This week’s Misfit Entrepreneur is Bill Flynn. Bill has over 30 years of experience working for and advising hundreds of companies, especially startups. After working for ten different high-tech startups in different market segments such as speech recognition, e-commerce, and affiliate marketing where he was a VP of Sales eight times, twice a CMO and once a GM of a division of a $100MM IT services company, he pivoted to becoming a business growth coach. He had five successful outcomes, two IPOs, and seven acquisitions, including a turnaround during the 2008 financial crisis.

Bill is the author of Further Faster, The Vital Few Steps That Take the Guesswork out of Growth. And he embodies them, everywhere he’s gone, he has been the key ingredient in the growth of the business. It’s probably, because he says, “Most business do just about everything wrong.” They do decision making wrong, hiring wrong, teams wrong, strategy wrong, and so on. In fact, a lot of it boils down to how we read and interpret people, which Bill has a gift for.

So, I brought him on the show to share his wisdom and lessons with you to help you in your life and business.

www.CatalystGrowthAdvisors.com

Bill started out in high tech through some family connections and spent a lot of time in startups, including the company who created Siri. He did 10 startups over 5 years including two that went public at well over a billion valuation. He was 5 for 10 in startups through the mid 2000’s and then got into coaching because he was forced to turn a failing company he was involved in around. He had to learn to lead and coach others to be leaders and succeed.

He put together his own system of running the business that worked well and became basis for him to coach other business owners on how to build a business. He really fell in love with helping business owners “figure it out” by working with leadership teams and take the guesswork out of growth.

What is neuro-leadership and why it is important?

• It is how to lead with brain in mind.
• Our brains have biases and you have to understand that we are all a little crazy.
• We are emotional, irrational, and we don’t also act in rational ways.
• As a leader, you must understand how the brain works, learns, takes feedback, etc. so you can coach through the biases that exist.

At the 10:30 mark, Bill talks about using this for sales and how the brain makes buying decisions – and how knowing this made him the top sales person and create top sales teams wherever he’s gone.

What are some of the basics people need to know and understand to start practicing neuroleadership?

• The brain is really a prediction engine as a way to survive. It must predict the future to keep itself safe and survive.
• Over 10’s of thousands of years, the brain has created short cuts to automatically discern if it is moving toward reward or away from threat.
• The brain has a 2x bias toward threat and is geared toward seeking reward.

At the 13 min mark, Bill gives a good example of reward vs. threat in the workplace and how it can impact people and leaders.

The model Bill uses is SCARF.

• Status
• Certainty
• Autonomy
• Relatedness
• Fairness
• 5x every second, our brain is looking out and also listening to the body perceiving threats and rewards.

Bill’s best tip for sales success:

• When trying to persuade or influence, before meeting them, sit down and identify the “Bully with the juice.”
• This person is the one that has the most influence in the room and they are the one you want to key on.
• As them what the best outcome from the meeting can be? Write it down, then acknowledge any others and get their feedback.
• Repeat back what they say they say and make sure it is captured right.
• Then tailor your presentation around what they told you – their ideas.
• Come back to it at the end and go down the list to make sure you covered everything they listed and offer any other feedback.
• In the end, it is very hard for people to say no to their own ideas.
• It is about them and not your product.

Thoughts on building a sales team/organization?

• As a sales manager, you have 3 things you need to do:
• Hiring for these 3 things:
  • Hire the best salesperson for the environment that you are in.
  • They need to be super curious and have an entrepreneurial drive.
  • They have to be compassionate = empathy with a bias to action
• Train, train, train.
• Learn how to build capacity.

Further Faster, Vital Steps to Growth…what should we know?

• Focus on team vs. individual or culture. The team is where everything happens. Teach your people to be good team leaders.
• You must build a set of systems to run your business. Strategy and execution are connected.
• Cash should be your primary growth metric. The business lives on cash, not “revenue.” Growth sucks cash and it is your lifeblood.

What is one thing every entrepreneur should do every day to help their success?

• There are 2 types of entrepreneurs, the startup founder and those that want to build and grow something.
• As a startup founder, do not fall in love with the idea, fall in love with the problem. Keep working at how to best solve the problem.
• For the entrepreneur that is growing and building – go back and revisit every key decision you made in the startup phase and make sure that is still true. Most often they are not. Going from $1 million to $50, $10, or $20 million require completely different skill sets. Make sure to keep your identity and don’t violate it.

“A plan is about doing, a strategy is about thinking,” what do you mean by that?

• The definition of strategy is different across the board for most business owners – but it should not be. Strategy is about choice.
• Strategy is figuring out the unique market position you want to have that helps you to have a predictable, profitable customer.
• You have to craft that, but remember, it about choice – and many times, it is not choosing what to do, but what not to do. Southwest Airlines is a good example of this.

Final thoughts?

If you are entrepreneur and struggling, it’s not your fault. We’ve never been taught to do this.

Running a company is a unique thing that you have to get better at by learning and growing over time.

Learn the science behind building a great company.

Best Quote: Few things matter in business or life, but those that do, matter tremendously...

Bill's Misfit 3:

1. There is a huge gap between what science knows and business does. A survey is not a study, a study is not research, and research is not science. Science is when people look at problem objectively and experiment and solve the problem. The good news is that for entrepreneurs, many have already done this. Go self-educate.
2. Few things truly matter in business or life. But, those that do, matter tremendously. Relentlessly focus on those things.
3. Most businesses struggle on force of will, luck, effort, and timing. Don’t do that. Figure out how to fire yourself, so you spend more and more time thinking about how to create the future of your business and yourself.

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This week’s Misfit Entrepreneur is Damion Lupo. Damion is the founder of multiple businesses, EQRP co, My Gold Adviser, and Financial Underdogs. Damion’s mission and that of his businesses is helping people break financial bondage by empowering them with the tools and training to be financially free in retirement.

And if that is not enough, the guy has published 12 books, is the comeback king after losing $20 million and being negative $5 million – he built it all back and surpassed where he started, and is a multiple degree black belt who created is own martial art called Yokido.

Needless to say, Damion’s experience, mission, and discipline has allowed him to become the leading voice in helping realize how to take control of their financial future and I’m excited for him to share his wisdom with you today. ​

www.EQRP.co

Damion’s path was all over the place. He originally had gone to the Air Force Academy and was going to be a fighter pilot but had issues with his eyes and ended up working in the article circle. After a little while, he went back to school and ended starting a textbook business out of his dorm room that paid for his school – until the school shut him down and would not allow him to run it.

The universe kept giving him feedback to be an entrepreneur and after he left school, he embraced it. As he says, “I’m a bad employee – I got fired from a volunteer position…”

He then started into real estate and learned how to use other people’s money and did it 150 times. He was naïve and just focused and took action amassing millions in property. Things went great until 2008 hit.

Damion got caught up in the 2008 bubble and lost $20+ million. He lost everything and after a few years, he finally admitted defeat and lost the game. He went to work on himself and found that who he truly is, is a teacher, but he needs to be in trenches doing the work too. He shifted his focus to freeing 1 million people from financial bondage. It took him 10 years to go from the crash to surpassing his previous wealth.

Can you elaborate on what truly happened in 2008 and what happened to you so people can learn from it as the market is heated up again?

• Damion leveraged a ton and took on too much debt doing real estate in 7 states.
• When the market got sense and re-priced, he was essentially naked in that the fundamentals were way off, so his investments were worth a lot less over night.
• He was underwater and it collapsed on him.
• He was also remote operating and losing money in that process.
• He got hit from all angles because of his personal guarantees, etc.

What is EQRP?

• It is an Enhanced Qualified Retirement Plan.
• It came from a philosophy of personal responsibility.
• Instead of handing their money over to someone to manage, they can have the ability to control their money.
• EQRP gives people the power to invest and control their investments in a much better way.
• The IRS actually allows people to do much more than buys stocks and bonds in retirement accounts, tax free – and most people don’t know it.
• The tax code is setup for entrepreneurs and business owners to succeed.
• The government wants you to have a good retirement so you are not a burden on them.
• With EQRP, you could literally put almost $250k a year away tax free for a family of 5.

Why is it better to specialize than diversify?

• Narrowing your focus is a key to success.
• Pick your focus and nurture it over time.
• Patience is critical. You have to put in the time.
• Don’t chase irrational expectations and spend time understanding risk.

What type of investments can be done that people don’t know can be done and how do they give you more control?

• The IRS tells you what you cannot do. Outside of that, it is pretty open.
• For example, the IRS says you cannot invest retirement money in something like a classic car, but you can invest in multi-family properties, rentals, flips, gold, silver, AirBnB, private notes, etc.
• These things give you much more control than what Wal Street is selling.

At the 26 min mark, Damion talks about how you can do an EQRP account…

• You can actually have unlimited amounts of retirement accounts – you just have to stay within the monetary limits for them.

What should people know about investing in real estate in these accounts?

• Real estate gives you leverage because you can use a small portion of your retirement account for a down payment on a piece of property and finance the rest.

“Money makes people stupid. And a lot of money makes people super stupid because they think they can solve all of their problems with money and the reality is they just gave up thinking.”

• Your biggest asset to attaining wealth is your ability to learn and think – it’s between your ears.

At the 31 min mark, Damion talks about how is not a good fit for EQRP.

We also talk about personal responsibility and empowerment and not playing the role of a victim.

How did you go out and create your own martial art?

• When you do something long enough, it becomes part of you. It becomes part of your DNA
• Business and martial arts are now one and the same for Damion.
• He notices some big overlap with martial arts, yoga, and reiki, and created a fusion of them into a new martial art he calls Yokido.

What principles from martial arts have a made a big difference for you in business?

• Heading straight into something doesn’t end well.
• You need to get into alignment which requires maneuvering and connecting. Teams will beat an individual. Thinks sports.
• It’s the same in business. You must align your team and bring people with the right values.
• How you do anything is how you do everything – so how people act in their lives is how they will act in business.
• Get your Foundational 15% right and you will do well. ​

What is something you think every entrepreneur should know?

• Everything takes longer and more money than you think.
• You should double everything when you are starting off.
• Having unreasonable expectations and lack of patience is a business killer.

Best Quote: Money makes people stupid. And a lot of money makes people super stupid because they think they can solve all of their problems with money and the reality is they just gave up thinking.

Damion's Misfit 3:

1. Make sure you balder and greyer people around you. You have to wisdom and true life experience from people that have gone through it to help you.
2. Passion is not enough. You have to figure out what the market wants and solve problems. Have passion for solving a worthy problem.
3. Fall in love with the process vs. the outcome. The process will lead to the pleasing outcome.

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This week’s Misfit Entrepreneur is Carl Allen. Carl is an entrepreneur, investor, and one of the most prolific corporate dealmakers in the world. Over his 30-year career, he’s done over 330 deals worth over $48 billion.

Carl has analyzed thousands of deals, large and small, across dozens of countries and nearly every business sector. And because of his experience, he’s brought in to advise some of the world’s largest corporations on investments and acquisitions.

Recently, he’s launched a new venture, the Dealmaker Wealth Society, a platform that teaches people how to use Allen’s techniques to purchase and sell businesses.

Needless to say, Allen is the go to for how to successfully buy or sell a business and he was the perfect guy to come on and discuss the topic.

www.Trainwithcarl.com/misfit

www.dealmakerwealthsociety.com

Carl started back in 1992 when started working for the investment banking arm at Bank of America. He was helping to buy and sell businesses for the Fortune 100. He then had a brief stint in private equity investing in tech company that was bought by HP. As part of the deal, he became one of the M&A directors at HP buying and selling businesses all over the world. He spent most of his time on the road, granted he loved it, but he spent a lot of time away from his wife.

In February 2008, he life completely changed in the matter of 24 hours. He was in Moscow doing a deal for HP in a boardroom and keeps getting calls from his wife. He finally stopped and answered the phone and his wife told he needed to be back to the UK immediately because she had gone into labor 4 weeks early with their son. He had his wallet, phone, and passport on him and ran out of the building leaving his luggage behind, sped to the airport, and when he landed in the UK, he had a police escort waiting for him – and he got into the room 5 minutes before his son was born.

When he cradled his son in his arms, looking at him, he burst into tears. He knew he couldn’t do it anymore. He called up his boss at HP and quit leaving behind millions in stock and bonuses and decided to retire.

3 weeks later, he was bored beyond belief and knew he had to do something. He sat down with his wife and she helped him understand that he could be a local business broker.

Within a few days, he had his first deal. He found the buyer; things went on for about 3-4 months. The night before the deal was to close, he got a call from the seller, who he represented – they had decided to pull the deal. He left immediately to meet with the owners and got to the business where they had assembled all the employees. They told him the buyer was going to fire the employees and essentially gut the business and they could not allow that. In a half-crazy moment, Carl looked at them and said, “I will buy the business.”

At the 10:50 mark, Carl goes on to tell the story of how bought the business and ran it with no experience. What makes a great deal for both the buyer and seller?

• There are 3 criteria
• Buy a business that you know something about, are passionate about, and can bring something of value to it.
• You want to find a distressed seller of a good business (not a good seller of a distressed business).
  • A distressed seller is someone that has a very big incentive to leave the business, whatever it is.
• You want a business that is finally strong with good cashflow and assets (if applicable)

How does someone go about finding a deal?

• There are 4 ways to generate deal flow (and deal flow is the holy grail)
• Business brokers like BizbySell.com, Benchmark, and others. Typically these will inflate values.
  • Look for a deal that has been open about 9 months.
• You can build a network pretty easily by talking to CPA’s, Attorneys, Banks, or any other professional that works with businesses.
• Direct approach. Go to InfoUSA, Hoover’s, etc. and do a search for exactly what you are looking for and then write to them in a highly confidential way.
• Leverage the power of social media.

What are the most important factors to look at when looking to buy a business? What do you need to do if you are looking to sell?

• Small business deals are 90% about seller psychology. You have 2 identical businesses and the valuation and structure of the deal can be night and day different.
• You will pay more if a seller is not motivated.
• Most businesses are valued on a multiple of their profit.
• The average of $1-10 mil business sold in 2019, the multiple was 2.5-3x profit. So if you have a $1 mil business, then that means it would be worth $250-300k.
• Multiples will be higher for tech and fast growth businesses.
• How do you value a business? There is an accounting answer, but then there is the terms and structure of the deal. For example, if you can buy a business out of cash flow over 4-5 years, you may be willing to pay more for it vs. everything being paid up front.
• One of the challenges for people looking to sell a business, and this is most important – the only way you are going to sell the business quickly is if you separate yourself from the business – meaning you are not needed day to day for it to operate and grow.

What is the blueprint to buy a profitable business in 99 days or less?

• 10 steps
• Step 1 has nothing to do with dealmaking. It is mindset. It comes down to a person’s why. Nobody wants to own or buy a business – we want the deep emotional benefits that business ownership gives us – freedom, cash flow, legacy, assurance, etc.
• Step 2 – Creating a deal spec. Define the 3 pillars for yourself and finding the perfect business to buy.
• Step 3 – Deal origination
• Step 4 – Go through how to build a great relationship with the seller and get them to want you to be the one who buys from them. Know, like, trust.
• Step 5 – Valuing and structuring the deal
• Step 6 – Negotiation
• Step 7 – Financing
• Step 8 – How to close, LOI,
• Step 9 – Deal team
• Step 10 – What to do in the first 100 days post-closing.

What are some of the things to do in the first 100 days?

• Administrative stuff
• Change all the passwords in IT
• Change bank accounts
• Spend a lot of time with the people and learn how to improve and better the culture.
• Get feedback from the team and customers
• Improve how you manage the working capital.

Purchasing a business with no experience or no money – any tips?

• Know your why before you do it. What is the deep emotional reason? This gives you the fuel to follow through and make things happen.
• Stay in your lane. Buy something that you have experience in.

Where are you seeing the opportunities in right now? What is the trend?

• Online, manufacturing/engineering, etc. is booming
• Brick and mortar is down and the trend is away from it.
• People going into Covid with business have done 3 things:
  • They’ve taken advantage of opportunity and growing
  • They’ve put their head in the sand and refused to adapt.
  • There are some that have continued as it and have not been affected.
• If you can buy a business that is struggling a little and can turn it around, then there are good opportunities.

Best Quote: Nobody wants to own or buy a business. We want the deep emotional benefits that business ownership gives us – freedom, cash flow, legacy, assurance, etc.

Carl's Misfit 3:

1. Buy a business in a sector you know, love, and understand and that is established vs. doing a startup.
2. Live with passion and do something you really love and care about. Life is too short.
3. Fall in love with your customers, not your product or services.

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Hello Misfit Nation! Welcome to another edition of "Lessons for Hannah!"

In November of 2016, we introduced a new format that we are putting alongside our regular episodes called “Lessons for Hannah.” Hannah is my daughter and one of the main inspirations for the Misfit Entrepreneur. I wanted to have a place where she could go and learn from her daddy and his Misfit friends throughout her life….even after I am gone. If you haven’t listened to the first episode of "Lessons for Hannah," I urge you to as it gives some more background and tells the amazing story of how Hannah came to be in our lives.

"Lessons for Hannah" are short, very useful, and sometimes comical lessons, that I have learned which I want to share with you and give to Hannah to help in your lives. Because I want Hannah to have these for her life, I’m going to speak as though I am talking directly to her. These episodes are a lot of fun and if you think there is a lesson that we should include in these episodes, please don’t hesitate to send it over to us at support@misfitentrepreneur.com. We’d love to share it.

This week’s Lesson for Hannah

Hannah, I want to talk to you about personal responsibility – one of the greatest assets to your success and living an amazing, fulfilled life.

Most people upon hearing the term “Personal Responsibility” may not associate it with living their best life, but I do.

Let me tell you why.

As I write this, I continue to watch many parts of our society erode and give way to anarchy, riots, and emotional outbursts with no logic behind them. And when many of the people that are participating or leading these actions are confronted, they blame everything and everyone besides themselves for what they did or for why they did it.

To me this sad. I feel for them. Because by not taking responsibility, they are giving up all their personal power. Think about it, if you do not take responsibility for your actions, your thoughts, and basically your life, that means that you have given up these things to something or someone else. You have lost control. You have given away your best chess piece. Your personal freedom and individual liberty.

And every time this has been done in history by people and groups, it has not ended well. It has devolved into the destruction of societies, massive poverty, needless suffering and death. Every dictator in history has told those that they have taken over that they are not responsible for their problems, their place in life, and to just give up their rights and liberties to them and they will solve everything and all will be wonderful. And every time people do this, it ends badly.

Personal responsibility, the freedom to think for ourselves and take control of our lives, and yes, take responsibility for our mistakes, failures, and the good things, the wonderful things and yes, bad things we do is the greatest asset we have. When you take personal responsibility, it frees you. It frees you from the forces of groupthink. It frees you from having your value in life dictated to you by someone else or some group. It allows you to chart your own course and be your best. It gives you the ability to reach your potential and not be held back. It gives you everything you need to be the greatest version of yourself and leave your impact on this world.

Do not, under any circumstances, ever give up or surrender your personal responsibility to someone else or some thing. Especially out of fear or anxiety. These are the easiest ways it is taken and when people are most willing to give it up. They throw in the towel – because they just want things to be Ok or “normal. But, that is part of taking personal responsibility. Because things aren’t always going to be OK. It is an illusion that they can be. There will be times of suffering, loss, deep fear, and even catastrophe in our lives – but none of that is ever worth giving up your greatest asset as it is that asset, personal responsibility, and our ability to use it that gets us out of these challenging times and dark places. Without it, we can sink deeper. For example, think of the addict that will not confront their illness and take responsibility. They blame very circumstance and everything and everyone for their problems and in doing this, they slide deeper into darkness. But, if you have ever talked with someone who has been down a road like this and tuned everything around, the same elements are always present. The minute they took responsibility for their life and for taking care of themselves – they started to get better, get the help they needed, and ultimately win over the illness. There are countless stories like this throughout history – many of them are people in society we look up to, from famous leaders, artists, world-changers, and so on. All of them, at some point realized the asset of personal responsibility and used it to its fullest.

Hannah, I have given you many lessons over the years and will continue to do so, but out of all of them, this may be the most important one and it is the underpinning of everything. The lesson to build all lessons on, except for one. There is only one thing that is more important and goes along with this. While, it is critical for you to practice personal responsibility for your life, it is even more important for you to put your faith in God because he will never let you down. Responsibility plus faith in God is the secret to life. Not to get too preachy, but I have it on my wall for a reason – Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.”

So, to sum it up, Hannah, take personal responsibility for your life, your actions, your thoughts, everything you can control, but make sure you put your faith in God. That is the secret to living an amazing, fulfilled, successful, and happy life.

I love you,

Daddy

Best Quote: Personal responsibility, the freedom to think for ourselves and take control of our lives, and yes, take responsibility for our mistakes, failures, and the good things and bad things we do is the greatest asset we have.

Misfit 3:

1. Personal responsibility is one of the greatest assets to your success and living an amazing, fulfilled life.
2. If you do not take responsibility for your actions, your thoughts, and basically your life, that means that you have given up these things to something or someone else. You have lost control.
3. There is only one thing that is more important than personal responsibility for your life, and it’s to put your faith in God because he will never let you down.

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This week’s Misfit Entrepreneur is Jake Kiefer. Jake is a serial entrepreneur, founder of the Pro Basketball combine, that has been called the “Steph Curry of speaking.” He helps entrepreneurs and freedom seekers build their dream business by creating world class networks that create raving customers, unlimited freedom, and epic life experiences.

Jake has been featured everywhere from NBC to ESPN, USA Today, Forbes and on and on. He’s reached his success by being a master networker and creating opportunities within his network and starting businesses.

I could not think of a better guy to come on the show and teach you how to build and grow your network and use it to succeed.

www.JakeKelfer.com

@JakeKelfer on Instagram

Jake has always been a “hungry” kid. Growing up his dream was to play for the Lakers. But, at 5’8’’, that wasn’t going to happen. So, Jake studied to be a sports agent to be able to work with the players and the Lakers in some way. He was willing to do whatever he could. Coming out of college, he put his hustle and what he had learned to work and go a job with the Lakers to work in corporate partnerships.

He got to be on the court and work in the business and with the players every day.

“In the pursuit of greatness, you must always be willing to take action every day because great things will happen when we don’t expect them or how we expect them.”

It wasn’t too long before he realized that it was time to move on and start his own business career. He started his first business, launched several books, building a combine for the NBA, and teaching entrepreneurs how to build a 6-figure business – all from creating world class networks.

How do you build a world class network and get in the room with the right people?

• It is not about personality. Every person has their own unique communication style.
• The key is to understand it, embrace it, and then learn to use it to your advantage.
• Networking does not take the time that people think it does. It can be done as simply as sending out a few messages per day that takes 15 mins.
• Start small with your networking efforts. For example, if you want to be on more podcast, start by reaching out to one person per week, then one per day, and so on.
• Make a list of your 1-2 steppers. These are people that are 1-2 steps above you that could be highly beneficial in your life and business.
• Do research and be open in honest in your communication.
• Once you get going, it is like a snowball that keeps going and growing. ​

Where is the first place someone should start?

• Identify who you want to network with and why.
• Then identify the best place in which to connect with them. Meet them where they are…
• Then look at the how – How is the best way to connect with them?
• Leverage the power of other networks like social media to help.

How do you cut through the noise so people that you want to network with actually get your message and connect with you?

• Don’t copy and paste. Use their name and know about them so you can reference it in your communication.
• Always find a commonality between you and the person you are reaching out to. Find something you can make personal in your communication.
• Let the person know how you came across them or heard about them.
• Give one sentence about who you and leave it open for future communication.

Once you build a network, how to do you cultivate it, engage it, and start to make it work for you?

• One-time outreach is an interaction, but a relationship is an experience.
• Building a relationship and network is selling. Selling yourself.
• You need to craft an experience.
• First, after the initial outreach, be the one to follow up on next steps. Take initiative and execute on any action steps.
• Make it easy and remove any obstacles.
• Second, update your contact at a time interval that makes sense. Give before you get as well. Create value.
• In every relationship you have the starting phase, development phase, and the growth phase.
• Following up takes you from the start to development phase. And then you progress to growth as you interact futher.
• You then get the “Triple Win.” That is where each person is winning and others impacted by the relationship as well.

71 things you must do to turn your network into a 6-figure business. Give us a few...

• F-U. It’s all about the follow up. You need a solid process.
• The rule of 3. You want to have 3 types of people to reach out to every week. A prospect, a customer, and a 1-2 stepper. That is 50 every single year in each group.
• We are all people and share the same desires. How can you make sure someone feels appreciated, loved, etc.
• You can get a free copy from Jake’s site at https://www.jakekelfer.com/

At the 25 min mark, Jake talks about using a network to create a 6-figure business….

• The game of life is meant to be enjoyed. And the best way to enjoy is to surround yourself with the right people. This leads to great business and life.
• Jake shares the story of his connections with the founder of MVMT watches.
• You never know who you are talking to until you know. In other words, everyone has something that can impact us. Don’t discredit people because they cannot help you right now as you never know where they come in in the future.
• Example of other speakers are not competitors. Instead, Jake networked with the competition to be a resource for speaking gigs others could not do. This has led to 10’s of thousands per year.

Has anything changed in the age of coronavirus?

• Not much from an in-person standpoint, but the opportunities to connect are more abundant that ever.
• More people are spending time on their phones than ever before and are more widely available. Y
• ou just need to be willing to put yourself out there.
• Instagram is the best platform for Jake right now because it is one of the few platforms where people are responding themselves.

At the 37 min mark, Jake talks about creating the Pro Basketball Combine and the business lessons he’s learned. It’s best to just listen.

Tell us what it means to “Elevate beyond the competition.”

• We play the game of life
• Competition is part of any game.
• You have to be better than the competition and sometimes the competition is ourselves.
• When you become super clear on what success looks like to you, you don’t have to compare yourself – you just go after it.
• And when you are clear, you make better decisions because you know exactly what greatness looks like and you can pursue it relentlessly.
• Surround yourself with the right people and those that help you grow, push you, and get better.
• Think in terms of investment, not cost.
• Execute in spite of any hurdle that gets in your way.

Best Quote: In the pursuit of greatness, you must always be willing to take action every day because great things will happen when we don’t expect them or how we expect them.

Jake's Misfit 3:

The only shortcut in life is to start now.

Live in the moment and enjoy the journey.

Take one action related to your network every single day to build a world class network.

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This week’s Misfit Entrepreneur is Sean Castrina. Sean gives new meaning to the term “serial entrepreneur” having started over 20 companies in the last 20 years. In fact, he seeks to start a new venture annually.

Sean has been featured everywhere from Entrepreneur, Fox Business, Forbes, NBC news, and just about every other business media outlet that exists. He’s the author of 8 Unbreakable Rules for Business Startup Success, The Greatest Entrepreneur in the World, and The World’s Greatest Business Plan.

Needless to say, Sean knows how to build a business and succeed and I’ve asked him on today to give his best advice on how you can do the same.

www.SeanCastrina.com

Sean was a good high school athlete and got a scholarship to play in college. He came out of college and got his dream job by offering to work for free for 90 days and bet on himself. It worked well for 5 years and then leadership changed. He had the picture perfect life at the time – new house, married, a new child and was in grad school. Overnight, he was let go.

It was at this moment that things really hit him – employment was a fantasy of security. He had done everything he was told to do to succeed, was doing well at a good company, and in one day, he was gone. Oddly enough, the CEO that had left remained friends with Sean years after and his son is one of Sean’s business partners.

Sean realized that when you work for someone you don’t have much security and you make them wealthy. It’s ok if you have that type of mindset and really want to be an employee, but if you have any inkling of entrepreneurship in you, you must explore. So, Sean went out on his out.

What is the most important qualification for business ownership?

• You have to know why you want to be an entrepreneur and it has to be so motivating that you will be willing to do and go through everything to make it work.
• Every roller coaster starts with a steep climb and that is how entrepreneurship and achieving success is.
• You must be relentlessly focused.
• Ideas are nothing if you don’t take action or are able to stay on them like a “dog on a bone.”
• Bet on a person with the right qualities over the business every day.
• The good thing about entrepreneurship is gives you more control. You can make changes when you see things coming and adjust.

Have you developed a “blueprint” for starting and building a business?

• Sean talks about how figuring out service companies and the systems around them.
• He doesn’t need to do the service; he just needs to make the phone ring.
• There were big benefits in not having inventory, space, etc. and required very little in startup capital.
• There are 2 things you need to do well.
  • You need to market well.
  • You need to hire good people.

At the 12 min mark, Sean talks about how he has built a $60+ million business started with Handyman business – but the most important thing is to stay in his lane and be focused. Its when he deviates, he has troubles.

What are your keys to marketing?

• It’s very basic. 
• You have a target customer.
• You need to know what your target customer wants.
• You need to carve out your unique place among your competition.
• You have to know your customer, you have to attract them, and you have to stand out from the competition.
• Then you have to know how you will reach that person.
• Where are they? What message do they respond to? What is your competition not doing? How can you craft a unique brand position for your business.

The mistake small businesses make is that they stay small and think small. You should follow the same strategy you would follow if you owned a Fortune 500 company.

• The secret is to relentlessly attract customers.

That solves all problems. Be so great at what you do that you customers know there is no alternative. It is too expensive to be average. If you build a great company, market it like a Fortune 500, and staff it well, you will have a great company.

Where do you see most businesses fail? What do they miss?

The Bermuda Triangle of why startups fail:

• Falling in love with the idea and not confirming it will actually be something a target market will buy.
• They staff horribly – family and friends from the start, etc.
• They don’t aggressively market or advertise

The 3 mistake businesses make in general:

• They become content and happy with survival.
• They don’t plan to thrive and strategize for future threats.
• Founders/Owners get too much in the day to day.

8 unbreakable rules for startup success?

• You need to work on yourself and be a great entrepreneur.
• Your business idea needs to be tested. It needs to be qualified. Any way you can test your idea, you need to.
• You need to plan your business out – from launch to day to day.
• Protect yourself with partnership agreements, insurance, etc.
• Build a successful team. Get the best, be the best.
• Marketing is not optional. Build a brand from day one. What is the one promise that you could make to your customers that if you could deliver on it, they would chase you down for your business?
• Know you numbers and be a numbers junkie. Numbers allow you to make good decisions.
• Learn from others. Failure is best heard from a secondhand story and it’s a lot cheaper.

Most important lesson from the Greatest Entrepreneur in the World?

• Fictional story that teaches the 8 unbreakable rules.
• But, Sean added another rule – You’ve got to recognize when you have to pivot and change. Good business owners see change before everyone else. ​

What are your thoughts on thriving as an entrepreneur during the pandemic?

• Start the business over again in your head.
• In the pandemic – Who is your target customer? What do they want? and How can you get it to them?
• It comes back to the basics.

Best Quote: Be so great at what you do that you customers know there is no alternative. It is too expensive to be average. If you build a great company, market it like a Fortune 500, and staff it well, you will have a great company.

Sean's Misfit 3:

1. Read and consume quality information. It makes you better and smarter. The average CEO reads 60 books per year.
2. Partnering can be your be superpower. It fills your gaps and allows you to scale and grow. What is the one thing that if you had would take your business further? Partner for it.
3. Set goals that stretch you and the relentlessly pursue them daily.

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This week’s Misfit Entrepreneur is Rachel Graham. Rachel is the CEO and Founder of Evolve and Transform and Co-Founder of Healing Springs Ranch, a treatment facility for addiction that bridges mental health, trauma and addiction by treating the entire person both physiologically and psychologically. Evolve and Transform is an international speaking and coaching platform that helps business leaders, teams and individuals reach their optimal performance and purpose.

Rachel is a not just a successful entrepreneur, but a TEDx speaker and renowned resource and speaker for YPO, as well as a member. To be a member, you must have a business that does over $10 million annually in revenue.

I asked Rachel to come on today, not just to talk about her entrepreneur journey, but to share her best advice on how to care for your mental health and well-being.

www.healingspringsranch.com

www.evolveandtransform.me

Rachel had the perfect life. Perfect marriage, perfect family, job, etc. She had it all together, but in less than 24 hours, it all unraveled when it was uncovered that there was an addiction problem in her family. As her world began to unravel, it took an even worse turn with other things happening like her family dog passing away, she was ni the process of leaving her current business.

She had a profound moment as she was driving to her house and the babysitter called her to tell her that her house was flooding. She got home, looked at everything, and just lost it. She had a moment with God where she just screamed and fell to her knees in two inches of water screaming “Why? Why? Why?” It was in that moment that she had a transformation, as if the hand of God was picking her up and telling her “You’re going to be alright,. I’m trying to show you something.”

She felt it through her being and in that moment realized that she needed to evolve and transform. She immediately went and bought the domain name as she knew she had a mission.

Where do people start when they need to pull themselves out of these dark times? What is the starting point?

• At the heart of addiction or trauma is pain.
• Unresolved emotions and pain are at the core of things that need to be confronted.
• Many times the addiction is a way to escape deep emotional pain.
• Addiction is not the issue – it is what gets people in trouble, but the issue is much deeper.

Talk about confronting pain…

• “We are sick as the secrets we keep.”
• We can only oppress things so long – but they will come out.
• It manifests differently for people, but it does come out.

What should people do to start the process of confronting pain?

• It requires a level of vulnerability.
• People shy away from being vulnerable, but it is one of the most healthy and strongest things we can do.
• It allows us to connect at a deeper level.
• Open up to someone you trust and have the conversation.
• Guilt vs. Shame. Guilt is when you feel bad. Shame is a belief that there is something bad in you and you don’t deserve your life.
• Talk to friends, counselors, and get help. Open up and learn how to be vulnerable.
• It is liberating to be your true self and let people see who you are.

Are people afraid to show their true self?

• Yes, because as a society we are conditioned to put our best foot forward and come off as perfect and in certain ways.
• Even entrepreneurs – we are supposed to be successful and when we fail it is so hard because we are not willing to admit we are not the picture society says we should be.

How important is it to find meaning and purpose? Where does it fit in?

• It fits in when you stop trying to control everything.
• We must be honest about our gifts and be real about our talents and what we are truly exceptional at.
• That is where meaning and purpose lies – in focusing on those gifts and using them to their fullest extent – you begin to fire on all cylinders.
• Don’t be something you are not or keep trying to be something you are not. It hinders your ability to succeed. Accept who you are and be clear on what you are good at and what you are not.

Talk about compulsive behavior and how we can use it for good and control it in our lives…

• We all have compulsive behaviors as human beings.
• Compulsive behaviors are there to serve a business.
• They are there to soothe us or help us with coping.
• But they can get out of hand.
• If your compulsive behavior begins to cause relationship, financial, health problems, and so on, it is becoming an issue.
• Otherwise, they can be useful to us.
• The biggest coping mechanism for entrepreneurs is “workaholism.” Sometimes it is too escape other areas of our lives, or ego, etc. it is a powerful drug that we have to be careful not to use too much.

Explain “You can’t level up if you are tethered down…”

• It can be external or internal.
• Internal is the hardest.
• When we tether ourselves down with baggage in ourselves, you cannot go to your next level.
• You have to let go and just be authentic and good with yourself.
• If you feel like you cannot get to the next level, look inside and see what is holding your back. Maybe it is a skill set to learn or something you have to confront – whatever it is, you need to overcome it and level up.
• Don’t be scared of the next level.

What is it that you see consistently in top entrepreneurs that keeps them at that top of their game?

• They remove ego. They know their self-worth and don’t fake it or use ego to mask insecurity. Be high integrity.
• They actively listen and know they aren’t always the smartest person in the room. Receive the gifts others can give you to help you.
• They have a learner mindset, not a knower mindset.

Who inspires you? Where do you get wisdom and advice?

• People. Connecting with people. That is inspiring.
• Every person you meet has something they can give you or leave you with.
• Rachel tells a great story about leaning the Tango and someone saying to her “You’ll learn more about yourself than you will about the dance.” She never saw the person again.
• During dance training, she saw how she could not let go of things and when she stopped trying to control things, she was able to Tango much better and could pick up the steps.
• Don’t miss the moment when you meet people.

Best Quote: "We are sick as the secrets we keep..."

Rachel's Misfit 3:

1. You cannot level up if you are tethered down. Look at yourself and remove what is holding you back.
2. Meaning and purpose can come out of the darkest moments. Be grateful because these moments are a big reveal for us.
3. The power to change is a mindset. You control your victim to creator mindset. Become a creator and be powerful vs. powerless. Make the world happen for you.

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This week’s Misfit Entrepreneur is Ann Sieg. Ann is considered one of the pioneers of attraction marketing. In fact, she generated over $4.2 million dollars in her very first online product, an e-book that helped her generate over 400,000 subscribers.

She is the CEO and President of the E-Commerce Business School – a company that has taught more than 8,000 entrepreneurs over the last decade on how to setup an automated e-commerce business in a 90-day sprint. And she’s impacted the lives of 10’s of thousands through her coaching and training programs.

She is the top affiliate of just about every affiliate program every created, but what interested me most about Ann from my initial discussion with her, is that, like me, she believes deeply that entrepreneurship is the answer to many of the world’s problems. I just had to have her on to talk everything from making it big online to entrepreneurship, family, and success. ​ ​

www.Ecommercebusinessschool.com

www.joinebs.com

Ann started selling at 7 years old, buy selling hand-made Christmas bells. She went door to door selling them and even had bundled offers. She sold out. This gave her the underpinning, but as she grew, she got into sports, specifically gymnastics and devoted herself to it. As she says, it taught her ridiculous, insane mental and physical discipline and taught her how to incrementally get better.

She learned that with a lot of discipline, you can find success. She then went on to coach gymnastics for 15 years and had to quit because of the pain she would get in her hands from spending most of her life in the sport. This experience gave her the love for tracking everything, stats, etc. to incrementally get better and this later translated into a good skill for selling online.

“There is a very distinct difference between someone who is a master at something and someone who is a great teacher or mentor. They are two different skill sets.”

She never planned to be an online marketer, but got into it later after raising her boys. ​

Why is having a strong family environment so important to your success and an entrepreneur and what have you done to create that in your life?

• Ann looks at things differently than maybe society does today.
• As she says when she got married, she made a “covenant” and a vow that she would not break. It means that she will follow through to the end.
• Human endeavors hinge on multiple things: ability, our word, and our bond.
• The family unit with the mom and dad is critical to this – and Ann believes, critical to success.
• You have to make it work in business – and making it work in a marriage is great practice and training for that.
• One of the best predictors for happy children is that the mom and dad truly love each other and it shows.
• You have a responsibility to your children to do right by them and it begins with doing right by each other.
• Ask yourself, “Whose feet will your children sit at?” Do they carry your world view? Entrepreneurship can be fostered and taught at home – because it isn’t in school. Ann homeschooled for this reason.
• Being in tune with family and business also helps with clarity and purpose.
• She believes in giving yourself and your children permission to fail and encouraging it because that is one of the best ways to learn and foster entrepreneurship. ​

How did you get into E-commerce later in life?

• It started with her sons.
• They decided to start an EBay business selling swords.
• Ann was in the world of direct sales at the time and she needed leads, so she followed some of what her sons were doing to help generate leads online.
• Ann found an online mentor, went through the training, and then learned about how to develop a target market.
• She started doing well and partnered with her son. – who had become a top affiliate marketer. Together they were a powerhouse.
• They started with digital products and then turned into e-commerce with physical products.
• She tried doing direct sales online and found it did not do as well over time, so she pivoted to teaching E-commerce and what she had learned about how to make money online.
• She focused on Amazon and EBay as they build the sales funnel for you (the funnel is the hardest part).

What are the products you are selling today? Take us through the steps of what you do in 90 days to get someone up to speed?

• Amazon and Ebay in an arbitrage model was the start.
• Then developed training method for arbitrage, wholesale, private label, self-actualization with a Shopify store, etc.
• Each has more risk because of variables that involves and her courses cover everything needed for each of them.
• Her programs focus on results and how to keep better ones.

At the 30 min mark, Ann talks about what stops people and how she found ways to help them keep at things to success using the 90-day sprint.

It all comes down to systems and teams.

• Ann figured out the systems to give like a franchise would and also helping them set up an outsourced team.
• They key is to develop people – not just sell a course.

What does it take to create a business that generates $10k online in revenue?

• There are two types of business – You own the funnel and have to create or e-commerce where it is already created, such as at Amazon.
• Arbitrage is easiest. You take others’ products and sell them and take a cut.
• $10k/mo is about how much money you can bring to the table, you can do 28-50% profit with deal stacking on your front end.
• Amazon is the easiest way. With $4-5k in investment in product inventory using Fulfilled by Amazon, you can accomplish it. This taps you into Prime customers.
• You will need to use a prep center to make sure your products are set up correctly for Amazon’s criteria.
• An example, you can go to Walmart and scan with the Amazon app, buy the products in bulk and ship them to Walmart – such as back to school materials.
• You can do the same thing with product online. Arbitrage is just buying low and selling high. ​

Give us your thoughts on why entrepreneurship is needed now more than ever?

This inspiration came from Paul Zane Pilsner, who wrote The Next Millionaire, and Robert Kiyosaki. Richard Mayberry as well- there is no free lunch.

Ann shares that we have shifted to a handout society.

Ann calls it the redistribution of opportunity. She abhors calls for redistribution of wealth.

What sets entrepreneurs apart is that we live by our ability to calculate risk and take it – stepping out on a tightrope without a safety net.

Handouts cause us to lose our muscular strength as business owners. Bailouts do not foster strong business owners – mentally and entrepreneurially.

Challenging times offer the opportunity for great innovation. Ann cites Panera Breat starting Panera Grocery during the coronavirus as an example.

The extreme of total government control over business robs people of their intellectual capacity, mental, and spiritual capital and destroys the freedom of the individual to create and do great things.

Best Quote: "There is a very distinct difference between someone who is a master at something and someone who is a great teacher or mentor. They are two different skill sets..."

Ann's Misfit 3:

1. Find your wheelhouse. This is different than finding passion. The wheelhouse is your strength where you really shine.
2. What are you called for to be in service to others?
3. Begin with the end in mind. What is the legacy? What do you want to be remembered for?

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Hello Misfit Nation! Welcome to another edition of "Lessons for Hannah!" In November of 2016, we introduced a new format that we are putting alongside our regular episodes called “Lessons for Hannah.” Hannah is my daughter and one of the main inspirations for the Misfit Entrepreneur. I wanted to have a place where she could go and learn from her daddy and his Misfit friends throughout her life….even after I am gone. If you haven’t listened to the first episode of "Lessons for Hannah," I urge you to as it gives some more background and tells the amazing story of how Hannah came to be in our lives.

"Lessons for Hannah" are short, very useful, and sometimes comical lessons, that I have learned which I want to share with you and give to Hannah to help in your lives. Because I want Hannah to have these for her life, I’m going to speak as though I am talking directly to her. These episodes are a lot of fun and if you think there is a lesson that we should include in these episodes, please don’t hesitate to send it over to us at support@misfitentrepreneur.com. We’d love to share it.

This week’s Lesson for Hannah

Hannah, I saw a piece the other day on true greatness being achieved through serving others. The piece talked about how people get the pursuit of greatness in their lives wrong. They seek personal satisfaction, fame and fortune, power and privilege. In short, they seek to be served.

While some people gain wealth, power, notoriety and so on by approaching greatness in this way, the greatness that they achieve is typically not satisfying to them – because at the end of the day, all they have are the accomplishments and themselves. They are typically lonely and unfulfilled.

I have met many people like this over the years that on the surface seem to have everything – all the money, possessions, and things anyone could ever want, but they are some of the most unhappy and unfulfilled people I have ever met. They spend most of their time complaining or taking their frustration out on others around them – driving them away.

This happens because true greatness has to have meaning behind it. Real meaning. Otherwise, it is empty and shallow. But how and where do we find real meaning on a path to greatness? We find it in serving others. Zig Ziglar once said, “You can have everything you want in life, if you just help enough other people get what they want.”

And what Zig was saying was what Jesus taught us all as he shared his light into the world. As the son of God, he came not to be served, but to serve. He gave his life for us. He washed his disciples feet at the last supper bowing to them. When we seek opportunities to serve others, we find our greatness, our joy and meaning, and we help others to do the same. And helping others can be done every day with a simple act of kindness or helping someone in their lives.

I can also come from solving a great problem for people, such as in creating a business in which it serves and helps people. But the key is being genuine and sincere in your pursuit to do it – and not just in it for the money or your personal gain. The mission and vision must be to serve others and enrich their lives and help them to make them better. And through this you will find success and true greatness for yourself. As Zig said, “You can have everything you want in life, if you just help enough other people get what they want.”

It’s a simple principle, but one that is hard to action every day.

Hannah, every day we have an opportunity to serve others in some way and put them and their interests before our own. And there are so many ways to do it. It can be just simply helping someone with a need. Teaching a skill or new subject to another. Serving through a business with a mission and vision of truly helping to solve problems and enrich people’s lives. And in just being kind to those around you and giving to your relationships. The lesson I want you to take is that you can make a difference every day and you can achieve great things in life just by looking for ways to serve and enrich others lives instead of your own. You will get way more in your life that you ever imagined if you make this your focus.

Now, go out there and serve others in your life today!

I love you, ​

Daddy

Best Quote: True greatness has to have meaning behind it. Real meaning. Otherwise, it is empty and shallow.

Misfit 3:

1. Most get the pursuit of greatness wrong. They make it about themselves instead of finding greatness by serving others. Often they end up alone and unfulfilled.
2. You can get everything in life you want, if you just help enough other people get what they want.
3. Look for ways to serve others every day. In doing so, you will find true greatness in your life and achieve and have more than you ever imagined.

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This week’s Misfit Entrepreneur is Nathan Hirsch. Nathan is the go-to entrepreneur and expert in remote hiring and e-commerce. Nathan started FreeUp.com in 2015 with $5000 and scaled it to over $12 million per year, selling it in 2019.

He then went on to co-found the Outsource School, a company that educates and provide resources to entrepreneurs to train and help them effectively build and scale their business through outsourcing. The platform combines all of the knowledge and tried and tested systems that Nathan and his co-founders have used to scale businesses to 8-figured and beyond entirely through outsourcing.

Hearing that, I bet you can guess why I asked him to be on today. In the world of Covid and business in general, it literally pays to know how to outsource well for your business – and Nathan is the guy to teach us.

www.OutsourceSchool.com

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Nathan’s parents were both teachers. He grew up thinking he would go to school, get a job, etc. But his parents made him get jobs every summer and he realized he hated having a boss. When he went to college, he saw it as a way to learn, but also as “4 years to create a business” that he could own and run after college. He started our by buying and selling textbooks, essentially competing with his school. Before he knew it, he had lines out the door and got a cease and desist letter from the college!

He then pivoted and started selling on Amazon. He then branched out selling other items and ironically found a niche in baby products. Before he knew it, he had a multi-million dollar business selling baby products from his college dorm room and needed to start hiring because he was overwhelmed. He tried college kids and then outsourced VA’s, and through managing them learned how to put processes in place that he no teaches today to outsource.

He found a lot of holes in the VA process and it took forever to find good ones, so he had an idea to create a company that did that for people, pre-vetting VA’s and taking all the guess work or out of it. That company was Freeup.com. In 4 years, it went from a $5000 investment to $12 mil in sales with everything outsourced and done with 35 VA’s. They sold it in 2019.

At this point, people were approaching Nathan for his experience and knowledge, so he created Outsource School to give people what they need.

What are the do’s and don’ts of growing a good e-commerce brand?

• Nathan didn’t create his own products – he found others and sold them and dropshipped
• Partnering is important to success in building an e-commerce company.
• Nowadays, it’s important not to be on Amazon.
• The fundamentals haven’t changed.
  • Focus on customer service
  • Focus on how you can diversify and not have all your eggs in one basket.
  • Focus on partnering to fill your gaps

Why do you think outsourcing is the best way to scale a business?

• The world has changed.
• You don’t need to be located any specific place, you don’t need office space, etc.
• The barriers and costs to entry are low because of the free tools out there and internet.
• And in today’s world, just about anything you need in a business is available at your fingertips with skilled VA’s. Accounting, graphic design, website design and management, customer service, etc. can all be outsourced.
• You can scale and grow with part time VA’s up to full time as you go.
• It makes it much easier to build a business.

Take us through how your build a business using outsourcing…what are the steps?

2 parts: The idea and MVP and outsourcing.

• Nathan’s first 2 hires are always a part-time bookkeeper and someone to get him out of his inbox and manage his email, appts., etc. T
• ake the MVP to market, get feedback and see if it has promise.
• You can then increase hours of the VA’s and add others in for other needs.

“A MVP (minimum viable product) is important in any venture. Just because we sold a couple companies, doesn’t mean every idea is going to be good. So, you have to test the waters with low risk using an MVP.”

At the 14 min mark, Nathan goes into detail about how they built Outsource School.

• To make your business better and grow, you need to get yourself out of the day to day so you can focus on the most important parts of growing and getting the business out there and making sure it has a market, creating brand awareness, networking, etc.
• Do that correctly and you’ll be in a good place after year one.

What are the “got to” tasks or roles that should always be outsourced?

• Everything!
• There are 3 types of VA’s
  • Followers: Non-US, $5-10 per hour and there to follower your processes and systems.
  • Doers: Graphic designers, video editors, etc.
  • Experts: High level. Think consultative and bring their own best practices, processes, etc.
• It’s important to know which type you need for a role. You will need all 3, but you need to know where to put them and hire them in at.

At the 19:45 mark, Nathan talks about the SOP process (Standard Operating Procedure) and why it is so important to focus on.

• SOPs need to be broken down into 3 parts.
• Part 1: Why. Why is this task important? Why is it needed? What does success for it look like?
• Part 2: Step by Step. Put together the exact steps needed to do the job.
• Part 3: Do NOT Do List or Important Reminder List. Put all the important stuff at the bottom to make sure it is clear to them.
• Once you have the SOP, don’t focus on 1:1 training from day one.
• Give them the SOP and a video for the first week, pay them, and let them go.
• At the end of that week, test them. If they get 80% of it, then move forward with 1:1.
• This is a way to sift through VA’s to find the best one for the role.

What’s the most important thing entrepreneurs need to get right from the beginning and why?

• If someone is newer to VA’s. It all starts with the interviewing and onboarding.
• Nathan uses the CARE method:
  • Communication: They must be able to communicate to your standards. How fast do they respond? Do they communicate in a way you understand and do they understand you?
  • Attitude: Is their attitude in line for what you want in the role.
  • Red Flags: Be on the lookout for any red flags.
  • Experience: Do they have the skill set and have proven it.
• Once you find someone, make sure you are on the same page for compensation.
• The onboarding method is called the SICC method in a 30 min meeting:
  • Schedule: Are they good with the schedule that you need? Are there conflicts?
  • Issues: Computer? Internet? Power?
  • Communication: Will they communicate in the way you need to them to?
  • Culture: Set the expectation of them having to be a culture fit and what that means.
• At the end, give them the opportunity to ask questions and back out.

Anything else we should know on outsourcing?

• When starting – just focus on getting 5 hours per week back.
• Don’t try to outsource everything at once.

What has surprised you most on your entrepreneur journey?

• Nathan gets rejected almost every day. He keeps putting himself out there and getting rejected all the time.
• You learn to focus on the successes and let the failures go and not affect you.
• Your ability to handle rejection well will help you grow a larger business.
• Nathan also shares a story of almost losing a whole business because they almost lost all the data for the company.

Who do you go to for mentorship and why do you choose them?

• Look for people that have skills you are lacking that you cannot hire for.
• Create a relationship with them before asking for mentorship.
• You can even hire them as a coach and teach you their processes.
• Look for people with your same values. For Nathan, that is honoring your work, treating people with respect, and owning up when you make mistakes. ​

Best advice for an entrepreneur starting out today?

• Get your MVP out there.
• You don’t need hardly any money to start a business right now.
• Figure out if there is actually a market for your product and experiment to make sure it is worth your investment.

Best Quote: “A MVP (minimum viable product) is important in any venture. Just because we sold a couple companies, doesn’t mean every idea is going to be good. So, you have to test the waters with low risk using an MVP."

Nathan's Misfit 3:

1. Reward those who have helped you achieve success.
2. Honor your word and be super clear on what you can and cannot do.
3. Figure out what your ideal day looks like to be your most productive and make sure you business is structured around that.

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