E48 That Great Business Show - Catherina 'Cat' Butler - Naked Collective, Alan O'Neill - 'supercharge your business', Catherine Cleary, Ashe Conrad Jones - Pocket Forests

That Great Business Show

E48 That Great Business Show, 'Ireland's best business podcast'

Presented by Conall O Móráin

3.00" Rita Ora (yes, that RO) introduces our first guest, Catherina 'Cat' Butler, co-founder with Niall Phelan [both founders are vegan] of The Naked Collective drinks company. Cat was previously a financial controller at Lifestyle Sport, something called a 'Business Navigator' with IKEA, Finance Director at United Drug, CFO at logistics company Primeline…so all in all, nothing to do with a drinks company…AND we just love that. A truly great pivot!

They produce 'naked' (nothing added, only goodness) drinks under the Mude (beloved of Rita, see above) and the So.Beer non-alcoholic beer.

She explains how IT company ORTUS (www.Ortus.ie) found a workaround to stop their emails (with the word 'naked' in them) being sent to spam.

She was looking for something bigger, a business that would allow her to live out her 'true values'.

She wanted to leave a legacy of which she could be proud.

She explains how to win a crowded marketplace and how she managed to get the support of big name retailers, including Spar and BWG, at the very beginning. They've recently been nominated for the Spar International Brand Challenger programme that will give them visibility across 13,500 shops across 48 countries.

They're already selling in Ireland, the UK, Italy, Canada and the USA, where co-founder Niall has just re-located (with his family) to spearhead the 'Naked' assault on the North American market.

They produce their products in the UK, Mississippi, USA and Niagra Falls, Canada. Cat explains how bad Brexit was for them. They aim to produce their drinks as near to their markets as possible.

Their product was featured at the Academy Awards - and she explains how they pulled that one off.

They have already raised €6 million last October and they're currently raising another €6 million for sales/marketing to grow their brands particularly in North America. Their entire team, to date, has been hired 'virtually' during the Pandemic.

She wants TeamGBS to buy their products, available in Spar, Tesco and Lidl, and she wants your feedback. They're also open for funding and happy to talk to anyone who might like to invest. Her hire in a heartbeat? Roz Purcell.

26.00" Alan O'Neill, author of Culture Matters - the 4 must have values to supercharge your business.

'Secret' One - is the organisation culture. Culture is the most important driver of business success. He explains what he means by corporate culture. He explains why and how respect is essential in a business. But, how do you get people to adopt a corporate culture? Alan tells us how. We discuss 'pigs' working in financial services and the destruction they can leave behind.

'Secret' Two - having a North Star. The team has to 'sing off the same hymn sheet'.

He talks about how to train young, seventeen year-old, employees and getting them to adopt the business aims.

'Secret' Three - have an ongoing review of the company strategy as companies evolve more and more rapidly nowadays. Alan thinks that 400 days is about the furthest out any business can realistically forecast nowadays.

'Secret' Four - people. He explains 'customer centricity, accountability, respect and agility' - he gives examples for each in just two minutes - total!

His 'hire in a heartbeat' - he's not allowed to mention one woman, but he chooses Martin Tobin of Landbell

46.00" Catherine Cleary, Ashe Conrad-Jones, co-founders of Pocket Forests - planting forests in just 6sq metres. Their business is based on a 1970s concept from Japan. Interestingly, they say there are no others doing what they're doing across the island. We ask how much the service costs...but did we get an answer? They argue that planting trees in cities add value to property values.

They have been hired by the Digital Hub to plant a forest in a skip. Thorntons skips have given them a free skip to plant their forest, and there's a logical reason why the skip is planted in a skip. You can now sit in your own little forest and eat lunch.

Their ideal clients will have land and money and they'd love to have a developer on board.

Interesting they use a 'no dig' method - that is fascinating and includes the 'lasagne method' and coffee sacks.

And how many clients do they need to justify a business? Is it a side hustle? No. They both want it to be a their bread and butter business.

They're still running their numbers, something that Deborah Meaden on Dragon's Den might not approve of.

They're looking at a 'meal pack' of trees that they could send in the post to budding gardeners. They're already working with the Newry Felons, former political prisoners in Northern Ireland.

The biggest forest they want to plant is only half a tennis court sized.

The dynamic duo promised faithfully to post themselves on LinkedIn, where TeamGBS will be able to get in touch with them. Meanwhile they're on www.pocketforests.ie

Their 'hire in a heartbeat' is actor, Viking and trees podcaster David Oakes.

www.ThatGreatBusinessShow.com is proudly sponsored by www.DeFactoShave.com

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