Joseph Valente’s blueprint for commercial business growth…
It’s day 2 of Elite Business Live, and Joseph Valente has just stepped onto the main stage. The audience leaned in, phones at the ready, eager to soak up the lessons from a man who had gone from expelled schoolboy to plumbing apprentice, to Apprentice winner, to multimillion-pound business owner… all before the age of 30!
Now the founder and CEO of Trade Mastermind, Valente stood before the audience, ready to share his journey, and to arm us with a playbook for commercial growth that was both deeply personal and universally applicable.
The three pillars: leads, sales, profit
Valente opened with a rallying cry: “You’re here because you want more.” More leads. More sales. More profit. In that order.
He broke down business growth into three core pillars:
- Lead Generation – “If you don’t know how to get attention, you don’t have a business.”
- Sales – “Selling isn’t sleazy. It’s essential. It’s the only way to grow.”
- Profit – “We’re not here just for turnover. We’re here for take-home.”
His delivery was fast-paced, high-energy and relentlessly practical. Not just theory, but lived experience, trial by fire.
The education gap
Valente made it clear that most small business owners start because they’re good at the job, not because they’re trained to run a business. Plumbers become business owners. Hairdressers open salons. But few understand operations, finance or marketing when they begin.
He admitted he was the same. At 22, he started a plumbing business with no formal training, no plan, and no customers. “My phone wasn’t ringing. That’s when I realised, plumbing skills don’t grow a business. Marketing does.”
His transformation began when he started investing in himself. Over seven years, he spent nearly £1 million on personal development, from reading books and watching YouTube videos to mentorship and mastermind groups. “Knowledge is power,” he reminded us. “And education is where it all begins.”
Mindset and momentum
Valente spoke at length about the power of mindset, not as a buzzword, but as a daily discipline. He urged entrepreneurs to surround themselves with people who challenge and elevate them. “You can’t solve problems with the same mindset that created them,” he said. “Your business can’t grow if you don’t grow.”
He recalled a key lesson from Lord Sugar: “If you want to be successful, you have to pull the trigger. Make a decision. Move fast. Success loves speed.”
That mindset, decisive, optimistic, forward-focused, is what he credits with helping him build not one, but two eight-figure businesses in completely different sectors.
The harsh realities of scaling
The keynote didn’t shy away from the struggles. Valente listed the all-too-familiar growing pains: working around the clock, doing admin late at night, cash flow confusion, lack of systems, no real sales strategy, and the loneliness of trying to do it all alone.
What changed everything? Systems. Strategy. And sales training.
“Most businesses don’t grow because they don’t have a repeatable sales process,” he explained. “They rely on word of mouth, which is great, but unpredictable. You need paid marketing. You need a funnel. You need to know your numbers.”
He pushed the room to get serious about tracking performance. “If you’re not setting daily, weekly, and monthly sales targets, you’re flying blind.”
Sales is a skill, not a personality trait
One of the most powerful moments came when Valente addressed the fear many founders have around sales.
“If you’re scared of selling, you’ve no business being in business. Sales is not sleazy. It’s how you bring your solution to people who need it.”
He cited eye-opening stats: 80% of sales are made between the fifth and twelfth touchpoint, yet most salespeople give up after just three. “If you’re not following up, you’re leaving 80% of your business on the table.”
Build to exit. Even if you don’t want to
Valente encouraged every founder in the room to build with an exit in mind. “Even if you never sell, it forces you to create systems, hire leaders, and make yourself redundant, which gives you freedom.”
He laid out the 11 departments every scaling business needs to consider: company structure, business plan, sales, marketing, operations, supply chain, recruitment, HR, finance, KPIs, and exit strategy.
“Begin with the end in mind,” he advised. “And reverse engineer your business to get there.”
Success is a formula, not a mystery
Above all, Valente’s message was one of empowerment. “Success is not random,” he said. “It’s a formula. A blueprint. If you follow the right steps in the right order, you can achieve explosive growth.”
He closed with a challenge. “Get uncomfortable. That’s where growth lives. Don’t settle for small goals. Don’t wait for permission. You already have what it takes, you just need to back yourself.”
As the applause echoed through the room, many were scribbling down his final words: “If you believe in yourself, others will too. But it has to start with you.”
