Podcast Summary
Learning and adapting in business: Stay curious, persistent, and open to new ideas to succeed in business. Understand what successful entrepreneurs lack and learn from them. Scale requires finding new ways to reach potential customers when traditional methods become exhausted. Hire good talent to help grow the business.
Importance of continuous learning and adaptation in business. The speaker shares his experiences from the 500,000 dollar Mastermind, where he learned about scale and the need to find new ways to reach potential customers when traditional methods become exhausted. He emphasizes the value of understanding what successful entrepreneurs lack, rather than just focusing on what they have. The speaker also shares his personal accomplishment of reaching $100,000,000 in total sales in his business, and the importance of hiring good talent to help grow the business. Overall, the discussion highlights the importance of staying curious, persistent, and open to new ideas in order to succeed in business.
Focus on niching down and high-value talent for business growth: To expand your business, specialize in a market or audience, evaluate your business economics, and hire high-level talent for profitable scaling.
Expanding your business and achieving growth requires a focus on both niching down and finding high-value talent. While it's important to identify and specialize in a specific market or audience, it's equally crucial to ensure that your business model allows for profitable scaling. This means evaluating the economics behind your business and considering additional acquisition channels to reach a larger customer base. Additionally, as you grow, it's essential to transition from doing everything yourself to hiring high-level talent who can bring pre-loaded solutions to the table. This will enable you to provide more value to your customers and increase your lifetime customer value. Remember, it's important to consider your current paradigm when receiving advice and to understand that what works for a billion-dollar company may not apply to a startup or small business. By focusing on niching down, finding high-value talent, and expanding your acquisition channels, you'll be well on your way to building a successful and profitable business.
Lessons learned from transitioning to an executive role: Moving from hands-on work to strategic focus and advice can lead to business growth and efficiency. Letting go of non-essential tasks and focusing on core priorities can lead to significant progress. Scaling operations and becoming less involved in day-to-day operations can prevent becoming a bottleneck as the team grows.
Transitioning from being deeply involved in the day-to-day operations of a business to an executive role can lead to increased growth and improvement. This was a valuable lesson learned in 2020 for the speaker, who moved from being a CEO to an investor/owner/stakeholder. By focusing on strategic priorities and providing advice, rather than doing hands-on work, the business was able to operate more effectively and efficiently. Additionally, letting go of non-essential tasks and focusing on core priorities led to significant progress. The speaker also learned the importance of scaling operations and becoming less involved in the day-to-day to avoid becoming a bottleneck as the team grows. Overall, this shift allowed the speaker to provide more value to the business and its stakeholders by focusing on the big picture and long-term objectives.
Scaling a business means trusting your team and making tough decisions: Scaling a business involves trusting your team, letting go of control, and making tough hiring and firing decisions to optimize labor costs and focus on strategic growth.
Scaling a business requires entrepreneurs to let go of doing everything themselves and trust their team, even if it means making tough decisions about hiring and letting go of employees. The entrepreneur in this conversation learned that only about one in five employees may be providing value, and that focusing on strategic insights rather than tactics can lead to more growth. However, the inconsistent demand for labor can make hiring and letting go of employees challenging, leading to a belief that many employees may be unnecessary from a business standpoint. This realization can be difficult for employees to understand, but from the owner's perspective, the cost savings can lead to more significant value for the business as a whole. Ultimately, scaling a business requires a willingness to make tough decisions and trust that the team can handle tasks that were once the entrepreneur's responsibility.
Focusing on people and processes for business growth: Effective teams and systems are essential for business growth. Eliminate unproductive team members and invest in a small team of smart, solution-driven individuals. Proper data management through a good ERP or CRM system is crucial to overcome challenges and drive growth.
Having the right team members and efficient systems in place are crucial for business growth. The speaker shared personal experiences of getting rid of unproductive team members and implementing ineffective solutions, which resulted in wasted resources. He emphasized the importance of having a small team of smart, solution-driven individuals who can move the company forward. Additionally, proper data management through a good ERP or CRM system was identified as a significant challenge that had held back the business for years. Investing in a robust solution like HubSpot was seen as worthwhile for addressing this issue. Overall, the speaker's message highlights the importance of focusing on people and processes to drive business growth.
Investing in a robust data system can save millions, Poor data management cost $30M over 3.5 years: Robust data systems save money, Focus on one business, Plan for managing and growing business wealth
Investing in a robust data system for your business can save you millions in the long run, despite the initial expense. This was a valuable lesson learned the hard way, as poor data management cost one entrepreneur an estimated $30 million over three and a half years. Another key takeaway is the importance of focusing on one business or a manageable number, rather than trying to juggle multiple ventures at once. Splitting attention can lead to mistakes and inefficiencies. Lastly, knowing what to do with the money your business generates is crucial. At some point, the interest earned can surpass your regular income, and it's essential to have a plan for managing and growing that wealth.
Exploring investment opportunities beyond core business: Investing in a whole life insurance policy with reputable providers can act as a stable financial foundation, allowing entrepreneurs to borrow against its cash value and invest in opportunities while also ensuring money doesn't depreciate due to inflation.
Effectively managing your money and understanding various investment opportunities beyond your core business can be time-consuming and distracting. However, it's essential to allocate resources wisely, especially when you have significant funds at your disposal. One strategy mentioned is investing in a whole life insurance policy with a reputable provider like Guardian, New York Life, Northwestern Mutual, or MassMutual. This investment can act as a stable financial foundation, allowing you to borrow against its cash value and invest in opportunities as they arise, while also ensuring your money doesn't depreciate in value due to inflation. By striking a balance between managing your core business and exploring new investment opportunities, entrepreneurs can maximize their returns on both their net worth and cash flow.
Investing with Purpose: Diversification, Corporate-Owned Life Insurance, and Syndications: Diversify portfolio, consider corporate-owned life insurance, focus on passive income, avoid active management, prioritize business growth, and have a bigger purpose in life.
Successful investing involves a well-diversified portfolio and a clear purpose beyond financial gains. The speaker recommends looking into corporate-owned life insurance and bank-owned life insurance structures for guidance on investment strategies. He also emphasizes the importance of word-of-mouth in growing the podcast and asks listeners to pay it forward. The speaker invests in B and C class multifamily apartments through syndications, index funds of the entire market, and has a 5% hedge in crypto. He advises against trying to outperform institutions in active management and instead suggests focusing on business growth and passive income. Lastly, he stresses the importance of having a bigger purpose in life to find meaning in financial gains, using the example of material possessions losing their value over time.
Personal growth and happiness aren't solely tied to wealth accumulation: Recognize patterns, adapt, focus on relationships, and embrace personal growth for success and happiness, even during challenging times.
Wealth accumulation grows exponentially, but it doesn't necessarily equate to a drastic change in lifestyle for everyone. Meanwhile, finding meaningful work and nurturing relationships are essential for personal growth and happiness. The entrepreneurial journey comes with cycles and seasons, requiring flexibility and recognition of those patterns to thrive. Additionally, the average product or service has a 3-year life cycle, necessitating innovation and adaptation. Despite making costly mistakes, recognizing these patterns and focusing on personal growth have been valuable lessons from the speaker's experiences in 2020. Furthermore, the speaker's marriage became a source of joy and strength amidst the challenges of the year.
Emphasizing what works best and simplicity in business: Adaptability, simplicity, and multiple revenue streams are essential for business success. Build on what's working, even if it means making the 'wrong' decision at times, and never unlearn good habits.
Focusing on what's working best in the current market, whether it's outbound or inbound sales, and having multiple acquisition channels is crucial for business growth. The speaker emphasizes the importance of simplicity in business solutions and decision-making, even if it means making the "wrong" decision at times. He also shares his experience of building an outbound sales team from scratch and the challenges they faced, but ultimately, the rewards of having two successful sales streams. Additionally, the speaker advises against unlearning good habits and reinforcing bad ones, even if they lead to positive outcomes. Overall, the key takeaway is the importance of adaptability, simplicity, and multiple revenue streams in business success.
Expanding Time Horizon for Financial Gains: Thinking long-term reduces risk, increases potential upside, and allows for steady growth and value creation in financial decisions.
Expanding your time horizon when making financial decisions can lead to significant benefits. The speaker shares his personal experience of realizing his financial security and the advantages it brings in making long-term investments. He emphasizes that thinking beyond short-term goals and focusing on a longer time horizon can help reduce risk and increase potential upside. Additionally, it allows for a more steady and disciplined approach to growth and value creation. The speaker encourages listeners to consider the long-term perspective and avoid the pressure of immediate gratification, which is a common obstacle for many people trying to build wealth. By adopting a long-term focus, individuals can make more informed decisions and increase their chances of achieving financial success.
Investor perspective leads to better business decisions: Focusing on KPIs, excess cash flow, and operational task forces can lead to a more efficient business, less waste, consistent customer experience, and increased profitability.
Adopting an investor's perspective can lead to better decision-making and more effective management in a business. By focusing on key performance indicators (KPIs) and excess cash flow, investors align the interests of management with their own and create a more efficient business. They also establish small task forces to tackle major operational objectives and allow the leadership team to run the business without excessive meddling. This approach leads to less waste, a consistent customer experience, and ultimately, increased profitability. Entrepreneurs can learn from this strategy to prioritize and streamline their businesses for long-term success.
Investing in growth for personal and business success: Focusing on skills, long-term goals, and a positive mindset can lead to significant growth and success, even in small companies. The economy is expected to boom in 2021 due to savings and government stimulus, making it an opportune time to prioritize growth.
Shifting one's perspective towards investing time and resources in personal and business growth, even in small companies, can lead to significant returns. The speaker shares his experience of helping a company grow from $500,000 to $600,000 a month. He also believes that the economy will experience a boom in 2021 due to savings accumulated during the pandemic and government efforts to stimulate growth. The speaker emphasizes the importance of investing in skills and staying focused on long-term goals, even when faced with short-term sacrifices. He encourages individuals to assess their priorities and consider the potential rewards of hard work and dedication. Overall, the speaker's message highlights the potential for growth and success, both personally and professionally, through focused effort and a positive mindset.
Obsessing over happiness hinders growth: Focusing on taking action and making progress towards goals leads to increased fulfillment and faster progress, rather than fixating on constant happiness.
Focusing too much on the pursuit of happiness can actually hinder personal growth and contentment. Instead, setting reasonable goals with a long-term perspective and focusing on taking consistent actions towards those goals can lead to increased fulfillment and faster progress. The speaker shared his personal experience of becoming obsessed with happiness during a past relationship, only to later realize that his fixation on the concept made him unhappy due to unrealistic expectations. By shifting his focus to taking action and making progress, he found that he became more content and fulfilled, even if he wasn't constantly "happy." The speaker also emphasized the importance of setting reasonable goals and breaking them down into actionable steps, rather than setting unrealistic expectations and becoming discouraged when they aren't met. By focusing on the process and taking consistent action, we can make progress towards our goals and find fulfillment along the way.
From young age to successful salesperson: Dedication, valuable skills, consistent effort, finding a valuable product to sell, generating leads, prospecting, turning off media, longer time horizons, simple goals, personal growth leads to business growth, stay focused on goals.
With dedication and focus, anyone can achieve success in sales, even at a young age. However, it requires consistent effort and the development of valuable skills. The speaker shares his experience of helping his neighbor set sales goals and emphasizes the importance of finding a valuable skill to sell, generating leads, and prospecting. He also suggests turning off media and focusing on longer time horizons and simple goals to achieve success in business. The speaker believes that personal growth in 2020 will lead to business growth in 2021, and encourages everyone to keep being amazing and focused on their goals.
