How I'm building a BILLION DOLLAR empire working 23 days per week Ep 322

In a candid discussion, the host addresses the entrepreneurial trap of seeking novelty over expertise, using his neighbor's successful trash business as a case study. The neighbor, after selling his original business for a substantial profit, opted to re-enter the same industry post non-compete, highlighting the value of leveraging existing knowledge rather than starting anew. The host reflects on the common mistake of entrepreneurs who, driven by a desire for personal growth and challenge, often risk their businesses by pursuing unrelated ventures. He stresses the importance of focusing on customer value over personal fulfillment and shares personal strategies for creating challenges within a business without compromising its integrity. These include innovating within one's domain and setting multiple success metrics that balance wealth, personal life, and self-imposed constraints to keep the entrepreneurial game engaging.

• Entrepreneurs often seek new challenges and desire growth, equating it with doing something different.
• The story of the neighbor illustrates the value of sticking with what you know.
• Entrepreneurs can sometimes mistake business ventures as a means to fulfill personal deficiencies.
• The challenge for entrepreneurs can be redefined as learning to be comfortable with boredom or not needing novelty.
• Businesses should focus on providing value to customers rather than satisfying the entrepreneur's need for change.

"This video is for all my friends who are doing, you know, 1 million, 3 million, $5 million a year, and who come to me and are always like, man, I want a challenge. This is so boring. I want to do something new and exciting."

This quote introduces the theme of entrepreneurial boredom, indicating that even successful entrepreneurs often crave new challenges and excitement.

"But the thing is that we think growth means new when I think that a lot of times we could redefine growth as meaning we develop the character traits to be able to persist and continue to do the same things over and over again."

This quote suggests redefining growth not as seeking new ventures but as developing the perseverance to continue with current successful endeavors.

• Entrepreneurs often equate growth with pursuing entirely new business ventures.
• Real estate moguls typically stick to real estate instead of venturing into unrelated fields like restaurants.
• The marketing community is highlighted for its particular need for constant change and growth.
• There is a need to redefine challenges in entrepreneurship, focusing on internal development rather than external change.

"You don't see these real estate moguls, for example, being like, man, I've built $20 million in real estate. I kind of just need a challenge. I'm going to start a restaurant, right? They don't do that."

This quote emphasizes the point that successful individuals in one field, like real estate, typically don't seek challenges by starting over in a completely different field.

• Entrepreneurs sometimes build businesses to solve personal issues like insecurity, a need for connection, or a desire for status.
• The primary purpose of a business should be to provide value to customers, not to address the entrepreneur's personal needs.
• Projecting personal needs onto a business can lead to poor decisions and potentially harm the business.

"But our business doesn't actually need to solve any of those things. It just needs to provide value to the customer."

This quote underscores the core purpose of a business, which is to provide value to customers rather than to serve as a solution to the entrepreneur's personal needs.

• Entrepreneurs at the top of their game in one industry may feel the urge to start over in a new industry for a challenge.
• Starting a new business in an unfamiliar industry means competing against established players and learning everything from scratch.
• The irony is that entrepreneurs are willing to give up their expertise and success in one area to start at the bottom in another.

"And so I'm going to stop doing this and then I'm going to enter a new arena where everyone else has been doing that for ten years, and there are other kingpins in that arena, and I'm going to try and relearn everything from ground zero and then try and beat them."

This quote captures the essence of the entrepreneurial desire to start anew in a different industry, despite the challenges of facing established competitors and the need to learn from the beginning.

• The decision to switch industries is not just about seeking a challenge; it also has significant financial implications.
• Entrepreneurs considering a move to a different industry may already be highly profitable in their current ventures.
• Despite success, the allure of starting a new company in a different field can be strong, but it may not be financially prudent.

"And so each of them on their own reached out to me and said, hey, man, I think I'm going to start a software company because I'm not challenged enough doing this anymore, right?"

This quote illustrates the financial aspect of the issue, where successful entrepreneurs contemplate leaving their profitable businesses for the sake of a new challenge in a different industry.

• True entrepreneurship involves a commitment to continue in business for the long term.
• Matching the market growth rate can lead to substantial wealth over time.
• Entrepreneurs often try to outpace the market unnecessarily, which can lead to problems.
• Business should focus on solving client problems, not the personal issues of the entrepreneur.

"If you were to gain at the same pace as the marketplace, which, by the way, when you're smaller, is really easy, right? Is 10% a year, if you were to grow by 10% a year, by the end of the 40 years, you would have a gazillion dollars, right?"

This quote emphasizes the potential for significant financial success by simply growing at the market pace, especially for smaller businesses.

"But because we are so frenetic and we have these insecurities that we project on our business and then force our business to solve our own personal issues, we end up breaking the thing that is actually working just fine because we have these interpersonal needs that we're trying to satisfy."

The speaker is highlighting a common mistake where entrepreneurs project their personal insecurities onto their business, leading to unnecessary complications and potentially harming the business.

• The speaker has a desire for innovation and new experiences within the business context.
• Innovation should be channeled into creating new front ends or back ends, not by starting new businesses.
• Changing marketing strategies can attract a variety of clients and grow the business.
• Entrepreneurial energy should be used constructively to serve the business.

"So I have desires for innovation. I have desires for new things, right? And so where to channel that is not to create new businesses. Where to channel that is to create new front ends or new back ends."

The speaker suggests that the desire for innovation should be directed towards enhancing existing business operations rather than starting new ventures.

"So you can use that entrepreneurial add, but use it in a way that's going to serve you and serve the business rather than breaking the business."

This quote conveys the idea of harnessing entrepreneurial energy in a manner that benefits both the individual and their business without causing harm.

• The speaker has learned to measure success by multiple metrics, not just profit or net worth.
• As wealth increases, the marginal utility of additional money diminishes.
• Entrepreneurs should create different ways to measure success, such as a good marriage or physical fitness.
• Imposing a time constraint can be a challenging but rewarding way to prevent boredom in business.

"One of the lessons that I've learned over the last twelve months is multiple metrics for success."

The speaker shares a personal lesson on the importance of having various success indicators beyond financial gain.

"Can I increase my net worth and have a good marriage? Can I increase my net worth and be in shape, right?"

These questions illustrate the speaker's broader perspective on success, incorporating personal well-being and relationships.

"And so one of the constraints that I'd like to offer you as a challenge to give to yourself so that you don't get bored in the business that you have is a constraint around time."

The speaker proposes a time constraint as a way to maintain interest and engagement in an existing business without becoming bored.

• Establishing ambitious goals such as building a billion-dollar revenue portfolio.
• Currently at $85 million a year across the portfolio, aiming for growth.
• Understanding that hard work alone won't achieve a billion-dollar goal; good decisions and compounding are essential.
• Calculations of growth over time with a 10% annual increase, considering market doubling rates.
• Introducing constraints to goals can make them more interesting and achievable.
• Recognizing the necessity of sacrifice for success.
• The willingness to sacrifice is driven by a deep-seated need to fill a deficiency or avoid pain.

And so that was one of the things that I did over the last twelve months was like, okay, I want to build something that does a billion dollars a year in revenue, which is the goal for the portfolio.

This quote outlines the speaker's ambitious goal for their portfolio, setting the stage for the discussion on goal setting and achievement strategies.

You have to make good decisions and you have to let compounding work in your favor.

The speaker emphasizes the importance of strategic decision-making and the power of compounding in achieving significant financial growth.

Adding constraints makes the goals far more interesting, because I think the first level of achieving any goal is learning how to sacrifice everything to achieve the goal.

The speaker suggests that introducing constraints to goals can make the process of achieving them more engaging and also touches on the fundamental requirement of sacrifice in the pursuit of success.

• The idea that successful people have sacrificed significantly for their achievements.
• Sacrifice is seen as a necessary step to fill a deficiency or to alleviate pain.
• The speaker's personal approach to sacrifice, prioritizing work over personal life.
• The understanding that while sacrifice can lead to success, it's not the only metric.

You have to be able to put everything you have on the altar of success and sacrifice it for what you want.

This quote encapsulates the speaker's belief in the necessity of sacrifice for achieving high levels of success.

I will outsacrifize everyone.

The speaker shares their personal mantra, highlighting their readiness to sacrifice more than their competitors to gain an edge.

• Setting new goals with added constraints to maintain balance and enjoyment in life.
• The challenge of building a billion-dollar portfolio while working limited hours and maintaining physical fitness.
• The importance of not breaking the existing successful system (the "machine") while pursuing new challenges.
• The machine's primary purpose is to serve the customer, not just the creator.

Can I build a billion dollar a year revenue portfolio working two or three days a week, right. And can I do that also while being in competitive shape physically, right. And working out one to 2 hours a day because I like it?

This quote shows the speaker's desire to achieve their financial goals while also setting personal constraints to ensure a balanced lifestyle.

The machine doesn't exist to serve me, it exists to serve the customer.

Here, the speaker reflects on the purpose of their business, emphasizing the importance of customer service over personal gains.

• The speaker's college experience with a fraternity pledging process taught them about sacrifice.
• The intense time commitment of the pledging process was a formative experience.

When I started the first time, where I really saw success was when I learned how to sacrifice.

The speaker shares a personal story to illustrate the turning point in their understanding of the importance of sacrifice for success.

• The speaker attributes their good grades to a strict regimen of 3 hours of daily homework.
• They discovered that consistently dedicating time to work, even when there's no immediate work, helps to get ahead on future assignments.
• The speaker maintained a 3.8 GPA during a semester by applying this disciplined approach.
• After the pledge period, the speaker continued to utilize all extra hours for studying, which significantly improved academic performance.

"And it was because they forced me to do 3 hours a day, every single day of homework."

This quote highlights the enforced discipline that led to the speaker's good grades, emphasizing the impact of a structured study routine.

"What I did after I finished pledging was I realized that all these extra hours of the day were mine."

The speaker reflects on the realization that time management is key to academic success, indicating a strategic shift to use free time for studying.

• The speaker learned to prioritize work, workouts, and classes, sacrificing other activities.
• They never worked past 9:00 p.m. and managed to socialize frequently while maintaining this disciplined lifestyle.
• The speaker's experience with sacrifice in college made it easier to apply similar principles to business endeavors.

"I just didn't do anything besides work, work out and go to class."

This quote encapsulates the speaker's strict prioritization of essential activities over leisure to achieve academic success.

"I was so used to sacrificing everything, I just switched over what I was sacrificing for."

The speaker shares how the habit of sacrifice was transferable from academic life to business, underlining the versatility of this disciplined approach.

• The speaker believes that one must learn to sacrifice to achieve success and later learn to live without that success.
• They reference Buddha's journey of riches to renunciation to illustrate the necessity of mastering and then relinquishing desire.
• The speaker suggests that understanding the value of something comes from first possessing it, then realizing why it's unnecessary.

"I think that you have to learn how to sacrifice first in order to learn how not to sacrifice later."

The quote conveys the idea that sacrifice is a skill that enables future success and the eventual ability to live without the need for constant sacrifice.

"And so I think that in order for us to walk the middle path in life, we have to have achieved the thing in order, we have to achieve mastery over the thing before we can truly master it and mean and give it away, right?"

Here, the speaker discusses the concept of mastering something before being able to relinquish it, drawing a parallel to Buddha's path and applying it to modern success.

• The speaker advises not to change businesses just for the sake of challenge but to find ways to innovate within the existing business.
• They suggest using constraints to create challenges that improve life.
• The speaker cites a neighbor's wisdom in sticking to a business one is already good at, rather than starting from scratch elsewhere.
• The neighbor's perspective is that business should be about creating wealth, not satisfying personal desires.

"Multiple metrics of success don't change your business just to challenge yourself."

This quote suggests that success can be measured in various ways and that seeking challenges should not be the sole reason for changing one's business focus.

"He uses business to create wealth, which was the whole point."

The speaker relays the neighbor's philosophy that the primary purpose of business is wealth creation, not the fulfillment of personal desires, emphasizing a pragmatic approach to entrepreneurship.

• The speaker hopes the audience found value in the video and encourages subscribing for more content.
• They sign off with a positive message to the "Mosey Nation" and promise to return with more advice.

"So anyways, I hope you found value in this video. Click subscribe if you did more videos like this to help you make more money."

The speaker concludes by expressing the desire that the audience found the content useful and invites them to subscribe for additional helpful videos.