The British Blacktrepreneur Podcast
Welcome to 'The British Blacktrepreneur' My name is Jason Lazarus
This podcast aims to promote black businesses, in the UK, educate entrepreneurs on all things business, and inspire you on your entrepreneurial journey. Growing up, business was just foreign to me, I knew nothing about it, I was taught that being a consumer and working a job was the only way to really succeed in life. My West African would preach ‘Education, Education, Education’ which I hated at the time but have grown to appreciate how invaluable knowledge is. My goal is to curate conversations with Black Entrepreneurs in the UK to find what their ‘WHY’ is. Furthermore, I’m on a mission to get black entrepreneurs podcasting! I’ll be dropping in my expertise about podcasting whilst bringing on inspiring guests to keep you going on your entrepreneurial journey.
The British Blacktrepreneur Podcast
Mastering the Art of Juggling Multiple Businesses (Ft. Kane Harrison)
Ever wondered how entrepreneurs manage to successfully juggle multiple businesses while maintaining a healthy work-life balance? Join us as we chat with Kane Harrison, the business owner behind both Sleep Wonderful and The Voice Finder. Discover how Kane navigates the challenges of running digital and physical product businesses, all while being a dedicated family man.
Kane shares his journey and experience in the voiceover industry, offering practical advice on managing time, family, and business responsibilities. He also highlights the importance of financial literacy and its impact on not just business success, but personal wellbeing. Listen in as we explore the need for financial education in schools and how it could help future entrepreneurs make better financial decisions.
In this engaging conversation, we also touch upon the significance of supporting British businesses and sourcing British wholesalers for growth and sustainability. Get inspired by Kane's entrepreneurial journey and learn from his experiences in developing and managing multiple businesses. Tune in now and embrace the entrepreneurial spirit!
Welcome to the British Black entrepreneur. This podcast exists to promote black businesses in the UK, to educate black entrepreneurs on all things business and to inspire you on your entrepreneurial journey. Here is your host, jason Lazarus. Hey, hey folks, welcome to the British Black entrepreneur podcast that aims to promote, educate and inspire you on your entrepreneurial journey. My name is Jason Lazarus. Today I have another guest on the show and he goes by the name of Kane Harrison.
Speaker 2:Kane Harrison is a business owner. He actually runs two businesses simultaneously. He runs a company called Sleep Wonderful and a company called The Voice Finder. We discussed a lot of things. We talked about internet gurus out there and how you can actually get information for free. We talked about the inspiration behind what made him start his businesses, looked at research, how to get out into the market. We discussed things like legislation and Brexit and how he had to ensure that those things in his business were covered. As he sells physical products, kind of looked at the digital side and also the physical side of both his different businesses.
Speaker 2:He's also a family man, just like myself, and it was interesting to understand the different challenges and opportunities that come with having a family, running a business and also being in the world of acting. I'm sure you're going to love this one. Kane is a great guy, really helpful. We spoke afterwards as well for some time and he's always really been helpful to me and been great in helping me on my journey and in my adventures as well. Here it is, here's the interview. I welcome Kane Harrison to the British Black Tribunal. Kane Harrison, welcome to the British Black Tribunal. How are you today?
Speaker 1:I'm good man. How are you? Thank you for having me.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, i'm good. Listen. Great having you on Kane. How have you been recently? just on a kind of a general level, really, what's been happening currently in your life business, personal or whatever you want to share?
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's been good. I mean it's been busy. I think, like everyone else, we've had the challenges of 2020, coronavirus entering and now 2021, there's kind of light at the end of the tunnel, but we still are very much in the midst of COVID. So there's the challenges of work, finding opportunities. When you're in a lockdowns, you can't physically see people. So that's made I'd say that's made networking a lot more of a challenge. It's pretty difficult to network with someone where you don't have a rapport and do that via Zoom or WhatsApp or FaceTime or whatever you use. It's not the same as meeting them outside in an office, coffee shop, a bar and networking like that. So that's been a challenge for business and for acting. But in general, it's been good.
Speaker 1:As you know, i do voiceovers as well. I do a lot of voiceovers. That's one of my main businesses And that's been steady and picked up, because radio I mean like podcasts and radio have just gone because people have been listening and tuning in so much more than they did pre COVID. So it's been kind of swings and roundabout situation where other things have kind of fallen by the side. Other areas have really lifted up and become more prominent. So, all in all, i'm staying positive and it's been good.
Speaker 2:I'm glad that you mentioned your business, the voiceover company you got, and you actually run two companies, so I want to talk to you about your first one not sleep wonderful, we'll get to that Your voiceover company. How did that come about?
Speaker 1:So I got into it because I wanted to get into voiceover work And that's what I did. I finally found a way into voiceover work, but it wasn't easy. It didn't seem like, it didn't seem like a clear path to take. Someone, say, get an agent, but that just wasn't possible for me. It just anytime you tried to reach out to an agent, they weren't interested because you shouldn't have a bad catalog of work to showcase. And so I, through just pure grind and hustle and pure determination, got into voiceover work and built up my reputation as a voiceover. And that then led me to well to really consider how I could help others get the exposure that's needed to become a voiceover. You know how you can help someone, and so that's how I platformed myself and my business partner.
Speaker 1:And we have another. We have a small team around us as well. We created a company called the voice finder And guess it is what it says on the tin the voice finder for a producer or, say, a radio station, marketing executives, tv station they're looking for a voiceover to be on their commercial radio ad, that maybe an audio book. They can go to this platform and they can find voices And so as a voiceover you can use this in conjunction with all your other marketing efforts to have yourself promoted out there online. That's, that was the essence of creating a platform specifically centered around a catalog of voices, and that was how the voice finder came about just from my own personal struggles of trying to find a way of getting my profile out there.
Speaker 2:Talk us through. How did you get voices on your platform?
Speaker 1:Yes, not easy. I mean it's a hard one because it's all about trying to build that trust with, obviously, your clients. You've got two sets of clients. You've got the voices of your clients, but also the producers that want to hire those voices are also your clients And that's the difficulties trying to build trust when you have no brand as such first or you're in new business. So that's the hardest part. And also, i think this is what's very difficult between as you mentioned already, i run two businesses the difference between digital product and a physical product. That is slightly challenging because for a voice over they're paying. They pay to be on the site, they're paying for the physical space, for the presence. They're basically paying for an advertising slot and we promote them and draw traffic to them through other sources, such as the producers and the marketing sector. We bring them to the marketplace to find the voices. But that is the challenge is trying to please both, i guess, clients.
Speaker 1:You need a good body of solid voice actors and voice artists that the producers can choose from, and that just requires a lot of research, time put in building relationships And that's what was fortunate. I didn't. I was a voice over for a number of years. So I didn't just start a business. The moment I started being a voice over, it was from experience of building up a relationship, understanding and listening to what producers were after and also what voice over was after, and also I had a bit of a I guess a bit of a head start in some ways, because I started life as a producer. So I kind of knew what a producer has to go through when it's when he or she is sourcing a voice. So that helped. So understanding the customers, both of them, understanding what their needs are that was the key to the success of it and just trying to build it slowly and steadily. Not huge growth where it's not sustainable, just slow and steady growth and maintaining that.
Speaker 2:And do you think that you were in an advantageous position because you've come from the industry would kind of give you a bit of a head start over someone, say like myself, who's not been in the voice over industry. Because you know producing, you might know about sound, you know people. Do you think that platform was able to take off quicker than it would be if you were coming from a completely different industry?
Speaker 1:I think so. Yeah, because it came from a point of understanding, one, what a producer is after, how they like to source a voice, and also, second, how a voice wants to a platform to promote them, how they need that as part of their you know their arsenal of marketing. Because it's not just it's not just a case of you sign up to a site and you sit back and relax and think, right, i'm going to get hired, now all the work comes to me. It just doesn't work like that, Very much like acting. It's exactly the same. You still have to put in the work, you still have to network, create opportunities yourself. It all works in tandem with each other. The more places you can physically be seen or, in this case, heard, the better it works for you. So I think, coming from that background, it certainly helped, whereas, say, other companies would look at maybe the investment round of having investors invest, but they don't really understand how to draw in the clients as such.
Speaker 2:Now let's talk a bit about your sleep wonderful business. You're running two companies. How did sleep wonderful come about?
Speaker 1:So that came about during coronavirus, during COVID. You know the 2020 lockdown. I had this thing in my mind, had it for a couple of years now. The voice finder is going really nice, it's steady and it's growing steadily and it's very niche And that suits what we're trying to do. It's niche, but I had this feeling that I wanted to try something else as well. I wanted to try something very different from it, and what was more different was a physical product. So actually someone buys something from you and they have it, they receive it, they have something physically in their house, rather than a digital product. That was really outside. That was a couple of years ago.
Speaker 1:2020 created, i guess, the space and the time to do it. Before it felt like everything was moving so fast. 2020 slowed because there was a lockdown, so everything slowed somewhat And I felt like, actually, this might be the time to research, do a bit more learning, see if we can do it. And I just challenged myself. It was simply a challenge I set myself and I did it And I learned how to create the site. I learned how to get physical product, how to find the supplies you need, how to do the marketing that you need And some of the skills are transferable from the voice finder. So you got to remember that marketing side of things. That's a completely transferable skill into sleep wonderful.
Speaker 1:But the difference is when you're dealing with a physical product And then it's a case of, well, what you're gonna, we're gonna sell, and there's so many things you can sell out there. You could do a hot product, you know, like you remember fidget spinners And then, but when I looked into that in depth, it's kind of short lived It's. You got to be quick, very, very quick. You got to spend a lot of money up front in marketing and hope that you're outbidding everyone else who's also on that. That journey of quick. The hot product has got maybe a three month window And I thought I'd rather have again, like the voice finder, a business with some longevity, a business with opportunity to grow and a business that people, people need to shop from.
Speaker 1:And that was the difference. So it wasn't as niche, it was something that people, every person needs something from this business and pretend you come back and they can return. And that led me to sleep because I read an article during this time about 2020. People were very stressed because they've been always happening. People were losing jobs, people were on furlough, they were alone and that was driving them kind of just into a state of loneliness and a bit of depression. That was affecting people's sleep and how important sleep was, and that's what led me down to sleep Wonderful, and it really is as simple as that. I read this article and thought everyone that I know has a bed, they have pillows, they have pajamas, and it just went like that. It's a product that's in pretty much everyone's house and pretty much globally. So I was like, wow, this is, this is good, this is this is kind of what I'm after. And that's that was the journey, how it started. And then I reached out to a friend of mine who is now my business partner in sleep wonderful and together That's what we were able to create. We were able to create this business sleep wonderful And it was all based off a challenge.
Speaker 1:I just wanted to challenge myself. I read a lot of books, a lot of things on business, and I just basically followed the steps that I've learned. and you use your gut, you intuition, and so far he's been going really well. I've been loving it. It's absolutely so much fun because, you know, i don't live in like any kind of regret where I didn't try it. At least I'm trying it. If it fails, it fails and you can't be a scare. You can't be scared or afraid of the failure. But the bottom line is you try it, you give it some effort.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's amazing. I mean, there's so many things I kind of want to unpack actually in regards to that, because the only of you Loose one. But you've got two businesses and you spoke a little bit about there the level of research that goes in. In terms of the level of Research, what kinds of things were you looking through? was it books? Was it blogs? Were you talking to people? How did you get out and ascertain what the market actually wanted?
Speaker 1:So for me, i'm a mixture of two. I read a lot. I read a lot of business books. I'm always buying a new book. I love, i love reading. I think that's the number one way You can get some really good insights from some key people.
Speaker 1:You know there's like, for example, if you wanted to read a book about the Virgin Company, richard Branson, get his autobiography and you are gonna be amazed. People. People see these what would be wealthy individuals. Now you know, like you, karen Brady challenge sugar, you Richard Branson. You know Damon John and the shark tank, yeah, and people sit back and they ask it's always fine for them. They got all the money.
Speaker 1:Listen to the journey. That because two things. One, it's not easy, all right, so they earn that money. It's not easy. For two, the journey is what every single entrepreneur enjoys. That's why they do it. That's why Elon Musk didn't just sell PayPal and sit back and think right, i'm done. You will find every entrepreneur does something else. Because the journey is the exciting part, because that's where the learning is, it's where the fun is. The money is just an obvious Result of that. That's the consequence of the journey And that's the thing I learn is any any book that I read entrepreneurs, They're just hungry, hungry, hungry.
Speaker 1:And even when you've done something and maybe you completed that journey, you want to start another one. You know that's why you have you Richard Branson, alan sugar, that always doing more and more things, no matter what their ages. It's a reading, the key one. But for things like learning how to actually create the site, understanding where to source your product from your wholesalers The best thing I learned from YouTube, in all honesty, it's so easy and no, you're wrong, you have to do a little bit of them. It's not as clean cut, i'd say his books. It's do a lot of sifting.
Speaker 1:There's a lot of what I'd say nonsense out there. People just racking up views and they've never started a business in their life And you can do quick checks on that, and that's that's the thing. If you, if you're smart about it. You know There was a. There was a guy on YouTube from the UK most of them are American, to be fair, but there was a guy from the UK talking about how That you're gonna and you're gonna hear this a lot Okay, do anything on YouTube, especially, especially if you put in dropship on YouTube. All Everyone's a drop ship on YouTube. Let me tell you every person you're gonna see video How I made six figures in a week, how I did 10 grand in a day drop shipping, right.
Speaker 1:Let me tell you one thing you can do one search on companies, house or something and Absolutely find out. It's nonsense. These people have never started a business. They've never done anything. They're just creating videos and clickbait because that's how they're making some money. So get to be a little bit clever with it. It's a little bit smart and don't necessarily believe it. Don't believe hype. I believe everything here. It's not as easy as making six figures in a week or anything like that. Work is there, the grind is there, okay, and the bottom line is if these people really did make six figures in a week, are they gonna sit and do a YouTube video? not lying.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, it's true, yeah.
Speaker 1:They're talking nonsense as well, but you can still glean some really good content, some really good information that can help you, and I was able to do that. So reading and YouTube was a really big help.
Speaker 2:Now is how do you sort of with your time management across to two businesses? I know you're a family man as well, so those responsibilities, how do you manage all of that, because obviously it's going to be incredibly busy? Yes, you've got a business partner, but customers, family. What's it like with that mixed bag responsibilities?
Speaker 1:I think this is the thing is I realized quite quickly I'm just not able to do everything and I'm not good at certain. I think that was the key for me to realize that, which meant if I was going to do a business I had to have a partner. Now that's not to say I couldn't do it myself, if I put the time in to learn those other skills more thoroughly. But I just realized for me I didn't really have the time but also I just wasn't good at those parts of the business. So if you can find a business partner who is better than you and that's what you want again something I pulled from books you will find some key entrepreneurs that always say you want to be the dumbest person in the room, you want the smart people around you. That's what you want And I kind of took from that. And so in both businesses it's a different set of partners and a different set of teams. They're not the same And the reason is because different skill sets. So my business partner for the voice finder is so much more tech savvy than me. He understands the tech side and he understood the number side. To the different side, to what I understood, i understood the customer side, the relationship side, the marketing side, what was needed. And so if you can find those partners where you compliment each other, that helps, because then, if you're comfortable and confident in doing your part of the business, you can be more time efficient. And that is what helped me is I can be way more time efficient than me messing around trying to figure things out in the back end of a website. You know, i could be time efficient because I was like, well, i don't need to do that because I know that's what he does, he takes care of that. He's better at it than me, so that helped me be more what's the word just more respectful of my time, because obviously, guys, i've got a son as well and I've got a wife and they need my time as well. So that's been the key is understanding what I'm good at and what I'm not good at.
Speaker 1:Communication is a key one. So, with my wife, if I know I'm gonna be working late, just communicate that beforehand. So I have to plan. Basically I have to have a schedule, but tonight I'm gonna be working late And so she knows that I'm not gonna be around as such. So I think communication is the key, because you have to respect. If you're in a relationship or got kids, you have to respect that. They need some of you as well. So pre-planning really helps, really helps. And I just I schedule. I'm weird like that. I write everything down on paper like everything I schedule, and that way I keep everything in check and in control. That doesn't need to say. It doesn't sometimes get a little bit haywire and out of control, but generally it's scheduled And that way I have respect for my time.
Speaker 2:What are some of the major challenges that you're having in your businesses at the moment?
Speaker 1:The voice finder is. So if you start with a voice finder, the hardest one is probably the growth aspect of it. Is it such a niche business? And because you're not dealing with the physical products, the digital products, so some clients will get booked for jobs a lot more regular than other clients And there's nothing you can do about that. And that's one thing. As a product, we don't guarantee you're gonna get work from it. You just can't guarantee that, like an agent can't guarantee them they're gonna get you cast in the next Marvel film. Just doesn't work that way And that can be frustrating for some people.
Speaker 1:I totally get that. For some voices that can be highly frustrating because you're paying your monthly or annual fee but you're not getting the work coming And that's just a case of timing. Also, the producers not having the work that you're suitable for or they're not feeling you're suitable for, and also maybe even not you yourself pushing yourself out more, promoting and using that as part of your marketing efforts. So it's a very odd one. So I'd say growth in general is the hardest one with a voice finder because it's niche, but for being sustainable it's fantastic And for getting people still hired it's fantastic. We get given. Yesterday. I've always got in touch with me. She got hired for a TV job. That's gonna be on ITV. It's fantastic, that's what you wanna hear, that's what's great. But you'll hear someone else and they've not had a job for three or four months And that's really frustrating, but it's out of our control.
Speaker 1:And then sleep wonderful because it's physical products Whole different set of challenges. So what was interesting the time we started? I knew it was there in the back of my mind but I didn't realize the challenges it was gonna create breaks it Physical product. We were sending bedding because of what we do sleep wonderful. We were sending bedding and pajamas and products to customers in Europe because we advertise globally. So we had customers in Luxembourg, germany, france, buying products. And he was thinking, right, okay, that clock is ticking 2021, i think it was January 1st or something we were officially out break. It was done And it's like boom And you've got to research that because that the implications, if you get that wrong, could be horrendous. So that was interesting.
Speaker 1:Understanding the movement of physical product borders. That was a challenge. We've overcome that. But I'd say the challenge now still, unfortunately, is the pandemic has slowed things down. So what we did struggle with straight away was delivery times, because you had the delivery of not just you dealing with your suppliers making sure you had stock, but also you sending things. Even within the UK It was just slow. And so you've got customers saying I've ordered this product, it's not arrived, and you're like well, post-legit telling this it's on its way And you're just like there's nothing you can do. And that's a different set of challenges. Delivery of goods That, yeah, just so different from the voice finder, so different.
Speaker 2:Do you say that? with that? obviously and you've talked about a few things there with Brexit again, it ties in with research and understanding what's coming up. And so, looking at legislation, is that something that you, when you think of? right, I've got to look ahead. Do you like looking ahead and thinking right, I need to anticipate, or look at what's coming out in terms of what the government's saying, What's happening in this area of the business. Is that going to affect our margins, and so on and so forth. Do you like having to kind of Blue sky thing called man mind map, those kinds of scenarios in the future?
Speaker 1:Yeah, i definitely like to mind map it and it's not to say I don't really get bogged down with what government says as such, because it changes until it's set in stone as such. That makes sense So many many things, and it's really not until it comes down to the deadline. You know when they actually set a date that you need to really worry about. Until it's like firmly, it's this day, it's just hot air, a lot of it. But break it obviously was a legitimate thing we had to do and I did that. I took that on and did the research and found out what we needed to do, what we what we need to change, etc. But I generally like to always have a plan and mind map things as much as possible, but you have to allow room for spontaneity as well. Opportunities can always come from those areas. And just don't get stressed by this, because there's always a solution. That's the one thing like, even with brexit. I had some friends. They deal with physical product. It was so stressed about brexit and I just get to let don't just relax, there will always be a solution, you will find a solution and, to be fair, has it been a pain? Yes, but you know HMRC are really helpful. They just are.
Speaker 1:We're really fortunate in the UK We do have a system that, to a point, works sufficiently And if you have problems you can just call them up to look. This is what I'm dealing with. I'm really not too sure about this document, this document. So you know, don't be afraid to call up, don't be afraid to ask questions. That's the key thing with any of this. When you're starting out as an entrepreneur, asking questions is your best friend. Seriously, ask questions. No question is stupid. That's that's the way I look at. No question is stupid.
Speaker 2:Who would you say have been some of the major influences on you in your business life, in your entrepreneur journey?
Speaker 1:So I kind of break it into a couple of categories. There's those that where I say I've read their material, read a bit of their life, a journey, And there's those I actually know I would consider as sort of mentors. So the ones I've read about Damon John. He did the Fubu brand in America. His journey is fantastic. I find I just find him fascinating. I love books, I love mindset And obviously he's a black man in America who's created multi million that's probably been a billion dollar business. And Fubu I remember Fubu as a kid growing up. I mean incredible, Yeah, I do as well.
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly, he's definitely one.
Speaker 1:For me He's just, he's just awesome. But what is always quite nice is if you can find those who are in your back garden, as it were. So you're UK entrepreneur. So for me I am a fan of Richard Branson. I kind of like what he's done, because he doesn't I don't know, he just just tries If that makes sense. If you look at his journey, he's just done a bit of everything. Just give it a go. It doesn't work. Try something else. You know, i just try. And I think that's the attitude of an entrepreneur is you have to try, you just have to be willing to give it a go, like the magazines, airlines, coca Cola Oh, not Coca Cola, but Coke Railways. You know, just try the bit of everything. And I kind of like that attitude as well, which I find really inspiring For me personally.
Speaker 1:I've been fortunate enough that I've got a friend of mine called Virgil And he is an entrepreneur, a serial entrepreneur. He's multiple things going on. He really has been a mentor to me when I've one had questions, needed help, maybe, felt a bit stressed. He is a father And he's just been a really good source for me. He's literally I just pick up my phone and call him And he's there to help me and support me. So, yeah, you do need to have some people around you. That's one of the key things I would say. If you can have some people around you, that would be really helpful. But if you can't, get those books, get those autobiographies and use them as a guide.
Speaker 2:When did the entrepreneurial spark begin? Where did that come from? Have you come from a family of business owners or have you been influenced in a way by, maybe, parents or your wider family?
Speaker 1:So this is interesting because I would say this is a tough one because in many ways I would have said I had no entrepreneurial spirit. I don't come from any business owners, entrepreneurs, investors, anything like that.
Speaker 1:I'm not a very standard single parent family Yeah, nothing like that It's a million miles away from what I grew up with being an entrepreneur and I would say I was like that. Just I wasn't an entrepreneur, but when I think about it, it was there. The reason I say that is because I started work when I was 12 years old. I did paper rounds. When I was 13, i was doing paper rounds and I was washing cars in the local street in the community. I was going around knocking people's doors asking if I could wash their cars for like a fiver, but at times 14, 15 I was washing cars. I was cutting people's lawns as well. Sometimes I'm getting more money.
Speaker 1:Then I start window cleaning and I started office cleaning in the evenings whilst window cleaning and cutting lawns. So there's all these little things. I'm like well, actually, you and they were all my own jobs. They weren't me working for someone else. So in some ways, i look at them like, well, actually, no, you know what the entrepreneurial spirit is there? because I literally in my teens, was going around and knocking on people's doors trying to get business. Nothing has changed. Business still work exactly the same way. You're physically knocking on doors or you're knocking on doors digitally via advertising on google or yahoo or safari whatever you use on instagram or facebook. The same process, business is the same. You're knocking on doors, drumming up business.
Speaker 1:So I would have said no, i didn't have an entrepreneurial spirit. But when I look back and I reflect on it, something was in me. Something was this drive to create, to do, to work, to hustle, to get money. Because that's what I wanted to do. I wanted to get money. You know, i'm not ashamed to say that some people are ashamed to say about oh, they wanted money, i wanted money. I didn't have money, we didn't have money to found me and I knew money was a solution, because that's what it is in my, in my dictionary money is a solution to many problems. So I definitely had that drive in me, but I certainly didn't come from it. So I'd say it's. It's very much self-created. How? I'm not sure how, but I just know why. It was the, why I want money and I want to beat my own boss, i want to own it myself how do you kind of cultivate?
Speaker 2:do you think um an entrepreneur or I don't know? maybe you won't necessarily put that up on him, but knowing the benefits of being an entrepreneur, you know them better than most and the advantages it will be for you, it will give your son um. Do you thought it's something that you're going to try to teach overtly, or trying to kind of slightly teach him bit by bit?
Speaker 1:I definitely am going to teach him, um, i decided that quite early on. I'm definitely teaching because you see, the the difference is is we go to school. School really really teaches and trains us to be an employee, not to be an employer. And the problem is, what really makes a country great in the long run is when you have people that are employers, when you have people that create a business in this country or in the country living and they can employ other people. There's nothing wrong with being employed some people want to do that but the problem is there's not enough education to help people to realize actually you know what. You've got great skill there. You could be an employer, you could create the next business that could help the UK economy and help the wider community. So for me, i want to instill in him that anything's possible, whereas I think schooling it does a great job, but it does a great job at creating just an employee mindset, whereas I want to tell him, if you want to go up standing on two feet and create a business, that's possible, don't be scared to do that, it's possible. So certainly I'm going to um try instilling in him you know that things are possible. Get him working at a young age.
Speaker 1:I think the key thing especially my wife about this is helping him understand finances at a very young age. If you can get your head around how to print budget for yourself, a personal budget wow, your mother had marz head. I mean, how many people do we know? and it's normal now where you just have a life of debt, that is just the norm to live a life of debt, and for some that is unfortunately the norm. But you know what a lot of that comes down to just education.
Speaker 1:If the schools I was going to say the government, but maybe it's not the responsibility, i don't know, but maybe the schools if they just taught us how to actually budget efficiently, if they laid it out realistically to the point of you know, this is roughly an average monthly salary. So this is an average annual salary. This is what bills roughly cost. So at the end of the month you're only going to have this think of the people who wouldn't come out with huge debt by the time they're in the mid 20s, you know, yeah, that is the key. If you can understand finances at a young age and it's and what will shock people is getting your head around finances is unbelievably easy really is never be scared of it. It's so easy. For some reason and I don't know if maybe that's a fear tactic we're not taught that, and so most people live a life in debt, unfortunately do you think it's strategic?
Speaker 2:by schools, the government, whoever makes the rules to prevent us from having that?
Speaker 1:interest. And you, when you take some major countries like America and the UK, where you know 70% of the population is in debt way over their head, they can never pay back. That is shocking when the solution is extremely easy. It's just simple simply understanding your finances, getting your head around, not, you know, buying things that are beyond your means. Just just understanding the concepts of finances is easier. I mean, you have to wonder.
Speaker 1:These paid out payday loan companies that are out there just needs to borrow a hundred pounds, you know, because they need it tomorrow. But in three days time that a hundred pound now they got about 300. I mean, that's just. If you look at the end of those ads, you see the APR. It's immoral and it just if they had the, if they had the access to the education needed to understand how to get themselves out of that hole without putting themselves into more debt. So they're already in debt. They have to borrow. In order to borrow, they take on more debt. That's just a vicious cycle and for some people it never ends. It never ends, and I grew up around that and saw that, and so for me it was key to never, never do.
Speaker 2:Looking forward now in regards to like where you want to sleep wonderful and the voice finder to be. What are your plans in the future for both companies?
Speaker 1:Sleep wonderful. Especially, we're putting a lot of time in Because it's it's really doing well. We're really, really happy with the progress because people always need bedding I mean jam is bedding pillows So all that stuff is great. And we've just done our Mother's Day campaign, which is really successful. We were offering we wanted to hear people's stories about why their mom deserved a gift. We were gonna give Someone a gift for them, for their mother, for Mother's Day. So we did a kind of a competition, a Mother's Day giveaway. We announced the winner today at 7 pm And That was great because we had people actually on our Instagram, facebook, facebook, messaging us saying my mom deserves this. She's a key worker, she's been caring for us, she's been sending dinners, she's helped the babies. He had all these wonderful stories And so I love that. So we've been able to do a giveaway And, as a business, that's really nice because you give that physical product and also helps the name. People Get to know the name. They trust it.
Speaker 1:It's a British company. You know we're using British wholesalers for over 80% of our products of we're using British Wholesalers, which I'm really happy about. So, again, we're trying to support British businesses. So just think that all works in tandem and helps everyone, and so for us, it's about the growth of sleep wonderful, growing it, making it more sustainable, and more products Finding and sourcing more products that are suitable.
Speaker 1:At the moment, we're in research. We're working with a lady Who's helping us develop our own range of candles to For like a row What do you call them? Aroma candles? so they got nice fragrance. Okay, yep, we're working with that. So that'll be really nice because, again, it's a lady in the UK, so we'll be supporting UK business and selling these candles. So that's something we'll work on. That's a key thing. So keep a look out for them. Well, and it's the it's the same just keep that system, keeping it sustainable And finding those areas of growth, especially with things like radio picking up and podcasts, picking up areas where voices can really get involved, to find those clients and saying look, come here, we've got the catalog of voices that are quality voices for you in the UK and also abroad.
Speaker 2:Thank you for that and it's been a great talking to you today. If people want to find out more about your company sleep wonderful and the voice finder where can they go?
Speaker 1:Yes, so sleep wonderful. I can just put in your search engine like Google sleep wonderfulcouk. We're on Instagram at sleep wonderful and also we do Various discounts, especially if you're a key worker. We're on blue light card, so if a key worker is fireman nurses, doctors, etc There's a discount specifically for you. But also we're always running When there's special events like Mother's Day or Christmas, easter, etc. We're doing discounted officer, look out for them, look out for them. But yeah, sleep wonderfulcouk for that, for all your bedding needs. Voice finder is the voice findercouk or the voice findercom. If you're a voice over or if you're searching for voices, maybe for an audiobook, for commercials, you can go there. And again on Instagram, facebook, it's at the voice finder.
Speaker 2:Okay, thank you. It is being a great having you one. I'm gonna make sure I put all those links in the show notes So, as our audience will be listening, have a look now at the show notes and you can see all of those websites And, if you are a key worker, make sure you check out that link. It's a great thing that Kane's doing for people Who are key workers during this time. Kane Harrison, it's been great having you on the British Black Tribunal.
Speaker 1:Appreciate it. Thank you so much. Thank you.
Speaker 2:I hope you enjoyed that episode with Kane Harrison, ceo and founder of sleep. Wonderful and the voice finder. Kane was Tremendous to talk to. He had so many different things to talk about from so many different angles. You know the strap line of my podcast.
Speaker 2:The second one is to educate, and we spoke about education at length at one point. Financial education, budgeting all of these basics that many people do or execute, and I think hearing again and And being intentional about it can really have a profound impact on your business, on your finances, on your entire life. So I really hope you enjoy the episode and got loads out of it. Here's what I want you to do. If you could just DM me or send me a message on Instagram about this episode, what did you get out of it? What are some of the things that you're gonna take away from this episode? I would love to hear from you and to get into contact.
Speaker 2:If you get in contact with me remember you can contact me at the British black trippin on Instagram That's my main Social media handle and that's where you can find me and I'll be able to get back to you Through that social media platform. All right, well, it's been good. I'm excited to release this episode And I can't wait to see you guys Next time. Take care, get in touch. See you soon, you, you.