
How to sell your company with Paul Weeden
12/22/20 • 21 min
In this episode we hear from Paul Weeden who is the first How To Start Up guest to have not only started a company (at the age of 24) but also to have successfully sold it too.
Paul recognises that being your own boss is not as straightforward as it sounds: as it grows, so do your responsibilities. Having sold his business, he is now salaried again and is able to offer an interesting perspective on both employment options, especially amidst a pandemic which has changed employee freedoms forever.
Paul can be reached on [email protected]
Head over to Speakpipe to leave your voice note for future guests too.
Paul’s advice:
- Harness apprenticeships where possible if you’re starting out young
- Maximise your previous work experience
- Allow it to help determine your focus for your company’s aim
- Look for clients among people you already know and make sure you tell them what you’re up to
- Make sure you are always paid on time, ideally in advance
- Don’t undersell yourself
- Don’t be shy about referring to your company as ‘we’ not ‘I’
- Always be clear and focussed about what you have to offer. It’ll help clients know quickly if you’re a good fit
- When you are quoting for a job, make sure you understand what the client’s needs are and what problems they need solving: understand your customer
- Know that you must trust your team, and if you don’t, then make the necessary changes
- When you’re growing a business, get used to the cycle of ‘storming, norming, performing’
- Keep in mind you may need external senior support if you’re the company’s sole shareholder
- Maintain transparent communications with your team
- In a crisis, always look for the opportunity as with risk also comes reward
Links:
- LastPass the password keeping site that syncs between devices.
- Google Workspace is brilliant for small businesses
- I use Buzzsprout podcast 'how to' & hosting directory to create this podcast series as well as their super simple hosting platform.
- Canva has proved invaluable for creating all the social media assets and audio bites.
- For contracts check out Law Depot.
I would be delighted if you could rate, review and share this podcast with anyone else who may be starting a company in 2020 as it helps others to find it.
Hosted by Juliet Fallowfield, founder of PR for startups advisory Fallow, Field & Mason, How To Start Up hopes to bring you confidence, encouragement and reassurance that you’re on the right track.
Recorded, hosted & produced by Juliet Fallowfield and edited by Emma Dewhurst in December 2020. MUSIC CREDIT Funk Game Loop by Kevin MacLeod. Link & Licence
In this episode we hear from Paul Weeden who is the first How To Start Up guest to have not only started a company (at the age of 24) but also to have successfully sold it too.
Paul recognises that being your own boss is not as straightforward as it sounds: as it grows, so do your responsibilities. Having sold his business, he is now salaried again and is able to offer an interesting perspective on both employment options, especially amidst a pandemic which has changed employee freedoms forever.
Paul can be reached on [email protected]
Head over to Speakpipe to leave your voice note for future guests too.
Paul’s advice:
- Harness apprenticeships where possible if you’re starting out young
- Maximise your previous work experience
- Allow it to help determine your focus for your company’s aim
- Look for clients among people you already know and make sure you tell them what you’re up to
- Make sure you are always paid on time, ideally in advance
- Don’t undersell yourself
- Don’t be shy about referring to your company as ‘we’ not ‘I’
- Always be clear and focussed about what you have to offer. It’ll help clients know quickly if you’re a good fit
- When you are quoting for a job, make sure you understand what the client’s needs are and what problems they need solving: understand your customer
- Know that you must trust your team, and if you don’t, then make the necessary changes
- When you’re growing a business, get used to the cycle of ‘storming, norming, performing’
- Keep in mind you may need external senior support if you’re the company’s sole shareholder
- Maintain transparent communications with your team
- In a crisis, always look for the opportunity as with risk also comes reward
Links:
- LastPass the password keeping site that syncs between devices.
- Google Workspace is brilliant for small businesses
- I use Buzzsprout podcast 'how to' & hosting directory to create this podcast series as well as their super simple hosting platform.
- Canva has proved invaluable for creating all the social media assets and audio bites.
- For contracts check out Law Depot.
I would be delighted if you could rate, review and share this podcast with anyone else who may be starting a company in 2020 as it helps others to find it.
Hosted by Juliet Fallowfield, founder of PR for startups advisory Fallow, Field & Mason, How To Start Up hopes to bring you confidence, encouragement and reassurance that you’re on the right track.
Recorded, hosted & produced by Juliet Fallowfield and edited by Emma Dewhurst in December 2020. MUSIC CREDIT Funk Game Loop by Kevin MacLeod. Link & Licence
Previous Episode

How to become No.1 at what you do with Geoffrey Kent, Founder of Abercrombie & Kent
In this episode we hear from Geoffrey Kent, who not only founded world renowned luxury tour operator Abercrombie & Kent, but is also credited with creating experiential travel as a concept. I have long admired A&K for being leaders in sustainability across environmental, economic and social responsibilities.
Geoffrey shares his stories and experiences as an entrepreneur of nearly 60 years’ experience, including a foray into space travel and why delivering a business, service or product that no one else does is paramount for success as an entrepreneur.
Geoffrey founded A&K in Africa in 1962 with little more than a refrigerated ex-Army truck, and the best tents money could buy with the motto ‘off-the-beaten-track safaris’. Nearly six decades later, with Geoffrey still at the helm. If you’d like to get in touch with Geoffrey you can contact his team via [email protected] or A&K plus his book ‘Safari’ is also available.
Head over to Speakpipe to leave your voice note for future guests too!
Geoffrey’s advice:
- Have passion, as you need to love what you do: dedication and hard work are what it takes
- Never give up, always aim to be Number One
- Come up with something new, something that no one else offers
- Give your clients all your time and attention
- Listen to and learn from others; it helps to take notes
- Expect a long working day, and try to start each new day ‘driven’
- Think through your decisions, write them down and consider them carefully to make sure they are the right ones
- Turn your lifestyle into your business, not the other way around
- Plan a business cycle and commit to the years it’ll take
- Always put yourself into the shoes of your stakeholders so you know what they really want
- Be exacting with your due diligence
- Accept that you’re responsible for the company if you’re self employed and that you are ‘the last one in the room’
- Never send an angry email; draft it, save it and think about it again the next day
Links:
- LastPass the password keeping site that syncs between devices.
- Google Workspace is brilliant for small businesses
- I use Buzzsprout podcast 'how to' & hosting directory to create this podcast series as well as their super simple hosting platform.
- Canva has proved invaluable for creating all the social media assets and audio bites.
- For contracts check out Law Depot.
Thank you for listening. I would also be delighted if you could rate, review and share this podcast with anyone else who may be starting a company in 2020 as it helps other people find it.
Hosted by Juliet Fallowfield, founder of PR for startups advisory Fallow, Field & Mason, How To Start Up hopes to bring you confidence, encouragement and reassurance that you’re on the right track.
Recorded, edited & published by Juliet Fallowfield in September 2020.
MUSIC CREDIT Funk Game Loop by Kevin
Next Episode

How to manage stress & sleep with Gustav Lundberg Toresson, Founder of memmo
From forming his own startup at 18 and most recently Co-Founding memmo, today’s guest. Gustav Lundberg Toresson, is a Forbes 30 Under 30 board member and a born entrepreneur.
memmo is a platform where the likes of Sven-Göran Eriksson or Carole Baskin can record personalised video greetings for your own friends or family. With over 50,000 greetings to date, anything from proposals to pep-talks have already been shared.
Gustav shares his enthusiasm for the idea that an entrepreneur can - from their initial vision - follow any path she or he likes to turn that vision into a business and why sleep isn’t a waste of time.
Head over to Speakpipe to leave your voice note for future guests too!
Gustav's advice:
- Embrace uncertainty; you don’t need all the answers at once, you will find them along the way
- You will have many opportunities; the important thing is to prioritise
- Focus on your core offering and try not to be distracted
- Being disturbed by your phone or email distracts you for longer than you realise
- Make sure you have a well thought out product-to-market fit
- Be relevant; be aware of local differences in each of your target markets
- Sleep can definitely help with creativity, smart thinking and efficiency
- Try structuring your days so that you cluster meetings on certain days and keep other days free to concentrate alone
- Think about what makes you happy and what makes you anxious; try to interpret things in a positive light, and build on the positives so that you stay upbeat
- As an entrepreneur, you can go in any direction you like as there are no rules or right answers
- The exciting thing about being self-employed is that you can have a vision and act on it
- Try not to let stress drain you; learn ways of dealing with it, including having a mentor
If you’d like to contact Gustav, he can be reached on [email protected]
Plus you can find memmo on Facebook and Instagram.
The book Why we sleep by Matthew Walker is also available here.
Links:
- LastPass the password keeping site that syncs between devices.
- Google Workspace is brilliant for small businesses
- I use Buzzsprout podcast 'how to' & hosting directory to create this podcast series as well as their super simple hosting platform.
- Canva has proved invaluable for creating all the social media assets and audio bites.
- For contracts check out Law Depot.
Thank you for listening. I would also be delighted if you could rate, review and share this podcast with anyone else who may be starting a company in 2020 as it helps other people find it.
Hosted by Juliet Fallowfield, founder of PR for startups advisory Fallow, Field & Mason, How To Start Up hopes to bring you confidence, encouragement and reassurance that you’re on the right track.
Recorded, edited & published by Juliet Fallowfield in Septemb
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