Start with the assumption and plan to win
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- If you're going to take a position, take a bold one
- Bought a business plan from Amazon from his son who was getting started but they were all bad
- All the business plan books were fantasy
- No one can tell you how much money you're going to make in your business
- If my business plan can knock you out, then the market really will
- Micro-start your business
- Do not quit your day job
- Beta test your business
I'm going to win, of course. (If you're going to take a position, take a bold one.)"
- Build a business you want to keep
- If you can't pivot, you may not survive
- If you have more money going out than coming in and you don't know when it's going to stop...you may not make it
- How to know when to call it a day
- When nobody wants what you have to sell
- When you don't know how to market to them
- When people won't pay the price you need to sell it to be profitable
- He gets a daily spreadsheet that shows all of his key metrics
- You need a dashboard to see blips vs. trends vs. sustained trends
- A startup is like flying a kite: any little gust can bring it down
- "If you meet with your accountant every three months I know you're going to have problems."
- Focus on the fundamentals. Do you have what your customers want?
- Annual practice
- War Game Scenario: what can put you out of business? (Build a moat around your business.)
- Always add a new profit stream
You better be competitive."
- It really is a mindset
- Are you an entrepreneur or a business owner with a couple of entrepreneurial moments?
- What makes you happy? Is it profitable?
- Hire who you really need, that one critical hire that moves the needle
- Start with sales
- Don't try to save money or hire family
- Maybe sign off on each job at first
- Be a good mentor for a bit to grow
- You gotta have a few "yous"
- Your #1 job as a business owner
- Sell them on the future
- Staffing was key to his growth
- He made the sacrifice to hire great people from his own profit
- 1 + 1 = Done
- He doesn't want another entrepreneur. He wants an analytical person who will eat, sleep, and drink this work.
- They are an industry expert and will make great money
- Your people must know there is extraordinary oversight to remove the temptation to steal
- He teaches his partners how to hire
- They can't hire "7's." They're either a six or an eight.
- He does a 50/50 partnership in the profits but not the stock
- He always does 50/50 because without him there would be no company
- If asses don't move when you talk, you're not a leader
- Your social media efforts are all for vanity if it doesn't make you money (See Why Social Media Gooroos Are Broke!)
Links Mentioned In The Sales Podcast