In this podcast Alan and Bhairav talk about the real world issues that are faced by entrepreneurs and small business owners
We have both run successful businesses, raised money, grown them globally and now we're giving practical advice to the next generation of entrepreneurs. We don't do platitudes.
We also talk to entrepreneurs from across the world and get them to share their stories and challenges
Culture is one of those words that gets thrown around in business without anyone pinning down what it actually means. In this episode of Real World Entrepreneurship, Bhairav and Alan dig into why culture is always set from the top, why most businesses have a culture they didn't deliberately choose, and what happens when nobody addresses the one person who doesn't fit.
Bhairav shares a story about working under a CEO whose shouting could be heard from down the street, and how that behaviour cascaded through every layer of management beneath him. Alan draws on his experience working across businesses led by very different personalities and offers a simple definition: culture is what a business tolerates, rewards, and prioritises.
Together they explore what it takes to actually shape culture rather than inherit it by accident, how to deal with outliers who undermine it, and why the real test of a company's culture is what happens when something goes wrong.
What We Cover
Why culture is always top-down, driven by the leader's behaviour rather than posters on the wall
The difference between culture by accident and culture by design
How toxic leadership patterns get absorbed by junior staff who don't have the experience to recognise them
Why values on a balanced scorecard often mean nothing in practice
Dealing with cultural outliers: when to coach and when to manage someone out
The generational dimension: how different age groups experience and expect workplace culture
Why the real measure of culture is how problems get handled, not how things look when everything is going well
Key Takeaways
Every business has a culture. The question is whether it was built deliberately or inherited by default.
Culture is what you tolerate, reward, and prioritise. If you tolerate poor behaviour, that becomes the culture.
In small businesses and startups, the founder's personality is the culture. There is no separation.
Young employees in their first or second role often can't see a toxic culture because they have nothing to compare it to.
Avoiding a difficult conversation about a cultural outlier doesn't make the problem disappear. It makes it structural.
Links
Bhairav Patel — https://bitsbytesandbusiness.com (https://bitsbytesandbusiness.com)
Alan Clarke / The Business Growth Partnership — https://tbgp.co.uk (https://tbgp.co.uk)
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Who has been a guest on Real World Entrepreneurship
Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.
Richard McCombe
Colin Kelly
Sanjay Rakshit
Lauren Young
Jane Doe
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
YouTube views
421
Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
1 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 44 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
51
Social presence
0
YouTube
66
Engagement
30
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Questions about Real World Entrepreneurship
Who hosts Real World Entrepreneurship?
Bhairav Patel and Alan Clarke and Alan and Bhairav and [Host Name] host the show. Published by Alan Clarke.
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Does Real World Entrepreneurship take guests?
Yes. Guests have been identified in episode analyses.
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