I’m Andy MacLellan and I’ve been self employed for pretty much my entire adult life. I love the thrill of setting up a business. I want to share some tips and advice I’ve picked up from some amazing entrepreneurs I’ve worked with over the years. That’s what this site is about – it’s not run by a conglomerate or accountancy company. It’s just an honest reflection of what life is really like behind the wheel of a small business in the UK.
I certainly don’t regard myself as an entrepreneur. That’s a very special kind of person and I’m happy to leave that title to the Richard Bransons and Gary Vaynerchuks of this world. I’m a generalist who doesn’t like being told what to do. Like most folk, I want to make enough money to enjoy life with my wonderful family. I have no interests in taking over the world.
My current projects
I run several YouTube channels and websites that revolve around my passions – this includes making things, playing the drums and of course running a small business. I was also co-host of the UK’s first commercial woodworking podcast, the Measuring Up Podcast.
My past projects
I’m a qualified recording studio engineer but sadly jobs in that arena are few and far between these days. Shortly after coming out of college in the mid-1990’s I nearly set up a commercial recording studio with a friend of mine but when the property purchase fell through it was time to go back to the drawing board.
I fell in to a career in IT infrastructure – yes, I’m an NT 4.0 MCSE for those who know about this stuff! I ended up working for some of the biggest corporate blue-chips on the planet while also doing my own freelance consultancy work.
I eventually escaped corporate life and set up a small IT business – providing IT services to SMEs. Together with my good friend and business partner we slowly built the company up from scratch – it evolved in to a multi-award winning, Investor in People, IT services consultancy. It was time for a change so we sold the company and a few years later and I eventually escaped corporate life.
I set up a busy little property maintenance business, decided to film some of my work and the Gosforth Handyman channel was born. 300 videos later and it’s now one of the UK’s biggest property maintenance channels, winning a YouTube Silver Play Button award for 100,000 subscribers in 2020. In the meantime I wanted to share what I’d learned on the business side of things and that’s where this channel came from!
It’s so hard to find independent unbiased media these days. A lot of people are fed up with fake news, blatant political bias and click-based advertising that takes over from the topic you’re trying to understand. Fortunately there’s a huge gap in the market for high quality independent content. More and more independent content creators are filling that void.
Why this site?
You’re on this planet for a ridiculously short amount of time, so make the most of it! Don’t waste time doing a job you hate. Pull your finger out, stop talking about it and just get started. It might sound scary being out there on your own in this big complicated world of ours but honestly – don’t over think it.
If you have the slightest inclination, the slightest spark to leave the rat race and be entirely independent of corporate responsibilities, performance targets and pointless meetings, you owe it to yourself and your family to at least give it a go.
At some point you’ll run out of time and I 100% guarantee to do nothing will be one of the biggest regrets of your life. Whether you create a one-person boutique business bringing in a few thousand pounds a year or you make something special that changes the lives of thousands of people, at least give it a go. What’s the worst that could happen? I wish you all the success in the world on your new business venture!
Andy Mac x