In 2021, a record 5.4 million new businesses were started in the US. Worldwide, the numbers were staggering as The Great Resignation continued with work decisions changing based on factors brought on by the pandemic. Some of the new businesses were planned or dreamed about for years while others, especially in the US, took advantage of stimulus checks and employees decided to leave their “corporate handcuffs” and live out their entrepreneurial dreams.
For some, they had the background, knowledge and experience to apply to the new skills needed as a small business owner. Others, turned to online classes and courses and some, podcasts. By following a variety of podcasts, new business owners could accelerate their learning and glean ideas from those that had gone before them. The “do’s and don’ts” of other business owners’ experiences and stories formed a learning base to build on.
Here is a list of some of the top podcasts for new business startups. This list includes podcasts from all areas of business – from HR to accounting to marketing and social media. Each podcast can be a gold mine for new owners to mine when they are stuck or ready to move to a new phase of their businesses.
Top HR Podcasts:
Transform Your Workplace with host Brandon Laws. This podcast has over 350 episodes and was started in 2012.
Transform Your Workplace covers topics from workplace culture to leadership to workplace trends. More recent episodes talk about communication in the workplace and stresses its importance, dealing with A$$ bosses and how to deal with uncomfortable topics.
DriveThruHR with hosts Mike Van Dervort, Robin Schooling, Dwane Lay and
Crystal Miller Lay. Their episodes are typically shorter ones (you might listen as you eat lunch) and they cover a range of topics with information good for all sizes of businesses. Topics include HR Technology, Recruiting, Talent Management, Leadership, Organizational Culture and Strategic HR.
Top Accounting Podcasts:
Mastering Your Small Business Finances Podcast with Chris Panek. Chris is a CPA, Business Strategist and Business Coach. This is a nuts and bolts podcast that gets into the nitty gritty of basic business accounting and bookkeeping. It covers everything from software to managing bank feeds (yes, there is an episode about that!) to how to channel your passion into money. 
Accounting Best Practices hosted by Steven Bragg This gem of a podcast literally covers everything accounting related along with specific accounting for different types of businesses. There are episodes covering Non Profit accounting to healthcare industries and even commercial fishing industries. Each episode is less than 10 minutes long and it’s a jam packed 10 minutes. In addition, the podcast website has an index of the episodes so you can search for a specific topic or category. If you want to make sure you aren’t money laundering, there’s even an episode about that.
Top Marketing Podcasts
This Old Marketing with Joe Pulizzi and Robert Rose The name suggests that it’s a marketing remake of This Old House – bringing old things back to life but this is not the case here. This podcast hashes out all that is new and current in the marketing world today. Episodes average around an hour and with weekly episodes, the topics are timely. For those business owners that want to stay on the cutting edge of marketing, this is the podcast for them. 
The Duct Tape Marketing Podcast hosted by John Jantsch The podcast inspired by a marketing system for small businesses designed and developed by host John Jantsch. For the small business owner that finds marketing intimidating, this is a terrific podcast to soothe those nerves. The episodes are typically less than 20 minutes long so there is not an overwhelming amount of information coming at you. The guests are well known in their respective industries and bring different experiences and stories to the podcast.
Top Social Media Podcasts
Social Media Marketing hosted by Michael Stelzner, founder of the Social Media Examiner. An all purpose podcast that spreads its topics through all the platforms of social media. This podcast airs weekly so the episodes are current what’s trending in social media. Because the podcast covers all the social media platforms there is a vast amount of both educational content and informational content as well as entertaining content.
Top General Business Podcasts
The StartUp Junkies Podcast is hosted by Jeff Amerine and his team from Startup Junkie Consulting. This is a great all purpose podcast with a vast array of topics covering all aspects of small business startups. If you are looking for an entrepreneurial topic, you will find it here. It’s a startup university in podcast form!
Youpreneur: The Profitable Personal Brand Expert Business! hosted by Chris Ducker is another general startup podcast that covers all areas of entrepreneurship. As is popular with many business podcasts, the episodes are quick -most are less than 30 minutes. The episodes jump right into valuable content without wasting a lot of time so there is a great deal of value in each episode.
For small business owners, the variety of podcasts available to them are virtually endless and the stories of successes – and failures – can inspire every entrepreneur that is struggling with any number of different aspects of their businesses. Chances are, someone before you has “been there, done that” and can provide guidance and motivation along the way.
August 2022 Issue
