Ambitious Lifestyle Business podcast

"My business has felt like a JOB this year..."

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 Budget? ✅ Yep, the big themes this year are VERY similar to the big themes of 2024 - the "doom and gloom" isn't going away (other than on the ALB podcast, where, just like Morecambe and Wise, we aim to "bring you sunshine"! Running a small business in the UK is tough right now. There's no getting away from it - unless you're looking to emigrate, of course - we talk about that once again in this episode, along with the power of surrounding yourself with positive, can-do people - something that we've done throughout the year, including our very first "Flamingos on Tour" event, in sunny Alicante in October. As usual, we discuss our Book of the Year, and sum up our hopes and dreams for 2026 in ONE word. The Ambitious Lifestyle Business podcast is available wherever you get your podcasts...

"I fell off a roof - and fixed my business..."

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, Dave had no choice but to remove himself from the day-to-day operations, and instead work ON his business. And now, 8 years later, Dave has taken a "false exit" - running the business in an hour or two a day from his home in sunny Spain, after years of touring Europe in an RV. In this episode of the Ambitious Lifestyle Business podcast, Dave implores anyone listening who says that "my business is different - and WON'T work without ME" to think again.

"Stay off drugs and don't eat lollipops from Florida"

I recently came across my all-time favourite review of my book Big Ideas... for Small Businesses [https://www.bigidea.co.uk/books] - 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!

The 5-teabag Rule... 🍵

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 [https://www.bigidea.co.uk/books], 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"

"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...