The Livelihood Podcast

Doing focused work is really hard, especially if you are an entrepreneur with distractions being thrown at you all day.

We are definitely no experts in doing focused work, but we talk about a few things that might be able to help you on the journey to getting a few more things done each day.

Top tips -

Turn off distractions

Unplug. Working on planes without wifi can be the most effective way to get things done. 

Out of your list pick Get 3-5 things that you need to get done today done.

Work in 35-60 minute blocks.

Take 5 minute breaks.

Exercise breaks / naps recharge. 

Try the physical object method - ticking off a to do list, or moving something like paper clips from one jar to another when you complete a repetitive task gives you a visual representation of your accomplishments.

Try to focus on action based activities with outputs. 

We break down the 10 forms of value and how you can use it to get ahead.

There are loads of different types of value out there, most business owners don't really know what business they're in. Is it important? Will it make the difference between a successful brand and a failure? Maybe. Think of this like you're rapid fire MBA into value. We also discuss all sorts of abstract topics like intangible value, can you make a toothbrush more expensive by the way it's sold? 

10 Types of Value

Product

Tangible form of value, create tangible item people want

Service

Employee capable of a skill that people can’t won’t or don’t do themselves

Shared Resource

A durable asset that can be used by many people - you must create an asset people want asset to, serve as many people as you can. I.e gyms, fitness clubs

Theme parks and museums also fit here

Subscription

Provides predefined benefits on a recurring fee. Tangible or intangible. 1. Provide significant value to each subscriber on a regular basis. 2. Build a subscriber base and continue to grow to account for attrition. Bill customers on a recurring basis, retain each customer for as long as possible.

Keep customer attrition as low as possible

Resale

Acquisition at wholesale, resell at a higher price (most of retail)

Lease

Involves acquiring an asset following by letting another person use the asset for a fee. DVD, cars etc - allowing other people to use and return. Protect yourself against loss or damage.

Agency

Involves marketing and sale of an asset you don’t own. Instead of producing value by yourself you team up with someone else you earn a commission for sale. Provide value - find a seller who has a saleable asset, build a relationship with buyers.

Audience Aggregation

Collects the attention of people with similar characteristics. Since attention is limited

Blogs, instagram, mailing lists, youtubers, influencers

Option

Option is take a predefined action, coupon, retainer, movie tickets,. User has the option to take an action. Identify some action people might want to take in the future. Offer potential buyers to take that action before a specified deadline.

Loan, Insurance and Capital

1. Follow your passion - but sometimes I think fuck it and do that anyway. 
2. Write a lengthy business plan - the longer you spend in theory the more bogged down with the details you will become - focus on the product first. What is it and why is it good.
3. Raise investment
4. Take a course
5. Join an accelerator
6. Make sure your business name is perfect
7. Create the perfect brand - invest in a big graphic design agency to create your brand logo and brand guidelines.
8. Spend a lot of money building a website
9. Create a mission statement and a company vision statement
10. People will/won’t buy what you are trying to sell
11. Start a community around an idea
12.  MVP you should be embarrassed of your first version of your product
13.  Talk to everyone who’s in your network that's relatively similar - should be focussed on action. 
14. Try to get PR for your business launch

Good bits of advice

1. Try to make a sale as soon as possible with a small group 
2. Figure out who your target audience/customer is and where they can be advertised to or contacted
3. Outsource the work you can’t do yourself - but shop around for it

We discuss how Luke used the Stepping Stone Method™ to appear in his local newspaper, then used that to potentially bag a massive spot on a nationwide tv show, The One Show. We talk about all the things that you should consider when trying to get good PR for your business since it's a great way to getting exposure, almost for free. We also discuss the guerrilla marketing techniques used by Mous, Brewdog and Richard Branson to launch their new products. 
Enjoy! 
Also Ep 50! 

In this episode we discuss everything you need to know about hiring virtual assistants. Luke has just gone through the process of hiring his first salaried employee, and he goes through the process, as well as what you should expect.

First of all, they’re more than just VAs. You can hire incredibly talented people from Marketers to Design Engineers, Architects to Data Scientists; at a fraction of the cost in comparison with the USA or UK.

We answer the following questions in our podcast episode -

1. What sort of work can you ask them to support you with? 
2. Where can you find them?
3. How much should you pay them?
4. How do you manage their workload?
5. What’s the time difference?
6. How do you pay them? Bank transfer, PAYE?
7. How do you write a job description?
8. Will they replace UK workers now everyone works remotely?

Did you know people are buying and selling leads online every day and no-one is really talking about this? In this episode we break down what leads are and cover the following topics with our inhouse digital marketing expert Jyles Kerr-Smith. 

What are leads and how are they bought and sold?
When should a business consider buying leads?
How can you get started in this?
How will this effect our Fast Bucks Challenge?
How is the future of the internet changing with online shopping in General?

and as always we have a good laugh at ourselves in taking on this crazy new fast bucks challenge :)

Thanks again to Jyles for coming on the show,  find him at Jyles.co.uk

Tune in as we discuss our latest harebrained scheme to spin a profit with a new business idea in less than a month. This time we're talking about a service based business utilising QR codes to encourage people to book in services near their houses, and when we say services, we mean car washing. Yep that's right, the adventure capitalists are starting a car washing business. Well actually, it's a pilot for a business model, but we will probably end up cleaning a few cars down the way. 
Join us as we brainstorm how we could structure the business to be scalable, and how we could grow this passively, beyond our own involvement or fall flat on our faces for all to see :)

In this episode we debate the latest documentary called Social Dilemma on Netflix. 

@JennnRavenna - Twitter

"The Social Dilemma on Netflix is maybe the most important documentary of the year. 

We know we’re being manipulated by social media & having our psychology used against us. 

This exposes truths about big data, manipulation, & warnings from the people who designed social media."

We explore this new era of surveillance capitalism and try to work out where we stand on the morality of using these platforms to advertise products. In order for us to know where our businesses stand in the modern age of the internet it's important to understand these issues thoroughly to make the right choice. 

It's official, Alex has left his full time job in pursuit of setting up his own business.  Find out why he did it and what his thought processes were before considering doing the same yourself. Burn the ships! 

In this episode we meet Earl, first name Derek, and talk about how he's managed to sustain himself for over 20 years as he travels from place to place. This was one of our favourite episodes and felt the advice Derek offered on the show was some of the most powerful. He's a lovely guy and has a great perspective on life, business and friendships. We cover how he's been able to set up multiple successful revenue streams and how his friends have been very successful in the ventures that they do. 
This guy is great - you can find him at wanderingearl.com

Send more feedback and questions to [email protected] - we answer every email we get (just like wandering earl)

thanks again to Derek for joining us, this is what being an Adventure Capitalist is all about.