Business & Investing Playbook

Luke Moroney

10 Minutes of Business & Investing Strategies - set out your next 90 days Business & Investing Playbook delivers strategic, play-by-play guidance to move your business and investments forward—focused on actionable steps you can execute in the next 90 days. This podcast is the ultimate resource for entrepreneurs and investors who want clear plans, new ideas, and tactical insights to generate growth, build capital partnerships, and scale successfully. We strip away fluff to focus on what truly drives profits and sustainable growth: strategies, partnerships, talent, and mindset—broken down into an actionable playbook you can follow.

  1. Mar 15

    How Sophisticated Investors Are Earning 10-18% Returns Beyond Stocks & Property

    This podcast episode features Matt Bazzica, a private wealth strategist specialising in helping high net worth clients-typically those with investment funds averaging around $5 million-manage and grow their wealth beyond traditional avenues. Matt and host Luke Moroney discuss the importance of diversification that goes beyond common stocks, bonds, and property. They dive into alternative investment opportunities such as private lending and business acquisition funds, which yield attractive returns of 10-18% annually with potential for monthly income. The conversation goes deeper into critical topics like due diligence, asset protection, liquidity management, and investment structuring. Matt highlights frequent mistakes wealthy investors make, such as bundling unrelated assets to save costs, which can expose their wealth to unnecessary risks. He emphasises the necessity of working with an expert team-including accountants, financial advisors, and solicitors-to ensure investment structures protect assets efficiently and optimise tax outcomes. A significant part of the discussion covers asset protection strategies, like establishing testamentary trusts, to preserve wealth legacy and shield assets from potential risks such as divorce or business liabilities. Liquidity planning is addressed as a “silent killer” in alternative investments, reinforcing the importance of knowing entry and exit strategies, timelines, and realistic expectations around investment duration.

  2. Feb 26

    Busy tradies going broke: this is the math nobody wants to look at

    Booked out for weeks. Phones ringing. Team flat out. Then you open the numbers and realize the business is quietly bleeding. In this episode, Luke Moroney sits down with Claire Holmes to unpack the moment her trade business hit an uncomfortable truth: the workload was up, but the profit wasn’t. Claire shares how the cracks showed up in real time: expenses stacking up, gaps in the P&L, pressure on the team, and the growing fear that if nothing changed, the business wouldn’t survive. The turning point came from one brutally simple question: “Why aren’t you raising your prices?” Claire had no answer. Not because she didn’t know the pricing was wrong, but because the fear was louder than the math: What if we lose customers overnight? Claire walks through what happened next: She forced the numbers into the open: broke down the profit and loss and identified exactly where the model was failing. She raised prices fast (not “someday”): starting with larger contracts, then rolling it out across clients. She handled objections without discounting: only one customer pushed back, and the response was clear: they were no longer a “one-person band”, they were a team of 10 delivering a higher-level service. The result shocked her: she didn’t wake up to cancellations. Clients stayed because the value was real and the foundations were strong. The hidden value driver: customers consistently mentioned communication as the reason they chose them: knowing when the team would arrive, what was happening, and what came next. This conversation is a wake-up call for tradies and service business owners: being busy is not proof you’re profitable. If the back office numbers don’t work, the business doesn’t work. And if you don’t build a model that supports your team, your clients, and your long-term growth, “booked out” can become the fastest route to burnout and collapse.

  3. Feb 15

    90% of small business AI implementations fail - here’s what nobody tells you about adoption

    In this episode, Luke Moroney interviews Mike Mortlock, a leading tax depreciation and quantity surveying expert in Australia who has worked with major brands like McDonald’s, Stockland, and Hilton Hotels. But this conversation goes well beyond property and depreciation. Mike breaks down why most businesses fail: they are often started by technicians who are great at the craft, but unprepared for the realities of running a company. He explains the danger of overcommitting to overheads and “looking big” before the offer is proven, and why early-stage growth is about getting a paying customer, overdelivering, collecting proof, and building relationships. As the business grows, the biggest challenge becomes people. Mike shares why payroll is usually the biggest expense in a company, yet most owners do not measure or optimize “people ROI” the same way they do marketing ROI. They discuss how workforce expectations have shifted, why loyalty is different today, and how leaders must create clear alignment, expectations, and progression pathways to reduce churn and improve performance. The episode also tackles AI: Mike cuts through the hype, explains why many small business AI implementations fail, and shares a practical view on where AI is useful today (augmenting humans) versus where it can harm trust (automated outreach that feels disrespectful to customers). Finally, Mike answers the legacy question: beyond financial success, he wants to be known as a helper, someone who gives honest guidance and does the right thing even when there is an opportunity to “sting” someone.

About

10 Minutes of Business & Investing Strategies - set out your next 90 days Business & Investing Playbook delivers strategic, play-by-play guidance to move your business and investments forward—focused on actionable steps you can execute in the next 90 days. This podcast is the ultimate resource for entrepreneurs and investors who want clear plans, new ideas, and tactical insights to generate growth, build capital partnerships, and scale successfully. We strip away fluff to focus on what truly drives profits and sustainable growth: strategies, partnerships, talent, and mindset—broken down into an actionable playbook you can follow.