We are excited to welcome Geoff Bird as our guest on Strive & Thrive Episode 24: The Best Leaders have Social Intelligence. Professor Geoff Bird is a cognitive neuroscientist, holding professorships at the University of Oxford, University College London, and a visiting post at Radboud University, The Netherlands. Author of around 240 papers, his work explores the neuroscience of individual and group performance, decision-making, social interaction, mental health, and neurodi

Strive & Thrive is excited to invite you to close out the year with our very first Advent Calendar - 24 Days of Insights. Each day, you will discover a curated quote of wisdom, a foundational insight, or a strategic takeaway for SME business leaders from one of our most impactful past episodes. This is a perfect opportunity for a quick, daily dose of inspiration and practical advice as you prepare for the new year. Advent Calendar Link What is Strive & Thrive? Strive & Thrive

This blog post, aimed at startups, scale ups, and SMEs, answers the question: What is a cash flow forecast? As fractional CFOs, we've lost count of how many times we've heard a business say: "We're making sales, we're profitable on paper, but we're always running out of cash." If this sounds familiar, don’t worry, you're not alone.

Today's UK budget announcements are not as scary for SME businesses as anticipated, with corporation tax and national insurance rates held, and a move to encourage investment to stimulate the economy. The Financial Market's neutral/marginally positive immediate reaction is a reflection of this. Nevertheless, SME businesses face stiff challenges in the light of National living wage changes which will increase employment costs, and SME business owners will be hit personally wit

We are excited to announce a Strive & Thrive Special episode this week (28th Nov, 12pm) where co hosts Romesh & Mike unpack the Budget, and discuss what it really means for SME businesses.  What does the Budget mean for my business? | Strive & Thrive #23 Romesh is the Founder of The FD Consultant , a group of fractional Finance Directors who support growing organisations. Mike Oliver   is the Founder of Easol and focuses on innovative solutions. They both share a passion for

We were really pleased to have Raj Thiruchelvarajah  as our guest on Thursday’s episode of Strive & Thrive! Riding the Scale Up Rollercoaster | Strive & Thrive #22 Raj Thiruchelvarajah is the Co-Founder and CEO of Hytro , a leading human performance business which produces Blood Flow Restriction (BFR) wearables. After 15 years in banking and consulting, Raj left the corporate world to build something more purposeful -  bringing a proven but complex scientific concept out of l

We are really pleased to have Maggie Sarfo as our guest on Thursday’s episode of Strive & Thrive! Strive & Thrive #21: AI Alone won’t Grow Your Sales Maggie is an award winning consultant driving revenue growth for SME’s, entrepreneur, writer and speaker. Join us, Romesh Jeyaseelanayagam ( The FD Consultant ), Mike Oliver (Easol) , and Maggie Sarfo at 12pm on Thursday as we discuss the intersection of Revenue Growth, AI, People and Processes. What is Strive & Thrive? Strive &

Can you believe it? Strive & Thrive  is celebrating its one-year anniversary and over 20 episodes! Time flies when you're having fun (and learning a ton!). We owe a huge debt of gratitude to our audience, phenomenal guest speakers, and the friends and colleagues who've supported us every step of the way. Thank you for being part of this incredible journey. We've evolved, we've polished things up, and we've gotten better, but the mission remains the same: to help entrepreneurs

You've got a brilliant idea for an early-stage start-up and perhaps you even have a prototype or some early traction, but you need capital to take things to the next level. Has SEIS ever been explained to you in depth?

We are really pleased to have Frances Holmes as our guest on Thursday’s episode of Strive & Thrive! Strive & Thrive #20: The Hard Truth About Bullying in Your Business Frances is the founder and CEO of Speak Out Revolution , a mission-driven venture using data to shake up how workplaces tackle inclusion. She has built a career in STEM while carving out space as a female entrepreneur driving change. By day, she’s an Account CTO at Microsoft; by night (and every other spare mo

We are delighted to welcome  Debbie Gilbert to Thursday’s episode of Strive & Thrive! Strive & Thrive #19 : Women in Business Debbie is an award-winning entrepreneur, author, and marketing expert with over 25 years of experience supporting SMEs. She is the founder of Viva Business Support (Business Education programmes), Businesswomen UnLtd  (Events services), and the Best Business Women Awards , which celebrates exceptional female entrepreneurs across the UK. Passionate ab

If hiring a full-time chief financial officer (CFO) feels premature or financially unfeasible, fractional CFO consulting might be precisely what your business needs. As your business grows, you will likely reach a pivotal moment where financial decisions feel increasingly complex and consequential.

The Strive & Thrive  podcast for Founders recently set up a new Linked In page. Come on over and join us! Strive & Thrive is a series of discussions aimed to inspire and provide insights to Entrepreneurs, Business owners and the Leadership teams of growing SME businesses. Romesh of The FD Consultant co hosts Strive & Thrive with Mike Oliver of Easol, and we bring on board various guest speakers with great experience and expertise. Easol , The FD Consultant , Mike Oliver , Rom

We are delighted to welcome  David King to Thursday’s episode of Strive & Thrive! Strive & Thrive #18: The Value of Time in your Business Dave is the CEO of Lbox communications , a B2B provider of print and marketing solutions. Passionate about growing a business with a positive impact, David spends his time trying to provide added value solutions for clients and staff - giving people more time to focus on meaningful and enjoyable tasks for them, whatever they may be. I’ve ha