The HoLT’s Survival Guide For Small Businesses
Not everyone starts a business to become the next Steven Bartlett or Gary Vee. Millions of us start our businesses to escape the 9-5 ties to the office, toxic bosses, threat of redundancy, and chasing pay rises. We want freedom, control of our own time, and to be able to choose who we work with, where we work from, and how much we work. But what’s it really like to start and run a small business? Lea Turner, Founder of The HoLT business community, digs deep with real small business owners from a variety of sectors, into why they chose to start their business, the surprises, challenges, and tough lessons they’ve learned along the way, without the glossy social media filter, to give real insight into the journeys they’ve been on to create a business and a life on their terms.
Episodes
How emotionally resilient are you?
As business owners you’ll swing from pure elation at that latest deal, to punishing lows when times are tough, so you need to be emotionally resilient to just get past lunch time.
That’s why in this episode I invited my psychotherapist, James Elliott, on to the show to discuss what emotional resilience actually is and how you can enhance yours.
James delves into the importance of understanding you...
Have you considered franchising your business?
With 80% of franchises still running after 5 years, compared with 80% of startups failing in the same amount of time, it has to be an option to consider.
In this episode I am joined by Iain Griffiths, Founder of The Party Tent Company, which he took from side hustle to full on franchise and still scaling. Iain shares what it took to become a franchise and the successful model to bring ...
2% of female founders get funding in the UK.
Only 2%!
Despite that shocking statistic my guest in this episode, Charli Hunt, has created a tech startup with her partner called Lime. A platform revolutionising how to use LinkedIn to generate more sales.
Charli grew up with entrepreneurial parents, and we explore the impacts of them balancing entrepreneurship and family life on her. So many of us are running our small businesses, try...
Creating a culture is the dream of any small business.
But how do you achieve it?
So many business owners are choosing to create communities these days, the consistent income has massive appeal. But it has to be more than a community to really change people’s lives. You need a culture.
My guest in this episode, Joe Glover, has created one of the loveliest cultures I know in The Marketing Meetup. With an emphasis on joy, kindness an...
Does the term Personal Brand give you the ick?
It’s egotistical, self-indulgent and for those full of their own self-importance.
My guest Ash Rathod, Brand & Story consultant, felt exactly the same, but he re-framed it. It became a way of connecting with audiences through storytelling. If you focus on serving your customers and creating authentic connections, you will attract the right audience.
Ash shares his experiences after...
Becoming a business owner is not the only way to work for yourself and be successful.
For some freelancing is the perfect blend of freedom and fulfillment.
My guest in the episode, Grace Hall, has skipped traditional employment from the off, choosing the brave move to work for herself straight out of uni. And she has been an incredible success!
5 years into her freelancing career as a copywriter there have been lots of ups and down...
Starting your business can be an immediate success story.
Not everyone goes through struggles to grow, or difficult years before the good times hit. In fact, the opposite was true for my guest in this episode, Laura Pointer.
Laura was made redundant at the start of the Covid pandemic, which forced her hand to start her own business to “un-fuck” companies ERP systems. Something she was immediately hugely successful at and always...
Imagine being 20, healthy and successful.
You’re a manager, leading teams, you have 2 Honours degrees, everything is going well.
Now imagine you suffer a brain injury that leaves you with Tourette’s syndrome.
You can’t speak, you tic involuntarily, you swear, you whistle. Doctors tell you not to bother with work and just claim benefits from now on.
This was what happened to my inspirational guest Luke Manton. His life was turned up...
One of the biggest fears of any business owner is putting yourself out there.
Whether it’s on socials or public speaking you must overcome the fear. Your business needs you to.
That’s exactly what the incredible Dani Wallace, my guest in this episode, supports business owners to do. Embrace your uniqueness, overcome the fear and share your greatness with the world.
Dani believes we all have gifts that we need to share. We are here ...
Start your own business they say….
Work your own hours, be your own boss, live your best life.
But the reality is not that easy. You have to graft, and you have to graft hard.
Chris James, Founder of Content to Clients is my guest in this episode, and he tells it like it is. You have to work hard, you have to be resilient and sometimes you just have to trust that you can do it.
Chris left his job in a call centre, supported...
The one thing all business owners fear the most….losing everything.
No clients, no contracts, no income, no money.
This has been the harsh reality for my guest Taq Shah. Going from the most incredible first year of her business in 2021, earning more than she ever thought possible, to friends and family having to help pay her bills in 2024.
Taq shows incredible strength to share what she is going through at this very moment in...
Be honest, do you really show up as the real you to work?
Truly, unconditionally you?
If there is even the tiniest niggle of doubt that you are, you need Michelle Hartley in your life.
She took her beige corporate life and binned it, then stepped into the full kaleidoscopic, colourful brilliance of who she really is. In this episode I talk to Michelle about her transformative journey from a conventional corporate HR role to a vibra...
Entrepreneurship will be emotional. Fact.
From doubting yourself, getting rejected, to feeling exposed because you’re having to put yourself out there for the sake of your business, you’ll feel it all.
My guest in this episode, Kate Hughes, experienced the lot. Her entrepreneurial journey brought up hard stuff from her childhood, but instead of letting this stop her she did what she advises all business owners to do….
Lean into it ...
Business is not all about money.
Shock! Horror!!
It can be created for the purpose of serving others, and when it is incredible things happen.
My guest in this episode Luke Beckley not only has an innate drive to serve others through his work, but he also builds businesses whilst working in a full-time career.
Luke is a generous soul who works with me at Hope4, a charity providing emergency aid to desperate families in Moldova. His...
You will not know everything when you start your business.
Accounting, marketing, offer structures, pricing…… the list goes on
But that should never stop you.
The belief you have in yourself, your skills, your experience is what you need to get started. That is exactly what my wonderful guest in this episode, Jesminara Rahman, had when she took the leap.
Transitioning from a secure job at HMRC she jumped ship to join the side of sm...
Are you a risk taker?
There is no greater risk than to go out on your own to start a business, but the rewards are huge. And when you find that passion nothing will stop you.
For my guest in this episode, Steve Ware, risk taking was never easy. Coming from a risk averse family his mindset was one of corporate safety. Then a long career at IBM was ended by burnout and the Covid pandemic.
Discovering the power of mindfulness ignited ...
20% of businesses fail in their first year!
How do you avoid being one of them?
On this episode I am joined by the most zen business owner I know, Mia Denos.
With 20 years’ experience running her own businesses there is no-one better to advise small business owners on what it takes to succeed. Put simply having a pipeline of work will save a business.
You need to know where the money is coming from months in advance to avoid disapp...
It’s time for a reality check.
Running a business is not like the social media highlight reels people would have you believe.
Spending your days dipping in your ice bath, a session with your personal trainer and therapist before you sit down to make 10K in 10 minutes. Rubbish.
I am joined by Eddie Whittingham, someone who has done it all. From police officer to starting a business in cyber security, which he sold for multiple-milli...
Does your work make you feel alive or are you deep in the doldrums?
Nothing can beat the feeling of doing something that energises you, that you know is exactly what you are meant to be doing.
And you know what?
Your age when you make the change means absolutely nothing.
In this episode I am joined by the fabulous Katie Flamman, who decided to end a successful career in the news to take on her next big challenge in life, becoming...
“You need more sales”
Do you always hear that ringing in your head as a business owner?
My guest in this episode, the brilliant Alex Thompson, went through exactly the same thing building his email marketing business.
Alex found that making 2 massive shifts helped him to scale like never before. Outsourcing and saying no to work that didn’t fit with what he wanted. He shares what finally made him shift from doing it all himself. Th...
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