In this episode I'm joined by Richard Willis — someone I met at one of my events, who briefly mentioned what he'd built and exited, and I knew immediately I wanted to dig deeper.
Richard built Salamander Soft, a software and services company in the education IT sector — helping schools integrate their systems with platforms like Active Directory, Microsoft 365, and Google Workspace. What started as "an accidental business" — Richard just wanted to work from home and support his family — grew into a company turning over £2.5 million a year, with zero ad spend, eventually reaching 60% of UK secondary schools and every school in Wales.
We talk about the power of going niche (and why that made him impossible for bigger competitors to compete with on search), how he built the business almost entirely through existing contacts, online communities, and word of mouth, and the journey from "working, eating, or sleeping" as a one-man band to building a leadership team that eventually ran the business without him.
Richard also walks us through the exit process in detail — including how the business was valued (a multiple of EBITDA), what nearly went wrong when one buyer tried to drop the price by £2 million two weeks before completion, and why having multiple interested parties matters so much when you're negotiating a sale.
Now financially free, Richard's giving back — sitting on the boards of three startups as a non-exec director, in legal tech, environmental/biodiversity, and education.
If you're building a business with an eye on an eventual exit — or you're in software/education and want to connect with someone who's been there — this episode is full of practical, honest insight.
VALUABLE RESOURCES
Connect with Richard on LinkedIn:
https://uk.linkedin.com/in/rpwillis
ABOUT THE HOST
Nick James
Nick dropped out of university at 21 and failed spectacularly with his first coaching business, which forced him to take a £16k/yr telesales job.
Within 12 months he was the top performer and left to start his second business at 24. This time he discovered a winning formula and before long had a multi-six-figure company.
He then made a huge mistake which nearly put him out of business and cost him £50,000 in personal cash.
Fortunately, Nick kept it afloat, turned it around, and sold that business two years later in a seven-figure deal.
He then co-founded a multi-million-pound marketing company, which he exited in 2015, and created Expert Empires.
Today, Expert Empires is known as the UK's number one business event for Experts, with world-renowned speakers including Gary Vaynerchuk, Grant Cardone, David Goggins, and Lewis Howes gracing the stage.
Nick also specialises in helping Coaches, Consultants, Speakers, Trainers, and Authors take their businesses from zero to six figures and beyond through his Expert Empires Mastermind programme.
