Once the UK’s biggest strip club operator, Matt Haycox was bankrupt by 28. Since bouncing back he has gone on to invest over £500m in UK businesses and help other business owners avoid his prior mistakes.

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Guest Resources

Matt-Haycox.com – Entrepreneur, Investor, Mentor, & Philanthropist – check out Matt’s website!

3 Value Bombs

1) You could have sat on the couch and wallowed in self-pity and talked about what could have been – or you could have gone out and gone back to work to make something happen.

2) Lenders want a personal guarantee, so they want to understand what your personal credit profile looks like. More importantly, even if they don’t want a guarantee, they want to see how you operate as an individual because that will dictate how you operate as a business owner.

3) Worst case scenario is you’re going to be getting robbed in some way from an unscrupulous finance director or business partner or someone who has got more knowledge than you.

Sponsors

Shopify: The platform that simplifies selling online and in-person! Sign up for a $1-per-month trial period at Shopify.com/onfire!

HubSpot: HubSpot’s all-in-one CRM helps you automate tedious tasks, keep track of all your deals in one place, and make sure your whole team has access to the same data. Get started for free at HubSpot.com!

Show Notes

**Click the time stamp to jump directly to that point in the episode.

Today’s Audio MASTERCLASS: From Boobs to Bankruptcy to Billionaires

[1:07] – Matt shares something that he believes about becoming successful that most people disagree with.

• You can’t be successful unless you are happy.

[2:12] – Matt’s origin story.

• At 10-11 years old, he was reading biographies of other entrepreneurs and business owners.
• He tried to sell NatalieImbruglia.com with the hopes of making millions, but was accused of blackmailing by Natalie’s PR team. It ended up being sold for £500. He only bought it for £2.

[6:15] – Many people would look at the strip club industry as unsavory, to say the least. What made you enter this vertical?

• When his dad gave the company to him, he fired everybody except the person who had done nothing wrong.
• He effectively cut his teeth in learning how to rebuild the business
• The reason they weren’t making big money is because it was very difficult to make money from only selling liquor.

[10:17] – Bankruptcy can be traumatizing. How did Matt recover from bankruptcy?

• He got introduced to a finance broker who showed him how to get a loan on his air conditioning.
• Over the course of four or five years, he raised literally tens of millions of pounds, but he was completely over-leveraged and didn’t appreciate it at the time.
• The credit crunch started – all these lenders had started to close their doors and they didn’t want to lend to anyone
• The multi-millionaire woke up the next morning in a house with negative equity, with no business, with no income, a wife and a one-year-old.
• You could have sat on the couch and wallowed in self-pity and talked about what could have been – or you could have gone out and gone back to work to make something happen.

[17:59] – A timeout to thank our sponsors!

• Shopify: The platform that simplifies selling online and in-person! Sign up for a $1-per-month trial period at Shopify.com/onfire!
• HubSpot: HubSpot’s all-in-one CRM helps you automate tedious tasks, keep track of all your deals in one place, and make sure your whole team has access to the same data. Get started for free at HubSpot.com!

[20:51] – Shifting to the business of providing business loans… what are the common problems that we see with business borrowers?

• Most business borrowers don’t have clear information ready and available to them
• Worst case scenario is you’re going to be getting robbed in some way from an unscrupulous finance director or business partner or someone who has got more knowledge than you.
• You need to understand your personal credit profile, and you need to work on it if it’s bad.

[27:22] – Matt’s key takeaway and call to action.

• It is important to have a a mentor or someone you can absorb information from.
• Matt-Haycox.com – Entrepreneur, Investor, Mentor, & Philanthropist – check out Matt’s website!

[29:29] – Thank you to our Sponsors!

• Shopify: The platform that simplifies selling online and in-person! Sign up for a $1-per-month trial period at Shopify.com/onfire!
• HubSpot: HubSpot’s all-in-one CRM helps you automate tedious tasks, keep track of all your deals in one place, and make sure your whole team has access to the same data. Get started for free at HubSpot.com!

Killer Resources!

1) The Common Path to Uncommon Success: JLD’s 1st traditionally published book! Over 3000 interviews with the world’s most successful Entrepreneurs compiled into a 17-step roadmap to financial freedom and fulfillment!

2) Free Podcast Course: Learn from JLD how to create and launch your podcast!

3) Podcasters’ Paradise: The #1 podcasting community in the world!

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