Building The Brand with James Burtt

How do you build a multi-million pound ecommerce brand without white-labelling, without forcing subscriptions, and without a big ad budget? Tariq Kazemi, co-founder of BLD BRO, did it by building a community before he had a product. What started as an Instagram page to change the narrative around hair loss has become a 7-figure skincare brand for bald men, stocked in their own warehouse, funded by the community that asked for it. Check our BLD BRO via https://bldbro.com/ This episode of Building The Brand goes beyond inspiration to break down how success is actually built. Want more from Building The Brand? Connect here: https://buildingthebrand.co.uk/newsletter In this tactical breakdown, Tariq reveals: How to build a brand community that validates your product before you manufacture (the 90% matte vs shiny test) Why BLD BRO refused to white-label and built a bespoke formula from scratch How to launch a DTC brand building strategy on a 1,000-unit self-funded first order The retention playbook: Why 50% repeat customers beats forced subscriptions How a £1K budget Christmas ad ended up being a high-performing TV campaign that drove direct attribution This is a masterclass in brand building strategy, how to build a community around an underserved niche, how to start a business uk the community-led way and business growth strategy for a physical product brand. Questions answered in this episode: How did Bald Bros build a community-led skincare brand? How a to validate a product idea with your audience before launching? How to build an ecommerce brand without paid advertising? What is a community to commerce strategy for DTC brands? Key Moments: 0:00 - Why This Bald Skincare Brand Became a 7-Figure Community 00:18 - How to Build a Brand From Community: The Bald Bros Origin Story 02:22 - From Hair Loss Anxiety to Brand Purpose: Tariq's 10-Year Journey 07:40 - Shaving His Head: The Moment That Built Bald Confidence 12:48 - The £8 Billion Hair Loss Industry Lie Every Founder Should Know 14:36 - Finding a Market Gap: Why No Skincare Existed for Bald Men 18:55 - App vs Physical Product: How to Choose Your First Business Idea 20:22 - How to Validate Your Product Idea With Your Community (The 90% Matte Test) 23:29 - Why We Didn't White Label: Building a Bespoke DTC Product 34:06 - Launch Day to Sold Out: How to Launch an Ecommerce Brand on 1,000 Units 47:31 - The Content Hire That Scaled Us: Hiring Jake Massey (Ex-LADbible) 53:01 - Bald Fest: How Community Events Build Brand Better Than Ads 57:36 - The £1K TV Advert That Drove Real Brand Awareness

How do you start an influencer marketing agency at 17 whilst battling stage three Hodgkin's lymphoma, scale it to 7-figures and sell it for millions by 24? Suhit Amin did exactly that. WATCH THE FULL PODCAST NOW ON YOUTUBE In this episode, host James Burtt sits down with Suhit Amin, founder of Saulderson Media, to deconstruct the tactical playbook behind building an influencer marketing agency from scratch, winning clients with cold outreach on LinkedIn, doubling revenue with the right advisor, and navigating the full M&A process to a multi-million pound exit to Journey Further. If you want to understand how to build an agency from scratch, how to sell your business in the UK, or how to turn cold outreach strategy into compounding revenue - this is your blueprint. In This Episode You'll Learn: How Suhit turned an MCN sub-network into a talent management business making £100k in 6 months at 16 The cold LinkedIn DM system he used when LinkedIn was quiet - and why manual reps beat automation early Why talent management evolves into an influencer marketing agency for higher margins and scale The exact M&A process: from teaser and information memorandum to 5 offers, due diligence, and the 24-hour wait for money to land Why he chose a lower multiple from Journey Further over a higher US offer and what founders get wrong about business brokers and valuation Connect with Suhit Aminhttps://www.suhitamin.com/ Want more from Building The Brand? Connect here:https://buildingthebrand.co.uk/newsletter Key Moments: 0:00 - Introduction: How a 17-Year-Old Built a 7-Figure Influencer Marketing Agency 02:31 - Why Starting a Business Young Was Suhit Amin's Unfair Advantage 04:11 - From Gaming Videos to 37K Subscribers: Learning YouTube MCNs and Sub-Networks 07:04 - Why Talent Management Beat Being a Creator: Spotting the MCN Decline 09:40 - How to Start an Influencer Marketing Agency From Scratch With 5 Clients 15:35 - Cold Outreach Strategy That Worked: Turning LinkedIn DMs Into Revenue 19:25 - Consistency & Manual Reps: Why Volume Beats Automation When Starting Out 31:47 - Thinking Like a Founder: Why He Always Planned to Sell His First Business 37:18 - Doubling Revenue in 12 Months: How Advisor Simon Penson Restructured the Agency for Sale 44:15 - How to Sell Your Business: The Full M&A Process, Due Diligence & Keeping It Secret 53:54 - Choosing the Right Buyer: Why He Took a Lower Offer From Journey Further 01:04:03 - What Happens When the Money Lands: Telling the Team and Calling His Parents 01:26:14 - Battling Stage Three Hodgkin's Lymphoma at 16 While Starting a Business 01:36:26 - How Cancer Changed His View on Business, Risk and Resilience In this show we answer: What is this episode about? This episode of Building The Brand features Suhit Amin explaining how he built and sold a 7-figure influencer marketing agency (Saulderson Media) before age 25, detailing his cold outreach on LinkedIn, transition from talent management to influencer marketing, and the step-by-step process to sell a business including valuation, buyer outreach, and due diligence. Who is Suhit Amin? Suhit Amin is a UK entrepreneur who founded influencer marketing agency Saulderson Media at 17, scaled it to over £100k revenue in six months, doubled revenue with consultancy Scaled, and achieved a multi-million pound exit to Journey Further - all after undergoing chemotherapy for Hodgkin's lymphoma at age 16. How did Suhit Amin get clients for his influencer marketing agency? He used cold outreach on LinkedIn, identifying brands working with similar creators, connecting with marketing managers, and moving conversations from DMs to calls. He posted daily when LinkedIn was unsaturated and treated outreach like volume-based reps to learn what messaging converts.

How do you build a business from scratch with no assets, no backing and no safety net - twice? In this episode of Building The Brand, Andrew Coulson shares his brutal, tactical business failure story and comeback. From packing sandwiches at 8 years old after his father’s breakdown, to walking out of school at 15 to become a commodity trader, to building a design agency to 45 staff by age 25 - and then losing it all when his bank pulled a £2.5m overdraft days before a £15M deal. This is not a motivational story. It’s a playbook on how to rebuild after business failure, start again with nothing, and build a second business from his mum’s kitchen table. Want more from Building The Brand? Connect here: https://buildingthebrand.co.uk/newsletter Check out the very delicious Novo via https://novosnacks.com/ IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL LEARN: → How to start a business with no money or qualifications - and why sales skill beats credentials → The scaling mistake that nearly killed a 45-person packaging design business → Why a £15M reverse takeover collapsed: the overdraft trap every UK founder must understand → What to do when you have no assets: how Andrew rebuilt from zero after losing everything → The gym floor strategy: how rescuing a failing gym rebuilt his momentum and network → How he became Head Judge for UK bodybuilding in 9 months - and spotted a gap in the market → How he built one of the first online coaching businesses (Body Coaches) - pre-Instagram, pre-OnlyFans - using video + subscription Key Moments: 0:00 How do you build a business from scratch with no assets? Trailer 01:08 Who is Andrew Coulson? From packing sandwiches at 8 after his father's breakdown 02:45 How to start a business with no qualifications? Becoming a commodity trader at 15 05:30 How he scaled a packaging design business to 45 staff by 25 - then lost a £15M deal 07:40 Why did a £15M reverse takeover collapse a week before completion? 09:55 What happens when the bank pulls your overdraft? 12:30 How to rebuild after business failure with no money? Penny shares and the satellite dish edge 15:10 Sleeping on his mum's floor at 28: Starting again from the kitchen table 18:40 Why rescuing a failing gym was his best business move 23:15 How to become a UK authority fast: Becoming Head Judge for UK bodybuilding in 9 months 28:40 How to build an online coaching business from scratch? The first video subscription platform (Body Coaches) 33:00 How was the world's first protein crisp invented? The birth of Novo Nutrition 46:05 Novo vs Walkers: Can a challenger brand beat the UK's biggest crisp brands? 51:30 How to get into Tesco and Asda? The 72-hour packaging ultimatum that saved the product 59:01 Is work-life balance a myth for entrepreneurs? The obsession behind building a brand 1:06:20 The true cost of success: Family, burnout and is the juice worth the squeeze? 1:19:50 Legacy over money: Why he's still chasing Tesco after 14 years

Can being £24,000 in debt become the foundation for building one of the UK’s fastest-growing personal finance brands? Sammie Ellard-King is the founder of Up The Gains, a UK personal finance platform built around helping Britain get financially fit, and the founder of Gains App - a money management and fintech app designed to make budgeting, spending, cashback and everyday financial decisions simpler. Connect with Sammie: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sammieellardking/ Want more from Building The Brand? Connect here:https://buildingthebrand.co.uk/newsletter In this episode of Building The Brand, Sammie explains how authenticity transformed his content strategy, why talking openly about his £24,000 debt sent social media views from thousands into the millions and how he built Up The Gains by making complicated financial education simple, relatable and entertaining. He also breaks down the transition from content creator to fintech founder, including why the rise of AI made him question the long-term value of a founder-led media business and why he decided he needed to build a product that could exist without his personal brand. KEY MOMENTS: 0:00 — From £24,000 debt to becoming a UK personal finance educator 03:00 — The psychology of overspending and trying to impress people 06:17 — The simple retirement calculation that changed his relationship with money 09:36 — Ronnie Scott’s, entrepreneurship and growing up around business uncertainty 16:17 — Becoming Head of Marketing at 24 while struggling with debt 22:06 — How GameStop and a WhatsApp group helped create Up The Gains 29:10 — Building a side hustle around a full-time job 35:20 — How personal storytelling turned thousands of views into millions 39:56 — Founder burnout: why eight productive hours can beat sixteen 43:40 — Why Sammie chose to build a fintech app instead of staying a content creator 47:55 — AI, personal brands and the risk of building a business around your own face 51:00 — How Gains App combines budgeting, bank accounts, cashback and AI 58:43 — Reaching 10,000 users in around two and a half months 1:00:04 — How a 13,000-person waitlist converted more than 7,500 users 1:05:04 — Freemium pricing, fintech economics and building towards profitability 1:09:24 — Choosing co-founders, organic growth and scaling customer acquisition 1:15:34 — The reality of launching a startup, delays, burnout and founder pressure

Can going viral actually grow your business… or are most brands chasing attention without knowing what to do with it? Joel Macadar is the founder of 8original, a multi-award-winning social media agency that has generated more than half a billion organic views in the last 12 months. In this episode of Building The Brand, Joel breaks down the social media strategy behind viral content, organic growth, TikTok marketing, Instagram content and turning online attention into real commercial results. Connect with Joel Macadar:https://www.linkedin.com/in/joelmacadar/ Want more from Building The Brand? Connect here:https://buildingthebrand.co.uk/newsletter He explains why brands destroy potentially successful content by over-controlling the creative process, how the “road to beige” turns social-first ideas into forgettable adverts and why 8original operates a post-first, feedback-afterwards model designed around speed rather than endless approval processes. Joel also reveals why shares can be more valuable than likes or views, how his team connects TikTok virality with high-intent Google searches and why understanding the psychology behind a social media trend is far more powerful than simply copying whatever is currently going viral. Plus, the changing relationship between football, creators and traditional media - including Baller League, Cristiano Ronaldo, Erling Haaland and the rise of live, behind-the-scenes social content at major sporting events. KEY MOMENTS: 0:00 — Social media strategy in 2026: what brands are getting wrong 02:17 — How to turn viral social media attention into revenue 07:23 — The “road to beige” that destroys great social content 09:23 — Why 8original posts first and gets client feedback afterwards 12:25 — Why shares can matter more than likes and views 16:28 — How TikTok virality can drive high-intent Google searches 23:26 — How to spot social media trends before competitors 40:02 — From football agent to building a social media agency 46:15 — Why live sports content is changing football media 54:38 — Baller League, content distribution and the power of speed 1:03:54 — Cristiano Ronaldo vs Erling Haaland: personal brand strategy 1:13:43 — How AI will change social media marketing 1:19:22 — Using ChatGPT and Claude for content creation and marketing 1:23:43 — How Push Play uses AI to automate content repurposing 1:27:16 — Scaling a founder-led agency by learning to step back