It's Not Over

Zanele Matome has experienced the highs and lows of entrepreneurship like few people I have ever met. She went from wininng mining tenders, living in a huge house with a butler to broke and back at her childhood home. But that didn't keep her down as you'll soon find out. ----Apple: https://apple.co/37gY2I6Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3E4wUbmGoogle: https://bit.ly/3KBQgqGWebsite: https://nicharalambous.com/its-not-over

Like many entrepreneurs, Chris Jones built his business off the back of a product that he developed to solve a problem that he had. As an American Football player, Chris noticed a gap in the market for durable catcher's gloves with extreme grip. He developed a glove, started to produce and sell it and eventually rolled that product into a distribution business with a partner who would ultimately put his business in a very precarious position. In a single meeting, his partner ended their relationship and took with it 70% of his revenue. In this episode, Chris and I discuss creating a product from scratch, finding partners, losing income and succeeding in the face of certain death. ----Subscribe to It's Not Over: Apple: https://apple.co/37gY2I6Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3E4wUbmGoogle: https://bit.ly/3KBQgqGWebsite: https://nicharalambous.com/its-not-over----Find Chris online, buy his book and follow his social accounts:Social media links: Instagram: @relentlesschrisjonesFacebook: @relentlesschrisjonesLinkedIn: @chrisjonesyycWebsites:https://www.relentlesschrisjones.com/https://www.eosworldwide.com/chris-jonesLink to Relentless AF on Amazon - Buy Relentless AF here

When his business eventually ended, it took with it his cofounder relationship, best mate and group of friends from high school. Jason Bagley's company, Firing Squad, started out as a project-based service business. But thanks to his ability to analyse the data, he pivoted to a more profitable product-based retainer model focused on email management. Unfortunately for Jason and his business partner, the data can only point you in the direction you need to go, the rest is up to you. Jason landed an enticing client who would mark the downfall of his company with late payment, all-consuming work and the promise of shiny silicon valley like growth and venture capital. Jason's story is one filled with resilience, recovery, and an unfortunate lack of focus as a single destructive client grew in scope but not in profit. ----Subscribe to this show: Apple: https://apple.co/37gY2I6Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3E4wUbmGoogle: https://bit.ly/3KBQgqGWebsite: https://nicharalambous.com/its-not-over----Find Jason online: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonbagley-copycheck/https://getcopycheck.com/

Hiten Keshav is an accountant who wanted desperately to strike out on his own and build a business despite his parents desperately wanting him to take a different path to their own.His first business opportunity was in an unfamiliar industry where he had no experience, no network and was burning through his hard-earned savings to survive.It's not often that I get to speak to someone who chose to shut down a business, but in this episode of It's Not Over, Hiten reveals the pains of failure and the critical lessons he learned that allowed him to build a better business the next time around.---- Apple: https://apple.co/37gY2I6Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3E4wUbmGoogle: https://bit.ly/3KBQgqGWebsite: https://nicharalambous.com/its-not-over----Follow Hiten: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hitenkeshave/https://www.theunconventionalca.org/

No matter how large your business is or how much experience you have leading, the threat of business death is always looming. When Mike Abel decided to pitch for the advertising business of the flailing retailer Edgars, he believed his agency could turn the retailer back into a profitable entity. Unfortunately, a change in leadership at his client lead to underhanded tactics, which threatened the survival of his business. Mike Abel is a business leader with strong opinions, deep experience and the talent to back up his words. In this episode of It's Not Over, Mike and I discuss pitching for business when you know you'll lose it, motivating a team that may lose their job and the morals and ethics of doing business with the right partners and clients. ----Apple: https://apple.co/37gY2I6Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3E4wUbmGoogle: https://bit.ly/3KBQgqGWebsite: https://nicharalambous.com/its-not-over----Connect with Mike: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-abel-39b53b12/https://twitter.com/abelmikehttps://www.instagram.com/mikeabel67/http://www.mcsaatchiabel.co.za/

At the start of his business, Fred Roed, like most founders, did everything in the business. Sales, Marketing, Creative Projects, Customer service and finances. But managing finances for a young business without the appropriate skill or aptitude can leave your business in dire straights. Unfortunately for Fred, this is exactly what happened with his company, World Wide Creative, in the early years. Luckily Fred had people around him who quickly helped him realise that he needed to focus on what he was good at and get the company's cash flow back on track. Fred Roed is a heavy chef in the entrepreneurial space, and this episode serves Michelin star business lesson after business lesson. ----Apple: https://apple.co/37gY2I6Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3E4wUbmGoogle: https://bit.ly/3KBQgqGWebsite: https://nicharalambous.com/its-not-over----Connect with Fredhttps://fredroed.comhttps://heavychef.orghttps://www.linkedin.com/in/fredroed/https://twitter.com/fredroed

Andy Higgins is the founder of bidorbuy. In this episode, we look back to the company's first near-death experience back in 2000 when the dot com bubble burst. Andy's story is a tech rollercoaster spanning two decades, 40 investors, a billion dollar pseudo-valuations, fast hiring and a slow but steady internet bubble bursting. The tech decline that Andy found himself in the middle of came with retrenchments, personal turmoil, a study break and a slow march towards profitability thanks to Google gaining traction and South Africa emerging from the Internet Dark Ages of the Internet when people were paying per minute to be online. ---SUBSCRIBE TO IT'S NOT OVER:Apple: https://apple.co/37gY2I6Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3E4wUbmGoogle: https://bit.ly/3KBQgqGWebsite: https://nicharalambous.com/its-not-overNewsletter: https://nicharalambous.com/newsletter---Find Andy and BoB online: https://www.bob.co.zahttps://www.linkedin.com/in/andyhigginsza/https://twitter.com/andyhza

Cesar Hasselmann is the man who introduced frozen Pizza to Brazil. But before that ever happened, he was just 13 years old when he accidentally started his first business with a school friend. When a DJ didn't pitch at their friend's birthday, Cesar went home, took his parent's gear to the party and started DJing.Within three years, he had a DJ business with three cars and six DJs hitting parties all weekend. This business didn't last as a fallout with his young business partner lead Cesar to his next business. Unfortunately, the good times didn't last in his next business either. Out of nowhere, The president of Brazil announced that he would be taking the savings from individuals and business bank accounts and with that move, Cesar's next business ended abruptly. An obsessive entrepreneur who appeared in commercials, tv shows, theatre and loves marketing, Cesar Hasselmann had experienced more before the age of 22 than most entrepreneurs do in their lives. ---SUBSCRIBE TO IT'S NOT OVER:Apple: https://apple.co/37gY2I6Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3E4wUbmGoogle: https://bit.ly/3KBQgqGWebsite: https://nicharalambous.com/its-not-over--- FIND CESAR ONLINE: https://cesarhasselmann.com/

When your biggest client, making up over 50% of your revenue and resource allocation, goes under, what would you do? Most CEOs would retrench staff, scale back and wait out the rough seas. This is not what Brett StClair did at his AI Business TerraFlow when one of South Africa's largest airline businesses liquidated. Brett and his cofounders chose to hold on to their talented team and double down on sales. They feared that if they let go of their best talent, their business would never recover. Brett managed to reduce his sales cycle from 18 months to 2 months through focus and attention to key parts of their sales pipeline.This is an incredible story of resilience and sales which overcame adversity. ---Apple: https://apple.co/37gY2I6Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3E4wUbmGoogle: https://bit.ly/3KBQgqGWebsite: https://nicharalambous.com/its-not-over---Find Brett on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brettastclair/Work at Teraflow.ai: https://www.teraflow.ai/our-recruitment-process/

What would you do if you received a Dear John email from your biggest client making up 60% of your revenue?This is exactly what Jonathan Elcock went through with his chatbot business Comparisure. He received an email from his biggest client cancelling their contract out of the blue and had to quickly move to survival mode overnight. In this episode, Jonathan and I talk about client relationships, finding problems worth solving and why the B2B business model isn't all it's cracked up to be. My name is Nic Haralambous, and I don't want to keep you waiting any longer, so remember, it's not over till it's over. ----SUBSCRIBE!Apple: https://apple.co/37gY2I6Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3E4wUbmGoogle: https://bit.ly/3KBQgqGWebsite: https://nicharalambous.com/its-not-over----Connect with Jonathan and Comparisure: Connect with Jonathan on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-elcock-507aaa14 Or visit the Comparisure webpage: https://www.comparisure.co.za/

How many near-death experiences can one business survive?My next guest is putting that question to the test!Jonathan Kropf decided to leave his successful corporate career when he jokingly suggested that a friend of his give him startup capital instead of investing it in an ice-cream business. Kropf took that million-rand investment and started Velocity Group fifteen years ago. The business turned a profit almost immediately and Kropf and his partners decided to expand into Africa through a single large client. As the profit rolled in, so too did his confidence and his hunger to start new businesses and continue to prove himself as a seasoned repeat entrepreneur. These distractions continued over the years and each one ended in a different disaster and new lesson for him and his business. Jonathan's story is one filled with determination, imposter syndrome and many repeated failures that led him to the successful business that he is now expanding globally. ---Subscribe to It's Not Over:Apple: https://apple.co/37gY2I6Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3E4wUbmGoogle: https://bit.ly/3KBQgqGWebsite: https://nicharalambous.com/its-not-over---Find Jonathan online: Company Socials and web:South Africa: Https://www.linkedin.com/company/velocity-group_2 UK & Europe: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/velocity-managed-serviceswww.velocitygroup.global Personal Social:Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathankropfTwitter: @cloudJkayInsta: @realjayk

After accidentally falling into the banking world, Gitanjali Trevorrow-Seymour likes to say that she accidentally fell out of it too when the department heads at her bank were all axed in one fell swoop. As her career in the banking sector ended, she was left wondering what she actually wanted to do with her life. After much reflection and consideration, she started a training and coaching company. A few years into the business, Gitanjali realised that having 80% of her revenue sitting with a single client was a mistake when over a single phone call, that relationship ended. She has spent the past few years rethinking how a time-based service business should charge clients and building a business that is not dependent on herself to grow. ----Apple: https://apple.co/37gY2I6Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3E4wUbmGoogle: https://bit.ly/3KBQgqGWebsite: https://nicharalambous.com/its-not-over----Find Gitanjali online: https://highdefinitionyou.com/https://www.linkedin.com/in/linkinwithgitanjali/

Innocente Burger left her comfortable job of 13 years to start a business. 7 weeks later, her husband died, and in the same year, she lost both her beloved dogs. How do you pick yourself and build a business when a multi-decade-long relationship crashes to an end? How do you motivate yourself to make a sale, to send an email, to put a proposal together or even just brush your teeth?In this episode, Innocente and I discuss the brutal situation she found herself in, and how she put herself back together and built a thriving business as a first-time entrepreneur. Find Innocente online: https://www.innocentewithane.com/https://www.linkedin.com/in/innocenteburger/

In an attempt to diversify a successful office equipment business, Ted Bradshaw ended up losing millions of dollars. He built a video game company that was beaten by the mobile gaming revolution, he built a home rental company that was beaten by a supplier who went bankrupt and invested in building a novel technology to produce a radioisotope called technium when he knew nothing about nuclear technology. Ted's story is one filled with a desperate need to build something innovative coupled with an entrepreneurial desire to prove himself and diversify his business skills and financial interests. The more Ted's business partners helped him diversify their core business, the further Ted found himself from the daily operations of the home office supply cash cow, which led to a nasty exit and a lifetime of business lessons.

Over ten years, Marina Byezhanova built her first business into a solid seven-figure business. Then in a single weekend, her revenue fell from seven figures to zero thanks to Covid restrictions and hiring freezes at all of her clients. There's nothing like a crisis to test your mettle as an entrepreneur but up to this point in her entrepreneurial journey, Marina had felt like a one-hit-wonder imposter. She and her business partner realised they had lost their love for their business, her staff had turned on her after cuts had to be made to keep the business afloat and in general, Marina says that she struggles to ask for help so her near-death business experience had compounded complexity. In this episode Marina and I discuss anxiety, tough conversations, being an immigrant entrepreneur, a mother, a CEO and pivoting towards success. ----Apple: https://apple.co/37gY2I6Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3E4wUbmGoogle: https://bit.ly/3KBQgqGWebsite: https://nicharalambous.com/its-not-over----Find Marina online: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bmarina/https://www.brandofaleader.com/

After taking on investment from Stripe, Josh Pigford realised he was running out of money in a matter of weeks and not months.What followed for Baremetrics was a period of salary cuts, general cost-cutting and a slow march towards break-even, stability and ultimately profitability.As a founder, Josh earned enough goodwill with his team that they didn't up and leave but instead stuck with him and helped move the company forward towards an exit.In this episode of It's Not Over, Josh and I discuss raising money when you aren't trying to, building a fully transparent software business, using content marketing to generate more income and how Josh convinced his investors to take a hit on their investment when they sold.----Apple: https://apple.co/37gY2I6Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3E4wUbmGoogle: https://bit.ly/3KBQgqGWebsite: https://nicharalambous.com/its-not-over----Josh's links:https://twitter.com/Shpigfordhttps://joshpigford.comhttps://maybe.co

Kay Shaytanov is the founder and owner of 3RC, an edutainment and training company that she has been operating for 21 years. What started out as a career in IT and a hopeful rockstar evolved into a business helping kids figure out their future. Over the past 21 years, Kay's business has grown and shrunk multiple times. She has survived corporate partnerships going under, she has survived retrenchments and most recently, the global COVID pandemic which has helped jettison her company into the future of edutainment for teenagers. Kay's story is one of grit and determination, of learning fast and failing faster and I can't wait for you to hear from her. ----SUBSCRIBE TO IT'S NOT OVER:Apple: https://apple.co/37gY2I6Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3E4wUbmGoogle: https://bit.ly/3KBQgqGWebsite: https://nicharalambous.com/its-not-overFollow Kay: www.3RC.co.zahttps://www.linkedin.com/in/kay-cheytanov-aab4769/ / https://www.instagram.com/kaycheytanov/https://www.facebook.com/3RCSA https://www.instagram.com/3rc_sa/ https://www.tiktok.com/@rockingfuture/ https://twitter.com/3RCSA

Phil Tillman is a corporate man turned entrepreneur – To him, this is proof that an entrepreneur can learn the skills and doesn't have to be “born that way”.Phil believes he sleep-walked through his first 35 years and only woke up to his real-life at the age of 35 when he started his first business.A single clause in his shareholder's agreement led to an unfortunate situation that cost him millions of dollars. He put his personal wealth on the line to save his business from the grip of a listed entity. In this episode of It's Not Over, Phil discusses his decision to get divorced and sell all of his assets to start a business which was nearly taken away from him at a ludicrously low price. ---- Subscribe to It's Not Over:Apple: https://apple.co/37gY2I6Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3E4wUbmGoogle: https://bit.ly/3KBQgqGWebsite: https://nicharalambous.com/its-not-over----Phil's links: Personalhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/philip-tillman-a514193/ Businesshttps://za.linkedin.com/company/surtech-solutionshttps://www.facebook.com/surtech1/https://mobile.twitter.com/surtechzahttps://www.instagram.com/surtech.life/?hl=enhttps://m.youtube.com/c/SurTechGroupofCompanies

On the way back from a party in London, Bridget Harris turned to her business partner and said: "I don't think we can do this". That bus ride home was the end of their survey app but not the end of their product-building journey.Bridget and her husband have launched, tested and shut down many products on their way to creating the wildly successful YouCanBookMe service, which is now a $5m a year business with over 20 000 customers and more than a million users.Her story is one of consistent building, iterating and failing in the hunt for real traction. In this episode of It's Not Over, I talk to Bridget about raising funding, working with your partner, viciously shutting down products with no traction and building a sustainable lifestyle company. ---Apple: https://apple.co/37gY2I6Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3E4wUbmGoogle: https://bit.ly/3KBQgqGVisit Youcanbookme now - https://youcanbook.me/

Stress can take many forms and destroy a person in a variety of different ways, for Kim Whitaker, that stress came at her from every angle and worked its way through her life. Kim was the Co-founder of Once Travel, Khwela Woman, and she founded Ubuntu Beds during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. In recent years, Her hotel business faced protests and riots, an impending drought, loadshedding, a difficult business partner relationship and finally the COVID 19 pandemic. In this episode of It's Not Over I talk to Kim about losing her teeth, being one of the first people in South Africa to get Covid, how she managed to sell a hotel business with no tourists and so much more. Subscribe to It's Not Over: Apple: https://apple.co/37gY2I6Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3E4wUbmGoogle: https://bit.ly/3KBQgqGWebsite: https://itsnotover.show---Follow Kim on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bravelykim/Kwela: https://khwela.org.za/

Did you know that profit margin is a choice? You don't have to earn the biggest possible net profit. You can choose to reinvest, you can choose to save, you can choose to reward your team consistently or make your prices more affordable. Margin is a choice!After attending a two week Harvard course Dave Duarte returned to his business energised and focused. Unfortunately, this focus directly lead to his first round of retrenchments and some extremely difficult times as his sales efforts failed to convert into paying clients.Dave Duarte is the founder of Treeshake, a social media agency focused on campaigns for change. His team works with purpose-driven leaders to build communities to solve the big issues of our day from poverty, climate change, public health, animal welfare, relevant education and more. Here's what else I learned from Dave in this episode:People rise to your level of expectation of themWe are living in a narrative economyDistilling your story will supercharge your salesHypergrowth isn't the only form of growth in businessIn this insightful conversation, Dave talks about living in a narrative economy, choosing the right profit margin for your business, how going all-in on his business actually nearly ended it and the different kinds of growth you can accept in your business.

This week I talk with serial entrepreneur, rocket scientist & explorer wannabe Ben Hirons. Ben and I discuss his broken business partnerships, the little secret he kept from his wife to keep his company afloat and the importance of brand position in the success of any business. Ben is one of the leading marketing minds in Australian business. Over the past 20 years, he has started and grown three successful businesses, researched over 1000 SMEs and studied the great marketers of our generation.Ben is Armed with a double degree in Business and Aerospace Engineering and has the hands-on experience that comes from being a serial entrepreneur.

What would you do if you discovered one of your biggest clients, accounting for 40% of your revenue, was using a project of yours to illegally funnel money to people? This is precisely what happened to Jonty Fisher and his advertising agency. What unfolded was a brutal period of cutbacks and rebuilding as Jonty and his partners worked to save their business and rebuild. As a classically trained business marketing strategist, Jonty has led strategic thinking and guided executional work across brands such as HEINEKEN, PepsiCo, Jack Daniel's, adidas Originals, KIA Motors, Hennessy and many other world-class brands. He is driven by a passion for human beings and all their gifts and quirks, and a deep curiosity for learning lessons from everything he does.In this week's episode, he shares his incredible story as we discuss how imposter syndrome affected his leadership, how he learned to bring his whole self to work with him and exactly what happens to your business when a client commits an illegal act unbeknownst to you in the middle. SUBSCRIBE TO IT'S NOT OVER NOW: Apple: https://apple.co/37gY2I6Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3E4wUbmGoogle: https://bit.ly/3KBQgqGWebsite: https://itsnotover.show

After explosive growth, Laura Roeder's business began to plateau, growth stagnated and then declined. The size of her team was not aligned with the lack of growth they began to experience. So she started to make significant changes that most founders just won't commit to.Laura began to consider the size of her team, the location of her startup and life, the kind of business outcome she was hunting for and everything else in her power to change.What unfolded is a riveting story of shifted startup perspective, grit and determination from an impressive founder you've probably never heard of but need to get to know.Laura was the founder and CEO of MeetEdgar and is now the founder and CEO of Paperbell. She has been an independent entrepreneur since the age of 22 and her story is going to shift the way you see your business.Subscribe to It's Not Over:Apple: https://apple.co/37gY2I6Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3E4wUbmGoogle: https://bit.ly/3KBQgqGWebsite: https://rss.com/podcasts/its-not-over/Find Paperbell online now: https://paperbell.com/

Why would anyone build a new business with the same team and same overheads from a recently failed business? Off the back of one failed business, my next guest decided to do just that and immediately started another business with massive overheads and not a client in sight. Unfortunately starting a business with massive overheads and no clients from day one is a lot more difficult even than it sounds. With funding from his family and friends and a plan to dig himself out of a hole, he started to build a new business. This is not a rag to riches story as he ended up burning $500 000 (R8m) working to save the company.Daniel Marcus is a lifelong entrepreneur and a co-founder of UK-based predictive analytics start-up Ramp.He built his first company at the age of 19, has seen his fair share of failures and has had 3 successful exits. I don't want to keep you waiting any longer, so remember, it's not over until it's over. Subscribe to It's Not Over: Apple: https://apple.co/37gY2I6Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3E4wUbmGoogle: https://bit.ly/3KBQgqGWebsite: https://rss.com/podcasts/its-not-over/Visit Ramp - https://rampgrowth.com/

Mike Sharman considers himself to be a creative and an entrepreneur. He used both of these traits to build a successful $1m social media agency called Retroviral, which is responsible for making more brands go viral than any other agency in Africa.After successfully launching and then scaling Retroviral, Mike sold a majority stake in the business to a large corporate. That's when the gaps in his financial knowledge started to affect his role as CEO, the stability of the acquisition and put the day to day running of the business into a precarious position.In this episode, Mike and I talk about his financial shortcomings, how he muddled through the acquisition and the impressive turnaround that followed.Buy Mike's new book - http://brandalismbook.com/Work with Retroviral - https://retroviral.co.za/Follow Mike on Twitter - @mikesharman

Vinny Lingham is a prolific entrepreneur who has built businesses spanning the globe and across various verticals including website builders, a gift card company and a decentralised identity verification platform on the blockchain.He is also an active investor, shark on shark tank South Africa, a dragon on Dragon's Den South Africa and an author.Vinny and I sit down to discuss his business Gyft which was dreamed up, built and sold in less than three years for more than $50m.We talk about Gyft paying $50 fees on $5 transactions and how introducing bitcoin payments pulled the company out from the depths of despair. Hold on to your headphones because this is a fast-paced episode!

Lauren Dallas is a Creator a Coach, an Educator, a Growth Marketer, a Hedonist and the CEO of Future Females. She has started 5 businesses and shut 3 of them down. In this episode Lauren talks about going broke, imposter syndrome, the realisation she cannot be a successful multi-tasking entrepreneur, how embracing her personal brand changed her business forever and how shrinking margins led to a breakdown that was the catalyst for her next business. Subscribe:Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/its-not-over/id1608333704Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3cix677zkpJ3FfnLgPuJc2Google: https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9tZWRpYS5yc3MuY29tL2l0cy1ub3Qtb3Zlci9mZWVkLnhtbA%3D%3DWebsite: itsnotover.showFind Lauren online: InstagramFuture Females

On the night of his 20th birthday, Rob Stokes decided to start his first business called Quirk. Named after his cat, sitting beside him that night.His entrepreneurial career is filled with grit, determination and lots of sacrifices that lead to various successes and a few wild stories of failure and near-death experiences.In this episode, Rob talks about eating only carrots for two straight weeks to save money so that his business could survive. He tells me about a financial director who faked ovarian cancer and stole from another one of his businesses and how one piece of paper thrown in a trash can kickstarted his entrepreneurial endeavours.

When her biggest client becomes her worst paying client the pressure mounted and my next guest had to dig deep to survive.Yvonne Wakefield is a lawyer who started Caveat legal, the Airbnb for lawyers, in 2011 as a way to provide affordable legal services to those who couldn't afford the biggest law firms in the world.Ironically it was an established, old-school law firm that almost sunk her company by holding back payments, spinning long stories and manipulating the truth.Yvonne has fought bad clients, burnout and an archaic establishment and thrived.

Building his online learning platform, 42 Courses, turned into the literal fight of his life when Chris Rawlinson was diagnosed with cancer.Chris used to build smart homes in London, fly planes commercially in Africa, make wine in Cape Town and looked after innovation for ad agencies Ogilvy and WPP.He survived his personal near-death experiences while his business boomed through lockdowns and talks to us about the impact that had on his startup, his personal life and his co-founder relationship as they were scaling the business.

Shawn Johal worked in his wife's growing family business until the tides turned and the listed company went bust.From the broken and bruised remnants of this business, he built a new business from the lessons learned the first time around.Shortly after growing, gaining ground, taking out loans and fighting for survival, his ex-employees launched a copy of his business. In this gripping episode of It's Not Over Shawn talks about his mental health, working with his family, learning from his father-in-law and rebuilding a better business after failure.----Subscribe to It's Not Over: www.nicharalambous.com/its-not-overBuy Shawn's new book: www.elevationleaders.com/Happy_Leader_Book

One day out of nowhere one of Ethan King's licensed partners tried to enforce the fine print of an agreement that had gone unnoticed and unenforced for years by the partner. This agreement and the fine print left Ethan and his business partner shocked and confused as they believed the relationship with the partner was profitable and amicable. Ethan is the next guest on It's Not Over and breaks down how he managed a broken partner relationship and horrific legal council to overcome a lawsuit that cost him sales, one of his top brands and many sleepless nights.

Sean Riley is the CEO of Ad Dynamo, the African advertising inventory behemoth. While fighting to stay alive, Sean was one month away from signing a deal with one of the largest social networks in the world.In this episode we cover sales tactics, the difficulty of business travel, personal sacrifice and how to scale a business to allow the founder to work on the business and not in the business.

Andrew Haeg is the founder of the mobile engagement platform GroundSource and co-founder of the Minneapolis news site Southwest Voices.Haeg is a crowdsourcing pioneer in the world of journalism, having worked for 20 years to help newsrooms more effectively engage their audiences but this experience wasn't enough to help him avoid a pivotal and potentially business-threatening event which we discuss in detail.In his pursuit of the freedom to call his own shots, he took on grant funding that dried up shortly after he started scaling his business.Haeg's attempt at blending non-profit and for-profit business is as exciting as it is gut-wrenching and the pain he has endured for his business is palpable.My name is Nic Haralambous and I won't keep you waiting any longer to hear from Andrew Haeg. So remember, It's not over until it's over.

Thin margins, a recession and the ego of youth can destroy any business. Howard Mann is a business turnaround expert but once toiled away in his own logistics company.In this episode I talk with Howard about firing clients, tough conversations with partners and staff as well as mental health, personal struggles relating to business struggles and a lot more.

The Daily Maverick is an important business. It's a bastion of objective journalism in South Africa, a country that battles evil politicians, rampant unemployment, systemic corruption and myriad other social, political and economic issues.Building a news organisation is no small task, especially in the age of social media, the duopoly of Google and Facebook trying to dictate how media organisations disseminate their news and make money from this news.In the first episode of my new show, It's Not Over, I spoke with Styli Charalambous who is the CEO and co-founder of The Daily Maverick.