Life of an Entrepreneur: Recent Episodes
Shan Hanif
My name is Shan Hanif and I help people become entrepreneurs through my company Genflow. This podcast is not your normal self help, motivation, business advice so if you are looking for that then this is NOT for you.
This is a real life, raw, actual breakdown of what my life is like running a growing business, what I do each day, how I push forwards, deal with problems, hire and fire people, build huge brands, help other people achieve their goals so if your looking to start your own business, are a founder or work at a fast growth company you will like what I have to say. Thanks!
In this video, I cover the essential qualities that are needed for business success and the key attributes required to thrive in the competitive world of entrepreneurship. Understanding and implementing these qualities can set you on the right track.
In this video, I discuss does fully remote work within the business landscape. Can a business truly grow while operating entirely remotely? Discover insightful perspectives on growth, productivity, and team dynamics, and gain valuable insights into the potential of this modern work approach.
Things You Need To Know Before Seeking Investment For Your Business. If you're an entrepreneur with big dreams of securing investment, this video is a must-watch. I'll be sharing essential insights into the world of business investment and understanding different funding options. Whether you're a startup or looking to scale, these tips will set you on the path to investment success.
In this video, I'm sharing a PROVEN strategy that guarantees success in winning over clients every single time. Whether you're in sales, freelancing, or running your own business, mastering client relationships is crucial. I'll walk you through practical steps and actionable tips that have worked wonders for me. You will learn how to create lasting impressions and secure clients with confidence. If you're ready to elevate your client interaction game, don't miss out on this.
I firmly believe that building a dedicated audience offers far more than traditional university. In this video, I explore how connecting, engaging, and sharing experiences with your audience can provide practical skills, networking opportunities, and personal growth that rival or even surpass the conventional classroom setting. Discover why investing your time in community-building can lead to unparalleled learning and self-discovery. Now is the best opportunity to build an audience - do not miss out.
In this video, I'm diving into why Building an Audience Is Better Than University." 🎓📈 If you've ever wondered where the real game-changing opportunity lies in today's world, this video is for you: "Why NOW Is the Time to Build Your Audience." 🚀🎥
In this video, I will be telling you the exact skill you need to be successful in business.
I reveal the number one reason why people fail in business, and trust me, you'll want to avoid this at all costs! As an experienced entrepreneur, I've seen it happen time and time again, and I'm here to share my insights with you. Join me as I break down the critical factors that can make or break your success in the business world
In this video, I'm sharing my personal journey and the truth behind running an agency business. I discuss the challenges, triumphs, and lessons learned from my experiences in the agency world. Whether you're an experienced entrepreneur or curious about agency operations, this video offers valuable insights and practical tips to help you navigate the ups and downs of this industry.
If you've ever wondered which business is the best fit for you, E-commerce, Agency, or SaaS – then this video is a must-watch. As an entrepreneur who has experienced the ins and outs of these industries, I'm excited to share my insights with you. I will tell you the pros and cons of each business model, the potential, and the unique challenges they present.
Today's video is all about the power of a strong marriage and how it can fuel success in ANY business venture. As an entrepreneur myself, I've experienced firsthand the positive impact of a supportive partner by my side. I'll share personal stories and insights on how an understanding and communicative relationship can provide the foundation for triumph in both business and life.
In this video, I share my best tips on how to attract and hire the TOP 1% talent for your business. As a business owner myself, I understand how crucial it is to have exceptional individuals on your team. I'll share proven strategies for identifying top-tier candidates and creating an enticing work culture that draws in the best of the best.
I'm excited to share my personal insights on how to trust your business idea and turn it into a thriving success. Starting a business can be daunting, but by following some key principles and trusting your instincts, you can make your idea a reality. I'll guide you through the process of validating your idea, embracing failure as a stepping stone, and staying committed to your vision.
In this video, I open up about the 5 critical mistakes I made while building my business to a $100M. Join me as I reflect on the challenges, setbacks, and valuable lessons I encountered along the way. I share the hurdles I faced and the strategies I implemented to overcome them. This video is packed with invaluable advice to help you avoid similar situations and achieve your own success.
Starting a new venture can be both exhilarating and nerve wracking, but with the right strategies, you can increase your chances of making it work. Join me as I discuss proven techniques for validating your business idea, conducting market research, analyzing competition, and identifying your target audience. I'll also reveal essential tips for mitigating risks and adapting your concept to changing market dynamics.
Is raising money for your business really worth it? I'll share my personal experiences and insights on the pros and cons of seeking external funding having managed to raise over $11M for my company. We'll explore the various options available and the potential impact on your business's growth and ownership.
In this video, I'll be sharing a common mistake that many aspiring entrepreneurs make when starting their own agency business. Whether you're a seasoned business owner or just starting out, this video is a must-watch for anyone looking to build a thriving agency business. Don't let this mistake hinder your success—tune in now and set yourself up for agency success!
Unlocking the secrets that determine whether your business is growing or stagnating, in this video, I will provide you with valuable insights and actionable strategies to take your business to new heights. Discovering the formula to gauge your business's growth is crucial for all aspiring entrepreneurs, business owners, and anyone interested in success.
In this video, I reveal the secrets to monetising your social media following and turning your passion into cash. Join me as I share practical strategies, tips, and insider knowledge on how to leverage your online presence to generate income. Get ready to unlock the potential of your social media platform and start making money today.
How To Know If You Are Ready To Start A Business!? In this video I answer the question of how to determine if you're truly ready to start your own business. I share valuable insights, self-reflection exercises, and key indicators that will help you assess your readiness for this exciting venture. Get ready to gain clarity and make informed decisions on your entrepreneurial journey.
Discover the untold truth behind why people hesitate to start their own businesses in this thought-provoking video. Join me as we uncover the fears and misconceptions that prevent individuals from pursuing their entrepreneurial dreams. If you've ever wondered what holds you back, this video has the answers you've been searching for.
Six, seven or eight-figure businesses, what actually makes them different? In this video, I explain the characteristics that set these businesses apart and the importance of knowing what this means.
Do you really need a team to start your business? Many aspiring entrepreneurs find themselves caught in a dilemma - should they go solo or assemble a team from the outset? Starting a business is an exciting journey, filled with opportunities and challenges. Discover whether a team or solo entrepreneur path aligns better with your goals, personality, and available resources.
This is a repost of episode 1 where I tell you how I started the business and raised $11M. I am reposting this as it's been 2 years since I have been doing this podcast, even though consistency has been something I have struggled with in the past I am super proud of myself. Also, there are so many new listeners that would love for you to know more about me and how I started my business.
One of the main skills you must have as a CEO is the ability to sell.
In this episode, I take you through my exact strategy and tactics on how I don't actually sell but sign the best creators and brands in the world.
For any startup founder and entrepreneur building your team is one of the most important things you will do.
After a 1000 interviews and hiring 250+ people globally, its become quite clear what type of people do well in startups / new companies.
In this weeks episode I breakdown:
-What you need to look for when interviewing
-What skills are the ones you need around you
-Culture
-How to get your team to deliver results alongside their own career aspirations
Thanks
Shan
Over the past 7 years I have helped some of the biggest creators in the world build their audiences. Today I manage an audience of 200M people.
I break it all down in this episode.
As you get older, you get wiser and realise there's a lot of things I would have changed when I was 20 year old. In this week's episode, I give real advice to someone who is looking to start their own business. If you're in your 20s, this episode is for you.Â
This episode is for for anyone who runs an agency or has their own brand. If you sell products or services, I give tips on what you can do to increase your sales and grow your business.Â
It's time to shift focus and talk about what I'm really good at -- making money! I run a client-facing business called Genflow, and in this episode, I give a proper and raw update on what we're focussing on as a business in 2023, and where my focus will be the most as a CEO.Â
I'm currently working 12-hour days, and in this episode I share how I maximise my time to make some life-changing money.Â
I've been building Genflow since 2016, and have personally gone through all the highs and lows of the company. This episode is for fellow business owners and entrepreneurs who are looking to grow their agency. I share real, direct tips and advice that will work. No bullsh*t about reading books or hiring a mentor here. It's real actionable stuff to track your sales, retention and growth. Let me know what you thought of the episode on Instagram at @shanhanif.Â
The single biggest difference between you and somebody else is how you carry yourself every single day and your daily habits. In this episode, I will be talking about the three habits you need to make a significant impact to your day-to-day, and ultimately become more successful.Â
In this episode I take you through my goals for 2023, mindset and what you need to do to be successful.Â
OK - so it's the end of 2022.
It feels different this time. As for me personally, we delivered everything we set out to as a business, but at the same time, I feel like we could have done better. Mainly as I know myself, what I am capable of doing, and how much more I can give to this game of entrepreneurship.
In this episode I take you through my key lessons and how you can use it to make your business better.
Are you ready for some plain and simple truth? This episode is breaking through all the bullsh*t of being 'successful'. I have employed 200+ people in my entire career and most people go through the same thing - they put themselves in boxes. In this episode, I share my approach on how you can be more confident and stop thinking you're not good enough.Â
It's my favourite time of the year - Black Friday season! This is the time for real entrepreneurs to make money and reach their goals. for the past 10 years, I've used this weekend as the ultimate test of the health of my business, and once again this year we have set big goals for my business Genflow. In this episode, I share very strategic insights into what you can do - as an entrepreneur of the business - to win this holiday season. Let me know what you think.Â
This episode is for everyone who thinks they need a mentor to progress in their career... when in fact, they do not. In the early days of my entrepreneurial journey, I thought I needed mentorship and someone to guide me, but very quickly I realised that mentorship sucks. Press play for my reasons.Â
Founders and entrepreneurs, listen up. In this week's podcast episode, I cover the nitty gritty details of how you need to prepare your deck and pitch to get investment for your business. I talk about what you need to cover? What investors care about? What your numbers need to say? And how to sell to investors? Let's get into it.
It's been six years since I started my creator company Genflow. This week, we're celebrating. I'm highlighting 6 of my favourite moments, lessons learnt and thoughts. Happy Birthday to Genflow!Â
It's been 6 years since I launched Genflow, and in this episode i give you the no-nonsense of being an entrepreneur and everything I have learnt as a startup CEO. Most books or gurus won’t tell you this. The cashflow of the business, the growth mindset and getting the most of your team, I cover it all. Sit back and let me know your thoughts.Â
In this week's episode, I give an update on my new fundraise for my company Genflow. I also answer some hot questions on what investors are looking for? What type of investor you need for your business? And what are the red flags
I'm back! In this week's episode, I talk about the 5 biggest lessons I've learnt in the last few months of scaling this business. In the early days of Genflow, we were a very small team of 11 people and we signed some of our biggest creators who we still work with. Now with a team of 100+ around the world, things have evolved and we've got more processes in place. But is this good for the business? Press play...Â
I talk a lot on here about how I'm growing my business and working with creators as an entrepreneur. But in this week's episode, I want to share a little bit more about me... that's unrelated to work. Listen in for 10 things you didn't know about me... yes, I used to be a professional dancer.Â
Let's talk NFTs as April is turning out to be the biggest month in the NFT world with huge record-breaking projects and even bigger volume trade numbers. In this week's episode, I share my plans for how I'm venturing into NFTs, the difference between cryptocurrency and NFT, and why you need to start caring about it. It's still not too late...Â
I've been getting asked about this a lot lately... what is work/life balance? Especially when you're an entrepreneur. In this week's episode, I dig into what work/life balance means for me and my business. For some, it's working 9-6. For others, it's making sure you're doing all the things you love and balancing that out throughout the day. This one is for my fellow entrepreneurs who are struggling with balance.
In this episode, I talk about my biggest lessons and wins from the first quarter of the year. I think this will provide value to any founder or senior team member who works at a startup. Let's get into it.
Now, let me tell you all about it so you don't make the same mistakes... In this week of the realest entrepreneurship podcast, I take you through real-life examples of hiring a team, what I did wrong, what I learned, and how you can spot the same trends that ultimately led me to build a 100+ team.
I'm back! After a very busy start to the year, Life of an Entrepreneur is back! In this week's episode, I talk about why it's important to lay down the operations of your business and make sure you're doing things that get the job done... and not how the management books tell you how to do it.Â
I’m back with another podcast after a few weeks of settling into LA life, and I’m letting you in on everything that’s been going down since I moved here. I’m sharing the challenges of running the business on another continent, the big goals we have set for our Acquisition team, and the company-wide strategy for 2022.
I turn 33 today. In this episode, I share a little perspective of what we learned from this past weekend of Black Friday mayhem. The positives and the negatives (too commercial? Do people even care?) of how agile every business needs to be. I talk about what our creators did, and why PrettyLittleThing did 100% off this Black Friday.Â
Plus, it's my birthday... and I'm in the mood to reminisce.Â
It's my favourite week of the year and in this episode I am taking you through how I have planned black friday for over 30 brands and creators which will generate millions in revenue.Â
I am now in LA and this week talking about my plans here in USA, what I am trying to do with Genflow, what are my targets, how I am going to do it etc. I also talk about how hard its been just moving from UK to LA and managing the HQ!
As always - let me know what you think!
In this weeks podcast I break down what I am truly building with my company Genflow and how big the opportunity is. I also introduce the idea of the next funding round and what my plan is. I then break down what I have been doing in Dubai.
New episode every week. Real behind the scenes of running a business.Â
This week its something different, a real breakdown of why I am investing in building my personal brand, my actual strategy and execution. For anyone wanting to build their own brand, an audience and their profile as a whole you will find this useful.
In this week episode I take you through my last week as it had some amazing high points but then some real stressful moments. This is what it is like and I know many of you go through this too.
It felt good to share this openly so let me know what you think by tagging or messaging me on IG @shan.hanif
New episode every Monday! Make sure you subscribe to be notified.
New episodes each week. Follow my journey of running a business in real time.
This week was good and bad:
The Good:
Launched a new service - Genflow Drops - I talk about some of the things I had to do to get this done and live.Â
Planning 2022 with our chairman and what I learnt from it and how you can apply it too in your business
The Bad:
Had an in person meeting with a client and their lawyer to resolve issues, was very stressful.Â
Hope you like this episode, have a great week and thanks for listening.Â
In this episode I talk about whats changed about me and the business as we have grown to team of 90+. Key learning in the way I work, think and have the team execute and how you can use some if it in your businesses.
I also give you a general update on the business and what’s the plan from here. I then highlight some key personal learnings and how I am trying to improve and why.
Episodes every Monday from now (new podcast setup!) - Share with me on Instagram @shan.hanif and let me know what you want to know more!
Thanks!
After a 2 month break I am back! New episodes coming every Sunday so make sure you are subscribed and lets get to some real business talk.
In this episode I cover:
-How we signed Logan Paul - the actual true story
-Last 2 months update - Back in London now
-Scaling my team to 80+ and how that has changed everything
-Struggling to do my new job as CEO of a larger business and how I am trying to get better
-Living my dream and what how that feels and what it means for you
and more!
This episode is a real reflection of what you feel at times as an entrepreneur. The stress of trying to do so many things at once, feeling paralysed as you can't solve everything, being in-charge of people and their careers, struggling with time and the constant battle between ambition/energy.
Everyone feels lost and overwhelmed but I how you push through that is what you makes you.
Let me know what you think.Â
In this episode I take you through my actual strategy with Genflow. I recently raised $11M and so how will I spend it? How do I make sure we hit our targets and grow the business? How do we not get complacent? How do we remain fast, agile and not lose quality? The pressure of the insanely fast growing creator economy we operate it.
Key things I talk about:
- Grow our current clients
- Metrics / data led approach
- Track all main metrics
- Social media
- Insta - followers daily movement, post performance, views on bio/profile - generate conversion metrics on followers and click to link
- Review impact of Facebook and other channels
- Website analysis
- Metrics Dashboard / monitoring / alarm
- Driven by the KPIs, to drive decisions
- Grow our Genflow brand
- Educate the content creators to be entrepreneurs
- Based on audience 1st approach
- We’ll teach you how to build an audience
- (every kid to dream to work with Genflow some day)
- Hire a marketing team and dedicate resources to Genflow brand
- Performance Marketing
- How do we do this and invest, how does make, what’s the model
- Deploy a growth team
- Sales people to acquire new brand clients
- (Q3 full force / offence)
- Prepping for new joiners, so they get productive quickly
- Develop our technology
- Reduce the manual effort to make cross team working and international
- Support processes to address issues (workflow)
- Genlytics
- Data to understand an influencers data to compare and take sales to predict sales
- (supports 360 and talent agency partnering)
- Identify influencers with potential, identify them and sign them
- Build on top of social media APIs
- Automated Zendesk customer service response
- Remote hiring engineers (5 hour time difference max), now able to deploy talent around the world.
- Some teams need to be in the office, some don’t
- Under 25’s can learn a lot in person in office)
- Grow internationally
- Satellite marketing offices (Q3/Q4) growing the team in LA to grow team
- Shan leading the development
- Could add Sweden, Brazil, LA, Miami
- Could be individual people spreading our wings, in different locations
- 3-6 month delay in getting clients launch, so sooner the better!
- LA offices going to be smaller
- Genflow Studios
- Build this in London
I decided to make this episode as some of this stuff I think of every single day and want to say it out loud so I can be held accountable and I can look back at it to see how I did against myself. Also if you work in a startup or have your own business you will find most of the points I make super relatable and should help you think of your own strategy.
Let me know what you think
This is probably the most talked about things today. On one side its the Hustle Culture of working non-stop and the other is about self-care and focusing on "you" so in this episode I go through what I think of work life balance and how I personally manage it.
I have to warn you my thoughts are not for everyone and you may disagree but I fundamentally believe it has led me to the position I find myself in today. Press play, listen and let me know your thoughts.Â
Both of these words are thrown around a lot but only a few truly understand what it means to have ambition. In this episode I talk about what's changed from me and some interns trying to build something, getting our first few clients, to building a business where I have 60+ employees and generate multi million in revenue yearly.Â
The truth is people think and often believe that "successful people" are more organised, better at working and just living their life in a way that is way greater than them and hence why they are successful.
I disagree, press play and let me tell you why.Â
This is a real, step by step breakdown of how I raised $11M for my business Genflow. In my experience people never share how they actually did something, they give you the sales pitch, here I go through why I decided to raise, what my business plan included, how I approached investors, prepared for pitches, dealt with rejection, worked on deal points and ultimately after 10 long months completed the deal of my lfe.Â
If you want to know what it takes to raise money for your business just press play.Â