Marlow FM 97.5 broadcast for a week from a coffee shop in the high street in Marlow. So Biz Buzz the programme about business moved out of the studio. It was all part of the “Love Marlow” initiative about bringing communities together.
Getting away from the studio encouraged discussion of getting away from your business. As I had to get used to different technology and a different environment it allowed for a different way of being and thinking.
Jean Wolfe presenting the Biz Buzz show on Marlow FM with guests Jan Campbell and Alice Nugent.
The studio was located in the front of Starbucks and as the weather was warm all the windows were pulled right back. So effectively it felt as though we were on the street. I first noticed that people were smiling at me, and then I started smiling at everyone too. It was a wonderful sensation and I imagine because they could see I was part of a radio station they felt more relaxed than if we had crossed paths in the street. Usually I am in the studio with a guest and the outside world is not so evident.
When I was joined by Jan Campbell and Alice Nugent they too enjoyed the fun of it. So even while we had a good conversation we were aware of all the people going past.
Getting away in the old days meant getting away from the office. Then it meant getting away from your laptop. Now it means turning off the mobile phone in your pocket and forgetting about it. Once you can get away from the insistent demands from the world, you have more chance of tuning in to you and actually improving the quality of your thinking.
So as we were “out of the office” I asked Jan and Alice about where they wanted their business to go, and how they wanted their life to be in,
say, 5 years time. This is exactly the sort of question that can be hard to answer if you are jumping up and down and responding to clients all the time.
Alice started Hippopot is a medical herbalist and after 10 years of individual consultations has added another income stream to her business. She is making teas for specific ailments that produce the desired result. So her teas can help promote sleep, reduce anxiety and so on. Unlike chinese herbs that are bitter to taste, Alice has made her teas pleasant to drink so they can be a natural part of life rather than be viewed as a medicine. Her plan for the next 5 years is to increase the sales of her teas and so reach more people than is possible just with one to one meetings. Basically she wants to scale her business up. See her business at Hippopot.
Jan helps business define their strategy and therefore make it more successful – depending on what success means to them. She loves working face to face with companies but is keen to factor in her personal life as well. Having spent many years helping corporates and not having enough time for her own life she now wants to make sure she supports her lifestyle rather than fitting her life round it. Jan’s answer fits very much into the zeitgeist. See Jan’s website
Do you want to work for somebody else all the hours of day and night? That is what many corporate jobs offer. Lots of money but no life.
Do people want to simply look after children, or at the end of the age spectrum just retire?
No most people I speak to want a business doing something they love but having time for social life and personal life… time for a lifestyle.
A “lifestyle” business has traditionally not been seen as a serious business but I feel it is the way forward for the future.