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Steve Leach

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Meet Steve Leach, the original "big mouth" behind digital marketing agency Bigmouth media.

This Scottish entrepreneur has taken his firm from a first year turnover of £200,000 to £70m last year. And that's not all. He's also made it onto Real Business' Top Ten Sexiest Entrepreneurs...

Rest assured, he's not just a pretty face, check out his musings on life, the universe and everything.

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Everybody makes mistakes. What’s important is not making them twice. img 1
By Steve Leach
The smallest detail can have a major effect. That’s why there’s such a thing as the importance of being earnest about customer service, and I learned about it recently while wrestling naked with a surprised Japanese man in an Amsterdam hotel.

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Don't slash marketing budgets! img 1
By Steve Leach
When the world goes to hell in a handcart, there’s two basic ways you can react. You can either run through the streets in a shrieking panic yelling ‘doom’ at everyone you meet or grit your teeth, buckle-up and get ready to meet the challenge head on – whichever you prefer.

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There's an upside to the downturn! img 1
By Steve Leach
There's been a lot of gloomy talk creeping through the digital sector lately. Perhaps that's understandable given the economic situation, but I really feel there's a real danger of letting the doom-mongers talk the industry into a black hole.

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101 things to do before you die.  img 1
By Steve Leach
Everyone should have a bucket list. A menu of enriching, exciting, inspiring and happily debauched experiences you want to try before you kick the bucket (die). Like a filofax for the soul.

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No rest for the wicked img 1
By Steve Leach
I'm not a big fan of the summer holiday season. It seems to slow the entire planet to a tedious and infuriating crawl.

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Much ado about property img 1
By Steve Leach
For the best part of a decade Britain has been going property mad. It seems as if every person I meet has a sideline investing in bricks and mortar.

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Phone culture img 1
By Steve Leach
You can say all you want about global marketplaces and the international language of business, but when it comes to navigating the world telephony network you really need to know your local rites and customs.

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Meet the new boss - same as the old boss. img 1
By Steve Leach
I always imagined that, somehow, technology was making the world a better place. I saw the high moral stance being taken by the sector and listened to its most successful corporations swear not to do evil. I thought that maybe this time round, big business was going to do things right. These days, I'm not so sure.

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Las Vegas: "A real-life Sodom and Gomorrah" img 1
By Steve Leach
I don't know if it's like this for everyone, but for me turning 40 turned out to be a time for reflection; mulling nostalgically over the journey so far and the people and places that whizzed by on the way. I even remembered my hair, and stopped for a moment to wonder what it's doing now...

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Scars, blisters and sores - all in the name of charity img 1
By Steve Leach
I have to confess, I had very high hopes when a squad from our office set off to take part in the Monster Bike & Hike, a 73-mile trek to raise funds for the Maggie's Centre cancer charity.

BUSINESS NEWS >>

Dragon Peter Jones says, "Clone me!"

By Rebecca Burn-Callander - July 03, 2009 11:28am GMT

Real Business spent an eventful cab ride with Dragons' Den's tallest investor earlier this week. Here's what he had to say about the recession, James Caan, his search for Peter Jones lookalikes and, most importantly, the next series of Dragons' Den.

Businesses to run in a recession: part three

By Rebecca Burn-Callander - July 02, 2009 4:43pm GMT

Even in a recession, a good entrepreneur is always on the look-out for the next hot spot. Don’t wait around for the upturn. These are the businesses you want to be in now.

Access takes another step towards sales target

By Catherine Woods - July 02, 2009 4:33pm GMT

Access founder Alistair O’Reilly has embarked on a “brand elevation” exercise as he aims to grow turnover at his consulting and software company to £100m.

Tech entrepreneur: "The banks won't lend you an umbrella when it rains"

By Rebecca Burn-Callander - July 02, 2009 4:22pm GMT

At a roundtable hosted by Dell this morning, Real Business heard three technology entrepreneurs talk about the challenges of growing a business during the recession. People aren't the problem, they say. It's the mindset of banks and other financial institutions that needs to change if we're to come out of recession.

Government fund provides a "timely injection of capital"

By Catherine Woods - July 02, 2009 4:06pm GMT

Octopus Ventures, which invests in entrepreneurial businesses, has welcomed the governments’ proposed £1bn innovation fund, saying it will support entrepreneurialism.


BUSINESS COMMENT >>

The first Apprentice wedding!

By Catherine Woods - July 03, 2009 2:35pm GMT

Well, well, well, look who’s engaged.

Sir Alan Sugar: "You're hired!"

By Rebecca Burn-Callander - July 01, 2009 1:12pm GMT

Great piece by The Telegraph's Richard Tyler today about the confirmed appointment of Sir Alan Sugar to the post of enterprise tsar. "A tentative date of July 20th has been pencilled in for his hairiness to don the rabbit fur," he says.

Pre-stained underwear: the next big thing?

By Rebecca Burn-Callander - June 22, 2009 2:54pm GMT

That's right. "Pre-stained". Suspend your disbelief for a moment. Canadian entrepreneur Philip Watson founded Easy Tiger Corp to peddle underwear that has been - ahem - ready-soiled, shall we say. And he reckons these nasty knickers will be a surefire hit with "the dudes".

It can only be... the Friday Funnies

By Rebecca Burn-Callander - June 12, 2009 12:16pm GMT

As swine flu hits the headlines for the second time, the swine flu jokes are just pouring in! Laugh till you oink, readers.

Jokes. Jokes. Jokes.

By Rebecca Burn-Callander - June 05, 2009 12:14pm GMT

Further to popular demand, this week we're devoting a whole section of our jokes blog to our hapless prime minister, Gordon Brown.


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