Serial entrepreneur and former fiery Dragon’s Den star James Caan is set to join Yahoo Finance as an expert contributor from next week.
The weekly column will feature Caan’s response to questions from Yahoo users on entrepreneurial topics such as business planning, marketing strategy, and product development.
He foresees that many growing businesses may still have Brexit on the mind, reeling from the uncertainty following the EU referendum.
“With the Brexit Butterfly Effect, it’s true to say that every business will be affected, good or bad, in some way,” he says. According to Caan the biggest growth obstacle since the vote is in attracting the right skills and talent.
“The challenge has been that there are fewer potential candidates, as the average employee does not want to risk changing jobs, maybe because they feel better protected in longer-term, ‘safe’ positions,” he adds.
As a way to Brexit-proof talent retention, Caan suggests business owners conduct an evaluation of their workforce and their skillset, mapping skills gaps and investing in training and development. “Moreover, the ability to embrace change is crucial.”
This Yahoo Finance column is the latest feather in Caan’s entrepreneurial cap.
As one of the ten ‘most followed’ people on LinkedIn, Caan reaches more than 2.7 million followers around the world, while The James Caan Business Secrets App reaches 260,000 users regularly.
Caan kicks off his weekly column with a Facebook Live stream at 12.30pm next Tuesday on the Yahoo UK & Ireland Facebook page. Viewers are invited to submit questions in real time on Facebook, LinkedIn, email, or by using the hashtag #AskJames on Twitter.
