The Untold Podcast
UNTOLD Podcast is where business, family, and life collide—raw, unfiltered, and brutally honest. No fluff, no fake success stories—just real conversations about the highs, the struggles, and everything in between.
The Untold Podcast
Episode 10 | The Pressure Nearly Broke Me: A Raw Talk on Business, Burnout, and Bouncing Back
This episode gets real.
Ash opens up about hitting a breaking point in business this week—financial stress, responsibility, and that horrible voice telling you to give it all up. Chris shares what it’s like living on TikTok income and the mental battle of betting on yourself.
They talk openly about:
- The addiction of entrepreneurship
- Why pressure is brutal but necessary
- Knowing when to say “no” in business
- What support systems really look like
- The price of chasing the wrong projects
No ego. No filters. Just raw truth about what it actually feels like when you’re trying to build something big—and it nearly breaks you.
It's been rough mate. I'm not going to lie.
Speaker 2:This is the only problem with having all your eggs in one basket.
Speaker 1:I don't want that anymore. Why the fucking hell am I doing this?
Speaker 2:I think you're either built to deal with pressure or you're not. If you don't think you can deal with pressure, there's probably a chance that you can't.
Speaker 1:It's not for the faint-hearted, is it no?
Speaker 2:It is probably the best decision I've ever made in my life, because of what it's allowing me to do.
Speaker 1:I wish people would be transparent with people how it actually feels when shit goes wrong. The untold podcast is proudly sponsored by aura surfaces specialists in luxury surfaces for extraordinary spaces. Like creating dream homes, building a dream life takes work. That's why we had to get behind this podcast. Real stories, real challenges and real success. Let's get into it. Hello everybody, welcome to the Untold Podcast. No Des today, just me and Chris. No beers this week, chris, you let me down.
Speaker 2:Yeah, sorry, mate, thirsty Thursday and all that. I've got stuff to do. Thirsty Thursday.
Speaker 1:Business has to come first right, yeah, yeah, how are you doing, Chris? How's your week been?
Speaker 2:It's been good, really good, yeah, yeah, really good.
Speaker 2:As you'll be fully aware I've spent a lot of which is ups and downs. Obviously you fed up with it yet. Nah, mate, I must admit I sat at home on Sunday, just getting ready for bed, and I laid him, laid him laid on the bed and I thought to myself this doesn't feel right. It's not a feeling I like, to be fair, not knowing that I've got to get up for work in the morning. It's quite a weird adjustment actually. Yeah, I know someone said it's going to take a little while to adjust, but it is a weird one. I thought I'd just bowl straight into it.
Speaker 2:Like yeah, I ain't got to get up for work. Who gives a shit Like I'll get whenever I want, but when you've got kids you still get up at six in the morning anyway, didn't you? And?
Speaker 1:you've been getting up and doing the lives at six as well. Obviously, that's why I've got bags under the eyes, because I did it this morning.
Speaker 2:What about you? You've had a tough one this week, haven't you?
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's been rough, mate. It's been rough. I'm not going to lie, and this is the stuff that people don't. You don't see when you're an entrepreneur, when you're building something, and you would have gone through similar things Like, basically, for people listening, I'm in a situation where, because of someone else's complacency could end up costing me a hell of a lot of money, but more money than I even want to think about, money that will really jeopardize everything I've worked for for the last 18 months setting up my business, and yesterday I literally I just wanted to end it all. I just wanted to not end it all like I was in life, but I'm just gonna say, fucking hell, not live.
Speaker 1:I just I just thought to myself yesterday I was sitting there thinking why the fucking hell am I doing this? Why am I working every day 12, 13, 14 hours in the office every single day? Things just don't seem to be moving forward anymore and I questioned myself yesterday, questioned my ability to carry on question my ability to want to carry on question whether I should just go and get a job for someone else and have 25 days a year holiday, probably get paid a hell of a lot more than I am now regularly turn the phone off at five o'clock, turn it back on in the morning, don't answer emails at weekends. But then I thought no, no, no, this isn't going to take me down. I am right, I can fight it and we'll grow I guess it's tough as well, isn't it?
Speaker 2:because obviously we've spoken about your, your team, as we call them upstairs. Like you, can build the team around you to be fantastic, and you know from what I've seen already they're brilliant out there, but when you're working in the industry that you're in like when I was in the building site you're not just relying on your team. Your team can be unbelievable, but if there's some prick out there that decides that he's going to get a bollocking cause he ain't doing his job properly, they can automatically flip it around and put the blame on somebody else, and that's basically what's happened in it.
Speaker 1:And that's it. And I think I don't think there's any other drug in the world that can give you the highs and the lows of running a business. Tuesday, sun was shining, I was on fire. I went home at the end of the day and I felt amazing, saw the kids, amazing.
Speaker 1:Yesterday I sat upstairs in my office for probably half an hour just staring at a wall, trying to bring myself out of the state of mind I was in in order to go home and enjoy life at home, because I didn't want to take it's not their fault and I didn't want to take this home with me and be stroppy and be miserable and be snappy at the kids because it's not their fault. I'm doing it what I do for them, for everybody, and I think there's so many people out there that will tell you to quit your job and go and start being an entrepreneur. Be this, be that, but like I've said before and I'll say it again, there is a lot to be said about getting a paycheck at the end of every month, yeah, turning your phone off when you leave, going on a holiday and not having to answer emails and stuff. Now, whether that's me needing to build on the team needing to build on being an entrepreneur and moving forward. But yeah, it's been mad and it takes.
Speaker 2:I don't think, how good a team you have, mate, you ain't ever going to switch off, are you? If you're that sort of person where you're wanting to better yourself and have different businesses and be successful, I don't think your brain ever gets to switch off. So I don't think it is. I think you're doing the right things with the team and everything, but I just don't think you'll ever be at that point can switch off. And if they are yeah, then it's probably something wrong with them.
Speaker 1:to be fair, if they're um, they're trying to be an entrepreneur. Well, that's it, isn't it? And I think the entrepreneur mind it doesn't switch.
Speaker 2:I hate that word, by the way, what can we call it something else? What grafter, grafter. I just hate it.
Speaker 1:I hate the word the person that wants to. We just want better things for us. Yeah, and I think that's why we started this podcast, because we're sort of we're all, we're all building, we're all. That's what we said. We're from the bottom and we're trying to, we're trying to go with us and let's be open and honest about the shit we go through. Yeah, like obviously at the weekend you were, you were messaging and saying am I good? Am I that good? And you were questioning whether you were that good and I replied to you and said you fucking are, mate. You're absolutely smashing it, absolutely smashing it, I must say.
Speaker 2:I said last week, I'm starting to believe in myself a lot more, to be fair. Yeah, it's just, I don't know where it's come from. To be honest, I think once people start telling you how good you are, eventually eventually still not there 100, but I certainly believe in myself a lot, a lot more than I used to. Um, but, yeah, you know, listen, fucking. I don't even know where I'm going with this, to be honest, because we're trying, I'm trying to listen to you here.
Speaker 2:I'm just about to ramble into something and I'm fully aware you're trying to explain something and I've just jumped in there, but it's true, isn't it? Life is fucking hard when you're trying to better yourself and I think it's a bit of an addiction. Yeah, I think the people that have full-time jobs, that get fucking 40 hours a week salary and they get 39 days holiday a year, I don't think they have that addiction. I think they're quite happy just to go home and forget about everything. I can't do that. No, I can't do that, because I'm addicted to that process.
Speaker 2:I was talking to my wife, funny enough, the other day. Um, people that have loads of drama in their life I'm a strong believer is their brain wants the drama because it is so used to it it doesn't know what nice feels like. Yeah, and people that are always happy. You must know somebody that has always got a smile on their face. You walk into the room they're happy. You walk out the room they're happy, they'll you. You see them in the street. They're smiling. I know you're all right. You know the annoying person because you think how the fuck can you be happy all the time? Yeah, because that's what they used to.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so their brain feeds off the happiness and doesn't take on the the everybody else's burdens and the burdens of the world and all that sort of stuff.
Speaker 2:And then you do get the people that always have those issues throughout life. And you, like we said I was listening to a podcast, funny enough on the way here last week's podcast, or this week's podcast. Sorry you said it. You know, if, if you're, if you're fat, if you're this, if you're that, it's kind of your own fault, yeah, and I think if you are struggling all of the time and you don't have those times where you're this, if you're that, it's kind of your own fault. And I think if you are struggling all of the time and you don't have those times where you're feeling all right, that is because your body, your brain, is so used to that negative feeling. I think it's actually a scientifically proven thing, to be fair, yeah, you do.
Speaker 1:It's one of those things, isn't it? It's like the whole thing with the red car thing, what they say where if you're.
Speaker 1:If you're looking, it's your subconscious mind, isn't it? If you're looking for, if you go and look at a, I don't know if you go and look at a I'm not going to say a Tesla now, because there's so many of them on the road If you go and look at a red BMW, all of a sudden you'll start seeing red BMWs. It's your subconscious mind and I think if you're constantly attracted to negative, then you'll constantly look for negative, and that's something that I've learnt over the years is to like. Take yesterday, for example. All I could do yesterday my brain was telling me right, it's all over, shut the door, go and get a job. Get yourself to Sainsbury's on the way home and apply for a job in there, because it's all over for you. That's it, it's done, and that's my brain, and that's the way my brain works, telling me worst case scenario and 98% of the time, that's never the outcome.
Speaker 1:Yeah, now I haven't buried my head in the sand with this. I've fought back. I've spent three hours yesterday going through all the emails, every single email, technical data sheet, specification documents, everything, and put a timeline together of the date and time, exactly what was said, to cover myself, and that it makes me feel better inside, because inside I know I've done everything I possibly can to avoid this situation. But this situation has happened due to someone else being very complacent on something, so it's someone else's fault. But he thinks he's bigger than me and they're trying to use me as a scapegoat, which doesn't sit with me. And do you know what I realized yesterday? These big projects, these big contracts and stuff that take two or three years and they're lovely when they come in I don't want that anymore. Yeah, so this is my road. For three, four months I've built a business chasing these big hotel projects and contracts. Yesterday I said you know what? The juice ain't worth the squeeze.
Speaker 2:Two and a half years to shiny penny syndrome yeah you look at the big things, you think, fucking, I want a bit of that, a bit of that action. It's also, to a certain extent, for me. I've worked on big houses for the last nine years. Yeah, exactly where you are now. A few months ago, before I decided to go full time doing what I'm doing now, I went we're not doing big houses anymore because actually, more stress, less money than if you did. If you concentrate on a project for four months, you're probably gonna earn more. If you're concentrating on one project every week, because you're gonna get them in and out, you're gonna get paid much quicker. Yeah, you know, the capital is there.
Speaker 2:Um, I said we're gonna just go back to working in people's houses and give up these big jobs. All right, I'm not. I didn't have to go down that route. But, um, you do kind of get blindsided by the what other people think as well. That's where I was.
Speaker 2:Yeah, oh god, look look at chris, he's painting that four million pound house. Fuck me, he must be doing well. Good, doesn't do very well. I was already in, right, but you know, you kind of think oh, yeah, like I must look like I'm doing well, so it's going to make me feel like I'm doing well, then I'm going to do well, because everyone's all like this positive mindset, aren't they like? But yeah, I don't think, unless you've got a massive, massive team. For me, if I had like 30 decorators, I could do them jobs and throw a load of blokes on them, get it out of the way and forget about it. But you're more of a niche market, aren't you? You're like more of a much personal touch. You get involved with the clients a lot more that's it, and I think I listen to this.
Speaker 1:I listen to like I'm listening to a daniel priestly book oversubscribed, and almost every single example in all these entrepreneurs, all these grafters, every single example. You listen to the likes of john pember for you listen to the likes of daniel priestly everybody's digital. The only way to make money is to go digital, build software. That's not me.
Speaker 1:I have a service and product-based business, so I have to provide a service and then provide a product. Now I'm relying on myself to provide the service, but then I'm also relying on everybody else the suppliers, the manufacturers, everybody to provide the product, and there's a lot more into it than there is setting up an online course, having online subscriptions. That don't work for me in my industry. Our customers may do may buy our products three, four times in their life, so it's really difficult and there's so much out there from all these people that have done really well and it's all software. Online education based.
Speaker 2:You've only got to build that once and then you just leave it online. It's there forever, isn't it Exactly For people to just a reoccurring income stream, isn't it? Whereas you've got a graft with every customer, every time they come in, every time you go to site.
Speaker 1:But it's like I said, and you'll find it in your new adventure is the find it in your new adventure is the. You know the destination, you want to do better, you want to provide more for your family, but how you get there, it's like with this podcast. It's like with this podcast, we're sort of going, we're trying that and we're doing that and it will eventually narrow into like what I said, that steven bartley, the other day the zigzag thing.
Speaker 1:If you think you've got a straight path to anything, trust me you'll be a fool. If someone tells you you've got a straight path to anything, trust me you'll be a fool. If someone tells you you can do a side hustle and earn two grand a week, you probably could, but it's not going to happen overnight.
Speaker 2:Yep.
Speaker 1:And it's this I wish people would be transparent with people how it actually feels when shit goes wrong. When it's going right and you're sending invoices and there's money in the bank, You're like, oh, that's amazing, I can book a holiday, I can do this. But then when something like what's happened to me over the last couple of weeks comes in and I've put all my eggs in this one basket for this project and things are taking slower and things are going wrong and too many chefs in the kitchen, now I'm on my arse, Like I'm genuinely on my ass, and it's something that's been beating you up for fucking weeks as well, isn't it because we spoke about ages ago when it initially started to?
Speaker 2:yeah?
Speaker 1:and it's just the juice isn't worth the squeeze, but that's I think. I think the world is testing me. I really do think that the last couple of weeks I'm being tested, really tested, and I'm learning some very important lessons to enable to put me to the end. Someone once said to me about like, as a human being, we're an elastic band, and the further you stretch an elastic band, the more pressure you put on it, the farther it's going to fly. Yeah, and I think that I think that's right. I think that's a point where people, you need these tests. If your life is going swimmingly smoothly, then good for you, but you're not pushing yourself hard enough.
Speaker 2:My only fear with that elastic band theory is one day it snaps. One day it snaps and it does for people, doesn't it? That's the problem. That's why people end up taking their lives on that, because they can't cope with the pressure anymore. And I think you're either built to deal with pressure or you're not. Yeah, I am a massive believer of if you don't think you can deal with pressure, there's probably a chance that you can't.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:You know I can deal with pressure very quick, very well, yeah, but I do get to the point where I think, fuck, you know, like I'm here, where I'm sitting in the in the room on my own, thinking about everything that's going on thinking fucking hell what else?
Speaker 2:what else can I take that is going to make me get to the point where I'm going to go? Right, I'm fucking done with it, and I was nearly there with work, and then this came along. Then my other income came along. You know, obviously there's no income here yet, but we are looking for sponsorship and people to listen to us and watch us, and come join us and come see us, come feed us come drink us, um, but yeah, no, if that hadn't come along, I was at that point, a hundred percent.
Speaker 2:I was at that point. I was nearly there one day a few weeks ago where I'd done something at work. Someone come in and they made a fucking great mess of what I'd done and I was just. I said like I shouted out the top of my voice what the fucking hell's going on here on site and went and kicked off and I'd had arguments with clients and arguments with site managers like repeatedly for the last few months. Maybe subconsciously, I was looking for a way out. That might be what it was, rather than actually it was there.
Speaker 1:I don't know.
Speaker 2:But yeah, I mean you have got to be able to pile on the pressure to be able to be successful in having your own business 100%.
Speaker 1:I think you have, and I think people will sit back and like but it's easy.
Speaker 1:Look at my company's Instagram account. It looks. You can look the website. Everything looks amazing. The thing with the digital age is it's very easy to tell people. Look at all these people. They're renting supercars and making out that they're doing this. Then they're scamming people into buying on. So easy, so easy to make yourself look completely different. And no one sits down and no one says that this went on in business. This went on. All the people that you see the Jeff Bezos, the Elon Musks if you do more digging, they've probably failed more times than they've succeeded.
Speaker 2:God, yeah, yeah, yeah. Imagine the amount of money they've wasted and lost. Yeah, I mean, they've probably failed more times than they've succeeded. God, yeah, yeah, yeah. Imagine the amount of money they've wasted and lost. Yeah, I mean, it's probably not as much money as they've earned, but Well, and that's it, that's it, that's why they're the richest people in the world because they have done all those mistakes and spent all that money.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you're right, and it's I literally, just like I said, I felt mentally absolutely drained.
Speaker 2:I feel bad now for saying I've had a really good week.
Speaker 1:No, don't, mate, Don't. I'm fucking happy for you. You've had a really good week. It's good I'm going to come and work with you next week.
Speaker 2:I'm going to come and work with you next week and we'll have a good time together. We've been there for a while.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. So no, it's just it's hard. You would know that it's hard. Obviously, you've been through some things the other week. I don't know what's gone on. I'm losing everybody on my lives, oh my God, and I would imagine it makes you question whether you've made the right decision.
Speaker 2:100%, mate. 100%, I mean. Obviously we work in a quite close-knit community and one of the guys that I work with he's gone live this morning and he's had a real terrible life and he's used to having massive lives. It can happen like that. Yeah, this is the only problem with having all your eggs in one basket for me at the moment I am full TikTok. That is. My only income at the moment is through TikTok. Yeah, and if TikTok wake up tomorrow morning and they go we don't like skis anymore they can just switch you off.
Speaker 2:I don't have any money to pay my mortgage, my bills and all that sort of stuff. So it is a worry. But then I think as a responsible person, if you know that you prepare yourself for that. So you know I've. I didn't take the leap from being on site to being on tiktok without having a big nest egg sat there waiting for me to go.
Speaker 2:Yeah, um, I saved all of the money pretty much, other than, yeah, I've had a couple of nice hotel rooms for a couple of nights when I've been to events. Yeah, um, business expenses, uh, I've also, you, bought some nice clothes to go on to those, those stages that I've spoken on, and stuff like that, but everything else has just been saved, you know. So it's there. There's a. I've got over a year's worth of mortgage payments and bills and everything sitting there if I need it. Yeah, but the plan is to spend now my income on my bills and everything else and not touch that nest egg. So, my bills and everything else and not touch that nest egg. So then I do have that savings account. You know it's a business account, but, um, it is important to mention if you are ever going to go full time on TikTok or anything like that. Don't just go balls deep without making sure you're safe.
Speaker 1:Well, that that applies to everything, doesn't it? That applies to, not just TikTok. That applies to don't quit your job, not just TikTok. That applies to don't quit your job, as some people say. Don't quit your job. You've got to test the water with things, and that's why I really like Daniel Priestley, because he's got some really good ways of testing the water before you've even spent money.
Speaker 1:Build a personal brand, Like you're building a personal brand within the TikTok community. And like you said the other week about, yeah, you would love to be on TV, You'd love to do, I can see you on TV. I can see you cause you're so good at what you do. I watch your lives and I'm like how the? I just don't. I can't comprehend how, how you actually do it. Um, and talk about that, and I think that I read I would say that because it's now your sole source of income and you haven't got that the decorating to fall back on, you are even more charged and like you say now, you're doing, you're doing extra, you're doing more lives and you get more time to focus on that yeah, I'll be totally honest with you, I've never really enjoyed doing the lives.
Speaker 2:I think I've said it in a podcast before I don't. I never enjoyed going live. I never enjoyed the thought process of getting ready to go live or what I was doing. But the last two weeks, because I don't have a choice, now it's in my head that it is a job and actually that job that I'm doing where I'm working 15 hours a week, 15 hours a week, 15 hours a week and I'm earning more than I was earning doing the decorating at the moment, touch wood.
Speaker 2:I get to spend time with my son, my missus. I get to go and do whatever I want. Like you know, if I want to have a meeting with someone, I can have a meeting when I want it. It's not a case of right. You can only have me for 20 minutes at this lunch break or 20 minutes at that lunch break. I can do whatever I want whenever I want.
Speaker 2:I went out for a slap up lunch yesterday my missus and my little boy. She had to take him to the hospital for his eye appointment and he was a good boy and I said to him daddy, get you a nice ice cream. If you're a good boy for the said, sod it. Let's go to Smith Weston. We had steak, chicken ribs. I had a big Sunday. Afterwards he had a big ice cream. He had a big dinner. She had a massive smile on her face because we'd been out as a family and done something nice during the week where I was usually at work. So now I use that in my head. I walk out into that studio and I think I'm doing this because it allows me to do so much more, and I love it.
Speaker 2:I have a smile on my face the minute I turn the camera on because I know in two hours time I get to go and see my family again.
Speaker 1:You know, I'm not stuck at work on a building site with all these smelly old blokes that are moaning and bitching about each other and I think now, because you put more effort into it, I bet you your content's gonna be better because you've got more time to think about it, you've got more time to edit it and yeah, I just no hats off to you, man, for doing it hats off to you, man, and I really do, yeah, I really do wish you the best with it.
Speaker 2:Cheers, mate, I mean to be fair. There's I've probably said it twice in my life. Once is when the decorating firm started getting big and we got around the house and I got a brand new van and we got a nice car. And I said to my missus I feel really proud of myself at the moment and I genuinely feel very proud of myself at the minute for taking the leap, because I was shitting my pants, yeah, for months when I thought about doing it. Um, so far, it is probably the best decision I've ever made in my life because of what it's allowing me to do other than just work now.
Speaker 1:It's a big leap. It is a big leap to something that's obviously. I know that TikTok's been around for years and online selling and stuff, but you've not been doing it for what was it about? 18 months? 18 months, yeah.
Speaker 2:I said the other day, the other week, didn't I? Well, last week, in, in fact, the confidence that I've got since I quit my job and I think it's because I had the confidence in myself that I could do it yeah, that massive leap of faith that I needed, because it was a massive leap of faith I'm not being funny. I've got a mortgage and one household income, which I've said before, because I did it and I gave myself that confidence level. Honestly, I'm not a completely different person in my head now. Yeah, completely different person. I mean, we spoke about arrogance and confidence. I'm worried at the moment whether my confidence is coming across to some people.
Speaker 1:Do you know what I mean? Yeah, because it's.
Speaker 2:This is the problem. If you're not confident in yourself from day dot and then you have this confidence, people can take it as an arrogance yeah so I do.
Speaker 2:I kind of try trying to rein myself in a little bit, because I am so confident and I can say, no, fuck off, I'm not doing that, yeah or no, I don't believe in that. Or whereas before I'd sit in the corner and I'd be like, yeah, yeah, yeah, no worries, yeah, yeah, okay, okay, okay, even if in the in the back of my mind I'm thinking, no, no, you're full of shit, mate don't be a yes man.
Speaker 1:No, and I've struggled with that for a hell of a long time. I'll say yes, oh yeah, that can be no shit, can't? Then I dig myself in a hole, yeah, whereas now that Daniel Priestley book Oversubscribed, is really, really good. Just for everything, just for being able to say no to people. I would love to be in a position, not in a horrible way.
Speaker 2:I listened to that bit actually, when he said about saying no to people, yeah to be able to say no.
Speaker 1:Take you, for example oh God, we've got to take on that job, mate, because there's 300 quid in the bank. We've got to take on that job, mate, because there's 300 quid in the bank, we've got to take on that. I don't want it. I don't want to do it. It's going to be more harm than it's worth, but we need the cash flow, we need the money in um. Or you say, oh, I've got someone wants me to sell this, this product, via tiktok. I don't believe in it, I don't really want to do it, but I need the money. You won't put the effort into it, you won't. Whereas if you're in a position, no, I don't want to sell that to I don't want to do that, I don't. I think that's a really important place to try and get yourself to in business, where people are coming to you and you're able to say no. You're able to say no. That doesn't work for me.
Speaker 2:It gives you more value as well it does give you more value and more trust from people. If you just say yes to everything all the time, they're just going to think well, maybe I could say to them that's too much money. A bit of a reduction in price, because if you've said yes before, they're going to ask it again, aren't they? If you just stick to your guns and say, no, that's my day rate or no, that's your price, you're getting a good product there. You're getting a good value like I'm not dropping my prices. You know earning and burning.
Speaker 1:My old man once showed me we were going through the accounts years ago when he was running the business. We're going through the end of year accounts. He said you see that figure there, that's your profit. He said every single 10 pound, every single five pound, every single bag of adhesive, every single everything, every single penny that you've given in discounts come straight off that figure. Imagine if discounts come straight off that figure. Imagine if, say, the figure was 10 grand. Imagine if you hadn't given any discounts. You stuck. Obviously sometimes you have to. You'd stuck. What do you reckon that 10 grand would be? And you look back to yourself and think that's fucking sickening. We've given away so much money to get the sale, yeah, and at the end of the year we're all right, we've done a business running, we've've paid wages, we've paid rent, we've paid everything, we've kept people employed. But imagine if that figure was more. And that's it. That's the bottom line. A lot of business coaches will say, oh, yeah, but you've got to have spreadsheets and dashboards and KPIs and everything like that.
Speaker 2:What's in the bank Problem is, I think the issue you have now is, like we said it when we spoke, tits on mental health in the construction workplace, didn't we? When I spoke about trades not having respect for each other, let's say, a decorator like £250 a day right, if everyone stuck to that £250 a day, every decorator in the country would be well off. They'd all be earning good money. Someone will come in and go. They're charging £250 a day. I need some work. I'll do it for £150 a day. That job, okay.
Speaker 2:You're devaluing every other poor bastard. Watch your head. Oh, I should have just left that. That's why you should always watch it on YouTube. People as well as listen to it. But yeah, if someone comes in and says I'll do it for £150 a day and it's a week's work, you've devalued every other decorator on the planet or in the country. So you've got carpenters that are earning £350 a day. You've got carpenters that are earning £350 a day. You've got carpenters that are earning £170 a day. You take all the value away. You're not actually working with each other to actually get a decent wage. So the people that are going in for £150 are actually devaluing their self, but they're also devaluing everybody else as well, and that happens in business. You know, like you do surfaces. I mean, when I used to do the tiling, I used to go into one place my godmother used to work in there I used to get 33.3% discount instantly for walking through the door. Yeah, that is a fucking big discount.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know, and they're giving discounts to big trades companies. They're giving like 5%, 10% and I'm walking in there and getting 30% off straight away. Yeah, but how many other companies are having to do that? Because other companies are doing it. They're all giving discounts away, so they're going. Well, I can get that. I can get that exact product from somewhere else for 15% cheaper and if I'm spending 10 grand on it, that's a fuck load of money I'm saving it's a race, and that's why, when I left the retail space, it was a race to the bottom.
Speaker 1:Everybody's like, oh yeah, but I've seen that online for cheaper. I've seen that online for cheaper and that used to drive me mad. You buy it online then.
Speaker 2:I'll get it. I'll get it on TikTok. We're fully aware that I sell. I sell good stuff on TikTok. You know I'm not. I mean I do sell some, to be fair, but I sell good brand stuff and it's high quality stuff. But I get people coming and going. It's cheaper on the website, mate. Well, I'm going to buy it from you or I'm going to buy it from somebody else, not you. So you don't get the commission.
Speaker 2:You just think like, do it then, but all you're doing is you're just devaluing everything. You're like it's just I don't know, I just, I just don't get the way. That it's greed, I suppose, isn't it? You get the one person that's really greedy and then, because he's been greedy or she's been greedy and tried to get everything, everybody else has to try and compete with that, and then it's just you, just you do drag everybody. That's why Australia everyone earns a fuck load of money in Australia, because they're very strict in what they do. Yeah, you know, they stick to their guns, whereas this country unfortunately we are. I mean, look at the state of it now.
Speaker 1:We're not getting into politics.
Speaker 2:I'll say one thing. Look at the state of this country now. It's because every bastard that lives in this country is too fucking scared to say anything. You look at the French. Yeah, they Farmers, spray shit all up the buildings in Paris. Yeah, do it here. What do they do? Put a few cones outside the farm and put a few plaques, yeah, Ain't going to make a difference, is it? You know, the UK has always been the country that rolls over.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and it's again. You've got the left and right, you've got the meat eaters, You've got the vegans, you've got the vegans, you've got the blacks, the whites, everybody, we're all. We're all fighting each other all the time yeah, no need for it yeah, there's no need for it.
Speaker 1:It's like in my industry if everybody had a fixed price, you buy from who you relate to the most, you buy from who you trust, you buy from who provided you the best service. And that's where I think the car industry is quite good, because the car industry would have a very fixed price. You can't go into a bmw, buy a brand spanking new bmw and say, well, down the road, they're doing it for five grand off, mate, they'd throw in extras, they do little nitty b, whereas most other industries in the it's literally everybody's just trying to undercut each other. And the guy that's doing, the guy that's working for £250 a day, he's got the time to put the effort in to do a good job. The guy that's then got to serve what he's got to serve 30, 40% extra clients to make the same as the guy charging 250 pound a day. It's going to be slapdash, it's going to be the quality's not going to be there and he's going to be waiting to move on to the next job and it's.
Speaker 2:Do you know what I mean? I've seen it first hand, mate, on site. You know I can say it now because I don't work for them, you pay twice.
Speaker 2:The client that I used to work with. You know I was never expensive but I certainly wasn't the cheapest. But I'll tell you one thing I did do. I used to go above and beyond on the finish that you were supposed to get for the money you were charging and what they asked for as well. To be fair, they asked me to quite a job. I said no, it's too far away. Plus, I would have to charge you travel and you're not going to want to pay that money.
Speaker 2:They got a guy down where the job was. I got sent some pictures of his work by, obviously, the guys that I'm mates with that work in other trades and they only went for him because he was cheaper. I said I could do it, but I'll do it for this price. They said no, that's too much money. They'd done it. They got a local lad. There was runs all dripping off the door frames. He didn't fill in any of the woodwork, just painted over it all. There was big chunks out of the wall like the plaster and everything. That was a finished job, you know. And then they're ringing me up going could you go down to so and so and just do a little bit of touching up for us. No, I can't, you can't no that's what happens.
Speaker 1:Yeah, repairing other people's work. But I think in business you don't want to be, you don't want to try and please everybody like I'd much rather have 10 clients who I work with, who I trust I know how they work, they know how I work, than have to serve 50, 60 clients to make the same amount of money. I'd rather have clients that respect the fact that I've been in the industry for 25 years. I know a hell of a lot about it. I've got a hell of a lot of connections and they're getting a good product, a good service at a fair price. We're not greedy. I'm not here to. I'm just trying in business to better my life and to give my kids the things that I think they deserve. They didn't ask to be brought into this world. So I think as parents, we should strive to do the best as we possibly can to provide for our family, to provide for our kids, to give them opportunities that we had. And it's harder now. It's harder, isn't?
Speaker 1:it, it's harder there's so many people I think that there's so many families that used to be able to live on a one income. One income the husband or the wife was at home with the kids, didn't have to pay for childcare. Now I don't think I know anybody that the the other partner isn't having to pick up some sort of job.
Speaker 2:Even my missus got like a little part-time. Part-time job as well now, yeah, it's hard, so what? So? What? This is actually turned around. This podcast has turned around to be. It's actually a bit of a life lesson. Yeah, don't let people take the piss out of you. Yeah, don't be scared to say no. Realize, if you want to be successful, it's going to cost some fucking mental carnage, and what could the full fun be?
Speaker 1:It's not for the faint hearted, is it? You've got to have the mental resilience to be able to take, to be able to take the negative. I reckon, like what we said earlier, I think if you can take, if you can try and ignore the negative and look at the positives in things and it's a real hard task but I think if you was to do that, if you was to do that on a regular basis, I think it changes the mindset. I think it changes the way you see things. Now, a year ago, what happened yesterday would have, I mean, it destroyed me, but I didn't bury my head in the sand, I got on and I fought back, basically, whereas a year ago my mindset would have just been like I'm gonna bury my head in the sand and hope that it disappears, but that's not the answer. That's never the answer. So, yeah, well, let's wrap that one up. That was a bit of a strange one. That was a entrepreneurial.
Speaker 1:We covered quite a few places, actually, yeah, we did cover quite a few places. That was good. But if you're watching, if you're listening thank you so much. We want to bring you in. We want to you to become part of us. So if there's anything you want us to discuss, if you've got a story to tell and you want to come and we'll interview and get it out, yeah, if you want a bit of on-screen therapy, then get in touch with us, dm us, message us, send a carrier pigeon, because we want to grow this. We want to grow this. We want to help you, help yourself. What do you think, chris?
Speaker 2:couldn't have said it much about myself. To be fair, all I will say is make sure you put your feedback in the comment section somewhere. Yeah, because it massively helps with the algorithm, something I've learnt over the years.
Speaker 1:Comments, likes, shares, likes shares, comments, to your growth. I mean, even if you don't like it, like it and share it, or you could just comment saying it's shit it still helps to be fair, you can write whatever you want. Yeah, yeah, but come with constructive criticism. Come with constructive criticism, because otherwise I will bury you. Trust me On that note. Bye, everybody, we'll see you in a bit.