WHY WE DONT COPY...AND WHY THIS MAY MAKE YOU MORE MONEY THAN ANYTHING (and give you peace of mind) Ep 44

In a candid discussion, the host emphasizes the pitfalls of imitation in the gym industry, advocating for innovation and customer-centric problem-solving as the keys to success. He shares personal experiences of failed attempts at copying competitors, which led to the realization that many businesses don't truly understand their own strategies or their market, resulting in poor performance. By focusing on unique solutions to customer problems, rather than replicating what others are doing, the host argues that businesses can achieve better results and become industry leaders. He also highlights the importance of owning the entire process and taking responsibility for customer success, which has led to high success rates for the gyms he works with. The host concludes by encouraging listeners to be original and to view copying as an admission of being second best, which ultimately hinders business growth and innovation.

• Speaker A spontaneously decided to make a video after seeing something on their newsfeed.
• They discuss the value of originality in business, particularly within the gym space.
• Speaker A identifies themselves and their peers as innovators in the gym industry.

"Going on, everyone. Hope you guys having an awesome Saturday. This was totally an impromptu thing, but I saw something on my newsfeed and I was just like, man, this is good. This might be a good video."

The quote establishes that the speaker decided to create a video on a whim after coming across something inspiring or thought-provoking on their newsfeed.

• The speaker emphasizes the financial benefits of being the first mover in the marketplace.
• They share their own experience of being rewarded for pioneering new concepts in the gym industry.

"The reality is that the majority of the revenue and the income and the profit goes to the first mover in the marketplace, right?"

This quote highlights the concept of first mover advantage, where the initial entrant in a market segment often captures a significant share of the profits.

• Speaker A recounts the early success of their first gym location.
• They mention a competing gym owner who claimed to be very successful.

"I remember there was a time where I had one location at this time, and we were doing pretty well. I was probably taking home, like, 10-12 somewhere in there."

Speaker A reflects on a period when their gym was prospering, indicating a healthy income from the business.

• Speaker A tried to replicate a strategy from a competitor, which resulted in failure.
• This experience taught them that most businesses are not as successful as they claim.

"And so I remember looking at one of his things and I was like, I'm going to try and do that. And what ended up happening is that it didn't work."

The quote illustrates a pivotal moment where Speaker A attempted to imitate a competitor's strategy, only to find it unsuccessful, leading to a significant realization.

• Speaker A suggests that most businesses do not excel at their operations.
• They advise against copying other businesses, especially if there is no evidence of their success.

"Most people suck at everything in general. Like, most businesses aren't good at what they say they're doing."

This quote expresses a blunt assessment of the general competence of businesses, implying that many are not as proficient as they claim to be.

• Copying strategies from unsuccessful businesses can lead to adopting ineffective practices.
• Speaker A advises focusing on understanding what truly works through research and testing.

"And so why should I copy those guys, right?"

Speaker A questions the logic behind copying other businesses, especially when their success is not verified.

• The speaker warns against setting prices based on what others in the market are charging.
• They point out that low prices in the market might reflect the lack of profitability of those businesses.

"If you're a crossfit, right? And you're like, man, where should I get my pricing? If you look at the marketplace, you're just going to get really cheap prices."

The quote suggests that basing pricing on competitors without understanding their financial health can result in undervaluing one's services.

• Speaker A expresses confidence in strategies developed from thorough research and testing.
• They emphasize the importance of identifying winning strategies through empirical evidence.

"I have absolute confidence in the fact that if we start doing something and we approach it like we're going to do this, right? We're going to look at it, we're going to test it, we're going to research it."

This quote underscores the speaker's belief in the value of a methodical approach to business strategy, involving research and testing to ensure effectiveness.

• Speaker A recommends focusing on solving the customers' most significant problems.
• They advise against imitating how other businesses attempt to solve these problems, to maintain uniqueness.

"Focus on your customers. Look at them and then think, what problem is their biggest problem that I can solve?"

The speaker emphasizes the importance of understanding and addressing customer needs as a path to business success.

• Copying others can lead to substandard and unremarkable offerings.
• Speaker A encourages original solutions to avoid being seen as just another copycat business.

"Because if you look at how other people are trying to solve it, then they're going to kind of pollute what you do and then it's going to look like Mickey Mouse copycat shit, right?"

This quote conveys the idea that imitating others can dilute the originality and effectiveness of one's business solutions, ultimately leading to a perception of low quality.

• Identifying and solving customer problems is essential for innovation.
• Speaker A emphasizes the importance of starting with the end in mind, focusing on what gym owners truly need.
• Full-time customer support is crucial for addressing the needs of gym owners.
• By not following the typical "guru business" model, Speaker A's business was able to reinvent service delivery in their niche.
• Speaker A criticizes the practice of "funnel hacking" because it prevents understanding the reasons behind business decisions and hinders problem-solving when issues arise.
• Originality in business comes from understanding customer struggles and not being influenced by the rest of the market.

Because I didn't look at anyone else's guru business. I was like, well, let's start with the end in mind. How can I help gym owners the best, right?

This quote highlights the speaker's strategy of beginning with a clear goal to best serve gym owners, rather than imitating existing business models.

So that's why we have eleven full time american red blooded speaking support staff is because we started with a problem, then we tried to solve it, right?

The speaker explains the decision to have a robust support team as a direct response to the identified needs of their clientele, which is to solve a problem they face.

But if I looked at every other guru business, right, I'd look there and I'd be like, okay, I guess I got to do a couple of events every year and then we'll give them a Facebook group and then we'll do a call once a month and that'll be our entire business, right?

This quote criticizes the cookie-cutter approach of other businesses in the industry, which the speaker deliberately chose not to emulate.

When you make your own stuff, you own the whole process and you know why you did this and you test it and if it works, then you do a little better and you improve.

Speaker A advocates for creating original business processes, which allows for better understanding, testing, and improvement over time.

When you look at the rest of the marketplace first, all it does is just totally narrow your ability to innovate anything because you have this preconceived notion of what it should become.

The speaker suggests that looking at the market first can limit innovation due to preconceived notions of what a business should be.

• Speaker B promotes their book as a valuable resource for the community.
• The book is mentioned as a tool for building rapport with the audience and fostering future business partnerships.
• Speaker B's book on Amazon, "100 million dollar offers," is positioned as a substantial investment of time and knowledge, offered at a low cost to provide value to listeners.

I have a book on Amazon, it's called 100 million dollar offers that over 8005 star reviews. It has almost a perfect score. You can get it for ninety nine cents on Kindle.

Speaker B uses this quote to promote their book, highlighting its high rating and affordability as an incentive for listeners to purchase it.

It's my very shameless way of trying to get you to like me more and ultimately make more dollars so that later on in your business career I can potentially partner with you.

This quote reveals the strategic intent behind the book promotion: to gain favor with the audience and lay the groundwork for future business collaborations.

• Speaker A argues against copying unsuccessful business models, specifically in the gym industry.
• The speaker suggests that many businesses in the market do not make money and are not effective, which makes them poor models to emulate.
• Originality and success in business are linked to focusing on solving customer problems rather than mimicking others.

Most gyms don't make money, don't copy them. Why would you copy them? They don't even make money.

Speaker A points out the illogical nature of copying businesses that are not profitable, emphasizing the need for a different approach.

And so that's why don't I look at any of the guru businesses that are out there because they probably suck at what they do, right?

The quote expresses Speaker A's reasoning for not considering other "guru businesses" as a benchmark, due to their likely lack of success.

• Innovation leads to enjoying the full revenue and profit curve.
• Imitators only participate in a fraction of this curve and lose effectiveness when the market saturates.
• Innovators start by addressing customer problems and providing effective solutions.
• Copying others leads to diluted, ineffective results.
• True innovation requires understanding and solving problems consistently.

"So you will be better if you don't copy people and then you will become an innovator. And then when you're an innovator, you get to enjoy the entire curve of revenue and profit."

This quote emphasizes the advantage of being an innovator over an imitator, highlighting the full benefits of innovation in terms of revenue and profit.

"But you start by looking at the customer and just seeing what you can do to solve their problem, make their life better."

The speaker underscores the importance of focusing on the customer's needs and solving their problems as the starting point for innovation.

• Most people do not try hard in life or in their professional endeavors.
• A lack of effort results in poor performance and low success rates.
• Exceptional results come from a commitment to excellence and hard work.

"Most people suck at what they do. Most people don't try. Most people don't try hard at all at anything. Like in life."

This quote reflects the speaker's view that the majority of people do not put in the necessary effort to excel in their work or life in general.

• The speaker's company achieves high success rates by not following the standard approach of creating and selling an informational course.
• Success is attributed to a meticulous process of anticipating and addressing potential problems.
• Taking complete ownership over clients' success is crucial.

"How is it that 95% of the gyms that you work with have ridiculous results? They're trying to get 5% to go to 10% of their people to get results."

This quote highlights the exceptional success rates achieved by the speaker's company compared to the industry standard, suggesting a more effective approach.

"Instead, try and get someone a product, which is a result that actually happens, and figure every single way it can go wrong, and then try and fix every one of those ways and then still do it."

The speaker suggests a proactive approach to product development, focusing on delivering real results and addressing every possible issue to ensure success.

• Taking responsibility for one's work and results is emphasized.
• The speaker advocates for complete ownership and self-reliance in business practices.
• Looking at others for guidance is discouraged due to the prevalence of poor performance.

"Just own your shit. Just own it. Own it. Do everything yourself."

This quote is a call to action for individuals to take full responsibility for their work and to rely on themselves rather than imitating others.

• Copying others, especially those who also copy, leads to a loss of originality and effectiveness.
• The speaker's own funnel is used as an example of something that is widely copied despite its flaws.

"And it's so diluted and so bastardized that the thing you're copying doesn't even work anymore."

The speaker points out that copying a strategy that has been passed down and altered through imitation loses its effectiveness and should be avoided.

"Have you noticed that all the gym guru funnels look exactly like mine now? Right? Everyone noticed that they look like mine now because they're copying our stuff."

This quote illustrates the prevalence of copying in the industry, using the example of gym funnels that have been replicated from the speaker's original design.

"You want something funny? Is that my funnel sucks. My funnel sucks. That's the crazy thing."

The speaker reveals that despite being widely copied, their own funnel is not as effective as others believe, highlighting the irony and futility of copying.

• An individual attempted to analyze the reasons behind a perceived strategy on a website.
• The analysis included assumptions about consumer psychology and intentional design choices.
• The actual reason for the website's state was not strategic but due to a change of plans and inattention to certain details.

He's like, when I get there, it reloads and it says survey, but there is no survey. He's like, so I'm thinking, is the reason that you did that because you're thinking about consumer psychology and this.

This quote indicates the individual's attempt to infer a psychological strategy behind the website's behavior, suggesting an intentional tactic to engage visitors.

• The observer believed that non-functional elements, like videos not working, were part of a master plan to create a sense of scarcity.
• The true reason was a strong acquisition system and the ability to outspend competitors, making the funnel's quality less critical.

He thought he was like some master plan of why the videos didn't work. He's like, oh, it's to show that there's some sort of scarcity or something like that.

The quote reflects the observer's mistaken belief that there was a strategic reason behind the videos not working, such as creating scarcity to drive action.

• The speaker emphasizes the importance of innovation over imitation in business.
• Copying competitors often results in mediocrity and fails to address problems creatively.
• Unique methods can lead to reinventing an industry, while copying admits defeat and a lack of leadership.

So everyone focuses on the wrong thing, even when they're trying to copy us because they don't know why it works, right?

This quote highlights the futility of copying without understanding the underlying principles that make a strategy successful.

• Focusing on competition can lead to mediocrity in service and product offerings.
• Many businesses do not excel in their fields despite claims, often due to simply emulating others.
• Original problem-solving can lead to unique and competitive business methods.

Most people are just really mediocre, right? And it's because they just looked at what everyone else is doing and they started doing the same thing.

The quote emphasizes the mediocrity that arises from businesses copying each other instead of innovating.

• Originality in business leads to happiness and a competitive edge.
• Being copied should be seen as a compliment, signifying leadership and innovation.
• When competitors start imitating, it signals their admission of being second and the beginning of their decline.

And don't be offended when people copy you. It just means that they can never beat you.

This quote encourages embracing imitation by others as a sign of one's own success and leadership in the industry.

• The speaker expresses enthusiasm for a recent pitch and its potential impact on colleagues' businesses.
• There is a sense of community and support among the speaker and their peers.
• The speaker looks forward to the positive results that will come from implementing new strategies.

How cool was the pitch? Right? I worked so much on that thing. I can't wait to see everyone's numbers when you guys start using it.

The quote conveys excitement and anticipation for the success of a new business pitch that the speaker has developed for their colleagues.