Working On It

Brad delivers a hard-hitting solo episode on the AI revolution and what it means for trades businesses, service operators, and anyone still building wealth through manual work. From replacing expensive software with Claude in a weekend to using AI as the perfect team member in the boardroom, Brad breaks down exactly how to ride the AI wave before it drowns you and why reskilling isn't optional anymore. Discover how to map your entire client journey through AI, why trades businesses are more valuable than ever despite automation, and the truth about finding hungry workers in a post-lockdown world where everyone was paid to do nothing. This is a wake-up call for business owners who think AI doesn't apply to them and a masterclass in taking ownership when you can't find good people. KEY TAKEAWAYS Ride the AI Wave or Drown: AI is the biggest disruption since the internet. Just like the internet wiped out millions of traditional businesses but created millions of new opportunities, AI will do the same. The people who reskill and learn the tools will thrive. Everyone else will get left behind. Every Business Has a Client Journey AI Can Improve: Even if you're a storage business, a trades company, or a brick and mortar operation, AI can help. From finding ideal clients to tracking KPIs, minimising HR issues, or identifying new sites, AI touches every part of your business except the physical building of the thing. Start Small and Experiment Daily: Download Claude and spend an hour a day testing it. Try every task you think you need to do and see if AI can do it first. The more you use it, the better it gets. Machine learning means it builds digital intuition based on how you train it. Replace Expensive Software with AI: Brad replaced a finance dashboard subscription by connecting Claude to Xero in 10 minutes over the weekend. Claude can integrate with almost every piece of software you use via MCP functions. It doesn't take sick days, doesn't cause HR drama, and speaks plainly. Feed AI Your Voice and Brand: Don't ask AI to write 30 LinkedIn posts with a lazy prompt. Feed it every post you've ever written, your brand guidelines, and all your content. Set preferences so it knows how to talk to you. Tell it to be blunt, challenge you, and skip the fluff. The output will be infinitely better. Mass Overwhelm Is the Hidden Downside: AI can build things so fast that people get overwhelmed looking at all the assets it creates. Seeing the opportunity and actually making serious money from it are two different things. We're still early, which is why now is the time to jump in. Trades Are More Valuable Than Ever: Manual jobs are becoming more important, not less. The UK has a massive housing shortage and bricklayers can now charge day rates that tripled after lockdown. Physical work that AI can't replace is going to be highly valued as automation takes over other areas. People Are Getting Hungry Again: Post lockdown, people were rewarded for doing nothing and lost their sense of purpose. But we're far enough past that now to see a swing back. Hungry workers in their 20s and 30s are re-entering the market because sitting at home getting paid wasn't fulfilling. If You Can't Find 10 Good Workers, It's a You Problem: Stop blaming an entire generation or saying no one wants to work. If you need 10 good people in a city of 185,000, they exist. If you can't find them, you're not looking hard enough, your culture isn't strong enough, or your offer isn't good enough.

Brad sits down with Lewis Crumpton, a former church counsellor who walked away from religion, came out as gay, and rebuilt his life from scratch by mastering the skill of trading financial markets. From stacking shelves in debt to running a global business teaching 550+ students how to trade in just 30 minutes a day, Lewis shares the raw truth about breaking free from financial stress, challenging the mortgage myth, and building wealth without exchanging more time for money. Discover why Lewis believes savings accounts are a banking scam, how he went into debt to learn trading and turned it into his greatest investment, and why paying off your mortgage might be the worst financial decision you can make. This is a masterclass in taking responsibility for your financial future, building multiple income streams, and creating a life where money works for you instead of the other way around. KEY TAKEAWAYS Money Stress Destroys Families: Research shows that money stress is one of the main reasons families fall apart. If you can eliminate financial worry through education and smart investing, you become a better version of yourself and create more peace at home. Trading Is Low Risk When You Know What You're Doing: The biggest myth about trading is that it's risky. Lewis only ever uses 1% of his total capital on any single trade, meaning even if it goes wrong, he's only losing 1%. That's lower risk than most people realize. Savings Accounts Are A Banking Scam: The word savings is a marketing ploy. When you put money in a bank, you're giving them permission to invest it in everything they tell you is too risky. Meanwhile, you get a terrible return and inflation eats away at your wealth. Paying Off Your Mortgage Is Not Always Smart: Lewis used to overpay his mortgage until his mentor showed him the numbers. Money tied up in property becomes part of your estate and gets taxed as inheritance. Debt doesn't. Keep the cash liquid, invest it, and pass it on tax efficiently. It's Not About Fault, It's About Responsibility: Life crashes into all of us. Sometimes it's your fault, sometimes it's not. But it's always your responsibility to move forward. If someone crashes into your car, it's still your job to get it home. Same with your life. Income Minus Expenses Is The Foundation Of Wealth: You can earn 200K a year and be broke if you're spending 201K. You can earn 50K and be wealthy if you're spending 40K. The number one skill for building wealth is bringing in more than you let go out the door. Invest In Yourself First: Lewis went into debt to learn how to trade, and it changed his life. The best investment you can make is in your own education and skill development. Master a skill that creates income without trading more time. BEST MOMENTS "I was crying myself to sleep every night, begging God to stop me being this way because I was told by the church that I wasn't allowed to be that way." "Do not despise the day of small beginnings. From acorn seeds we can grow mighty oaks." "It's not about fault, it's about responsibility. Someone can crash into your life and cause damage, but it's still your job to move your life forward." "Once you spend it, it's gone. You can only spend that money once. So be wise with how you spend the money." "The only people you're making rich by having money in savings is the bankers, and we know what that rhymes with." "Risk comes from not knowing what you're doing. Eliminate the risk by learning to do what you need to do." "If you have money in the right investment, you can pull that money out whenever you need to anyway. So why is everyone obsessed with having this emergency fund?"

Brad sits down with Ben King, founder of King's Window Cleaning, who built a £1 million window cleaning empire after surviving a VAT fraud fine, a failed partnership with his best friend, and a mental breakdown that nearly ended everything. From starting with £5 petrol money and a battered Fiesta to building a systemised operation with 10 vans and a team that runs without him, Ben shares the raw reality of what it takes to rebuild after hitting rock bottom. Discover why Ben refused to call himself a million pound business owner until his round value hit the magic number, how watching The Founder changed the way he built his business, and why he spent years growing on emotion before finally learning the numbers that unlocked explosive growth. This is a masterclass in resilience, branding, systemisation, and building a business that works without you being on the tools. KEY TAKEAWAYS Partnerships Can Destroy Friendships: Ben and his best mate ran multiple businesses together, but their different mindsets and work styles tore the friendship apart. Money changes everything. They've since rekindled the relationship, but the lesson is clear: partnerships are high risk, especially with people you're close to. VAT Fraud Will Catch Up With You: Ben tried to run multiple businesses under the VAT threshold to avoid registration. He got caught, fined, and had to merge everything into one company. Trying to game the system always backfires. Pay your dues and build properly from the start. Mental Health Matters More Than Business: Ben hit rock bottom in 2019, walking his dog and imagining himself hanging from a tree. He shut down React Property Solutions, took a holiday, and came back with a new vision: King's Window Cleaning. Sometimes you have to burn it all down to rebuild stronger. Branding Is Your Competitive Advantage: Ben went through multiple brand changes before landing on King's Window Cleaning. The branding became so strong that other window cleaners told him it was the best they'd ever seen. All those iterations weren't wasted, they were the process that led to something great. Systemise Like McDonald's, Not Like a Solo Operator: Reading The E-Myth and watching The Founder changed everything for Ben. He realised he needed to build a copy and paste system where every van, every round, and every team member was identical. That's how you scale without chaos. Grow One Van at a Time: From 2020 onwards, Ben grew one van per year until this year, when he added four. Controlled growth with systems in place beats chaotic expansion every time. Know your numbers, know your capacity, and scale with intention. Don't Celebrate Until You Cross the Finish Line: Ben won't call himself a million pound business owner until his window cleaning round value hits £1 million, not just turnover. He also learned the hard way that slowing down before the goal costs you. Aim higher than your target so you land where you want to be. HOST BIO Brad Staines is a founder in the thick of it, but by design, not by default. As the face of Aquamark Cleaning, he's built a multi million pound operation with 30+ team members, strong systems, and a culture that gives people space to grow. He's still involved in the business a couple of days a week, but only doing the parts he genuinely enjoys: building relationships, growing the brand, spending time with the team, and spotting new opportunities. The day to day grind? That's been handed over to a structure that runs without constant firefighting. Brad's also found his rhythm outside of business, with a deep commitment to physical and mental training. Whether it's strength work, early morning runs, or cold plunges, he's a believer that how you show up for yourself shapes how you show up as a leader. Working On It is where he brings it

James Ashford shares powerful lessons on sales psychology, emotional control & What Should You Do 18–24 Months Before Selling Your Business? Get business help from me personally: https://bradstaines.com/ We Covered: ↳ How to 3x Your Prices Upselling "Experiences", handle price objections, build customer certainty, and increase sales without lowering your prices ↳ How to Increase Valuation Before sell & Get High Quality Employees ↳ How to overcome business failure, build a strong team culture, and turn setbacks into opportunities for growth You are going to learn: Chapters 00:00:00 How to Build a Business That Grows Without the Owner 00:00:19 Why “It’s Too Expensive” Is Rarely About Money 00:02:54 How to Build a Company Culture That Gets the Best Out of Your Staff 00:03:31 Staff Lost £125K: How Should a Business Owner React? 00:05:05 The Skill of Turning Complex Business Problems Into Simple Solutions 00:06:16 Competitors Were About to Take 25% of His Market: What Did He Do? 00:07:41 How a New Product Turned a Business Crisis Into £10K More Revenue Per Month 00:09:31 The More Things You Need to Be Happy, the Harder Happiness Becomes 00:13:22 How to Win More Sales When Customers Are Cutting Costs 00:15:56 Stop Discounting: The Real Reason Customers Say Your Service Is Too Expensive 00:18:06 The Sales Question That Reveals Hidden Objections Before You Discount 00:18:42 How to Turn a Price Objection Into a More Profitable Deal 00:19:34 The Question That Uncovers the Real Reason a Customer Won’t Buy 00:19:55 How to Discover What Your Customer Is Actually Being Measured On 00:22:14 How Grant Cardone Turned a £50K Donation Request Into a £100K Deal 00:22:51 Stop Negotiating on Price Before You Understand What the Customer Wants 00:23:53 How to Sell a £1,200 Experience Instead of a £400 Hotel Room 00:25:06 How to Sell to Your Customer’s Personal Goals, Not Just Their Business 00:25:59 Why Customers Reject Your Price but Pay More for Something They Value 00:26:45 How to Upsell Your Existing Customers Without Competing on Price 00:30:09 AI Is Making Software Development Cheaper and More Accessible for Small Businesses 00:30:25 How AI Helped Build a Simple App to Solve a Real-Life Problem 00:35:15 How to Raise Customer Expectations Without Constantly Losing Their Trust 00:40:10 The Difference Between Selling a Service and Truly Serving Your Customers 00:45:15 Your Company Culture Is What Employees Say When You Leave the Room 00:50:23 Could Your Business Survive 3 Months Without You? 00:53:40 Why Most Company Core Values Are Too Vague to Change Employee Behaviour 00:54:22 The Core Value That Makes Employees Accountable for Their Actions 00:55:11 How to Turn “Wow Customer Experience” Into a Measurable Standard 00:56:19 Struggling to Hire Staff? Your Company Culture Could Be the Problem 00:56:49 How to Attract Employees Without Advertising Every Job 00:57:35 Why Paying Higher Wages Can Help You Attract Better Employees 00:58:03 AI Can Triple Your Output, but Only If You Have the Right People 00:59:44 How to Measure Customer Experience Instead of Just Assuming You’re the Best 01:00:14 What Does a World-Class Net Promoter Score Look Like? (78 Explained) 01:03:37 The Customer Feedback Question Most Businesses Are Too Afraid to Ask 01:04:10 Stop Asking This Question to Your Customer 01:04:27 The Better Customer Feedback Question That Helps You Improve Every Month 01:05:24 The Question That Reveals Why Your Best Employees Might Quit 01:06:55 Why Business Owners Should Compete Against Their Own Performance, Not Rivals 01:07:34 Customer Lifetime Value: The Numbers Every Business Owner Should Track 01:15:15 Selling a Business: Why Sharing the Exit Money With Your Team Was So Rewarding 01:20:26 Business Failure: What Happens When Your Company Goes Into Liquidation? 01:25:09 Rejected by His Local Business Community After Failure: How He Rebuilt His Reputation 01:28:48 Why Entrepreneurs Need to Ask for Help Instead of Solving Everything Alone 01:40:17 Why Stop at £10 Million? The Question That Challenged His Business Goals 01:42:38 Gary Vaynerchuk’s Advice on When to Sell Your Business 01:50:26 How to Build a Competitive Moat Around Your Business in the Age of AI 01:55:31 Does Manifestation Work? Why Visualizing Success Is Not Enough 02:00:03 You’re Always Selling: How to Apply Sales Psychology to Everyday Life 02:06:53 Stop Delaying Happiness Until You’re Successful: What Actually Matters in Life 02:10:31 Business Going Downhill? Stop Making Excuses and Take Responsibility Helpful? Hit The Like Button!

Brad sits down with James Ashford, founder of GoProposal, who built and sold a proposal software business to Sage for millions. From navigating business failures and personal guarantees to building a world class culture and creating a moat around his business, James shares the raw truth about what it takes to grow fast, exit big, and do it all without losing yourself in the process. Discover why selling is the highest skill you can develop, how to kill the founder in your business so it can grow without you, and why the best entrepreneurs focus on the space above the bar instead of just clearing it. This is a masterclass in building a business worth buying, creating assets that multiply your impact, and living a life where fitness, family, and fulfilment come first. KEY TAKEAWAYS Selling Is Service, Not Manipulation: Selling is helping someone make the right decision for them. It's an exchange of energy, enthusiasm, and passion. If you can't sell your service now, you won't be able to sell your business later. Master this skill above all others. Kill The Founder To Maximise Value: You don't want a business that runs without you. You want one that grows, solves problems, hires, fires, and innovates without you. The less the business depends on you, the more valuable it becomes to a buyer. Build A Moat Around Your Business: Make your business defensible by creating assets competitors can't replicate. James built a community, wrote books, produced video content, and created IP that could scale into new markets using AI. The harder it is to copy, the more it's worth. Shorten The Buyer's Roadmap: Don't just sell revenue or profit. Sell speed. If you can help a buyer achieve their goals faster than doing it themselves, you become infinitely more valuable. Show them the leverage, not just the numbers. Core Values Must Guide Behaviour: Culture isn't pool tables or pizza Fridays. It's firing your top performer if they violate your core values. James learned from the All Blacks: always do what you say you're going to do. Make your values clear, measurable, and non negotiable. BEST MOMENTS "When people say, I can't afford this, it's too expensive, it's rarely anything to do with money. It's normally to do with certainty." "You don't want a business that runs without you. You want a business that grows without you, that can solve problems without you, that can hire without you, fire without you." "The culture is not a pool table in the staff room, it's not pizzas on a Friday. You are going to be fired if you do not stick to our core values." "Where is the gift in this? If I can find the gift in that situation, I'm much more able to find the benefit of it." "No one's coming to save you. But that also means no one's coming to stop you either." "We don't experience life. We experience what we focus on and the meaning we give it." HOST BIO Brad Staines is a founder in the thick of it, but by design, not by default. As the face of Aquamark Cleaning, he's built a multi million pound operation with 30+ team members, strong systems, and a culture that gives people space to grow. He's still involved in the business a couple of days a week, but only doing the parts he genuinely enjoys: building relationships, growing the brand, spending time with the team, and spotting new opportunities. The day to day grind? That's been handed over to a structure that runs without constant firefighting. Brad's also found his rhythm outside of business, with a deep commitment to physical and mental training. Whether it's strength work, early morning runs, or cold plunges, he's a believer that how you show up for yourself shapes how you show up as a leader. Working On It is where he brings it all together: growth, grit, and getting better every week.