Build and Exit

Hosted by Julie Wilkinson

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Aug 2026

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About the show

Most businesses have finance. Very few leaders fully trust the numbers they are using to make decisions. The Build & Exit Podcast is for founders, CEOs and business leaders navigating growth, acquisitions, financial clarity and exit readiness. Hosted by Julie Wilkinson, each episode explores the operational, financial and structural issues that quietly shape business value, visibility and leadership confidence. Because the biggest business challenges rarely appear when finance is broken. They appear when finance technically works, but leadership has stopped trusting the numbers they need to run the business with confidence. Through conversations with founders, investors, advisers and business leaders, we uncover the lessons behind building businesses that create value, improve visibility, strengthen decision-making and reduce dependency on the owner. Whether you're scaling, preparing for an exit or simply trying to gain greater control of your business, The Build & Exit Podcast provides practical insights from those who have been there before. Subscribe to follow conversations on growth, acquisitions, financial clarity and building businesses that create long-term value.

Listen to episodes

60 recent

August 20, 2026Episode 7029 min

She Bought a Business. It Came With a £677,000 Hidden Tax Liability | Build and Exit Podcast

Kemi Egan bought a business in 2021. What she did not know was that HMRC had already launched a COP8 fraud investigation into the seller six months before completion. By the time she found out, the tax liability had reached £677,000, a further million in director's loan credits had been denied, and she was five months pregnant. This episode covers the full story, the due diligence check that could have flagged it, and why she is now in high court litigation. Watch the full video version on YouTube: https://youtu.be/NrGd1tUK3gY

August 13, 2026Episode 6930 min

1.9% of VC Funding Goes to Female Founders. David B Horne Is Trying to Change That. | Build and Exit Podcast

Less than 2% of VC funding in the UK goes to female founders. That number has barely moved in 16 years. In this episode David B Horne, who has raised over $110 million and written Funded Female Founders, joins Julie to explain why, and what female founders can do about it. Including the one response strategy that makes any founder 14 times more likely to secure funding. Watch the full video version on YouTube: https://youtu.be/q3xKZ60SIPc?si=8jK33vvLPSi9Qg3A

August 6, 2026Episode 6828 min

Selling My Business Felt Like a Divorce. Here Is What Nobody Tells You. | Build and Exit Podcast

Most conversations about selling a business focus on the deal. This one focuses on what it actually feels like. Luke Winter co-founded Wallbreaker, a video agency, straight out of university. After 12 years he sold his half to his business partner. In this episode he talks honestly about the loneliness, the exhaustion, the night in the shower, and the question every seller faces: am I walking away with enough? Watch the full video version on YouTube: https://youtu.be/zl2MuhC8ufo

July 31, 2026Episode 6735 min

£3 Million Saved Through Outsourcing: The Strategy Most Businesses Overlook | Build and Exit Podcast

Nine out of ten businesses that come to market within a year have not sold. Marc Adams has spent four decades on both sides of that statistic. In this episode he joins Julie to break down the three-step framework behind his book: cutting costs through outsourcing, deploying that saving into growth, and using acquisitions to double a business in an afternoon. Including a real client whose valuation moved from £5 million to £24 million. Watch the full video version on YouTube: https://youtu.be/ZALeAgUlHzY

July 22, 2026Episode 6621 min

Are You Building a Legacy or Building a Job? The Hard Truth About Why Most Businesses Don't Sell

Of all the businesses that go to market, 75 to 85% do not sell. In this episode Julie Wilkinson breaks down why that happens, what financial controls and governance have to do with it, and what needs to change before a business becomes a genuine asset rather than a job that stops the moment the owner steps back. Watch the full video version on YouTube: https://youtu.be/dRiXi__uX9s?si=4EkaDmWyTFlmSAso

July 15, 2026Episode 6526 min

What Is Adjusted EBITDA and Why It Could Make or Break Your Business Sale | Build and Exit Podcast

Most business owners go to market expecting a strong valuation and are disappointed. Not because the business is bad. Because the profits they think they have are not the profits a buyer will accept. In this episode Julie Wilkinson breaks down adjusted EBITDA from the ground up, including the accruals concept, how owner pay distorts profits, the pricing flaw hiding in most SME businesses, and why the buyer's first concern is always whether the margin covers replacing you. Watch the full video version on YouTube: https://youtu.be/dlemWCxHAbc

July 1, 2026Episode 6417 min

Most Businesses Don't Fail Overnight. They Lose Oversight First. | Build & Exit Podcast

Most businesses do not fail overnight. They lose oversight first. In this episode Julie walks through how financial and legal risk quietly builds inside growing businesses, including a real case where credit card spend crept to half a million a year unnoticed, an acquisition that inherited a money laundering exposure, and an internal fraud case that went undetected for years. If your business is growing but somehow needs more of you in it, this is the episode to listen to. Watch the full video version on YouTube: https://youtu.be/FFbEKZIhdSU?si=yyBcHwjc-8HqM9iH

June 24, 2026Episode 6320 min

The Operational Risks That Silently Destroy Business Valuations | Build & Exit Podcast

Most business owners believe their valuation is driven by revenue and profit. Buyers are looking for something else entirely: confidence. Confidence in the numbers. Confidence in the controls. Confidence that the business is actually as sustainable as it appears on the surface. In this solo episode Julie Wilkinson walks through a real case study: a business with £20 million turnover that had been offered a 7x multiple by a PE firm. By the time due diligence was complete, the valuation had been slashed and the exit delayed by five years. Not because the business was fraudulent. Not because it suddenly stopped trading. Because of three things that are almost invisible until an outsider starts asking questions: reporting the buyer couldn't trust, a major client leaving mid-process, and a concentration risk that revealed 75% of clients came from a single channel. Julie also covers what businesses can put in place now — systems assessment, trading reports versus financial reports, and a controls framework — so that when questions come, they already have the answers. Only 10 to 15% of businesses have a contingency risk plan. This episode explains why that number needs to change, and what it costs when it doesn't.

June 10, 2026Episode 6218 min

Your Systems Are Working. So Why Are You Losing Money? | Build & Exit Podcast

Nothing is technically broken. Revenue is growing, teams are expanding, activity is high. So why does cash never close where you expect? Why are the same decisions taking longer every month? Why do leaders keep double-checking numbers that should already be right? In this solo episode Julie Wilkinson breaks down the three operational areas where financial systems quietly fail growing businesses — and what it actually costs when nobody catches it. She covers the gap between front-end systems (CRM, project management) and back-end finance systems, what happens when purchase orders are bypassed, and why integrity reports — not more data — are what businesses actually need.

June 3, 2026Episode 6115 min

Your Finance Works. So Why Don't You Trust It? | Build & Exit Podcast

Your finance is technically working. So why does something still feel off? In this solo episode Julie Wilkinson breaks down one of the most consistent patterns she is seeing across scaling businesses right now: finance is in place, teams are in place, reporting is in place — but business owners are still struggling to trust their numbers and make confident decisions. Julie explains why the problem is rarely the finance function itself, and almost always the flow of information between operational teams and finance. When that flow breaks down, cash lands in the wrong place, reports get reworked every week, and leaders stall on decisions they should be able to make quickly. She walks through a practical example — the customer who does not pay on time — and shows exactly where the process breaks, who owns each part of it, and what needs to change for leaders to get confidence back in their numbers. If you are running a business where finance works on paper but does not always feel reliable in practice, this episode is for you.