SmallBizPod #51 – Interview with Nigel Botterill of thebestof

This week SmallBizPod #51, the podcast for small business owners and entrepreneurs, includes an interview with Nigel Botterill, chief executive of thebestof.co.uk about online business, franchising and how his local information site became one of the most visited UK websites. There’s also the usual round up of comments from listeners and some summery electronica.

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Show Notes

Summary

Intro:

• 00:00 Alex on what’s coming up in the show.
• 01:24 Many thanks to Eric Dadoun and Skyler Clarke for helping me develop the SmallBizPod Facebook app, which lets anyone on Facebook install a player that plays the latest podcasts. You can find out more about it at the SmallBizPod Facebook group.

Features:

• 02:48 Interview with Nigel Botterill, chief executive of thebestof.co.uk. Nigel explains how the business evolved from the community magazine business his wife had built up and franchised. He talks about how the business has grown rapidly from its launch in 2005 to over 330 local sites, and how he developed its online franchise business and revenue model. Nigel and Alex also discuss how he dealt with the leap from his corporate background to a career as an entrepreneur, the importance of responding and adapting for success, how he built a team, recruitment and the inspiration of thinking big.

Comments:

• 22:52 Email from Mark Wood about how the inspiration and practical advice he’s received from SmallBizPod has helped him and his wife build their business.
• 25:14 Comments on the blog from Ian Denny re business failure and Fiona Brown on 50 episodes.
• 27:11 Latest people to sign up to the Frappr map including: Ed Masters in the French Alps, Jon King in Newport and Stefan Drew.
• 28:08 Audio comment from Gagandeep Sapra.

• 30.10 Music – Emaze by bitbasic with many thanks to Monotonik.

Tags: small business podcast, thebestof.co.uk, startups, internet business