So why does Alan call me the intrapreneur?

Well it means ‘innovating like an entrepreneur in employment’…

So I suppose it’s because like an entrepreneur I’ve done many jobs… except I’ve only ever had one employer. ASDNE was my first job and is still my only ever job. Yet it feels like I’ve had six or seven by now.

• My first job was counting t-shirts*
• Then I used to help print them*
• Then I packed lots and lots of orders*
• Then I started helping out with social media scheduling…

I’ll stop at this point and explain the *asterisk. We have a sister company called MyMerch – and my work experience and summer jobs were spent helping out with ecommerce production and fulfilment, but I was only ever employed by ASDNE so it all felt “normal” like everyone had multiple businesses.

Back to the bullet points…

• In 2023 I started to learn about business with Alan every week on a Thursday afternoon
• I learned about ‘what leads to what’ in business – how mindset leads to foundations leads to marketing leads to sales leads to money leads to growth
• We imported some gadgets from China and I started my own website selling them
• We took on a fulfilment client and I was almost solely in charge of the orders and stock management
• In 2024 I got more involved in design and web development
• I also started creating social media content for ASDNE, sister companies and clients
• I started buying clothes and selling them on Vinted and Depop
• I learned to use AI by having it write my listings
• By 2025 I was building websites by myself
• I had my own ASDNE clients and did my first ever client calls
• Then my third side-hustle came along and changed everything…

In April 2025 I bought my first car. It was thanks to my steady job of 2.5 years I was able to finance it. And I discovered I really liked cleaning it!

Having learned ‘what leads to what’ in 2023, I put that into practice…

• Mindset / “ME” – I just really like cleaning cars, and I like being busy
• Foundations – I bought some kit, chose a business name, NMB Detailing, designed my logo, website, got insurance, set up social channels… bust most of all I got really good at cleaning cars before moving on to pillar 3
• Marketing – I told people about NMB and posted on socials for every job I did… and I asked for reviews
• Sales – I had conversations with people that involved money, which was awkward at first… I asked customers if they wanted to join my maintenance plan
• Money – people paid me! And I invested some of this back into past pillars, like foundations (I bought a van) and marketing (I did some events)
• Growth – from doing something I enjoyed to having a steady stream of weekend customers and a second income – I learned that growth doesn’t have to be 1k to 1m, it can be zero to 100 and it’s still growth…

I’d learned a lot by the end of 2025 – about business, money and life.

And at the start of 2026, Alan and I spent a lot of time talking about new ideas, going out to events promoting ASDNE and NMB together, and starting to focus on MyMerch more and especially how having access to printing facilities can benefit ASDNE and our clients.

So I guess that’s why Alan calls me the intrapreneur.