From Side Hustle To Sussex-Wide Savings App

What if the smartest growth strategy is giving everything away for free? We sit down with Nathan, a 29‑year‑old founder who built Kaiko, a hospitality marketing suite, and Closer, a Sussex‑wide savings app that costs nothing for consumers or businesses. He takes us from late‑night coding in a bedroom to real traction across pubs, cafés, soft play centres, and family‑friendly spots—where a map of local offers turns a day out into real savings and support for independents.

Nathan doesn’t sugar‑coat the journey. He left a steady London salary, moved home, and survived on 16‑ to 18‑hour days of selling, setup, and shipping. We unpack the toughest bits most founders hide: failed direct debits, paying staff late, staring down bills, and pushing through doubt. Then we explore why Kaiko ditched lock‑in contracts and setup fees, how Closer earns trust with authentic content and charity work, and why a free model can still power a business ecosystem. The result? Word‑of‑mouth growth, BBC Sussex features, and recognition as one of the UK’s top tech startups—without big ad budgets or influencers.

This is a practical blueprint for building in hard times. We get candid on resilience, mental health, and finding headspace through sport. We talk authenticity in marketing, the value of raw social video over polished gloss, and the compounding power of kindness and relationships. Most of all, we focus on outcomes that matter: families saving on meals, venues seeing higher footfall, and a local economy strengthened by everyday choices.

If you’re in Sussex, grab Closer on Apple or Google and start saving. If you run an independent, list your business via the app’s More tab and go live within 48 hours. Like what we’re building here? Follow the show, share this with a friend who loves local, and leave a quick review to help more people find these unfiltered business stories.

Transcript

Setting The Scene And Guest Intro

SPEAKER_04 0:02

Hi, I'm Ash. Hello, I'm Chris. And welcome to the Untold Podcast.

SPEAKER_02 0:08

Welcome back to another episode of the Untold Podcast. Um, today we have Nathan back in. Now I thought Leslie that we could use this episode to tie into what we're thinking of for season four.

SPEAKER_04 0:24

Yep, definitely.

SPEAKER_02 0:25

So without further ado, my name's Ash. I'm Leslie. That's Leslie. And welcome Nathan. Thank you for having me both. Nathan's thinking, why's his name Leslie?

SPEAKER_04 0:33

It's not like that's what he got introduced to him a minute ago.

SPEAKER_00 0:36

No, it's making it hard on early morning this one.

SPEAKER_02 0:38

Yeah, I'll just get bored of using my name all the time. You forgot it wasn't Saturday. Yeah. Forgot it wasn't Saturday. You weren't selling hair products on TikTok.

SPEAKER_04 0:47

Oh, you've found my second account, have you?

What Closer Is And Why It’s Free

SPEAKER_02 0:49

Yeah, I have. Started. I have. Les get ready with Leslie. Um so NAF, I want to talk to you today about what you've been through the last couple of years. Obviously, you built closer, which is getting some really good reviews and talk about in the town, if you like. You built that in your bedroom whilst trying to run another business which again wasn't going as successful as it is now. Correct? All right to say that.

SPEAKER_00 1:18

That's correct, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:19

So you built an app from never building an app in your bedroom whilst doing a full-time job.

SPEAKER_00 1:25

That's correct, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:26

Not even a full-time job running your own company.

SPEAKER_00 1:28

Yeah, as crazy as it sounds, that is right. How was that? Uh tiresome, long days, you know, 16 to 18 hour days, wake up, work, go to bed, work, it's just constantly work. There's no cycle of friends, family, you just push everyone aside to focus on what matters most at that point in time to sort of build that business in hopes that you can then take more time off and and spend more time with your family. So by dedicating lots of hours to your job initially, you can then take weeks off work and days off work and spend it with those that matter the most.

SPEAKER_04 2:00

How's that going for you now, though? Yeah. Have you got all that free time now, though? Nearly. Oh, you have, have yeah? Nearly. Oh blind. Most people you speak today saying, well, yeah, no, but actually, I've got another finger in another pioneer, and I'm doing this and doing that. So at least you at least you've got to. He's just told me you might be opening something else up. Actually, I I mean, I know what obviously closer is because I've obviously done a bit of research, but some people that are listening probably have no idea what it is. So, do you want to just give us a very quick overview on that one before we first develop it?

SPEAKER_02 2:25

How old are you, Nate? 29. 29, not even 30 yet, and he's got two successful companies.

SPEAKER_00 2:31

Yeah, exactly that. I mean, but that's just to the hard work. I mean, like I say to everyone, right now, self-development and learning is the most important skill that I'd recommend to anyone, and we're in such a lucky day when it comes to technology. You can learn anything, you know, YouTube, TikTok, there's tutorials everywhere. And that's what I can't you know say enough about. Is if you want to go and learn something, just get online, learn it, develop it, and you can actually begin selling it or doing more so on that. But Close is a really unique app, uh, Sussex-based. It's all about helping independent businesses only. So it's pulling away from the big chains that are trying to monopolize our towns and give back to those families that need it most. So it's a discount savings app that's free for everyone, free for the businesses to join, free for the consumers to download, and you get savings everywhere. Uh, it was only yesterday that I was on the site, and you get 30% off a bar on a Friday and a Saturday night. Nice, and that is mental. So your drinks are going from like five quid, six quid a pint to like three pounds, four pounds a pint, and it's just like that and it's free. So why would you not get it? Yeah, I might have to start drinking again, I think. That sounds quite exciting. Yeah, but it's yours too.

SPEAKER_02 3:34

It's not just that though. There's this coffee shops. Um we were looking this morning, like kids eat free in the Hassock's pub. Yeah, um, which is great. Like, if I'm going out with my kids, they're like, Oh, can I have this? It's another 24, 24, 25 quid for them to not eat half a plate.

SPEAKER_04 3:51

You know what I mean? Makes it easier for families to go out for dinner as well, doesn't it? That's the problem. Everyone's skin at a minute and saying they can't afford to go out, but actually, something like that could potentially transform a family's life by going, should we go out for dinner?

SPEAKER_00 4:03

Exactly that, exactly. There's loads of cool things. We've got a soft play, we've got loads of loads on it as well. You know, we we cover all different industries, and it's about trying to support those independent businesses. But when you go out and about, where should we go today? Let's look on the closer apps. If you download it in Worthing and you're in Brighton for a day out, cool. Go to a restaurant, support a local family business, find a new key space or a favourite venue. Then if you go to Little Hampton, there's another one, or Burgess Hill, wherever you want to go, they're on there.

SPEAKER_04 4:29

Love that. It's cool, isn't it? I will be downloading that when I finish. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 4:33

Oh, it is really good. It is really good. And obviously, I've known you since you were building this in your bedroom. Yes. And it's completely pivoted in, hasn't it really, from what you originally said it? It's not pivoted, the vision's the same, but the way well, you're not monetizing it, are you?

SPEAKER_00 4:48

Exactly that. Yeah, we literally launched it at a cost. So there was a cost to the subscriber of I think uh£1.99 a month. And we basically thought, we don't need to gatekeep these offers, we'll just give it away free to everyone. You know, there's so many tech platforms out there and apps like you know, Taste Card, Neo Taste charging£8 a month,£7 a month, but that's because they've got loads of staff and they've got loads of marketing. We have me and my dad, there are no wages to pay out, we don't have any overheads because we built the app and uh we can afford to give it for free. You know, we take a loss on the very small hosting fees, but we'd rather try and make people's days happier. And we recently launched things like free giveaways. So we asked the businesses do you want to give something away free to a closer user? We spin a wheel, we give away a free prize. So recently we've done like um things with soft play, one month membership. We've currently got one up for ballpark in Brighton, the tech football place. Uh, they're doing a 50-pound uh bar tab and uh free free karaoke session room, and then we've got ones, things like escape rooms giving away free vouchers, and it's just trying to make people's day a little bit better. When I send a DM to someone on our followers going, Congratulations, you've just won a one-month membership at soft play. They're like, I didn't enter anything. I'm like, there's no need to enter anything, we're just giving it away and like, oh my god, you made my day, that's amazing. And that's what we want to do, make people's lives happier in times that are tough.

SPEAKER_04 6:03

Very rare, that's very rare, mate. So I applaud you for that because there's always an all-terior motive behind most things nowadays. And yes, if you're doing all that for free, then that's fantastic.

SPEAKER_00 6:12

Yeah, exactly. Like, we don't make any money at all, everything's free. Uh, we also work with a number of charities inside the app, like Rockin' All Children's Charities. So, all the videos we do, all the content, we're not paid by the businesses to go in and shoot the content, we do everything off our own back, off our own cost, off our own skin, all our time. We're just trying to make people's lives a little bit better.

SPEAKER_02 6:33

Do they give you the free beautiful dinners that you're eating in the videos?

SPEAKER_00 6:36

Some do, some don't. Some do, some don't, believe it or not.

unknown 6:40

But yeah.

SPEAKER_02 6:40

Um, I want to go back to when you were sort of running Kaiko, Kaiko was your full-time job, and you decided to come up with the idea of closer. What did a typical day look like?

SPEAKER_00 6:52

For Kaiko.

SPEAKER_02 6:53

For you, for me, for you, for you, Nathan. What did a typical day look like?

SPEAKER_00 6:58

Well, initially, when we f well first started Kaiko, it was the case of you know, just left a full-time job in London, which was uh quite a well-paid job, and then obviously I had to go back home to my parents because they didn't have the salary coming in, I had nothing come in. I thought, oh my god, what have I done?

SPEAKER_04 7:12

It's a bit of a shock to the system, isn't it?

Building Kaiko From Zero And First Wins

SPEAKER_00 7:14

Massive leap of faith, you know. Suddenly you got£10 your bank account every month thinking, how am I going to make this last? But uh pot noodles pulled me along nicely. Um, but yeah, it was very tough initially because we we didn't really have a product, we had a prototype, and we put it into one of the first venues, which was the horse in in Hearst Pier Point. And Kaiko consisted of a marketing technology suite, which was table tags, um uh email marketing platform, digital loyalty cards, Wi-Fi data capture, and so on. We had no idea if it would work, it was an absolute wing. But luckily, the the fantastic owners, um, Tim and Laney, who are the most loveliest people. They said, look, put it in our pub, we'll give it a go. Let's see what happens after three months. And if you've got something there, then obviously we'll keep it and we'll pay for it. And uh, thankfully, everything we thought, it all came off. Uh, they started gathering data, they started driving more sales with the digital lawyer cards, and they started getting email marketing out about their quiz nights, new menu changes, Christmas bookings, all that sort of stuff. And then we're like, hold on, we've got a little product here that we can now proposition to other pubs and other bars and other venues. And um, since then it's snowballed into all sorts, you know, booking platforms, all at the table. It just goes on and on and on. We work with some fantastic businesses across Sussex. Uh big, big groups now, like Ritzie Pub Group, Sussex Inns, Golden Lion Group as of recently. Yeah, things have really come off, which is great.

SPEAKER_02 8:32

It's gone really well for you, hasn't it? Especially the last six months.

SPEAKER_00 8:35

The last six months has been mental. I mean, we've done what we've done in two and a half years, we've now doubled that in the last six months. So for some reason, the right people are now seeing it, they're taking it on board and they're listening. And businesses, I think, are trying to invest in times that are tough because you know those that do invest in financially tough times tend to come out better off. So I think they're actually adapting and taking it on board.

SPEAKER_02 8:58

So, what did a typical day look like for you? Getting up at 5am, cold plunge, going to the gym, eating this, having two espresso. What was your typical day like when you were doing what you were doing?

SPEAKER_00 9:09

Well, typically, believe it or not, I'd wake up quite late because I'd work very late. So I'd work until 3 a.m. in the morning, you know, when most people would get up about five. So I'd normally work until 3 a.m. in the morning and then I'd normally get up about nine, then I'd be out of the house by 10. Uh, also, most of the businesses that we'd work with don't open till 12. So in my lifestyle, I sort of adapted around that because most of them are like pubs and bars and restaurants and so on. But it'd be the case of getting up, walking, walking the streets as such, cold calling, knocking on doors, trying to meet the managers, getting rejected all the time, saying we don't need it, we don't need it. Then when you actually do speak to them, they go, we do need it. So it's those um the initial staff that didn't understand the the business sense to then help grow the grow and develop the business. But it was all yeah, very, very long days, 10 till 10 in the morning till three in the morning the next day, pretty much. How tired were you? Drained. Drained. And when the kids want to play football and that on a Saturday morning, I think, oh my goodness, just let me sleep. I went to bed three hours ago.

SPEAKER_04 10:06

Do you know something about there's something about going to bed at that sort of time of day when you're actually not out and you're actually working, it just fries your brain, doesn't it?

SPEAKER_00 10:14

It does, but because it's technology, anything we change on the back end will affect uh day-to-day business on the customer front. So when I'm with so you drinking neutronic I am now, since since you hooked me on it, yeah, it's uh I'm addicted to it. But yeah, it is that class, any changes we'd make on the back end system would affect day-to-day running. So on closer now, for example, we're working with some um some big names that we're drafting up, but I can't make changes until two or three o'clock when I know everyone's asleep. Yeah. Because if they publicly see it, then I can get caught out on an on an in the age and so on.

SPEAKER_04 10:48

Wow. So you're still doing those hours now then?

SPEAKER_00 10:50

Oh 100%, yeah, yeah. I'm nearly I'm nearly through it. Like I don't, it's the case now where uh Kaiko, thankfully, in touch wood, is bringing enough financially to to know I can take a week off or two and the system will run itself. But you always want to keep growing and developing so the hours are still being put in. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:08

Do you ever resent the grind?

SPEAKER_00 11:10

Yeah, absolutely. I always think, what about if I go back into full time and do my nine till five, probably make more money than I am now, and then uh you know, just live that life. But there comes a ceiling when you're working for someone, as you both know, being both self-employed as well. There's a ceiling you reach, and there's nothing better than having your own free time and when you can organise your own day, like now being self-employed, knowing if I want to play tennis at 10 in the morning, I'm gonna go and play tennis. If I want to go and do this, you can go and do that, and that is what I think is worth more than the money, yeah, having that ability to be more flexible and choose your own life as such, choose your own paths.

SPEAKER_02 11:47

But it comes at a cost, though, doesn't it?

SPEAKER_00 11:48

It comes at a cost, definitely comes at a cost, it comes at a cost, yeah. I think I think I'm probably another year or two away from getting back to where I was in the London days. However, my mental state is is better than it's ever been, despite doing the more hours I'm doing. You know, I'm happier, I don't see my my work as work. I absolutely love what I do. The people I work with are amazing. Um the software I have is is is great, and I know I'm helping businesses and making a big difference to their lives, and that that to me is not work.

Gruelling Hours, Mental Load, And Motivation

SPEAKER_04 12:18

Do you know there is definitely something to be said for actually doing something that you enjoy because even if you are stressed of money, the the the joy still comes from the work, so actually it kind of takes a bit of that stress away, doesn't it? So exactly that it's I found that recently. I know you obviously get a bit of that as well yourself, but I think that's really important. Actually enjoying what you do, and you can tell you enjoy it just by the five-minute conversation we've had so far.

SPEAKER_00 12:42

Yeah, yeah. I love it. I mean, that's the beautiful thing about launching closer alongside Kaiker, as bizarre and bonkers as it is, is that it gives me that break of day because I'm not just selling software all the time and helping on that side. I'm actually gonna go out to cafes and shoot some content, have a laugh, enjoy the sun, enjoy the company, and that's what's good about closers. I get that free time to go out and just shoot content, which is what I enjoy doing. It doesn't pay any money, but it gives me that break and headspace to get away from the tech sales and the development.

SPEAKER_02 13:09

But do you think that launching CLOSA has actually directly related to the success of Kaiko in the last six months?

SPEAKER_00 13:17

Yeah, I do. Yeah, I do. Because a lot of the businesses we meet with CLOSA obviously is free of charge. And then once we start talking to about the other business, Kaiko, one feeds the other. So we've got a massive address book now of a lot of business owners around Sussex. We go in, do you want to go on our brilliant app? It's free to do so, help give you exposure, there's absolutely no cost. Everyone goes, What's the catch? There isn't a catch, it's all free. Then once they agreed to it in a couple of months' time, we then try and book a meeting about Kaiko, of which most of the businesses join that after seeing the the way we work with Closer.

SPEAKER_04 13:49

Have you had like quite a few barriers with um with Closer? Because obviously, where it is free, and people do have reservations about because there is always a catch. Like, have you had quite a lot of companies really sort of shut the door on you because of that?

SPEAKER_00 14:00

Yeah, endless.

SPEAKER_04 14:01

Weird, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00 14:02

Endless. People I think people always believe there's always a catch the saying. And when you say to them, this is the app, you get your placement here, we help you book into that. Like, well, how much have I got to pay? You haven't got to pay anything. No, how much do I have to pay? I can't I can't argue with the person saying I can't stress any of them. There is zero payment involved. We never asked for your bank details, we never give your i bank details, there's no payment portals. Literally download it, use it, and you can see there is zero cost elements involved. But we get asked that all the time, and it's just um you're hitting your head against the wall. But what can you do?

SPEAKER_04 14:32

That'll come when it the more people that sign up for it, the more businesses and that it'll obviously get spoken about more, and then they'll want to be a part of it, won't they?

SPEAKER_02 14:38

Exactly. Yeah, you were on what was you on the other day? BBC Sussex? BBC Radio Sussex.

SPEAKER_00 14:43

Yeah, I was on BBC with uh Alison Ferns on the morning breakfast show, which was great. You get your blue tick soon then, don't you? Uh hopefully. Um, yeah, we're in the Argus as well. Uh, we also won fourth best tech startup in the UK, uh, which is great considering we're only Sussex based. Uh so to Winston and the whole UK was really nice to see that that's come through. Uh, but I think people are just backing it because we're just very authentic, you know. We're not trying to be someone we're not, we're just being ourselves, we're being authentic, we're having a laugh. There's no corporate side to it in any way. Our branding is very, you know, chilled out, and that's where we want to be. We are the average person, you know. We are here to support you, we're not there to take your money, we're not there to cause you any grief. We're just trying to be nice and do the best we can, which I think goes a long way to the public. I think there's a lot of people. Especially this down age.

SPEAKER_02 15:32

This don't age massively. Or is it it's about, I guess it was what, about two and a half, three years ago. You started Closer, started the build of Closer. Yeah, it is.

SPEAKER_00 15:40

Yeah, so about two years ago I started the build and then we released it about sort of properly, about eight months ago, I'd say properly. We did test the waters, we we we soft launched it, didn't really tell anyone about it to see how the downloads went, and they went they went well. It's more word of mouth. However, recently we started doing all the Instagrams, all the comedy skits and stuff like that, and people are loving it. You know, we get lots of nice messages and and compliments, which is nice. That's why we keep going. But for me, the DMs we get are lovely, and that's what makes me want to keep going and going and going. Without the love we get from the closer community, then I don't think I'd be able to keep managing because it's a loss to us in terms of time and efforts. But the messages you get are amazing, like you know, you've made our the you've made our night giving us that 40 pound food voucher. I'm gonna go take my partner out there who's struggling at the moment with his work and all this sort of stuff. So you start having a positive impact on other people's lives, and and that's what that's what it's all about.

SPEAKER_02 16:35

That's massive, isn't it? Because you it's like when Sam, remember when Sam was on for the last season and he said about that time where he was feeling down and shit, and his mate just turned up on his doorstep and said, Come on, mate, let's go for a round of golf. Start to see it. Those little things that it's fulfilment as well, isn't it?

SPEAKER_04 16:52

Yeah, life is not all just about money, is it? It's actually you get a lot more joy from bringing joy to others.

SPEAKER_00 16:57

Is that okay? I actually think you get more, 100% more. Um, there's nothing better than doing good for someone else and uh being genuine. A lot of people hide behind cameras and try and beat someone they're not, and when you meet them face to face and stuff, that's what it's all about.

SPEAKER_02 17:11

When you were building this, obviously 26, 27 years old. I bet a lot of your mates were out social lives, clubbing, pubbing, drinking. Did they understand what you were doing and why you were like, No, lads, I can't come out, I'm building this app.

SPEAKER_00 17:28

I don't think they did, no. And I I I like a drink, you know. Everyone knows I like a drink, I like a cocktail. I like to go out to a bar and chill out and socialise. I enjoy that. That's probably my favourite environment with my friends and family going out and just chilling out and relaxing. And I don't think they appreciate that what I do isn't just for me, it's for everyone around me. So it's not just you know, eventually it comes to a place where I can help support my friends, help support my family, and this is for everyone. I'm doing this for me, I'm doing this for everyone. And I think sometimes they're like, I can't, mate, you can come out, you can do this. I'm like, no, I can't, mate. I have to get this done because I haven't got enough time in the day to go out and do both. So yeah, 100%. I sacrificed not only friends but family time as well. I mean, my partner would tell you I barely ever see her now because I'm always busy, but she can see the end goal, and that's that's what it's about, having someone there to support you through those times where I don't want to be working all the time, I'd rather be spending time with my partner. However, something's got to give to get to a point where you don't need to work to then have more time with your partner, if that makes sense.

SPEAKER_02 18:28

We said that the other day, didn't we? There's a you gotta you can put in the effort. Think as well, it's about working smart with your time, isn't it? Exactly. Structuring your days and making sure that you're doing the right things at the right time instead of being a busy fool. Yeah, being a busy fool.

SPEAKER_00 18:42

Exactly that. But then I think sport, and as you know, with doing the Vikings, I think sport is a massive um one of the biggest things with your mental side, you know. Personally, I play a lot of tennis, and when I'm on a tennis court, I forget everything work. Everything work goes out of the window, gives me that free time, free headspace. I may get angry and call because I missed a shot or something, but different angle though, innit? For different angle, but as a whole, it gives you that headspace, and that's so vital. You know, having something whether you go for a walk, whether you go for golf, everyone's got their own personal hobbies. That's what you need to have. You can't just go home, watch TV and keep going. You have to have that sort of headspace.

Authentic Marketing And Community Trust

SPEAKER_02 19:17

We've said it before, haven't we? We've said before, like it's important to have something for yourself. Yeah, we always talk about it, don't we? Like, mine was up until I sold them both. Mine was my motorbikes. Um, I haven't got any, and I keep opening the garage, and I'm like, oh, the weather's nice today, but then the roads are so short a bit, so you know I probably killed myself on it. But I think it's important for everybody, husbands and wives, men and women, to have something that's you for you, whether it's golf, whether it's going to the gym, whether it's yoga, whether it's walking, like whatever it's important to have something for you to switch off. Yeah, I really feel that's important.

unknown 19:52

Yeah, I do as well.

SPEAKER_02 19:54

Did you um did you ever think with KOSA and Kaiko? Obviously, you've mentioned this. Did you ever think this isn't gonna work? What am I doing?

SPEAKER_00 20:04

100% many times, yeah, a hundred percent, especially on the Kaiko side of things when it comes to the marketing suite and stuff, and thinking walking around these pubs, getting rejected, getting this and the other. And as I say, only the last six months has finally gone to that 100%. I know it will work. So for about two and a half years, I thought, is it gonna pull over? Will it get to where it'll get to? You know, you just got to keep battling those demons in your head, thinking, keep going, keep going, and keep going, and eventually you'll you'll get that breakthrough, you'll you'll break through the wall. But yeah, many times did I think that um, especially when it comes to the financial side, you're looking at struggling debts, bills, loans, or whatever to keep you afloat and everything's failing and bouncing. You're thinking, oh my god, I'm in I'm in I'm in trouble here, but just keep going at it.

SPEAKER_02 20:48

You kept on going though, that's the main thing. Yeah, yeah. And look, this this time, do you know what I mean? This time last year, you wouldn't imagine that you've got the free time to come and sit and do all the podcasts with us two. I expect it's hard though, isn't it?

SPEAKER_04 21:01

Because obviously, when you start something, you you believe in it massively, because that's why you start it. Yeah, and you need someone to believe in you, but the more the doors you're knocking and the more no's you're getting, then the self-doubt starts kicking in, doesn't it? And the more you probably went on with it, the more you doubted yourself until that first person went, Oh yeah, actually, I quite like that. And then that's when it all just sparkles again, you get the excitement again, and it sort of builds again from not from scratch, but you almost feel like you're starting from the beginning again, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00 21:27

You're exactly right. I mean, in the first sort of six months of us creating Kaiko, probably signed three clients, and then in the past six months we've probably had 40 venues, so it's absolutely blown out of the water suddenly. Um, and and it just shows like the starting period's always tough for any business, but that's because you find your feet and you're learning. Sometimes rejection is the best way to grow. And I I actually believe that I'd rather get knocked back, understand what we did wrong, or understand what we can do more on the technology side to then advance it further, to then make it even better. So the rejections of are not interest or it's no good. Is the best thing that can ever happen because it makes you think, revisit it, and make it better.

SPEAKER_02 22:04

And also, as well, lots of people say in business, you've got to go for the no. If you're constantly getting told yes, either you're not your your package isn't there, you're too cheap, or whatever. So you've got to go for the no sometimes. Yeah.

unknown 22:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:18

Which I'm sure Chris is learning with reaching out to big brands.

SPEAKER_04 22:21

Yeah. Yeah. Go for the no. 20 grand a week is not the right amount of money to go to with 10 pounds more, like I think.

SPEAKER_00 22:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:31

You felt any pressure to sort of prove yourself and prove the concept?

SPEAKER_00 22:34

I think pressure more maybe on family because they're like, you know, why are you leaving? Why are you leaving your job and that you've got it, you've got a nice, comfortable position, just keep doing what you're doing. But I think the pressure mainly comes from family proving sproom to them saying, look, I can do it. I knew I can do it, and now you can finally see that we're going, we're getting to that position now. So I think mainly it comes down to the family side of the concerns.

SPEAKER_04 22:58

Yeah, I suppose your family are your biggest client, really, aren't they? They're the ones that you need to sign up first so they believe in what you're doing as much as you do.

SPEAKER_00 23:04

Well, my dad was in the trades game for ages, and about nine months ago I hired him on board, so he works with me, so he can see day to day what effort we put in and where the business is going. And he said, if I didn't believe in it, then I wouldn't be working with you, obviously, because there's another salary to come out of the business to pay for me. So yeah, I think having the support from your family is obviously key.

SPEAKER_02 23:25

It is a big point, isn't it? Having your your family and your friends.

unknown 23:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:29

I don't have many of them at the moment.

SPEAKER_02 23:31

No. Well, this is the thing, isn't it? Your friends will be the ones that don't, they don't, do you know what I mean? They never how hard is it to like your mate's business on Instagram to leave a comment to tell someone about it? It's it's like it's the hardest thing in the world.

SPEAKER_00 23:44

So I have this point written down on my phone, yeah, exactly on that point. And it's are your friends and family really your friends and family? And the reason being is they're all fully on social media. What does it take to press the like button? What does it take to make a comment? Great video, mate, or great video sign, or whatever. All of those different things they do affects the algorithms, which then creates the spider web effect, which then could broadcast the reach and it goes wider and wider and wider. In London, in the offices, we'd have to do we'd have one LinkedIn post and a team of 20, two people do it on this day, everyone would like and comment it, two people do the next day, and then that post would go to like 10, 20, 30, 40,000 because of the reaches and in interactions with. But you're exactly right. I have that question written down: is are your friends really your friends? You know, where you've got 100 in your Facebook, whatever, you just gotta press a like button, then that goes to 10,000, then it goes to 20,000, then it goes beyond, beyond, beyond. But yeah, it's a great thing.

Rejection, Growth Spurts, And Sales Philosophy

SPEAKER_04 24:34

It's mad, isn't it? Like we um one of my friends listens to the podcast, and I saw him just randomly answering it for years. First thing he said was, I love your podcast, mate. And I was like, You listen to it? Yeah, so yeah, yeah. And uh he actually posted that day when on Facebook he posted like something about the podcast or whatever, and I oh no, no, that was it. I posted about seeing him in the shop and how he was so like loving about the podcast and how he listens to it every week. And I said, like, if only all friends were like as as supportive and everything, and and I did it because I actually wanted all my mates to see it, because I've always sent a podcast out to them, and you know they don't listen to it, you know. And it like we were talking earlier on, it's gives me a perfect opportunity to say what it was saying earlier. Our wives don't even listen to the podcast now, no, you know, and out of everybody that supports you, you would think that your wives would support you by listening to your podcast and sharing it on their socials, but yeah, yeah, it's it's just mad how people don't. I mean, some some family and friend members they're amazing, you know, they do anything to help you, but then actually the friends that you think are amazing, and partners, you just think actually, what why? Why not? So, yeah, it's it's such a valid point.

SPEAKER_00 25:40

It's the spider web effect, honestly. That double click of a screen will then broadcast into 10, 20, 30, 40, and it just grows and grows, and it's just that double click. You're asking for half a half a second of someone's time, they've seen it, they comment to you about it in face-to-face, but they just had to double click the screen.

SPEAKER_02 25:57

It's um I just want to go back to like finances. How did you deal with uncertainty when money wasn't guaranteed? Because I've sat there refreshing emails on the constant to wait for approvals, and I know how bad that is. We spoke about it last week about the anxiety of not knowing whether that paycheck's gonna come in, whether you're gonna have to be able to pay the staff at the end of the month. How do you deal with that? Have you experienced that?

SPEAKER_00 26:23

Yeah, many times, many, many times. Um, with what I do, a lot of it's SaaS sales or software as a service. So fortunate for me, we work on uh striped direct debits, so we we know pretty much to the penny how much is gonna come in every single month, regardless of any outgoings, which is great. So we know exactly that money's coming on that date, which is brilliant. But the issue where we've had that massive daunting feeling is when a business direct debit fails for whatever reason, then suddenly you think, well, we're three grand less this month, where's that gonna come from? That means the staff member's not getting paid, which is often me. And then I'm like, Oh, there I mean I can't pay my rent this month for this reason and this reason, and then uh your business loan or whatever it may be will fail. And you're thinking, Oh, now we're in big trouble. So I've been in that position lots. Um, but yeah, we're now at a position where if one did fail, we we have a blanket cover cover finally. But for about two and a half years I've had that feeling. It's horrible, isn't it? It's the worst, it's gut wrenching, it's gut wrenching. Where we had staff who couldn't pay on time, we have to say, look, give us another week, then there's another payment coming in a week's time, which we could prove. But it's a hundred percent gut wrenching because it's not just your life you're affecting, you're affecting other people's lives, and when you have their rent on the line or their bills or their family time, wherever it is, it makes you feel like the worst person ever, but it's only so much you can sacrifice before you you physically cannot do anything. Do you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_02 27:46

When you're running a business, staff is like having independence, isn't it? It's literally you are they are dependent on you and the business to and the financial pressure is any other pressure in business I can deal with quite well. Like stride in my step, okay. There's a problem, we'll sort it. There's a problem, we'll sort it. When it comes to finances, it's really, really tough because there isn't a magic wand that you can wave. And it's always been the most the most anxious and crippling times for me, and my whole business career has been to do with finances.

SPEAKER_04 28:21

Yeah, they're the bits that people don't really talk about as well in business, isn't it? It's about it's about having those financial dependent people that work for you that you that people don't think that you have when you have a business. They just think, oh, he's got loads of money, he does really well, he's got a big business, and blah blah blah. But actually, you might have hundred grands worth of wages going out a month.

SPEAKER_00 28:36

Exactly. Exactly that, exactly that.

SPEAKER_02 28:39

And that's it as well, people. It's like the the vanity metrics of oh, my business turned over a million pounds our share, but there's no money in a bank. Like what? Do you know what I mean? So what you turned over a million pounds, but you made a 200 200 grand loss. Tell them that. Yeah, yeah. Tell people that's what people need to hear. They need to hear, oh yeah, we hit a million, yeah. We hit a million. You what? Oh, we we hit a million, but we owe 1.2 kind of thing. Yeah, and and that's uh that's something that it cripples me. The finances, anything else, throw it at me, I'll deal with it.

SPEAKER_00 29:09

But the finance side of things is really tough, especially the rates all going up every single day, as we know. You know, we're all part of it, national insurance and staff wages and so on, everything just keeps going up. Um, and that was why we we we made closer free. It's a case of saying, look, we know everyone's struggling, we know business is struggling, let's just let's just do something that no one's ever done before. It's completely groundbreaking, you know. Have something that's completely free.

SPEAKER_02 29:33

Um, it's quite a good point, actually. Moving on, what does success feel to you when it comes to closer?

SPEAKER_00 29:40

When it comes to closer.

SPEAKER_02 29:41

When it comes to closer, what is success for closer?

SPEAKER_00 29:44

Success for closer for me would be having the amount of downloads it deserves. So I base it on download metrics. So right now we've got thousands of people using it, I'll probably say just under 5,000 people, but I'd like it to get to around 20, 30, 40,000 without a doubt. And it's just that word of mouth, it's just a brand awareness. And because we haven't got marketing budgets to pay into meta ads and so on, we don't have anything, we've got no influencers because there's no money to be made. This is what I'm trying to get across in our videos is that we're not a taste car, we haven't got 10 million in the bank, we can't go and do a massive Facebook ad, we can't go and pay an influencer because the business makes zero money. So, where is the money gonna come from? My own back pocket, and we we are on a way of doing it all ourselves, you know. We don't want to pay any influencers. I unfortunately, if you look at our pages, you're gonna see my ugly mug everywhere because my dad doesn't want to get on camera, so I'm just splattered everywhere. But that's because I've got to be the face of the brand to try and get it to where you want it to get to. So when it comes to success, I'd say the amount of users that are actually benefiting and saving because I know that's people I'm helping in their day-to-day living, and that to me is what the feel-good factor is I'm helping people save.

SPEAKER_02 30:52

What about the businesses?

Money Stress, Cash Flow, And Candid Finances

SPEAKER_00 30:54

The businesses, exactly, yeah, helping them bring it. Oh, and the business, yeah, helping the businesses get more exactly that helping the businesses get more traffic, even the exposures, even if someone didn't grow in that day, they can still look at it and see the name of the business and maybe recommend it to someone else.

SPEAKER_02 31:08

Yeah, like I've watched some of your videos and I'm like, that looks really nice. I didn't even know about it. Yeah, and I think this is the hardest thing. I do this in my business is getting the word out there, getting the eyes on, like you say, without being able to spend 10 grand a month on meta ads.

SPEAKER_00 31:23

Yeah, you're right. I know what we have is so special and unique, and just it's just amazing to have to be able to give to the public. It's just making the public aware of what it is. It's an absolute sleeping giant. And if I could somehow get 100 grand of paid ads out of there, I think nearly everyone in Sussex would get it, because why would you not?

SPEAKER_02 31:42

Yeah, but I I don't know because I think that is I think that's a little bit for what you're building. I think the organic method is gonna ensure longevity in the if you if tomorrow all of a sudden you had a hundred thousand downloads, you might struggle. Yeah, you might struggle, and then you might lose the five you've got. Yeah. Do you know what I mean? I think it's like they say people win the lottery or people go viral overnight, all of a sudden it's gone. I think it's the same for a business. If you grow it organically slower over time, yeah, you're more the foundations are stronger in order to keep moving.

SPEAKER_00 32:17

Yeah, we're we're relying on someone to sort of catch tires on it to run us. That's what I've said to my dad and my mum is saying, I'm just waiting for the right person to catch tires on it who's like us, genuine authentically, go, hold on a minute, followers. This is app here, this is really good and it's free. Why don't you go and get it? And that, you know, wherever it may be, please knock on my door and save me.

SPEAKER_04 32:36

Well, we might have a few people listening now that live in Sussex. So if you use the closer app, when you go out for your dinner, make sure she makes some content on it. Exactly that. It's just exactly that yeah.

SPEAKER_02 32:46

Just download it. I mean, it's what I love about it is the map. Yes. What I love about it is the fact that I'm in my business now and I've got two offers on the app. There's someone down the road, there's there, there's that. You can be anywhere in Sussex. Oh, where should we go and grab a coffee? Yes. We don't really know the area, we've not been down here for a couple of years. Oh, look, they've got, I don't know, free croissant when you order coffees or whatever. We're saving a bit of money, we're supporting the local business, and it's a new spot for us.

SPEAKER_00 33:12

Exactly. That is it. You've summed it out exactly why it was built.

SPEAKER_02 33:15

Like one of the places you did a video at the other day, that like that quirky building on the seafront.

SPEAKER_00 33:19

Oh, East Beach Cafe. Yeah, that's a beautiful, beautiful business.

SPEAKER_02 33:23

I didn't even know that was there.

SPEAKER_00 33:24

And it's what half hour from here? Yeah, it's beautiful, beautiful cafe, won over 20 international awards for its architecture, looks like a massive wave, it's right on the beach, food was unbelievable, you know, service staff, top tiers, one of the nicest businesses, and they've got to give 15% off the total bill for four people. And 15% off. It's quite a lot of money, isn't it? It is quite a lot. I mean, if you're going as a family of four and you're gonna have lunch and a drink, you're probably talking£100 and straight 15 quid in your back pocket to go use at the amusements down the road. Yeah, that's what it's there for.

SPEAKER_02 33:55

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 33:55

Or go and play the crazy golf just round the corner because you've saved the money, you can now go and do that for for it's technically free as such. Yeah. Do you ever switch off? No, no, never ever switch off. No, no. My brain's always thinking. That's the way my partner always says, you know, you just don't stop. My brain's always thinking about the next thing, the next project, the next customer, the next install. Yeah, it doesn't stop.

SPEAKER_02 34:17

Do you sleep? When you do sleep, obviously, I know you're like a nocturnal animal, but when you do sleep, do you sleep? Does your do you wake up with like panic and anxiety about the business?

SPEAKER_00 34:29

I I know I don't. I normally go out six, six, seven hours. I do get asleep obviously between like three and three and nine or whatever. But when I wake up, it's always not even clear head because I know because I would have overthought it the whole night before I've woken up knowing exactly what I have to do as and when, to the exact minute of every single day. Yeah, but I don't switch off at all. That sounds familiar, doesn't it, Ash? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 34:51

I never switch off.

SPEAKER_00 34:52

I don't think you can. I don't think if it's self-import, you can because you're always worrying about because you're so you always worrying about when the next money's coming in to then pay the house and then look after the kids, and then you're thinking when the kids time and this time, there's endless things you can think about, whereas you're nine till five, you know, no disrespect to nine till five is because it's fantastic, and I wouldn't, you know, I'd like I said I'd get back into it. But I'd love a nine till five, but it gets you, you know you finish at five normally, and that is it. You then have your family time, your social life, and X, Y, Z. Whereas, you know, with us, we're doing quotes at nine o'clock in the night, ten o'clock at night, or you're developing at 2 a.m. in the morning, yeah, and it takes over your life.

SPEAKER_02 35:28

Well, you're waking up at three thinking, God, I forgot to do that, I've got to do that.

SPEAKER_00 35:32

Well, the prime example was uh two nights ago, I was laying in bed thinking about a video I was gonna make at uh William Harbick in Bogner, a lovely bar. And I was thinking I had this idea of a comedy skit where it was two of me in the video and how I'm gonna make it. I'm laying there at 3m in the morning thinking about how I'm gonna develop this video. I'm thinking, what a sad thing, what a sad life. It came off though. I don't know if you've seen it yet, it came off.

SPEAKER_02 35:56

Did it? No, I'm not seeing it. I'm seeing it. I'll have a look. I'd like to know how you did that actually, because I need at least four of me to deal with the daily grind.

SPEAKER_00 36:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 36:04

Do you think that there is such a thing as work-life balance when you're trying to build something?

SPEAKER_00 36:09

Yeah, I think you'll get there. I don't think there is initially. I think you'll get there. I think for for me personally, in my position, I believe that in another three to six months I'll then have the perfect life balance of I can work touch word three days a week and have four days a week off. So I think you can get there, you can definitely get to that position as a self-employed worker.

SPEAKER_04 36:31

Um, it's it's but it's about making the people around you understand that as well, isn't it?

Defining Success For Closer And Organic Growth

SPEAKER_00 36:35

Exactly. I don't think you can do set work self-balance at all for the first few years of it. You have to sacrifice everything and you have to give everything, and there is no stopping, you've got to be relentless, you've got to wake up thinking, I'm gonna own today. You have to have that mentality. I'm gonna wake up, I'm gonna own it, I'm gonna do this, this, and this. These are the three good things I've done for the day. That's a good day's work. But you will have to sacrifice friends, family. But there will come a point where you go, We're not a position, I've got four days off this week for the next foreseeable feature. Let's go out and do this, that's go out and do this, and then they'll go, you were right. It was worth it, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 37:10

It was worth it. I think it's important to say you've got two kids as well, haven't you? Two, yeah, nine and eight. So, yeah, so all this and two kids.

SPEAKER_00 37:17

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 37:18

Um what's the biggest lie you think that young founders tell people on social media?

SPEAKER_00 37:27

I think it's the sort of the the Fergazi as such in the off of Wall Street style, is that it looks they look bigger than they are, you know, the big act, the big who I am. I've got the sports car, but it's on finance. I've got this, but it's on this. I'm on a Hollander buy, this is my new penthouse. No, it's not. You're on a holiday and you just rent an apartment. I think it's the lie of social media. I think that's the the biggest issue of it is for in my opinion, it's it's a gloating sort of you know, bloating what you've got. I've got this, I've got that, I've got that. Actually, why don't we just use it for its good purposes and use it for you know the greater good? So I think the biggest lie is how influencers portray themselves and make out their lives are amazing when they're often not when they're one payment away from losing.

SPEAKER_04 38:10

Also, and I'll probably get we probably might get a couple of comments here saying that I'm wrong, but most of those people that have those sort of pretend that those lifestyles are not particularly happy either, are they?

SPEAKER_00 38:19

No.

SPEAKER_04 38:20

It's all a facade to make them feel better themselves.

SPEAKER_00 38:23

You're exactly right. Yes, I think the biggest lie is when it comes to is that is that people try and beat someone they're not, rather than being true to themselves and being authentic, which comes back to that genuine, genuine persona. I'd much rather be poor and be authentic and have people when I go into a room, people like me.

SPEAKER_02 38:39

Genuinely like you, they don't like you because you've just pulled up in a afro writing or something like that.

SPEAKER_00 38:44

When you've got two million followers and they're trying to leech on some of them, you know, you go into a room and you you make people smile. Like that's the beautiful thing. When I go to my I don't call them customers, I call them you know f friends, as cheesy and sad as it is. Because when I go into one of the Kaiko venue to work over, there's a big hug, there's a smile, there's a kiss on the cheek, it's welcoming. Can I give you lunch? Can I give you a coffee or something like that? That's great to see you, and that's what it's all about having that level of trust and friendship. I think that's what goes a long way.

SPEAKER_02 39:10

I think that's big in today's age. Um, and what I loved about obviously we use Kaiko for a bit for our business, but we're not the business that's sending emails for a business like a pub chain that wants to get their message out or new menu or something, it's fantastic. But there was never a right, Ash, we'll sign you up for 12 months. It was very friendly. That's obviously that's how we met, and we've stayed friends since. We had a guy in the other week trying to sell us a phone contract. Yeah, he's like, Yeah, no, look, you've been signed, yeah, you've done this, and this has happened and this. And then I've got he's sitting there, you're gonna sign the contract. I was like, Well, can I sign it when you've walked away? He's like, No, no, we need you to sign it now. Luckily, commission based, isn't it? Luckily, I signed it in a different way. Like I signed it so it wasn't legit. I put, I'm signing this based on blah blah blah. And then I put the contract into Chat GPT. I said, Is there anything that I need to yeah? They're signing you in for three years, and if you don't tell them, no, five years, and if you don't tell them 90 days prior to your five years, you're automatically back in for three years.

SPEAKER_00 40:12

Wow, not even one year.

SPEAKER_02 40:14

No, not even one year. And I think as founders, you've got to be careful of this stuff. And what I loved about you was we are so good at what we do, you won't want to leave.

SPEAKER_00 40:23

Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 40:24

That's the message that the day and age where businesses are like, no, we've got to get you with the T's and C's, mate. That's the only way we're gonna keep you. Yeah, I will never do business with anybody now that tells me, no, mate, it's a minimum twelve months. Why?

SPEAKER_00 40:36

Yeah, why it doesn't need to be. A lot of it comes down to greed, a lot of it, and trying to catch people out. That's what it comes down to. Like with us, because we didn't do any contracts, we're monthly rolling, we don't even charge a setup fee. Most of the pubs require wi-fi devices, you give it to them free of charge. We're two 300 quid down before we even begun even working with them off our own back and just being genuine, and then they can leave the next month. You know, we don't do any contracts, like that. We believe in what we do, believe the support's top tier. So, why why would you go anywhere?

SPEAKER_02 41:03

And it's bringing value to the business, isn't it? Is that the end of the day? It's bringing value to the business, it's bringing value to the clients.

SPEAKER_00 41:09

Exactly that.

SPEAKER_04 41:09

Yeah, but that's that exact reason that you've just said is why closer's probably a lot uh the sorry, yeah, closer is a lot harder for you to get more people on board because they have been shafted in the past by so many different people that there's always that ulterior motive there. So there's always that seed of doubt in the back of their mind, isn't there?

SPEAKER_00 41:25

You're exactly right, and the prime example of that is uh there's a there's a there's an app called Neotaste, which is a food and drink discount app, but their headquarters are in Germany and they've come over to UK to try and do global domination. So they send teams of 2030 out to Brighton, London, all the key cities, get so many sign-ups, and then the businesses are like, I didn't even remember signing up to two for one burgers and two for one this and 50% off this. They said we're losing money now. So now giving 50% off my meat, my meals. The customers are going ordering water, so not making any money on the deals, they're losing money, and then they're leaving people like Neo Taste, and they're like, now you're signed into this certain thing here, and they're like, What the hell is going on here? Because they don't know the area like we do, you know. We we're we're Sussex born and bred, whereas you get apps like this come over from Germany with a 20 million pound in investment and investment fund, they're just trying to take over the world, and that's exactly what you're saying.

SPEAKER_02 42:18

Just take money, yeah. Um if someone's sitting in their bedroom, a sort of mid-20s, trying to build something after work, after work, whilst running a full-time job, what do they need to understand?

Authenticity Over Hype On Social Media

SPEAKER_00 42:29

You have to be really resilient, I think. There's gonna be a lot of uh pushbacks, a lot of issues, and just don't get don't get down in it, you know, don't get depressed, just keep pushing and pushing, the good times will come. Whatever you whatever you put in, you'll get out. That's what I believe. And I also think, like I said earlier, self-development, you can learn anything. You know, I didn't have a clue about websites. I can sell websites, I've done loads of websites. You build it, learn it, trial it, test it, go I've done something here. Everything you can do is free. You go on platforms like Wix, build a website for free, test it out, understand the mechanics, and then guess what? In about a month or two, you can go and sell websites, app development. Nothing about that, you can go and learn it. You can learn anything in a modern day, and I think some people they may be, you know, I was personally a big gamer, so I'd come home from work and just game for hours on end, and then one day I looked to my Call of Duty stats, seems like you play it for like 52 days. I'm thinking, I've wasted 52 days on this game. What have I done with my life? And then from that moment, I spent the time I'd use gaming to then do learn new skill sets, which then made me do other things.

SPEAKER_02 43:32

Changing a habit there, I like that. You changed one habit that wasn't bad for you, but you could do something better with your time.

SPEAKER_00 43:39

Yeah, well, I mean, 52 days is bad. There's a lot, yeah. There's a lot of days I've I've rotted away in my armchair.

SPEAKER_04 43:44

But um never play new at Call of Duty.

SPEAKER_00 43:47

No, I wouldn't do either.

SPEAKER_04 43:48

Thing is though, what like we I talk to people all the time and we say like it's that change, you know, we all consume constantly on social media. You know, you sit on the sofa for 10 minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes, it all adds up. You put the time and effort into something actually important that you just wasted on social media crap, we would all be so much better than what we are anyway.

SPEAKER_00 44:07

Completely agree, completely agree.

SPEAKER_02 44:09

Yeah, if you spent half an hour learning AI, learning something rather than watching AI watching people, exactly that. And you compounded that over a year, six months. Yeah, it's mad what it does to you.

SPEAKER_00 44:23

It's enormous. I try and advise that to some friends and stuff. I'm like, what do you mean you've just been playing Fortnite for three hours a night? And they're like, Oh, I'm I'm really skin, so I'm just playing games that well. Hold on a minute, I can give you websites every single week to go and build because I haven't got time to do it. Why don't you go and learn how to build websites and I can help you out and pass them on to you and we can help each other, but they're like, No, I know I'm just happy just doing what I'm doing.

SPEAKER_02 44:42

Yeah, yeah. So it's cut it's it's again, it's being comfortable getting comfortable with being uncomfortable. Yeah, you've got to you've you've got to be able to self-development, like you said at the start of this. Self-development is massive. Yeah, I'm learning that. And yeah, I know my craft, yeah, I know my industry, but my body's not so now I'm trying to do self-development on my body and my mind. Yeah, and that's the that's great.

SPEAKER_00 45:05

That'll really help and really, really. Well, it does because it's it's the energy, like you feel better after it, not during it, it must be painful during it, but afterwards it's like well done.

SPEAKER_02 45:14

You know, I must say for you, Nate, I have never seen you in all the times we've met. I have never seen you moping around down and depressed, yeah. Even when your ex-business partner screwed you. Can I say this? Yeah, even so and emptied the bank account and then left you. Yeah, you were still laughing about it, you were still like, oh well, it is what it is, we'll get it back. Do you know what I mean? And that like that's inspirational, the energy there. Yeah and that's what I've learned, and we've said this a lot the energy you give out.

SPEAKER_01 45:43

If you're like, Oh, come and join Keiko, do you want to join Closear?

SPEAKER_00 45:47

Exactly. No one's gonna do it, are they? No, they're not, they're not, they're not gonna do it. You are right, it's all about the energy you give off, you know, the vibes and stuff. Even if things are bad, like you say, you just have to brush it off and keep going.

SPEAKER_02 46:00

What would 20 29-year-old you tell 23-year-old you?

SPEAKER_00 46:06

Like life is not easy. Stay, stay 23 and stay young. Do you know? I'll just say, look, if you want a stable, a stable life, chill. I I'd say, you know, don't don't don't launch on yourself, don't jump in the deep end. Do you know what I mean? Like you don't know what you're in for. When you have other people's lives on your head, that's a big thing, because you you you know, you're now the one overseeing things. And I never respected that when I was working for someone else. I've always thought, you know, things are quite normal and easy, but that's because it's a big corporate. Well, then when you have a member of staff or two working for you thinking, oh my god, they can't afford their rent or they're or they're sick, which then means you've then got to take over the double shifts and stuff like that. And it does uh does change your life.

SPEAKER_02 46:48

Is there any moment in the last four years that's like nearly broken you?

SPEAKER_00 46:52

Yeah, I would say I would say when when deals when deals weren't paid on time, I think that would really break you when you got when literally you have four grand or whatever to to live on, then that four grand is not paid. And you're like, okay, I can't pay rent, can't pay this, can't pay back carbon, every single thing's bounced. You then got all these different bills coming into you, and that's where it nearly breaks you because you're thinking, I can't cope anymore. But it always comes down to financial, it never ever comes down to anything else.

SPEAKER_02 47:20

It is, isn't it? It's the financial, it's the financial burden. Yeah, it's it's the it's the root of all evil.

SPEAKER_04 47:27

The thing is, it's it's a it's a vicious circle, isn't it? The better you do, the the the more you spend, and then the more you need to earn, and then it's just the more you want, yeah. Yeah, it just never stops, does it? It never stops. So I don't think it you know, we we always talk about this, don't we, about millionaires and stuff, you know, oh they must have loads of money and do whatever they want, but actually they probably don't have any more money really than any of us have because their outgoings are ten times what ours are, and yeah, like you say, they've got all the cars on finance and everything, and if they don't get the money and their stress levels are probably way more than ours because they lose everything.

SPEAKER_02 47:57

Can you imagine like we stress of like outgoings of three and a half grand a month? Imagine it was 35 grand a month. Imagine if every month for yourself you had to find like 40 grand, 50, 60, 70, 80 grand. I know, just to survive, just to pay to pay your own personal stuff, yeah. Because yeah, I like I'd much rather find three grand than thirty-five grand ones.

SPEAKER_04 48:17

Yeah, the bank manager ain't gonna come and take your house away for you because you have my grand, yeah. But if you owe 50, 60 grand, he's gonna come knocking on your door, isn't he? So but when you're there it feels big, doesn't it?

SPEAKER_02 48:26

When you're there, it feels big.

SPEAKER_00 48:28

I'd say I'd say that, and the other thing I'd say is um just just be just I was genuine at the time, just be genuine, just be who you are. Like don't put on a mask, don't put on a different outfit for the day, just be who you are. And I'd say, you know, between 19 and 21, I was probably more showing off who's trying to be someone you're not because you know you're at that age where you're trying to get in with get in with the cool kids, get in with the the the business owners to try and learn from and developing that, and then over the past six, seven years, Grace of Don Hold on a minute, I am enough who I am and take me through who I am, basically. I think that's the most what is important thing to say.

SPEAKER_02 49:06

Yeah, I mean we all do it. Like when I started first started doing content, you try and be someone you're not, you just because you think that's what the people need to see. It's not they need to see you to be fair. You did make some content today where you were just authentically yourself as well as you're not sure. Just authentically yourself today. It was a really good idea. Done my first TikTok shop video, people. Done my first TikTok shop video is the man.

SPEAKER_00 49:26

That's a good that's a good point. On the closer videos, we when we when we launched them initially, it was very corporate-led because I thought that's what we needed to do. And then I just started doing me on camera, and they got way more views, way more likes, way more interactions, and it's just like, oh, hold on a minute. Let's not pretend we're something we're not. We're not a global app, we haven't got loads of budget. We are a man with a mic and a phone. This is us taking it.

SPEAKER_02 49:50

Yeah, yeah. And I think that's that's important, and that's what the world needs. That's what the world's what the world wants.

SPEAKER_04 49:56

You know, working in social media myself, it's it's what works. Yeah, it is what works. People are done, you know, big brands aren't paying influencers 50-60 grand for a video now, they're paying people that have never made content before because it's the people that are just actually making normal videos. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, it's everyone knows that they're getting 50 grand a video now. And yeah, they're supposed to stay away from it.

SPEAKER_00 50:15

You're right. That's a really good point.

SPEAKER_02 50:17

So when I went to see that um broadcast company, it was like, I've spent my whole career trying to hide cameras, trying to hide cables.

Season Wrap, Calls To Download, And Next Steps

SPEAKER_01 50:25

Now everyone wants to see them. Now everyone wants to see the cameras in the shot. Authenticity.

SPEAKER_04 50:31

It's that's what it is. It's the it's the art of that. I mean, when you were younger, obviously you probably felt like you needed to be something you weren't because at an early age you don't feel like people are gonna listen to you anyway. So I guess that's that's a common thing for everybody, but yeah, you probably didn't realise about the authenticity side of things until you're a lot older, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 50:48

Exactly that. And now luckily I'm meeting some fantastic people, and those people are opening new doors every single day because they like you for who you are, and that's exactly that's simple.

SPEAKER_02 50:58

Yeah, yeah. It's um it is important to be yourself, even if you're a bit of an arse off.

SPEAKER_04 51:05

Yeah, yeah. But you can't please everybody. Yeah, you can't please people like me.

SPEAKER_02 51:10

People like you. People do you know what I mean? People don't want polished anymore, do they? They don't want polished content. You don't raw, they want all raw, they want raw content, raw raw content, not edited, like no filters, no filters.

SPEAKER_04 51:24

It's to change where I spoke because I've got I'm quite a commoner, um South London boy. Geezer. I always used to change my accent a little bit just to make me sound a little bit more not posh, a bit normal, but actually just be yourself, and it comes across nice much better than it.

SPEAKER_02 51:38

That's it. If people don't like you for who they are, then you've got to keep up this facade for your whole business relationship, your whole friendship, everything. You've got to be someone you're not, and that's a lot harder to do than to say, sorry, mate, you this well, you're not for me. It's like relationships, isn't it? Yeah, yeah. It's like when you me and my wife, I took her bowling and we went to McDonald's. I've been on dates in the past where I've had to felt like I've needed to take them to five-star restaurants and stuff, the shard or whatever, and then you're like, Oh god, now I've set a bar.

SPEAKER_04 52:06

Yeah, I'll still have to still I have to still have to speak Dutch when I get home. Mum still thinks I'm Dutch.

SPEAKER_02 52:14

But no, I think it's really important in business, in life, and everything, in relationships, to be who you are and love yourself, yes, you gotta love yourself, yeah, to a certain extent. Don't be big-headed, don't be arrogant like Chris is because that's terrible. I'm the best, I'm the best, you know. And on that note, I think we should wrap up this episode. Um, thank you so much, Nathan. That was lots of little golden nuggets in there.

SPEAKER_04 52:43

I'm trying to drive when I was when I was your age, mate. I wish I did. I didn't have it at all. So that's why money's starting to turn my life around at 43 rather than at 23, I suppose. You still look 23, it's alright. Cheers, mate. That's why I said that to be fair. I was hoping for something like that just to annoy her. I've got covered.

SPEAKER_02 53:02

Nate, you've got to quickly tell people how do they download closer?

SPEAKER_00 53:06

You can download closer in the Apple store and the Google store. So it's uh C L S.

SPEAKER_02 53:11

Do it again. Start in the camera, look at the camera and tell it properly. Come on.

SPEAKER_00 53:15

So you can download Closer in the Apple and the Google store. It's available on both devices or different phones. Uh it's C L O S R. We're trying to be cool, there's no E in it. Um, free to download, no subscriptions, just create a profile and start saving today.

SPEAKER_02 53:30

Wicked. And if you're a business and you're in Sussex and you've got something to offer, how do they do that?

SPEAKER_00 53:36

Same process. You can download the app again, and there's a little button, the more tab, says more, list my business, complete a very short form, and you'll be activated within 48 hours. Beautiful. Easy as that. Easy as that. No excuses. No excuses. No excuses.

SPEAKER_02 53:50

And it's free. And it's free, and honestly, it does give a lot of value. Thanks for listening, everybody. I have a feeling that might be the end of season three, Chris. Got a feeling, have you? I've got a feeling. Well, I'll tell you what it is. It is. I'm gonna call it calling it. That's the end of season three, everybody. End of season three, season four. We will be coming back. We have a couple of weeks off. We've got some incredible guests, and we're gonna be talking more about this topic, which is gonna be business and managing life.

SPEAKER_04 54:18

Thank you so much for coming in, mate. Thanks for having me, too.

SPEAKER_02 54:21

Really appreciate it. We will uh we'll see you in a couple of weeks. Keep your eye on the socials. I'm going to go on the beach now. Bye. We might do it after I come back from Spain actually, because I'm going there in 22 days.

SPEAKER_04 54:31

Oh again. Spain again.

SPEAKER_02 54:32

Yeah, and it even Nathan says it.

SPEAKER_05 54:35

Take care, everybody. See you in a bit.

SPEAKER_00 57:29

Thanks, guys. Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_04 57:35

I know what you mean though. I can imagine your mates are just like just dipping off one by one and making no effort and stuff.

SPEAKER_00 57:42

I've realistically got four friends. Yeah. Obviously, Ash and yourselves and that are friends, but I mean actually, like you can do window, like do you want to go out for a drink?

SPEAKER_04 57:50

If you text them at three in the morning, they'd be at your front door, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 57:53

Maybe have th maybe have three. There's not many. But then that shows a lot because they're the ones that stick by you and stuff like that. Do you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_04 57:59

So it does, yeah. I think everyone can say the same thing to be fair. I think if if anyone turned around and said, I've got 30 friends that I can count on, that it doesn't exist, does it? No. I've probably got three or four myself.

SPEAKER_00 58:09

Yeah. But I like it like that because the less people let you down. Well, yeah, exactly that.

SPEAKER_04 58:14

As you get older, I mean you've still got quite a few years to go, but you realise even more as you get older that people do let you down constantly.

SPEAKER_00 58:19

So amount of time you get let down with people. That's me at last minute cancellation, I can't do this, can't do that. And it's like, okay, well, I've had this picked in for three months.

SPEAKER_04 58:26

And the worst thing is the older you get, the more money you spend on those days out, and then when they cancel you, it's just completely wasted time and money. So it's yeah, yeah, it doesn't get any easier. No, no, you're right. I've done nothing, mate, by the way.

SPEAKER_02 58:36

I know you haven't. It's gonna be fucking hilarious. I don't even know. We do a bonus episode now, NAF, where we just talk about what we're doing.

SPEAKER_04 58:43

Oh no, I haven't drunk still. Oh no, that wasn't still. Shit.

SPEAKER_02 58:48

I don't even think I've got your list. Um you're supposed to send me one thing you were grateful for every day. You did it for one day, you were grateful for our friendship. I said that on the podcast. No tease didn't even text you. Yeah, it wasn't rubber cheese line.

SPEAKER_00 59:02

What's the topic?

SPEAKER_02 59:02

So we just we just do a little bonus episode on Thursday, like 10-15 minutes. Just supposed to be a bit more fun, a bit more less structured.

SPEAKER_00 59:10

That's cool.

SPEAKER_02 59:10

Where we just chat.

SPEAKER_00 59:11

That's cool.

SPEAKER_02 59:12

Just we just chat about, and as we're wrapping up season four, this will be the last one for this.

SPEAKER_00 59:16

What's the topic? Just what what's what just break?

SPEAKER_02 59:18

So last week, my challenge is was to do the Iron Man challenge on Sunday, which I'll talk about that. Um, how bad it was. Um, be structured, don't break it for five to seven days, which I've not really done. Sit for 30 minutes in silence, which I haven't done. Oh, you didn't do it in the sea. He just tells me to get in the sea every week.

SPEAKER_04 59:36

Get in the sea, get in the sea. Do these Viking things, right? He's doing this Viking. One of the main things every week is going for a cold water swim in a sea. No, it's not. No, is it?

SPEAKER_02 59:45

No, it's fucking not.

SPEAKER_04 59:47

One of my mates is he's in the Vikings. Is he? Who is he? Chris. I don't even know Christopher. He might have left. Christopher Plummer. And his brother's name is I don't know. Shouldn't I really went to football with them both? I'm not very good with names. Plus, I was drinking then, so pretty much forget the whole day. Um right, okay. So yeah, so where's my one for you then? Is that it there? 24 for the second? No. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:16

No, I wrote it for me and you wrote it for you.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:18

Make to the end of the month, no drinking. Order my oh, I didn't order his new birds.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:22

Thank you. I'm gonna sound like alright, bad fair. Right. Yeah, but you can make up excuses, Chris, because you've done that.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:28

So you guys have got a lot of cross on these, haven't you? Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:31

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, we started off well. I was doing all of them, Ash was doing none, so I was calling them out every week. But the tables have turned to see source. I've been I've been really busy the last couple of weeks and I haven't done anything. And you've been busy and you're gonna intro it. Should we get Nathan to intro it?

Bonus Segment: Challenges, Habits, And Community

SPEAKER_02 1:00:46

Shall we? Shall we? Do a lot of funny noises and do a funny intro. A bit of a song. Welcome to this week's bonus episode of the Untold Podcast. Leave that one for you, mate. I did last week's, didn't I? I don't know. Shall we do it together? This is the last one. Got it. Random. You go in, I'll jump in. Ready? One, two, three. Welcome back to another episode of the Untold Podcast bonus.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:16

I was supposed to jump in there and make it a little bit more exciting, but I just thought I'd let us sweat a little bit. You didn't I didn't sweat, mate.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:22

I didn't sweat. And I definitely didn't know. It is really hot in here. We've got the sun lamps on today because it's sunny outside. It's the orange lights that's just making me feel like I'm on holiday. Um we've decided to wrap up season three, so this will be the last bonus episode of doing this. But season four is gonna be now your business owner, Chris. We're gonna be business related. Um in this week's bonus episode, we will also have Nathan, and we're not sure how this is gonna go.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:49

I think Nathan should give us a challenge. Yeah, Nathan's got to give us a challenge for it. It doesn't involve any money either. I'm not trying to make Jamaica and having a cocktail or something.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:58

That sounds good.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:59

Can you go?

SPEAKER_02 1:02:00

I can do it on expenses to be fair. Can you go to uh can you go to France and buy a baguette for cheaper than you can buy in the UK via Dubai? Maybe we'll stay away from that one. Yeah, maybe we should. Um shall cut that bit out. Why are you looking at me like that?

SPEAKER_03 1:02:18

Well, it's fine. It's fine.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:19

So welcome, Nate, to the bonus episode. This is literally about having me.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:23

Nathan looks so uncomfortable, he's like, I didn't sign up for this. What is going on in it? I just came in for a last episode of the podcast.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:28

I like the unknown, I've got no idea what's going on.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:31

To be fair, we've got no idea what's going on in the middle. Um so I did the Iron March challenge on Sunday. Did you know?

SPEAKER_01 1:02:41

No, I didn't get in the C.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:42

There's no C at the top of Devil's Dyke, mate. Well, actually, it felt like the videos that you sent me, mate, it looked like you were right by the coast getting splashed on. Do you know what? It was the most horrible challenge I've ever done in my life. And I thought it was going to be physically challenging. I thought it was going to be really difficult, which it was, like my feet hurt and my legs hurt by the end, and I was just like, Oh, give me to the end. But it was the weather, mate. Was the weather was I reckon 30, 40 mile an hour winds at the top of ditching bit of the devil's dyke, rain blowing sideways in your face for five and a half hours. If anybody wants to see the pictures of Ash, if you're watching this, there he is there. I'll put that on.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:25

I'm gonna do a little bit of a bit of a voice note to be fair.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:27

What did you have to do? What was the main challenge? So the main crux of it.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:31

So obviously, I joined the Vikings six weeks ago, and it's like a six-week tour. So you do things, you do movement, you do steps. Saturday. You don't get in the sea. Well, I stopped. Saturday morning, Saturday morning in the gym on Lansing Seafront, which you could actually come to because you live there. I don't do gyms. Um I reckon you'd go in the sea afterwards, though.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:49

I would go in it regardless.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:50

Yeah. Um, Saturday morning in the gym on the beach, um, six till seven. Then Sunday morning's like a two-hour hike. Uh, I think that's seven, half six, half six till like half eight, whenever it is. Uh, Monday nights normally like circuits, and then Tuesday we do like we have to do challenges, you have to do your 10,000 steps every day.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:09

You have to sound really good.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:11

Really good. It's it's really good, it's really helped me, and it's in a group of lads who are all want the best for each other. Um, so we did this challenge, and I knew that physically it was gonna be tough. The hardest thing was the mental, mental side of it. Like you couldn't see, I reckon, 25 metres in front of you from the fog and the rain. And I got to the first, I got to the first point, like a quarter of the way in at an hour and 15 minutes, and I thought, ah, I'm doing this, I can do this in five hours, four and a half, five hours. So then I had it in my head that I've got to do it in five hours, and then basically what it was, it was like a circuit. So it was from the car park at the bottom, up the hill, across the downs to Devil's Dyke to where all the restaurant and stuff is, back again, and then there and back again.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:56

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:57

Well, you imagine when you get back and you're already soggy, see your car, and you get back and you see your car and you can smell the bake and roll van. Yeah, and then you turn round and you go again. Yeah. It was so tempting to just say, nah, do you know what? I've done it once. I'm going, nah, nah, I'm going home. I'll be home in half hour, I'll be dry, I'll be warm. Nice bath. Nice bath, nice bacon roll, nice cup of coffee.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:22

To be fair, I did I when I when you sent me your message, mate, I s I I did think, oh my god. So glad I'm sitting on my side with the heating on, having a nice cup of tea in the bacon sandwich. Did you send him a picture? No, I wasn't that hard to be fair. I said I was I said I was proud of him. He said he was proud of me.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:38

Yeah, he said he was proud of me. But I nearly gave up, but I didn't. I said in my head, and the mental resilience, that inner bitch that we keep talking about, that inner bitch was like, Oh, why don't you just fake oh you've got blister mate coming? Why don't you just you can't do it anymore because you're blister? Why don't you accidentally fall over in the mud and just hurt your knee or something? Like the inner bitch in me was giving me every clean. Yeah, yeah, it's terrible, mate. Didn't realise it was that birth. It's terrible. Oh, honestly, all the time, all the time, it's just like, oh yeah, but you could, yeah, but Ash, you don't really want to do that today, do you? There is a rock there. I could fall over it.

SPEAKER_04 1:06:13

I could crack my head open on that rock, go to ALE and be there for four days.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:17

No one can see me. What about if I just run just go down there? I couldn't run. I tried to tap down some of the hills. The first first there and back, I managed to do it. But I just, yeah, I was I was mulred at the end of it. Like I did the London to Brighton a few years ago, and that was that was physically challenging, but that wasn't as bad as this. Wasn't as bad as this. Uneven surfaces and the hood, like I'm trying to hold had to hold my hood because the wind was so bad, and I'm just like soppy, wet through. Just but it was good, it was really good, and I'm really proud of myself to do it. And the support I have from the lads. One of the lads ran the whole thing, done it in like two. I was just starting my second, and he'd finished doing the whole thing like four times, the whole four legs.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:01

So, do you get your Viking badge once you go in the sea?

SPEAKER_02 1:07:04

Yeah, I think so. I think so. I think we've got to get in there. Oh, I know what Nathan Challenge is gonna be, then for you in the change. To be fair, like I've said, when it's 28 degrees and the sea's nice and calm, then I'll go and do it.

SPEAKER_04 1:07:18

Yeah, but then you'll have lots of poof open around because Southeast Water will open the floodgates and basically.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:22

Fortunate for you, Ash, there's a little sauna next to it called Seaside Sauna, 15% off on the closer app.

SPEAKER_04 1:07:28

Oh, really? Right on the sea.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:30

There is the challenge then use the closer up and go in the sea. They did it, um they did that on the week I was in the Isle of Wight, the second of last week before the thing they did, the sea and the sauna, yeah. But I wasn't here. But I'm gonna sign up again. I've told Dan already, I'm gonna sign up again to the next tour, the next six-week tour, and I'm gonna try and give it a bit more than 50%. Good on you. Well done, mate.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:52

Really good. That's more than I've done, so you've done well. Well done.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:55

And that's what I said, like, yeah, I only gave this tour 50%, but it's 50% more than I would have done. And it's what you said to me 50% more than I would have done if I hadn't done it.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:05

And it's been it's hard to get up at well, I have to leave my house at half five on a Saturday morning to get down to the get down to the thing, and then on a Sunday morning, I have to leave my house normally at six. And that's like the two days. I'm in work at seven every morning anyway. But it's like those two days where I'm like, oh god, I just it's so warm in here, and you open the blind up and you're like, Oh, I don't want to go out there, it's horrible. But it's done. Six weeks, I feel a lot better for it. And the challenge we did was the first hike of the tour, and I was a little bit ill, I had a chest infection, but I couldn't even get up the first hill. Like, I really, really struggled. So I feel that physically I feel better. Good.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:44

That's brilliant news.

SPEAKER_04 1:08:45

I feel better.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:46

That's a good opener to this bonus episode, isn't it?

SPEAKER_04 1:08:49

Yeah, no, it's I mean, I'm sitting here thinking I can't wait for this two weeks to be break to be over, to be fair, because all I've heard about is the being in the Vikings for the last six weeks. And now I'm doing it again.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:00

Yeah, I know, right? Well, I'm trying, and I'm trying.

SPEAKER_04 1:09:03

I'd waiting for him to come in with the horn hat on and like a proper outfit and everything. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:07

I'll do it next time I'll be a proper Viking.

SPEAKER_04 1:09:09

With a like a with a Nord Nordish accent as well.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:11

And one of them big horns blowing into for the opener.

SPEAKER_04 1:09:14

Yeah, yeah, that's that's first series of the next first episode of the next series. You've got to wear a hat with horns. You've got to have a proper horn to introduce it to and everything.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:24

Get it off TikTok shop. Sweet. What did you say you were gonna do, Chris? Um, well, what shall I do?

SPEAKER_04 1:09:31

Shall I start with what I didn't do or shall I start with what I didn't do? What you said, probably start with what you didn't do. Um well, all I've got written on the bottom of my list is getting the C.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:39

Yeah. Well that's for you, isn't it? But you didn't know you haven't done that. You didn't do that anyway.

SPEAKER_04 1:09:43

Well, I said I'd make it to the end of another month without drinking, and I have. Yeah. Good on you. So that's two months now. Um, and that is basically all I did. That's all you did? Yeah, I didn't order my son a new bed. I'm a bad dad.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:57

And you didn't send me one thing you were grateful for every day for some days.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:01

The money you saved on booze probably pays for the drink, didn't it?

SPEAKER_03 1:10:05

Well, I don't listen. Don't don't start digging me out on a podcast. I mean, I know you're a guest.

SPEAKER_04 1:10:10

Well, we are going to do that, isn't it? You have to dig ash out. That's that's it's just a big thing.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:15

Listen, you think you were the first one to I I did all mine this week hash. I did all mine, yes. All right.

SPEAKER_04 1:10:21

But no, uh so I was gonna buy my son a new bed because we got a 600 pound payment from Southeast Water because we didn't have water for a week. And then Southeast Water sent me a£598 bill. So the money for his bed just got swallowed up by the water bill again. So I'm not quite sure what's happened there, but um no, that is still on the cards. But he's quite awkward, my my little boy, my kid. He's four, but you're like, right, what do you want? Do you want this one or this one? He's like, yeah, I want that one. And then he goes, Oh, actually no, I want that one. And then he's like, I actually know I want one with a camp underneath it. Alright, well, let's look at these ones. Oh no, but actually I really like that one. It's like a proper bunk bed. And then he's like, Oh no, I want one that floats from the sky, because he saw something in like on Pinterest or whatever of someone making a bed that hangs in the ceiling. I'm like, what do you want? So yeah, so we haven't done that. We haven't done that. Um plus he was really poorly anyway, so kind of.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:13

And obviously, you've been busy building accelerate. Accelerate, yeah. Haven't you? How's that going?

SPEAKER_03 1:11:20

It's good, mate.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:21

Yeah? It's good. Is this getting out of me to be fair? Is this gonna be one of them times where you play yourself down because you don't want anybody to praise you for the hard work you've put in for the last six months?

SPEAKER_00 1:11:31

That's exactly what I do to any group. Yeah, but that's it keeps you humble, doesn't it? It does.

SPEAKER_04 1:11:35

Stay grounded, yeah. Um the fact I've got a Lamborghini outside, you know. No, I haven't, I haven't. Which one? Two of them, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's my driver's one in case I want to have a drink on the way home. Oh no, I don't drink. Um, yeah, awkward. Um no, it's good, it's good, mate. It's been really, really good. It's been very, very busy. Um but we I live on feedback and the feedback's been phenomenal. But you don't like the feedback.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:59

No, well it's been sort of.

SPEAKER_04 1:12:01

Yeah, because it's not just to me, is it? It's it's is about it's about the business, it's about what we're doing and how we're helping people, and that's why you want the feedback because it means that you're doing what you're hopefully trying to do. So yeah, it's good, mate. Week two so far. Um busy.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:16

And you're full, aren't you? You can't take on any more signups. Taking them more on at the moment, no. That's good.

SPEAKER_04 1:12:22

Good job. Yeah, that's good. It's got a big waiting list of about 100 people as well, which is fantastic. Yeah, you need another one of you, then don't you? Well, I need another two, to be quite honest. But do you know what there's only one of me, Nathan? There's only one of me. You don't want two in your life, honestly.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:36

You definitely would be, you definitely would have. But do you know what? You seem a lot happier, a lot more content. Because I I'm going to work, mate.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:12:46

It's amazing how much actually getting out of the house and going to work in an office that I can feel like is my workspace makes a difference to my mentality. You know, I feel like some days I sit there and I don't get anything done, but then when I look at the amount of work I've done, it's like, oh shit, did I do all that today? Um, but yeah, I I do love it actually, I must admit. I I was a bit sort of cautious and a bit worried that I was gonna not really like being on my own all day, but actually, I'm not on my own because I'm speaking to people constantly all day, that's what I do. Yeah. So it doesn't feel like that, yeah. Very social, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:21

Funny that being on social media. Is it, yeah? Yeah, it's funny that.

SPEAKER_04 1:13:25

It's actually quite a lonely place for a lot of people, actually, in social media.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:28

So I'm very lucky, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:13:30

Very, very lucky.

unknown 1:13:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:31

You're building a great community though, aren't you? You're building a great community.

SPEAKER_04 1:13:34

Yeah, we've got some believable people, to be fair already. I'm I'm not I'm not gonna I'm not gonna say I've got favourites or anything because you wouldn't do that, but uh it's uh there are there are some incredible people in there.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:48

Um just uh I was supposed to be structured and don't break it for five to seven days. Five out of seven. To be fair, you were quite structured because you didn't go to Spain.

SPEAKER_04 1:13:57

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think it's the only week that we've had a podcast where you haven't been away from at least one day.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:02

When this goes out, 22 minus seven, uh dunno, fifteen, fifteen days. When this goes out, fifteen days I'll be in Spain for ten days.

SPEAKER_04 1:14:13

Hence why Ash said to me, I think this is a good time to uh finish season for it. We could have carried on.

Kindness, Planning, Relationships: Daily Non‑Negotiables

SPEAKER_02 1:14:18

I'll go to Spain for a month carried on, and and I was supposed to sit in silence for 30 minutes. Well, I've still not done that. I slept in silence for 30 minutes. We'll do it now, really. Um Nate, as you've been roped into this episode, what is uh three things that you sort of live by daily structure that really helps you? Like three non-negotiables in your life.

SPEAKER_00 1:14:46

I think it comes down to different things. First thing is it sounds cheesy, be nice to everyone. I think live by that, it's such a simple thing. Just be nice, open door for people, say thank you, so you know, say say please, just be nice to people. I think that's a massive thing because not only does that make you feel good, it also makes others feel good. So straight away you make a difference to people's uh to people's worlds. Uh when it comes from a business sense, I'd say planning, planning's key, having a strategy ahead of every single day, so knowing exactly what's how what's coming up. I live by my Google Calendar, every single thing is logged in there, whether it's this podcast, whether it's a house viewing, whether it's you know picking the kids up, whatever it may be, everything is structured. So I live by a plan and strategy. And I think the last thing is probably um relationship building. I think relationships is is the is a key thing. So having key contacts in your life that can open new doors and potentially new projects. So that's three things that I live by. So but then that comes from the first thing. If you're nice people, the relationships will come naturally because that's who you are.

SPEAKER_04 1:15:46

Do you know what I think's really sad actually to pick to pick in one thing out of that is the fact that you have to apologize and say, Oh, it's a bit cheesy, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00 1:15:54

But yeah, you're right.

SPEAKER_04 1:15:57

It's sad that you have to do that, and everybody does it when actually you should be. I'm gonna swear here, I know we're not trying to swear, but you should be fucking proud of the fact that you want to be like that. You're right. It should be something you go, I am this person. I'm not cheesy, I'm I'm incredible because I want to help people. Do you know what I mean? It is such a sad fucking world we live in, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00 1:16:16

Yeah, yeah. You couldn't even feel that more nailed on.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:19

You apologize for being yourself, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:16:20

You apologise being nice, you apologize for being nice.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:23

Yeah, yeah. And a third thing I'd say the relationship side of things is is relationships are massive. Being an entrepreneur, being in a being a human can be very lonely at times. And I've always said this surround yourself with people and surround yourself with people that want to push you on.

SPEAKER_00 1:16:41

I've taken that on board loads, actually, and I've heard you say that not only to me lots, but also in your podcasts and when you do even your Instagrams and stuff. I've taken that on a lot from you. So that's me learning from you, is that you surround yourself by the people you're in. I think it's if you you know, with the five millionaires you say, you'll be one of them, whatever it is.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:58

Yeah, I think it's you're an average you're an average of the five people that you spend most of your time with.

SPEAKER_00 1:17:03

That's that's hit me hard, that is, and I I focus on that massively, and that's me learning from you.

SPEAKER_02 1:17:08

And it but it's so true, it's like if I if Oh, don't say that.

SPEAKER_03 1:17:12

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:17:13

Um, if you I mean, uh say this, if you if you hang around with five people who drink a lot, chances are you're gonna be the sixth. If you hang around with five people that work hard, chances are you're gonna be the sixth. If you hang around with five people that are shit out of fortnight, you're probably gonna be the sixth. Do you know what I mean? It's the same with everything, like everything in life. Yeah, yeah. Everything in life. You surround yourself with a load of um what they call line dancers, chances are you're gonna become a line dancer. Yeah, because that's the I surround myself with Vikings, and now I'm gonna be a Viking. Exactly that.

SPEAKER_00 1:17:48

No, I think that's saying that's that's hit me hard, that has, and that's something that I've played into my everyday life is knowing, do I want to put time into see this person for whatever reason it is, or should I put it more focused into see this person? Do you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_02 1:18:01

Yeah, I think and you can have different circles, you can have circles in your social life, and you can have circles in your business life, and you can have circles in like it's quite yeah, it's it's important to understand you haven't got to cut anybody off, but you've got to have people in your corner that are wanting the best for you, that want to push you forward. And I'm gonna say it again that's what's brilliant about the Vikings. There's no judgment there, there's no they're literally we're all doing it for the same reasons. We want to be better, we want to be fitter, we want to open up and speak to people. Like some of the people in there are struggling with with narcotics and things and life, and some people just generally enjoy it. There's no judgment there, there's no like we've just gotta be nicer to each other. The world would be such a better place, wouldn't it? If everybody just looked out for each other instead of trying to fuck each other, put each other down and stuff.

SPEAKER_00 1:18:57

So you could have done this better, you could have done that better. I think though, constructive criticism's good. It is, but some people try and pick the flaws of everything. Some people are very pessimistic on everything you do, and there's literally especially when you're rising.

SPEAKER_04 1:19:10

Yes, yeah, yes, when you're rising, there's there's so many people that want to just point out what you're doing wrong rather than what you're doing right.

SPEAKER_00 1:19:16

Yes, jealousy often is the key thing, isn't it? Jealous of what you're doing, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:19:21

It's um it's it's important as well to be you can be jealous, but be jealous to the point where you're jealous because but you're lying in your bed going, Oh, I wish I could be like that. Yeah, not oh he's a bit of a tit. I don't know why you're bothered doing that. Oh, look at him, yeah. Oh, look at him with his big house, look at him with his nice car, yes, because he worked for it, mate. Yeah, he didn't get given it, did he? Yeah. So yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:19:42

Right, well, we're gonna have to be quick here because this, you know, we're we're uh we're trying to paper over the crack of you not getting in the sea. So Yeah. You getting in the sea or what? Well, we'll see, won't we? We'll see if I get in the sea. When are you going there next? This weekend. Yeah, I think so. Saturday morning. Saturday morning. Saturday morning. What are you doing Saturday morning, Nathan? Watch him get. Do you want to see a trip to Lansing? I'm gonna watch him again. What's the weather like?

SPEAKER_00 1:20:07

I'll walk down from my house and watch it.

SPEAKER_04 1:20:08

I'll come down. I'll bring the I'll bring the Osmo. Oh no, see, it's a bit cloudy Saturday morning.

SPEAKER_00 1:20:13

There's a sauna on the stands.

SPEAKER_02 1:20:15

I'll bring I'll bring you some swing shorts, I'll get them dissolvable ones. We'll see. I'll see if the gym's on this week because it's the end of the tour, I don't know. I'll let you know. I'll text Dan. I'll let you know. Text Dan. Anyway, that's uh We don't do it, we don't need any challenges at Sou, do we? So you gotta work. No, we don't need any challenges. But I will do it, I'll get in the sea. Get in the sea in Spain. Do you know what? I wouldn't even get my mum's pool. That was like 12 degrees. But that's a bit different. But I will do in March because it's getting up now. Ring her every day. How warm's the pool? How warm's the pool? Can we get in it yet?

SPEAKER_04 1:20:49

Well, I don't know about you, mate, but I'm I'm feeling a bit emotional. Oh yeah, why? Season three's over.

SPEAKER_02 1:20:54

Season three's over, but that opens the door for season four. It does. Season four, business. More chats like the one in the previous episode that went out on Monday. Um I think it's really important. I think it's important to talk about business from the business, not the show reels, not the highlights.

SPEAKER_04 1:21:11

We could get Danny Dyer in, couldn't we? We could and talk about his caravan park.

Closing Reflections And Season Four Tease

SPEAKER_02 1:21:15

Talk about his caravan park. Yeah, um that would be quite funny. Who knows? Who knows? I've got some wicked guests that I can talk about with business because I'm in business. Um, Nathan's gonna help us out as well. So if you've got a business and you want to come on season four, get in touch because we're gonna be filming soon.

SPEAKER_04 1:21:31

Yeah, yeah. Not much move for me to say. I can't even speak. No, there's no point in speaking, is it? I don't know what that was a game out of mouth, but it wasn't speaking, was it? But thank you so much, guys, for uh watching, listening. Season three is now finished. Season three is a wrap-up. Officially, we said it last episode, but this is the official finish. This is the official finish of season three. If you've liked what you've listened to, if you like what you've watched, watch it again next season.

SPEAKER_02 1:21:59

Anyway, I'm I'm I'm giving up now. You just had a bit of my uh thank you, Nathan, for coming in. Thank you for blessing us with your presence. Welcome, and we look forward to seeing what happens with closure over the next six months. Thank you very much.

SPEAKER_04 1:22:12

And all in all honesty, I can't wait to download the app and go out for dinner. There's a few good spots. But no, thank you, mate. Appreciate your time. Thank you. All right, see you next month. Bye.