Chapter 1: What is the main philosophy behind small bets in entrepreneurship?
I think that's the wrong discipline. My magic model was hiring people that were better than me. Entrepreneurship is a high risk activity. I have always struggled with goal setting. Don't set any goals. Don't try and become too big. Keep it small, prove it out and then go big. Copy what others are doing because it's working.
We need to be very protective of our mental energy, attention, focus.
They can either spend more quality time with their kids or they can put in five or six hours of extra work a week and earn more money.
Sir Richard Harpin, I have so many things that I want to talk to you about. I'm so excited for this conversation, and I appreciate you making the time, my friend.
And do just call me Richard Ryan. I did think that my knighthood would help me get a better seat in a London restaurant. But then somebody told me that they make a surcharge.
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Chapter 2: How did Richard Harpin's early experiences shape his business approach?
Like any true good deed, you know, it comes with a price, right? You get the sur, but now you got to pay more for your next cheeseburger and pint.
Absolutely. Absolutely.
Well, I want to get into something that I saw actually on your Instagram channel that fascinated me. And it was just a snippet. But the topic I just I'm really interested in hearing the more expanded version of this idea, which was the idea of. big bets versus small bets.
And if anyone listens to business podcasts, entrepreneurial stuff, you know, Peter Diamandianis, who is phenomenal, has the Moonshots podcast. Everything's about big bets, burn the boats. And you had some really interesting takes on small bets and the value that small bets make and how they play a role.
And I'd love to start our conversation in big bets versus small bets from someone who's built a billion dollar company.
Yeah, I'm a big believer that you need to prove things out small. And I learned that the hard way because a great example was my original plumbing emergency business called A1 Fast Fix. Started it with my life savings, my business partner's life savings, £50,000.
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Chapter 3: What are the benefits of copying successful business models?
And we grew it and the business model didn't work and we ran out of money. We then managed to get half a million pound investment from a UK water company. And I thought, right, I'm going to grow the business even bigger. It will get to economies of scale. And of course, it didn't because it was the wrong business model.
The business got bigger and the losses went from 10,000 a month to 50,000 a month. So my learning was... stay small, bootstrap your business, test, learn, copy, pivot, and make sure you get the right business model. When you have, then press the accelerate button. And that might mean going and getting investment to really scale the business.
But don't do that until you've absolutely categorically proved your model.
So why then do you think there is so much moonshot swing for the fences, pornography out there? Is that just clickbait to sell stuff in behind the scenes, all these entrepreneurs are kind of thinking the way you are? Or is this just a philosophical difference that people have in business?
Chapter 4: How can entrepreneurs effectively scale their businesses?
I think it's a message from some people that says, oh, you've got to go big at all costs. Venture capital in some periods have said, well, we'll give you loads of money to test and prove your business, but just go big and throw loads of money at it and eventually it will work. And I think that's the wrong discipline. Keep it small, prove it out, and then go big.
Jim Collins, in his book, Good to Great, would call it firing bullets, and then when you hit the target, then fire the cannonball. If you fire the cannonball at the beginning, you run the risk of busting your business.
Yeah, I was listening to a kind of startup-oriented podcast the other day, and a very successful investor was on, and I don't think he meant anything negative about this, but He said, you know, I want to see two or three failures, you know, before I invest. Like, I want to know they've run into a wall before. And in a broad stroke, I can kind of understand what he's saying. But at the same time,
as the actual operator, that is devastating. And it is oftentimes you don't survive the first major miss, especially if you're doing it kind of counter to what you're suggesting, which is you fire a cannonball and you miss, that bounces back with almost just as much negative impact on you, your emotions, your relationship, your bank account, all this kind of stuff. So
I guess what I'm trying to get at is, like, I'm trying to break this down, because I'm in your camp.
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Chapter 5: What is the 15% rule for global expansion?
Like, I'm more in your camp. This is what really fascinated me, is you're one of the few people that I've heard who's at the level of success that you're at preaching this type of philosophy, and I'm trying to kind of wrap my head around why this is so pervasive, this constant, and maybe it's more of a, and I could be wrong, you're pushing me, maybe it's more of just an American belief
cowboy, you know, shoot the big gun first, always kind of philosophy? Or is this just like talking point fodder? And because the businesses that I've seen be successful and the entrepreneurs I've seen consistently be successful have more of the philosophy that you are preaching.
Yeah. And I think that entrepreneurship is a high risk activity, right? I don't know the numbers in the US where quite often Americans would say that failure is a stepping stone on the way to success. It's frowned on here in the UK. Therefore, I think you get more caution. And there's two bits of advice that I would give to people that want to be entrepreneurs.
And that is don't be afraid to copy somebody else's idea. If a business is already working, then that means it does work. Copy their model and improve it. I did exactly that with HomeServe in the UK.
Chapter 6: How does hiring your replacement contribute to business success?
Copied somebody else's model and improved it, and that was the magic model, AAA for the home. And then secondly... Don't be afraid to go and buy a business. There are lots of retirement sales out there. And those are existing businesses that are making profitability. And the big objection might be, well, I haven't got a lot of money to go and buy a business. Where would I raise the money?
And the answer is vendor finance. Somebody that's selling the business, particularly if it's a retirement sale, if they really like the person that's buying the business and think they're capable, will say, put down a small amount of your own money, maybe a bit of bank debt, because a bank will lend against a profitable business.
And then the seller of the business will agree to repayment over maybe a three-year period. So that's another smart way for people to get into business is to do it by acquiring somebody else's already profitable existing operation.
Yeah, I love the recommendation of buying an already operating business. I don't know if you're familiar with Cody Sanchez's work, but she's been popularizing this idea. as well. She calls it buying boring businesses.
Chapter 7: What challenges do UK entrepreneurs face in today's economy?
So she advocates for buying plumbing shops and HVACs and you know, pressure washing businesses and stuff like that. And, and what I like about it is, I think for too long, there was almost like an ego trip around. It had to be like this and nothing against Peter Thiel because I'm a fan of him and the way he thinks, but he kind of has this, you know, be a category of one type mentality.
If you can't, you know, which I think I get what he's going for, but I also think it shuts a lot of people down who are sitting at home going, I really would like to run my own business. I feel like I had the chops to do it, but I don't have some idea the That's a category of one.
And I think it shuts them down where what you've just presented are ideas of, hey, maybe you see something working in, like you said, AAA cars, but now we can move that and say, okay, we can take this idea and maybe apply it to home service or we can apply it to, you know, insert other business. But But I want to go into the buying a business.
And I know you also have a venture fund, so you're very familiar with this entire game, bought businesses, et cetera. So if I'm listening to this and I'm saying, you know what? I've always wanted to go off on my own, but I've never had that idea. That's been maybe a big blocker. I just didn't feel like I had that original idea to start.
Chapter 8: How can AI tools enhance efficiency in small businesses?
But geez, I... Man, I'd love to own a plumbing business. My dad was a plumber. I used to help him. And I get that like in this AI world, these types of physical human businesses are going to have real traction. How do you start to go about that process? How do you evaluate your opportunities? How do you think about purchasing an already existing business if you've never done it before?
Yeah, I would take a listing. So maybe go to Entrepreneur Magazine and look at the listings of every franchise business. I'm a big believer of van-based service businesses. Particularly, those are businesses that are going out and doing something in a home or in a business environment.
And those are most likely the businesses that can be made more efficient through the use of AI, better scheduling, better routing of the vehicles. but unlikely that a skilled technician going out to the home or the office is going to be taken away through AI. And certainly in the UK, we've got a real shortage of skilled tradespeople, what you would call pros.
And so I see AI shutting down call centers and releasing a lot of people's lives that have been doing boring, tedious answering of customer calls that a voice bot can very easily do more efficiently and cheaper. And... releasing those great human lives to go and work in people's homes and offices and do worthwhile things that are offering great customer service.
I actually just signed my very first traditional book publishing deal two weeks ago. And it's around this concept that I call easy mode, which is essentially that thing that you do that looks like cheating to everyone else. right? What is that thing for you? And then how do we build your life around that idea?
Not, you know, how do we use AI outsourcing or automation, et cetera, or just simply removing something from your life to get you more into the thing that is your easy mode and out of these transactional zero value tasks that, you know, were part of the job and took us away from that thing, which could be twisting a wrench, right?
You might just love being under a sink under, you know, in the basement, fixing pipes, you know, you just what you enjoy doing. But if half your time is scheduling and, you know, follow-ups and, you know, AR and, or, you know, accounts receivable, et cetera, like those things are taking you out of what's your easy mode. So again, where are some of the easy wins in that place?
You know, having built you know, home service and being a big part of this service-based thing. Like when you're looking at this and examining, you know, and there's a lot of, I'll tell you, there's a lot of SMB owners, a lot of service owners that listen to the show.
Like where are some of the places that you're seeing some easy wins for these guys and gals that they can start to implement in their business and get some of their time back?
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