PODCAST

Dominic Mills: Building a thriving marketplace of small business experiences | Small Business Sessions (S9E8)

Dan MartinDan Martin Content & Events

Posted: Wed 3rd Dec 2025

The Small Business Sessions, Enterprise Nation's podcast, is back for a ninth exciting series of inspiring entrepreneurial stories and expert business tips!

The podcast is powered by the business.connected online training programme and our partner Vodafone Business.

Episode eight: Dominic Mills, Yuup

Joining freelance journalist Dan Martin for the eighth episode is Dominic Mills, co-founder of experiences marketplace Yuup.

Dominic was inspired to start Yuup after struggling to find the gift of a local experience for his wife.

He could only find the usual experience offerings from national providers, and nothing that reflected Bristol, the city where he lives.

Yuup is now a thriving marketplace of experiences offered by hundreds of small businesses in Bristol, Bath, Birmingham, Brighton, Cardiff, Durham, Northampton, Nottingham.

Yuup has also branched out into its running its own events such as a spectacular drone show this Christmas.

Topics discussed in the episode

Dominic's experience of growing and selling a marketing agency before he started Yuup and lessons he learnt
His start-up challenges and how he overcame them
Launching a platform for physical experiences during a global pandemic
How he convince the first businesses to join Yuup
How Yuup crowdfunded almost £1 million
Building a team
How Yuup decides which cities to expand to
How Yuup measures its mission for delivering a positive social impact
Branching out into running Yuup's own events such as drone shows and immersive experiences

Listen to the audio podcast

Where to listen, watch and subscribe

You can also listen on other platforms and Enterprise Nation.

You can watch and subscribe to the podcast on YouTube.

Want to boost your digital skills?

Join 800,000+ small businesses already benefiting from free expert-led workshops, resources and tools. Sign up to business.connected for free

Dan MartinDan Martin Content & Events

I'm a freelance content creator and event host who helps small businesses and the organisations that support them. I'm also Enterprise Nation's Local Leader for Bristol. I have 20 years of experience as a small business journalist having interviewed hundreds of entrepreneurs from famous names like Sir Richard Branson and Deborah Meaden to the founders behind brand new start-ups. I've worked for a range of leading small business publications and support groups, most recently as head of content at Enterprise Nation where I was responsible for the prolific output of content on the company's blog and social media. I now freelance for Enterprise Nation as the website's news reporter and as the host of the Small Business sessions podcast. I'm based in Bristol where I run and host regular events with the local small business community in my role as Enterprise Nation's Local Leader for Bristol. I also have strong connections with other major business organisations in the south west region. In total, I've hosted over 100 events including conferences with an audience of hundreds for international brands like Xero and Facebook and live web chats from inside 10 Downing Street. With my partner, I co-run Lifestyle District, a lifestyle blog focused on culture, art, theatre and photography.

Get business support right to your inbox

Subscribe to our newsletter to receive business tips, learn about new funding programmes, join upcoming events, take e-learning courses, and more.

Start your business journey today

Take the first step to successfully starting and growing your business.

Join for free