Today’s edition of the Businesswise podcast is hosted by Joe Tompkinson who is joined by Danielle Holmes from Black Nova, a professional IT Solutions company, offering website design, hosting and other IT services, and Steve Munson from ASF Creative who offer signs, marketing & design and print.

After introducing what their individual businesses do, Danielle and Steve talk about how their two businesses, both in the creative sector, support each other rather than being competitive. Each of their businesses offer what the other doesn’t, so if someone is starting out, they can ensure that people are working with two other businesses that can work together and collaborate on their project.

They both share how Businesswise works for them, agreeing that it’s not only about business, but also meeting up with like-minded people who you can collaborate and work with. Steve left the group for a while, having a break from networking, but when he returned, he was pleased to be back, and says it’s all about the people in the room.

Both Danielle and Steve talk about the importance of trust in the room at a Businesswise meeting, and how having that confidence in someone’s ability, knowing they’ll do a job to a good standard means you are happy to recommend them to your friends. Also, when it comes to collaboration with people in the Businesswise group, they’re people they know; they’ve probably used their service, or bought their products, so know who they’re working with.

Being in the creative industries, sometimes misconceptions are around the cost of products or services, and they both talk about this, within their own sectors.

If you’d like to know more about Danielle, Steve and Businesswise, visit https://businesswise.org.uk/

Today Hannah Edwards is talking to Sabrina O’Keeffe of Charming Bee Accessories.

Her business came about when Sabrina was out of work. Having always been crafty, she did a jewellery course and some workshops, then started making sterling silver jewellery, and absolutely loved it.

Sabrina has only been an official member of Businesswise for around a month. She came along at the very beginning of her self-employed business journey, which is quite unusual. Having worked in the corporate world for 20 years, she was used to being able to bounce ideas off the people around her. Working on her own, she found it much harder.

She shares how generally she doesn’t like having to talk in front of people, or in fact talk about herself much, but after being welcomed into the room and group on her first visit, she decided to join.

Sabrina talks about loving the fact that because there are so many different personalities and businesses, many of whom have experience of being self-employed, they are happy to help and make suggestions about business-related things.

One of the things that she loves about Businesswise is the way that people ask about what you’re doing; share your posts on social media and genuinely take an interest in what you’re doing in your business.

Businesswise are quite a lively bunch of people, and although Sabrina finds it difficult to talk about herself the group have made it very easy for her, hence her joining! She’d encourage anyone else who is nervous about networking to just try it!

If you’d like to know more about Sabrina and Businesswise, visit https://businesswise.org.uk/

For our Businesswise collaboration podcast today, Joe Tompkinson is talking to Ali Newnham and Jess Walters.

Ali is the Operations Manager for MoovaHome selling houses, renting and managing HMOs. Jess works for Howden Insurance, local insurance brokers offering commercial and personal insurance. They both talk about the passion they each have for their businesses.

Ali and Jess talk about how collaboration is something that works well for them in both of their businesses, and they feel it helps make business flow better. There is a great synergy between the two businesses. They also both agree that there’s a lot of collaboration with many other members of Businesswise too when it comes to referring people. The more you talk with people the more likely it is that those opportunities appear. The people in the group are the most important part of belonging and the reason to keep coming back.

Joe, Ali and Jess talk about how supportive the group is, and how they even support each other online making recommendations on social media, and it doesn’t feel like a chore because of the genuine connection.

Both Ali and Jess talk about their plans for 2025.

If you’d like to know more about Ali, Jess and Businesswise, visit https://businesswise.org.uk/