Betting on The Business You Don't Have Yet - Ep 91

One of us just doubled his floor space after six flat months. The other is about to move into a warehouse five times bigger than the one he's bursting out of, and his best metric is about to drop through the floor. Episode 91 opens with the wins. Charlie has the keys to the unit next door, completed at 5pm on a Friday and moved in on the Monday, with three months rent free and 87 days for the new space to start paying its way. Matt's business made page three of the Manchester Evening News on the day the Holland's Country Clothing store opened, and one reader drove straight over because he used to do the milk round with Matt's grandfather. Then the number that frames the whole episode. Matt's warehouse turns over £5,429.60 per square foot. Move into the new building with the same revenue and it falls to £1,085.92. Charlie runs the sum on his own unit and doesn't love the answer. The British Business Fact of the Week is James Dyson's 5,127 prototypes, and there's a proper look at leasing versus buying, why agents say nobody is buying commercial property right now, and the question Charlie's accountant asked before he signed. Claude's Question of the Week asks how you make peace with signing for the person you intend to become. Matt has made a bet like this before and it didn't go to plan. Charlie explains the reason he won't settle for staying small, and it isn't the one you'd expect. 📊 Revenue per square foot shows how hard your space is working, and a move resets it overnight 🧠 More space isn't a reward for doing well, it's a statement of what you intend to build 🎯 Give new space a deadline to pay for itself, Charlie's is 87 days 💷 Buying ties up cash that could be fuelling growth, leasing keeps it working for you 🚩 Know your worst case before you sign, the size of the gamble is relative to the size of the business 00:00 Intro 00:27 Sixteen degrees in the cold plunge 01:28 Nobody buys a waterproof until it rains 02:19 A flat September that's actually a win 03:17 Andy's afternoon rave 07:10 The new starter who spotted a missing KPI 07:52 Do you get complacent when it's going well? 08:35 Episode 91, Win of the Week first 09:42 Charlie's win: the keys to the unit next door 12:04 Grow through the pain 14:07 Nine months to buy a warehouse 15:25 Matt's win: from Buxton to page three 19:40 Doing the milk round with Malcolm 20:46 There's always one 22:51 Revenue per square foot 24:24 £5,429 per square foot, and what happens next 26:26 Betting on the Business You Don't Have Yet 28:34 British Business Fact of the Week: 5,127 prototypes 29:28 Do you believe that much? 31:27 Signing before you need the space 32:45 87 days to pay for itself 35:04 Charlie's next unit, already 36:00 Burning the boats 39:09 The slow road to a million 42:00 Lease or buy? 43:16 What the accountant asked 46:02 Same floor space, 20 times the revenue 49:18 Should the warehouse have an outlet? 52:47 240 subscribers and counting 53:16 Signing before the growth arrives 55:11 An office overlooking an empty warehouse 57:39 Why footwear eats warehouse space 59:00 Claude's Question of the Week 1:00:49 The lease that didn't work 1:02:41 The gamble is relative to your size 1:04:31 Pace, and not working like this at 46 1:05:51 Five stars on Shopify Follow Matt: 📸 Instagram -   / mrmattholland   👨‍💻 LinkedIn -   / mrmattholland   📱 TikTok -   / mrmattholland   ❌ X - https://x.com/mrmattholland1 Follow Charlie: 📸 Instagram -   / theworkwearexpert   👨‍💻 LinkedIn -   / charlie-smith-1a55295b