Our Story

Our evolution, from 2008 - Present Day

It’s not sexy, but it is the truth.

Inside Our Journey

We never planned to launch Your Business World.  There was no flash of inspiration, no rallying to a cause and no telling a boss to shove it…well there is, but not in this story!

YBW kind of evolved into what it is today.

In fact, Your Business World started as something else.

Our story started in 2008, when shortly after taking the plunge and choosing to go self employed, our Founder, Brett Sheldon, was in the wrong place at the wrong time when the “credit crunch” hit and became an early casualty of the Global Credit Crisis.

2008
2014
2018
2020
2021
2023
2026

Started with FSB, signed 1700+ members

Left FSB, 1st Franchisee (pre launch) for Business First Network

Launched The BSO

Covid, online working…changed how we did things

Covid restrictions lifted

The BSO model couldn’t adapt to the new way of working.  Idea for a new way of working

Moving forward….evolution

Hey It Happens…

From Potential to Reality

But having a young family and the need to find an income, fast, was the catalyst to Brett applying for a sales position with the Federation of Small Businesses.  And the rest, with a career of working with over 3000 businesses, you could say is history. 

No flash of brilliance – just Brett doing his job…

 …okay, doing his job and going off script a little.

There is no big secret. 

Nothing particularly “special” happened. 

So Brett took action.

Simply obseravtions made from talking to, and more importantly, listening to Birmingham’s Small Business community, that their needs were not being met by your traditional business organisations.

Which over time led to YBW’s predecessor The Business Support Organisation launching in 2018 for a pre-covid world (who saw covid coming??).  And eventually in June 2023, culminated in the launch of Your Business World….a very different kind of business organisation.

And our “secret sauce”

Exactly the same as he did in his FSB days that his colleagues didn’t.

Simply asking

how can we help you?

Professional headshot of a portly, smiling man outdoors wearing a light purple shirt, with a friendly and approachable expression against a softly blurred natural background.

Brett Sheldon

YBW Founder