Today’s podcast presenter Lis McDermott talks to member Ed Le Coyte of Luniq, a technology consultancy.

Ed talks about how Luniq came from the defence sector which historically has large enterprises, but now, Luniq have moved to a space where they offer more to more people. They take a solution agnostic and vendor agnostic approach, and Ed’s role in the company is to help move the company more into a private sector space.

However, Ed is fairly new to the IT trade, but has always been in sales, and he talks about how after working in the motor trade for many years helped him with his sales skills.

Ed also talks about moving away from the motor trade has helped him to enjoy more work-life balance. He has three little girls, and only working from Monday to Friday gives him far more time with them. Plus, he also fronts a band, as the lead singer – another escape from work-life.

Before joining Businesswise, earlier this year, Ed had not done any networking, because in the motor trade people come to you – you don’t have to find your customer base. Visiting Business wise was a baptism of fire – but he says a fun place to be, where business is taken seriously first and foremost.

Since joining, he has also joined other business networks, and is looking to find other networking events to attend, because he recognises the effect it has on business. But also, in Businesswise particularly, he is enjoying the long lasting relationships that can be built, when meeting with like-minded people.

If you’d like to know more about Ed and Businesswise, visit https://businesswise.org.uk/members/ed-le-coyte/ and if you’d like to visit email secretary@businesswise.org.uk – we do have to check first that your seat is vacant. If it’s not you will be put on a waiting list.

In today’s podcast our presenter Fi Da Silva Adams is talking to member Danielle Holmes of Black Nova Designs, a company who provide design and host websites. Next year the business will be celebrating 10 years.

Danielle runs the business with her husband, Kyle, who she says is the brains. Kyle is the one who understands all of the IT stuff, and Danielle, over the last nine years has learned about how things work in terms of managing domains, emails, websites etc. She now sells the company so that Kyle and their team of 5 can do the work.

Before working with her husband, Danielle had several different jobs, but the last one in accounts and credit control is extremely helpful to make sure that Black Nova’s cashflow is correct and she keeps an eye on profit and loss.

When Danielle was first invited to visit Business Wise as a guest, she wasn’t that keen when she found out about the 7 am start, but after visiting she was surprised how much she enjoyed it, and how welcoming everyone in the room was.

According to Danielle, Business Wise is the reason that Black Nova has got to where we are today – partly because of the networking she now does. She found being able to communicate in person invaluable. Plus, during that time, she has made many good friends too. And she has found that there are many different businesses there that complement their business. And people genuinely do buy from other people in the room.

Danielle also talks about how she and Kyle, through the business sponsoring several events, including Event Horse of the Year for Horse and Hound. They also take stands at the Badminton Horse Trials, and are the only IT company there, which is also great for building their branding.

She also talks about the importance of having your own website, rather than just relying on social media.

If you’d like to know more about Danielle and Businesswise, visit https://businesswise.org.uk/ and if you’d like to visit email secretary@businesswise.org.uk – we do have to check first that your seat is vacant. If it’s not you will be put on a waiting list.

If you’d like to contact Danielle directly:

https://businesswise.org.uk/members/danielle-holmes/

Our host today is John Lewis, and he is talking to, our social media member, Hannah Edwards.

Hannah has been a member of the group for several years, and after initially joining as her own business, holding the virtual assistant seat, her seat now is social media, and she is representing her client, Scott Media. And at the beginning of the year, she took over the role of secretary of the group.

Hannah shares how her business has grown and changed over the last seven years, talking about how as a younger person, you often leap into business, without considering what it actually takes to be a business owner! She shares the things that she has learnt from Fiona Scott, her long-term client, and owner of Scott Media.

Hannah loves how supportive people are in the group towards everyone’s achievements and says it’s almost like being a family member- there’s always someone there at the end of the phone.

The three main things she thinks about being part of the group are:

• You only get out what you put in.
• You need to take up any advantages and opportunities offered.
• You learn how to help others run their business.

If you’d like to know more about Hannah, or more about Businesswise, then come along and visit us, or look at Hannah’s profile on https://businesswise.org.uk/