The Billionaire Case for Small Bets
5/11/202651 min
I help founders & executives generating more than $10M in revenue find their Easy Mode. Start here: https://ryanhanley.com/subscribe
Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtube.com/ryanmhanley
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You’ve been lied to.
Open up any business podcast and you’ll hear the same tired advice: Burn the boats. Swing for the fences. Bet it all on a moonshot.
According to Sir Richard Harpin, that’s a fantastic way to bankrupt your company.
In 1993, Richard took £50,000 and started a home emergency repair business called HomeServe. Thirty years later, he sold it to Brookfield Asset Management for £4.1 billion. He didn’t do it by being a cowboy. He did it through ruthless discipline, small bets, and a willingness to admit when he was the bottleneck in his own company.
In this episode, Richard breaks down his exact 9-step playbook: why you should copy your competitors, how to buy a "boring" business with vendor finance, the 15% rule for global expansion, and why hiring your replacement is the ultimate Easy Mode.
If you want to build a massive business without the ego, this episode is your blueprint.
This is the way.
— Ryan Hanley
Connect with Sir Richard Book
- Book — How to Make a Billion in 9 Steps: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Make-Billion-Nine-Steps-High-Performing/dp/034944644X
- Website: https://www.richardharpin.com/
- Business Leader: https://businessleader.co.uk/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rharpin/
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsSpeaker 10:00
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Richard Harpin· Guest0:28
I think that's the wrong discipline. My magic model was hiring people that were better than me. Entrepreneurship is a high-risk activity.
Ryan Hanley· Host0:38
I have always struggled with goal setting.
Richard Harpin· Guest0:41
Don't set any goals. Don't try and become too big. Keep it small, prove it out, and then go big. Copy what others are doing 'cause it's working.
Ryan Hanley· Host0:50
We need to be very protective of our mental energy, attention, focus.
Richard Harpin· Guest0:57
They can either spend more quality time with their kids or they can put in five or six hours of extra work a week and earn more money.
Ryan Hanley· Host1:04
[upbeat music] Sir Richard Harpin, you, um, y- I, I have so many things that I wanna talk to you about. I'm so excited for this conversation, and I just, uh, I appreciate you making the time, my friend.
Richard Harpin· Guest1:23
And do, uh, do just call me Richard, Ryan. I did think that my knighthood would, uh, help me get a, uh, a