The Mentor Business Podcast — how business owners actually get paid. Profit, margin, pricing, and the pay nobody plans: yours.
If you run a business and it pays everyone before it pays you, you’re in the right place. You’ll leave knowing what your business should be paying you, what’s stopping it, and what to change this week.
I’m Dr Lewis Haydon — the Dr business owners call when the business pays everyone but them. I own and invest in businesses and sit on boards as a non-executive director. My doctorate (DBA, Aston University) researched what makes people who carry their own careers persist and get paid.
Evidence, not opinion. Every guest has either built it or life studied it. No gurus.
100+ episodes. New episodes every Tuesday.
Start here: lewishaydon.com
Dr Lewis Haydon | Mentor Business Podcast
Business and finance has a language — and confusion is expensive.
These are the terms that actually matter: revenue vs profit (turnover is vanity, profit is sanity), margin and break-even, cash flow (kills more businesses than bad ideas), assets vs liabilities, ROI and MRR.
Save this business and finance cheat sheet and send it to someone learning business 👇
Which term did you not know?
#businessandfinance #businessterms #finance #smallbusiness #entrepreneur
2 months ago | [YT] | 0
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Dr Lewis Haydon | Mentor Business Podcast
Sleep money — 30 ideas people charge £500 courses for, free 👇
The secret to sleep money isn't the idea, it's the match: pick the one that fits a skill you already have.
Digital products win on margin (90%+), subscriptions win on MRR, content wins on compounding.
Comment "SLEEP" and your skill and I'll point you at the right sleep money idea for you 👇
#sleepmoney #passiveincome #sidehustle #makemoneyonline #wealthbuilding
2 months ago | [YT] | 1
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Dr Lewis Haydon | Mentor Business Podcast
Sleep money — mine started at £9 a night and everyone laughed.
After building sleep money across 12 businesses, the real lessons: survive the flat part where ROI looks broken, chase MRR not one-off sales, fight churn before growth, and own the asset.
Sleep money is leverage, not magic — and it compounds for the ones who stay.
What's your sleep money goal? Comment 👇
#sleepmoney #passiveincome #financialfreedom #entrepreneur #wealthbuilding
2 months ago | [YT] | 0
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Dr Lewis Haydon | Mentor Business Podcast
Studying marketing won't make you money — the theory is fine, but the money lives in six numbers the textbooks rush past: CTA, CAC, LTV, conversion rate, channel ROI, margin.
If you're studying marketing right now, lock these in before anything else — LTV versus CAC is the equation the entire industry runs on.
Which term did you not know? Comment it below 👇
#studyingmarketing #marketing #marketingtips #smallbusiness #entrepreneur
2 months ago | [YT] | 0
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Dr Lewis Haydon | Mentor Business Podcast
Sleep money vs trading time for money — every payday you're selling hours you never get back.
Sleep money flips it: build an asset once, earn recurring revenue on repeat.
But learn the terms before you start: ROI is ugly early, margins decide which stream to pick (digital wins), and anyone selling you a "passive income system" is making sleep money from you.
Which sleep money stream would you start? Comment 👇
#sleepmoney #passiveincome #makemoneyonline #sidehustle #entrepreneur
2 months ago | [YT] | 0
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Dr Lewis Haydon | Mentor Business Podcast
Business plan — the 40-page version is stopping you getting paid. It feels like work while you earn nothing.
After 12 businesses, my business plan is one page and six numbers: value proposition, margin, break-even, LTV, CAC, net profit.
If your business plan doesn't tell you your break-even and whether LTV beats CAC, it's decoration.
Which number can't you answer? Comment 👇
#businessplan #smallbusiness #businesstips #entrepreneur #businessowner
2 months ago | [YT] | 0
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Dr Lewis Haydon | Mentor Business Podcast
By 25, nobody warns you that a salary gives you stability but never freedom.
The people who figure that out early start building differently — and these are the six things I wish I'd realised sooner: a salary is not security, learn one high-income skill, your network is your net worth, start before you feel ready, build something of your own, and play the long game.
The fourth one quietly separates the free from the stuck — because ready always comes after you start, never before.
What are you building outside your salary? Drop it below 👇
#business #careeradvice #financialfreedom #highincomeskills #entrepreneur
2 months ago | [YT] | 0
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Dr Lewis Haydon | Mentor Business Podcast
The best affiliate programmes don't pay you once they pay you every month, for years, from work you did once.
Most people chase the best affiliate programmes for a quick commission and miss the real money. Here's what actually separates them: real training, strong commission percentages (20–50% on digital), and above all recurring commission — refer once, earn monthly.
A good example of the best affiliate programmes is MentorBusiness.com, which pays 30% recurring, so you keep earning while members stay. That's the structure to look for.
Would you try affiliate income? Comment 👇
#bestaffiliateprogrammes #affiliatemarketing #passiveincome #makemoneyonline #sidehustle
2 months ago | [YT] | 0
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Dr Lewis Haydon | Mentor Business Podcast
How to build a startup isn't about building the product first, that's the mistake that kills most people before they start.
After 12 businesses, I've learned how to build a startup that survives comes down to six steps most people do backwards: find a problem not an idea, sell it before you build it, do it manually first, keep costs near zero, get real feedback, then build the system.
The third one — doing it by hand before you automate — is what saves you years of wasted work. Get how to build a startup right and it stops being a gamble.
What are you trying to build? Comment 👇
#howtobuildastartup #startup #entrepreneur #businesstips #foundersjourney
2 months ago | [YT] | 0
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Dr Lewis Haydon | Mentor Business Podcast
Investors for business, most founders think finding one is the hard part. I asked Jof Walters, who's made over 100 investments, and he says that's not it at all.
The truth about investors for business: traction beats any pitch deck, your first money usually comes from people who already know you, you should only ever raise what you need (never more than 20% a round), and your salary comes from sales — investment is for growth, not survival.
His most honest point? Sometimes the smartest move is to skip investors for business entirely and cash-flow it yourself.
Would you raise, or fund it yourself? Comment 👇
#investorsforbusiness #investment #startup #raisingcapital #businessowner
3 months ago | [YT] | 0
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