24 Hours In Sydney To Launch A New Business

This is a real time log from the first 24 hours in Sydney to launch a new business.

I flew down from the Gold Coast for this particular project because it required an in-person planning day with my business partner, James.

Here's how it went.

The Background

James and I have been circling this idea for a while now. We've worked together on and off for years. He's one of the sharpest operators I know, particularly in the Australian digital education space.

We both run our own businesses independently. But we kept coming back to this idea of doing something together.

The concept: a new education brand focused on the Australian market. Specifically, helping established online coaches, consultants, and course creators scale from 6 to 7 figures.

Not another course about courses. A genuine partnership with people who are already in the game and want help getting to the next level.

Why Now?

A few reasons converged:

1. The Australian market is underserved. Most of the big coaching programs are US-based. The timezone, the culture, the business environment, it's different here. We saw a gap.

2. We both have complementary skills. James is incredible at community building, live events, and high-touch coaching. I bring the systems, the marketing automation, and the strategic advisory lens.

3. We're both at a stage where we can do this without it consuming us. This is a key point. Neither of us is betting the farm on this. Our core businesses keep running. This is an addition, not a replacement.

The Day

We met at a hotel in the city. Whiteboard session all day.

Mapped out:

• •The positioning and messaging
• •The offer structure
• •The pricing
• •The launch plan
• •The content strategy
• •The partnership model (how we split things, who does what)
• •The tech stack

By the end of the day we had a full plan. Not a vague idea. A real, executable plan with timelines and deliverables.

Key Decisions

A few things we locked in:

Premium positioning. This isn't a $500 course. It's a high-touch program for people who are serious. We want a small, tight-knit group. Quality over quantity.

In-person events. We're building 3-4 live meetups per year into the model. Different cities around Australia. This is a differentiator. In a world of Zoom calls and Slack groups, getting in a room with people matters.

No cold outreach. Everything flows from content, reputation, and referrals. We both have audiences and networks. We'll lean into that.

Shared ownership. True 50/50 partnership. Aligned incentives. Shared risk. Shared upside.

Reflections

A few things struck me during the day:

The power of in-person. We could have done this on Zoom. But we wouldn't have gotten to the same place. There's something about being in a room, whiteboarding, talking through ideas face to face. It's faster, deeper, more creative.

The importance of timing. If we'd tried this two years ago, it wouldn't have worked. We both needed to get our individual businesses to a certain level of maturity and automation first. Now we can layer this in without it breaking anything.

The value of trust. I'm very careful about who I partner with. I've seen partnerships go wrong. But with James, there's a foundation of trust and respect that makes the conversation easy. We can be direct with each other. That's rare.

What's Next

We're aiming to launch in Q1 2026. Small initial cohort. Prove the model. Refine. Then scale.

I'll be documenting this build in real time.

More notes coming as we go.

JC