by Alan Clarke
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
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Publishing Since
12/14/2020
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June 29, 2026
<h3>Real World Entrepreneurship with Bhairav Patel and Alan Clarke</h3><p>Richard McCombe is Managing Director of Graphic Warehouse, Scotland's largest independent large format print company. In this conversation, Richard takes us through twenty years of building and rebuilding the business, from early vehicle graphics work to a decade of consumer products that never quite scaled, through to the pivot that finally made everything click and the AI tooling he's building now.</p><p>This episode is about the real cost of innovating without commercial clarity, and what it actually takes for a traditional industry to stay relevant.</p>
June 22, 2026
<h2>Introduction</h2><p>In this episode of Real World Entrepreneurship, Bhairav and Alan dig into a question every business owner wrestles with: what's actually worth worrying about? Between cash flow, co-founders, market reception and the things you genuinely cannot see coming, it's easy to spend energy in the wrong places. Alan and Bhairav talk through how they've each dealt with the unexpected over the years, including a deeply personal story from Alan about a cancer diagnosis that tested everything he believed about planning and control.</p><h2>What You Will Learn From Listening</h2><ul><li>Why detailed planning gives a false sense of control, and why that's not actually a problem</li><li>The difference between risks worth preparing for and risks not worth the effort</li><li>How COVID exposed which businesses could adapt and which couldn't</li><li>Why Eisenhower's two quotes on planning are more useful than any risk register</li><li>How Bhairav's experience selling Atom challenged his own assumptions about strategy</li><li>Why founders should run a "hit by a bus" scenario on themselves, not just key staff</li><li>Alan's personal account of being diagnosed with cancer two weeks after buying a company</li><li>What the "trough of disillusionment" is and why it hits most founders around six months in</li><li>How to tell the difference between problems worth carrying yourself and problems you can hand off</li><li>A simple test for deciding whether something is actually worth worrying about</li></ul><br/><h2>Memorable Quotes</h2><p>"No matter how thorough your risk register, things will happen that you've not even thought of." — Alan Clarke</p><p>"That is not very convenient." — Alan Clarke, on being told he'd be off work for six months following his cancer diagnosis</p><p>"You're the one living it, no one else is doing it for you. You've built up all those years of experience. Trust yourself, back yourself." — Bhairav Patel</p><p>"I worry about everything, and seldom did any of it ever happen. The things that I really, with hindsight, should have been worried about were the things I never saw coming." — Alan Clarke</p><h2>Summary</h2><p>This episode opens with a simple premise. Founders spend a huge amount of energy worrying about business risk, but most of that worry is misdirected. Alan and Bhairav use Eisenhower's two famous quotes on planning, that no plan survives contact with the unexpected, and that planning itself is invaluable even when the plan isn't, as a frame for the whole conversation. They walk through real examples, including COVID and Bhairav's own experience selling Atom, to show that the businesses which fared best weren't the ones with the most detailed contingency plans. They were the ones able to adapt quickly when circumstances changed.</p><p>The conversation takes a more personal turn around the halfway mark. Alan shares that seventeen years ago, two weeks after buying a company, he was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer and told he'd be off work for six months. It's a candid, unguarded section of the episode that grounds the whole discussion in something real. Bhairav uses it to raise a question most founders avoid: what happens to your business if you, personally, can't show up?</p><p>From there the discussion moves into founder fatigue, the point around six months into a venture where the initial energy fades and the gap between expectation and reality starts to bite. Alan and Bhairav both offer practical ways of testing whether something is genuinely worth worrying about, including a method Alan picked up from a former boss: ask whether it will still matter in a year.</p><p>This is worth listening to if you've ever felt overwhelmed by the sheer volume of things that could go wrong in your business. Alan and Bhairav don't offer a formula. What they offer instead is a more honest, more useful way of thinking about risk, and a reminder that resilience matters more than any plan ever will.</p>
February 23, 2026
<p>Bhairav Patel recently achieved a significant milestone with the sale of Atom CTO, a venture that exemplifies the culmination of strategic planning and resilience in entrepreneurship. In this discourse, Alan and Bhairav delve into the intricate journey leading to this exit, elucidating the factors that propelled the company towards acquisition. Bhairav reflects on the initial vision he and his team held for Atom and the evolution of that vision amidst changing circumstances and personnel dynamics. The conversation also highlights the unpredictability inherent in the entrepreneurial path, particularly regarding exit strategies and timing, and emphasizes the importance of delivering value to clients to attract potential buyers. Ultimately, this episode serves as a profound exploration of the realities of entrepreneurship, shedding light on the multifaceted nature of business growth and the nuances of exiting a venture. The dialogue between Bhairav Patel and Alan Clark delves into the intricate narrative surrounding Bhairav's recent divestiture of Atom CTO, a venture that epitomizes strategic foresight and meticulous planning in the realm of entrepreneurship. The conversation unfolds with Bhairav articulating the foundational intentions that guided the inception of Atom, wherein the initial deliberations encompassed the dichotomy between cultivating a lifestyle business versus orchestrating an enterprise poised for acquisition. Through a methodical examination of the evolution of Atom, Bhairav illustrates a trajectory that was not merely circumstantial but rather a calculated progression towards an eventual exit. He reflects on the various transitions, including personnel changes and the inherent challenges that accompanied the scaling of the business, emphasizing the necessity of alignment among the founding members to mitigate conflicts and maintain a coherent vision. As the discussion progresses, Bhairav elucidates the pivotal moments that crystallized the notion of an exit. He recounts the organic evolution of relationships with other companies, particularly Taybridge, demonstrating how these partnerships were not just opportunistic but foundational to Atom's growth narrative. The conversation also touches upon the unpredictable nature of market dynamics and the realization that an exit strategy is often contingent upon external factors rather than solely the entrepreneur's aspirations. Bhairav candidly acknowledges that while they harbored ambitions for growth and influence, the eventual sale was as much a product of timing and circumstance as it was of deliberate strategy. The episode culminates in a reflective discourse on the notion of success and the disillusionment that can accompany the sale of a business. Bhairav candidly shares that the experience of selling Atom was not marked by a grand celebration but rather a series of administrative procedures that lacked the dramatic flair often associated with entrepreneurial exits. This revelation serves to demystify the entrepreneurial journey, presenting it as a continuum of challenges and triumphs rather than a singular, climactic event. The overarching message resonates with aspiring entrepreneurs, emphasizing the importance of adaptability, resilience, and the understanding that the journey is as significant as the destination itself.</p><p>Takeaways:</p><ol><li data-list="bullet"><span class="ql-ui" contenteditable="false"></span>Bhairav Patel discusses the strategic planning involved in the sale of Atom CTO, emphasizing that the exit was always a part of their vision.</li><li data-list="bullet"><span class="ql-ui" contenteditable="false"></span>The journey to successfully exit a business often involves navigating various challenges and aligning the interests of all stakeholders involved.</li><li data-list="bullet"><span class="ql-ui" contenteditable="false"></span>Bhairav reflects on the importance of building a company that provides exceptional value to clients,
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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
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