying to integrate AI and automation into their systems.

David is here to address the misconceptions and controversies around AI and to speak on what small business owners can do to control and develop their business processes and IT systems, enabling sustainable growth and the ability to remain competitive.

“AI, artificial intelligence, deals with the creation of systems that can learn to emulate human tasks using acquired knowledge and prior experience without any manual intervention.”  - David George

David gives us insight into the differences between machine learning and artificial intelligence, along with how large organizations, like Netflix and Google, are implementing these concepts into their business operations. Then, he scales it down to speak on how small businesses can learn from these implementations of AI to achieve greater outcomes, such as saving time in better understanding their target audiences and finding qualified leads.

The good news is you can find free resources for learning about AI from open source platforms created by larger companies, which David touches on. There are also SaaS (Software as a Service) companies that can help you so that you can focus on more important tasks, allowing you to scale your business. Are you interested in implementing AI in your company? Listen in to learn how from an expert!

Tune in next week for another episode of Saturday Strategy!

About our Guest:

David George has founded/co-founded two specialist software companies and subsequently made his exit, semi-retiring in order to sail and travel globally. Having achieved many personal goals, he decided to re-engage professionally and thus founded choiceMaster, a company that applies an ensemble of intelligent methods and algorithms which collectively implement a Choice Decision Engine, facilitating decision simplicity — the ease with which customers can gather trustworthy information about a product and confidently and efficiently assess their purchase options.

David’s experience encompasses research (PhD), software engineering, specialist software technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Database Management Systems (relational, post-relational, multivalued, columnar) and large-scale project management.


Connect with him on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/dfgeorge
Email him: david@choicemaster.org




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