Joel & Ben on What’s Next for Business in 2026 (and What 2025 Taught Us)

0:00There's nothing like a 40-year-old guy and a 51-year-old guy sat there going, let's look through the hot trends with a Z on the end. They'll have to need like a top of the pops like Runda. Yeah. Coming in at two.

0:15The Businessmen, sponsored by BT Business. Hello and welcome to The Businessmen with him, Joel Domit. Yes, it is. And this guy, Ben Shepard. Hey, you look good in 2026. Good on you. Thank you very much. Thank you very much over the Christmas period. I've come back with a new sense of self. Really? Nah. I'm the same as I was in 2025. That's good news, but we are optimistic and we're excited about the new year. Oh, yeah, baby. We are going to reflect on what we've learned so far, Joel, in 2025 on this journey as bona fide businessmen. Yep. It's not enough to say that word. No, it's not easy. We're going to sort of make some resolutions.

0:57We're going to talk about what our plans are. And also, I think it'd be quite good to take stock at the beginning of January of some of the hot business trends that we're expecting in 2026. Ooh, I'd love that. Are you a hot, trendy type person? Am I ever. Hot, bendy person. Oh, yeah. Have you seen me touch my toes? I have seen you in your sauna. Yes, that's right. And she's still not happy about it. sabrina karen i have been listening to a new show from the binge called fatal fantasy i am obsessed wait i need to know more tell me tell me everything okay i will it's a very shocking it's this like ultra weird crime story of a murder for hire plot that yeah wait for it leverage the dynamics of the underworld and underworld being a medieval fantasy game wait So it's live action role playing gone wrong.

1:55Horribly wrong. And you can binge all episodes now. Oh my God, that sounds so good. I know what I'm doing on my drive home today. Search for Fatal Fantasy and subscribe to the Binge Podcast channel on Apple Podcasts or at getthebinge.com. And then once you're done, you can listen to one of the over 60 true crime and investigative podcasts a part of the channel while you wait for the next month's drop. I really need to know what happens. Selfishly, you do so that we can talk about it. So whenever you listen, search for Fatal Fantasy and hit subscribe to The Binge to get all episodes all at once ad free.

2:30So wellness tech is going to be even bigger. I wear an aura ring, which is a bit of wellness tech. Have you got a... I used to do a whoop. A whoop band? And I think it's really great. But I sort of have stopped wearing it as much now because I go through periods of using it and it really helps me. and then at the moment I'm in a period of like, I know when I'm tired. You don't need a watch to tell you. I think it's having a young child. Because like, I don't need someone to tell me that I've had not enough sleep. But when you haven't got a young child, I think wearables are fantastic. Hannah wears an aura ring.

3:08Her aura ring told her that she was pregnant. That's right. Isn't that Matt? I remember you telling me. Because there was a change in her. Yeah. The heat of a... It essentially went like, Oh, you're either feeling stressed or you could be pregnant. And she's like, well, I've got nothing to be stressed about. So it's, I think, and then she did a pregnancy test and the aura ring was right. The aura is always right. The aura was right. But wearable tech, biohacked, data driven. So things that track your cortisol levels, track your temperature, tailored to your DNA. And also longevity-focused skincare is an interesting thing.

3:51Sort of like the idea that you can go into a business of some sort, a biotech business, and they will assess your skin, they will assess your DNA, they will work out what it is that's going to fit for you and your skin makeup and actually start providing you with the tools and the potions and the lotions that's actually going to... Which is mad. But again, that's where obviously we're all going, right? Maybe something we should look into. But that thing where like, it's obviously moved on from someone going, have you got dry skin or oily skin? I've got oily skin. This is the product. It's like everyone's so complex, you know?

4:28So that's very interesting. Yeah, so we've got wellness is going to be super high tech. Second one, hot trends. Hot trends. Something like a 40-year-old guy and a 51-year-old guy sat there going, let's look to the hot trends with a Z on the end. They'll have to need like a top of the pops like Rundown. Yeah. Coming in at two. Sustainability as a status symbol. Eco-conscious choices aren't just ethical, they're aspirational. Refillable packaging, upcycle materials and circular business models are the new luxury flex. So Debra Meaden's business, Snoop, great example of recyclable soap dispensers.

5:08I think it's soap flakes. because she was talking about the damage that soap dispensers do, the amount of plastic that that puts into the environment is absolutely astronomical. And she is really, really keen. So I think one of the things that definitely we will be considering, won't it, is the green credentials and nature of what we're going to do in our products and what they're going to look like because the demand from customers and consumers is not just about sort of what we want to do, it's what you have to do. You've got to be eco-conscious. Everyone plays their part. Comfort first consumerism.

5:42So products that promise emotional reassurance, soft textures, calming scents, nostalgic flavours are all trending. As a host of a very nostalgic flavoured TV show in Tipping Point, I would agree. And it's been around quite a while. And this morning. And this morning, yeah. You are full of nostalgia. I'm nothing if not nostalgic. And you've been on television a long time, so people trust you. You are a nostalgic person in life. It's why everyone loves watching an I'm a Celebrity Get Me Outfit. There's something about an ant and deck that makes you just go like, oh, it's like a blanket. Yeah. That makes you just go like, oh, these guys I've watched since I was like 12.

6:21Yeah. Like a cheeky Geordie hug. Yep. Sandwich. They are a cheeky Geordie little duo. Domit meat in the middle. Oh, yeah. Every now and again. I wouldn't say in the middle, just slightly on the outside. Every now and again, they'll text me back and I get excited. What about this next one, number four? I'm interested to see how you pronounce it. Fidgetal. Is it fidgetal or fidgetal? Fidgetal? Yeah, it would be fidgetal, wouldn't it? Fidgetal or fidgetal retail experiences. Now, this, I think, is right up my street. So your shops aren't just shops anymore. They are what's being described as immersive playgrounds.

7:00So AR mirrors, so augmented reality mirrors. So you go up to a mirror in a beauty department or it could be a glasses shop or whatever, and it assesses your skin or assesses your face shape and then it recommends products specifically for... Oh my God, that's unbelievable. Everything that you need, what your skin needs, longevity, all those bits and pieces. I think the blending of sort of the digital world with the physical world is just going to become more and more connected. Yeah, yeah, for sure. When I read AR mirrors, I just read R mirrors and I thought it was a mirror for a pirate. R mirrors!

7:38Maybe you've not grown up. I'm supposed to be a comedian. Yeah, there was a little bit of that. Do you know what I mean? Do people pay to come and see yourself? Man, I wouldn't. And judging by the sales at the Palladium in April, not a lot of other people will lay that. Hold on, hold on. Here's the thing. Palladium, April. How many people in the Palladium? I don't know. I think it's like maybe 2 ,000, 2 ,500. This is a great opportunity for some surveys. Oh my God, that's so true. If I could get everyone goes the Palladium to sell our survey time. That's absolutely fantastic. Survey time, survey town.

8:12Maybe I should just get audiences to fill out a survey. Hold on. For the survey, why can't we give away some tickets to your show? Absolutely. Because it sounds like there's a few goings. There's plenty of space. I will be giving away 10 ,000 tickets. You and Peter Kay. that's a great idea we'll put that in the bundle that people can win if they fill out the survey that's in the bio of myself and Ben's Instagrams the fidgetal or fidgetal retail experience I think is going to be I'm all for that what's a 5? subscription everything so I mean everyone's doing subscription models with absolutely everything Amazon has absolutely smashed that from skincare refills to AI curators snack boxes the subscription economy is thriving um so if you can get people to sign up and be sent something you know once a month uh once every six weeks once every two weeks instead of having to re-buy re-buy re-buy that's um a key to a lot of businesses i think my entry level to that was beer subscription um and i really enjoyed it like a curated box of uh craft beers was the first time I started doing that and you can dip in and out of whether you keep doing it or not.

9:33But I love that. But you can do it with cosmetics, do it with any sort of products you need. I don't really do it. I don't. I'm very naive to the subscription model. For me, I think I'm a control freak and I like to control everything. When I want something, I want to buy it. I'm very old school like that, I think. And whenever everything's like, do you want to subscribe to this thing? Even though I might buy it at fairly regular intervals. maybe it's because though my life it'll way less so than you i think because you're in such a routine of like four days a week you do this job yes you get up at this time you get home at this time it's very regulated so you probably use the same amount but sometimes i'll be like away for two weeks so i won't use the coffee in order to subscribe and then i end up with three bags of coffee and i'm like oh yeah that it stresses my life out so much you've got to be on top of the admin of it as in taking pausing and stuff like that which that's it i'm like that takes more admin yeah then just buying the thing in the first place but when you run out and you haven't got any man that i think it's one of those things where like it's technology trying to help us but it's making it worse it's like the automatic tap or the automatic hand dryer yeah the automatic hand dryer where you're like trying to sort of wave to the automatic hand dryer to get it to work in order and then it doesn't work so you're just waving your hands around like a shit magician But your hand's dry.

10:55And you're like, just give me a towel. What was wrong with the towel? But the towel shares germs. Hygienically, it's not great. Someone told me the other day that there's so much more germs in a hand dispenser. Imagine it. When you think about this, this is going to change your life. It's going to think about it. Imagine it takes toilet air and it makes it warm and blows on your hands. It's taking particles of shit, making warm shit on your hands. I just wipe it on my jeans. So you don't now? You just wipe it on your jeans? I've always just wiped it on my jeans. But if the particles are in the air anyway, then your jeans are covered in them too.

11:39Maybe the takeaway from all of this is no matter what happens, we're all covered in shit.

11:48I feel like we're starting in just the right note. And a bonus one. Bonus one. Male fashion trends. Vibrant colours are back. Come on, the vibrant colours. Look at our microphone colours. Of it. They are vibrant. The purple. We're not wearing very vibrant colours. No. I'm really into brown at the moment. Yeah, that's a strange colour. Speaking of colour, isn't it? shit. I've just realized that I got my colors done. Have you ever heard that? I've not had it done properly, but yes, I've fascinated. Fascinating. But you have very brown coloring. Brown eyes, brown hair, brown beard, brown t-shirt, brown...

12:29It just is my color. My colors are autumn. So you aren't very on trend then? I'm very not on trend. Well, we will turn that around. Of course, 2026, because we have to get you into vibrant colors.

12:42We experts in the field, friends of ours on the show as well. I thought it'd be quite interesting to look back on some of the thoughts that they have had on what we're trying to do. Yes, that sounds fantastic. Sounds good to look back, isn't it? Do you remember us recording our first ever show? When Nish Kumar came in and told us it was going to be a terrible idea. Your wonderful, wonderful friend, Nish, who is absolutely awesome. this is Nish's reaction when we told him that we are starting a skincare business me and me and Ben Shepard from GMB this morning yeah legend yeah of television yeah and Joel Domit from the jungle yeah from the jungle we're starting a skincare business

13:33love that laugh it brings It brings joy to my heart and fear to the far right. They are always quaking when they hear that high-pitched giggle. Love that boy. So our first tip, I think, very much, believe in yourself because not everyone will. Yeah. Yeah, that is so true. That's such a good tip. and I think that although Nish's initial reaction was laughter and sort of disbelief, I think by the time we talked him off that perch, he'd come round to it a bit more. Yeah, he went, you know what, that does make sense, I think. And I think that's generally everyone's reaction when we tell them to do it.

14:19Everyone goes, what? And then goes, yeah, you know what, that actually makes sense. I can see why you would love to do that. And so hopefully that will show itself in terms of, you know, people wanting our product. Number two tips, takeaway from our business. Tip number two, Deborah Meaden gave us a very, very clear message when you talked to her. If you want people to take you seriously and invest in you and your business, then you need to do this. Of course, there are men's skincare ranges. and you know other than every skincare product that comes into the den we're told it's the best it does this for you you know so but but you've got to be able to explain your reason to be so I don't know what I think about your men's care range okay so what's its reason to be the why the clear purpose is really important I think it's not something we're missing we're figuring that out slowly but i think um i think you need a real sort of a sense of self i think i think when we've talked about it and we're distilling it down high performance male skincare that's simple that's effective and that's fun i want to tell you guys about a podcast that is near and dear to my heart and i cannot believe it already came out a year ago and you can all go listen to it ad-free by subscribing to the Binge podcast channel.

15:46What podcast, Corinne? Tell us. Oh, it's called Blink Jake Handel's Story. I created it about a man named Jake, who I met, who is the only survivor of a terminal brain illness brought on by heroin use. But there is a lot of mystery and medical malpractice and true crime elements that are very shocking and surprising and even some supernatural elements. So this is definitely - An amazing story. It's very unique. And you did such an incredible job telling the story and sharing it with the world. So if you have not listened to it yet, my goodness, where have you been? Because Blink is so freaking good.

16:22Thank you. Search for Blink wherever you listen. And subscribers to The Binge will get the entire season ad-free. Plus, you'll get exclusive access to the over 60 other true crime stories on The Binge podcast channel. Hit subscribe on Apple Podcasts or head to getthebinge.com. you know what's what we're trying to achieve with this podcast is just taking all of these guests taking all of this knowledge we're going to really start to delve in now into the skincare business side of things we're learning a lot about business now and then we're going to like really delve into the skincare side of things and really learn what is effective what isn't what ingredients work what don't what's what people want on their face and then hopefully Hopefully we'll be able to give it to people who want a bit of guidance.

17:08Give it to the people. Give it to the people. By the way, when we are ready, Debra Meadon's expecting us to pitch to her. Oh, my God. Yeah. Not from the sauna. Oh, well, damn it. So we're going to have to work on that. Damn it. I work best when I'm sweaty. With topless. Topless, sweaty. Just in a towel. Come on. Matt Edmondson came in. Brilliant, Matt. I love Matt Edmondson. Broadcaster. What a guy. and of course radio broadcaster and podcaster also has an extraordinarily successful board game business. Comes up with ideas all the time for new board games, gets them sort of made himself. He sort of gets them all sort of stocked in things.

17:50He controls the whole thing. It's been an amazing journey to sort of get to the place where he is now. Yeah. It's such a huge business. And what I really loved about what Matt was saying to us which I think really resonates for both of us because we've been very clear about our lack of experience and what I think he said that really he sat with me is you don't need to pretend to know all the answers. My advice would be to find people that can help with the tricky bits. Find the right people and don't feel embarrassed about being the least knowledgeable person in a room. I quite like that in life in general.

18:26Any project that I ever work on, I sort of want to be the person who feels like they're on work experience and have the grown-ups do their own stuff that's such good that's such good advice isn't it you know not being afraid to be the the stupidest person in the room you know we can do that yeah yes we can we definitely do good something a crossfit athlete said that I think it's really important I try and sort of take this in life quite a lot he said if you're if you're the fittest person in the room you're in the wrong room yeah and it's the same it's like this if you're the smartest person in the room you're in the wrong room because like then just like you know you've got no one to learn from too bad yeah yeah so matt was brilliant uh the brilliant nikki chapman came in while you were over in australia with your kangaroos bits and pieces uh nikki who was talking a lot about i mean she ran pr in the world of music like for every david bowie prince um spice girls she launch Spice Girls, take that.

19:22Just, it was so brilliant talking to her and some of the stuff that she'd been involved with. And I was sort of trying to apply Nikki for information because if you're going to get a group, how do you get fans to fall in love with that group and support them and buy their records and go on tours and buy their merchandise and all that stuff? How do you do it? And she had some really, really smart ideas for trying to create and incentivise our community. Give them an incentive. Say we're going to pick 50 people who are going to, you know, if you do the survey, we're going to pick 50 people and we're going to send you a goodie bag to say thank you.

19:59In that goodie bag are going to be some of our competitors. But make it exciting because everybody's busy. And why should they help you? You guys have got successful businesses. You're on TV. Can't get you off TV. Give some of us a chance. Make people feel like they are part of that journey. great great advice like because until now i think we've really been uh existing off goodwill yeah you know and and that does exist people are wonderful people who follow us and followed our journey and and like us on telly and they're with going like oh please clip on this please click on this and do the survey you know people are going like oh yeah okay i'll give you the benefit of doubt but five minutes of someone's time is can be a lot it's the most valuable resource we have time right exactly i think and we don't take that for granted i think nikki's point is so relevant we're trying to create not just a community that's about skincare it's about business like we're learning so much and everyone else is trying to learn too like like i would really love to support other people who are trying to start businesses and so like Like, you know, it's not just, please give, give, give, give to us.

21:13Like, I want to fill out your service. Yes, do you know what I mean? I want everyone to sort of get involved and to create a, like, fun little group of people who just support each other. Yeah, a nice sort of bubbling pot of brilliant small business ideas. Love it. And then the amazing Angela Adjai, who is working with us developing products. She's worked in the skincare and the beauty industry for decades. and is going to be involved with us in terms of actually developing the products that we bring to market. She's a ninja master when it comes to understanding what it is that people want and using that and coming up with the right things.

21:51And we are very similar, Joel, aren't we? Because we are keen and excited to get started. We're jumping with both feet. We never read the manual. We just want to get going. And I think she had some very sage wisdom for us. I would say be patient with it. It takes time. As much as I know you guys are quick, you know you're very quick for things you're eager to get going yeah and that's something i'm really learning about this which i think this whole process is really good for me is that generally you know in this business with what we're doing it's like you know someone goes like joe you like to do this tv show you then go make it it's like it happens it's like because we're the we're the sort of last port of call it's all been put into place yeah yeah and we just get slotted in and we do things um whereas we are part of the the foundation of this business Yes.

22:36And it's petrifying. It is. And patience is the thing that I struggle with most. In life, full stop, being patient, taking a moment, taking stock. Yeah. It is a marathon, not a sprint, Joel. Oh, well, luckily I'm better at marathons than I am at sprinter. You are, although that last marathon was... Let's not talk about that. Okay. In fact, let's talk about the new year. Yes. And our resolution. What is your new year's resolution then, Chapulte? My new year's resolution, I want to get back on a muscle-up. That's such a specific New Year's resolution. I know. That is such a Ben Sheffield New Year's resolution.

23:10It's so sad, isn't it? Everyone's like, I want to better myself. You know, I want to like, I just, you know, I want to spend less time on my phone. I just, I want to spend more time with my kids, man. This guy's like, I want to spend more time in my garage by myself trying to get bigger pecs. Get that muscle. We can let the world burn. It'll burn while I look fantastic. On that bar. but do you know what i do you know what i'm gonna do what are you gonna i'm gonna beat you in our challenge oh yes to get more surveys complete should we also have a challenge of who can do a muscle up first so if you're not across the world of uh muscle ups if you're not like a really fit man let me just explain what the hell have you been uh a muscle up is a uh it's an exercise that I learnt first when we were doing Ninja Warrior or watched people do because you can't do it.

24:03It takes a long time. Essentially, it's a pull-up. So you pull yourself up on a bar and then once you get your chest across the bar, you then flip your arms over and then you do a push-up on top of the bar. But actual proper resolutions for you. I want to be able to do the splits. Now, that is something that I'm going to get on board with. I really want to be able to do the splits. Box splits? No, no, no, no. My hips are not made for it. No, they're not made for the box splits at all. but like um and the reason let's go into it that by my bad hip school i've got terrible hips because i used to do taekwondo when i was like 70 oh yeah and i had this friend who was really flexible and he was amazing everything and um i was not and we used to like have this um thing that i bought for 100 pounds with all my pocket money right took me months to be able to afford it it's this thing you used to sit in and I had this little crank in the middle and it goes and it pulls your legs apart and we used to do it like in a garage at six o 'clock in the morning that's like torture and then my hip I used to always get to a certain point couldn't get around it and then it would go and then my hip my left hip would just go and then once I was past that point then I could go further what cold I'd do this cold right wouldn't warm up into it wouldn't do anything so basically I think my hips are always a bit ruined there's a bit But other splits-wise, I did it once.

25:24That's amazing. So I stretched every day for, I'm going to say, at least maybe a year and a half. I used to stretch every single day of the thing of doing the splits. And then I was getting closer and closer and closer. And I remember I did. There was one day, about a year and a half of doing it, right leg forward. I did the split, and I was like, I'm really flexible today. I'm like, God, I might get close. I might get close. and it was on this really nice floor. So it was just really, really got deep. And then I did the splits and I had a Sony Ericsson phone at the time. Yes. And it was the one where you could, it was basically the first phone that you could take photos.

26:02And so I took a photo of me doing the splits. And, but it wasn't the time where like. You could share it. You could share it to anyone or put it online or anything. So, and then obviously I changed my phone. And you lost the picture. The picture is gone. So it doesn't exist. Nobody knows. It didn't happen. I did the splits. Oh yeah, I did the splits once as well. No one saw me. That's not true, Ben! No one saw me. Did I tell you about my... This is another story about something that happened, that I promise you happened, but nobody believes me. I had a sex scene with Sienna Miller.

26:41You had a sex... What? So basically, when I was 19, so I was like 18 or 19, I got a part in a movie and I was my part in the movie was Train Soldier Train Soldier and it was at the start of this movie that Sienna Miller was in what was the movie called? and it was called oh my god it's really bad I can't remember this keep telling the story I'm going to look it up it has Keira Knightley in it Matthew Rhys and Sienna Miller but it's online if you type in Joel Domit and then whatever the movie is called you can figure it out then you'll see it and And Edge of Love. Edge of Love. That's it. That's it.

27:22So I was in that movie playing a small part called Train Soldier. Cillian Murphy's in it. Cillian Murphy was in it. And it was my job, basically, was to... Lisa Stansfield. Been around the world, world, world, world tonight. She's in it. Yeah. Suggs was in it. Everyone's in it. You know who else is in it? Joel fucking Domit. No, Joel Domit. Joel Domit, it's Train Soldier. I'm Train Soldier. I'm in that movie. So in the script, right? It was, I meet, right at the start of the movie, I meet Sienna Miller in this train. We have dialogue, back and forth, talking. And then she decides that we want to go to the back of the train.

28:01And then it shows us going to the back of the train. And then there's a full scene of us having sexual relations with each other. And I asked, it was very vague in the script. basically said something like, this trained soldier and this girl, like wrap themselves in love or something ridiculous, like lust takes over their bodies and they blah, blah, blah. It was all like that. I remember going to the director who was like sort of this gay American guy. And I was with Sienna Miller. I was like, oh, what does that mean? What do you want us to do? And he went, whatever you straight people do. That doesn't help me.

28:44And the problem with this as well, I haven't thought about this in so long, is that I hadn't had very much real sex. How old were you in 2008 this was? So it's 2008. So it would have been made in 2006. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So 2006, I was, yeah, 20. So I hadn't had much, I'd only had one girlfriend. And so there's this weird time where you're going to do a sex scene with Sienna Miller where you're like, maybe I've been doing it wrong my entire life and they're about to film me doing it. And she's like, that's not how people have sex. I haven't had much sex, let alone do a sex scene with someone who I absolutely fancy.