Ambitious Lifestyle Business podcast

In this episode we are going to be talking with a couple who chose sanity over their salary. Paul and Emily Hughes from Parent Guides to GCSE. Paul and Emily met in 2003 as trainee teachers assigned to the same school and have been happily married for 11 years. Now that they've both escaped teaching, they run Parents Guide to GCSE, supporting parents whose children are in year 11. They offer free tips via email, or to get the most from their expertise you can sign up for one of three membership plans. They made £11,000 pounds in their launch week so they must be doing something right. Emily has a Master's from Cambridge in Maths with Education, while Paul has a Master's in Information Management and Computing from the University of Sheffield and they both taught successfully for 15 years before taking the leap. Emily also runs a pop choir in her spare time, as she says she needs to be able to boss people around having left teaching. Making the break….. Paul and Emily are fairly new to business, it was a relatively slow process for them they say, Emily started the process by going part time, and started various different streams of revenue, in theory at least, in order to try and be able to get out of the teaching job, that was at the time making her thoroughly miserable. Paul took slightly longer to take the leap, but he has and the last 3 weeks for him in his words "the best 3 weeks ever". They have realised that whatever they have been doing is working. The bills are paid, the children are fed, and they are still living their lives except how they want too now. They have the freedom to do what they want, when they want, how they want and if they want! For links to everything we talk about, including the video recording of the episode and transcription of everything we talked about, head over to the show notes at bigidea.co.uk/podcast. And to watch the LIVE recording of each episode of the Ambitious. Lifestyle. Business. Podcast, join our Facebook Group for FREE - you can then watch our ugly mugs in glorious technicolour every month, as well as get BONUS in-between-isodes, and direct access to both of us to ask any questions about this, or any other episode.

#ALB 58 – The PE teacher who climbed a mountain (or six...) Who is Ben Knight?.... Ben Knight is the founder of High 5 Sports and Activity Camps. There's a saying: all who wander are not lost. This would probably be a good way to describe Ben's life so far. Wanderlust means a strong desire to travel. And this is certainly something that Ben can relate to. The planning, challenges, new experiences, that feeling of stepping out of the comfort zone is and has always been something which both excites and scares him in equal measure. Be it through travel, extreme sports or more recently, endurance sports challenges. Ben is one of our One percenters and has several businesses, including sports camps, bubble football and tennis coaching. He's also a qualified Bodyboarding instructor, Ultimate Frisbee leader, Beach Lifeguard and is mountain medicine trained. He has run two half-marathons and a full one too, in aid of charity, an alternative triathlon, doing stand-up paddleboard, bike and run. Ben has won several tennis double tournaments and represented his county, Devon as a Junior and a Veteran. He's been bodyboarding and snowboarding all over the planet for the last 25 years. And most recently climbed the six highest peaks in six different countries, raising money for a local charity. One Life, Live it….. Ben has always had a real lust for life. A passion to sort of see and do many things, there's so much he wants to see and visit and places he wants to go. There are also many things that Ben wants to accomplish. And he sometimes feels there's not enough time to a certain extent. And every year that ticks by and every time he has to waste time on things that he doesn't want to be doing, he thinks to himself there is so much other stuff that he wants to be doing. So, Ben makes changes in his work to try to help to facilitate that and tick off as many things on his bucket list as possible. Ultimate Frisbee Ben has launched Ultimate Frisbee in his holiday camps which is proving to be a big hit. It is a game aimed at older kids as you need to be slightly more competent in throwing the frisbee. Ben tells us the secrets and tactics to throwing the ultimate frisbee, he says getting the frisbee to go where you want it to go, get it to go straight. If you don't hold the disc flat, it curves, good players use that angle to make it curve around people, to teammates. But if you can't get it flat and get it to go straight then that tends to be where people come unstuck. Ben the traveller Travel is a BIG thing for Ben, which stemmed from his childhood, his father was a PE teacher and every year would organise the school skiing trip, as soon as Ben could pretty much walk he was on a ski slope two to three months of the year. Ben would then spend the week skiing in the Alps. Ben grew up to be a confident skier, and by his own admission took it for granted that not everybody skied for three months of the year, on the dry slope and then went somewhere snowy. It was only when Ben got older and met people who couldn't ski that he suddenly realised that actually his dad's job and the free places he got on the ski trip was really a kind of lucky thing to be able to do. Ben fell in love with the mountains from those experiences. The travel probably was linked to his love of the beach and the sea. And the fact that the best waves, in this country, are in the coldest conditions. The colder and stormier it is, the better the surf is, but he think's of the West Sea. Ben also has a love for surfing and has surfed the waves in Belize. Ben has developed a tolerance of the cold, more than a love, and tells us that some of the products out now are amazing for example, dry rayon towels, they're really thick, they're not cheap, but it makes a huge difference getting changed, because a lot of it's wind chill. Given the choice even with his towel, cold or Belize, Ben say's it would be Belize, any day. What's Ben's main business normally about? Ben is slowly moving away from tennis coaching, which has always been his profession. Ben runs multi-sport holiday camps for children, called High 5 Sports Camps. And they run out of three sites now, in Devon. Ben would like to see that grow and really develop. It's the key thing he spends a lot of his time on. Ben also acquired, Bubble Football, which if anybody doesn't know what Bubble Football is, they're giant inflatable balls that you get inside, your legs poke out the bottom, you have a harness and some hand straps. Then you run into other people and bash each other with a high chance of landing upside down! A real laugh out loud game. Ben has moved away from being the face of the business or being the business certainly with the tennis coaching side of things, he's done it for twenty years, so it has been a big part of his life. But as the business grew, it become all about him and his business partner.They were the faces and the ones that everybody wanted, but there are so many hours in one day, so t

ALB57 – The Man who stood on an IED Who is Mark Ormrod? On Christmas Eve, 2007 Royal Marines Commando, Mark Ormrod was out on a routine foot patrol in the Helmand Province of Afghanistan when he stepped on and triggered an Improvised Explosive Device. He was airlifted via helicopter to an emergency field hospital when an innovative and dangerous procedure saved his life. He woke up three days later back in the UK with both legs amputated above the knee and his right arm amputated above the elbow. He was the UK's first triple amputee to survive the Afghanistan conflict. Doctors told Mark that he'd never walk again and that he should prepare himself for the rest of his life in a wheelchair. Mark thought otherwise, though. And he hasn't used a wheelchair since 2009. Today, Mark Ormrod is a motivational speaker, performance coach, mentor and role model to other amputees, and an ambassador for the Royal Marines Association. He's also the star of a documentary called "No Limits," gold medal winning athlete at the Invictus Games, and is currently writing the follow up to his 2010 autobiography, "Man Down." Mark the Royal Marine…. Mark joined the Marines heated and focused and just wanted to grow as an individual and squeeze the most out of this short time that we get on the planet. Mark finished his training when he was 18. Just a young lad, who by his own admission put a green beret on his head, and thought he was Rambo. Mark spent a couple of years just enjoying it. He was born and bred here in Plymouth. He say's "once you earn that beret you walk around your chest out a little bit", he got in a little bit in trouble, the first couple years, but then he knuckled down, and got focused. Mark has always been that kind of forward driven kind of way. Mark the Marine, in the beginning, young, loving life, full of energy. Just out there being a lad. As we all do as we get older and we progress in our careers and our lives, we mature a little bit. Mark made a lot more mistakes back then, but he learnt from them, and moved on, some of the quote-unquote failures that he experienced, and the mistakes that he made, made Mark feel a bit down about them, but as he's got older he's realised, they weren't really failures, as he's learnt from them, they were mistakes, but again, he's learnt from them. People always ask Mark has he always been this way, has he always been motivated, driven, and the short answer is yes. But from his perspective, it took him losing both his legs and right arm for him to see it. Mark's first taste of combat….. Mark was 19 when he had his first taste of combat. He had started his training in February 2001. 62 young lads started, only 12 of them made it through the training. Four weeks before Mark finished his training, and was halfway through the live fire exercises, he was in the NAAFI and witnessed 9-11. So Mark passed out and become a Royal Marine, it was looking likely that Mark would be deploying to Afghanistan early 2002 for 'Operation Jacana'. Now, for whatever reason, that didn't happen to the scale it was meant to be. It became quite a SS, Special Forces kind of thing. So Mark didn't go after all, but then Iraq came around 2003. That then became his focus, Mark was one of the first guys on the ground, working out of what's called now 30 Commando. Mark spent a couple weeks in Kuwait, just waiting, sat in trenches, just on that border of Kuwait, Iraq, ready to go over, he got given the signal and went. Mark came away from that tour feeling a little bit disappointed. He was all geared up, ready to put to test everything he had been training for but that didn't happen, he thought he was going to be down on his belt buckle with a bayonet in his teeth crawling through the sand and doing this for three months solid, because he was a young lad and thought that's what going to war was. What happened next? So, Mark came home, despite the lack of activity in Iraq he still felt like he had evolved a lot. He went to Norway a couple of times, endured some survival training out in the snow. Mark then boxed for the Marines a spot had come up for the boxing team, and he thought that would be all right, he would do a little bit of training in the morning and go home in the afternoon. He underestimated that, four hours every morning, four hours every afternoon for eight weeks solid. But Mark began to think about the fact, he hadn't really done what it was that he wanted to do. His first daughter Kezia came along early 2005 and the combination led to Mark making the decision to leave the Royal Marines in early in 2006. Mark ended up working as a night doorman for a little bit. Mark was entitled to some money through the re-education system in the military, and flew out to South Africa, to retrain as a bodyguard, he was now 22 years old at that point, and thought he'd be walking around in an Armani suit, talking into his cuff, diving around protecting celebrities and that isn't what the job entails. In fact he s

ALB56 – The Japanese Trainspotter Who is Chris King?Chris has built a business around his greatest passions - travel, riding trains and Japanese food. Originally from the UK, Chris King now lives in Osaka, Japan, and spends a lot of his time travelling by train in Japan, Britain, Asia and Europe. Chris started the Train Hacker website when he was living in Britain to help people save money on rail travel. The project then branched out to Europe and Japan, helping train travellers find cheaper train tickets, rail passes, tours and holidays. While travelling by Shinkansen bullet train in Japan, Chris was astonished at the amazing tastes and rich diversity of Japanese food - he had to discover more, and a new project "Food Tours Japan" was born. Now, Chris is exploring the wonderful world of washoku and keen to show that there's so much more to Japan than sushi. Chris is a longstanding one percenter and has built a business around some of his greatest passions, which include travel, trains, and a love for Japanese food. Originally from the UK, Chris now lives in Osaka, Japan as a digital nomad and spends a lot of his time travelling by train in Japan, Britain, Asia, and Europe. Let's go back to how John and Chris metChris and John met over a decade ago and when they met, Chris was not a digital nomad, as he is today and was not living in Japan, writing about food and bullet trains. Chris spent eight and a half years working for BT he worked with some really bright people and managed to get involved in a lot of digital stuff. Everything from kind of online customer experience to e-commerce but the most enjoyable bit for Chris and the bit he had most involvement was affiliate marketing. Affiliate marketing in the "Wild West" daysChris started off working in the affiliate team at BT. Chris had a really good boss and worked with really good people and feels they embraced it really early. Chris was in a sales team, which meant he was on quarterly sales bonuses whereas as you know today, most affiliate marketing is in the marketing department. But the sales team were heavily incentivized, and he had some really golden years with bonuses. So that was their one thing that made them really unique and Chris also feels because they were in sales, it also helped them build on the relationship side. Essentially, they were very soft in their approach really to affiliate marketing. Affiliate marketing and it's reputation Chris tells us he felt affiliate marketing had a kind of a bit of a bad reputation and he thinks it probably still does within agencies. That said, the model has stood the test of time. Chris recommends anyone that has a small company to embrace affiliate marketing. There's a few networks out there and there's technologies out there that if you are a small company, Chris says it's like a virtual sales force. How did Chris become a digital nomad? The reason Chris wanted to get out of the corporate world is because he wasn't prepared to sit around and wait for my pension, Chris wanted to see the world. He didn't want to see the world when he was 60, he wanted to see the world whilst he was young. And then that kind of led from one thing to another. Chris went travelling for six months. Come back and started a business. He now feels that after travelling in India for six months, it was maybe not the best state of mind to come back and start a business. His first publishing business didn't really work that well. Then he did consultancy, but he had that itch to travel again. The birth of the 'Digital Nomad' Chris needed to go to India to just cleanse his soul really, just to restart his life. It was here he realised he could travel and run his business at the same time. Whilst out there, he was doing research for his travel clients and also starting some travel projects. So, the digital nomad thing kind of came out of a whole load of things coming together. Chris aka the train hackerChris started the Train Hacker website when he was living in Britain to help people save money on their rail travel. The project then branched out to Europe and Japan, his aim was to help train travellers find cheaper train tickets, rail passes, tours, and holidays. Why Japan? A love story... One, the train travel projects was leading him down that route because Chris started the Train Hacker when he was living in Britain to help people save money on their rail travel. The project then branched out to Europe and Japan, his aim was to help train travellers find cheaper train tickets, rail passes, tours, and holidays. He was in and out of Asia and realised, he found Asia a lot more of a mellow place to be. Also, these days it's where the growth is, Chris just loves the kind of free entrepreneurial style that things were done in those countries. Chris met his wife who's Japanese at a train station actually in Vietnam. This was a moment to Chris who thought to himself, he was working in train travel, why was he not writing about more insp

This episode is with soon to be black belt wielding, wedding singer Jamie Reeves from The Best Singing Waiters. So,who is Jamie? Jamie started out as a DJ when he was just 16 years old and travelled around Europe at the age of 20 as a singer. After establishing himself as a Robbie Williams tribute act, he set up his own entertainment agency and started managing various different tribute acts including Take That, Meatloaf and Amy Winehouse. Jamies' entertainment agency was primarily aimed at the wedding market, and that is where the idea for "'The Singing Waiters' come along. Jamie is also a keen singer songwriter and has even had his own top ten hit on itunes. He has written and worked with people whose credits include Beyonce, Take That and Sir Paul McCartney. You might also have seen Jamie in several episodes of Eastenders, riding a moped through Albert Square. But not if you blinked… What is a singing waiter? Everybody has probably been to a wedding, corporate event, birthday etc and typically you will have an idea of how the day will run. This is where The Best Singing Waiters come in, they take the ordinary and make it more extraordinary. After dessert has been served, they spring into action, suddenly breaking with their "waiter" character, and bursting out into song, getting everyone singing along and essentially break every type of rule you can think of when it comes to party etiquette. They literally get the party started! The "reveal" is something that you simply have to see to believe (They have more than 900 videos on their YouTube channel), and it's this magic moment that wedding guests talk about for years to come. What does an Ambitious Lifestyle Business look like for Jamie? Jamie is a married proud dad of three, so for him it's all about being with the family. Two of the three children are sports minded and love football, karate and dance and the two-and-a-half-year-old is just into everything!! For Jamie, working from home is a must – he has no desire to have an office (his office at home does look pretty smart though – check it out in the video!), however that doesn't mean he is a one man band – Jamie has a team of staff, and has built robust systems and processes which enable him to have the freedom to work from home. He also still does some gigs, performing between six and ten gigs per year. Clearly, Jamie's company do a LOT more gigs than that – more like 200 a year. But again, Jamie has no desire to be racing up and down the motorways of Britain on a daily basis, doing back-to-back weddings, and spending every weekend away from his family. How did Jamie design his business to deliver his ambitious lifestyle business? As with most guests on the ALB podcast, it was a bit of design, and a bit of luck! As a literal one-man-band, Jamie started to get more and more offers of gigs, that with the best will in the world he simply couldn't keep up with, so he brought on some singers to lighten the load. Before he knew it, that turned into a team of six singers. Similar to how Jon Monks told us back in ALB44 that he was "the conductor of the orchestra", Jamie directs his team, and designs the systems and processes from his home office, so that multiple weddings can all happen at the same time, at opposite ends of the country, and all whilst Jamie is sat at a football match with his family. Whilst he did reference Jon Monk's "conductor of the orchestra" comment though, Jamie explained that his version was a bit more like "waving your arms about and blagging it!" Jamie firmly believes that the key to running any business is down to the processes and systems that are in place. (If you want to go deep on systems and processes, have another listen to ALB14, where we look at the story of Ray Kroc, and McDonalds, through the lens of the movie The Founder. For Jamie, admin was the first to go – as a creative person, this was something he just did not enjoy, so he was very quick to get someone else doing the paperwork. Every single thing that he does within the business is fully documented, so that a team member can follow the exact processes to the letter. Jamie also likes to record videos of himself on zoom performing key tasks and pop it into a shared dropbox folder, so it is accessible to all of his team, and they can all see visually, exactly what Jamie wants to happen – every time. Is Jamie a Routine Machine? When Jamie started a family, all of his routines changed. He now feels extremely lucky that he works for himself, being able to pick and choose his own hours. He doesn't have to miss a sports day, he can take his son to football and his daughter to dance classes, and he believes that it is all thanks to putting those routines, systems and processes in place. As an ambitious, lifestyle business owner, Jamie can dictate life on his own terms. Routine plays a really important part of this for Jamie. If you want to become a Routine Machine, then you can now grab a free chapter of John's latest bes

#ALB54 - Routine Machine This episode is a little different from the norm - it's a LIVE reading (complete with some stumbles) of a few chapters from John Lamerton's latest book on habits and routines - Routine Machine. Why did John write a morning routine book? Last August John was on holiday in sunny Corfu with his family, whilst there he started plotting out some notes, he did this with a view to writing a potential second book, a follow up to the successful Big Ideas... for Small Businesses. John famously said he was never writing again, he was NEVER doing a second book, but four or five pages of notes later it became apparent that he was in fact going to be writing a second book. This podcast takes a look at his new book, Routine Machine, which is available from the 11th July 2019. The power of routine, not just a morning routine but successful strategies and daily habits to make you more successful. It is written primarily for small business owners - if Big Ideas... for Small Businesses was about focus, doing the right thing, choosing the right thing to focus on, then Routine Machine is about doing the right thing consistently, every time, habitually….. ROUTINELY! How many days does it take to form a habit? John earned £13.51 in his first nine months in business. Nine months later, he quit his job. Nine months after that, he was earning over £100k a year. Warren Buffett bought his first stock in 1941, he was a millionaire by 1960 and surpassed the $1 billion mark in 1986. $19 billion of his $86 billion-dollar fortune has been made in the last 2 years. It's going to be a while before you see any feedback or results from any changes you make now. When John replaced his go-to lunch of beans on toast with a healthy green juice, he saw absolutely no effect on the first day, or the second, or the third, but 30 days later he could see a difference. A year later and he looked like a different person. There is always a delay between the routine change and the feedback, that is perfectly normal and to be expected. John and Jason discuss why expecting instant rewards just doesn't work. There is always a delay between the action and the result. That concept can also work on a negative point too - one KFC now and then isn't going to make a huge difference, but a KFC a few times a week might, and a KFC every day almost certainly will. Routine Quotes from John "Remember, you are the compound effect of every decision you have ever made and every action you have ever taken. The little habits and routines that on their own seem so small and insignificant, when rolled down the hill of time, yield massive snowballs". 'If you want new results, you need new routines, but they've got to work for you. copying someone else just isn't going to help in the slightest. The routine doesn't matter what matters is that you have a routine'. "When I replaced my go to lunch of beans on toast with a healthy green juice, I saw absolutely no effect on the first day, or the second, or third. But 30 days later, I could see.a difference, a year later I looked like a different person. There is always a delay between the routine change and the feedback, that is perfectly normal and to be expected". For links to everything we talk about, including the video recording of the episode and transcription of everything we talked about, head over to the show notes at bigidea.co.uk/podcast. And to watch the LIVE recording of each episode of the Ambitious. Lifestyle. Business. Podcast, join our Facebook Group for FREE - you can then watch our ugly mugs in glorious technicolour every month, as well as get BONUS in-between-isodes, and direct access to both of us to ask any questions about this, or any other episode.

In this episode John and Jason are joined by special guest Clarke Duncan. Who is Clarke Duncan? Clarke was John's very first business mentor back in the day and he also appeared heavily in John's first book 'Big Ideas for Small Businesses' "I was very lucky when I first started my business – there were a number of people, who at first glance would appear to be my competitors – those who ran similar businesses to mine. And for some reason, they were happy to share tips, tactics, and ideas with me. They'd tell me where I was going wrong, and how I could improve my business and make more money. (The reason they were happy to share so freely, was because they had a growth mindset, rather than a scarcity one. They knew that if everyone helped each other out, we'd all make fewer mistakes, and everyone's business benefited – if someone helps me out, and my business grows as a result, theirs doesn't shrink – it actually grows too, as I then share something I've found with them – it's a virtuous circle!) I didn't know it at the time, but Clarke and Jason were my very first mentors – they're the people who gave me an arm around the shoulder when I needed it, and a kick up the arse when I needed that. They told me what worked, what didn't, and they probably saved me months and months of trying stuff that wouldn't work, and brought in many thousands of pounds of additional revenue in those crucial early years." In this podcast, Clarke gives us an insight to his own successes and experiences of affiliate marketing, which he has done for the last 17 years and certainly shows no signs of slowing down either. Clarke is the founder of affiliate marketing network Paid on Results, as well as unlimited design agency Bee All Design Clarke works WITH his competitors…. He talks about how he has never looked at other affiliates as competition, but more like-minded people all working together to try and make something happen and revisits the days where he was a part of the 'Limo Club'. How Clarke spots opportunities… Clarke runs numerous succesful businesses from Spain, including a family one, and talks about the pro's and con's that some of these entail. But is he an opportunity hunter or is there more to it……. He tells us that he starts off by seeing a set of circumstances and then works out if there is any money to be made, is there something he can do that someone else isn't? He explains how if you're solving problems for people you tend to make money easier than making something up and trying to convince them that they need it. What does an Ambitious.Lifestyle.Business. look like for Clarke? His family time is plentiful but in his extra time Clarke enjoys working, watching video's that are sometimes over two hours long, but the amount he takes from them he considers these a great investment of his time https://www.bigidea.co.uk/7-ways-to-get-more-done-in-less-time/ He has two golden rules regarding his staff; 1) Be truthful 2) Be a nice person, get on with others and be onboard with each other This is very important to Clarke for many different reasons which he explains in more detail in the episode. How has Brexit affected Clarke's business? Brexit has been a HUGE discussion point for all businesses, the uncertainity of it all has had some small businesses losing sleep, but was it detrimental or another golden opportunity for Clarke? How has the One Percent Club helped Clarke? Clarke talks about being a member of the One Percent Club and how he values it, how it benefits him and how he would rather look stupid one time and know how to do it, then to not ask the question and be forever stupid! https://www.bigidea.co.uk/opcc For links to everything we talk about, including the video recording of the episode and transcription of everything we talked about, head over to the show notes at bigidea.co.uk/podcast. And to watch the LIVE recording of each episode of the Ambitious. Lifestyle. Business. Podcast, join our Facebook Group for FREE - you can then watch our ugly mugs in glorious technicolour every month, as well as get BONUS in-between-isodes, and direct access to both of us to ask any questions about this, or any other episode.

In this episode John and Jason are joined by Elaine Colliar. Elaine is the Five Times World Mind Mapping Champion and Grand Master Trainer for Tony Buzan International Ltd. Tony Buzan was Elaine's mentor, tragically since recording this podcast in March, Tony suffered a heart attack and sadly passed away. This episode is dedicated to Tony, a name we are sure you will still hear and talk of in many many years to come when discussing the world of Mind Mapping, a true gift that Tony has left to the world. For links to everything we talk about, including the video recording of the episode and transcription of everything we talked about, head over to the show notes at bigidea.co.uk/podcast. And to watch the LIVE recording of each episode of the Ambitious. Lifestyle. Business. Podcast, join our Facebook Group for FREE - you can then watch our ugly mugs in glorious technicolour every month, as well as get BONUS in-between-isodes, and direct access to both of us to ask any questions about this, or any other episode.

In this episode we are joined by Carly Freemont of 'Freemont Property Solutions' based in Plymouth. Carly talks to us about her career as a professional dancer and how this took an unexpected turn, but more importantly how she overcome this with a positive attitude and threw herself into a brand new venture. Discover what Freemont Property Solutions offer, how Carly continues to focus on her self-development, plus much more. For links to everything we talk about, including the video recording of the episode and transcription of everything we talked about, head over to the show notes at bigidea.co.uk/podcast. And to watch the LIVE recording of each episode of the Ambitious. Lifestyle. Business. Podcast, join our Facebook Group for FREE - you can then watch our ugly mugs in glorious technicolour every month, as well as get BONUS in-between-isodes, and direct access to both of us to ask any questions about this, or any other episode.

In this episode we are joined by transformative coach and certified psychotherapist Jason Shiers. Join us for an in-depth discussion around mindset, designing your life around decisions, using creativity and much more. For links to everything we talk about, including the video recording of the episode and transcription of everything we talked about, head over to the show notes at bigidea.co.uk/podcast. And to watch the LIVE recording of each episode of the Ambitious. Lifestyle. Business. Podcast, join our Facebook Group for FREE - you can then watch our ugly mugs in glorious technicolour every month, as well as get BONUS in-between-isodes, and direct access to both of us to ask any questions about this, or any other episode.

In today's episode we are joined by David Aggiss and Tom Boulden of Three Sixty Mortgages who are based in Plymouth. During this podcast we discuss, priorities making them and keeping them, how to obtain and maintain healthy business partnerships, what happens when someone wants to exit a partnership, shareholders, and much more. For links to everything we talk about, including the video recording of the episode and transcription of everything we talked about, head over to the show notes at bigidea.co.uk/podcast. And to watch the LIVE recording of each episode of the Ambitious. Lifestyle. Business. Podcast, join our Facebook Group for FREE - you can then watch our ugly mugs in glorious technicolour every month, as well as get BONUS in-between-isodes, and direct access to both of us to ask any questions about this, or any other episode.

First podcast of 2019 - New Year Special "Time above all else" "Looking at opportunities from a different perspective" "If I am saying yes to this, what am I saying no to? Something's got to give" Following on from John Lamerton interviewing Jason brockman, this episode sees the tables turned with the interviewer becoming the interviewee. This podcast talks about John's 2018's resolutions what were they? Did he keep them? What is in store for 2019? For links to everything we talk about, including the video recording of the episode and transcription of everything we talked about, head over to the show notes at bigidea.co.uk/podcast. And to watch the LIVE recording of each episode of the Ambitious. Lifestyle. Business. Podcast, join our Facebook Group for FREE - you can then watch our ugly mugs in glorious technicolour every month, as well as get BONUS in-between-isodes, and direct access to both of us to ask any questions about this, or any other episode.

"Committing to it, then figuring out how you are going to do it" "No real rational reasons just outside my comfort zone" In this Christmas episode you will hear from the two founders of Ambitious. Lifestyle. Business. Sit back and listen to John Lamerton interviewing Jason Brockman reflecting on the last 12 months of personal goal setting, overcoming obstacles, fundraising and business. For links to everything we talk about, including the video recording of the episode and transcription of everything we talked about, head over to the show notes at bigidea.co.uk/podcast. And to watch the LIVE recording of each episode of the Ambitious. Lifestyle. Business. Podcast, join our Facebook Group for FREE - you can then watch our ugly mugs in glorious technicolour every month, as well as get BONUS in-between-isodes, and direct access to both of us to ask any questions about this, or any other episode.

"I tell people how lucky I am but actually it took 16 years of hard work to get here." In today's episode, we're joined by Tracy Irwin, founder of TI Accountancy and TI Payroll. Tracy's business is based in the Lake District, but Tracy herself is not. She runs her empire from the sunny shores of Spain. Tracy shares with us the process she went through to extract herself from the day to day running of the business, ensuring that even though she may be more than a thousand miles away from her staff and clients, she remains in control. She also gives us a heads-up on the upcoming changes in the UK for "Making Tax Digital", ensuring that we all know what's coming, and what we need to do. For links to everything we talk about, including the video recording of the episode and transcription of everything we talked about, head over to the show notes at bigidea.co.uk/podcast. And to watch the LIVE recording of each episode of the Ambitious. Lifestyle. Business. Podcast, join our Facebook Group for FREE - you can then watch our ugly mugs in glorious technicolour every month, as well as get BONUS in-between-isodes, and direct access to both of us to ask any questions about this, or any other episode.

"A lot of people will tell you that print media is dead. And I think that they're absolutely wrong." Back in the 80's, Geoff Capes could rip a Yellow Pages in half with his bare hands. I reckon I could give it a go these days. Want to know why print media ISN'T dead? Why a leaflet doesn't have a front and a back? or what "massively powerful tool" is "underestimated and underutilised"? You're going to LOVE episode #45 of the ALB podcast then, with our guest Alan Marriott from The Property Press, where amongst other things, we talk about kiwi spirit, everyone else getting paid but you, the importance of "staying on the field", and why the people of Exeter don't watch their football team... For links to everything we talk about, including the video recording of the episode and transcription of everything we talked about, head over to the show notes at bigidea.co.uk/podcast. And to watch the LIVE recording of each episode of the Ambitious. Lifestyle. Business. Podcast, join our Facebook Group for FREE - you can then watch our ugly mugs in glorious technicolour every month, as well as get BONUS in-between-isodes, and direct access to both of us to ask any questions about this, or any other episode. "in relation to the Podcast – Elvis isn't dead – and neither is Print Media. By Alan Marriott. 8th Nov. 2018 We would like to inform all listeners that Alan Marriott as of the 1st November 2018 is no longer an active member or Director of Letterbox Productions Ltd publishing The Property Press paper. All information contained within this Podcast bares no relation to Letterbox Productions Ltd or its publications now or moving forward"

Everyone loves Black Friday, right? Especially today's guest Jon Monks. Last year, Jon managed to DOUBLE the previous year's Black Friday sales figures. But he managed to do so whilst working HALF as hard. So much so, that he left the office at 4pm, as there was nothing for him to do - the till was ringing all by itself! In this episode you'll discover: Why Jon calls himself the "conductor of the orchestra". How he persuades other people to increase his sales for him. Why Jon NEVER discounts (even on Black Friday!) How he merges his work and private life to enjoy BOTH more. How Jon struggled for almost two decades, before discovering a better way of working. And LOADS more gold. Jon has the following quote written on his office walls: "We have the products. We have the knowledge. We have the skill." In the next 47 minutes, Jon will share his knowledge with you, and YOU'LL have the skill too... For links to everything we talk about, including the video recording of the episode and transcription of everything we talked about, head over to the show notes at bigidea.co.uk/podcast. And to watch the LIVE recording of each episode of the Ambitious. Lifestyle. Business. Podcast, join our Facebook Group for FREE - you can then watch our ugly mugs in glorious technicolour every month, as well as get BONUS in-between-isodes, and direct access to both of us to ask any questions about this, or any other episode.

"And now, the end is near And so I face the final curtain..." That's right boys and girls, this is the FINAL EVER episode of the Big Idea Podcast! "Regrets, I've had a few But then again, too few to mention..." It's also the shortest episode we've ever recorded.. "Yes, there were times, I'm sure you knew When I bit off more than I could chew..." But don't panic - we're not going anywhere! We're simply getting a new name - the "Ambitious. Lifestyle. Business. Podcast." - we're also going to be dragging (Ed - you mean "inviting") some of our One Percenters onto the show to talk about how they've built (or are building) their own ambitious, lifestyle businesses. "But more, much more than this I did it my way..." (With apologies to Frank Sinatra!) For links to everything we talk about, including the video recording of the episode and transcription of everything we talked about, head over to the show notes at bigidea.co.uk/podcast. And to watch the LIVE recording of each episode of the Big Idea Podcast, join our Facebook Group for FREE - you can then watch our ugly mugs in glorious technicolour every month, as well as get BONUS in-between-isodes, and direct access to both of us to ask any questions about this, or any other episode.

Want to get more customers? Who come back more often? And spend more money? A subscription model could be the answer to your prayers - The likes of Amazon, Netflix, Graze, Naked Wines and Sky have all cottoned onto it - even the dear old Milkman is making a comeback, so isn't it about time you did the same? This episode is a brief overview of a Masterclass that we delivered for the One Percent Club, our very own subscription business! For links to everything we talk about, including the video recording of the episode and transcription of everything we talked about, head over to the show notes at bigidea.co.uk/podcast. And to watch the LIVE recording of each episode of the Big Idea Podcast, join our Facebook Group for FREE - you can then watch our ugly mugs in glorious technicolour every month, as well as get BONUS in-between-isodes, and direct access to both of us to ask any questions about this, or any other episode.

We tackle Fear of Failure in this month's episode, with lessons and advice from Warren Buffett, Charlie Munger and Scott Adams. We learn about the £100k risk that John and Jason are taking right now, and also tell you how John made £50k by playing Fifa... For links to everything we talk about, including the video recording of the episode and transcription of everything we talked about, head over to the show notes at bigidea.co.uk/podcast. And to watch the LIVE recording of each episode of the Big Idea Podcast, join our Facebook Group for FREE - you can then watch our ugly mugs in glorious technicolour every month, as well as get BONUS in-between-isodes, and direct access to both of us to ask any questions about this, or any other episode.

We "keep it simple, stupid" in this episode, with key takeaways and lessons from Elon Musk, Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger about the power of simplicity in business. For links to everything we talk about, including the video recording of the episode and transcription of everything we talked about, head over to the show notes at bigidea.co.uk/podcast. And to watch the LIVE recording of each episode of the Big Idea Podcast, join our Facebook Group for FREE - you can then watch our ugly mugs in glorious technicolour every month, as well as get BONUS in-between-isodes, and direct access to both of us to ask any questions about this, or any other episode.

You don't choose the level of your success. You choose your habits, and your habits dictate the level of your success. In this episode, we find out why you need to become the "King of Routine" in your business if you want to thrive. We look at what it takes to have "grit" with Angela Duckworth, and how to demonstrate "Extreme Ownership" courtesy of Jocko Willink and Leif Babin. For links to everything we talk about, including the video recording of the episode and transcription of everything we talked about, head over to the show notes at bigidea.co.uk/podcast. And to watch the LIVE recording of each episode of the Big Idea Podcast, join our Facebook Group for FREE - you can then watch our ugly mugs in glorious technicolour every month, as well as get BONUS in-between-isodes, and direct access to both of us to ask any questions about this, or any other episode.

It's the Easter edition of the Big Idea Podcast, so it's only natural that we talk about... Hot Cross Buns! Specifically, how Hot Cross Buns can teach you a thing or two about growing your business - especially if you think you only sell one "thing" and can't possibly branch out into other products or cross sell something similar to people who currently HATE what you sell. We talk about asset creation, and why EVERYBODY should be creating, building, buying and sweating assets on a weekly, if not daily basis. We give an insight into one of the latest assets in OUR arsenal - the audiobook recording of Big Ideas for Small Businesses, where John recently spent two days in the studio, recording an asset that will still be bringing in constant revenue 20 or 30 years from now. This month's Book of the Month was "The Rise and Fall... and rise again" by Gerald Ratner. It's a fascinating insight into the world of a man who had it all, the world at his feet, and then told one "crap" joke, and lost it all. More specifically, it's a great insight into how Gerald Ratner had everything taken away from him - apart from the knowledge between his ears, and his drive to succeed - and how he clawed his way back to become successful again. For links to everything we talk about, including the video recording of the episode and transcription of everything we talked about, head over to the show notes at bigidea.co.uk/podcast. And to watch the LIVE recording of each episode of the Big Idea Podcast, join our Facebook Group for FREE - you can then watch our ugly mugs in glorious technicolour every month, as well as get BONUS in-between-isodes, and direct access to both of us to ask any questions about this, or any other episode.

If you've been listening to the Big Idea Podcast for the last few months then you'll have heard me raving about today's guest for quite some time. Neville Wright is the founder of Kiddicare.com, a nursery retailer that Neville started with his wife Marilyn in 1974. But don't be fooled into thinking this is your usual "and then I made £100 million" story - we go deep into the early years of Neville's journey, focusing on how he took 37p and borrowed his Dad's ladder to go from "a beggar to chairman of the board" in over afternoon. Neville isn't a superhuman. He hasn't done anything that you or I couldn't do ourselves given a decent work ethic, some business acumen and 40 years ahead of us. If you're looking for the blueprint for almost guaranteed success, this is it. There's no gimmicks, no "gaming of the system", no hustling or cheating his way to win. Neville got to the very top of his industry by always looking for a win/win solution at every opportunity, and by really looking after his customers and his staff. We talk a lot about Neville's book "The Answer is Yes, now what is the question?", which I honestly believe is the best autobiography I've read in several years - it's inspirational, without the level of disconnect that the average man usually feels. If you want to succeed in business or marketing, then the answers you seek are in here - you just need to know "what is the question?" For links to everything we talk about, including the video recording of the episode and transcription of everything we talked about, head over to the show notes at bigidea.co.uk/podcast. And to watch the LIVE recording of each episode of the Big Idea Podcast, join our Facebook Group for FREE - you can then watch our ugly mugs in glorious technicolour every month, as well as get BONUS in-between-isodes, and direct access to both of us to ask any questions about this, or any other episode.

John's eight year old son is collecting mentors. Like just about every other 8 year old kid, he wants to be a famous YouTuber like DanTDM or Stampylonghead. But like John way back in 2000, he "knows that he knows nothing" - so he's been seeking out mentors. Other kids like him that are a little bit ahead of him in his Youtube journey, and who can help give him the blueprint to succeed. We review February's Book of the Month by Neville Wright, which earned rave reviews, and also introduced March's book of the month by Gerald Ratner, which having seen Gerald speak before should be very entertaining (and certainly not "crap!"). We delve into how and why accountability works for us, and show you how we've used it to publish a book, learn to play golf, and even get a lazy entrepreneur doing 100 press ups every day! Finally, we talk about public speaking - This is something that both John and Jason do quite a lot of these days. But it wasn't always the case, so we look into the secret behind confident public speaking. For links to everything we talk about, including the video recording of the episode and transcription of everything we talked about, head over to the show notes at bigidea.co.uk/podcast. And to watch the LIVE recording of each episode of the Big Idea Podcast, join our Facebook Group for FREE - you can then watch our ugly mugs in glorious technicolour every month, as well as get BONUS in-between-isodes, and direct access to both of us to ask any questions about this, or any other episode.

In this episode, we go Mystery Shopping with some of our clients, and encourage you to find out the TRUTH about what's going on in your business, rather than what "should" be happening. Our book of the month is "Principles" by Ray Dalio, and as always we've got loads of takeaways from it to help you grow your business. We evaluate risk vs reward from an investment, and business point of view - would you risk £6k to make £30k? How about giving free petrol away to potential customers, or giving them ALL their money back if you don't do what you say you're going to do? We look at how "real" businesses can implement squeeze pages and funnels into their marketing without coming across like a sleazy marketer! Finally, we talk about how we've built up some huge communities in our businesses - from 800 people in a Facebook group to 200,000 on a mailing list, and how you can swipe and deploy what we do. For links to everything we talk about, including the video recording of the episode and transcription of everything we talked about, head over to the show notes at bigidea.co.uk/podcast. And to watch the LIVE recording of each episode of the Big Idea Podcast, join our Facebook Group for FREE - you can then watch our ugly mugs in glorious technicolour every month, as well as get BONUS in-between-isodes, and direct access to both of us to ask any questions about this, or any other episode.

Our review of the year - key takeaways and favourite moments. Our resolutions and predictions for 2018. What we've learned from a year of podcasting. Our Book(s) of the Year For links to everything we talk about, including the video recording of the episode and transcription of everything we talked about, head over to the show notes at bigidea.co.uk/podcast. And to watch the LIVE recording of each episode of the Big Idea Podcast, join our Facebook Group for FREE - you can then watch our ugly mugs in glorious technicolour every month, as well as get BONUS in-between-isodes, and direct access to both of us to ask any questions about this, or any other episode.

John shows us what we can learn from Heston Blumenthal's restaurant "The Fat Duck" - in terms of customer experience, attention to detail, and pricing. We also look back at last month's book of the month "Money", by Rob Moore - a title that really polarised listeners, who seemed to either love it or hate it - Jason of course didn't read it as usual! We do a debrief from Black Friday - sharing what's worked, and what hasn't worked from our clients businesses - and our own. There's a crucial point in there too about not needing to wait a year to repeat a successful Black Friday campaign... Finally, we show you why it's really important not to just ask for feedback from your customers, but to actually LISTEN to what they're telling you too! For links to everything we talk about, including the video recording of the episode and transcription of everything we talked about, head over to the show notes at bigidea.co.uk/podcast. And to watch the LIVE recording of each episode of the Big Idea Podcast, join our Facebook Group for FREE - you can then watch our ugly mugs in glorious technicolour every month, as well as get BONUS in-between-isodes, and direct access to both of us to ask any questions about this, or any other episode.

In this episode: John tells us why he decided to switch from Apple, just two months before the launch of the iPhone X, and why he's already regretting it - this is more than just another "Apple v Android" war of words though - there's some real business lessons in there. This month's book of the month was "The Everything Store" by Brad Stone, which looks at the meteoric rise of Jeff Bezos, and Amazon.com, which leads John to the conclusion that "he's a bit of an evil b*****d really isn't he?" Jason once again tells us how simple running a successful business is - and it all comes down to doing "what you say you're going to do." John shares some of his strategies for curing overwhelm ("getting rid of your phone" is one of them, though that may simply related to his Samsung woes this month) John also tells us what he learnt meeting Charlie Mullins, the "millionaire plumber" from Pimlico Plumbers last month. For links to everything we talk about, including the video recording of the episode and transcription of everything we talked about, head over to the show notes at bigidea.co.uk/podcast. And to watch the LIVE recording of each episode of the Big Idea Podcast, join our Facebook Group for FREE - you can then watch our ugly mugs in glorious technicolour every month, as well as get BONUS in-between-isodes, and direct access to both of us to ask any questions about this, or any other episode.

Doors are open for the One Percent Club! We've got just 12 spaces for ambitious, lifestyle business owners to work more closely with John and Jason to grow their businesses. In this episode: We review "Shoe Dog", the memoirs of Phil Knight, the founder of Nike (and Jason gives us a memorable lesson in how to pronounce Nike "correctly"...) We look back on a very successful month of our "Bring me Sunshine" challenge - and how forcing ourselves to think positively on a daily basis has led to the habit of positive thinking coming much, much easier to us. It's Jason's turn for a rant this month - as he laments the lack of follow-up from several people he's had dealings with recently. John shares his simple 3-step process for "the ultimate marketing strategy" We look at the importance of giving value as part of a content marketing strategy. John looks forward to meeting Charlie Mullins, the "millionaire plumber" from Pimlico Plumbers later this month, and also manages to get in a dig at used car salesmen... For links to everything we talk about, including the video recording of the episode and transcription of everything we talked about, head over to the show notes at bigidea.co.uk/podcast. And to watch the LIVE recording of each episode of the Big Idea Podcast, join our Facebook Group for FREE - you can then watch our ugly mugs in glorious technicolour every month, as well as get BONUS in-between-isodes, and direct access to both of us to ask any questions about this, or any other episode.

John has a bit of a rant this month (just for a change!) - This time the focus of his rage are those "experts" who have never run a real business in their lives, yet charge people who DO run real businesses thousands of pounds for their "expertise". What's that got to do with "stuffing envelopes"? You'll have to listen to the podcast to find out... Also in this episode: John gets excited about a Direct Response advert in a football programme (only to get his hopes dashed spectacularly). John and Jason go all "Morecambe and Wise", and ask you to Bring Them Sunshine for the month of September. We look at why people don't think BIG enough when setting long term goals. For links to everything we talk about, including the video recording of the episode and transcription of everything we talked about, head over to the show notes at bigidea.co.uk/podcast. And to watch the LIVE recording of each episode of the Big Idea Podcast, join our Facebook Group for FREE - you can then watch our ugly mugs in glorious technicolour every month, as well as get BONUS in-between-isodes, and direct access to both of us to ask any questions about this, or any other episode.

In this Bumper Summer Special episode of the Big Idea Podcast, John and Jason discuss: ⭐ How to implement "Summer Mode" ⭐ The key ways to balance working from home during the school holidays ⭐ How to write a bestselling book. ⭐ More importantly... How to SELL a bestselling book. ⭐ How "getting off the treadmill" for 6 weeks could 10x your thinking. ⭐ Why EVERYONE needs to be the "Head of Marketing" for their business, even if you HATE marketing. ⭐ John's mind is blown by the "magic fairies" that work at Amazon ⭐ John and Jason discuss the marketing strategies for Donald Trump, Facebook, and the Catholic Church. For links to everything we talk about, including the video recording of the episode and transcription of everything we talked about, head over to the show notes at bigidea.co.uk/podcast. And to watch the LIVE recording of each episode of the Big Idea Podcast, join our Facebook Group for FREE - you can then watch our ugly mugs in glorious technicolour every Monday lunchtime, as well as get BONUS in-between-isodes, and direct access to both of us to ask any questions about this, or any other episode.

Welcome to the July episode of the Big Idea Podcast - summer is here! In this episode, John and Jason discuss: The launch strategy for John's new book "Big Ideas... for Small Businesses - Simple, practical tools and tactics to help your small business grow" How John crashed his car at 120mph (there may be some exaggeration in this statement.. John is a Marketer after all) How to increase your prices without losing all your customers. The time that "they" appeared on Have I Got News For You. How to deal with missing deadlines. What happened when the guys were interviewed by the local newspaper, and why YOU need to be doing PR. The importance of monitoring the effectiveness of your Marketing. Why you shouldn't devalue your small business with tiny pricing. For links to everything we talk about, including the video recording of the episode and transcription of everything we talked about, head over to the show notes at bigidea.co.uk/podcast. And to watch the LIVE recording of each episode of the Big Idea Podcast, join our Facebook Group for FREE - you can then watch our ugly mugs in glorious technicolour every Monday lunchtime, as well as get BONUS in-between-isodes, and direct access to both of us to ask any questions about this, or any other episode.

John and Jason have been devouring the 700+ pages of Tim Ferriss' epic MONSTER of a book "Tools of Titans" over the last few months, and have managed to fit no less than 14 of their key takeaways into a 40 minute podcast. From "keeping it simple" to intermittent fasting, "copywriting your flaws" to knowing what to say NO to - the hardest part was whittling literally hundreds of gems that we COULD have used down to just 14! For those not familiar with Tim Ferriss or Tools of Titans, Tim's the author of best-selling books like the Four Hour Workweek, Four Hour Chef, Four Hour Body, and host of the Tim Ferriss show - a weekly podcast where he interviews industry leaders, geniuses and billionaires. Guys like Tony Robbins, Triple H, Derek Sivers, Jamie Foxx, Scott Adams, Kevin Costner, Noah Kagan, Shay Carl, Edward Norton, Seth Rogen, Naval Ravikant, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Morgan Spurlock, Peter Thiel, and many more over 200+ epsiodes. Tools of Titans is the condensed version of those interviews. Yep, you read that correctly - the 700+ page book is the CONDENSED version. Trust me - you're never more than 4 pages away from your next "nugget" For links to everything we talk about, including the video recording of the episode and transcription of everything we talked about, head over to the show notes at bigidea.co.uk/podcast. And to watch the LIVE recording of each episode of the Big Idea Podcast, join our Facebook Group for FREE - you can then watch our ugly mugs in glorious technicolour every Monday lunchtime, as well as get BONUS in-between-isodes, and direct access to both of us to ask any questions about this, or any other episode.

We're working to rather a tight deadline at the moment, with John's new book "Big Ideas for Small Businesses" coming out on the 21st June. With that very deadline much in mind for the whole team at the moment, it's only natural that this week we talk about deadlines - how to set ambitious, yet realistic ones, as well as the effect that a good deadline can have on your own business, and how they can be deadly when deployed in your marketing. For links to everything we talk about, including the video recording of the episode and transcription of everything we talked about, head over to the show notes at bigidea.co.uk/podcast. And to watch the LIVE recording of each episode of the Big Idea Podcast, join our Facebook Group for FREE - you can then watch our ugly mugs in glorious technicolour every Monday lunchtime, as well as get BONUS in-between-isodes, and direct access to both of us to ask any questions about this, or any other episode.

For links to everything we talk about, including the video recording of the episode and transcription of everything we talked about, head over to the show notes at bigidea.co.uk/podcast. And to watch the LIVE recording of each episode of the Big Idea Podcast, join our Facebook Group for FREE - you can then watch our ugly mugs in glorious technicolour every Monday lunchtime, as well as get BONUS in-between-isodes, and direct access to both of us to ask any questions about this, or any other episode.

Find out what happens when John spends a few days in the company of Ryan Deiss and Gary Vaynerchuk. As well as the main lessons that John picked up from Ryan and Gary Vee, he also has a rant about trying to buy a jar of pesto, and a very important lesson about margins. For links to everything we talk about, including the video recording of the episode and transcription of everything we talked about, head over to the show notes at bigidea.co.uk/podcast. And to watch the LIVE recording of each episode of the Big Idea Podcast, join our Facebook Group for FREE - you can then watch our ugly mugs in glorious technicolour every Monday lunchtime, as well as get BONUS in-between-isodes, and direct access to both of us to ask any questions about this, or any other episode.

In this week's show Helen asks "What's the most effective form of marketing to reach my target audience which are schools and businesses looking to increase staff skills? I provide training to businesses and schools on supporting mental health and improving 'soft' people skills" Kane asks "I'm the general manager of a new restaurant in Blackpool, and want to make sure my launch is as successful as possible - how can I make the most of the launch?" John tells us how a school residential trip for his seven year-old re-affirmed his "why", and gets us all posing as Wonder Woman for two minutes in the name of science. Sophie asks "I have started my small business trying to sell handmade painted glasses and mugs through Etsy and also via Facebook. I would like to have some sales and be able to work from home and make a nice little business for myself. I have had no sales as yet but have been making items for friends and family as presents and gifts." - something John describes as "Kevin Costner Syndrome" For links to everything we talk about, including the video recording of the episode and transcription of everything we talked about, head over to the show notes at bigidea.co.uk/podcast. And to watch the LIVE recording of each episode of the Big Idea Podcast, join our Facebook Group for FREE - you can then watch our ugly mugs in glorious technicolour every Monday lunchtime, as well as get BONUS in-between-isodes, and direct access to both of us to ask any questions about this, or any other episode.

For links to everything we talk about, including the video recording of the episode and transcription of everything we talked about, head over to the show notes at bigidea.co.uk/podcast. And to watch the LIVE recording of each episode of the Big Idea Podcast, join our Facebook Group for FREE - you can then watch our ugly mugs in glorious technicolour every Monday lunchtime, as well as get BONUS in-between-isodes, and direct access to both of us to ask any questions about this, or any other episode.

For links to everything we talk about, including the video recording of the episode and transcription of everything we talked about, head over to the show notes at bigidea.co.uk/podcast. And to watch the LIVE recording of each episode of the Big Idea Podcast, join our Facebook Group for FREE - you can then watch our ugly mugs in glorious technicolour every Monday lunchtime, as well as get BONUS in-between-isodes, and direct access to both of us to ask any questions about this, or any other episode.

For links to everything we talk about, including the video recording of the episode and transcription of everything we talked about, head over to the show notes at bigidea.co.uk/podcast. And to watch the LIVE recording of each episode of the Big Idea Podcast, join our Facebook Group for FREE - you can then watch our ugly mugs in glorious technicolour every Monday lunchtime, as well as get BONUS in-between-isodes, and direct access to both of us to ask any questions about this, or any other episode.

For links to everything we talk about, including the video recording of the episode and transcription of everything we talked about, head over to the show notes at bigidea.co.uk/podcast. And to watch the LIVE recording of each episode of the Big Idea Podcast, join our Facebook Group for FREE - you can then watch our ugly mugs in glorious technicolour every Monday lunchtime, as well as get BONUS in-between-isodes, and direct access to both of us to ask any questions about this, or any other episode.

For links to everything we talk about, including the video recording of the episode and transcription of everything we talked about, head over to the show notes at bigidea.co.uk/podcast. And to watch the LIVE recording of each episode of the Big Idea Podcast, join our Facebook Group for FREE - you can then watch our ugly mugs in glorious technicolour every Monday lunchtime, as well as get BONUS in-between-isodes, and direct access to both of us to ask any questions about this, or any other episode.

"Your network equals your net worth" A cliche, for sure. But like many cliches, there's some truth to be had there - and that's been our experience of networking. There's no instant return, but the more quality we add to our network, the more success we've encountered. For this episode, we've roped in our very first guest. We were adamant from the start that we didn't want the Big Idea Podcast to be an endless procession of guests, leaving us asking the same banal, generic questions each week, but we will bring one in where they know a lot more about a subject than we do. And that's clearly the case for the "King of Networking" in Plymouth, Mike Turner. There's very few people in Plymouth who don't know who Mike is - on a recent visit to his office, we popped out for lunch which involved a 2 minute walk to a local cafe, during which at least 10 people said hello to Mike by name - that's the power of networking. Enjoy this episode - it's a long one, but a good one! For links to everything we talk about, including the video recording of the episode and transcription of everything we talked about, head over to the show notes at bigidea.co.uk/podcast. And to watch the LIVE recording of each episode of the Big Idea Podcast, join our Facebook Group for FREE - you can then watch our ugly mugs in glorious technicolour every Monday lunchtime, as well as get BONUS in-between-isodes, and direct access to both of us to ask any questions about this, or any other episode.

It's not your customers job to remember to do business with you - it's your job to remind them. And there's no better way to do that than to send them a printed newsletter in the post. In this week's episode, we'll show you exactly how to do that, as well as the mistakes and pitfalls to avoid when sending a printed newsletter. We also walk you through a selection of newsletters that we've either sent or received ourselves to give you some ideas about how you could implement a newsletter into your small business. Newsletters are the best retention tool I know, but they're also pretty good at cross-selling, up-selling and securing referrals if done correctly - which is without overtly selling! For links to everything we talk about, including the video recording of the episode and transcription of everything we talked about, head over to the show notes at bigidea.co.uk/podcast. And to watch the LIVE recording of each episode of the Big Idea Podcast, join our Facebook Group for FREE - you can then watch our ugly mugs in glorious technicolour every Monday lunchtime, as well as get BONUS in-between-isodes, and direct access to both of us to ask any questions about this, or any other episode.

All businesses dictate your lifestyle, it's up to you to design it. In this episode, John has a bit of a rant about Peter Jones from Dragons Den fame, and doesn't even mention his stupid stripy socks once (though the pinstripe suits get a bit of a bashing!) We show you that if your small business isn't currently giving you the lifestyle you want, that: 1. That's YOUR fault. 2. You CAN change things. 3. We can HELP. We look at what a lifestyle business actually is, and why it certainly doesn't mean small or unambitious. We see why NOT shooting for the moon can mean owning a less risky business, with an almost guaranteed level of success. And who wouldn't want to own a business that guarantees them success, whilst also giving them the lifestyle they want? Other than Peter Jones of course... For links to everything we talk about, including the video recording of the episode and transcription of everything we talked about, head over to the show notes at bigidea.co.uk/podcast. And to watch the LIVE recording of each episode of the Big Idea Podcast, join our Facebook Group for FREE - you can then watch our ugly mugs in glorious technicolour every Monday lunchtime, as well as get BONUS in-between-isodes, and direct access to both of us to ask any questions about this, or any other episode.

Grab the popcorn, and put your phone onto "silent" - we're off to the cinema! Well, actually, John and Jason have been to the cinema, and are back with their take on one of Hollywood's latest blockbusters. No, they haven't been watching 50 shades of Grey. No, they haven't given up talking about Marketing and small businesses, to go into film reviews. What they have done is taken some of the greatest lessons that YOU as a small business owner can take away from "The Founder", a movie all about the story of McDonalds. From humble beginnings as a single burger shack in California to the behemoth that we know today, The Founder chronicles Ray Kroc, and his transformation of a tiny owner-operated business into a corporate giant, and the world's largest land-owner. We'll talk once again about the importance of aligning your goals with your desire (and ensuring that your business partner's desires are the same as yours too!), and show why it's crucial to know your numbers. What business are McDonalds in? The answer might surprise you (unless you've read Rich Dad, Poor Dad, or seen the trailer!). Ray Kroc didn't take "no" for an answer, and we'll show why neither should you. We'll talk about the importance of being disruptive, optimisation of your systems & processes, and tell you how McDonalds ensured consistency of their product, and their brand, even when expanding to 65,000 restaurants around the world. And you won't want to miss John's biggest "take away" (even bigger than a Big Mac with large fries and a jumbo coke!) that EVERY small business owner needs to implement in their business if they don't want to suffer the same fate as the McDonalds brothers... If you can call walking away with a cheque for $3.6 million suffering... Oh bugger, I've just given away the ending. That's why we don't do film reviews... For links to everything we talk about, including the video recording of the episode and transcription of everything we talked about, head over to the show notes at bigidea.co.uk/podcast. And to watch the LIVE recording of each episode of the Big Idea Podcast, join our Facebook Group for FREE - you can then watch our ugly mugs in glorious technicolour every Monday lunchtime, as well as get BONUS in-between-isodes, and direct access to both of us to ask any questions about this, or any other episode.

In today's episode we expose the myth of "luck", and show you how "luck happens" - good and bad. We ban Rob from attending any future Plymouth Argyle matches, and demonstrate correlation versus causality using a pasty. We'll also show you to win raffles, and buy your house cheaper. We'll look at how everything is YOUR fault, and cure you of "excuseitis" once and for all. We hear about people who lost a million dollars, were born without arms and legs, and who were given a terminal cancer diagnosis (not the same person - that WOULD be unlucky!) - and how they each consider themselves to be lucky - mainly by creating their own luck. For links to everything we talk about, including the video recording of the episode and transcription of everything we talked about, head over to the show notes at bigidea.co.uk/podcast. And to watch the LIVE recording of each episode of the Big Idea Podcast, join our Facebook Group for FREE - you can then watch our ugly mugs in glorious technicolour every Monday lunchtime, as well as get BONUS in-between-isodes, and direct access to both of us to ask any questions about this, or any other episode.

Hiring your first member of staff is the leverage you need to stop owning a job, and start owning a business. In this episode, we'll dive into how to recruit good members of staff (tip: you won't find them at the Jobcentre!), how to go through the recruitment process effectively so that you weed out the crap, leaving yourself with the best of the best. What do you do once you've got a good member of staff? We look at how to actually KEEP them, and perhaps surprisingly, "pay them more money" doesn't get mentioned once. But everyone's got some horror stories about hiring staff gone wrong, and we're no exception - there's a good 20 people who have worked for us over the last 17 years, who no longer do - some left, some were made redundant, and one or two were sacked - if you're worried about firing employees, then this episode is worth a listen just for our war stories and tips on how to get rid of bad employees from your small business. For links to everything we talk about, including the video recording of the episode and transcription of everything we talked about, head over to the show notes at bigidea.co.uk/podcast. And to watch the LIVE recording of each episode of the Big Idea Podcast, join our Facebook Group for FREE - you can then watch our ugly mugs in glorious technicolour every Monday lunchtime, as well as get BONUS in-between-isodes, and direct access to both of us to ask any questions about this, or any other episode.

Ever wondered if the grass is greener on the other side? Not sure if you're in the right business for you? If so, then you're not alone - many small business owners don't actually choose their business - it chooses them! Many inherit a family business, or work with a partner or loved on who then leaves / dies. Others leave the "security" of a day job (often by being made redundant), only to start up as a self employed version of what they did to get a paycheck. In this episode we'll dive into why you don't HAVE to do what you've always done, and how to find something that you'd be happy to do for the rest of your life. For links to everything we talk about, including the video recording of the episode and transcription of everything we talked about, head over to the show notes at bigidea.co.uk/podcast. And to watch the LIVE recording of each episode of the Big Idea Podcast, join our Facebook Group for FREE - you can then watch our ugly mugs in glorious technicolour every Monday lunchtime, as well as get BONUS in-between-isodes, and direct access to both of us to ask any questions about this, or any other episode.