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The Lifestyle Business Owner’s Guide to Making a Fortune with John Lamerton -

John Lamerton on Show #57: Prioritising the Immovable Objects

Episode 235: Big Ideas with John Lamerton

#307 John Lamerton - Evergreen Assets - The Next 100 Days Podcast

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John is the author of three bestselling business books:

📕 Big Ideas… for Small Businesses - John's blueprint for running a successful ambitious, lifestyle business.

📘 Routine Machine - How to turn consistency into your superpower

📗 Evergreen Assets - How to do the work once, and reap the rewards again and again (and again!)

He also runs two lifestyle businesses, hosts the "Ambitious Lifestyle Business podcast", and coaches small business owners in the UK to design their own ambitious, lifestyle business.

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John Lamerton

With declining reach leading to an ever-decreasing ROI from social media, it’s no surprise to see many small business users turning to AI. 49% of companies presently use ChatGPT to assist with their social media efforts, while 30% intend to use it in the future. AI-leveraged social media usage includes post writing, image creation, and even comment generation and auto-liking of posts. There’s just one small problem with that, though. If computers are creating the content, posting the content, and engaging with the content, what incentive is there for us mere humans to engage with these social networks? We’re always going to be less productive than AI, and machine learning will only accelerate this, as AI-generated content designed individually for each social media platform achieves ever-higher engagement (mostly from AI-generated engagement tools), we’ll be entering the age of the AI-echo chamber. If I was to create a new social media platform, I would ban all AI tools. I’d make it a human-only zone. A social network in the true sense. I’d remove the ability to copy and paste any content. I’d value relationships over reach. Interaction over engagement. Less Artificial Intelligence, and more genuine social connections. I’m not a total luddite or technophobe, however. With its ability to analyse vast amounts of data and understand patterns, AI can help us cut through the clutter and focus on what's truly important. It can help us identify the people we should be connecting with, the conversations we should have, and the content that truly resonates with our audience. AI can help us reclaim the essence of social networking - building genuine, meaningful relationships. However, it's not just about using AI to optimise our social media strategies. The real power of AI lies in its ability to remind us of the core principles of effective networking - understanding your audience, engaging in meaningful conversations, and building trust. As AI reshapes the landscape of social media, we'll see a shift from vanity metrics to sanity metrics - from measuring success in likes and shares to measuring it in real relationships and genuine interactions. Technology is just a tool. It's up to us to use it wisely. We must resist the temptation to let AI take over completely. After all, no amount of sophisticated technology can replace the human touch in building relationships and creating a sense of community. As AI begins to play a bigger role in how we interact online, we have a unique opportunity to redefine what social media means to us. We should embrace this change, not with fear or apprehension, but with open arms and a clear vision of the more authentic, connected world it can help us create. &nbsp;<blockquote>John Lamerton is a self-confessed "lazy" entrepreneur, investor, and author of four bestselling personal development books for small business owners in the UK, including Big Ideas… for Small Businesses. https://www.bigidea.co.uk/books</blockquote>

Will AI kill social media as we know it?

If you're planning to dine at a chain restaurant this weekend, brace yourself for an unexpected twist at the end of your meal: one that might just leave a sour taste in your mouth. Tipping has long been a contentious subject in the UK. While some stubbornly share the views of Mr. Pink from Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs (“I don't tip because society says I have to. All right, if someone deserves a tip, if they really put forth an effort, I'll give them something a little something extra. But this tipping automatically, it's for the birds”), those who've worked tirelessly in the hospitality industry understand the profound significance of gratuities - it can mean the difference between paying the rent or not. Traditionally, the unwritten rule has been that tipping is discretionary but encouraged when two conditions are met: when you're financially able to do so and when you've received good service. It was a straightforward, almost sacred agreement, where customers had the freedom to reward excellent service with a well-deserved tip. However, in recent times, a concerning trend has quietly swept through the dining landscape of the UK – the automatic inclusion of a service charge on every bill, regardless of service quality. In the past, these automatic charges were reserved for sizable group reservations of over eight people.&nbsp; Yet, in an attempt to bolster profit margins after years of enduring challenging business conditions, numerous chain restaurants have discreetly begun imposing an additional charge of 10% (or sometimes even more) on every single bill, effectively removing the choice of diners to decide how much, or even whether, to tip. I first encountered this a few weeks ago at an Italian restaurant chain. After enduring a nearly nonexistent service experience that seemed more like a disservice, our table of two finally received the bill. Our server recited the latest corporate script, “The bill includes an optional 10% service charge. It's entirely at your discretion, and I can remove it if you prefer.” Stunned by the notion that the decision to tip, and the amount, had been preemptively made for us, we politely requested the removal of this automatic service charge. The server's confusion when we asked for its removal was unmistakable, and it was only after several minutes of consulting with the manager that the charge was indeed removed.&nbsp; This was not an isolated incident. I've encountered this practice several times in recent weeks, including an absurd £1.90 automatic (yet “optional”) service charge at a hotel bar. A simple act of ordering two bottles of beer resulted in a charge of £1.90, in no way correlated to the barman's effort in opening the bottles. A £1.90 bonus for ten seconds of work, I couldn't help but think, "I’m in the wrong job!" It's become evident that this practice is now becoming common amongst chain restaurants, and I fear it may be motivated more by increasing per-customer revenue than by encouraging diners to reward good service with gratuities.This trend raises several significant concerns: Impact on Service Quality: When "tips are included," there's a minimal incentive for servers to provide excellent service, as demonstrated by the lacklustre experience I encountered despite an “optional” (yet automatic) 10% tip. Affordability: Not everyone can afford an extra 10%. For many, eating out is a luxury they must save and budget for.&nbsp; Removal Process: The sole method to remove “optional” (yet automatic) tips, whether they're unaffordable or undeserved, involves an awkward face-to-face conversation with your server, a situation most people seek to avoid. Consequently, diners are more inclined to pay up in the short term, yet choose never to return to the restaurant, reduce their frequency of visits, or significantly curtail their spending. Who Gets The Tip?: The question arises, who receives the tip when it’s automatically added to the bill? Does 100% of the tip go to the person who served me, or are these service charges being used to pay salaries, rather than serving their intended purpose as a gratuity to reward good service? While these chain restaurants may enjoy short-term revenue boosts through this practice, they are jeopardising their long-term prospects. Success in the restaurant business hinges on building long-lasting relationships with customers, not just boosting the revenue-per-diner numbers. In their pursuit of immediate profits, these chain restaurants risk souring their relationships with loyal patrons. This concerning trend is not only about the bills at the end of our meals; it's about the broader principle of choice and fairness in the dining experience. It's time for diners to be aware, for businesses to reconsider their practices, and for the industry to engage in a conversation about what constitutes fair and just tipping policies. &nbsp;<blockquote>John Lamerton is a self-confessed "lazy" entrepreneur, investor, and author of four bestselling personal development <a href="https://www.bigidea.co.uk/books">books for small business owners</a> in the UK, including Big Ideas… for Small Businesses.&nbsp;</blockquote>

The Dining Dilemma: Are Chain Restaurants Cheating You With This Sneaky Fee?

Small business owners are being squeezed left, right and centre at the moment.&nbsp; Costs are rising, customers are more price-conscious than ever, and in the unlikely event you make any money, you'll pay more tax than ever on it. So what can you do if your small business has too much month at the end of the money? John Lamerton, author of Big Ideas... for Small Businesses lays out 17 ways you can arrest the slide.&nbsp; 1. Put your prices up. (You should be doing this EVERY year by the way, not just when inflation is raging!) 2. Have a flash sale. 24 hours to clear the decks, give you some momentum, and get customers accustomed to buying again. 3. Offer to pay your suppliers and creditors early, in exchange for a discount. 4. Ask suppliers and creditors for longer payment terms. 5. Focus on selling the products and services that are higher margin, and bring cash in now. 6. Hold less physical stock - especially stock which takes a while to shift. 7. Create a "virtual" product that costs you zero to fulfil (once produced), and is pure margin. 8. Sell the hell out of #7. 9. Take payment upfront from customers. 10. Speak to your accountant, and plan your cash flow. 11. Shave off any unnecessary expenses. 12. Chase all debts as soon as they become due, and enforce interest charges (you can charge Bank of England base rate plus 8%!) on late payment. 13. Sack persistent late payers. 14. Impose a "pain-in-the-arse tax" on low-quality customers that you don't really want to deal with, and who don't contribute much to the bottom line. 15. Borrow money to see you through a temporary lull - but only if the interest payments aren't going to add to the problem (see #17). 16. Know your "burn rate" at all times. This is the number of days, weeks, months or years that you could stay in business without any further revenue coming in. But the most important one... 17. Check that you HAVE actually got a "cash flow" problem, and not just a "bad business model" problem. &nbsp;<blockquote>John Lamerton has been involved in more than 60 small businesses over the past two decades. He's the author of three bestselling business books - Big Ideas.. for Small Businesses, Routine Machine, and Evergreen Assets. All three books are available in paperback, audiobook and Kindle formats at Amazon, Audible and most online bookstores. They have more than 1,000 5-star reviews. https://bigidea.co.uk/books/</blockquote>

17 ways small business owners can improve their cashflow TODAY

There’s one thing every small business owner could do to make their business more successful. Put their prices up? Do more marketing?&nbsp; Introduce a new product line? Embrace social media? Hire more staff? Sure, those can all help. But the real secret to success is… Get more sleep. 12th to 18th March is Sleep Awareness Week. What difference is an extra bit of shut-eye going to make? Quite a lot, actually. I used to think of sleep as an inconvenience, one that robbed me of precious hours when I could be building my empire or enjoying life. After all, sleep is just dead time, isn’t it? Neuroscientists such as Dr Matthew Walker explain how sleep affects absolutely everything we do as humans – how we look, how we think, how we feel, how we act, how long we live, how easily our bodies repair, how we age, how we make decisions, how successful we are, and how happy we are. What business owner doesn’t want to have more energy, and make better decisions? When we skimp on sleep, our prefrontal cortex (the decision-making part of our brain) doesn’t work as well. People who are sleep-deprived make worse decisions.&nbsp; They’re more likely to take the easy path (hitting the snooze button, grabbing a doughnut, cutting corners) and don’t even know they’re doing it. Sleep-impaired people don’t realise how it affects their performance. Getting a “solid” six hours of sleep a night for ten days in a row has been shown to cause the same decrease in performance, response time and decision-making ability as one night with zero sleep: a 400% decrease. And that’s getting six hours a night, every night – something I did for years! People who sleep less tend to wake up hungrier the following day and tend to choose less healthy options. They crave carbs and sugar. The willpower that was there the previous day has all but vanished. Not getting enough sleep has also been shown to contribute to higher rates of mortality, and increased risk of cancer, diabetes, dementia, heart disease, and inflammation.&nbsp; Sleep deprivation is for interrogating terrorists, not for people who want to grow their businesses and be around to enjoy the fruits of their labour. By now, you’re probably thinking, “fine, I’ll sleep more once the business is doing better”. The paradox is, perhaps the business would be doing better if only you slept more.&nbsp; If you were going to run a marathon, you’d understand the importance of a proper training routine, making sure that your nutrition and training plan were on point for weeks and months in advance. You’d do practice runs of varying distances, all leading up to the main event.&nbsp; You’d stretch. You’d take on plenty of fluids. You’d make sure your running shoes didn’t have holes in them.&nbsp; And you’d probably get a good night’s sleep the night before. You wouldn’t just rock up having done zero preparation after a late night partying, put one foot in front of the other and hope for the best, would you?&nbsp; And yet, that’s exactly what many of us do when running our own businesses.&nbsp; We burn the candle at both ends and hope for the best. Sleep is an inconvenience, one that robs us of time we could spend building our dreams instead of just dreaming.&nbsp; We don’t stop and think how much more effective we’d be after a full night’s sleep, how every decision we make could be better, how we would have more energy to get more done, how every skill we possess could be improved and sharpened or how sleep is the magic bullet we’ve been looking for. &nbsp;<blockquote>John Lamerton has been called the UK's answer to James Clear and the "King of Routine". His book Routine Machine is available in paperback, audiobook and Kindle formats at Amazon, Audible and most online bookstores. It has more than 500 5-star reviews. https://bigidea.co.uk/books/</blockquote>

Why small business owners should sleep their way to the top

If you’re considering quitting the smokes this year, John Lamerton, author of personal development book Routine Machine, and former 20-a-day smoker explains how you can use the power of daily habits and routines to rewire your brain, and make it far easier in the short term (as well as more likely to stick in the long run). From 1994 to 2006, I was a smoker. The record books (if there were such a thing for smoking) would show that I had my first cigarette on something like July 20th 1994 and my final toke came on April 12th 2006. Does that mean that I went to bed on July 19th 1994 a non-smoker and woke up the following morning as a smoker? No, of course not. If you’d asked me on the fateful day that I took my very first drag whether I was now a smoker, I’d have laughed at you. Of course, I wasn’t a smoker.&nbsp; I’d just had one little cigarette. Even two weeks later, I wouldn’t have classed myself as a smoker. Sure, I’d had a couple every Friday and Saturday night, but I was still a non-smoker. That was who I was. And then there’s a blurry line somewhere between that “just a couple at the weekend” to 20 a day. From non-smoker to smoker. The change didn’t happen overnight, it happened over time as I changed. It was the same when I quit.&nbsp; I still classed myself as a smoker for several months afterwards, despite not partaking in a single puff. I was a smoker who hadn’t had a cigarette for a few months. Then, one day, the story changed in my head. “I’m a smoker who’s trying to quit” became “I’m an ex-smoker” and then eventually “I don’t smoke”. I changed.&nbsp; My routines changed months before, but it took an age for my thinking and realisation about who I was caught up. The story you tell yourself and who you believe you are is half the battle. I also quit drinking in 2013 and found giving up booze far easier than quitting smoking. I believe that’s because of the story I told myself about who I was. When I gave up smoking, I thought of myself as “a smoker who was trying to quit” for several months. Yet when I gave up drinking, I “didn’t want to drink” from day one. A person who doesn’t want to drink finds it easy to say no to a drink. A smoker trying to quit is still a smoker and has to use willpower to say no. I don’t have to use willpower to say no to cigarettes now, because who I am has changed. I’m a non-smoker now. People who don’t smoke don’t want cigarettes. People who don’t drink don’t want to get drunk. I haven’t eaten at McDonald’s for ten years or more, and my kids have never eaten there. I used to enjoy a quarter-pounder with cheese at least once a week. But now, I can’t think of anything less appetising. What changed? I did. I don’t eat at McDonald’s. That’s just who I am now. McDonald’s didn’t change. I did. What you repeatedly do (or don’t do) makes you who you are.&nbsp; When you change who you are, it makes creating and sticking to routines congruent with your goals effortless.&nbsp; If your goal is to become healthy, ask yourself “is this the routine of a healthy person?” If you want to be more productive, ask “is this what a productive person would be doing right now?” If you want to be a better leader, ask “what would a great leader do in this situation?” Every time you ask what the person you want to become would do and then model that behaviour, you inch one small step closer to becoming that person.&nbsp; Aristotle says we are what we repeatedly do. So repeatedly do what the person you wish you were would do.<blockquote>John Lamerton has been called the UK's answer to James Clear and the "King of Routine". His book Routine Machine is available in paperback, audiobook and Kindle formats at Amazon, Audible and most online bookstores. It has more than 500 5-star reviews.https://bigidea.co.uk/books/</blockquote>

How to become a non-smoker TODAY. (National No Smoking Day on March 8th)

My kids love World Book Day. They usually drop the bombshell on me the night before: “I need a costume for World Book Day tomorrow!” Every year, we cobble something together - a makeshift Harry Potter-style cloak, a blue dress and pigtails (Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz), or a little red (riding) hoody and a picnic basket. But why do kids get to have all the fun? Why can’t grownups celebrate World Book Day too? This year, I’m donning a pair of round glasses, stonewashed jeans, white trainers, and a black polo neck. Yep, that’s right - I’m going to work dressed as Steve Jobs. According to biographer Walter Isaacson, Apple founder Jobs “could have been one of the world’s worst managers”. Isaacson explained that Jobs was “very petulant… very brittle. He could be very, very mean to people at times. Whether it was to a waitress in a restaurant or to a guy who had stayed up all night coding. He was a pretty abrasive… cantankerous character.” There aren’t many ways I’m comparable to Steve Jobs, but “one of the world’s worst managers” is unfortunately one of them! It’s something I’m working on though, mostly by embracing my own personal development - by falling in love with reading once again. The most successful people in virtually any field you care to mention are constantly learning. They have that thirst for knowledge - that desire to always be learning and to always be a better version of themselves today than they were yesterday. Not a day goes by when I don't learn something. I've always got a podcast in my ear, a book in my hand and a training course in the diary. I may have left school decades earlier, but even at the ripe old age of 45, every day's a school day. As an adult, you can choose whether to bunk off. There will be no truant officer coming to speak to your parents or drag you back to the classroom.&nbsp; But to paraphrase that old teacher classic, it's your own life you're wasting…&nbsp; Here are my top 3 personal development books for World Book Day: 1. Rich Dad, Poor Dad - Robert Kiyosaki. Kiyosaki’s dad was poor, while his best friend’s dad was rich. The two father figures are compared and contrasted throughout, with the life lessons made all the more obvious by having the two polar opposite characters.&nbsp; Rich Dad, Poor Dad educates the reader on their financial mindset, without the book being either fluffy, woolly woo-woo nonsense, or scientific mumbo-jumbo. 2. Routine Machine - John Lamerton. John Lamerton has been called the King of Routine, a routine machine, and even a “routine freak”. It’s fair to say he’s a big believer in the power of daily habits and routines.&nbsp; What you do routinely - every day - is what will either deliver the life of your dreams or the stuff of nightmares. Consistency is a superpower. Routine Machine will give you a simple, everyday plan to achieve your goals, that requires neither superhuman effort nor natural-born talent. And no, they don’t involve a 5 am alarm call, or downing green smoothies, either! 3. Anything is Possible - Gareth Southgate. How did Gareth Southgate turn a bunch of highly talented, self-centred, overpaid primadonnas into a proper team unit? How did he unite the country behind them? How has he redeemed his own demons – from that penalty miss to being sacked by Middlesbrough, and being labelled as a failure? More importantly, how can you apply the same techniques in your life? As Gareth will show you – anything is possible. &nbsp;<blockquote>John Lamerton is the author of bestselling business books, including Big Ideas... for Small Businesses and Evergreen Assets. https://bigidea.co.uk/books</blockquote>

Why I’m dressing up as Steve Jobs for World Book Day

Apparently, the average conversion rate for a small business website in the UK is 1.8%.&nbsp; That means that 98.2% of people who visit your website won’t buy anything. Why not? Because they’re busy, lazy, drunk, amnesiac idiots. Or at least that’s how you should treat them. That’s right, I’m advocating treating your customers not just as idiots, but as busy, lazy, drunk, amnesiac ones. Because that’s exactly how they use your website. They’re busy, so they don’t have time to read every word of the Shakespeare-esque copy you’ve written. Just give ‘em the headlines, and let them skim the rest. They’re lazy, so they skip anything boring, and won’t wait for longer than half a millisecond for your site to load. They’re metaphorically drunk (some even literally - it’s always 5 'o'clock somewhere!), so they’re overconfident, argumentative, and think they’re more attractive than they are. They’re amnesiacs, so the chances of them remembering their username and password (including uppercase, lowercase, and “special” characters) from the last time they bought from you three years ago are even smaller than the chances of me remembering what I came into the room for. And finally, they’re idiots. They won’t listen to reason. They don’t understand basic instructions. I once doubled the conversion rate of a website by changing the words “buy now” to “click here to buy now”. That’s right - 50% of people won’t click a ‘buy now’ button unless you literally tell them to. Idiots! It’s not really their fault, though. You see, 98.2% of websites aren’t designed for busy, lazy, drunk, amnesiac idiots. They’re designed for time-abundant, conscientious, highly-educated compliant people with a perfect memory. Consider your own website. How many clicks does it take for me to buy something? How much do I need to scroll, or how hard do I need to hunt for the information looking for? Where have you hidden the buy now button? How many hurdles have you put in my way before I can buy something from you? Can I pay with one click, or do you need my mother’s maiden name, last three addresses and inside leg measurement? Does it even work on a mobile phone? Here are seven of the most common website conversion killers: 1. Poor navigation. Where am I? Where’s the product? How do I get back to that page I saw earlier? 2. Unclear next steps. How do I buy this? How do I book an appointment? Where do I call?&nbsp; 3. Too many options. We sell this and that. Oh, and these. And we also do x, y and z. Click here. No, click here. No, don’t click there, click here! 4. Not enough words. 8 words is not enough for a product description. 5. Too many words. 800 words are probably too many - especially when you’ve put them in one single block of text. 6. Not mobile optimised. More than half of all web traffic now happens on a mobile or tablet device - and rising each year. Time and again, I see “mobile-friendly” sites that are anything but - they’re hard to navigate, hard to use, and almost impossible to buy from. 7. Making things too hard. If something requires a large investment of time - or looks like it will - it’s less likely to be used. Let’s keep it simple, shall we? Simple enough for any busy, lazy, drunk, amnesiac idiot to use. Because we’re all busy, lazy, drunk, amnesiac idiots when we go online - or at least 98.2% of us are! &nbsp;<blockquote>John Lamerton is the author of bestselling business books, including Big Ideas... for Small Businesses and Evergreen Assets.https://bigidea.co.uk/books</blockquote>

My customers are busy, lazy, drunk, amnesiac idiots - and so are yours.

John is the author of three bestselling business books: 📕 Big Ideas… for Small Businesses - John's blueprint for running a successful ambitious, lifestyle business. 📘 Routine Machine - How to turn consistency into your superpower 📗 Evergreen Assets - How to do the work once, and reap the rewards again and again (and again!) He also runs two lifestyle businesses, hosts the "Ambitious Lifestyle Business podcast", and coaches small business owners in the UK to design their own ambitious,…

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Big Ideas... for Small Businesses

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