The 5 Stages of Niche Hopping... Ep 221

In the Gym Secrets podcast, the host shares a personal narrative to emphasize the importance of focus and discipline in entrepreneurial success. He recounts his own experience juggling multiple businesses, including six gyms and various agencies, and how this lack of focus led to financial instability. Stressing the pitfalls of "niche hopping," he outlines a five-stage process entrepreneurs often go through, with many failing to push past the "Valley of Despair" due to a desire for novelty rather than improvement. He advocates for dedication to a single niche, learning from failures, and refining strategies to achieve true success and avoid repeating mistakes. The host encourages listeners to share the podcast and underscores the value of perseverance and the cultivation of character traits necessary for scaling a business.

• Speaker A introduces the Gym Secrets podcast.
• The podcast focuses on acquiring customers, increasing customer value, and retaining them.
• The podcast shares failures and lessons learned in the process.

Welcome to the Gym Secrets podcast, where we talk about how to get more customers, how to make more per customer, and how to keep them longer, and the many failures and lessons that we have learned along the way. I hope you enjoy and subscribe.

The quote introduces the podcast's theme and objectives, highlighting its educational nature by sharing experiences and advice on business growth and customer management.

• Speaker A reflects on past experiences, emphasizing the need for focus and discipline.
• Owning multiple businesses led to a lack of focus and financial success.
• Sales and marketing skills were acquired, but the character trait of discipline was lacking.

The reason I made no money is because I could not focus on anything. And so what happened there was I developed an initial set of skills, sales and marketing, and then immediately saw this whole new world of opportunity that was in front of me. But what I had not developed yet was the character trait to associate with the skill, which was discipline and focus.

Speaker A explains the personal consequence of lacking focus and discipline, which prevented the effective utilization of acquired skills and led to financial difficulties.

• Speaker A sold five gyms and shut one down due to financial issues.
• A partner stole money from the gym sales.
• Chargebacks from a closed gym wiped out the account.
• Ineffective systems for dental and chiropractic agencies led to poor client results.

I sold five of the six gyms. I had to shut one of them down. A partner stole all the money from the sale of those gyms. The gym launch that started happening was working. And then all of a sudden, we had chargebacks from one of the gyms that I shut down, which then wiped that account clean again.

This quote recounts the financial and business setbacks Speaker A faced, highlighting the detrimental impact of a lack of focus on business operations and stability.

• Speaker A associates owning multiple companies with being inexperienced.
• The term "noob" is used to describe such entrepreneurs.
• Speaker A is direct in addressing the audience to challenge and change their beliefs.

As soon as I see an entrepreneur that comes into my world and they say, I have a couple of companies, I immediately know that they are a noob, that they are a noob.

The quote conveys Speaker A's perspective that owning multiple companies is often a sign of inexperience and a lack of focus, which is a common pitfall for new entrepreneurs.

• Speaker A outlines five stages that inexperienced entrepreneurs go through.
• The intention is to break the audience's beliefs to assist them better.
• The first stage is "uninformed optimism" where the entrepreneur is excited but lacks awareness.

Here's the five stages. You've got one. You got a little up, you got a down, and then you go up higher at the end, all right? One in the beginning is called uninformed optimism.

Speaker A introduces the concept of the five stages of a novice entrepreneur, starting with uninformed optimism, to help listeners understand the typical emotional and business journey they may experience.

• Niches have inherent issues, constraints, and problems.
• Every niche comes with its own set of challenges, similar to others.

"You now know that it's not as good as you thought because now you have more information and you find out that just like every other niche, there's going to be issues, there's going to be constraints, there's going to be problems, right?"

The quote emphasizes that initially, one might have an overly optimistic view of a niche, but with more knowledge comes the realization that it has issues just like any other niche.

• The journey includes a cycle of uninformed optimism, informed pessimism, and the Valley of Despair.
• Many entrepreneurs do not make it past the Valley of Despair due to a lack of focus and persistence.

"And you do the dance. You say uninformed optimism, informed pessimism, valley of despair. And you never make it past step three."

The quote describes the typical cycle of emotions and stages an entrepreneur experiences, highlighting that many do not progress beyond the third stage, which is characterized by significant challenges.

• Success requires going through difficult times ("the shit") and maintaining focus.
• Diversifying into too many niches can prevent deep learning and mastery.

"The only way to get through the shit is to focus. When you keep going into new niches, you never put your roots deep enough to learn the game, right?"

This quote underscores the necessity of focus to overcome obstacles and achieve a deep understanding of one's niche, rather than constantly shifting attention to new areas.

• Specializing in a single niche can lead to significant success.
• Attempting to operate in multiple niches simultaneously often leads to failure.

"Because you can have a 100 million dollar dental agency, you can have 100 million dollar Cairo agency, you can have 100 million dollar PT agency. What you probably can't have is three of them."

The speaker illustrates that while it is possible to build a highly successful business within a single niche, spreading efforts across multiple niches is less likely to yield the same level of success.

• Informed optimism and achievement are the advanced stages of entrepreneurial development.
• Most entrepreneurs never reach the achievement stage due to repeating the same mistakes.

"Most people never make it past here, ever."

This statement highlights that the majority of entrepreneurs do not reach the stage of achieving their full potential within their chosen niche or business venture.

• Entrepreneurs often repeat the same mistakes without learning from them.
• This cycle is comparable to someone repeatedly entering similar dysfunctional relationships.

"It's like the guy that, you know, who continues to date the same girl, identical, different chick every time, but it's the same chick, right?"

The speaker uses a metaphor to compare the repetitive mistakes of entrepreneurs to someone who continually dates partners with the same negative traits, never learning or progressing to a healthier relationship.

• Success requires facing problems head-on and finding solutions.
• Entrepreneurs must take responsibility for their failures and work on improving.

"You have to confront it. You have to face it head on, and you have to figure it out."

This quote conveys the message that entrepreneurs must actively address and solve the problems they encounter, rather than avoiding them or moving on to new opportunities.

• Entrepreneurs are responsible for creating value for their customers.
• If a business is not profitable, it is due to the entrepreneur's failure to create a valuable enough service or product.

"If they're not making enough money, it's because you did not create a mousetrap that was valuable enough for them to extract value from. And whose fault is that? It's yours."

The quote assigns responsibility to the entrepreneur for the success or failure of their business, emphasizing the need to create valuable offerings for customers.

• The podcast grows through listeners sharing it with others.
• The speaker does not use ads or sponsorships, relying on word of mouth for growth.

"The only way this grows is through word of mouth. And so I don't run ads. I don't do sponsorships. I don't sell anything."

This quote explains the podcast's growth strategy, which is solely dependent on listeners recommending it to others, as the speaker avoids traditional advertising methods.

• The concept of niche duplication is about replicating success across multiple niches.
• The speaker suggests that inexperienced individuals believe they can simply multiply their earnings by entering multiple niches.
• A critical point is made that true success comes from deepening rather than broadening focus.

"The framework that I introduced was the niche duplication framework, which is how you can repeat this in as many niches as possible."

The quote introduces the niche duplication framework, which is about replicating a successful business model across different niches.

• There is a need to believe in the potential to earn significantly more within a single niche.
• The speaker emphasizes that belief is crucial before attempting to scale or replicate success.

"You can make a million dollars a month in a niche. You can make $10 million a month in a niche, right? You just have to have that belief."

This quote underlines the importance of belief in the potential for high earnings within a single niche, challenging the assumption that one must diversify to increase income.

• The speaker points out the operational difficulties of managing multiple niches.
• There is an argument that expanding into more niches complicates business operations rather than simplifying them.

"Tell me what problem it solves to double your operational issues, double the types and number of problems that you have to solve in real time."

The speaker questions the logic behind expanding into multiple niches, highlighting that it increases operational complexity.

• The speaker acknowledges that all niches are saturated and that the key to success is to outperform competitors.
• Perseverance through difficult periods is essential to achieve success.

"It's all saturated. 100% of it saturated, right? And the only way to win is to be better."

This quote recognizes market saturation and frames it as a universal challenge, suggesting that the solution is to excel rather than seeking less competitive markets.

• The speaker shares a personal anecdote to illustrate the benefits of focusing on a single niche.
• The decision to concentrate on one area was influenced by personal circumstances and the desire for business success.

"Six months later, I cut everything out and just said, I'm going all in on gyms."

The quote provides a personal testament to the effectiveness of focusing on one niche, in this case, gyms, after experiencing the challenges of over-diversification.

• The speaker encourages entrepreneurs to persist and improve within their chosen niche.
• There is a metaphorical comparison between overcoming business challenges and defeating a video game boss.

"And you will not beat the level until you learn how to unlock the boss, right? And to put him on his ass."

The metaphor used here compares business challenges to a video game level, suggesting that persistence and mastery are required to succeed.

• The importance of testing and improving every aspect of the business is emphasized.
• The speaker details a method for testing new strategies, such as scripts, within part of the business before wider implementation.

"You have to put in the work. You have to run beta tests, right?"

This quote emphasizes the necessity of continuous testing and improvement as a fundamental part of business growth and success.

• The speaker stresses the importance of channeling one's skills into a single niche to avoid spreading oneself too thin.
• There is a strong recommendation to specialize and concentrate efforts for maximum impact and success.

"You can win at any of them, but you can't win at all of them."

The quote succinctly captures the core message of the speaker's argument: that specialization, rather than diversification, is the key to entrepreneurial success.

• A successful business model is crucial for making money, not just the tools used.
• Duplication of a successful individual's strategy is key to growth.
• The speaker emphasizes the need to commit fully to a singular, proven approach rather than mixing strategies.
• Adherence to the model and instructions is necessary for success.
• The speaker admits to past mistakes and urges others to learn from them.

One of the mistakes that I made early on with Alan right now is that in the beginning, a lot of the messaging that I had when I talked to him, you guys, was that Alan is a platform that you can run your agency on and make more money. In reality, Alan is a platform that supports the business model that I'm telling you right, it's more, switch to my model and you will make more.

The quote highlights the speaker's realization that the platform (Alan) is secondary to the business model itself. The speaker had previously misrepresented the platform as the key to profitability, but now understands and communicates that it's the underlying business model that drives success.

• Mixing different strategies, like diet plans, leads to ineffective results.
• The speaker compares inconsistent business strategies to inconsistent dieting, illustrating the ineffectiveness of such an approach.
• Commitment to a single, cohesive strategy is necessary for success.

It's like the girl who's trying to lose weight and she's like, well, I'm going to do Keto on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, I'm going to do high carb. Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday. You can't mix shit. Doesn't work that way.

This quote uses the metaphor of a person attempting to follow conflicting diet plans to illustrate the futility of not adhering to a consistent business strategy. The speaker is emphasizing that success requires a focused and undiluted approach.

• Recognizing and setting aside one's ego is essential for growth.
• The speaker includes themselves in the need for humility, indicating it's a universal requirement.
• Learning and improvement come from acknowledging one's limitations and being open to guidance.

Some of you guys got to swallow your fucking egos, right? You're not hot shit, myself included.

The speaker is stressing the importance of humility in business, acknowledging that everyone, including themselves, must be willing to put aside their ego to follow the proven business model and achieve success.

• Specialization and focus on a single niche are more effective than spreading efforts across multiple areas.
• Persistence through challenges is key to mastering a niche.
• The speaker warns against the temptation to diversify prematurely.
• Discipline in maintaining focus is crucial to move from initial success to higher levels of achievement.

I'm not going to do six niches. I'm going to pick one and I'm going to get really good at and that's what I'm going to do.

This quote conveys the speaker's advice to concentrate on excelling in a single niche rather than diluting efforts across many, which aligns with the overall message of focused discipline leading to success.

• Selling skills are just the beginning; the next level requires disciplined focus.
• The speaker encourages perseverance through the difficult phase of mastering a niche.
• Recognizing that the skills that brought initial success are not the same as those needed for continued growth is crucial.

What it took to get you to here, which is learning how to sell and promote, is not the thing that's going to get you to there, which is learning to be disciplined with your focus, with your attention.

The quote differentiates between the initial skills needed to start a business and the disciplined focus required for sustained success, highlighting the evolution of skills necessary for growth.

• Using funnels in business is associated with higher lead quality and increased earnings.
• Making clients more money through effective strategies will, in turn, increase the agency's profits.
• The speaker notes that the most successful agencies are those utilizing funnels.

Ps the reason we use clickfunnels in our businesses and yours, right? Or using funnels in general, not clickfunnels specifically click funnels in general is because lead quality is higher and they make more money and so if you make your clients more money you will make more money too.

This quote explains the rationale behind using funnels, which is to improve lead quality and profitability for both the agency and its clients. It reinforces the theme that the right business strategies, such as funnels, can lead to mutual financial success.