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SPOTLIGHT ON A CAP BUSINESS CLUB MEMBER
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Featuring Andrew Callard from Aimed Business
YOUR NAME? - Andrew Callard NAME OF YOUR BUSINESS? - Aimed Business WEBSITE ADDRESS? – www.aimedbusiness.co.uk WHAT DID YOU DO BEFORE YOUR CURRENT BUSINESS? – Business Development Director WHAT MADE YOU START YOUR CURRENT BUSINESS? – Conversation with my sister who asked me when I was happiest and felt most fulfilled when working. The answer was working for myself helping other businesses and organisations of all sizes grow by solving their problems practically. And the realisation that I could do something about missing my children grow up, because I was too busy working full-time building other people’s businesses. WHAT ARE YOUR HOBBIES? - Driving my children to their hobbies! Running with Newent Runners socially and competitively; gardening and wine-making to relax; hockey to prove I’m still young! WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE MOVIE? – I have got 2. Shawshank Redemption because whatever cards life deals you there is hope, if you take responsibility for your actions. Fantasia great classic music and cartoons, what’s not to love! WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE MEAL? - Proper fish and chips WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE UK HOLIDAY DESTINATION? – Hope Cove, Devon. My father found it in the 1950’s and we returned often as children. Spookily discovered that in the 1880 census the area it’s in had the highest density of our surname in the country! WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE HOLIDAY DESTINATION ABROAD? – difficult one for me as I’ve done a lot of travelling, but has to be New Zealand for its sheer variety. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE TV PROGRAMME? – at the moment, my wife would say Australian Masterchef and I would say I don’t know why it is! YOUR FAVOURITE SONG? – Loving listening to Ed Sheeran’s Divide at the moment. As a rugby and former chorister belting out Jerusalem take some beating. WHAT DO YOU MOST ENJOY ABOUT YOUR BUSINESS? – Variety and helping others to achieve their dreams and avoid costly mistakes through applying my experience to their problems and opportunities. IF YOU HAD A MAGIC WAND WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE ABOUT YOUR BUSINESS? Given the film answer and the sorcerer’s apprentice sequence, I’m tempted to pass on this question. But then I’d be ignoring my own tip. So the magic would somehow reduce the formality of being seen as Mr Callard rather than Andrew. WHERE DO YOU SEE YOURSELF IN 5 YEARS TIME? With the children nearly gone, having the time to travel again to the parts of the world I’ve not visited and at the same time keeping Aimed Business going along with other businesses like TWOGS.co.uk. So still having fun. DO YOU HAVE ANY USEFUL TIPS OR IDEAS THAT YOU COULD SHARE WITH THE OTHER CAP MEMBERS? – Avoiding the difficult or key questions you need to answer about your business just makes them more difficult. It took me ages to understand that being asked to face the difficult questions about what you want to achieve in life and business is not the same as being thrown a difficult question at school, where there appeared to be only one answer. There are no right answers in life and business. Just some that are better or more likely to get you where you want to go AND fit with the type of person you are now. So find an objective friend to help to face the answers and act upon them. HOW HAS CAP BUSINESS CLUBS HELPED YOU IN YOUR BUSINESS? – Business is a social activity which increasingly is on-line so being able to meet weekly and have a laugh should not be underestimated. Nor the ability to share what’s going on in my business and to listen to others to understand how I might be able to help to share their promotions more widely. But CAP is not just about what goes on in the room on a Thursday, it is also the ability to have 1 to 1 chats with members of this and the other groups. So when three of my larger clients over the last 4 years said did I know by chance an embroiderer, I could recommend Deezynes without pausing. Or more proactively when a client clearly needed an app and web designer, i-lateral was the answer I asked them to consider. And of course however difficult the request for print material, I know Graphic Shack can handle it- or tell me gently there is a better way! The ability to be able to refer with confidence helps Aimed Business overcome the perception that it is a one-man band as I can deliver bigger solutions which work with confidence and a massive credibility boost. |
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