How to Exit a Business and Reinvent Yourself
When does exiting your business become a means to an end? Meet Luke Brice–now well into building a securities empire and his second business, Luke is a UK entrepreneur whose disenchantment with the police force led to the most unexpected roads.
Now partnered in a securities business, Luke joined us on the podcast and reflected on how his time as a London-based police officer led to his first business venture. (Which was really just a means to an end.) Although his regimented work background contradicted his energetic tendencies, it was great to hear Luke share his thoughts on other roles in public service including the military and even professional athletes and what it is about their experiences that often makes them great entrepreneurs.
Since co-founding his current business with a fellow service colleague, Luke has learned what extremely fast–and extremely limited–growth looks like. With the rise of COVID-19 and a fast realisation about the risks inherent with single service offering, we talk about the importance of diversifying your company and how increased stability can help you step away from the day to day.
Recognising that his hero complex drove him both into the police force and entrepreneurship, we also discuss how both personal and collective goals can be set and achieved through your business. First things first? Recognising that the hero’s desire to be needed might stand in the way of your dream.
I think Luke’s high spirited approach to life and business is the perfect example of recognising your best qualities and putting them to good use. If you want to hear from a business owner who realised that what set him apart in the traditional workforce is the very thing propelling him through entrepreneurship, you won’t want to miss this episode.
What you will learn in this episode
In this episode we’ll cover everything from:
- Taking a big leap – leaving the police force to set up a business, in a town he’d never been to, and in an industry he knew nothing about.
- When a new shiny thing can take your eye off the ball, and result in your business falling apart
- The cyclical nature of entrepreneurship, and how it can take you back to where you started
About Our Guest
Luke Brice
In 2014, after 18 months of horrendous mental health issues and even more horrendous domestic issues, Luke Brice left the police to set up a gardening business, an industry he knew nothing about, in Worthing, a town he’d never been to. After four years, he was approached by a former police colleague about setting up a security company. He sold the gardening business and incorporated a security company, which went from strength to strength.
And in 2020 during the pandemic, he expanded to a group of companies, now offering cleaning, medical support and a small arm of property ownership. He has a great passion for business – not necessarily ownership, and not necessarily big business. Small and local business interests him just as much as behemoths, purely because of the story of how they got there.
Connect with Luke Brice
Website: https://www.bluelightgroup.uk/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lukebrice1/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BlueLGroup
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bluelightgrp/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/bluelightgrp
Show Notes
(6:10) How Luke developed his hero complex
(10:15) Why people who come from the police force, military, and even professional sports often succeed in business. (Hint: it’s not because of their regimented work routine; it’s likely related to their high stakes environment.)
(28:05) How the goal of building a business can be part of a premeditated exit strategy.
(33:00) Why he sold his first business in 12 days–and how he ended up buying back into it several years later.
(35:20) How Luke and his business partner focused on growing big and fast before COVID-19 and what has happened since.
(37:50) Why growth for the sake of growth means nothing--and why most business owners are the most successful and happy when they work out what kind of life they want and then build a business to deliver that.
(40:45) Luke’s one piece of advice? You might surprise yourself when you reframe what you think are negative behaviours, and see them in a different light.
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