Your Business Won't Scale While It Still Depends on You: Andrew Hulbert

Download your FREE Start, Grow, Scale Roadmap in under 30 seconds: ROADMAP What does it really take to build a company that no longer needs you? Andrew Hulbert reveals how he went from starting in his bedroom to £50 million in turnover, more than 500 employees and an £100 million exit, and why the hardest part was learning to stop being the centre of everything! Andrew Hulbert is an entrepreneur who built and exited a property services business over ten years. After growing the company through major contracts with brands including Bulgari Hotel, Yahoo!, Twitter, Candy Crush and London Zoo, he invested £1 million into a new leadership team, stepped away from the day-to-day operation and sold the business in November 2023. He explains: Why working harder eventually becomes the very thing stopping your business from scaling How one trusted relationship helped him win his first major contract and create unstoppable momentum Why he invested £1 million into leadership, temporarily flattened profit and built a company that could run without him Chapters 00:00:00 Intro 00:00:26 Who Is Andrew Hulbert? 00:01:26 The Superpower Behind His Success 00:03:48 Where His Determination Came From 00:07:06 From Intern To Operations Director 00:08:18 How To Become Indispensable At Work 00:10:45 His Advice For Young People Starting Their Careers 00:12:19 Why Networking Still Beats Selling 00:13:51 Build The Room You Want To Be In 00:15:15 The Moment He Decided To Start His Own Business 00:18:05 How He Reached A £1.5M Run Rate In Year One 00:19:12 The Truth About "Starting With Nothing" 00:20:06 Finding The First Customer Who Changes Everything 00:21:58 How One Contract Created Momentum 00:22:36 The Deal That Grew The Business 300% In One Day 00:24:25 The Biggest Challenges In The Early Years 00:25:37 What To Do When Clients Say You're Too Small 00:27:47 How To Make Rejection Irrelevant 00:28:55 Why Every Business Needs A Memorable Hook 00:30:11 How Donuts Helped Win Major Clients 00:32:06 Why Sales Is About Thoughtfulness 00:34:26 Ads 00:35:12 When Andrew Started Planning His Exit 00:36:12 Building A Leadership Team That Could Replace Him 00:36:47 Why He Accepted Flat EBITDA To Scale 00:38:12 The Moment The Business Stopped Depending On Him 00:39:16 Selling The Business In Four Weeks 00:39:54 How His Team Shared £15M From The Exit 00:41:48 Why None Of His Senior Leaders Left 00:44:29 The Reality Of Working 100-Hour Weeks 00:46:49 The Personal Cost Of Building The Business 00:47:38 How Much Is Enough? 00:48:14 How Founders Can Start Replacing Themselves 00:49:46 The Warning Signs Of Burnout 00:50:44 Andrew's Three Rules For Entrepreneurs 00:53:28 Quick Fire: Strategy, Brand, Marketing, Sales And Operations 00:54:29 How To Build Authority Through The Media 00:55:10 Find Your Donuts 00:55:47 Treat People How They Want To Be Treated 00:57:19 Build Processes Before You Need Them 00:58:36 Where To Find Andrew Follow Adam Stott's Socials: LinkedIn | Instagram | YouTube | Coaching Subscribe for more Podcasts like this one! Andrew Hulbert: Instagram: Andrew Hulbert LinkedIn: Andrew Hulbert Even More Value: Download your FREE Start, Grow, Scale Roadmap in under 30 seconds: ROADMAP Learn how to build a 7 Figure SCALE plan that runs WITHOUT you: SCALE UP Get Adam's tell-all book about building Million Pound Success: BOOK