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.