Not Finished Yet

About Not Finished Yet

Not Finished Yet is a documentary-style podcast sharing powerful stories of people who reinvented their lives, careers, and businesses after 40. Each episode explores the moment everything changed — the redundancy, the risk, the decision to walk away, or the realisation that life needed a new direction. Through honest conversations and storytelling, we uncover how ordinary people built extraordinary second chapters. This is not about starting from scratch. It’s about starting again with experience, Personal Growth, Reinventing yourself and career change You're Not Finished Yet

Publisher

Mark Kennedy

Category

business

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

17 Mar 2026

Latest episode

26 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

32 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   26 Oct 2026

   The £100,000 Decision vs the £100 Decision | Why Businesses Focus on the Wrong Costs

   Why do businesses spend hours arguing over £100 while making £100,000 decisions with hardly any scrutiny?A manager questions a £50 expense claim but approves a £70,000 recruitment decision. A company negotiates small supplier savings while ignoring thousands in wasted labour. A business owner worries about software subscriptions but doesn't know which customers actually make money.Are we really controlling costs, or just controlling the costs that are easiest to see?In this solo episode of Not Finished Yet, Mark Kennedy draws on more than 35 years of experience building, managing and leading businesses to challenge how companies make financial and operational decisions.From recruitment and pricing to customer profitability, management meetings, budgets and investment decisions, Mark explores why businesses often focus on small, visible expenses while overlooking decisions that can cost tens or even hundreds of thousands of pounds.This isn't about encouraging waste. It's about understanding where management attention creates the greatest value.What you'll discover in this episode• The £100 argument: Why managers focus on small expenses while larger financial losses go unnoticed.• Expensive recruitment mistakes: Why employing the wrong person, or creating the wrong role, can cost far more than their salary.• Pricing and profitability: How a small discount can dramatically reduce gross profit.• The hidden cost of meetings: Why management time is an expensive resource that businesses rarely measure.• False economies: Why choosing the cheapest supplier, equipment or software can sometimes cost more.• The cost of doing nothing: How delaying difficult decisions creates unnecessary expense.• Customer profitability: Why your biggest customer isn't necessarily your most profitable.• Budgets and business performance: How departmental cost savings can damage overall company profitability.• CEO priorities: Where business owners and senior leaders should focus their time and attention.The uncomfortable questionAre you making the decisions that genuinely improve your business, or simply the decisions that are easiest to control?Mark examines realistic business scenarios, including recruitment, equipment investment, pricing decisions, customer relationships and operational inefficiencies.He challenges the belief that cutting costs automatically improves profitability and explains why understanding gross margin, cash flow, working capital and the true cost of decisions is essential.The Not Finished Yet TestThe episode finishes with seven questions designed to challenge how managers, business owners and CEOs spend their time, allocate resources and make decisions.What is the most expensive problem you're currently ignoring?Which cost-saving decision is actually costing your business more?Are you spending your time on the decisions that really matter?Whether you're a business owner, entrepreneur, managing director, CEO or departmental manager, this episode offers practical business lessons and a different perspective on financial discipline, leadership and decision-making.Because good management isn't about controlling every pound. It's about understanding which decisions make the biggest difference.After 35 years in business, Mark Kennedy is still learning, challenging conventional thinking and questioning how businesses can operate more effectively.And that's why we're Not Finished Yet.#BusinessManagement #BusinessLeadership #BusinessOwners #Profitability #BusinessDecisions #CostControl #FinancialManagement #Leadership #Entrepreneurship #NotFinishedYet

2. 

   19 Oct 2026

   If I Started a Business Again Tomorrow | The Blank Sheet

   If you had to start a business from scratch tomorrow, knowing everything you know today, what would you do differently? Would you employ people immediately? Invest in premises? Borrow money? Chase every customer? Or would you approach things completely differently? In this solo episode of Not Finished Yet, Mark Kennedy draws on more than 35 years of experience building, managing and leading businesses to explore how he would start a company today — and why many traditional approaches to entrepreneurship may no longer make sense. This isn't another textbook guide to starting a business. It's a practical discussion about the decisions entrepreneurs face, the mistakes worth avoiding and how experience changes your approach to building something profitable and sustainable. Mark explores ten key decisions involved in starting and growing a successful business: • Choosing the right business idea: Solve a genuine customer problem rather than falling in love with your own idea. • Testing demand: Establish whether customers will actually pay before investing heavily. • Starting lean: Why expensive offices, large teams and unnecessary overheads can wait. • Understanding your finances: Cash flow, working capital, profitability and knowing your numbers from day one. • Pricing for profit: Why winning customers at any price isn't sustainable. • Using AI and technology: How artificial intelligence, automation and digital tools can transform how small businesses operate. • Recruitment and outsourcing: When to employ people, when to outsource and how to control costs. • Building systems: Creating processes that allow a business to operate without depending entirely on its founder. • Finding the right customers: Building profitable, long-term relationships rather than chasing turnover. • Creating future value: Why growth, profitability and eventual exit opportunities should influence decisions from the beginning. Technology has changed what's possible. Tasks that once required employees, expensive software or external agencies can increasingly be handled through AI, automation and affordable digital systems. But technology doesn't replace the fundamentals. You still need customers, sensible pricing, financial discipline and a compelling reason for people to choose your business. Mark explores how he would approach these challenges today, including what he would prioritise during the first 90 days. It's possible to build a company with impressive turnover, employees and customers while remaining responsible for every decision. But what happens when you want to step back, take a holiday or eventually sell? A successful business should create value beyond the person who started it. Mark discusses why building a company that can operate independently should be part of your thinking from day one. Whether you're starting your first business, launching another venture or running an established company, this episode offers practical insights, real-world experience and questions worth asking yourself. Because starting a business isn't just about having a great idea. It's about building something that works commercially, financially and operationally. And after 35 years in business, Mark Kennedy is still learning, still building and still looking for new opportunities. That's why we're Not Finished Yet. 👍 Enjoyed the episode? Like, subscribe and share your experiences in the comments. 💬 YOUR TURN: If you started a business tomorrow, what's the ONE thing you'd do differently? #StartingABusiness #Entrepreneurship #BusinessStartup #BusinessOwner #BusinessGrowth #BusinessAdvice #AI #Leadership #NotFinishedYet WHAT YOU'LL LEARNSTARTING A BUSINESS IN 2026 IS DIFFERENTARE YOU BUILDING A BUSINESS OR CREATING YOURSELF ANOTHER JOB?THE NOT FINISHED YET TEST

3. 

   12 Oct 2026

   Stop trying to be the cleverest person in the room | Leadership, Ego & the Power of Listening

   Does being the boss mean you have to be the smartest person in the room? And could your ego be holding back your team, your business and your own success?In this solo episode of Not Finished Yet, Mark Kennedy draws on more than 35 years of experience in business, management and leadership to explore one of the biggest challenges facing managers, business owners, directors and CEOs: the need to always be right.We've all encountered leaders who believe their job title makes them the most knowledgeable person in the room. They dominate meetings, dismiss challenges, take credit for other people's ideas and surround themselves with people who agree with them.But does confidence equal competence? And what happens when employees become too frightened to tell the boss the truth?Mark reflects on his own leadership journey, from being a young manager determined to prove himself to becoming an experienced business leader who recognises that the best people in your organisation should know things you don't.Because leadership isn't about proving how clever you are. It's about creating an environment where other people can succeed.In this episode, Mark explores:• Confidence vs competence: Why the loudest person in the room isn't necessarily the most capable.• Leadership and ego: How the need to be right can damage decision-making and business performance.• The danger of yes-men: Why surrounding yourself with people who always agree can be disastrous.• Hiring people smarter than you: Why strong leaders aren't threatened by talented employees.• Giving credit where it's due: Why taking recognition for your team's achievements destroys trust.• Experience vs arrogance: Why 35 years in business doesn't automatically make yesterday's solutions right for tomorrow.• Creating a culture of honesty: Why employees stop telling management the truth — and the consequences for a business.• Listening without losing authority: How to consider different opinions while still making difficult decisions.• Admitting you're wrong: Why changing your mind can demonstrate strength rather than weakness.• Developing future leaders: Why your success should be measured by the people you help develop.The uncomfortable question every leader should askAre you more interested in being right, or getting the right result?Mark challenges the traditional view of leadership and explores why some of the most valuable knowledge in a business comes from people on the shop floor, dealing with customers or managing everyday operations — not necessarily those sitting around the boardroom table.He also examines how leadership must evolve as responsibilities grow, and why the manager you were at 25 shouldn't necessarily be the leader you are at 55.The Not Finished Yet TestAs with previous solo episodes, Mark finishes with seven questions every manager, business owner and CEO should ask themselves, including:When was the last time somebody genuinely changed my mind?Who in my organisation feels comfortable telling me I'm wrong?Am I employing people who are better than me?And am I more interested in being right than achieving the right outcome?Whether you're stepping into your first management position, leading a growing business, managing a larger team or operating at C-suite level, this episode offers practical leadership lessons, personal reflections and some uncomfortable truths about management.Because the higher you climb, the less important it becomes to prove how clever you are — and the more important it becomes to recognise the abilities of the people around you.After 35 years in business, Mark is still learning, still challenging his own thinking and still discovering that experience doesn't mean having all the answers.And that's why we're Not Finished Yet.#Leadership #LeadershipDevelopment #Management #BusinessLeadership #LeadershipSkills #BusinessOwners #CEO #EmotionalIntelligence #ManagementMistakes #NotFinishedYet

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