Kit BarberOwner, Kit Coaching · Business Coach and Mentor

Your 'business' is just an expensive, stressful JOB!

24 Jul 2026 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

0:36

In this YouTube monologue, Kit Barber shares a personal story about running a high‑turnover, low‑margin business that depended entirely on his personal effort. He describes how every lead, follow‑up, and decision went through him, leading to a fragile operation that collapsed when he tried to take time off. A large tax bill highlighted the unsustainable profit margins, prompting the realization that if sales cease when the owner stops working, the venture isn’t a true business but an expensive, stressful job where the owner becomes his own worst boss.

Chapters

Every lead, every follow-up, every flipping decision, all of it ran through me. And when the system tried to take a few days off, guess what? Everyone felt it. I had a million-pound turnover business with the profit margin of a car boot sale. Then the taxman called, and it wasn't a great conversation. I owed them a lot of money, and I sat there staring at the wall wondering quite how it all went so wrong. That was the moment I understood if your sales stop when you stop, You haven't built yourself a business, you just built yourself a really expensive, very stressful job with the worst boss in the world, and that boss is