Bonus ep: 5 Top summer takeaways to grow your business - Part 1

Summary

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Podcast Summary

James Reed: All About Business

Episode: Bonus Ep: 5 Top Summer Takeaways to Grow Your Business – Part 1
Date: September 1, 2025
Host: James Reed CBE

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Overview

In this bonus episode, James Reed distills powerful insights from recent conversations with business leaders and innovators into five actionable "summer takeaways" for entrepreneurs and business managers. The episode offers a lively, candid recap of memorable advice on resilience, people-focused leadership, early-stage growth tactics, age inclusivity in entrepreneurship, and fostering positive team energy.
Part 1 of this special encourages listeners to energize their business strategies and mindsets heading into the autumn season.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Mission Resilience: Reframing Setbacks

Guest: Rob Moore (Entrepreneur, Author)
[00:48–03:28]

• Pain and Setbacks: Everyone faces hardship, but the choice is whether to let it "make you or break you".
• Channeling Pain into Motivation: Rob shares how trauma can fuel achievement:

  “Does it break you or do you tap into it and go, never again? …them helping me towards success and wealth.” — Rob Moore [00:49]

• The Power of a Big Mission:

  “The bigger the mission, the smaller the problems and challenges. …If you can focus on something much bigger than you, you're always moving towards something.” — Rob Moore [01:13]

• Perspective in Practice: Rob explains how a global mission helps him move on from setbacks, such as key staff resignations, without losing momentum.
• Business as a Game:

  “People who play computer games… they don’t get upset when they complete the level; they get excited about the next level.” — Rob Moore [01:38]

• James Reed’s Takeaway:

  “The bigger the mission, the smaller the problem.” — James Reed [01:56]
  Rob agrees, underscoring the value of vision and optimism:
  "That's exactly, exactly that." — Rob Moore [02:16]

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2. Answers Are In the Shop, Not the Spreadsheet

Guest: Neil Clifford (CEO, Kurt Geiger)
[03:28–07:41]

• Real-World Data vs. Numbers: Neil argues that frontline people hold the answers more than spreadsheets do.

  “The answers are in the shops, not in the spreadsheets.” — Neil Clifford [04:31]

• Management by Walking Around: Neil built his career connecting store staff with head office, believing strongly in the power of personal interaction.
• Dyslexia as a Strength:

  “I’m a better judge of people than some because I put more effort into trying to study human beings than I do spreadsheets or words.” — Neil Clifford [05:56]

• Learning Through People:

  “My motivation, energy, my learning comes from engaging and working with people because people find the solutions, not computers or spreadsheets.” — Neil Clifford [07:02]

• James & Neil agree: Physical presence and human insight are vital, especially for leadership.

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3. Seeding & Growing an App Audience

Guest: Michelle Kennedy (Tech Founder)
[08:38–11:42]

• Standing Out in Crowded Markets: With thousands of apps released monthly, it takes more than paid advertising to succeed.
• The Importance of a Seeding Plan:

  “You have to have a seeding plan. Who are the people that you're going to seed this with? Are they going to evangelize about the product so that they... share and do the hard work for you?” — Michelle Kennedy [08:46]

• Utilizing Early Users: Michelle started by inviting 200 invested users from her research base:

  “Day one, I was like, launches tomorrow. Do you want to try the beta? And they already feel a connection with the business.” — Michelle Kennedy [09:17]

• Bootstrapping & Free Tech:
  • Use simple tools to test demand (e.g., a WhatsApp group as an MVP).
  • Leverage no-code, prototypes, and AI to validate ideas before full-scale development.
• Practical Advice:

  “You can build an environment to test something… It might be... a WhatsApp group... You can test: can you get people to join that group? Can you get enough engagement going?” — Michelle Kennedy [10:37]

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4. It’s Never Too Late to Start a Business

Guest: Nicola Reed (Entrepreneur, Philanthropist, James’s Wife)
[11:42–13:59]

• Age is Not a Barrier:

  “I don’t think age should ever hold you back. If you have a passion, you’ve got to... If there’s a book you want to write, write it. If there’s a business you want to start, start it. And it just does not matter what age you are.” — Nicola Reed [12:38]

• Inspiration from Japanese Culture: Learning new things post-retirement can be energizing.
• The Importance of Confidence:

  “It’s always just about confidence. And I think that’s why Matthew was brilliant, because he gave me the confidence because he was so excited to be on the journey with me.” — Nicola Reed [13:20]

• Shared Passion:

  “Look for other people who share that passion... You can support each other and energize each other.” — James Reed & Nicola Reed [13:51–13:59]

• Memorable Quote:

  “You’re never too old.” — Nicola Reed [13:59]

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5. Build Positive Energy or Let Go

Guest: Reggie Hayworth (Business Leader, People & Culture Expert)
[14:01–16:41]

• Recognizing When Things Don’t Work:

  “We all make the mistake of trying to make things work after their lifespan has clearly gone wrong... We pour a lot of energy into it and it’s very sapping. And it still doesn’t work.” — Reggie Hayworth [14:20]

• Leadership Toughness: Learn to sense and act when people or processes are no longer right for the business.
• Team Culture Wisdom from Clive Woodward:

  “Get rid of negative energy.” — Sir Clive Woodward (recalled by Reggie Hayworth) [15:18]

• Positive Energy Drives Success:
  • Keeping staff happy, engaged, and maintaining a positive environment is essential for team performance.
  • Removing negative influences—even if it’s difficult—leads to real progress.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “The bigger the mission, the smaller the problems and challenges.” — Rob Moore [01:13]
• “The answers are in the shops, not the spreadsheets.” — Neil Clifford [04:31]
• “You have to have a seeding plan.” — Michelle Kennedy [08:46]
• “It just does not matter what age you are.” — Nicola Reed [12:38]
• “Get rid of negative energy.” — Sir Clive Woodward (shared by Reggie Hayworth) [15:18]
• “You’re never too old.” — Nicola Reed [13:59]

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Timestamps of Key Segments

• Mission Resilience & Perspective (Rob Moore): 00:48–03:28
• People, Not Spreadsheets (Neil Clifford): 03:28–07:41
• Seeding Early Growth (Michelle Kennedy): 08:38–11:42
• Never Too Late to Start (Nicola Reed): 11:42–13:59
• Positive Energy in Teams (Reggie Hayworth): 14:01–16:41

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Tone & Style

The tone is candid, lively, empathetic, and encouraging, with genuine enthusiasm for actionable business insights. Speakers share real stories and practical advice, making the summary relevant and motivating for business owners, team leaders, and aspiring entrepreneurs.

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Transcript

[A]

Welcome to All About Business with me, James Reed, the podcast that covers everything about business, management and leadership. Fresh from the holidays, it's time to get back to business. Welcome to our top summer takeaways. Here are some of the very best nuggets from our podcast guests to help you spark ideas, build momentum and help you hit the ground running this autumn. We all face face pain and setbacks in life, but how should we frame them so they fuel us forward instead of holding us back? This is top takeaway number one from my conversation with Rob Moore. He talks about mission resilience and perspective on challenges.

[B]

You know, there's the simple saying, it makes you or breaks you. So everyone listening, including us, have had trauma and hardship. Does it break you or do you tap into it and go, never again? And I'm still running away from some of my pains, thankfully, them helping me towards success and wealth. So that's one way of staying hungry. The other one is having a really big mission. The bigger the mission, the smaller the problems and challenges. And, you know, if you can focus on something much bigger than you, you're always moving towards something. Imagine playing Snakes and Ladders and getting to the square 100. And then it's like, oh, actually it's a 200 square game. Actually it's a 400 square game. You know, people who play computer games, they don't get upset when they complete the level. They get excited about the next level. So you really need like a next level. In fact, people who play computer games probably get a bit, oh, I finished the game. What now? So you want to see business in life, like Snakes and Ladders, but it never ends, or a computer game where once you complete the game, there's actually another game that unfolds.

[A]

But you said, and I just want to clarify my understanding, the bigger the mission, the smaller the problem. And so what you're saying, I believe, is if you've got a huge, big goal or you're trying to do something very substantial that really changes things, you're a problem. Like maybe running out of money doesn't seem quite so sort of. Yeah, desperate. Is that right?

[B]

That's exactly, exactly that. So I'll give you an example that I have. Yesterday, my head of marketing resigned. She's actually starting her own business. And I see maybe you inspired her. Well, I too. Well, actually, I'd rather that. And actually that gives me a sense of pride. But, you know, I'm sat here and probably right up there with my md. The most important person in my company is the Head of marketing because we're a marketing business, but because I know I've got a global mission because I want to help as many people on this planet get better financial knowledge. I'm not sitting here focusing on that problem because I've got a bigger vision. And it's frustrating because the last head of marketing maybe lasted a similar amount of time and it's one of our most important roles. So if I wanted to, I could get really into the depths of difficulties and depression and frustration and I could start going into blame. But because I have a global mission and vision, I know, I just. That's fine. I've kissed a couple of frogs, as it were. Just need to keep looking. I mean, I went through so many PAs until I found my great pa, my MD. She's been with us 14 years. First MD. Stay with the set of sin. Sometimes you get lucky or you do it well. Other times you kiss a few frogs. It's just the way it is.

[A]

Business leaders often rely on spreadsheets. But can you really know if you're running your business in the best way by looking at data? This is top takeaway number two from my conversation with Neil Clifford, CEO of Kurt Geiger. He talks about how he gets his answers from people, not numbers.

[C]

So I was in charge of 20 stores and then Steve Robinson and also a friend called Paul Sweetnam, who was very, very important to my career, sort of saw the fact that I had this ability to connect people and I would. There was a job sort of created for me called branch Merchandiser. So I was. Then I got my first company car. Renault 5 Turbo. Age 21.

[D]

Right.

[C]

G reg. Love that car. Navy blue, gorgeous thing. And I used to bomb around the United Kingdom visiting all of our stores.

[D]

Right.

[C]

Two, three times a week. And then I would be in Head Office side this. You know, I suddenly become a Head office person on Oxford Street.

[A]

Yes.

[C]

And I would connect the stores to Head Office, which I'm still a big believer in. I drive everyone mad a little bit at Kurt Geiger saying, you know, the answers are in the shops. The answers are in the shop, not in the spreadsheets. Or. Certainly not. Not all. Not all. Get out there, get out there. Listen, talk to the staff, talk to the managers. They know all the answers. They know why the, the shoes aren't fitting or, or, you know, whatever the issues are. You normally discover the answers in the. The problems are in the spreadsheet, the answers are in the stores. So I had this job where I was connecting store performance to Head Office. And, yeah, that was a. That was a lovely job. I love that job. But I never read anything at work, really. I don't read the sales reports, really, or the.

[A]

So how do you get the information? Talking.

[C]

Listening to people.

[A]

Yeah, talking and listening. I think that's a big feature. Business leadership, I think.

[C]

I think. I don't know, but I think for me, dyslexia is a superpower now. I mean, it was incredibly frustrating at school, but because I don't look down, though. This is my little story or my com. I'm never looking down and reading stuff. I'm always looking up. I'm always, you know, looking in people's eyes and.

[A]

You mean physically?

[C]

Physically, yeah. So I think I'm. I'm. I'm a better judge of people than some because I take. I put more effort into trying to study human beings than I do spreadsheets or words.

[A]

Very interesting, because so many meetings now, there's a lot of people sitting around the table with a computer screen or a laptop.

[C]

I don't look at any of it.

[A]

You don't look at any of it?

[C]

No, you look at them.

[A]

And you learn just by looking.

[C]

And, you know, if you're. If you're. If you're the store manager in Woolwich and, yes, half your staff are nicking, and then the customers are sometimes threatening you with a syringe of blood for a leather jacket, you know, in 88, when the whole, you know, things was. Yeah.

[D]

Wow.

[C]

You know, you, You, You. You get to understand the human race and the good ones and the bad ones. You end up being quite a good judge of character, I think.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

In life, with experience, really. Don't you? I adore people.

[A]

All of them.

[C]

Yeah. In general. Yeah. I think 95 of human beings you adore are very decent. Yeah.

[A]

So talk me through that. What, what, what, what do you like about them, especially?

[C]

Well, I think I. I find them as my fuel, really. My energy. You know, I can't work in isolation. I can't work on my swell. I can't work. You can't really work from home as a CEO, really, anyway, can you? No, I agree with that, and thank God. You know, I think it's ridiculous, frankly, but the. My. My motivation, energy, my learning comes from engaging and working with people because people find the solutions, not computers or spreadsheets.

[A]

You know, if, like me, you run a business or manage a team, you'll know how important it is to hire great people. Over the last 65 years, Reed has worked with thousands of businesses around the world, helping them to recruit and to grow. This is what inspired us to create Reed AI, your new AI hiring agent. It's here to save you money, to save you time, and to help you get the right match. Whether you're hiring your first team member or your 50th, read AI is here to make it easier. Try it free for 28 days, exclusively available during our beta period. Go to Read AI and get started. Reid AI, your higher power. With thousands of new apps launching every month, how do you make sure yours doesn't fade into the App Store graveyard? This is top takeaway number three from my conversation with Michelle Kennedy. She talks about early growth and seeding strategies to get users on your app from day one.

[E]

There are thousands of apps released to the App Store every month. Thousands. And we'll never hear of them. They'll never get anywhere. And it's not good enough to say, well, I'm just going to run some ads on meta. That won't do it either. So I think that you have to have a seeding plan. Who are the people that you're going to seed this with? Are they going to evangelize about the product so that they kind of share and do the hard work for you? And from there, can you get enough momentum that you then start plugging in other marketing strategies? And for me, it was those 200 women.

[A]

So the people you'd spoken to before.

[E]

Absolutely.

[A]

You got them all on there.

[E]

Day one. I was like, launches tomorrow. Do you want to try the beta? And they already feel a connection with the business.

[A]

And 200 was enough.

[E]

It was enough to get going. And then I was very fortunate that we got.

[A]

Search pool.

[E]

Exactly. They feel an emotional connection to it because they've already answered questions, they already are interested and nosy enough to go and test it, and. And from there it can grow.

[A]

So you call that a seeding strategy?

[E]

Yeah, I like that expression.

[A]

Yeah.

[E]

So you just gently seed with different people and see, and it's just about understanding that.

[A]

So you got started, but now you've got 5 million. So do they refer people? Is that. Is there a referral?

[E]

Yeah.

[A]

So you can tell your friends.

[E]

Exactly.

[A]

Come and join us.

[E]

Invite your friends.

[A]

That's the seeding strategy. For those listening. You want to get going is a good example. And using your research base to do that.

[E]

Absolutely. And think about who your desired audience is. You know, if you are building a SaaS business, go into that business and say, look, I'm building this and can. Can I give it to you? Can you trial it for me for free. And that's the best use case that you can get. You get to see it in the wild. So there's always an example of how to get it out there and be able to observe it. And the starting point doesn't need to be building an app. That always makes me anxious when people say they want to.

[A]

Where should the starting point.

[E]

You can build an environment to test something and it's so, so brilliant now the advancement. So it might be. If you wanted to build a community product, for example, you don't have to build a community app. You can build a WhatsApp group. It's free. You can test. Can you get people to join that group? Can you get enough engagement going? What are they talking about? You can create these environments in whatever scenario might best suit your business.

[A]

Readily available technology.

[E]

AI is incredible. Now, you know, there are no code solutions where you can build something very, very inexpensively and test it before you go into the AI to do it. Well, get a, get a. You can get a clickable prototype, get it in people's hands, watch how they use it. It's very easy to do. There are tools like Figma where you can do that. There are amazing things that we, we should all be doing now and. But.

[A]

So this is all about sort of bootstrapping something.

[F]

Absolutely.

[E]

And going.

[A]

Not finding huge amounts of money to build something.

[E]

Exactly.

[A]

You can start.

[E]

You can start exactly.

[A]

And find out a lot and learn a lot and take it from there.

[E]

Exactly.

[A]

Many great ideas never come to fruition when people listen to that voice in their head. Is it too late for me to pursue something new? This is top takeaway number four from my conversation with my wife, Nicola Reed. She talks about why it's never too late to start a business and how mature experience can complement younger energy. Nicola, I hope you don't mind me saying that you started your business in your 50s and you know, some people listening might be thinking, well, too late, or I'm past that, you know, stage in life where I'd be thinking about starting a business, what would you say to them?

[F]

Well, I remember I've only been to Japan once, but I spoke to a woman there who said that typically if you, when you retire in Japan, age about 60, you learn a language and a new language. And I felt really inspired by that because it just felt like a really optimistic, great thing to do at quite an old age. And I think if you have a passion, you should follow it. And I found beekeeping and thought, yeah, I really want to do this. And I don't think age should ever hold you back. If you have a passion, you've got to. If there's a book you want to write, write it. If there's a business you want to start, start it. And it just does not matter what age you are.

[A]

That's a very good message. Is there any sort of, you know, excuse for people. Do you come across people saying, not going to do that because X, Y and Z?

[F]

I think that's right. But it's always just about confidence. And I think that's why Matthew was brilliant, because he gave me the confidence because he was so excited to be on the journey with me. So I was lucky that Matthew found me. But I think that if you have a passion, you should follow your dream and you should make it happen.

[A]

That's so interesting. But also maybe look for other people who share that passion.

[F]

Yeah, exactly.

[A]

Because you can support each other and energize each other.

[F]

You're never too old.

[A]

Running a business is ultimately about working with people. But what do you do when things or people stop working? This is top takeaway number five from my conversation with Reggie Hayworth. He talks about leadership, culture and building positive energy in teams.

[D]

I think we all make the mistake of trying to make things work after their lifespan has clearly gone wrong. And, you know, I'm sure you know in your heart, if you know your business as well as you or I do, and your people as well as you and I do, that they're not happy, it's not working, they've got to go. And we just try and make it work. We pour a lot of energy into it and it's very sapping. And it still doesn't work.

[A]

No, no. I mean, nothing lasts forever, does it? But it is a difficult journey. And you're saying, I think, you know, if you're starting to think something's not working, it's probably not working.

[D]

And that's the thing. Well, you want, obviously, you gotta. You. You do your best to make things work. One of the people I met, had the privilege of meeting once was Clive Woodward, the chap who took England to their only World cup rugby. Yeah.

[A]

Triumph, 2003.

[D]

Amazing. And it. And after that, he became. Sometime after he became director of football at Southampton. And I was taken down there to a game and I was introduced to him. I knew I had one chance to ask a question and I said, very nice to meet you, Sir Clive. I'd love to know, what's your secret to building a good team? And he didn't pause for a second. He just looked at me and said, get rid of negative energy. I've never forgotten that. And it was such a good. It was so simple. And if you're running a people business, which essentially is what I am, and of course, you know, animals are the most important thing on one level, but it's essentially a people business. You know, this thing of keeping people happy, keeping your staff happy, keeping them engaged and making sure that there's a positive energy around the place. And interestingly, in their different ways, the four people who had to go, I think were not very happy in the job and probably had become or were seen as negative energy by some of their colleagues or would have felt that way. And it was very interesting how it played out. But I think Sir Clive Woodward was really onto something there and I'm sure that's one of the reasons he was such a success.

[A]

That's good. Get rid of negative energy. Thanks for listening to summer takeaways. Tune in next time for part two. I'm your host, James Reid, chairman and CEO of Reed, a family run recruitment and philanthropy company. If you'd like to find out more about Reid, all links are in the show notes. See you next time.