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INSIDE THIS ISSUE...
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HOW I WENT FROM MODELING TO ASSOCIATE SALES DIRECTOR FEATURE INTERVIEW WITH PAUL CARRICK BRUNSON SO YOU WANT TO START STARTUP INTERVIEW WITH ULTRA ENTREPRENEUR JULES HALL THE FOUR MOST IMPORTANT THINGS I’VE LEARNT FROM RUNNING THREE BUSINESSES AT THE SAME TIME
HOW CAN COLOURS INFLUENCE THE SUCCESS OF YOUR BUSINESS INTERVIEW WITH GARY STEWART OF FOUNDERTRIBES THE 5 KEYS TO BUILDING A PASSIONATE & PROFITABLE ONLINE BUSINESS
AUTOMATION IN BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY OR THREAT
LETTER FROM OUR EDITOR The plight of an entrepreneur from the outset seems universal, with the idea being that all entrepreneurs struggle with gaining funding, advice & exposure they need to launch their enterprise. While this is true to some extent, it doesn’t paint the entire picture.
GUESTS & CONTRIBUTORS PAUL C BRUNSON GARY STEWART JULIAN HALL DAN MURRAY-SERTER
LAURA HURUBARU GARY KING
In reality some entrepreneurs have a harder path to success than others. Their journey is a nightmare playing out in slow motion and they have to turn desperation into profits. The reasons for this is resources (human & financial) or the lack there of and typically the groups with the least access to such resources are minorities especially blacks. Why is this the case? Where as many successful non-minorities may attribute their success to funding from parents, advice from a friend in business or exposure via a relative, a large proportion of black minorities don’t have any entrepreneurs in their family or social circle. They have to rely on themselves and there’s no mathematical way out of this conundrum. Many have to seek out support from riskier avenues like banks, loans and there’s no guarantee of success due to lack of collateral and bad financial history. That’s why it comes as no surprise that minority owned businesses have the highest rate of failure than any other group. However due to businesses like BEP, Business Accelerator Hubs, Crowdfunding, the landscape is changing, and sources of investment have increased for minorities, but it remains to be seen whether it will be enough to put them on equal footing with the majority. - Fanele
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How I Went From Modelling to Associate Director of Head of Sales
How I Went From Modelling to Associate Director & Head of Sales
Career changes are some of the most defining moments in anyone’s life. Whether they are dictated by necessity, growth, the need to explore new possibilities or to make a difference, switching jobs isn’t a decision that should be made lightly.
While personal goals differ, a career change will generally revolve around three key points: finding your passion, helping others, and working with a stimulating and inspiring team of individuals. Other aspects involve flexibility, travel, the possibility for self-improvement, and unforgettable personal and professional experiences. Luckily, the opportunity is always there to join young, fast-growing companies in stimulating and exciting fields. And what’s best, successful companies around the world are usually more interested in hiring smart, well-rounded individuals from all walks of life rather than being hung up on formal training and qualifications. There are incredible opportunities out there for motivated, hard-working individuals who like to dream big. Petra Barna, Associate Director & Head of Sales at The Ortus Club, a leading event management company specialised in knowledge-sharing functions for C-level executives, shared her fascinating professional journey with us.
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At the age of 17, Petra was climbing up the modelling world in her home country of Hungary. A few years later, she decided to leave this promising fashion career to pursue more managerial roles. However, her journey towards The Ortus Club wasn’t immediate. She took on various roles from administrative assistant to data analyst and project director, before she finally landed what she defines as the best decision of her life.
At The Ortus Club, Petra’s responsibilities include business development, managing her own team, and
her favourite part: representing the company at events all over the world. In an increasingly globalised business landscape, working in a field that allows for extended travelling, international experiences, and a possibility for both personal and professional development is a real dream come true. Being able to make a difference while working with an expert team of professionals and having fun is what most people would define as the perfect career opportunity. It wasn’t until this year that Petra became Head of Sales at The Ortus Club. As the global epidemic triggered the widespread global lockdowns, Barna found herself having to focus on different aspects of her role, making great progress in areas that did not have her full attention before. Being promoted to Head of Sales allowed Petra to work on her latest project: opening up the first European Ortus office in the beautiful city of Rome. While she feels like she is still adjusting to her new responsibilities, this promotion is a remarkable stepping-stone in Petra’s career. Although she is delighted with the new
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CONT’D..... How I Went From Modelling to Associate Director of Head of Sales challenges of her new role, she still can’t wait for things to return to normal so she can hop on and off planes and host physical events again! And sure enough, The Ortus Club is already anticipating going back to holding in-person functions, all the while cherishing the virtual event knowledge acquired over the past several months. The company has begun planning physical events for the end of 2020 and the beginning of 2021 in specific locations. As the company prepares to adopt a hybrid model in the near future, it will still be able to guarantee some of the most rewarding experiences for its team: in-person interaction with top leaders, exciting travel, and continuous professional development.
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A Conversation with... Paul Brunson
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INTERVIEW WITH PAUL BRUNSON Paul Brunson has a whole host of skills; he’s a columnist for USAToday,a LinkedIn Top Voices selectee,a celebritymatchmaker on Celebs Go Dating and Married at First sight. Paul has expanded his skillset even further as with non profit organization Give Love, Build Hope dedicated to transforming schools in rural areas of the Caribbean. Working under two billionaires Oprah Winfrey and Enver Yücel has held him in good stead and given him the knowledge and tools to build a successful brand and help others Serial Entrepreneur and Columnist for USA Today Paul Brunson talks to Russ Turner, Business Digest about the things he learnt from working with diverse billionaires Oprah Winfrey and Enver Yücel and also about his business adventures and work with charities. Paul you’re well known in the UK from the TV shows, Celebs Go Dating and Married At First Sight, as the hunky heartthrob that plays Cupid to those seeking love. What was life like before the fame and what led you to where you are now? That’s a good question. And I appreciate you said before the fame. I honestly don’t feel like I’m famous, or a celebrity or anything along those lines. I was an investment banker, that was my first job out of college. And then I went on to work for a very wealthy gentleman by the name of Enver Yücel, who’s a billionaire based in Turkey. He owns one of the largest educational companies in the world and I managed mergers and acquisitions for him outside of Turkey. I then launched a matchmaking company and started doing videos on YouTube called Modern Day Matchmaker, a
YouTube series that I’m sure no one ever watched because we would get like 11 views and I knew my mother was watching at least nine times. But it turns out that Oprah Winfrey was one of the folks who watched this YouTube series, and she put me on television. By putting on me on television, there’s this whole halo effect, where if one person is extraordinary in one thing, anyone who associates with them is considered to be extraordinary too. This helped me to launch two careers: my television career, that was 10 years ago and then also my matchmaking career. My wife and I went on to create one of the largest matchmaking companies in the United States. And then for the last 10 years, I’ve had a television deal, literally, every year whether it’s in the United States or the UK. So, that’s my life. It’s been a blessing after another. I know, you support black communities in the Caribbean with your non-profit organization, Give Love Build Hope. Can you tell us about how that started and what is the main objective, what is the goal there? Yeah, absolutely. I appreciate you asking me that. So, when I mentioned Enver Yücel, who I
worked for in the educational area. He ran K12 through 12 schools, as well as for profit universities and he also ran Test Prep companies. Because of my work with him, I interacted with a lot of governments and municipalities that were building schools, whether they be for profit schools or charity schools. And to be quite honest with you, I realized how easy it is to build and create a school and also, what the need was in a lot of communities around the world. We just finished a project, about two weeks ago, and we’re going to put the video out, probably in the next two weeks or so. My goal for us, in this current year, is to finish a sustainable school, which is a completely Green School and finish that by November. Have you ever had any difficult times being a black man trying to break through in business and entrepreneurship? You know what’s interesting about this question is that, I was interviewed about a week ago and we were talking about this phenomenon called, The Silicon Valley Tech Bros. Have you heard about this? I know a lot of them, so yeah. I know the vibe. Okay, the Silicon Valley Tech Bros are like for example, a
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Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter and Square. This whole notion of, you are typically a white male who creates a tech company and gets some type of financing for your tech company. And the reason why I was asked the question, it’s because the media loves Silicon Valley Tech Bros. I know this, I’m a writer for USA Today. And I know, when my editor tells me to cover something, I know exactly why the interest lies there. Now, what’s interesting, is that the business schools (and I went to Georgetown) typically use Silicon Valley Tech bros for case studies. So, you have top business schools, disproportionately focusing on the study of, let’s say an Airbnb, Twitter, Facebook, on how they run their businesses. You also have the media constantly trying to figure out these companies. One of the biggest honours of my life was about three months ago. I was on the cover of Entrepreneur Magazine with a bunch of other people. And when you look at everyone who’s on the cover of Entrepreneur Magazine, it was disproportionately represented by Silicon Valley Tech Bros. We were on the cover for people who helped to innovate in 2020 as a result of the pandemic. Why am I saying all this given the question that you asked, because when I was asked this question, I said, “If people, all people, no matter, your ethnicity, nationality, if you really want to understand how to start, grow and manage a company, you should focus on finding black business owners who are running businesses that do over a million dollars Business Digest 9
in sales. Because if you could find black businesses that are doing over a million pounds let’s say, in sales. You’re going to find truly exceptional leaders, and you’re going to find people who have had to fight every form of adversity there is on the planet, and still succeed, versus a lot of these Silicon Valley Tech bros, that when you really decipher and you break down the nuances of their connections, their family connections play a key role. You begin to realize that yet they’re still sharp entrepreneurs, but they started on second or third base. They had advantages.” So, to answer that question, there’s an enormous amount of adversity for anyone black to break through in business. And I say, disproportionately study black businesses because everyone can learn lessons from black businesses. You worked with two billionaires in your life, Oprah Winfrey and Enver Yücel. What did you learn from them and what can you pass on to our audience? I learned an incredible amount from them. I worked with them
collectively for about eight years. Oprah, for three and Enver, for five. I first worked for Oprah Winfrey and she was such an incredible person and it was such a unique opportunity. I started journaling at that time, and I would write down just different ideas and different things that happened during the day. And when I went on to work for Enver, I noticed that there were similarities between their habits but yet they were completely different people. Oprah was American and Enver was Turkish. Oprah was a woman and Enver a man. Oprah was a Christian and Enver a Muslim. They were completely different in characteristics, but they had the same habits, the same strategies. That led me to looking at the uniqueness of their strategies. There are lots of different commonalities that I saw but some of the big ones, for example, was this whole notion of never eating alone. Keith Ferrazzi, wrote the book, Never Eat Alone, a New York Times best-seller, great book. But what he didn’t disclose or what he didn’t say in the book is what I learned from Oprah and Enver is that they would never eat alone.
Whenever we had dinner, there would be 20, 30, 40 people at different tables around us. And they methodically invited people to the dinner. Who did they invite? They invited people that had different opinions, who could debate out topics. And the reason why Oprah and Enver did this is because they realized, that when you read a newspaper, you’re reading what happened yesterday. But when you put people in a room, who are debating about various topics, who they themselves are news makers, you are learning the news of tomorrow. And that’s how they stay ahead of the curve, is that they invite an eclectic group of people together. And this is something that we can all do. Oprah and Denver would invite mayors, and heads of states, and CEOs of businesses in, but we could do this ourselves. So, for example, this is before the pandemic, but every first Sunday of the month, right here in my home in Washington, DC, I would invite 8 to 10 people in and I would have brunch with them in my home, break bread. We would sit at the table, we would talk about various topics, debate them out, I was gleaning the news of tomorrow. So, never eat alone was one of the biggest lessons that I learned from Enver and Oprah. Many more but that was one of the biggest. As well as being voted the world’s most influential matchmaker by the Matchmaking Institute, a business columnist for USA Today, as you rightly said, you’re also a LinkedIn Top Voice selectee.
You’ve got quite a few big outlets to express yourself. How important do you think it is to have a voice online nowadays and what do you use yours for? Yeah, great question and absolutely, yes. Without question, it’s important for us to have a platform. I think what’s interesting is that we all have a voice; we all have an opinion. But the question is, do we have the platform to amplify our voice and to amplify our opinion. Now, what oftentimes we get confused with, especially with Instagram, is this notion of, if I have lots of people who follow me, therefore, I have lots of amplification. But that’s a myth. That’s a misnomer. It’s not. For example, I don’t want to shade some of my folks who come on, say, Celebs Go Dating. But when you look at someone who has a following of say, a million people on Instagram, you want to dig down to find out who are the million people that follow them. It’s much different than if, and you know, I want to be careful with this but, if we’re talking about business context, we’re talking about creating impact, we’re talking about creating product services, we’re talking about creating wealth. It’s very important that you have people who are influential within your audience because people who are influential can then amplify your voice. For example, if I said I had one follower on Instagram or one follower in LinkedIn, a lot of people would say, “Oh, I’m sorry Paul that’s disappointing. I’m sad for you.” But if I said that the follower was Oprah Winfrey, and she reshares
everything that I post. Well, then I have more power than the average person that has a million followers or 10 million followers. So, it’s very important to have an audience for amplification but what I want to underscore is, it’s more important that you curate the right audience, that you curate an audience of influencers. And I have a theory that suggests that, thought leadership is more important than anything today. And how you achieve thought leadership today is based on who you place in your audience. So, in every industry, there’s four constituents, you have consumers. Secondly, you have subject matter experts. Third, you have influencers. And fourth, you have thought leaders. What differentiates the thought leader from everyone else in an industry, is who follows them. The influencers go to the thought leaders to get the ideas to influence their community. So, to your question it’s absolutely important to have a voice more than ever. And then the second piece there is: what do I use my voice for! I use my voice to teach. I think that’s what I’m recognized for, is I teach across every platform, whether it’s Celebs Go Dating, or Married At First Sight, or whether it’s on LinkedIn, or on USA Today, or my community Better With Paul. BWP Connect, which literally, I just finished, a master class with a group of full-time business owners. Everything that I do, the commonality is I teach, I’m trying to help people become better. In particular, my avatar is an entrepreneur, my avatar is an entrepreneur, who values ambition, values, financial freedom and values culture.
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That’s the commonality among my avatar. So, I use my voice to help make that person better. Going back to what you said at the beginning there, about the followers and people having a million followers. I sort of went down the same route many years ago, about trying to get as many followers as I could and quickly learned that it was a complete waste of time. And then from that point, I started to build my networks with really successful people, journalists from Washington Post. Just to piggyback on something you said, I think it’s really important: is you talked about how you methodically went after say, for example, a reporter for The Washington Post. That’s that old school hustle relationship building that we need to bring back. We need to understand it’s not just about someone hitting follower, hitting like, it’s about building an actual relationship. And that takes time, that takes energy. Do you know what I mean? So, I love that you were methodical about doing that because you get more yield. Your ideas go out to more people, you have more impact by doing I think it’s very important. I’m a whole karma believer as well. So, obviously I try and think: what can I offer them, what can I give them? If it’s business, I’ll give them a free Ad placement in our magazine if I have to build that relationship. And that has worked time and time again, to be fair, I still do that to this day. You know, it’s the same thing, I completely agree. I think what you’re doing is, you’re building Business Digest 11
relationships the appropriate way. Before we go Paul, I know obviously, you are a busy guy but before you go, I wanted to tell you something Paul, that I’m actually jealous of you. That’s right, I’m jealous of Paul Branson. I’m not jealous of you because of your perfect skin, your success, money or infectious personality, none of that. I’m jealous of you because of the amount of good you can do in the world. And by sharing your story, I get to help you in a small way. Nothing like a major network but we are doing our best to grow, and promote and we’re going to be here for a long time, helping people like yourself that are doing good for others. There you go. And one is, I thank you. And then also, I’ll compliment you off the back of that and tell you why I’m here. So, I think Tiana might even have mentioned this, that this is an odd time for me, particularly this exact week. Why? Because Celebs Go Dating is getting ready to come out on the 25th and there’s another major project that I’m working on so, I’m constantly getting hit with different media outlets. So literally, yes, the last two days, I’ve been on Good Morning America, which is the biggest morning television program in the United States, 5 to 10 million people watch this thing. And every day, I’m getting inundated with different media outlets to talk to and I can’t talk to all of them. So, I have to use my discernment on who to talk to. And I’m picking, the categories
that I’m selecting or I’m selecting people who I believe I genuinely would like to have relationships with, just like you mentioned the Washington Post reporter. And when I saw the link for your magazine, I was like, Okay, this is an upstart, I mean, no…, you guys are getting it going but I like what you’re doing. I like who you’re going after, I like the idea what you’re doing. I like the idea of this, a black issue. I like the idea of this. So, I said to myself, yeah, these are folks that I would like to have a relationship with. So, kudos to what you were doing because I think it’s important. I think you’re filling a void. I think you have a unique voice in what you’re doing and I’m supportive. I’m a supporter of what you’re doing. Thank you. I’m honoured to be fair, that’s really nice feedback to hear. And it must be really difficult for you, obviously, being at a certain level and then, as you said, with Good Morning America and then you’re looking at all these other opportunities. And I find it really hard as well to sort of say to people, that I can’t have you or I’m too busy. That concludes are interview so on behalf of the Business Digest Team, I’d like to wish you the best in life, continued success, health and matchmaking longevity. Interview by Russ Turner Business Digest Magazine
So you want to start a startup? Business has become a basic fundamental aspect of our lives, more so than ever before.. Companies have emerged across the world offering new ideas, products and services. Many ask where they need to begin from in opening of a company. Here is a guide on how to commence. HAVE A VIVID VISION Having a clear dream of what you want to start is essential. Rather than trying everything in the any industry, having a narrow focus will help save on resources and time. You can start by identifying what areas you are good at or interested in. Once you identify a habitual cultivation in the area is
important so that you may be more skilled. PREPARE TO FAIL Starting a new project comes with hopes of achieving greatness. No one wants to ask themselves what if it fails. There should be an understanding that for one to succeed failure must have preceded. Being strong-willed when the revenues are lower than average, having your skilled employees quitting and running low of money is what will make you standout. Understanding the risks associated with the business is important as it will help you prepare. Running blindly into a new venture tends to hurt more once you encounter these challenges. WALK WITH LIKE-MINDED PEOPLE Spending time with people of similar minds will help in shaping your path. Work with people of different startups not necessarily those on your niche. Also reading blogs and magazines of people in the business will help in broadening your mind. You will realize that competition in which ever industry choose is stiff and surrounding yourself with like-minded people will not only help in increasing sales but also offering the much needed support.
to understand more about the markets and networks surrounding the business. Also utilizing the help of mentors helps one in becoming a great leader who will navigate their company through high and low tides. FAMILIARISING WITH TRENDS AND MARKETS
The world and economic infrastructure keeps changing and shifting as time goes by. As one who is aspiring in joining the industry understanding these trends is very essential to the success of the business. Trends in the business world is like surfing. One has to read and observe the ocean water and get up on your feet at the right time to ride the wave. Creating something that adds value to humanity and not losing yourself in the process is the challenge that needs to be balanced. When your plan is set and having secured appropriate funds one is sure of building a successful startup. Remember you are your only limitation so apply the above strategies today and reap the fruits of a successful business..
NETWORK WITH THE RIGHT PEOPLE No man is an island. Taking advice from people who are in quite a similar venture as yours is key as it will always help you in making informed decisions concerning the
business.
Advisors add strategic value to the business. One is made
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An Ultra Catch Up with... Jules Hall
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INTERVIEW WITH JULIAN HALL “Featured on Forbes, Julian ‘The Ultrapreneur’ Hall is the CEO and founder of the world’s first artificial intelligence chatbot that can teach entrepreneurship to kids and teens called #AskUltra. He has co-written 3 degrees in entrepreneurship and launched the UK’s first mobile game for kids entrepreneurship called Startup Dash. Five years ago he founded a multi award winning social enterprise called Ultra Education C.I.C which has been successfully teaching entrepreneurship to primary and secondary school aged children from disadvantaged backgrounds. Julian started his first business at 18 yrs old and went on to have a career in investment banking. He is a best selling author of fours books on marketing, technology and entrepreneurship. Julian has been entrepreneur in residence to some of the most U.K.’s most prestigious educational institutions including Benenden, Putney High and the Academy of Contemporary Music.
Julian thank you for being a guest in our edition, which is theme’d around black entrepreneurship. We are delighted to have you and look forward to sharing your story.
However, it never quite felt ‘right’ and I eventually took the leap into entrepreneurship, launching my first company, Pure Online Genius, which was a digital marketing agency.
You haven’t always been an entrepreneur. Can you tell us what life was like before you ventured out into the business world?
What have been some of the toughest struggles you have faced as an entrepreneur and how did you overcome them?
I was born and grew up in North West London, in Brent to be specific. As a black boy from that area of London, statistically I was likely to ‘fail’ or not achieve in life. However, from an early age, I always had an interest and passion in having my own ventures/projects and trying to have ownership of something. As a teenager I was heavily influenced by Hip-Hop culture and took a lot of my inspiration from this in terms of fashion, music, and lifestyle. My first venture as a teen was actually an Urban fashion label I started with my friends. I had several ventures that I worked on during this time but eventually I worked for a while in investment banking as that seemed like the thing to do – make money and provide.
I think many of my struggles as an entrepreneur were similar to what a lot of people go through in the early stages of launching a business. Having a clear understanding of the scale to which Ultra could grow to and how to get there definitely took some time. Though I knew that teaching children entrepreneurship was needed, I had difficulty panning out the channels that would be most effective and beneficial to our business and activities. Merging the worlds of business/entrepreneurship and education can at times be a struggle, so having an understanding of how these two sectors could best work together in a mutually beneficial and streamlined manner took some time. My other main struggle has been ensuring that I had the right
people around me to ensure that Ultra grew in the manner that it should. While my vision, determination and passion are central to Ultra’s growth; finding the right team members and mentors with their own insights and expertise has dramatically helped to spurn our growth as a company. No man is an island! Which 3 entrepreneurs or business professionals do you look up to in business and why? Three entrepreneurs I look up to are Jay Z, 50 Cent and Nas. As I mentioned, Hip Hop culture has always been a huge part of my life and I think it’s amazing to see what these guys have done from starting out as musicians to where they are today. Though they are all very different in their personalities and approach to business and entrepreneurship, what they all have in common is that they have leveraged their talent to create strong brands and business empires, while staying true to themselves. They’ve all disrupted spaces that were traditionally not open to people who looked like, talked like or came from the backgrounds
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they are from and that resonates with me. As entrepreneurs, they have all learned and developed their business acumen along their personal journeys and continue to do great things to inspire young people from similar backgrounds to their own – showing what can be achieved with hard work, dedication and striving to be the best. What’s the best advice you can give to any entrepreneur or start-up business owner? My number one piece of advice will always be to go back to your ‘why.’ At Ultra we fully advocate that all the children we work with, first pinpoint what they’re passionate about and we help them to start a business based on that. As an entrepreneur, once you understand why you want to do what you’re doing and you’re really passionate about it, you’re on the right track and more likely to stick with what you’re working towards. The age-old adage says, ‘do what you love and it won’t feel like work’ and I strongly agree. When you do what you love, though you may have hard times and things may not go your way, it will be much easier to stay motivated, grounded and work towards your goals.
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You’ve founded many companies such as AskUltra, Ultra Education and Ultra Gaming, all under the Ultra Academy Ltd umbrella. What is the Ultra brand all about and what is the main objective? Well, if you look at the meaning of the word ‘Ultra’ it means to ‘go beyond.’ When I started Ultra Education in 2015, I had years of experience working on various ventures and always worked closely with the education sector in various forms. I always enjoyed working with young people and seeing the spark and creativity that many of them have. I truly believe that entrepreneurial’ism as a concept can make the world a better place but as we all know, so many entrepreneurs and businesses fail. In fact, the statistics say it is 9/10 businesses fail in the first three years. The Ultra brand seeks to empower as many young people as possible with entrepreneurial education to equip them with the skills to start a business from what they love, understand entrepreneurship, embrace their passions, and impact their communities and the world for the better. Entrepreneurs who do what they love, solve problems and help to change our lives for the better. That’s what the Ultra brand is about!
holding our first ever youth business fair. Both moments really hit home the scope, potential, and importance of our concept of youth entrepreneurship education. Before I started Ultra, while I would regularly work with young people, this would be at secondary schools as part of their Business Study courses. While these students would have great ideas and projects to work on in our workshops, I often felt that had entrepreneurial concepts been introduced earlier, this would have made a noted difference. Julian Hall pictured in action with two proteges How important is it what you do for the world and how can you level up? Great question! As I mentioned, I believe that entrepreneurship is one of the greatest tools we have at our disposal to benefit our society and the world at large. In recent times, society has created some quite damaging habits and expectations of how we should lead our lives. The notion that money equals success and equates to happiness, as well as the idea that we should sacrifice our physical and mental wellbeing to achieve common ideals of success has often had a negative effect. At Ultra, our ethos is to strip that right back to what may be considered a ‘child-like’ perception of what happiness or success is. What truly makes YOU happy? What do YOU enjoy doing? As children, most of us will have something or multiple things we enjoy doing and no doubt this changes but for many, the process of education and going into work and thinking about providing often means we lose sight of these things. I believe that if more people were able to do what they love, the world would be full of much happier adults, leading better-quality lives and generally a more enjoyable experience for all across the board… and that’s how you level up!
I have been inspired by my daughter who has seen my work as an entrepreneur from a young age and as young as 5 or 6 was showing an understand of business and entrepreneurship that blew me away. When we launched Ultra, we were able to demonstrate that yes, entrepreneurship can be understood and enjoyed by children and can help them to excel and be creative in many ways. Our youth business fair was ultimately a culmination of this, seeing 50-60 young people as young as 5 talking confidently about their businesses, creating their own products, and making sales was a proud moment and a great feeling. Well Jules that concludes our interview. I want to thank you on behalf of Business Digest Magazine for your time. I wish you the very best and buckets of Ultra-Success.
Interview by Russ Turner Director Business Digest Magazine
What has been your most successful moment or memorable time to date? I would say my most memorable moments were both launching Ultra Education in 2015 as well as Business Digest 16
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The four most important things I’ve learnt from running three businesses at the same time - serial founder, Dan Murray-Serter I’ve co-founded three very different businesses that I’m running right now Heights, Infamous Media & Foundrs: 1. Heights, a brain health and performance company - a venture funded startup, which is where I work full time from Monday Friday. Since we launched in January we’ve hired 10 employees - all remotely. 2. Infamous Media, the producers of the UK’s most popular entrepreneurial podcast, Secret Leaders. A completely creative endeavour that I work on at weekends, which for me counts as ‘active rest and recovery’ to the working week. 3. Foundrs, an invite-only community of over 300 of the UK’s top entrepreneurs who share similar beliefs. The journey began 7 years ago and is my way of giving back to the community. It’s an on-going learning process but the four key things I’ve learnt are hiring with honesty, prioritisation, identifying personal values and the importance of clarity. Hiring with honesty During the hiring process at Infamous Media for our Head of Podcasts role, which Will Stolerman now heads up - both myself and producer Rich Martell made it very clear that Heights gets 99% of my time. It’s important to provide clarity and honesty - not only when you’re hiring but for all your employees. For me, I look for my employees to grow and lead - which is why I look for autonomy, good decision-making skills, and trusting individuals . I learnt a lot about delegation and trust through the experience of building Foundrs. Prioritisation in business I use a time tracker to see where I’m spending most of my time so I can work out whether I’m being productive (or not). The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, written by Stephen Covey, introduced me to ‘ The Eisenhower Matrix ’ - which helps Business Digest 17
me to decide and prioritize my tasks based on urgency and importance whilst sorting out less urgent and less important tasks. I try to make sure as much as my work as possible stays in the “Urgent Not Important” quadrant. Identify your personal values I think the most important thing you can do as a founder is to spend time identifying your personal values, and from there your company values. This enables you to hire correctly and build a company culture where people thrive. I value mental health, humility, purposing potential with purpose and initiative - all of these values are at the core of all my three companies. My advice for founders would be to spend time figuring out your personal values, and from there, your company values in order to hire correctly. I’ve learnt from my mistakes but one thing I’ll say is don’t rush the growth process - by aligning with your values you can create a company and a culture that not only allows employees to thrive, but most importantly perform at their best. I won’t lie and say it’s been easy to learn what my values are, it’s taken me years.
Scale and impact come from clarity of purpose For me, my intrinsic motivation is community and to make an impact and help others in any way that I can. Therefore, it’s clear to me why one business, Heights, focuses on brain care after my own experience with insomnia and anxiety, and curing it through nutrition, why Secret Leaders showcases insights from experienced founders for free, for all to hear. And is why Foundrs is a community designed for ‘founders breaking new ground without breaking themselves’. I have real clarity on my passions. I’m always learning, and growing which is when I’m happiest. I’m looking forward to the journey moving forward, but know that I’ll always stick to what my core values are. They’ll always be with me and will inform all of my business decisions. Dan Murray Serter, serial entrepreneur, founder of brain health and performance company Heights, host of Secret Leaders Podcast which will kick off their 6th season on Tuesday 27th October with the first incredible guest John Cleese. Secret Leaders is available on Apple, Spotify and all major podcast platforms.
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How can colours influence the success of your business? You’ve started your own business and, after realising that the way of doing business is changing, you’ve implemented conscious business practices. Your focus is on building relationships with your employees and customers so everything your business does serves them as much as possible. It’s not all about the bottom line! But what else can you do to ensure the long-term health of your business? This is where colour comes in! Colour therapy was first used by the Ancient Egyptians. They painted rooms different colours to treat specific illnesses. In recent years it has made a come-back as more people understand that we’re naturally influenced by colour. So how can the fundamentals of colour therapy be used in the workplace? Start with the environment. A lot of corporate offices are painted with neutral colours – off white or cream. It’s the smaller, quirkier companies (like design companies) that are more likely to have bolder colours in the workplace. They understand that colour can fuel their creativeness. Each colour can evoke a different reaction from us. On the whole colours on the blue spectrum (blue, indigo, violet) have a calming affect so are good for your chill out areas. Colours on the red spectrum (red, orange, yellow) energise so are great for the areas housing the innovative teams. It’s not just the walls which can bring colour to an office. You could experiment with the colour of office furniture or paintings on the walls. It’s also standard for companies to have plants in the office. The green of an indoor plant is recognised as a balancing colour, whilst the vibrancy of the plant is great for reducing stress. What if you took the use of colour one step further and consciously applied colours to your company branding? Colours can have an impact on your customers just as much Business Digest 19
as your employees. Don’t choose colours purely on how they look, but on what they will tell others about your company. For instance, your logo will appear on your website, on emails, on documentation… so don’t you want to use a colour or two that will inspire your customer? If your company relies heavily on communication, such as a consultancy, perhaps you’ll choose a shade of blue, which is great to encourage open communication. Maybe your company is a training company intent on empowering your delegates, so you’d choose green; as well as balancing, green also reassures and will fill your delegates with confidence. It’s not just your logo that needs to be considered. Your website is often the first place a potential client will visit in order to find out more about you. Ensure your chosen company colours are incorporated into every page. This allows you to consistently emit the energy of your company on a subconscious level. You can even take this as far as to consider the clothing you wear in the office. What you wear can influence your mood, which in turn can have an effect on those around you. A spark of yellow will encourage a happy, upbeat mood, whilst a warm colour like magenta can indicate care. Perhaps when speaking at a conference, you choose to incorporate some of your brand colours into your clothing to truly embody all that your company stands for. As you can see there are a lot of ways to use colour in the workplace. Doing some research into colours and consciously choosing ones that fit your company can play an important part in improving working relationships and connecting with new clients. Colours can therefore lead to greater success for you and your company.
A discussion with... Gary Stewart Business Digest 20
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INTERVIEW WITH GARY STEWART Gary Stewart the Yale educated lawyer and former founder of Wayra which has invested in over 800 startups across Europe and Latin America and has helped these startups raise over $262 million when Gary departed. Now his new venture FounderTribes which focus on the 99% of entrepreneurs that have previously been over looked along the way.
Gary, welcome to your interview with Business Digest Magazine. For the benefit of our audience, I would like to kick off by asking you to give us a brief overview of your experiences and the companies you have worked with?
to do something new. So, I went and taught, which is something I’ve always been driven towards. I taught at a top ranked business school in Madrid called IE Business School and then ran their venture lab.
I was then approached by Telefono, who asked me My one-minute pitch is, I to help set up a program was born in Jamaica and call Wayra, which would grew up in the Bronx in New eventually become one of York. I went to Yale college the world’s largest corporate and Yale law school, then accelerator programs. I moved into a career in ran that in Spain for about corporate law at different 3 years and then moved to companies like Simpson the UK in 2014 to run it here. Thatcher and Freshfields. By the time I left, we had After that I worked in the US, invested in 185 companies in in London and then in Spain, the UK that have raised more where I decided I wanted to than 267 million dollars and become an entrepreneur. are worth more than $1.1 billion. My first business was an offline real estate business Now I’m working on the Nest which did OK but was very which is all about levelling seasonal. The second the playing field. The basic business was an online real numbers are if we look to the estate business, very similar US market for example, where to Zoopla but focused on people do have really good Spain and Latin America. data on issues of diversity. We raised about 4 million Women in minorities probably dollars for that company make up 70% of the US and eventually sold it in population but they only 2016. get in the vicinity of 3 to 4 percent of all venture capital After 6 years of being funding and so there are a CEO, I decided I wanted few inequities that need to be addressed.
The Nest is trying to focus on that by helping people to get the educational and social capital tools they need to then be able to really unlock access to the capital and funding for start-ups. That’s what we’re focusing on but not limiting ourselves only to tech companies but to all companies and all businesses out there including side hustles.
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WILL I AM and Gary S
What are some of you core values and morals in life? I believe in karma, so that means I also believe in paying it forward, that it’s probably better to lead a life that you can be proud of. Sometimes that will make you money sometimes it won’t but it usually does involve helping other people and hoping that the universe pays you back in kind. For me, both personally and professionally, I really do believe that everyone should be given the opportunity to realise their dreams. It shouldn’t be something that is determined by what you look like, what gender or race you are, what geography you live in, who you love or what god you believe in. It has to be that anyone can have access to opportunity as long as they have the talent and are willing to work hard to realising that talent. I don’t think the world we currently live in looks anything like that.
Stewart hanging out
(Left) The king of Spain with Gary Stewart
Stress is a massive thing in the business industry. It affects the mental health and well-being of many individuals. Have you ever suffered with stress on your journey and how do you handle it? In terms of stress, I guess it is a part of life. For me, one of the things I try to do is to not take things too seriously. I think it’s maybe because I’m now in my forties and I have started to realise there are so many things that I thought were life-or-death moments in your life; where I felt things were not quite working out as I expected and I thought it was an end of the road point. Then things would turn around, another road would open up or the failure became an opportunity or a lesson. So, I guess I try not to get too stressed and stay very calm. I say to myself, if this doesn’t work out as expected, what is it that it teaches me so that the next time I can actually do it a little bit better. I think that leads on to some sense of work-life balance and even though as an entrepreneur there is no real work-life balance but it helps to keep things in perspective. If a business fails or if
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something doesn’t go well, that doesn’t necessarily mean that I’ve failed or that I’ve done something to be ashamed of. It just means that this opportunity didn’t work out or that I didn’t have the right business partner or the right team or that I need to evolve in some ways, either professionally or personally as well. The key thing I’ve learned about dealing with stress is just don’t stress out. Try to focus on trying to understand what’s happening and then make sure you don’t repeat those mistakes and that you learn from the potential failure. What, in your honest opinion, is your number one tip for success?
My number one tip is, ‘do unto others as you would have them do unto you.’ As long as you try and treat people well in life, you can always be happy with yourself knowing you haven’t tried to screw any one over for example. Business Digest 23
Which also leads on to having a loyal network of people who are there to support you because they know when they were in certain situations, you were there to listen and support them. That then leads to a pay it forward approach where in my particular case of 20 plus years in business I have a lot of friends and people that want me to succeed and are usually willing to help me succeed because I’ve been willing to help them succeed as well. The Idea for The Nest is truly a remarkable thing - bringing accessible educational and entertaining videos to start-ups at every stage of development. Where did the idea for The Nest come from?
Gary stewart right pictured with President elect Joe Biden
seeing the buzz around master class because like most people, I started to see videos from really famous people like Serena Williams, Meryl Streep all being on my Instagram and Facebook feeds and I thought, whoa!
The idea for The Nest came from the imperfection of seeing two different trends. One was Y Combinator, the exclusive accelerator for young entrepreneurs who like to say that they’re more exclusive than Harvard. Then there was a moment where that accidently let in 16000 people and that’s when I thought this is what the world should look like. It shouldn’t be an accident that everyone gets access to this education. It should be something that is normal because, especially if you can do it online, there is no reason to artificially limit it to an explicit group of people. The second incite was then
Gary stewart pictured w
How did they get these people to do these videos? I sure would love to watch these videos and learn how to be great in those specific domains about which they were going to speak. It was in the marriage of those two moments that led to the idea. If we could do something like Master Class but focus it on entrepreneurs and specifically the kinds of entrepreneurs that were dying to get into Y Combinator but would not have originally had a shot at this kind of pre accelerator startup school. Then that could be a really interesting business and that’s where the idea came from.
You must have met some truly remarkable people but who do you look up to as someone you aspire to be like? One would be Stacey Abrams for setting up an organisation called Fair Fight Action. Also a bunch of other organizations, specifically with the idea of focusing on protecting the right to vote, especially in minority communities. This has become one of the central pieces of the current US election where people like Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and Michelle Obama who went out there and saying going out there and voting is important; look what happened to Stacey Abrams.
with Stacey Abrams (pictured 3rd from the left) and the Fair Fight Team
So, what I found really inspiring was when she came to visit me. It made me realise that I should stop trying to address this problem as a side hustle through different organisations but put my mind to it to find a definitive solution. Secondly, I look up to all entrepreneurs because I remember just how difficult it was to be an entrepreneur with the ups and downs, the chaos and uncertainties. The people that do it are really, really strong and have to be really, really strong. What is the best way for someone to contact you? The best way to contact me would be through LinkedIn even more so than email. Then I generally direct people to WhatsApp or email depending on the person and their question.
Interview by Russ Turner Director at Business Digest Magazine
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The 5 Keys to Building a Passionate & Profitable Online Business by Laura Hurubaru Entrepreneurship is NOT for the faint of heart. Even women who have fearlessly climbed the corporate ladder hesitate when it comes to striking out on their own.
what you could offer to clients using the skills, talents, and passions you already have. Step 2: Overhaul your money mindset The number one factor I know this for a fact because holding women back from those women are my clients! My launching and making money job is to help strong, successful in their business is fear of women unlock their natural money. Or maybe it would be talents and create profitable more accurate to say, “hangonline businesses from scratch. ups about money” since plenty of my clients aren’t And many of those strong, actually afraid to earn, they successful women have genius just don’t quite know how to ideas and tons of marketable think, feel, and talk about it skills … but no idea how to with confidence. apply those things outside of a corporation. So I teach them that financial empowerment starts with understanding that money So when I first start working with them, I lay down the doesn’t control you– you control it. It’s an exchange basics. I walk them through these 5 crucial steps to of energy, flowing to and designing a sustainable, from you. To keep that energy flowing in the right direction, successful, soul-driven business. you must set an intention that you’re the boss of your money. Step 1: Look within for answers Don’t waste any more time The first step? Change your view. Instead of saying, “I can’t looking “out there” for your calling … the answer is right afford that business coach” or “That marketing master class there, in the blueprint of your identity! A successful business is just too expensive,” ask shouldn’t just be a cold, impersonal machine that makes money off your skills, it should be an expression of who you are. A passion project that makes you feel good about the difference you’re making in the world, and in people’s lives. And to build that business, you need to understand yourself so you can leverage talents you may have overlooked or ignored. Start with you. You are the backbone of your business. Get clarity around Business Digest 25
yourself how much money you have available, and how much you can allocate to your business goals. This simple shift can have a truly profound impact. You’ll stop feeling out of control and start feeling empowered. Then remember that the money you charge for your services doesn’t just make your own life better–it enables you to reach more people and serve them more fully. It gives you the means to upgrade parts of your business that aren’t your genius, market your services, and become a more powerful force in your niche. Again, money is energy. And we ALL need energy to thrive. Step 3: Find a business mentor Far too many women equate entrepreneurship with “going it alone.” There’s nothing wrong with getting help, especially at the start! Which is why I strongly recommend finding someone who has done
what you intend to do, and enlisting them as a mentor. And no, this isn’t shameless self-promotion: I can help you build the infrastructure of your business, but you’ll need an established subject-matter expert to guide you through the everyday practices. If you want to be a social media strategist, track down someone who’s been wildly successful at running campaigns. If you want to become a travel writer, connect with contributors to Fodor’s and Wanderlust. You can make connections through LinkedIN, ask for introductions from your own friends and colleagues, or even coldcall by doing a little Internet stalking. You may need to pay your business mentor to make it worth their while, but that will be money well-spent. Offer to compensate them for their time and expertise, and you’ll be investing in your own future success. Step 4: Get your message into the world … through ONE platform Most of us already know that connecting with potential clients on social media is a must … but the way new entrepreneurs should approach it is a bit counter-intuitive. I tell all of my clients the same thing: focus your efforts on just one platform. Yes, just one.
preferred platform—and repeat the process on the new platform. When in doubt, my opinion is that Facebook is a good default. It has a huge and diverse user base and the popularity of Groups and livestreams offer plenty of opportunities to engage with your audience. Step 5: Don’t get lost in the details Many businesses fail because the people who launch them don’t see results fast enough; they get disappointed, convince themselves it was never going to work anyway, and just give up. (Which is why I focus on speed with my clients.) But plenty of other businesses fail because the people who launch them get bogged down by details. They worry too much about website font choices and perfect tag lines, and never get their endeavors off the ground! There’s a time and a place for details, but conception and launch is NOT it. When you’re envisioning your unique niche and daydreaming about your wildly profitable online business, focus on the big ideas. Think about your mission, your ideal clients, the big problems you’re uniquely positioned to solve. Create a strategy and plan to start promoting and selling your services before you give your logo a single moment’s thought. And, above all, don’t lose sight of what makes you “you” as you plan your business. Everyone has one super-rare talent they can give to the world, and YOURS is what will transform you into an entrepreneurial success. Unlock it, unleash it, and never let anyone dull your shine!
By focusing your efforts in one area, you’ll be able to create momentum. You’ll begin to master the ins and outs of that platform. Confining yourself to one platform will also mean less work around content – posting to multiple platforms means reconfiguring content to best fit each one, a timeconsuming process in and of itself. Which is best? Do your homework and research your ideal clients so you know where they tend to congregate. Alternatively, you can choose the platform you’re most comfortable with as a first outing. Choose carefully, but don’t over think it! This platform doesn’t have to be your home forever. After a few months, consider switching things up—especially if you have new insights into your ideal client’s
Laura Hurubaru is the founder of the From Scratch to Cash FAST 1x1 Coaching and Mentoring Program, a unique system that helps women who’ve found success in the corporate world launch outrageously profitable online businesses. Click here to schedule a free strategy call with Laura, and start down the path toward enlightened entrepreneurship! laurahurubaru.com Business Digest 26
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AUTOMATION IN BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY OR THREAT? Over half a million new businesses were incorporated in the UK last year, and less than half of those will survive more than five years. But their failure won’t be down to recessions or global pandemics – this figure is based on statistics recorded way before COVID-19 came along.
invoicing, paying suppliers and chasing late payments. Then, of course, you need systems and processes in place for delivering your product or service and ensuring customer satisfaction.
And the best way to ensure that your business operates The reason many of these successfully is to make sure businesses fail is because they you have the right team are missing one fundamental in place, whether you hire thing – a plan. employees or outsource to free-lancers or external Regardless of industry or companies. sector, a business is more likely to succeed with a plan. So your business plan must After all, if you understand the include strategies for sales, destination, it’s easier to work marketing, finance, systems out how to get there. and processes, and your team. The first part of your plan needs to include a strategy for sales. Sales is the core of any business – it doesn’t matter how great your product or service is if you can’t sell it. So you need to know who will buy your product or service and why they would buy it – what problem does it solve? Once you understand who your customers are and their motivations for buying, it’s much easier to put an effective marketing strategy in place – another part of your business plan.
And the good news is technology provides many opportunities that support and enhance all these areas. You can automate just about anything from marketing and sales to invoicing and order processing. You can even automate a factory production line.
In effect, you could automate your entire business. Paid advertising to attract new leads, automated sales funnels to turn them into paying customers, automatic invoicing and payment processing on sign up, and automatic order Your marketing and sales dispatch on payment. Plus, strategies must also align with you can automate surveys your financial strategy. You to get customer feedback need to have a handle on your and schedule marketing pipeline so you can control communications that your projected cash-flow. encourage repeat business. You also need to be on top of But if you want to automate Business Digest 27
your business successfully, you need effective systems and processes, to begin with. Because as advantageous as technology can be, it can just as easily damage your business if it isn’t implemented in the right way. Automating your marketing and sales, for example, will only work if you understand who your target audience is, what they want and how to communicate with them. There is no point spending thousands on Google ads if you haven’t established what your target audience would be searching for, or if they’re even searching at all. And if they aren’t responding to your ads, you’re just throwing money away. Another problem with automation is the lack of personalisation. Most people can spot an automated sales email or connection request a mile off. And while some people understand this is an attempt to make your business more
efficient, others view it as lazy marketing and will be instantly put off.
AI product, fancy app or data science tool without understanding how it can be applied to your business to support your objectives. If And automation doesn’t take into consideration it doesn’t serve your purpose, then maybe you individual circumstances. It doesn’t use its don’t need it. Just because everyone else is judgement to make decisions. doing it doesn’t mean you should. For example, you can set your invoicing system to automatically send emails chasing late payments, and even to charge late payment fees. But what if a long-standing client misses one payment? What if you don’t reconcile a payment so the system thinks you have a debtor?
Instead, make a plan – have strategies for your sales, marketing, finance, processes and team. Then you can decide how to use technology and automation to support your strategies. Embrace technology and all that is offers you but tread carefully so that the opportunity doesn’t become a threat.
You know this is unusual for them, they’ve always paid on time in the past, and you are And if you do that, you’ll be less likely to be in confident there is a valid reason. But your the 50% plus of new businesses that are going automated system won’t take this into account. to fail in the next few years. It won’t give them a call to find out what the issue is and resolve it in a friendly manner. Your automated system will send a generic email, threatening late payment charges, and that Gary King – could damage a good relationship. Helping business owners to have So even if you do have automated systems in the freedom to place, you need that human input too. Because choose where, no matter how good or intuitive the tech you when and how use is, it will only be as good as the people they work. After 25 behind it. years in high-growth businesses delivering And that’s why you need a plan. results at a senior level, Gary knew he Don’t just rush into investing in the latest could use his skills to help SMEs. A straighttalking, no-nonsense Yorkshire man, he now helps ambitious business owners create the freedom to make choices about their life through a range of online and in-person programmes. Having turned around his business and his lifestyle when struggling in the first few years, Gary now runs three successful businesses and it’s his experience he uses to help other entrepreneurs ditch the guilt, start earning what they are worth, and have the ability to make choices about how they spend their time. He creates what many hard-working business owners are missing – the freedom to choose. Gary is also Northern Regional Head for the Association of Business Mentors and sits on the Executive Team.
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Our Vision at Business Digest Magazine
“To inspire, motivate and equip aspiring individuals to enjoy successful careers and create sustainable businesses” Business Digest 30
