So last Saturday morning. My wife and I were sitting in bed with a coffee, chatting about how well the agency is going.
We then ran the numbers
-After VAT
-And corp tax
-Then personal tax
I walk away with MAX 34% of the income I bring in.
Make it make sense.
The UK is FOOKED.
My goal for the rest of 2026
-Minimal booze
-Exercise 6 days out of 7
-Stack cash and investments
-Enjoy the fuck out of life
What would you add
ChatLLM + OpenClaw + N8N = 30 person team I worked in back in '07
What a wild ride.
NOTE TO SELF: You putting yourself first is OK.
Yes, it might be deemed selfish, but what's wrong with that?
Agree?!?!?
We've developed a Private AI offering for our legal clients
But any business can benefit.
-Not worried about business details being leaked
-Train the LLM to understand you and your business
-Build custom connectors that "just work" with your current stack and processes
Private AI is the future. If you are worried about putting client details in ChatGPT, I get it, I am too.
The legal industry has to make sure this doesn't happen. For SRA compliance.
Tomorrow's automation blueprint shows how to create this doc in 15 mins: philh.co.uk/newsletter
Sam Altman claiming that GPT-5 will create a 1-person $billion business is pure marketing.
Will there be a $100 million one-person business?
Potentially
But at some point, there will be a "moving part" that needs a human.
The founder won't want to do it.
"It's lonely at the top"
"You get shit on when you're at the bottom"
Which do you choose?
What holds us back (certainly has for me) is our perception of what's possible, what we are capable of.
Until something crazy happens. Like making £20K in your business in just 8 weeks.
You're "short-sighted"; you can't see what's out there.
Look past it
image
This week's automation blueprint
Turn a 3-hour admin task. Like SRA compliance into a 15-minute review and approval process:
Join us: philh.co.uk/newsletter
NOTE TO SELF: Life's tough
Don't expect it to be easy?
Agree?
People who run Reddit communities are drunk on power.
Yes, I was "link spamming" in the comments.
But it was relevant and helpful.
I bet they are the sorts of people that call people out for their grammar and spelling in WhatsApp groups
AI isn’t going to take your job. Someone using AI-based automation will
16.02.2026 21:09 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Manual compliance costs £54K per fee earner/year
SRA reviewed 5.8K files and found 11% of source-of-funds checks missed and 18% wek scrutiny
Automation cuts drafting time from 3 hrs to 15 mins and reduces errors by 95%.
Get the blueprint to fix this on Thurs: philh.co.uk/newsletter
image
My answer to this DM I got on TikTok.
Get amazing at helping people figure out what to automate in their business.
Don't sell them an n8n template you've downloaded.
Here's how: https://shop.philliphughes.co.uk/l/automation
If you're a business. And you're terrified about putting client data into ChatGPT
I don't blame you.
We are setting up and running a lot of private cloud solutions for businesses
It's the next phase in AI adoption
One thing that's difficult in marketing an automation agency is sticking with a strategy/tactic.
You're convinced something will work, but hearing crickets.
Just stick with it; the results are coming.
That happened to me this morning.
#buildinpublic
20 years ago, I'd be out drinking and not get in till 2 AM.
Now I'm in bed by 9 PM and can't wait to get up at 5 AM.
The joys of being in your 40's, and running a business
What's the one thing related to AI and Automation?
That we AREN'T talking about.
But should be?
Officially unemployed for exactly 5 months
Officially a full-time solopreneur for exactly 5 months
Hardly touched the redundancy package, our lifestyle hasn't changed. And I'm loving every minute.
I'd rather lick between your toes than have to go back into the corporate world
image
Law firms lose cash by not sending £50 to £500 invoices.
Solicitors bill 2.6 hours a day on average. That is 30% of their time.
Then they set billing thresholds
Fix this: philh.co.uk/automation/reclaiming-billable-hours-40-of-your-solicitors-time-is-wasted/
The future of knowledge work - compliance
12.02.2026 21:09 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
It's crazy.
The less I do, well, the more I remove, seems to be having a positive effect on my agency.
More deep work, on less things
Agree?
QQ: How much time do you spend "engaging" (hate that phrase) on social media?
Or are you just scrolling?
Longevity is a hot topic now (I plan to live to 100)
QQ: Is this something you're thinking about
If so, what are you doing about it.
The EU is at it again. The AI Act.
Making it more difficult to use technology.
The popups and time wasted on policies for your business is already a ballache. Now this
Just leave us the fuck alone to crack on
A product hunt launch isn't marketing
Build it, and they will come is a lie
MRR is just for SaaS products
Passive income.?!?!?!?? It's the biggest con in history
There's always some form of effort involved
I've got both one-off income and MRR from running an agency. Win-Win!
⚠️BLATANT SELF PROMO⚠️
The next edition of the automation blueprint drops at 8 AM tomorrow
It's a 90-day guide for legal professionals:
-No more minimum billing threshold (worth £10K/y)
-Go from invoicing 3 hours a day to 5 (66% uplift)
Get it here: philh.co.uk/newsletter
Think Copilot is becoming my favourite coding assistant.
Weeks' worth of coding, compressed into 3 hours yesterday afternoon.
20 years of dev experience + AI + clients = One happy automation agency owner
NOTE TO SELF: The fear of rejection IS AN EXCUSE
Doing nowt is the worst thing you can do.
It's the only true way to not get what you want
Nothing < No < Maybe < Yes
Agree?
