British Business: The Bottom Line

British Business: The Bottom Line

By Matt Holland, Charlie SmithBusiness
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British Business: The Bottom Line episodes

  • B2B or B2C- Which Would You Build Again? - Ep 84

    Every business owner has a model they defend and a model they secretly wonder about. Matt puts the question to Charlie and answers it himself.Recording from France for the last time this trip, Matt opens with an Alex Hormozi clip that stuck with him. A British bloke with an office fit out business, £180 million turnover, £5 million average order value, asking how to grow it. The answer had nothing to do with finding more customers, and everything to do with one question a US security door company started asking on sales calls.From there they get into the ugly side of B2B. The £26 billion sat unpaid across UK businesses, invoice factoring and why Matt thinks it is admitting defeat, and the early settlement discount that does the same job for less. Charlie makes the case that B2B is simply a better place to build a business, better relationships, better conversations, customers who understand what you are dealing with. Then he flips it, because you never really own a B2B customer, you borrow them, and you are riding their trading conditions as much as your own.Wins of the week cover a Sage to Xero migration twenty odd years in the making, and six weeks of Matt actually prioritising his health. There is a screen time confession neither of them comes out of well. And Matt finishes by arguing that B2B owners get lazy at winning customers, with a very specific challenge for Charlie and Tom. When the question of the week lands, both of them stick with what they know, for reasons that say more about the owner than the model.Takeaways:📊 UK businesses are owed an estimated £26 billion in late payments at any one time, roughly £17,000 each and 86 hours a year spent chasing it🧠 Why one extra question on a sales call lifted a door company's average order value by around 160 percent💷 Invoice factoring versus a 2 percent early settlement discount, and why one of them is a bad sign🤝 B2B gets you the relationship, but you are only ever borrowing the customer🎯 The case that B2B owners are lazy at acquisition, and the two hour lunch that fixes it
    Chapters:

    (00:00) Intro and a formal apology to Charlie

    (02:33) Summer holidays, one car and a borrowed van

    (04:53) The weather just moved our conversion rate

    (05:38) Bordeaux was English for 300 years

    (08:23) A four hour mileage claim done in twenty minutes

    (10:25) B2B or D2C, which would you build again?

    (11:41) 180m turnover and a 5m average order value

    (12:30) The one question that lifted AOV by 160 percent

    (14:29) Why our average order value drops every summer

    (17:02) British Business Fact of the Week: 26bn in late payments

    (17:42) Being everyone else's bank

    (19:01) Invoice factoring is admitting defeat

    (23:41) Win of the Week: Sage to Xero, twenty years later

    (33:02) Win of the Week: six weeks of prioritising health

    (34:51) The screen time confession

    (37:55) Why Charlie has always been pro B2B

    (42:27) You never own a B2B customer, you borrow them

    (45:07) Why D2C brands are the hardest model of all

    (47:37) B2B owners are lazy at winning customers

    (50:13) Question of the Week: businesses or the public?

    (51:05) School uniform and the new branded items rule

    (55:46) Shout out to Gara from NC Recovery

    Follow Matt:
    📸 Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/mrmattholland/
    👨‍💻 LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrmattholland/
    📱 TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@mrmattholland
    ❌ X - https://x.com/mrmattholland1


    Follow Charlie:
    📸 Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/theworkwearexpert
    👨‍💻 LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlie-smith-1a55295b/

    58 min
  • Instinct, Advice or Data? – Ep 83
    Most founders like to think they run on logic. The truth is a lot of the big calls come down to a feeling.This week Charlie takes the lead and puts one question to Matt. When it actually matters, do you go with instinct, advice or data? They dig into how Matt's decision-making has changed over twelve years, from firing off gut calls in the early days to building in a cooling-off period before the big ones.They get into where data earns its place and where it doesn't, why your appetite for risk has to shift as the business grows, and whether gut is really just pattern recognition dressed up as instinct.There's also an honest look at who founders turn to when they're stuck, the mentors and sounding boards that keep you straight, and where AI now sits in all of it. Something that behaves like advice but talks with the confidence of instinct.Takeaways:📊 Why the best calls pair gut instinct with a deliberate pause🧠 Where data earns its place and where it just slows you down⚖️ How your appetite for risk has to change as you grow👥 Why every founder needs a sounding board they trust🤖 Using AI to stress test a decision without handing over the wheelFollow Matt:📸 Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/mrmattholland/👨‍💻 LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrmattholland/📱 TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@mrmattholland❌ X - https://x.com/mrmattholland1Follow Charlie:📸 Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/theworkwearexpert👨‍💻 LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlie-smith-1a55295b/
    1 hr 1 min
  • Good, Great or Kidding Yourself – Ep 82
    Everyone wants to be a great entrepreneur, but almost nobody agrees on what that actually means. In this episode Matt and Charlie unpack how you measure success when it has nothing to do with revenue or profit.Sparked by a chat with Paul from Dispatch Bros, they get into competition and envy, why watching your rivals can either sharpen you or drag you down, and the gap between real ambition and fake Instagram materialism.Matt makes the case for reinvesting profit instead of stripping the business, while Charlie argues success is relative and constantly shifting. They also cover Sam Altman on why the five hour week will never happen, what really makes someone a bad entrepreneur, and the one measure of success you would be a bit ashamed to admit you still judge yourself by.Takeaways:📊 Why revenue and profit are the wrong yardstick for success🧠 Competition vs envy, and which one actually helps you grow🚩 The behaviours that quietly make you a bad entrepreneur💸 Why reinvesting beats taking every penny out for yourself🎯 Finding your North Star when the definition of success keeps changingFollow Matt:📸 Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/mrmattholland/👨‍💻 LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrmattholland/📱 TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@mrmattholland❌ X - https://x.com/mrmattholland1Follow Charlie:📸 Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/theworkwearexpert👨‍💻 LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlie-smith-1a55295b/
    55 min
  • Balance, Burnham and the Pub Rates Cut — Ep 81
    Matt is recording from France, six weeks into a live experiment in balance, while Charlie holds the fort back in England. This week the lads get into whether business owners can ever truly switch off, why UK founders take barely half the time off they hand their own staff, and what Andy Burnham's new pub rates cut actually means for hospitality. Honest, direct and a little bit sweary, as always.Takeaways:⚖️ Balance is relative. What works for one owner and their family looks nothing like the next, so find your own version rather than judging others.😴 UK small business owners take an average of just 15 full days off a year, and around one in five sole traders take none at all. Switching off is the hardest skill to learn.🍺 Andy Burnham's 20 percent business rates cut for pubs, clubs and smaller music venues is a decent start, but roughly 1,100 pounds a year may not be enough for a sector on its knees.💷 A Labour government cutting tax to stimulate growth quietly admits you cannot tax your way to a stronger economy.🧩 If your business could not run for six weeks without you, whatever breaks first is exactly where you are truly needed, and a business you cannot run without is hard to sell and hard to step away from.Follow Matt:📸 Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/mrmattholland/👨‍💻 LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrmattholland/📱 TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@mrmattholland❌ X - https://x.com/mrmattholland1Follow Charlie:📸 Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/theworkwearexpert👨‍💻 LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlie-smith-1a55295b/
    44 min
  • Kill the Zombie Subscriptions – Ep 80
    Somewhere in your business, money is leaving your account every single month for something you completely forgot you signed up for.This one is a proper roll your sleeves up, admin episode of British Business: The Bottom Line. Matt and Charlie tackle cost control, and specifically the zombie subscriptions quietly draining your bank account on autopilot.They open with a stat that should make every business owner check their statements. Around 66% of software licenses worldwide are unused or surplus, and 15% are pure zombie apps, bought, forgotten, and renewing forever. Matt shares how software is one of the biggest costs in his business, the four grand license that renewed after he had already cancelled it, and why the frugal, cost aware founder almost always wins.Before that, Charlie unpacks a sharp Alex Hormozi lesson about solving future problems without future resources, and a Richard Branson post that sparks a proper debate about routine, structure, and whether there really is a one size fits all path to success. Plus a genuinely emotional Win of the Week as Matt visits his first retail store.Takeaways:🧟 Why 66% of software licenses go unused, and 15% are pure zombies💸 How cost creep quietly eats your profit month after month✂️ Matt's practical audit: print it, highlight it, cancel it🔄 Switching to cheaper disruptors without breaking your business🏬 A milestone moment as the first Holland's Country Clothing store opensFollow Matt:📸 Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/mrmattholland/👨‍💻 LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrmattholland/📱 TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@mrmattholland❌ X - https://x.com/mrmattholland1Follow Charlie:📸 Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/theworkwearexpert👨‍💻 LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlie-smith-1a55295b/
    50 min
  • Claude Check-In: What's Working, What's Not – Ep 79
    Everyone says AI has transformed their business. Very few can actually prove it.It's another Claude Check-In on British Business: The Bottom Line, and this time Matt and Charlie get properly honest about where AI has helped, where it hasn't, and where it has quietly wasted their time.They open with a stat that sets the tone for the whole episode. Around 75% of businesses using AI report productivity gains, but only 12% report an actual rise in revenue. So is everyone really more productive, or does it just feel that way?Matt shares a genuine win, using AI throughout the process of restructuring his India operation and stripping out an intermediary, saving thousands a month straight to the bottom line. Charlie built an entire new business from scratch with Claude, website, stock system and all, that has so far added almost nothing to revenue. Knowledge return, not revenue return.Along the way they call out shiny object syndrome, the founders who claim their whole operation is automated, why AI written content sticks out like a sore thumb, and whether LinkedIn is dead or just needs a rethink.Takeaways:📊 Why 75% feel more productive but only 12% see more revenue🧠 Using AI as a consultant versus chasing shiny new projects💰 Matt's real win: thousands a month saved off the bottom line🚧 What is still broken: token limits, lost context and starting from scratch✍️ Why AI written content still sticks out, and what to do insteadFollow Matt:📸 Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/mrmattholland/👨‍💻 LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrmattholland/📱 TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@mrmattholland❌ X - https://x.com/mrmattholland1Follow Charlie:📸 Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/theworkwearexpert👨‍💻 LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlie-smith-1a55295b/
    51 min
  • Should We Let Weak Businesses Fail? – Ep 78
    Three in every five UK businesses started in 2019 were gone within five years. So here is the uncomfortable question, should the country actually let weak businesses fail?In this one Matt and Charlie go back and forth on whether the state should step in to prop up struggling businesses, or whether the market should just be left to decide. They get into the high street versus online, the VAT and energy costs hammering hospitality, and why the model that worked ten years ago will not always survive the next ten.Along the way they cover accountability over excuses, knowing when to kill a part of your business that is not working, and why picking one model beats trying to do two things at once.Takeaways:📉 Why roughly three in five new UK businesses fail within five years⚖️ State intervention versus letting the market decide🔥 How VAT and energy costs are squeezing hospitality🔄 Why business models have to evolve or get left behind✂️ Knowing when to kill the part of your business that is not workingFollow Matt:📸 Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/mrmattholland/👨‍💻 LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrmattholland/📱 TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@mrmattholland❌ X - https://x.com/mrmattholland1Follow Charlie:📸 Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/theworkwearexpert👨‍💻 LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlie-smith-1a55295b/
    1 hr 3 min
  • The 90 Day Delusion – Ep 77
    Progress is easy to miss when you're always chasing the next thing. In this episode Matt unpacks a big lesson from a business retreat in Malaga: most founders are running four projects at once and doing all of them averagely. He calls it the 90 day delusion, and it might be the reason your best ideas keep dragging.Takeaways:📈 Why you can't see your own progress when you're always looking forward🎯 The 90 day rule for running projects one at a time, start to finish🚫 Learning to say no and push decisions back down to your team⏳ The 10% rule: everyone can free up time for the work that actually matters🧠 Why protecting your thinking time is the real job, not the operatingFollow Matt:📸 Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/mrmattholland/👨‍💻 LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrmattholland/📱 TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@mrmattholland❌ X - https://x.com/mrmattholland1Follow Charlie:📸 Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/theworkwearexpert👨‍💻 LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlie-smith-1a55295b/
    56 min
  • Why Are You Actually Doing This? – Ep 76
    A founder asked Matt one question over dinner and he couldn't answer it: what's your North Star?This week Matt and Charlie get into purpose. Not goals, not targets, but the actual reason you get out of bed and do this. Why are you really running your business?Matt makes the case that your North Star isn't fixed. It shifts as you grow, often without you noticing. His used to be providing for his family. Now he reckons it's something else entirely, and he's honest about still working it out.Backed by a 2025 YouGov survey for VistaPrint: 80% of UK small business owners say they're happy, with most of that coming from freedom and doing work they care about. Money landed further down the list than you'd expect.Takeaways:🧭 Why your North Star is about purpose, not a profit target🔄 How your "why" quietly changes as the business grows💷 Why money keeps slipping down the list once you're comfortable🪞 The dinner question every founder should sit with🌱 Why Matt now thinks personal growth is what's really driving himFollow Matt:📸 Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/mrmattholland/👨‍💻 LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrmattholland/📱 TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@mrmattholland❌ X - https://x.com/mrmattholland1Follow Charlie:📸 Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/theworkwearexpert👨‍💻 LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlie-smith-1a55295b/
    58 min
  • The Real Cost of the Employment Rights Act – Ep 75
    The government's own impact assessment puts the cost of the Employment Rights Act at up to £5 billion a year, with small firms hit hardest.In this episode, Matt and Charlie walk through what the Act actually changes on the ground. Statutory sick pay from day one. The unfair dismissal qualifying period dropping from two years to six months. Zero-hours reform, fire-and-rehire restrictions, and a stack of new admin duties landing in stages over the next year.They talk about the real-world impact, not just the headline figures. The bartender who calls in sick after a night out. The pub landlord covering the cost. The warehouse manager trying to staff a shift he can no longer cancel. And the productivity question nobody in government seems to want to answer.It is a blunt, honest take on hiring, firing, and why Matt is now leaning towards offshoring rather than carrying more risk in the UK. Plus why a good HR partner has gone from nice-to-have to essential.Takeaways:🤒 Why day-one sick pay changes the maths on every hire⏱️ The two-year rule dropping to six months and what it means📋 The new admin and compliance burden landing on small firms🚪 Why fire-and-rehire and zero-hours reform make staffing harder🌍 The uncomfortable case for offshoring over UK hiringFollow Matt:📸 Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/mrmattholland/👨‍💻 LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrmattholland/📱 TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@mrmattholland❌ X - https://x.com/mrmattholland1Follow Charlie:📸 Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/theworkwearexpert👨‍💻 LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlie-smith-1a55295b/
    56 min

About British Business: The Bottom Line

From the publisher's feed

Running a business is tough—sleepless nights, cash flow struggles, hiring headaches, and economic uncertainty. This podcast is for UK entrepreneurs, small business owners, and startups who want the truth about success. No fluff, no corporate jargon—just raw, unfiltered conversations on what it takes to grow and scale in 2026.