On June 16th, full of nervous anticipation, I launched a new project.
A podcast called The Entrepreneur Transition went live with 3 episodes and a trailer where I explained the idea and what I hope to achieve.
Facts are more interesting than fiction.
Over the years, I’ve had the pleasure of working with, advising and learning from business owners at various points in their journey. I’ve always found the stories and experiences to be fascinating.
Growing and ultimately, selling a business is a complex blend of financial, legal, and tax matters – but crucially also a very human experience. There are important issues at the intersection of business, money, family and life.
The odds of success are stacked against the business owner as 60% [1] of companies will fail within the first 3 years and the experience is often compared to riding a fast-moving roller coaster!
Having spent countless hours with some of the UK’s most accomplished entrepreneurs, I had the idea to create a platform where the knowledge, insights, ideas and experiences could be shared with a wider audience.
I’m keen to do what I can to support the business owner community and to share helpful information that might just make the difference between failure and success during pivotal moments.
Why a podcast?
Podcasting is not new but the popularity of the medium has exploded in recent years and here are the numbers to prove it:
- There are over 2 million podcasts worldwide
- 41% of adults in the UK are regular podcast listeners [2]
- The average weekly listener will consume 8 podcast episodes during their week
- 18% of weekly listeners consume 11 or more episodes each week
However, despite the vast number of podcasts in existence, there are none that focus on this particular niche area and so I want to change that.
The podcast is a series of unscripted interviews with entrepreneurs at various points of the journey. From those who are building towards an exit to those who have already sold and are onto the next adventure.
I’ll also be speaking with some of the professionals who provide expert advice to entrepreneurs including tax specialists, lawyers, corporate finance and even behavioural psychologists.
The story so far
I’ve been delighted if, frankly, a little surprised by the reaction to the launch.
By the end of the first week, we’d hit Number 17 in the UK podcast charts in the business category and Number 3 in the entrepreneur category.
Considering that’s the category that podcast legends like Stephen Bartlett and Tim Ferris are listed in, it’s fair to say that our launch has exceeded my wildest expectations!
If you do get a chance, I’d encourage you to take a listen, there are some truly interesting and inspiring stories shared by my first few guests.
It’s available on all the main podcast platforms but most people use Apple – here’s the link.
Finally, if you or someone you know would like to come on the show and share your own experiences, let me know and we can set it up.
Thank you for your support, it means the world to me.
Alan Smith
CEO
[1] https://fundsquire.co.uk/startup-statistics/
[2] Edison Research
