Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/h0jTgJjudQU

Join John and Jason in the One Percent Club: https://www.bigidea.co.uk/one-percent-club

Watch our interview with Gary about sacking his business partner: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teBd-z42hak

Dealing with a toxic business partner is exhausting.

Learn how to manage the situation without destroying your company.

When your co-founder constantly vetoes decisions, treats the company account as a personal piggy bank, or simply refuses to pull their weight, the situation quickly becomes unsustainable.

Many founders ignore these warning signs until it is too late, but letting partnership problems fester is a fast track to resentment and operational gridlock.

This discussion provides practical small business advice for navigating these conflicts.

We look at how to protect your assets and your sanity, ensuring that one person's poor behaviour does not lead to total business failure. You will learn how to set boundaries and manage the partnership dynamic before the damage becomes irreversible.

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In this episode:

0:00 Navigating a Toxic Partnership

0:48 The Importance of Shareholder Agreements

3:09 Identifying the Root of the Problem

5:35 Knowing When to Part Ways

Watch this episode on YouTube

Are you wasting time on tasks that do not move the needle?

Learn how to apply the 80 20 principle to focus on what actually matters. Most business owners treat every daily activity as equally important, but this approach rarely leads to growth. By identifying the few inputs that generate the majority of your output, you can stop spinning your wheels and start making real progress.

This episode explains how to audit your daily workflow to ensure you are prioritising the right areas for your company. We look at why focusing on impactful tasks is the most effective way to improve your overall business results.

Whether you are a solopreneur or leading a small team, shifting your mindset away from busywork is essential for long-term small business productivity. It is not about working harder, but about ensuring your energy is spent where it counts.

Get a FREE chapter of Big Ideas... for Small Businesses

Join Ben, John and Jason in the One Percent Club: https://www.bigidea.co.uk/one-percent-club

How does a £1.2m business simply collapse?

We look at why the Hedgehog Concept is vital for avoiding failure.

During this episode of the Ambitious Lifestyle Business Podcast, we examine the reality behind building a successful company.

One of the biggest reasons for business failure is losing sight of your core purpose, which is why we break down the Hedgehog Concept.

It is a framework that forces you to align your passion, what you can be the best at, and your economic drivers.

Without this alignment, your marketing and operations departments often pull in different directions, leading to stalled growth.

If you are a founder or small business owner, this episode is for you.

We discuss the hard lessons learned from a business that grew fast but lacked a sustainable foundation, offering a clear small business strategy to help you avoid the same mistakes.

In this episode:

0:00 The Reality of Business Collapse

0:50 The Moment the Clock Ran Out

2:35 Finding Hope on the Kitchen Floor

6:26 Climbing the Mountain of Stupidity

14:02 Steadying the Ship After the Storm

17:14 Focusing on the Hedgehog Concept

You can also watch this episode on YouTube

Watch this episode on YouTube

How do you work less without your business falling apart?

In this episode of the Ambitious Lifestyle Business podcast, John Lamerton and Jason Brockman speak to Paul Miller about burnout, delegation, business boundaries, trusting your team, and how small business owners can stop being the central point of everything in their business.

Paul's wake-up call was not subtle.

After years of working 70 to 80 hours a week, carrying too much responsibility, and being the person everything revolved around, he ended up in hospital.

Twice.

The first time was meningitis.

The second time involved waking up in Charing Cross Hospital after blacking out and having a seizure following a business conference.

Paul explains how that served as a work/life balance wake up call, leading him to work fewer hours, delegate more effectively, set clearer boundaries, say no more often, outsource lower-value work and use the 80/20 principle to focus on the things that actually move the business forward.

We also talk about why so many small business owners feel trapped by their business, why letting go is so difficult, and why you need to stop doing £10 tasks if you want to spend more time on the £1,000 tasks that really matter.

If you are a small business owner, family business owner, accountant, coach, consultant, freelancer or solopreneur who wants to work fewer hours, avoid burnout, delegate properly and build a business that supports your life rather than consumes it, this episode is for you.

Because your business should fund and fuel your lifestyle.

It should not nearly kill you.

In this epsiode:

0:00 Introduction
1:11 Waking Up in Hospital
4:00 Life as a Workaholic Business Owner
7:05 The Art of Delegating and Trusting
11:06 Mastering the Four-Day Work Week
19:02 Five Rules for a Balanced Business

Join Paul (and more than 100 other ambitious, lifestyle business owners) in the One Percent Club

In this episode:

0:00 - Introduction
1:04 - Prospects Need to Hear the Same Thing Many Times Before Buying
3:18 - Energy Management is Better Than Time Management
8:42 - People Don't Care What You Do - They Just Want The Results
10:51 - YouTube is an Evergreen Asset
17:51 - The Power of Reflection
24:10 - Respect The Audience's Time (From the Very First Second)

What are the small business lessons that actually make a difference?

In this episode of the Ambitious Lifestyle Business podcast, small business owners John Lamerton and Jason Brockman share their 6 business lightbulb moments from the year so far, including practical lessons on marketing, productivity, client communication, YouTube, reflection and building a business that works better for your life.

These are NOT abstract business theories or guru-style hacks.

They are real lessons from working with small business owners inside the One Percent Club, running our own businesses, and making plenty of mistakes along the way.

In this episode, we talk about why your clients often need to hear the same message far more than once, why energy management can be more important than time management, and why selling the result matters more than selling the thing you do.

We also discuss why YouTube can be a powerful evergreen asset for small business owners, why reflection is an underrated business habit, and why respecting your audience's time might be one of the most important marketing lessons of all.

If you are a small business owner, freelancer, coach, consultant or solopreneur who wants to make better decisions, improve your marketing, get more done without burning out, and build a more ambitious lifestyle business, this episode should give you plenty to think about.

Because sometimes the biggest improvements do not come from chasing the next shiny tactic. They come from noticing the simple lessons hiding in plain sight.

Get the Late Payment Calculator: https://chargeservices.co.uk/late-payment-calculator

Find out more about the One Percent Club: https://www.bigidea.co.uk/one-percent-club

In this episode:
0.00 - Introduction
1.04 - What impact does late payment have on small business owners?
2:59 - A sale isn't a sale until the invoice is paid
6.11 - Charging interest on late payments
10.41 - Prevention is better than cure
14.26 - You're not in the wrong to ask for your money!
16:22 - Will the Small Business Protections (Late Payments) Bill actually help small businesses?
18.22 - Paying tax on "profits" you haven't actually received!
20.15 - Sacking off work for a Friday afternoon at the soft play.
23.30 - What does an ambitious lifestyle business look like for Jenni?

Late payments are horrible.

Not just because they muck up your cash flow.

But because of the "ick" attached to them.

The awkwardness of chasing.

That "am I being too pushy?" feeling.

The ridiculous situation where you've done the work, but somehow feel bad asking for YOUR MONEY.

There's often a gap between sending invoices and actually getting paid. Jenni Sampson helps reduce that gap - and reduce the "ick" too.

In this episode of the Ambitious Lifestyle Business podcast, Jason and I spoke to Jenni about how she built a simple credit control system that any small business owner can follow.

It's a clear, step-by-step process for following up, using templates, scripts and simple confidence-building prompts.

The result? Better cash flow. Less stress. No more guessing what to say.

And much less of that horrible knot-in-the-stomach feeling when an invoice goes overdue.

We also talk with Jenni about charging interest on late payments, whether the government's new "Small Business Protection Bill" will make an ounce of difference, and the importance of chasing debt promptly (and certainly before you pay VAT and Corporation Tax on it! 🤦)

We talked about the whole journey on this latest episode of the Ambitious Lifestyle Business podcast. Available everywhere you get your podcasts.

Craig Jukes spent 37 years in corporate life.

Then, on a flight home from a holiday Kefalonia, Craig had one of those moments.

Not a "quit your job tomorrow and go and live in a hammock" moment.

A PROPER lightbulb moment. 💡

He realised he didn't want retirement to be some vague, far-off prize at the end of another decade of work.

He wanted freedom NOW.

Freedom to work from anywhere. Freedom to travel. Freedom to spend the grim UK winter somewhere that didn't require a big coat, central heating, and emotional support biscuits.

He didn't just dream about it. He designed it.

Craig built a portable business. He reduced his financial drag. He invested sensibly. He decluttered the stuff, the costs, and the commitments that were keeping him stuck.

Then he quit corporate life and built a digital nomad lifestyle business around work he actually wanted to do.

Not because he fancied "quitting my job to start a business" in the Instagram laptop-on-a-beach sense (anyone ever tried actually USING a laptop on a beach??)

But because he wanted a business that supported his life, rather than a life that was permanently being sacrificed to support his business.

And from that journey, Craig created a simple five-step framework that others can swipe and deploy if they want their own version of financial freedom, and run a business from anywhere in the world.

These days, Craig spends months abroad, gets more sunshine than the average Brit should legally be allowed, and runs a business that gives him the freedom he planned for.

Not by accident. Not by magic. By discipline, planning, smart decisions, and surrounding himself with the right people.

Craig's story is a reminder that your dream lifestyle business probably isn't as ridiculous as your brain keeps telling you it is. You just need to price it up, reverse-engineer it, and start making those 1% improvements.

That's what Craig did.

You can hear Craig's story in full (including his full 5-step framework) in this episode of the Ambitious Lifestyle Business podcast.

Sep Frijia describes himself as a poker player in an entrepreneur's body.

Last summer, he was stuck at mediocrity in both his poker and business pursuits, but he decided to flip the script. By shifting his focus to long-term purpose rather than short-term wins, Sep transformed his approach and outcomes.

He studied the game-changing strategies of blueprints, reflection, and incremental progress, applying them both at the poker table and in his business. His mindset evolved from chasing immediate results to playing the long game, becoming unapologetically all-in on his purpose and trusted decision-making.

This journey culminated in winning his poker league, a trophy, and the One Percenter of the month award - proving that sustained effort and clarity can lead to unstoppable success. (Read more about how the One Percent Club can transform your approach here)

Want to learn how Sep's mindset and strategies can help you level up? Tune into the latest episode of the Ambitious Lifestyle Business podcast - available wherever you listen!