I’m an animal lover if you overlook my fear of big spiders

So I was thrilled to film a world-class equine locomotion expert at a recent Alignment Horse Event in the Cotswolds.

Very topical having watched the incredible dressage events at the Paris Olympics.

Liz VanRoss harnesses the wisdom of horses.

AlignmentHorse is a revolutionary science-based approach to equitation. Riders will be taken on a journey starting with the anatomy of their horse and how this organises movement and informs how best to teach our horses about locomotion in Alignment. You will learn how to apply this knowledge for outstanding performance while safeguarding your horse’s wellbeing.

This knowledge is invaluable to owners, riders, handlers as well as equine therapists and equine professionals such as dentists, saddle-fitters, podiatrists, bitting specialists, nutritionists. Non-riders may attend as auditors for an opportunity to learn the theory and watch the action.

Liz developed the “AlignmentHorse” approach and uses it both to develop and rehabilitate horses. She has helped hundreds of horses with her work. The AlignmentHorse approach prevents occurrence and re-occurrence of debilitating equine conditions. Liz works closely with horse owners and riders at all levels up to Grand Prix and Four-star Eventing, to help them to work in better alignment and harmony, benefiting the horse’s mental, physical and emotional well-being.

And the incredibly skilled work she does is a great metaphor for how we can help clients as coaches, consultants or creators.

We have tools and techniques we can use as ‘the rider’ but that’s to no avail if we don’t quickly understand and work with the wisdom of our clients.

We should also get off our own high horse from time to time and work with mentors like Liz in our own chosen fields.

This episode was produced by Dave Bird of Small Biz Digital Media with thanks due to Sam Johnstone for the filming on-site.

Our guest Nick Baxter is an ex pro rugby player with a passion for all things "team" and "network". He runs Baxter Williams, a consultancy that specialises in recruitment, employee engagement and team building.

The focus is on connecting exceptional people supporting companies ranging from SMEs to PLCs. Through long-term relationship building they are committed to going beyond the numbers game to bring personality to the recruitment process.

For job candidates that means being treated as people not just as a CV or a profile. Candidates are only shown roles and companies that are relevant, interesting and career-enhancing allowing them to realise their true potential.

And for company managers and leaders responsible for recruiting talent it means they have more opportunity to connect with talented and motivated people.

Every candidate is pre-screened and matched against the key competencies for the role, with the right experience or potential to deliver. Most of all, care is taken to ensure they will share the same values and behaviours of the recruiting organisation ensuring the perfect culture fit.

Clients also have access to a unique and extended network providing significant value beyond recruitment. These key introductions help businesses grow or access new opportunities.

Baxter Williams specialises in recruiting talent for commercial roles and also executive search division to deliver high profile and confidential executive assignments with discretion and trust.

Steve Ennis asked the questions and Dave Bird produced and presented this show in his Small Biz Digital Media studio.

Life is too short, and work is too long to spend it doing something you don't enjoy!

Everyone deserves to love what they do for a living, and that comes from doing the work you love, and are brilliant at.

Our guest Andrew Horder is a workplace coach who works with the following people to help them fulfil their potential doing work they love:

Employees - to truly understand their Core Process so they can add most value in their job and maximise their enjoyment.

Executives - to find Flow and get the most out of themselves and their team, allowing everyone to follow a strategy that balances purpose and pragmatism.

Entrepreneurs - to build a team where each individual understands how they best contribute to the purpose and success of the business.

Dave Bird produced and presented this show in his Small Biz Digital Media studio.

Mobu are a vitamin brand with added pizzazz. They pack their vitamin packs with all that stuff that your doctor tells you about.

Their products are designed for consumers who may be craving an energy boost, need digestion support or just want to feel great.

Mahul Patel the founder discusses how the business got started, the challenges he faced and his aspirations to break into the retail space and become a household name.

Steve Ennis from Business Doctors is your host and the show was produced by Dave Bird in his Small Biz Digital Media studio.

The Office of the Small Business Commissioner (OSBC) is an independent public body set up by Government under the Enterprise Act 2016 to tackle late payment and unfavourable payment practices in the private sector. The OSBC covers the whole of the UK - England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The late payment culture that exists between businesses in the UK means that:

- a third of payments to small businesses are late

- the average value of each payment is £6,142

- 20% of small businesses have run in to cash flow problems due to late payments

- if small businesses were paid on time, this could boost the economy by an estimated £2.5 billion annually

The current Small Business Commissioner, Liz Barclay, leads an independent office aimed at empowering small businesses in resolving disputes around unfair payment practices and provides advice, including on how to take action if a payment is overdue.

The Commissioner urges small businesses to use the OSBC’s complaint investigation service and promises to take action to tackle the worst examples of supply chain bullying.

Steve Ennis from Business Doctors is your host and the show was produced by Dave Bird in his Small Biz Digital Media studio.

https://smallbizdigitalmedia.com

Innovation is an important strategy to help businesses grow.

Businesses of all sizes should take the opportunity to innovate as it’s now a much more holistic approach to solving a problem.

It’s no longer just about bringing out a new high tech product as it could just be improving on existing business processes.

Kristo Shivachev discusses here how his company Simple Design Works helps businesses innovate successfully.

Key considerations for a business innovation are:

• Involve the whole business not just specific teams
• Decide what form of innovation is needed and the timescales required. We discuss four main types here
• Embracing innovation is essential in some cases to remain viable as a business as the Blockbuster example demonstrates
• Things change fast, so talk to your customers and get their feedback
• Use quantitative methods to identify trends and then dig deeper to uncover the reasons why a product may or may not be viable
• Future pace the impact the innovation will have so you’re not redesigning for the sake of it
• Understand that innovation is about managing risks, budgets and timescales
• Adopt a ‘fail-fast’ approach getting hands on as quickly as you can with prototype products
• Getting proof of concept through customer testing is an important milestone in product development
• Optimisation of the product is the next stage in its lifecycle where the emphasis is on refinement
• Fear of failure is a mindset that must be overcome in any innovation project

Martin Hill from Sandler West Midlands asked the questions and the show was produced by Dave Bird in the Small Biz Digital Media studio.

Customer retention has a strong psychological basis and it reflects how people think and feel. Our guest Dr Helen Watts (Deputy Head of Worcester Business School at the University of Worcester) did her PhD researching customer retention in fitness clubs. So while rational factors such as service quality and value-for-money are important, Helen's motivation was to look further at emotional factors influencing whether the customer leaves the business.

Organisations need to focus more on meeting customer needs on a personal level. In a diverse customer base, these needs and motivations will vary.

The Worcester Business School offers an Executive MBA suitable for business owners. It has marketing modules which cover customer retention and building long-term customer relationships.

Technology can help customer retention by identifying trends and patterns in large datasets, using machine learning. Large qualitative datasets can also be examined based on what customers have said.

Customer retention has touch points throughout the business, not just in marketing or sales. It's smart to have all these touch points identified, managed, and optimised.

Customer referrals is a strong KPI when it comes to customer retention. The ideal scenario is when the retained customer becomes a raving fan and advocate. To do this, have strategies where you offer them more. Always understand customer expectations, so you can meet or exceed them. Also understand why customers leave and have clear communications everyone is aware of.

Steve Ennis from Business Doctors is your host and the show was produced by Dave Bird in his Small Biz Digital Media studio.

The benefits of lifelong learning for business owners are discussed by Dr Scott Andrews from the Worcester Business School at the University of Worcester.

Lifelong learning helps keep business leaders and owners ahead of the game so they can face the not yet known challenges with confidence.

This ability to use lifelong learning to adapt and adjust to business challenges builds resilience.

The Worcester Business School provides wide-ranging support for the business community in the Worcestershire region.

A specific example is the Help to Grow government funded programme which targets business leaders and owners to take their businesses to the next level. The focus is very much on learning from one another as well as from the front.

As well as structured learning there are opportunities to go into organisations to look at challenges they face in a more bespoke way.

The Chartered Management Institute (CMI) is one of a number of professional bodies the Worcester Business School works with.

Scott is an experienced Principal Lecturer In Leadership and Management with a demonstrated history of working in the higher education industry. His two areas of research focusses on leadership in not for profit, value-driven organisations; and in Participant Centred Learning in Management education, especially through use of Case Study methodologies.

Steve Ennis from Business Doctors is your host and the show was produced by Dave Bird in his Small Biz Digital Media studio.