How To Win At Business Ep 36

In a recent conversation, the host shared insights with an old high school friend turned entrepreneur, emphasizing the pitfalls of redundant partnerships in business and advocating for a singular focus on profitable aspects rather than diversifying prematurely. He debunked the myth of a self-sustaining business, highlighting the relentless work ethic of successful entrepreneurs like Jeff Bezos and Steve Jobs. The host also stressed the importance of mastering lead generation, nurturing, and sales processes over seeking leisure, as success demands sacrifice and an unwavering dedication to improvement. Ultimately, he urged entrepreneurs to refine their skills and concentrate on one venture to maximize efficiency and growth.

• Speaker A highlights the inefficiency of partnerships where both partners have identical skill sets.
• Emphasizes that such partnerships are unsustainable as they could lead to resentment when one partner's contribution could be replaced by paid labor.
• Speaker A has experience in guiding gym owners out of such partnerships due to their inherent impracticality.

"If you both are doing the exact same thing in a business, there's really no point for you guys. If you have the same skill set and all you're doing is dividing up work."

This quote underscores the redundancy of having a business partner with the same skills and responsibilities, leading to eventual conflict and inefficiency.

• Speaker A advises concentrating on the most profitable aspect of the business, the "cash cow," and discarding less profitable ventures.
• The speaker shares personal experience and conversations with a colleague, Russell, about the pitfalls of running multiple businesses simultaneously.
• The message is to maintain a single focus to break through revenue ceilings and avoid being a "master of nothing."

"Keep doing the one thing that's making you money and do more of that, because at the end of the day, you can have a 100 million dollar business that does one thing."

This quote advises focusing on the most profitable part of the business and expanding it rather than diluting efforts across multiple areas.

• Speaker A challenges the misconception that successful entrepreneurship requires multiple business ventures.
• The speaker stresses that a single, well-focused business is more likely to succeed than several divided ventures.
• A focused business allows for the development of refined processes across various business functions like lead generation, sales, and customer service.

"One business, one focus."

This quote encapsulates the advice to maintain a singular focus in business for optimal success and growth.

• The friend expressed a desire to have a business that operates independently and generates income without his constant involvement.
• Speaker A recognizes this as a common goal among entrepreneurs.

"I just want to get this business so that it kind of runs without me and makes money without me being there."

This quote reflects the entrepreneurial aspiration to create a self-sustaining business that can thrive without the owner's constant presence.

• Entrepreneurs like Jeff Bezos and Steve Jobs are heavily involved in their businesses every day.
• The notion of a business running itself without the owner's constant involvement is a myth.
• Successful entrepreneurs are driven by their work and often cannot detach themselves from thinking about their business.
• The idea of a completely hands-off business is contrasted with the reality of constant work and dedication.

"You think he doesn't work? You think he doesn't go to Amazon every day and think about Amazon stuff all day long, every single day, right?"

This quote emphasizes the dedication and daily involvement of successful entrepreneurs like Jeff Bezos in their businesses, debunking the myth of a self-running business.

"It's this lie that we're telling ourselves, and then we feel like we're failing at business because we're working."

The quote addresses the false expectation that successful entrepreneurship means not having to work hard, leading to feelings of failure when reality does not match this expectation.

• The dream of passive income and a carefree lifestyle is often sold by internet marketers.
• There is a misconception that successful entrepreneurs spend their time leisurely, not working.
• The reality is that a lot of work goes into creating the facade of a perfect lifestyle, such as running and testing ads.
• The concept of a business is likened to a garden that requires regular attention, not a machine that runs on its own.

"It's this Internet marketing dream of like, look, it's me at the beach, but I've spent 10 hours running and split, testing ads to show you this ad of me on the beach to pretend to have a lifestyle that doesn't even exist, right?"

This quote criticizes the misleading nature of internet marketing, which often portrays an unrealistic lifestyle of leisure that masks the hard work behind the scenes.

• To build a lasting business, one must focus on the core functions that are lacking.
• The speaker's acquaintance is good at making roofs but lacks in lead generation, nurturing processes, and sales processes.
• The speaker advises to go all-in on improving these three areas to outcompete others in the industry.

"You don't have any way of generating leads that's consistent. You don't have a nurture process. You don't really have a sales process."

This quote identifies the critical areas where the acquaintance's business is deficient, emphasizing the importance of these functions for business sustainability.

• The speaker reflects on the level of dedication required to learn and succeed in business.
• He mentions a personal commitment to giving up certain things to win in business.
• The speaker acknowledges that success comes with sacrifice and that those willing to give up more will likely achieve more.

"I remember two years ago, I wrote down every single thing I was willing to give up in order to win. And I was like, if I'm willing to give up more, I will win more, period."

This quote reveals the speaker's belief in the correlation between the willingness to make sacrifices and the level of success one can achieve in business.

• The speaker references an interviewer who studied gold medal athletes to identify common character traits.
• Traits include viewing failure as a learning opportunity and the necessity of repetition for success.
• Winners are driven not just by the desire to win but by a strong aversion to losing.

"One of them was obviously that they saw failure as a part of success in terms from a learning standpoint, that they needed to do repetition."

The quote highlights the mindset of gold medal athletes, who see failure as an integral part of the learning process and success.

"Winners, the greatest of all time, don't care much about winning. They hate losing."

This quote distinguishes the mindset of the most successful individuals, indicating that their motivation stems more from a hatred of losing than a love of winning.

• The speaker emphasizes the importance of being more prepared and willing to sacrifice in order to succeed in business.
• They reflect on their own experiences of giving up personal time and social activities to focus on work and self-improvement.
• The speaker believes that the time they spent working while others were resting gave them a competitive advantage.
• They express a strong dislike for losing, which fuels their work ethic.

"They're willing to give up more than everyone else was because they hated the alternative so much."

This quote highlights the speaker's belief that a strong aversion to failure can be a powerful motivator in pushing oneself to work harder and make sacrifices.

• The speaker recounts the initial period of their business, where they had no employees and did everything themselves.
• They describe a grueling schedule of training sessions, marketing, sales consultations, and billing, often with very little sleep.
• The speaker ate the same meal every day and worked to the point of extreme fatigue.

"I slept on the floor for the first nine months, and I taught every single session."

This quote illustrates the level of commitment and personal investment the speaker had in their business during its early stages, including the physical hardships they endured.

• The speaker admits to not working smart at the beginning but compensating with hard work.
• They now work smarter, which has increased their effectiveness and the value of their time.
• The speaker advises that working hard is necessary to learn how to work smarter, and that both are interrelated.

"I worked really hard, and I did not work smart."

This quote conveys the speaker's initial approach to business, which was focused on effort rather than efficiency, and how this has evolved over time.

• The speaker acknowledges that entrepreneurship is not for everyone and that it requires sacrifices that some may not be willing to make.
• They suggest that those in the startup phase must decide what they are willing to give up to succeed in their business.
• The speaker and their wife choose not to drink, but they clarify that it is not for religious reasons, implying it is a personal choice related to their lifestyle and work.

"Entrepreneurship isn't for everyone, right? You have a choice, and it's totally fine if you like that."

This quote recognizes the personal nature of entrepreneurship and the fact that it requires choices and sacrifices that may not align with everyone's preferences or lifestyle.

• The speaker chooses not to drink alcohol because it impacts the next day's productivity.
• They value their daily productivity highly and weigh the cost of lost work against the pleasure of drinking.
• Success and the market are indifferent to personal ideas of work-life balance.
• The speaker emphasizes the importance of personal sacrifice to achieve rapid improvement and success.

"We don't drink because I can't afford to have a day where I'm not 100% the next morning, and I like to do things in excess, so if I start, I'm going to keep going."

This quote highlights the speaker's recognition of their tendency towards excess and the consequential decision to abstain from drinking to maintain peak productivity.

"The market does not care what your idea of work life balance is. It doesn't. Right. It only cares about how good you are."

The speaker is pointing out that personal preferences for work-life balance are irrelevant in the face of market demands, which only value competence and results.

• The speaker was originally motivated by the desire not to disappoint their father.
• They experienced a shift in motivation when choosing to pursue a passion rather than a traditional career path.
• Fear of failure and embarrassment are strong motivators for the speaker.
• The fear of making wrong choices and facing the consequences drives the speaker to work hard and avoid failure.

"When I was in high school and college, in the first two years after college, well, and middle school, obviously, my major motivator was to not make my dad ashamed of me."

This quote explains the speaker's initial motivation rooted in their relationship with their father and their desire to avoid disappointing him.

"I will never let that happen."

The speaker is expressing a firm resolve to avoid failure and the shame associated with it, which is a powerful motivator in their decisions and actions.

• The speaker advises focusing on one business and making smart decisions, such as whether to have a partner.
• Skill level is the differentiator in what people can achieve, given the same amount of time in a day.
• The speaker encourages going all-in on acquiring skills necessary to make money and achieve goals.
• Entrepreneurs are contrasted with dreamers, as they invest in themselves to gain the skills they want.
• Hard work initially is necessary to be able to work smarter later on.

"The only thing that differentiates what we get done is our level of skill."

This quote highlights the importance of skill acquisition and suggests that success is largely determined by one's ability to develop and hone the skills necessary for their business.

"Entrepreneurs invest in them so they can get the skills they want."

The speaker is emphasizing the entrepreneurial mindset of investing in oneself to gain the skills required to succeed, as opposed to simply dreaming about success.

• The speaker expresses a desire to help others, specifically gym owners, to succeed in their businesses.
• They claim their company is the largest in its field in the US and are confident in their ability to assist others.
• The speaker encourages those who are hesitant to trust in the possibility of success and to consider the testimonials available.
• There is a call to action for entrepreneurs to overcome disbelief and take the chance on achieving their goals.

"If you are a gym owner, helping turn your gym around is literally what we do."

The speaker is offering their services and expertise to gym owners, positioning themselves as a solution to business challenges in that industry.

"At what point is my disbelief more unreasonable than believing that this could happen for me?"

This quote challenges entrepreneurs to reevaluate their skepticism and to consider the potential for success as being more reasonable than their doubt.