Mind Your Business With Sara & Helen

In our weekly therapy session, Sara and Helen deal with listener queries about how to keep going in the workplace, making the right move after a change of professional circumstances, and what it takes to be a mentor. We also appoint a Japanese ambassador without approval (cheers, Levan), and get a rude - if not terrifying - interruption from the gals' dad, Frank.

The girls are back from a family holiday, and - in addition to sharing poolside antics - can't resist deconstructing their trip from a business perspective. What do you expect? It's in their bones! When it comes buying a package holiday or, indeed, a sausage, there are no shortage of options for the consumer. So how do you differentiate yourself from the competition, especially if you're not as cheap? Sara and Helen have loads of ideas as to how to make your product or service sizzle. We also ave a neat tip regarding credit cards, and their dad Frank makes a welcome return to the pod with words of wisdom about loyalty.

As has become the norm in our weekly Q&A, everyone's favourite entrepreneurial agony aunts, Sara and Helen, field queries from our wonderful community with the help of ... our wonderful community! So it is that Jo, Julie and Ali receive advice and ideas on how to build trust in a new product, broaden a client-base and avoid being a busy fool. If you want help with your business, email hello@mybpod.com.

Risk it all, be hyper-conservative, or position yourself somewhere in between? Growth is sexy, as Sara feely admits, but not necessarily the right way to develop your business. The girls reflect upon the merits of pushing on or holding back when it comes to expansion. And there are merits to both, depending on your circumstances. Plenty to consider, including whether it's an ambition you even want to embrace. Sara's husband, Simon, makes his debut on the podcast with some practical accountancy advice, and Jill wonders if she's the only one who thinks her friends perceive small business owners to have endless amounts of free-time (surprise, surprise - they don't, is the general consensus) ...

Michelle, Jojo & Savannah have queries - with Michelle getting bespoke advice from our Facebook community. Superb advice from the gals, as ever. We'd love your questions, so email us at hello@mybpod.com. Sara also promises you information on franchising, so if you're keen to get involved, here are one or two places to start ...RightbizFranchise Direct UK Which FranchiseDaltons Business

Helen describes this as one of the biggest lessons she's learnt in business: if you want to make even a single sale, you have to bend your back. She and Sara have tales to tell as to where they've got it wrong on this front, and plenty practical advice so you can avoid making the same mistakes. Uncle Matt offers words of wisdom on AI, Helen reveals a weekly win regarding her bank account, and Sara explains why she's amassed a wardrobe stacked full of purple garments. We also hear why every business could do with appealing to Janets, Jeans and Emmas ...