The CALM Business Podcast

di Shona Motherwell

Stagione 1

Getting control of your IT before it controls you

Is your IT holding your business back without you even realising it? Today's episode covers how to get control of your IT infrastructure before it starts controlling you. Joe McAuley from Tech First IT Solutions Ltd joins me to share practical advice for business owners who are firefighting IT issues rather than managing them. We look at four aspects: ➡️ Control - how to get a clear picture of what you have, identify your critical systems, and make sure someone in your business owns the relationship with your IT setup. ➡️ Assess - how to identify your risks and gaps, from backup testing to security, and why you need to plan for where your business is heading, not just where it is now. ➡️ Leverage - why bringing in an external IT partner often works out cheaper than managing it in-house, and what good external support actually looks like. ➡️ Maintain - how to stay on top of your IT proactively, what monthly reporting should cover, and why quarterly reviews with your IT partner make a real difference. It's not just a conversation however. We've taken our chat a step further by creating a quiz to accompany the conversation. Take the quiz and you'll receive a bespoke report with advice from Joe that you can implement immediately. Get bespoke advice from Joe This podcast will give you an insight into the expertise offered by Joe. If our conversation has you thinking about vulnerabilities in your IT system, Joe can help. Joe can give you the support you need to ensure your IT systems are built to support your business with the backup you require. Links Check out Joe’s website Get in touch via LinkedIn ___ Our podcast is designed to bring you interesting and valuable conversations with trusted, expert suppliers and advisors who provide a wide range of services that you might need in your business. I want to spend time chatting to these experts because there is so much expertise across our supply chain that we can all learn from. We're using our C-A-L-M acronym because the podcast will cover everything from sales and marketing to IT, professional services, property and FM, net zero, utilities, business support, and HR, so you can expect a wide variety of guests and topics. I've set up The Independent Buying Group to help small and medium-sized businesses find the suppliers they need to grow. If you need support with sourcing, negotiating contracts, or managing suppliers, we can help your team build a supplier strategy aligned with your business goals. Get in touch and see how we can help

S1 · E9

10 giu 2026

20:05

Team conflict destroying productivity? Learn workplace mediation to resolve disputes

Is conflict in your team costing you more than you think? Well, Malcolm is here to give you some pointers on how to address team conflict. This episode covers how to resolve workplace disputes before they do lasting damage to your team. Malcolm Currie from Strathesk Resolutions is an expert in workplace mediation and he covers four practical steps to manage conflict and get your team back on track. ➡️ Curiosity - Malcolm shares why the most important starting point is not stopping the difficult behaviour, but understanding what is driving it. The behaviour is usually a symptom, not the problem. ➡️ Adaptability - find out why handling conflict well means adjusting your approach to each individual, and how getting to know people as human beings rather than just colleagues changes everything. ➡️ Listening - how to go beyond hearing the words and pick up on what is really being said, including tone, body language, and the emotional signals that tell you what actually matters to someone. ➡️ Mediation - how to know when to bring in structured support, whether internal or external, and why solutions that people reach themselves are the ones that stick. It's not just a conversation however. We've taken our chat a step further by creating a quiz to accompany the conversation. Take the quiz and you'll receive a bespoke report with advice from Malcolm that you can implement immediately. Get bespoke advice from Malcolm This podcast will give you an insight into Malcolm's experience at supporting businesses resolve a wide range of conflict that can develop within your teams. If our conversation has made you think about an issue in your business that really does need to get fixed, get in touch with Malcolm. Malcolm's external support can help resolve any team issues you may be facing in your business. Links Check out Malcolm’s website Get in touch via LinkedIn --- Our podcast is designed to bring you interesting and valuable conversations with trusted, expert suppliers and advisors who provide a wide range of services that you might need in your business. I want to spend time chatting to these experts because there is so much expertise across our supply chain that we can all learn from. We're using our C-A-L-M acronym because the podcast will cover everything from sales and marketing to IT, professional services, property and FM, net zero, utilities, business support, and HR, so you can expect a wide variety of guests and topics. I've set up The Independent Buying Group to help small and medium-sized businesses find the suppliers they need to grow. If you need support with sourcing, negotiating contracts, or managing suppliers, we can help your team build a supplier strategy aligned with your business goals. Get in touch to see how we can help.

S1 · E8

4 giu 2026

24:53

Mastering client negotiations to protect your profitability

Are client negotiations leaving you feeling like you gave away too much? Well, Florence can help with that! Today's episode covers how to approach client negotiations with confidence and come away with a deal that actually works for your business. ⁠Florence Rolland⁠ from ⁠Negotiate Limited⁠ is an expert in negotiation and she covers four practical steps to get better outcomes with your clients. ➡️ Confidence - Florence shares how to prepare properly before any negotiation, including why writing down your position and practising out loud makes a bigger difference than most people expect. ➡️ Asking - find out how to ask the right questions to understand what your client actually needs, and why asking is a sign of strength, not weakness. ➡️ Leverage - how to identify what you have to offer and use tradables effectively, so you can push back on price pressure without damaging the relationship. ➡️ Movement - how to decide before you sit down what you will and will not compromise on, so you are never pushed past a point that stops the deal working for you. It's not just a conversation however. We've taken our chat a step further by creating a quiz to accompany the conversation. Take the quiz and you'll receive a bespoke report with advice from Florence that you can implement immediately. Get bespoke advice from Florence This podcast episode gives you a glimpse of Florence's expertise in objectively looking at any situation which needs to be negotiated and developing a strategy to support it. If our conversation has you thinking of any difficult negotiations coming up, do get in touch. Florence can help you develop a strategy to help with client negotiations & understand where your boundaries are on what's an acceptable outcome. Links Check out Florence’s website Get in touch via LinkedIn ___ Our podcast is designed to bring you interesting and valuable conversations with trusted, expert suppliers and advisors who provide a wide range of services that you might need in your business. I want to spend time chatting to these experts because there is so much expertise across our supply chain that we can all learn from. We're using our C-A-L-M acronym because the podcast will cover everything from sales and marketing to IT, professional services, property and FM, net zero, utilities, business support, and HR, so you can expect a wide variety of guests and topics. I've set up The Independent Buying Group to help small and medium-sized businesses find the suppliers they need to grow. If you need support with sourcing, negotiating contracts, or managing suppliers, we can help your team build a supplier strategy aligned with your business goals. Get in touch and see how we can help

S1 · E7

29 mag 2026

21:34

Tired of expensive hiring mistakes? Get a CALM approach to smarter hiring.

Tired of making expensive hiring mistakes? Well, Nik can help with that! Today's episode covers how to build a hiring process that finds the right people, not just the best CV. Nik Plevan from eTalent is an expert in behavioural recruitment and he covers four practical steps to hire with confidence. ➡️ Capture - Nik shares how to write job adverts that attract the right candidates, including why being transparent about salary makes a bigger difference than you might think. ➡️ Assess - find out why CVs are not a reliable screening tool, and what to look at instead to identify candidates with the right soft skills for your role. ➡️ Learn - how to use behavioural profiling to understand what motivates a candidate and whether they will thrive in your team and your environment. ➡️ Match - how to structure your final selection process, from group interviews through to background checks, so you make the right offer to the right person. It's not just a conversation however. We've taken our chat a step further by creating a quiz to accompany the conversation. Take the quiz and you'll receive a bespoke report with advice from Gordon that you can implement immediately. Get bespoke advice from Nik This podcast will give you a glimpse of Nik's experience in recruitment and how he's used that to develop a truly unique platform, eTalent. However his team go way beyond a "platform" solution, offering support with a fully managed recruitment process so do get in touch with him if you have any recruitment coming up in your business. Links Check out Nik’s website Get in touch with Nik via LinkedIn ___ Our podcast is designed to bring you interesting and valuable conversations with trusted, expert suppliers and advisors who provide a wide range of services that you might need in your business. I want to spend time chatting to these experts because there is so much expertise across our supply chain that we can all learn from. We're using our C-A-L-M acronym because the podcast will cover everything from sales and marketing to IT, professional services, property and FM, net zero, utilities, business support, and HR, so you can expect a wide variety of guests and topics. I've set up The Independent Buying Group to help small and medium-sized businesses find the suppliers they need to grow. If you need support with sourcing, negotiating contracts, or managing suppliers, we can help your team build a supplier strategy aligned with your business goals. Get in touch and see how we can help

S1 · E5

20 mag 2026

20:42

Are your sales & marketing team not working well together? Break down silos for aligned sales growth

Are your sales and marketing teams both focused on the same objectives? If not, today's episode of our podcast can help with that! Today's guest, Gordon Ross from GR23 Marketing covers how to align your sales and marketing teams so they are pulling in the same direction. Gordon is an expert in sales and marketing alignment and he covers four practical steps to get both teams working towards the same goals. ➡️ Collaborate - build a simple, consistent rhythm between sales and marketing for shared insights ➡️ Align - find out how to agree on what a good lead looks like, so both teams are measuring success in the same way. ➡️ Link - how to connect your systems and processes so that collaboration happens day to day ➡️ Measure - how to move beyond individual team metrics and track the numbers that show whether the business is actually growing. It's not just a conversation however. We've taken our chat a step further by creating a quiz to accompany the conversation. Take the quiz and you'll receive a bespoke report with advice from Gordon that you can implement immediately. Get bespoke advice from Gordon This podcast will give you a glimpse of Gordon's experience in working with businesses to align sales and marketing functions to ultimately drive business growth. If you think your sales numbers should be higher or you suspect that there may be a misalignment with your teams do get in touch with Gordon for some expert advice. An external eye can often spot what needs tweaked. Links Get in touch with Gordon via LinkedIn ___ Our podcast is designed to bring you interesting and valuable conversations with trusted, expert suppliers and advisors who provide a wide range of services that you might need in your business. I want to spend time chatting to these experts because there is so much expertise across our supply chain that we can all learn from. We're using our C-A-L-M acronym because the podcast will cover everything from sales and marketing to IT, professional services, property and FM, net zero, utilities, business support, and HR, so you can expect a wide variety of guests and topics. I've set up The Independent Buying Group to help small and medium-sized businesses find the suppliers they need to grow. If you need support with sourcing, negotiating contracts, or managing suppliers, we can help your team build a supplier strategy aligned with your business goals. Get in touch and see how we can help

S1 · E4

19 mag 2026

23:58

Struggling to reach your ideal customers? Develop your CALM go-to-market strategy that convers!

Struggling to reach your ideal customers? Well, Kirsty can help you! Todays episode covers how to develop your go-to-market strategy for business owners. Kirsty Jagielko from ThrivePath is an expert in marketing strategy and she covers four practical steps to identify your customer and improve your marketing activity. ➡️Customer clarity - Kirsty shares how to define exactly who your ideal customer is, so your whole team is working towards the same target. ➡️Address pain points - find out how to identify what your customers actually need to solve, and make sure your messaging speaks to that. ➡️Locate your audience - how to find where your customers are and focus on the right one or two channels, rather than spreading yourself too thin. ➡️Motivate to act - how to create urgency and build enough trust that your ideal customer chooses you over everyone else. It's not just a conversation however. We've taken our chat a step further by creating a quiz to accompany the conversation. Take the quiz and you'll receive a bespoke report with advice from Kirsty that you can implement immediately. Get bespoke advice from Kirsty This podcast will give you a glimpse of Kirsty's expertise in developing marketing strategies for a wide range of businesses. If you realise that you need to develop a strategy for your business, or refine your existing one, get in touch with her for an initial conversation. Kirsty can help develop your macerating strategy to support your business growth. Links Get in touch with Kirsty via LinkedIn ___ Our podcast is designed to bring you interesting and valuable conversations with trusted, expert suppliers and advisors who provide a wide range of services that you might need in your business. I want to spend time chatting to these experts because there is so much expertise across our supply chain that we can all learn from. We're using our C-A-L-M acronym because the podcast will cover everything from sales and marketing to IT, professional services, property and FM, net zero, utilities, business support, and HR, so you can expect a wide variety of guests and topics. I've set up The Independent Buying Group to help small and medium-sized businesses find the suppliers they need to grow. If you need support with sourcing, negotiating contracts, or managing suppliers, we can help your team build a supplier strategy aligned with your business goals. Get in touch and see how we can help

S1 · E3

19 mag 2026

20:53

Still winging it when it comes to sales? Get calm sales momentum in your business

Most business owners know they should be doing more sales activity. But, doing it consistently can be so, so hard to implement when life is busy! In this episode of our podcast I am talking to Anna Payne - Sales Training about this very thing. Anna is an expert sales coach who works with business owners to improve their sales activities. In our conversation we cover 4 aspects to improve your sales activities: ➡️ Consistency - Anna shares her advice on how to block out time for sales activities. ➡️Attraction - find out about the key aspect to attract your potential customers ➡️Leads - how to maximise the warm leads you already have before looking for new ones ➡️Mindset - the big one! Ensure your mindset is working with you to support your sales activities. Sales doesn't need to be sleezy. It's not just a conversation however. We've taken our chat a step further by creating a quiz to accompany the conversation. Take the quiz and you'll receive a bespoke report with advice from Anna that you can implement immediately. Get bespoke advice from Anna Our conversation will give you a glimpse of Anna's expertise in developing a do-able sales strategy in your business. If you realise that you need some external advice and support to develop a sales plan get in touch with Anna for an initial conversation. Anna helps business owners to develop a long term sales strategy to support business growth. Links Check out Anna’s website Get in touch with Anna via LinkedIn ___ Our podcast is designed to bring you interesting and valuable conversations with trusted, expert suppliers and advisors who provide a wide range of services that you might need in your business. I want to spend time chatting to these experts because there is so much expertise across our supply chain that we can all learn from. We're using our C-A-L-M acronym because the podcast will cover everything from sales and marketing to IT, professional services, property and FM, net zero, utilities, business support, and HR, so you can expect a wide variety of guests and topics. I've set up The Independent Buying Group to help small and medium-sized businesses find the suppliers they need to grow. If you need support with sourcing, negotiating contracts, or managing suppliers, we can help your team build a supplier strategy aligned with your business goals. Get in touch and see how we can help

S1 · E2

19 mag 2026

27:52

Fed up firefighting in your business? A clear business plan will help!

Today I'd love to share our first episode I recorded with Stephen O'Donnell ⁠ from Action Coach Glasgow East. He has so much knowledge to share on business planning so our chat only scratches the surface however we do cover some critical points to think about in your business: ➡️ Clarity - without it, you and your team will be reactive rather than focused on your strategic goals. ➡️Alignment - if your team don't know the priorities they will struggle to deliver ➡️Leverage - how to ensure you (as the owner) don't become the bottleneck and you can leverage the skills around you ➡️Measurement - the old chestnut of you can't manage what you can't measure is true but measurement also lets you see your progress. It's not just a conversation however. We've taken our chat a step further by creating a quiz to accompany the conversation. Take the quiz and you'll receive a bespoke report with advice from Stephen that you can implement immediately. Get bespoke advice from Stephen This podcast will give you a glimpse of Stephen's expertise in supporting business owners to move from the tactical day-to-day, that we all get stuck in, to taking time to develop a strategic plan. If you recognise that you need to develop a robust business plan to support your business growth, get in touch with Stephen for an initial conversation. He can offer support with business planning to support your growth along with a wider approach to business coaching. Links Check out Stephen’s website Get in touch with Stephen on LinkedIn ___ Our podcast is designed to bring you interesting and valuable conversations with trusted, expert suppliers and advisors who provide a wide range of services that you might need in your business. I want to spend time chatting to these experts because there is so much expertise across our supply chain that we can all learn from. We're using our C-A-L-M acronym because the podcast will cover everything from sales and marketing to IT, professional services, property and FM, net zero, utilities, business support, and HR, so you can expect a wide variety of guests and topics. I've set up The Independent Buying Group to help small and medium-sized businesses find the suppliers they need to grow. If you need support with sourcing, negotiating contracts, or managing suppliers, we can help your team build a supplier strategy aligned with your business goals. Get in touch and see how we can help

S1 · E1

19 mag 2026

17:24

Introduction to The CALM Business Podcast

Trailer

Introducing The CALM Business Podcast where I, Shona Motherwell Founder of The Independent Buying Group, get a chance to talk to some of our expert, vetted suppliers and industry experts. Our guests will share some of their advice about how to tackle common issues they see in business and give you practical, expert advice on what to do next. Each episode comes with a quiz aligned to the conversation so you can do a quick self assessment and then get a detailed report from our guest with bespoke advice for you. If you're wondering where the "CALM" comes from, it's our Code of Conduct for all suppliers and buyers we work with: Clear communications Accountable behaviour Legal standards and Moral & ethical business We've kept the "CALM" theme going through the podcast for two reasons. We will be interviewing guests from a diverse range of industries so we're using that acronym to create a consistent format for each episode where guests choose some words as a kick off point for each part of our conversation but more importantly Our Code of Conduct has been designed to ensure we don't need to work with arseholes - life is too short We want to to bring some CALM to your life by only working with trusted, expert suppliers (and customers) who sign up to our Code of Conduct & won't leave you tearing your hair out!

19 mag 2026

1:28