Ambitious Lifestyle Business podcast

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 bette...

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 tr...

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 ,...

Jill French is a book coach and editor, who has edited more than 250 books, for fiction, creative nonfiction, and memoirs. And now she's written her own book too - a book that languished at the bottom of her to-do list for years - until she joined the One Percent Club , and made it happen. Jill leaned into the One Percent Club to help make this process easier - she used weekly accountability calls...

A few years ago, John Lamerton was caught up in the relentless pursuit of new customers, constantly refilling a leaky bucket - promising the world but losing clients just as quickly as he gained them. Frustrated by the constant chase, he had a lightbulb moment: focusing on retention and obsessing over existing customers was the real key to unlocking sustainable growth - and profits. He shifted his...

Meet Dr David Lowe. David had it all figured out - working a 5-day month, earning great money, enjoying a fantastic work/life balance, doing meaningful work for clients he loved. There was just one problem. His business model relied entirely on in-person training. And it was 2019. You and I know what's coming... But David didn't. He spent the next two years frantically scrabbling to "pivot" (is th...

If you're feeling stuck in your business (and/or your life), this episode is for YOU. Three years ago, Mel Statner was working 12 hours a day (and sometimes 16!), finding herself exhausted, doing work that drained her energy. In a nutshell, Mel was stuck. Fast forward to today, and Mel works a 3 day week, having also doubled her income. Not by working harder, but because she found some instruction...

It's beginning to look a lot like.. last year! The Ambitious Lifestyle Business podcast 2025 Christmas special is here - and as usual, John and Jason are putting the world to rights (without getting political - honest!), summing up what's it been like running an ambitious lifestyle business for the past twelve months. Cost of living crisis? ✅ High inflation a worry? ✅ Bad news coming in the Budg...

In September 2018, Driving School trainer Dave Foster fell off a two story building. As he was falling through thin air to the cold concrete below, his life flashed before his eyes - and he had an epiphany. Until that moment, Dave was working 10-12 hour days every day in his business, and fully believed that "no one can run this business, except me." Faced with being unable to work for six months,...

I recently came across my all-time favourite review of my book Big Ideas... for Small Businesses - from my ten year old son. He's 16 now, so it really made me chuckle to see what the younger version of him made of a book that's aimed at ambitious lifestyle business owners, not ten year old kids!

How do you make sure you stay hydrated throughout the day? By creating an easy-to-follow (and hard to forget) routine, of course! Taking a leaf out of my own book Routine Machine , I've created the "5 teabag rule", to make sure I remain well lubricated through the working day...  

"I'm sorry, that price is for new customers only"   A guaranteed way to get my blood BOILING... 😡   In this snippet from my forthcoming book Retention First, I share the story of a completely fictional broadband company, called "Emerging Media", who decide to tax the loyalty of their best customers, and give the best offers to those people who've never spent a penny with them...

Some of my "favourite" 1-star reviews:   "smug look at how awesome the author is"   "no help for small business owners unless they're already millionaires"   "my god you have to wade through an awful lot of pointless rambling to get there"   My books have attracted more than 2,000 five-star reviews.. yet it's the handful of negative ones that stick with me...

Here's what happened when I tried to get up at 5am and follow Hal Elrod's "miracle" morning routine: It'd take a miracle for me to follow it again! THE morning routine doesn't matter. What matters is that you HAVE a morning routine - one that's 💯 designed for YOU...

Time happiness is about enjoying your work and life. It's essential to be proud of what you do, and understanding what makes you tick is crucial for happiness. In this episode of the Ambitious Lifestyle Business podcast, One Percenter Neil Symonds introduces us to "Time Happiness" - the guiding principle that Neil uses to run his business - and TRULY enjoy his life.

A few weeks back, I had my left knee sliced open, and was signed off work for two weeks.   Upon being handed my sick note, I laughed out loud.   Because I run my own business.   "If I don't work, I don't earn"   Only that's not strictly true...

Not long after I started my first business, I was interviewed by my local newspaper. It makes me cringe to read it today:   I genuinely don't recognise the person I was back then.   I was thinking WAY too small.   And 24 years later, I'm lamenting how much that has cost me.   Especially TWO crucial mistakes I made - that I see others making today...

Do you use vision boards?   Are they "woo-woo", or a scientifically-proven way to make achieving your ambitious lifestyle business goals more likely?   I'm VERY much in the second camp.   Here's why...   (btw, the One Percent Club doors are open right now for our September intake. Click here for more info )

What's the One Percent Club, and why should you care?   I explain everything (including our "no dickheads" policy) in this week's podcast..   (btw, The One Percent Club doors are open RIGHT NOW >> https://bigidea.co.uk/one-percent-club/ )

The One Percent Club includes access to more than 65 hour-long Masterclasses - deep dive seminars into topics such as pricing, SEO, copywriting, Google Ads, Facebook Ads, LinkedIn, podcasting, book writing, time management etc. In today's episode of the Ambitious Lifestyle Business podcast, we're sharing one of those Masterclasses for FREE - our "90-day plan Masterclass". All new One Percenters st...

Last weekend, I actually had to do some WORK.   (I know, please send cards and sympathy)   But in working my first Saturday morning in 9 years , I discovered something that may well save the guy who usually does the Saturday AM shift a good 10 hours a month...

  When I was a kid, I always wanted Wile E Coyote to catch Road Runner . And then one day,  he did  - prompting a question that business owners ask themselves every day: "Now What?" A question that can be both incredibly powerful - and incredibly dangerous!

  This summer, I'm revisiting my ideal job description:   What I want When I want Where I want How I want If I want...

The ten questions I ask myself every week: What have you learned this week? What's gone well this week? What's gone badly? How did you respond? How have you turned the flywheel this week? How have you been ambitious? How have you focused on your lifestyle? Who has inspired you this week, and how? How are you feeling? Are you on track right now? What's the ONE thing that "Old John" needs to remind...

Are neurodivergent people more likely to become business owners? And crucially, do neurodivergent business owners actually make BETTER business owners than their neurotypical counterparts? In the summer episode of the Ambitious Lifestyle Business podcast, Jason and John discuss this theory, along with AI overwhelm, the power of doing hard things, and the culture of mediocrity in this UK. The Ambit...