June 11, 2026

Alan Smith: How To Identify Your Freedom Number

49 minutes

Nick sits down with Alan Smith, the founder and CEO of Capital Partners, to strip away the dry spreadsheets of traditional wealth management and focus on the human side of financial freedom.

Alan argues that true wealth isn’t just about collecting assets, but about defining your "freedom number"—the exact, personalised amount needed to fund your ideal lifestyle without future financial worry.

By prioritising personal values, family dynamics, and a clear perfect average day framework over basic investment returns, the duo reveals how business owners can reverse-engineer their exit goals, protect their families, and enter future negotiations with unshakeable confidence.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

True wealth planning should start years before an exit by calculating a highly personalised "freedom number" based on your ideal life, rather than relying on arbitrary round figures.

Traditional wealth management prioritises asset gathering and standard returns, but effective planning shifts the focus to what the money is actually for, including family security and lifestyle design.

Success should be reverse-engineered by mapping out a sustainable, ideal daily routine—such as a perfect Tuesday—and determining the exact economic resources required to fund it continuously.

Knowing your exact financial requirements allows you to enter business exit negotiations with absolute conviction, an established walk-away number, and a minimised risk of leaving millions on the table.

BEST MOMENTS

"As much as I can help a founder build a more valuable company, I’m not an expert in the wealth side of things. And the best way to look at this is... you’ve got to have a plan around that."

"If you really distill it all down, what we’re all looking for, I believe, is financial freedom. Financial independence. A work-optional lifestyle."

"It’s not a day you’re sitting on the beach drinking piña coladas all day... it’s got to be a day that you’d be happy to repeat for the rest of your life, every day."

"So many of winning the game when you sell to a sophisticated buyer is posturing... and you’ve got to be able to compete before you can win."

VALUABLE RESOURCES

Want to grow and scale your business? Check out Nick’s Boardroom Program: ⁠https://gamma.app/docs/BOARDROOM-2026-FINAL-h2vknz5qne7vvwm⁠

To get your copy of Nick’s book, Exit for Millions, go to ⁠http://bit.ly/4ngC2hO⁠

Nick’s LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/realnickbradley

Nick Bradley is a world-renowned author, speaker, and business growth expert, who works with entrepreneurs, business leaders, and investors to build, scale and sell high-value companies.

He spent 10+ years working in Private Equity, where he oversaw 100+ acquisitions, 26 exits, and over $5 Billion in combined value created. He has one of the top-ranked business podcasts in the UK (with over 1m downloads in over 130 countries). He now spends his time coaching and consulting business owners in building and scaling high-value business towards life-changing exits.

This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. ⁠https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/

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