In The Shawshank Redemption, Andy Dufrense didn’t wait until he was “ready” for his exit. When he picked up that rock hammer for the first
His name was Robert. Engineering consultancy. Fifteen years in business. Solid revenue. Good clients. Respected in his industry. On paper, worth north of $2 million.
One of my first clients was proud of his spreadsheet. Massive thing. Hundreds of tabs. Colour-coded. Formulas nested inside formulas. He’d built the entire accounting
“My customers are different.” “My employees wouldn’t respond to that.” “My industry doesn’t work that way.” BS I hear these lines constantly. From owners in
A friend of mine owns a construction company. Every time I see him, he looks like he’s been dragged through a hedge backwards. Bloodshot eyes.
I once had a potential client who ran a logistics company. Smart guy. Built the thing from nothing. Knew every truck, every driver, every client
This week I told you two stories. The first was a man who threw a chair across a Greek café, danced a warrior dance, and
That’s how the conversation started. No excitement. No ambition. Just a man who’d spent years building a technology business and was ready to be done
This week I’ve been telling you about a friend who turned down an 8-figure offer for his business that happened to be seven times bigger
Yesterday I told you about a tiny café in a Greek village. A three-piece band. A warrior dance. A chair thrown across the room. After
The café was tiny. Packed wall to wall. The kind of place you’d walk past and never notice if you didn’t know it was there.
I was with a business owner while he took a Zoom call from Greece. Everyone else has the usual fake backgrounds. Blurred offices. Corporate bookshelves
This week I told you a story. A company that found a niche so good it felt like magic. Fuel delivered to your doorstep. A
I was a loyal customer. Weekly fuel deliveries. Used the car wash. Topped up the tyres. The kind of customer every business says they want.
“I don’t mind the price… I just hate being ripped off” My sister was shaking her head. We had just finished with a one year
Recurring revenue is one of the four levers investors love. Money that arrives like clockwork. Predictable. Bankable. The kind of revenue that lets you plan
Yesterday I told you about a company that nailed its niche. Fuel delivery to your doorstep. Specific. Underserved. Painful enough that people happily paid for
Yesterday I talked about the four levers investors care about. Today we start with the first one: profitable niches. And I want to tell you
Here’s something that stings when you first hear it. Investors don’t care how hard you work. They don’t care about your 5am starts, your grinding
This week wasn’t random. It was about understanding what you’re really selling. And having the spine to protect it. We started with the dog grooming
“Just when I thought I was out… they pull me back in.” My favourite line from my least favourite Godfather movie. And I hear it
I live next to the Headquarters of one of the largest Grocery chains in the Middle East. They have a full-size café which is the
“I’m really sorry that because I’m so attractive, you chose this expensive restaurant for our date.” She raised her glass for a pour. At the
“But it’s not about the dogs…” she proclaimed. “It’s about the men in the yachts parked nearby.” I’d never heard a dog grooming community pitched
I love this story I heard at an event this week. Years ago, a founder walked into his office with nothing but a sketch of
Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together.One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: Teacher, which
After several weeks away, we came home to the wonderful surprise of our Samsung washing machine being dead. Mid-cycle the beeping begins — and this
4th quarter. Bears down by 18. “Can I call them the Greedies?” my daughter Sophia asked about the Green Bay Packers. “Sure,” I said. I
This week had a theme about owners breaking their own businesses … Slowly, unintentionally, and with the best of intentions. Monday we met Skinny-Leg Arm
The Boss You Should’ve Fired 6 Months Ago
Your client doesn’t pay your salary — so why are they treating you like an employee?
Here’s how one midnight meltdown showed me exactly who needed to go — and what happened when I pulled the trigger
The Boss You Should’ve Fired 6 Months Ago
What do you do when your CEO storms out, ghosts the board, and then casually shows back up expecting his job back?
Let me tell you what one founder did — and how it cost him everything
They cut $150K in “non-essentials”…
Then lost $5.2M in company value.
When margin obsession becomes value destruction — here’s the mistake they made, and how to avoid it.
Save $0.30. Lose $5.00.
That’s what one founder did — and it cost him millions.
The “smart” tax deduction that killed his valuation — and how to avoid the same trap
People paid this business to work for free.
And they loved every minute of it.
I didn’t meet the owners.
Because they didn’t need to be there.
Let me tell you what I saw — and why this seasonal farm is far more valuable than it looks
Last night I kept waking up sweating.
And no, it wasn’t stress — it was a plastic mattress cover in 15°C weather.
But it reminded me of the kind of nights I used to have…
When my business was the thing keeping me awake.
11 years married.
7 weeks traveling with my family.
And a virus that knocked me down hard yesterday.
No, I don’t have a complete “hands-off” business yet.
But I do already have control over how I spend my time.
Here’s what that really looks like — and why it matters more than ever.
While some business owners are stuck answering emails on vacation, my friend flipped a house in Greece and walked away with €150K.
All because his business gave him something most owners don’t have: Full Ability to Spend His Time as he Wishes.
Here’s how you get it too.
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