carolyn bohlig

HIGHLIGHTS

• A lifetime of learning and micro-pivots 
• Developing CEO Dreams and an entrepreneurial spirit 
• Owning a business vs being a business owner
• Mountain climbers, craftspeople, and freedom fighters
• The 8 types of Entrepreneurship
• Working as a mergers and acquisitions advisor 
• The business model canvas
• The best way to learn about business is to run one
• What is your Return On Time?
• Being an entrepreneur can be lonely
• Deep thoughts on Tandem Talks 

QUOTES

Laurie: "If someone wants to own a business or do they want to be a business owner, I think that's where the conversation could start. What's the difference between the two? Well, one might look at it as a lifestyle. I want to have my own business, I want to be a business owner because ultimately, it's gonna give me the lifestyle that I want to live."

Laurie: "Freedom fighters, they too really value control. All three archetypes do. But the freedom fighter most of all, is the one who probably will say I am a business owner, and they will probably own that business for 20 years or longer."

Laurie: "In my story, I thought I couldn't be an entrepreneur because I didn't have the big idea. And as I have been in business so many years now, looking back 25+ years later, here I am saying I'm an entrepreneur. Well, how so? I think there are others who explore other paths. Another big path are people who are buying companies. They are acquiring businesses. They're getting an SBA loan from the government, or they're getting a loan from friends and family." 

Laurie: "For people who are really interested in exploring other options and think starting your own thing from scratch is the way to get there, I'll say to them, 'hey think again.' The other thing I would say about this notion of I can't start a business unless it's new and you know this crazy technology, I'd say, 'let's think about that, let's unpack that' and point to all kinds of examples of the type of entrepreneur that we call an Imitator. It's not negative, it's just a descriptor."

Laurie: "The number one thing is to be clear about who you are, why you're doing what you're doing, and who are you doing it for."

Laurie: "For an entrepreneur starting from scratch, what do we need to do? What is step one? Well with the students, we say, do competitive research in this space. Understand the ocean you're swimming in, the lake, the pond, the puddle, where are you stepping in, where are you swimming in." 

Craig: "Go do something, go learn. Because I say the best way to learn about business is to run one. Not like theorize, like do the canvas but don't do the canvas for six years. Do the canvas, take your time, like build it out nice, but then go learn and make the micro adjustments that we're talking about." 

Laurie: "I think that's the other side to really know from the economics in your household what do you really need to be doing because you may not truly be ready from a budget standpoint to go all in. So this test and learn, side hustle is a great way to fare that out and see if one, you would enjoy it and two, if you're seeing the market demand that you need."

You can find out more about Laurie in the links below: 

• Website: https://smalldotbig.com/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauriebarkman/
• Business Model Canvas (Creator: Alex Osterwalder):

https://interaction.net.au/articles/business-model-canvas-template/

• 8 Types of Entrepreneurship: https://youtu.be/ceFheMe1YB4 
• Succession Stories Podcast: www.successionstories.com

Please subscribe to the podcast and leave a review. Be sure to visit our website at https://www.tandemconsulting.co/.

HIGHLIGHTS

• What problem are you trying to solve in the world?
• Just talk to business owners in the real world 
• Know your skillset and create a team to fill the gaps
• How to vet people for your dream team 
• Dig into people's motivations 
• Building a founding team is almost as serious as marriage
• Are you in it for the long haul?
• Track all the goals that you want to accomplish

QUOTES

Nick: "I like to ask, what  problem are you trying to solve in the world? That is something that everyone, if you're thinking of trying to get into business and entrepreneurship, I would encourage you to come from that angle. So it's not just like an idea in the shower."

Nick: "We empower and inspire and drive growth for entrepreneurs because this world runs because of entrepreneurship."

Nick: "Everyone is gifted in actually pretty narrow ways. But everyone has some very specific things that they probably do best in the world. I would say, first and foremost, hopefully you're able to know or discover what you're really great at and hey if you're technical, you're probably great at coding and building a product and kind of visualizing that and putting it into play. Some people are the idea people, which, that's great and fine, but you need to someone to actually build the product."

Nick: "As a leader, it's important for you to dig a little bit, because the more that you can surface from the people that want to work with you and join your team, the better you can serve them." 

Nick: "Of course, it's important to have a founding team and co-founders. But that is a very serious relationship that's a bit harder to unwind. So have that filtration process, know what you're looking for and be confident in actually saying, that's not the right time, and it's okay." 

Nick: "Look at their history. Is this person just fishing for a job and somehow create some quick income? How passionate are they about the vision and the market you're in? Do they have a past history of either working in this industry or building a product of some sort of similarity? Have they created a product before? Have they brought something to market? Do they have an exit in their history? These are things that you start filtering out. Doesn't mean that you say yes or no. You just need to know your filter."

Nick: "Have patience. Weirdly enough, success in the longevity of life is just staying in the game and waking up everyday and doing your thing. If you do that for 30 to 40 years, you will end up at the top echelon of the world because no one does anything for 40 years."

You can find out more about Nick and Founders Live in the links below: 

• Website: https://founderslive.mn.co/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jnickhughes/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/FoundersLive

Please subscribe to the podcast and leave a review. Be sure to visit our website at https://www.tandemconsulting.co/.

HIGHLIGHTS

02:12 Nathan's passion for side hustling and military service 

05:42 Entry to entrepreneurship after defense contracting

11:35 Time management is the biggest challenge to side hustling

16:12 Scale faster: Let go of time-consuming tasks and hire talent to grow with you

25:11 Work ethic: Know what you want so you can decide what to give up

28:03 Life hack: Add software as you fix problems, not as infrastructure 

33:16 Connect with Nathan

QUOTES

06:47 "I started looking at how this company was making money and everything, and I was just like, there's no reason why I need to sit here and work  for what little bit I'm working for when I can just go do this on my own."

12:59 "As we were growing, it was more of I need to book 10 a year, right? When we made that transition, then I started realizing that okay, my time is way more valuable selling than it is me working."

18:06 "You can just go out Willy-nilly and say I'm going to go get the best people or I'm going to get the cheapest people. It doesn't necessarily work that way, you've got to try to find that middle ground of getting the most out of people that are looking to grow with you." 

26:12 "You gotta figure out what you can give up and what you can't. And some people, you gotta decide what your side hustle wants to be. If you want it to just give you an extra thousand a month, there's nothing wrong with that."

29:55 "You want to look at systems that give you the most in one place, if that makes sense. So you kind of want to create this unified ecosystem. Will you be able to cover everything with one company? No, but you can get most of it."

You can find out more about Nathan in the links below:

• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nateflood/

Please subscribe to the podcast and leave a review. Be sure to visit our website at https://www.tandemconsulting.co/.

HIGHLIGHTS

02:40 Creating the number 1 incubator for startups

05:34 Deciding when your side hustle is good enough to go full-time

10:10 Hunting for demand and finding the best people

15:05 Ask, don't tell: A winning culture on empowering your team

21:08 How to secure venture capital and close deals

32:08 The real work after securing funding: Hire the best and don't be cheap

38:54 Connect with Steven 

QUOTES

06:36 "What are their problems? What's keeping them up at night? What are their dreams? What are their goals? Do you align with these? If you don't align with the top three priorities of your potential customers, you're off their radar."

08:20 "I always say the entrepreneur's job, and especially when you're doing a side hustle, is really to gather as much information as possible information. Information. Data about the real world. What's really going on, where the market is. That will inform you."

19:02 "A lot of entrepreneurs think it's their job to have all the ideas, to figure out the whole plan to do everything. It's not your job. Your job is to go to your employees and get them doing that, getting them to think, and then really supporting them."

22:15 "(Venture capital) are really good at giving you money to acquire more customers, basically like to grow that business, to grab more customers and then to meet the need by hiring more people. Like that's what the venture money is for. It's not to figure it out."

28:10 "The thing that makes investors close more than anything is one thing. It's fear, but it's also greed, right? You need to make the investor more afraid of losing the deal than they are afraid of losing their money. So it's this balance."

You can find out more about Steven in the links below:

• Website - https://www.foundersspace.com/
• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/foundersspace/
• Twitter - https://twitter.com/foundersspace
• Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/foundersspace/
• Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/foundersspace

Please subscribe to the podcast and leave a review. Be sure to visit our website at https://www.tandemconsulting.co/.

Amy Blaschka is a Social Media Ghostwriter and Career Storyteller. She helps leaders craft their stories to communicate and connect better through ghostwritten social media posts, magnifying their reach and impact. She also writes engaging, original, and authentic career stories for her clients to position them for success and change how others perceive, pay, partner with, and promote them.

Amy is also a contributor at Forbes. She writes for Forbes under Leadership, covering personal transformation and its impact on career growth. 

You can learn more about Amy Blaschka and find her content on the following links below.

• Website - https://www.amyblaschka.com/
• Newsletter - https://amyblaschka.substack.com/
• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/amyblaschka/
• Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/stories/amyblaschka/2501070049538580965/
• Twitter - https://twitter.com/amyblaschka

Please subscribe to the podcast and leave a review. Be sure to visit our website at https://www.tandemconsulting.co/.