Episode #
What to Do When Business Gets Really Tough
September 03, 2026

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What do you actually do when things get really tough in business? Neil and Eric share their worst moments — 2020 included — and the playbook for surviving them: eating the elephant a day at a time, buying time with cash, and choosing stability over growth when it counts. Then the reveal that hot AI startups like Cursor quietly run thousands of ads at a time, and a five-star massage-studio case study on referrals, grandfathered pricing, and service details that carry over into any business.

Key takeaways
◾Tough seasons are survived a day at a time — systems over panic
◾The hottest AI startups test thousands of ads, not two
◾Great service businesses engineer referrals on purpose

Chapters
00:00 When things get really tough
09:14 Stability vs growth
15:56 The 6,400-ads reveal
17:10 The massage-studio case study


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