Richard Harpin | He Was $10K From Bankruptcy… Then Built a $4B Company

About this episode

Richard Harpin shares his journey from near bankruptcy to building a £4.1 billion company, discussing key strategies and insights.

Richard built HomeServe into a £4.1 billion global company operating in 10 countries, starting with just £50,000 and multiple early failures. In this episode, he breaks down the near-collapse moments, the pivot that changed everything, and the exact business model that scaled globally. He also shares his 9-step framework for building a billion-pound company, insights on bootstrapping vs. raising capital, and why copying proven ideas beats chasing originality. A masterclass in scaling, resilience, and strategic execution. Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

People in this episode

Host: The School of Hard Knocks

Guest: Richard Harpin

Topics covered

• business growth
• entrepreneurship
• scaling companies
• resilience
• strategic execution

Keywords

• business model
• bootstrapping
• raising capital
• scaling
• 9-step framework

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: HomeServe

Places: 10 countries, £4.1 billion, £50,000

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