The Unsqueezed and High Profit Assets In Your Business

Welcome to Throb, The Reality of Business podcast. Real business chat from real people without the shiny veneer of gurus anywhere near it.

With your hosts Bertie Cordingly and Paul Chapman and maybe some guests along the route, we'll talk about our experiences of running business, helping others run a business and sharing real stories based on real experience. Hello, mate. Hello, Paul. How are you? I'm very well. Are you really pleased that you're trying to buy something really expensive and no one's answering the phone?

I'm really fucking pissed off by it, actually. I wasn't going to talk about that.

Oh, no, we shouldn't. Do you know what? I don't... Let's just not go into details, but actually, anybody ringing your business, pick up the phone. If you can't pick up the phone, have a really bad... Have a good answer. We'll get back in. Divert the phone. Do anything with the phone. If anybody is contacting you, particularly when it's a sales line, it just... It's comedy.

It pisses me off. I mean, like, yeah, I mean, the expensive thing I'm trying to buy is... We weren't talking about this, but yeah, let's... I mean, it is a house, right? So, yeah, I've just seen something on Rightmove this morning. It's instantly sold, but I want to know why. It's only just gone up and it's sold. So, yeah, I'm trying to get hold of the estate agent and no one's entering the phone. And I've been ringing since nine o'clock. It's now ten past twelve. But there's no... There's no... No, I'll tell you why it pisses me off. Obviously, it pisses me off because there's this thing that I want and I don't want anyone else to have it. So, that's it. But actually, from a business point of view... I mean, we're recording this in, like, February 2022. The housing market is going through a little bit of a boom right now. Like, you know, there's definitely a supply and demand issue.

There are commissions to be made.

Yeah, there definitely is. But because of that, a lot of agents that... And I've noticed this. They're almost sort of treating it like, you know, make hay while the sun shines. Rather than really... Like, every single customer interaction is important. So, you know, rather than actually capturing my... I mean, you know, they might call back in a bit. There might be something genuine. Who knows?

Who we don't care about the facts.

But probably not. Because I've had this so many times where I've rang about properties, left a message. And then, like, I've seen a few days later that property is sold. But no one's even got back to me. So, what could have happened is I could have been registered. You know, next time someone comes on, like, building up their pipeline for the future. And still looking after me as a customer, even though that particular property isn't there. Because, as we know, things can change overnight. Property market is seasonal as well. These leads, I don't feel, should be wasted. Because I'm in a really good position to buy something, they should be talking to me. But they don't know that until they answer the phone and speak to me.

You know, it's not... The thing that annoys me most of all, and I get that, you know, they're like, yes, they're probably busy because they are making hay and et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. If this was an expensive problem to fix or a difficult problem to fix, I'd understand it. But for a handful of pounds, probably less than five, someone will answer that phone call. Yeah. Say, hey, I'm ever so sorry. We are wrapped. I'm looking down the line here. You know, kind of Steve, Sarah, Chris and Bernice. There's always a Bernice. They're on the phone at the moment. I tell you what, let me grab some details. I will then pass that on. Look, you know, I can't say whether to be called. There's something that costs less than five pounds. That is incredibly easy to do. The barrier to making that happen is just some muppet thinking about it. Yeah. But they don't. They don't care is the reality. They simply don't care. They will care when the market dies again and they haven't got anyone to speak to about property.

Yeah.

But obviously they won't care now. Yeah.

And that's right. And we have spoke about agents before. It's that thing. It's like now already, like, yes, of course, I will use that agent to buy that property. If that's the only one on, like I want the property. I don't give a fuck who's selling it. Like, you know, it's frustrating for me to get through. However, you know, there will be a point where I'll be selling a property again. Or, you know, I might have had to put my existing house on the market at this point to buy said property. Am I going to use them? Absolutely not. Like it's it's the small thing end up being big things for customers. So I think that's where that's where people have to be a bit more careful. And yeah, not just make hay where the sun shines. It's like, OK, yeah, we've got all these customers, but we need to look after all of them, not just some of them. Anyway, that's not what we're talking about today. No, thank heavens.

We haven't talked about that.

Yeah, that was that was a genuine rant, wasn't it? A genuine little rant. Before we start, let's just have a rant about something. I could just see you.

I could see you on your phone. I could see the fury in your eyes. Right. Phone's down now. No distractions. If they call if they call turn this telly off as well, should we?

Neighbours. Is Neighbours still a thing? Everybody. I don't know. Yeah. We used to watch Neighbours. Still a little bit of Neighbours. It's a funny thing, isn't it?

I think everybody did, isn't it?

Watch someone else's life rather than having your own. Yeah. Weird. Anyway, so what are we? We ought to talk about something.

We did have a thing we're going to talk about. You had a story.

I had an interesting conversation with a very smart friend of mine the other day. Yeah. I mean, lovely guy. Very astute. Loads of businesses. Really interesting. Anyway, we were just chatting. And I don't want to share any details about that. But someone had come and said to him, and Bessie said, can you help me with a thing? I've got something. I want someone to buy something. Can you do it? And he'd gone, because he's a lovely guy. Yeah, of course.

I like when you say a thing.

Honestly, it just doesn't matter. No, it does matter.

Because if we're talking about a potato masher, for example.

Something worth seven figures. Okay, right.

So a high value thing. Yeah, of course.

I know someone. I can do that there. Okay. But actually, because he's a nice guy, he'd never thought about the fact of going, yes, I can do that. I just tend to take 1% of the sales price. You know, because it's a business transaction. And the point of this being is, is that this guy has been a brilliant networker for a long period of time, and knows and is liked and trusted by loads and loads of people. Got you. Yeah. And actually, kind of one of the things that he kind of wasn't thinking about here is that actually, you know, I always say, I always say, because I'm an old, tedious, boring old man. You squeeze your asset. You sweat your asset. And actually, one of his key assets is the fact that he knows loads of people, and people like him, and that shouldn't be maligned. That shouldn't be forgotten about. And actually, there is a real massive value here to using that, to connecting people. You know, I can think of, you know, people in the kind of the sports industry that, you know, someone will ring them and go, I want to speak to this person. They say, you know, this football or whatever. And they will say, well, okay, yeah, I can make that happen. It's 15 grand or whatever. Yeah, that's fine. And it's just, it's just a natural part of the world. And I think, you know, the point here is that actually all of us have something we're not selling that is massively valuable to someone else. Yeah. Yeah. And again, whether that's experience, whether that's, you know, the fact that you have put the hard work in to meet loads of people and have that kind of contact books and, you know, that ability for someone to say, look, I've got this thing. I don't know how to move it on. I know someone that can do that. Leave it with me. Did it. And I'll just do that. Is that okay? Mm-hmm. You know, it's fine. Like someone approached me ages ago and said, look, you know, I want to sell my business. You know, I thought, well, yeah, happy to help. This is what I do. I helped do it. And I thought, you know, not lots and lots of money, but I think it's just, it's easy to give away stuff. I'm brilliant at giving away stuff. Yeah, me too. I am. I'm sure we've had this conversation for, you know, the amount of times that I have sat with someone on one of my coffee chats. I love what I do. I love people, businesses. I'm a massive fan of helping people. And actually, if I get it wrong or if I kind of get too carried away, I'll literally, oh, you know what you could do, Bertie? Do this. Do that. Da-da-da-da. Write it like that. Right. That letter needs to have this. This. Da-da-da. And I give too much away. And then I say to people, right, let's do a proper session. And they go, well, we don't need to. I've got everything I need. I'm like, yes, you have. And I think, you know, we've all got that thing in us. You know, I, you know, I look at you and I don't think.

I can't say that. I look at you.

I don't think you've met a more attractive figure of a man. Do you know what?

You are looking very attractive today. Thanks, mate. I think, you know, normally you look like a, you know, a bag of crushed crab shells. But today you look lovely. Anyway.

I'm wearing the same thing that I wear every time you visit. Although I don't wear jogging bottoms anymore since you made that comment.

It reminds me of 12th Man Sketch with Richie Beno and his jackets. Which jacket? Come on in love. Which jacket would you like? The cream, the white, the bone, the ivory, the off-white or the beige? I love the idea that you might be standing there at your, um.

Black T-shirt collection. Black T-shirt. Black. Black. Ooh.

Dark, dark black.

Well, actually, like, at the...

It's funny you should say that now because...

Black charcoal, night time.

Well, they are all black. But now there's slightly different, there's slightly different ranges in there. So there are some that, uh, depending on...

It's like a 50s TV. Different sides of grey's to it. Yeah.

It's like, how much have you... Oh, well, that one fits a little bit better after a weekend T-shirt. And then I've got one with a different sort of neckline, uh, which looks great, like, on camera from, like, the top up. But, like, not if I was going to a networking meeting because it's a little bit like a dress. So, you know, there is... You know, to take away all the decision process, which was the original point, I was just lazy. I thought, well, black goes in anything. Um, you know, now I've actually got to still make a decision on which black T-shirt to wear.

Is there a time where they get... Because all black fades to grey. Great song. Um, is there a level of greyity that you pitch out it? Or does it then become, like, a weekend slob around T-shirt? No. So what... So... This is high-level content.

This is top-class content here. What happens with my wardrobe? So... Yeah, really. There's always a hierarchy, I believe, in clothes, isn't there? As in, you'll get something of a best, you know, sort of move down. I'm the same with jeans. Yeah. Yeah, casual, et cetera. Yeah, exactly. Jeans, jeans are a perfect example. With the black T-shirts, no. They haven't. They don't move into a week. Because I wear them so much in the week, regardless of, like, their status, I won't wear them at a weekend because I like to have my weekend clothes separate. I have worn them, like, when I used to do boxing, then I would just, like, I would wear the black T-shirt in the day, then I would just change my jeans to the short and go boxing and stuff for the fitness of the night and just keep the theme going. That was very easy. Right. But I dye them. Do you? Yeah. Like, so when they start to grey, I'll just... Sustainable. Yeah, I will stick them all in the wash and dye them, then they're all... That's a refresher. I'll probably do it every two or three months until they're falling apart and then replace them.

Do you think anyone's ever going to listen to this podcast again? I don't know.

Well, like, you know, it's behind the scenes.

It is behind the scenes. Anyway, anyone... I know what I'm saying. I think you don't value the experience that you have enough.

Right.

In the fact that what you've done in terms of, you know, have idea, start business from scratch, build it, mess it all up, win it, did it, all the stuff. Not mess up. You know what I mean? All those mistakes that you've gone through, they are massive learnings. So valuable to other people. You've done it, built it, sold it. Then gone on to be an investor, you know, worked in very, very big businesses on the... You know, all those kinds. That is massive experience. And I've always thought about you that actually, it sometimes, to me, looks on the outside that you don't value that enough.

You're telling me off again. You often tell me off for this thing. And now you're telling me off publicly so the world can hear.

In the nicest possible way. But I think, you know, it's like this other fellow thing. Actually, he just thought... Well, I think we all do it. I don't have a fraction of your experience and that sort of thing. But we all do this thing where we undervalue what we've got. But I think often there is things that we do that we undervalue. And there's things that we do as standard that we don't even think about the value of. You know, look at this. Yeah, yeah. He could. You know, he is probably a couple of conversations away from making someone, you know, seven figures that they didn't know how to make themselves.

Yeah.

And I suppose that is in the world's longest podcastorial setup. That's what I think we should talk about today. Is that actually people are not necessarily selling the wrong thing, but ignoring massive assets that you can squeeze.

I'm sorry, everyone.

Is it coming after they've squeezed the massive assets or during? Move on. During? Move on.

What was that gesture? For the purpose of the tape, Paul is just pointing over. You talk now. Yeah, I agree. I think there's a couple of moving parts here. I think it's very easy to see that with somebody else, isn't it? Like you can, I think, you know, like I, even when you're talking and say, you know, you've got loads more experience than me, et cetera, et cetera. In your, you know, tweed voice. You know, I think you've got loads of experience. And this is the thing I think it's very easy to forget the stuff that, you know, interesting. It's when we start doing these podcasts and I start talking, it's like, oh, actually, there's quite a lot of stuff that I know on various different subjects. But you forget, don't you? Because you're just in your own little world. Like I'm there on a weekend dyeing T-shirts where I probably should be doing other things. But, yeah, I completely agree. I think business, especially when you're starting out, it doesn't have to necessarily be so linear. I think it's good to niche and I think it's good to, you know, sort of stick to like your core business. But that doesn't mean you should ignore other opportunities.

What else can you do? Which other ways have you got? What do you have your business? We've all said a billion times your business is only a way of facilitating a lifestyle. What else do you have that could do that? How else could that work? You know, I have lots of conversations that I almost certainly should charge for, but they're not marketing conversations. They're almost like, by coaching, people want to talk to me because I'm, someone could be wise the other day. I'm like, really? But, you know, I see where I get awkward talking about myself. I clearly have a thing. People like to be able to talk to me. I do it gladly, freely, happily. That could be a charge for thing. And, again, you don't do it for everything. But, you know, it's that there are different, we all have skills. We all have values. We all have assets beyond the thing that we do. Mm-hmm.

That can, that are valuable to other people.

Yeah.

And I think it's just, you know, it's, how do you go about recognising that? And then how do you go about monetising it? It doesn't have to monetise it. You know, that might be a step, a step, a step. So you use that asset for the next thing, the next thing, which then monetises it. I don't know. But I think, you know, all of us, look at these couple of answers. All of us have a thing that we're not, in the basis way, charging for. Yeah.

And I think it comes to, as well, you know, like, charging for the value that you're providing rather than the time.

Yeah.

You know, like, this applies to anything. You know, it's a bit like, you know, you're not necessarily buying the thing. You're buying the experience, the time that's, you know, creating that thing. Like, not everything is equal, right? You know, they're different, you know, like, you could go to one PT and would give you completely different advice based on their experience to another. They might be the same price, but there's a huge value in one of the knowledge and experience than the other who's just got their qualification from the back of a cornflakes packet or something. Or the cereal is available. Yes. So, yeah, it's, it's, yeah, charging for the value and the time and effort that you've put in, like, your example of that person is really good because they've, they've been able to facilitate that whatever it was that we're not talking about, um, based on their experience and their time. And they might not have intention, like, you know, like, we both go to a lot of networking meetings, right?

Yeah.

So, I suppose, yeah, if somebody asks me for somebody, I can very quickly connect them with somebody else and you're probably the same. Like, we've had that conversation this morning. You're like, oh, yeah, I know someone, phone call, mobile number, done. Um, so, yeah, you, but that's, you've got that experience through putting in the time, effort and energy in going to networking meetings all the time.

Yeah.

So, you know, it's, in theory, it could, and in some circumstances could be chargeable. Someone who was running a networking meeting would actually pay for that service. So, there are networking meetings, uh, services that you pay for and you'll still pay for, like, the, the meeting itself. But then one of the benefits is that you will speak to the owner of that network and they will connect you with relevant people and introduce you. Yeah.

And I think that's, there's a couple of bits there. I think, you know, you've got to be, you've got to be careful about charging kind of arbitrarily. Like, you know, going to a networking meeting. If I then called the person that ran that networking and said, could you introduce me to Bertie? I want to do it. She said, yes, but I take 1%. I'm like, well, you run a networking business. That's what I'm paying you to do. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think, kind of, so, I think, you know, and this, just to be really clear, this is not about only making more money. Of course it's not. This is about working out what you have in there. Because, you know, you take kind of, you know, the guy that we're talking about in the example, in no way at all had he ever considered his networking to be anything other than for his own businesses, of which he's got kind of several. So, he was doing it for that. And it is, I suppose, it's like looking at the byproduct of this and thinking, well, look, what happens with that byproduct? It's like, I learned not that long ago that there's a company that makes face creams and stuff out of coffee grounds. I think that's really, really interesting. So, actually, you can be a coffee company, you know, like a coffee shop, and actually you can make money off your own waste, which is bonkers. But that's, you know, perhaps we don't call it like a byproduct. The byproduct that has no value unless somebody looks into the value of it. And I suppose we all, yeah, so what the point I'm laboring to get across here is that what is your, not yours, you know, the glorious listener out there? We've got loads of listeners. Big in Iran. Never tell you that. We were big in Iran. We're also big in Japan, which is a better song.

Yeah.

But, yeah, I mean, we're like 20-odd countries.

I've never noticed the Iran list in second. But I am very...

Hello to all of you in Iran and the wider world. What was I saying?

Something about knowing your value. That's right, yeah.

And it's looking at that ability to look at everything you've got and see where it could add value to someone else. You know, and this could be as simple as, you know, if I'm an office supplies company, then actually I've got real value to someone that sells, I don't know, corporate training. Because I know the right people at loads, loads of places where I can go and kind of, you know, say, actually, let me introduce you that way or whatever it is. And I think, I don't know, maybe I'm labouring this too much. But, you know, you look at lots and lots of people, myself included, there's loads of value that we're not using, not sharing, that is massively valuable to other people. And there's nothing wrong with giving it away for free. But it's in that kind of, okay, look, where do you want this to be? You've put all that effort in. You have that thing. It's like your experience. You've got all that experience that could be massively valuable. And I know you share a lot of it, but I think you undershare or I perhaps undervalue that. But, yeah, I think it is important for people to spend some time thinking about what else they have. You know, even if the thing that they've got is, I don't know, some money sat in the bank that's not doing anything. Well, okay, what could I do with that? Even if the thing is, and forgive me just interrupting, even if the thing is actually, let's say you're the household secondary income. So actually you have a load of free time that doesn't need to be on your business. What else could you do with that? You know, look at your particular situations, your particular things, what you have, what you know, blah, blah, blah. And just think, is there another avenue for either to support my existing business or is there something new there? I'm not suggesting, you know, you kind of set yourself up as an introducer, but actually, you know, being in and around, being known as a person that knows people, you know, I'm a little bit in that world very different, but, you know, someone's kind of messaged me the other night and said, look, do you know someone that, hmm? And yes, I do. And, you know, in that particular scenario, that's not a chargeable thing. But actually, as an example, other people will have that thing in their world.

Yeah, and it's, you know, there's probably a line, I suppose it's the same with anything, like, you know, like if you're on social media, like, you know, influencing or doing whatever, you know, there'll be so much free content and then there'll be a point where, you know, that the stuff becomes paid. So, you know, you don't necessarily, just because you can monetize everything, you don't have to monetize everything. But, you know, there may be a line when actually it's like, if, and this is what I was trying to get to with the value proposition, if that introduction, if that work, if you've already even though it might have happened for you in like a split second, if someone's saying, I don't know, yeah, I want to sell a business. Like, do you know anyone? And instantly, you know somebody that's buying a business, that, you know, is looking for a business. You know, you're essentially, you've curated all of that information that's out there in the world and given them an answer that's going to save them advertising the business, all of that stuff. So actually, you can say, do you know what? I might know someone there. How about I introduce you rather than you paying 5% to an agent? I'll take 2% or whatever it's going to be. I think those things are good in that example because it's very clear, it's very transparent, actually, that you're adding value at every single stage.

Yeah.

I think just trying to monetize everything for everything's sake is, you know, is the wrong way of doing it. Like, you know, like these people that like, you know, we spoke about business card thrusters before. It's like, you know, take some of my cards so you can hand them to people who are going to clean windows. It's like, no, why would I do that? So, you know, I'll give you 10%. It's like, but I'm not going to recommend somebody who I don't even know. The difference there is you're actually doing something valuable for everybody. And in that instance, why shouldn't you? There is no reason why you couldn't profit from that because, you know, you've brought those two magical things together. And the only way that that's happened is because of you. So, yes, I do believe that there should be, and it's not necessarily, you know, maybe profiting from it or making money from it is the wrong thing. It's, it's, I always, you know, see it as like a, yeah, it's like a transfer essentially that you're getting something. So you're going to, you'll get something back in return. You're trying, you know, and it just so happens that that's money for that knowledge and experience that only you have. Yeah.

You know, I look at, I look at my, my boys, you know, they're playing when they're playing or whatever, they're like, I was trying to talk to them the other day about the science of the swap. Because one, that's how Jack said, I want, you know, daddy, William's got something and I want it. I'm like, well, okay, look, for there to be a swap, you've got to have something that he wants. Yeah. And I think, you know, that's, that's the point. And it isn't, you know, and again, we've got to be really careful. You're a dead right to read up. This is not about every conversation. Everything has to have money behind it. But actually there will be some things that someone that you have that will really help someone else and they're more than happy to pay for, you know, because that, you know, again, that is, that is the world that we're in. And I think, you know, a little side shoot on this is that there is very, not everyone because you meet a lot of dickheads. Most of the time there is always value in knowing people and cultivating relationships and, you know, and that can lead you to all sorts of different things. You know, being the guy that recommends someone, even takes nothing for it means that you're likely to get recommended back in return. And it is, it's, there is huge, I'm sure people know this, there is huge value in building relationships and people and knowing people and having that, you know, being a, a linchpin that people go to for whatever to introduce you to kind of whatever else is, because there comes that time where actually something happens, it becomes, you know, a very useful thing and you then cannot or, or, or don't, don't charge for it. But I think, you know, a lot of people see networking as a purely kind of transactional thing. Whereas actually for me, I think it's probably for you, I just like to build my network. You know, I'm very rarely these days, I haven't been to networking ages, but very rarely do I go and always get a bit of business, but I tend to meet interesting people. And I tend to kind of think, and I think, I wonder if one of the reasons that people don't do this, if they've got a thing is that, and it harks back to what we were chatting about earlier on, whether they don't know how to do it. They're a bit awkward about the process of saying, yes, I can introduce you. I'll take something. And I wonder if it, if people need that process on it. I suppose, yeah. Repeat a podcast again, but. Yeah. Yeah.

Maybe they just need to, I think it's the first time you do it is going to be awkward. It's just, it's just practice, isn't it? Or maybe just answering that question. You don't have to even asking that question. Like, you know, if I was to find you the perfect buyer and I might have someone in mind, you know, would you be happy to pay me? You can do it as a question rather than being a dick about it. I mean, yeah, we've had a podcast episode, don't be a dick. So, you know, just make it conversational. But yeah, if you, if you were actually thinking, do you know what? I can genuinely solve this problem for these two individuals.

Yeah.

Then there's an opportunity that that's a business, as you said before, it's a business transaction. And there should be some, you know, transference of, of, you know, like a monetary reward, you know, how really do you want to put it for that? There's, there's, there's no reason. I think, yeah, doing this from, you know, a good place and actually using your knowledge and experience, like now, for example, right? If I had someone in the estate agent world who were like, have I told them exactly, you know, the spec of what I'm looking for and where I'm looking for it? If they could solve that problem, I would fucking pay them for that because I'm literally on right move every day. In my head, I know what I want. And, you know, there's God knows how many estate agents out there in Nottingham that, you know, that I've spoke to or couldn't speak to because they don't answer the phone. And, you know, there's clearly these properties are there or maybe they're coming to the market soon. But I don't have that person that's connected to, to everybody that can genuinely solve that problem for me. Right now, I would pay them because the amount of time, effort and energy that I've put into that search. Yeah. And, you know, the stress in having it. And now, you know, I've got people buying my house who want to know when it's going to move. And it's like, well, I've got nowhere to live. So, you know, it's not happening.

Come on down with me, mate. Yeah. That's it.

Not happening anytime soon. But I think, yeah, that's, this is a good example of where you can leverage your knowledge and actually turn that into, you then become a profit centre for your business. And it might be that you enjoy doing that thing more than the other thing that you were doing. And it might mean you have to work less. And as you said, you know, it's, you know, the, you're not defined by your work. If you can just do a couple of deals a year and then go travelling and do all the other stuff that like, we're all going to die. So why not? You know, let's, let's do all that stuff. I think where it can go wrong is where you recommend things just because you can earn a commission from it. And this is why, you know, like recruiters annoy me sometimes. Well, a lot. But other things that annoy me are networking meetings. And maybe we shouldn't say, say the name, you know, like the cult like network. And you have to turn up every time. And you have to give referrals every time you go. And you can only refer the people in the room. And you're only allowed one person of said industry in the room.

Yeah.

So for example, like, but there's no quality control that it's not like you have created the, it's not like this is like the golden circle of the best decorator, car salesman, aerial installer, God knows whatever is in there. Like, it's just people that have paid to be a member of that group. So like, I, because of that, then because there's so much pressure, if you're saying to me, oh, my aerials fell off my roof. If I'm like, I then have to, because I'm part of this cult like environment, like say, oh, yeah, I, Dave, the aerial fitter. Is he any good?

Yeah. Yeah. It gets loads of referrals. It only gets loads of referrals because you've got to fucking refer them. Like you just don't, you just don't. And that stuff I really don't like because then I think it devalues what you do. I think it devalues, you know, like your whole word is your bond and stuff. You end up recommending people that not necessarily are, but could be dicks. Yeah. You just, you just don't know. Yeah. And that's the whole thing. Like when someone gives me their business cards, oh, if you know anyone that wants their windows cleaning, we let them know. It's like, no, I won't. I don't care if I don't know any other window cleaners. I'm definitely not going to recommend you because if you turn up there and just start perving over someone through their windows, you know, like, like window cleaners, when I'm cleaning windows.

Like they did in 80s movies. Yeah, exactly.

You know, if you, but that's the thing, right. I recommend a window cleaner and someone like takes it in good faith.

Yeah.

And then, you know, they turn up someone's house and he looks out the window and someone's banging one out on top of the ladder. Why? Like, like, it's like, it's going to come back to me. Why? Why did you recommend to serial masturbators to come and clean my windows? It's like, I don't remember saying to Paul to clean your windows, but it's, it looks bad on you, doesn't it? And it just, you know, it looks bad. Well, that's best it looks bad through the window. No one wants to see that. No. No.

This is people not thinking. Like, I don't. Oh. Because you think, well, okay, this is really obvious. Because all that window cleaner needs to do is say, look, Bertie, you live in a big house. I bet you got rich mates. How's about I come over and just sort your windows out for free. If you think they're any good, then maybe you might think about referring me sometime. Yeah. Perfect. Exactly. And it's the same with these, these, these, you know, networking groups because it's the arrogance of like, well, I'm in the group, so you have to recommend me. Why aren't they standing up and saying, you know, like, I, I, I think I went along once with someone's guest and it just, it makes my skin crawl. I don't understand, not just skin crawl. I don't understand it. But you feel dirty, don't you?

Like, I got home, got in the shower and scrubbed myself down with Vim after that meeting.

Like, I just find it odd because it goes against every commonsensical notion. And I get the fact that, you know, people are not, are, they're encouraged to help, which I get that. But why isn't the electrician coming up to you and going, you know, hey, Paul, this is me, this is what I do. You know, and you can't do it everywhere. So, you know, I would make sure I'd go around everyone in that room over the next two, three, four months and say, look, look, this is why people recommend me or look, you know, because you could easily kind of go, look, you guys are asked to recommend me. I get that. Like, I don't want you to recommend me just because I'm here. I think I'm good. Here is a sheet of 20 testimonials. Now, do with it what you will. That makes sense. Exactly.

I think, yeah, I think that recommending people just because they happen to be in the same room. Of course, you know, after a while, you might use these people and they might be all right and stuff like that. I'm not saying that everybody in these, these places are bad, but I think that it's, it's just a gamble, isn't it? You don't know. And I think that's the difference. If I'm going to recommend something, I want to know it's okay or it's good. Otherwise, like I would, I'd rather like, I suppose you're like, it's very different if it's a very, very niche thing. Like, do you know somebody that, I don't know, can, I've tried to think of something really randomly niche.

Fixed tweed plus fours. Yeah. And it's like. Do you know anyone? Yeah.

I do know one person. I've met a network. Never use them, but I know of a person that's very different to, you know, do you know a window cleaner? Absolutely use this person is amazing. Because then I can go back to the networking meeting and say, oh, I've got an extra referral this week. I've recommended, what was it called? Dave, the window cleaner. Yeah. Yeah.

And, but that, that then becomes your hidden value almost of not just doing it because you have met someone, doing it because you've spent some time getting to know them or doing them or having that, you know, having that little black book or whatever it is. Yeah. Just move past it. What's wrong with you? Yeah. And it is that thing. Cause you know, it's all into, you know, go back.

When I'm cleaning windows. Turned out nice again.

There was a, there was a, oh. Was it Confessions of a Window Cleaner? That kind of soft core, oh, 80s. I can remember. What was it? What was it? It doesn't matter. Anyway. It's not there.

Is this a porn thing? Well, no.

It's one of those 80s sort of, um, like a Benny Hill style movie. Right. I don't know. I won't say his name. I remember he used to. Anyway, it doesn't matter. Um, cause it is, it's, you know, get back in. What is the thing that you have? Is there an opportunity to monetize it? Like, I genuinely don't understand. Let's go to on estate agents again. Why don't estate agents sell landscaping?

Okay.

Cause you buy, and again, I'm going to make this up, but you buy a house. Normally then you fix the inside cause you want a new kitchen.

Yeah.

And you want an, you know, but an estate agent, let's say, you know, let's say an estate agent has been going for 10 years. They sell a hundred properties a year. I don't know if that's a thing. 50 doesn't matter. You know that. So they have 500 people over the last 10 years that they know have got a house. Yeah. Obviously someone have moved. Da, da, da, da, da. The value there is massive. You know, I would be, you know, and they will know because they're in that world, they'll know that actually the first thing people do is their bathroom. So actually once they've sold it, why isn't there a, Hey Paul, you know, really pleased to be at work with you. Da, da, da, da. Hope you love me. How's that? Da, da, da. You know, because of who we are, we've got loads of great offers, loads of great deals with loads of people that we know and trust locally. If you want a new bathroom, go and speak to Bertie. And there is real. Yeah. Actual value. And that is value for, um, value for customer value for me as a guy that says, look, here's stuff, you know, I'm giving you a thousand pounds off a bathroom. Because you've come with me. I know they're good. And it's, and it's value for, um, the bathroom company as well. You know, we're just having our house knocked about at the moment. And, you know, we went with people that were recommended to us. You know, yes, of course we met them. Yes. Of course we looked at, you know, and all along the way. So actually it saves me time. It saves me effort. It gives me confidence. That's not always going to be right, but there's real value here. And I think this is it. No estate agent is sitting there looking and going, well, okay, what data? Do I actually have? What could I do with it? Maybe nothing. Maybe the right thing to do is nothing with it. But actually there is a whole stream of income there that you could do stuff with if you only put some thought into it. Yeah.

Well, you, well, you've just got those, you've just got those, um, I suppose you're just building up like, yeah, you, in that instance, you're building up this network, aren't you?

Yeah.

People that want stuff done and you're probably speaking to developers or if you've gone around a house that, wow, this is amazing. Who did your kitchen? Like you can get those details and, um, you know, and start building that stuff so you can connect to people. I mean, when, when I bought, uh, this house as an example, like there was a really lovely house a couple of miles away that went and looked around. It was a lot smaller, but everything in it was just perfect as in what I would have done. So there's nothing what I've done and all that, like, you know, I'm, I'm big on like home automation and all that sort of stuff. So, um, didn't buy their house, but actually like spoke to the person who was doing the viewing and actually it was her husband's the, who ran the automation company. Yeah. So he'd done a, I was on automation. So like, you know, connected with him. And then when I moved here, he did the automation here and then we became friends and stuff after that because we had similar interests, et cetera. But you know, that, that, that sort of thing, isn't it? It's like, um, you know, seeing if some, like that's quite a rare skill, um, to be able to like, you know, the home automation and all that other stuff. So yeah, if you see something that's really good, then yeah, you can get these connections from anywhere. They don't have to like, I wouldn't, that's not something I would necessarily Googled, but seeing that in action, it's like, I want that in my house. Yeah. Like who did it? Well, we did it fine. When I, we're not buying your house before we move. Yeah. You can come and do mine.

We don't perhaps need to label this any more than we have, but I think the nub for me is that there are a load of people that are sitting on value that they've never thought about that they could use to create and facilitate a lifestyle, which as we keep saying is, is the point, point of the business. It is. And I think, you know, it's, you, it takes some thought. It's not an easy thing. I don't think it's necessarily a quick thing because you can't be actually, I do know a load of people. Whatever it is, whatever you've got is usually every client you will ever need is already on someone else's list. Okay. Ergo, every client someone else needs could well be on your list somehow. And this isn't about, let's be really clear. This isn't about kind of spamming the list. This isn't quite like that. This isn't, but there are loads and loads of really nice, smart, intelligent, human focused ways that you can use your data or whatever it is, your experience to go and put people together, take the commission, do the thing, sell the thing, you know, you kind of set up, you set up your own company. You know, I mean, I walked past someone the other day that was architects, builders and landscapers, which makes complete sense. Now, obviously there are different things in, you know, we can talk kind of the point of specialisms and not, and jacks of all trades and not, but actually, you know, there's money left on the table here when actually the hard, expensive work, which is getting the client in the first place, that's done. And you look at industries like estate agents again, you know, most estate agents you speak to would go, well, once I'm sold, that's it. They're dead to me now because no one buys two houses. Well, that's just daft. You know, you know, they do this. It's like, you know, like shoes. Why don't really smart shoes sellers, which I love a pair of smart shoes. It's got a beautiful pair of like brogues over Christmas. It's just like awesome. Like a broke boot.

You're such an old man. I am such an old man.

Anyway, why doesn't that person try and sell me a really nice jacket? I just don't get that because all the hard work, all the expensive work is done. And it'd be so easy for them to say, hey, Paul, do you know what goes awesome with that? This. I know you like this kind of thing because you've bought that. And let's be honest, you know, this is not like a pair of, you know, black slip-ons that could go with anything. There's very few things that you can wear these kind of brogues with. Like nothing. Yeah. I could, but I'd just be a whole tangled mess of hair.

That's not a thought. That's not a thought that anybody needs.

Look, all of you guys sat up the listing. You will all have something, whether it is kind of physical in terms of, you know, like a list like the estate agent people or the fact that you've worked really hard to build your own profile over the last year. It is useful to someone. This is not about saying you then have to monetize it, but there will almost certainly be opportunities that you can use that, whatever it is, to benefit yourself and benefit those around you. And as we all know, that's the way the world should work. And that's where the money really is.

Well, I think that's a very good way of saying it, Paul. It's probably a good place to finish. What do you think?

I think that's reasonable, mate. I think it's just value, isn't it? And again, you know, I know we kind of go and we rant about this stuff, but there's just value. There's just value in all the stuff we do. We shouldn't necessarily give it away. I guess that's the point. Yeah, exactly. Fantastic. Brilliant. Thank you. Right. Take care.

I'll see you soon. Goodbye, everybody.

We're in the same room. Oh, them. Okay. Yeah. Bye, everybody. Bye-bye.

We'll be back next week for another edition of the Throb podcast.

If you want to find out more, you can find me at paulchapmanuk.com.

And you can find me, Bertie, at bertiecord.co.uk. Thanks again. See you next week. Bye.

Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye.