On today's episode of Gathering the Kings. I get worried if I'm not spending money on my business. And I think that's something that kind of may maybe separates some 6 figure businesses from some 789 figure businesses. You are listening to Gathering the Kings with Chaz Wolfe. Featuring fellow 78 and even 9 figure business owners who have real battle scars from business and life but have prevailed as the king that they are designed to be.
We welcome high performing entrepreneurs to the stage in order to reveal the reel of the reel. On what it takes to build a successful business today. We dissect the good and bad decisions they've made along assess and how you too can get there. Through this dialogue, you will learn the value of growing your network and surrounding yourself with power players and keys like today's guest. Grab your pen and notebook because we're about to dive in. What's up, everybody? Chaz Wolfe.
Gathering the king's podcast today. I've got Eli Bowman on the king stage. My brother, how you doing? I'm great. How are you, Chaz? I'm good, man. You know, we were just talking off air about several different things, but you you said, you said that you've been watching or listening to some other shows, and I told you I appreciated Chaz. And I could go home. I go sleep sleep well tonight because because Eli Bowman Chaz, has told me that I'm I'm putting out good stuff.
So I just really appreciate that, man. Yeah, man. It's really good. You really are. You're doing great work. I appreciate that. In all seriousness, what what brings you to the stage? What kind of business do you have, brother? Wolfe, I was serious. You're doing great work. You really are. I mean, you really added a lot of value and and and I think that the more people that listen to this, the more successful people will have in business and just in life.
So I, you know, kudos to you for really, really putting the value out here. But to answer your question, which was what again? What business you got, man? Okay. Well, I I'm a multiple business owner. But my my meat and potatoes right now is an assembly company. We we assemble bikes and grills and patio furniture for, for Walmart. Walmart is this is where I think me being on the show would be kind of a little bit of a different flavor for some of your listeners.
In that business, I have one customer. Just one. So sales, it looks a lot different for us because we're an early customer. We service 34 stores. They wanna grow us to, you know, at least a 100 next year. So scaling is something we're constantly thinking about and something that we've had to constantly work on. But that that's what the the the meat and potatoes of my of my business portfolio is right now. Most of my attention is really on this assembly company. K. Well, that's fantastic.
I'd love to hear just a quick, you know, I know you got some other irons in the fire. I'd love to hear just at least maybe the industries. Give us a little taste of what you got. I actually started in payments processing, merchant services sales. So and that was back in, in 2004. I actually took a job selling, business phone services. I came into work 1 more, you know, and I was not. I was always middle of the pack and the sales ranks. I was not a great salesman. I wasn't an awful salesman.
I was pretty young at the time. I think it was 2021. And I was just very average. So one day we came into work, and we were just sitting there waiting for our our boss to come in, our sales manager to come, you know, get us pumped up and, you know, the Wolfe sales meeting deal. And she came in and she said, I got some interesting news. You're no longer selling business phone services, you're selling something called merchant services. And I had no idea what that was.
It was the biggest term I've ever heard. It still a vague term. People hear merchant services, and they still don't know exactly what that is. If you're a business owner, you know what it is. It's the credit card, debit card processing. Right? There's a fee for that. Anyway, I jumped on that opportunity. I was like, sweet. Here's a chance. Like, the whole field is leveled out. Me and every other sales rep in that office that used to be selling business phone services.
We all get to start from scratch with an industry. We don't know. So I just jumped into learning everything I possibly could about payments processing back in 2004, and it just I got good at it I I quickly became the number one sales rep in the office, and it just was something that I that I knew that I just I was good at. I just because I took the time and I took the effort to dive in. Yeah. It was new. It was uncomfortable. I didn't know what I was doing.
I had to I had to kind of learn all new lingo all new jargon, whatever you wanna call it. But one thing that did translate was my relationship skills, my sales skills, and just being able to relate to people. So that transferred right over. But that's how I got started in my own business. I I left there I kinda got wrapped up in the whole conveyor belt mentality. I did go to college and finish finish college at the Ohio State University Business School.
But and I worked in corporate finance for, like, a year, a year and a half. And I was so miserable, Chaz, because, like, I knew I knew Chaz, like, I did. I could not stay there. If if you're an entrepreneur and I and I'll I'll try to make this brief, so we Chaz keep going. You're an entrepreneur, like, you feel it in your bones. Yeah. And when when you're not doing what entrepreneurs do, You're uncomfortable. It's hard to work for someone else constantly.
It's hard to be to it's hard to be at a place because someone told you to. It's hard to do a job because because, you know, you'll get fired if you don't do it. It just doesn't sit right with someone who's really truly a a cut from the pure cloth entrepreneur.
Yeah. So I left corporate finance in 2009 k. Tommy with Chaz, started my own per merchant services company, instead of selling at an office, I actually started my own credit card processing merchant services customer acquisition company kind of a franchise model. I I borrowed another brand. I just was an independent sales rep for them, but I I was able to use their brand in in marketing. And that's kinda how I got started.
So my my portfolio of businesses to come back to your question, I'm in payments processing. That's kinda where I started in sales and then sort of doing my own thing, running my own company. I also have a, a digital marketing company. I think a lot of people do now. I think there's a lot to offer out there. And there's a lot in flux with web 3.0 and the metaverse that's coming and with blockchain technology, lots and lots to incorporate into new biz into businesses.
And, in 3rd, I do have this assembly company. So that's kinda like my trifecta right now in my portfolio. I love it. I love, I love the backstory too because you know, obviously, everybody likes to know kind of how people get rolling. And sales is a is a it's not always an easy on ramp to entrepreneurship, but but a lot of sales guys, a especially the ones that then that can then take the leap Yeah. Into more than handling just the sales process, then that's your entrepreneur.
Because we love the pitch process. Yeah. Exactly. Exactly. Okay. Well, so I wanna know inside of all these things you have going on. Obviously, there's history of business. You've been pushing. You've been making great money. Why are you doing it? What's the bigger pay? What's the bigger picture? What what what? Like, what's what's what do you take? I I, I wish I could say that I was motivated just by making dollars. I'm not I love what the dollars represent, though.
They they they represent choices. They represent options. I know what it's like to basically not have any money. And and I would would venture to say nearly every entrepreneur that you meet knows what it's like to be broke. Because at some point, they had to figure it out. They had to they had to come to terms with the fact that they have to eat what they killed. If they're going to be a, you know, a true entrepreneur, a real business owner. So most of them, not all.
Some some have a more had a more fortunate beginning, and that's fine and and more to them. No no harm. No foul. Love those guys. Love those gals. But most entrepreneurs know what it's like to be broke. And so to me, money I'm not just looking for the number to go up. I'm looking at the choices in front of me when that number goes up. To me, that's what money equals. And it it equals choices. It equals freedom. It equals a lifestyle that I've always dreamed of as a kid.
Yeah. If you don't mind, give us some of those what are the choices that, like, keep you up at night? Like, the ones that you either wanna make or that what you wanna have open to you or the ones that you're hoping in the next couple of years get open to you. Give us some insight there on, like, maybe what Chaz what that looks like. For you? I to me, it's I've always been more about, in my life experiences, I've always mattered more to me than things.
I have a lot of of friends who are really, really rich, way richer than me, you know, way wealthier than me with net net net worth and incomes that are just in the stratosphere. And and look, these guys have Rolexes and Lamborghinis, and I love them. And I love, you know, I've I've don't I went to lunch with my friend not too long ago. He took me outside. We looked at his Ferrari, and I was just blown away by it and really impressed.
However, my decisions are really kinda, like, what I think about as far as choices go and what I really want to do is invest back into my companies because I wanna exit someday down the line.
So when I'm at night, when I'm when I'm laying down at night and I'm thinking about the options and the choices that I wanna make, I get worried if I'm not spending money on my business And I think that's something that kind of may maybe separates some 6 figure businesses from some 789 figure businesses is Yeah. When you have a small business, you're you're thinking, how can I save money? How can I stop from spending money? Or you you look at expenses as a hemorrhage.
When you have a business that's scaling and you know it's growing and you know you know that if you invest back into it, it's gonna continue to scale and grow at night, when I think about how the number and the corporate account keeps going up, I start getting nervous because I'm like, I know that I can use that money to make my business even more valuable, even better, and more lucrative, not only for me, but for my people, and that my exit strategy becomes more
exciting if I know that I'm investing back in my business. So when I lay down a night, I don't dream of Lamborghini's or Rolex's, although I love those things, I dream of and I think about how can I put money back into my my businesses? You know, if if I if I didn't share that thought, with you, I would I would call b s. I would say, come on, Lambos, Ferraris, boats, yachts. You know, Rolexes. I mean, come on. Come on. Taking your family on vacations. I mean, I see that you're married.
Like, come on. But I know. I know. I'm with you. Like, I I haven't met too many other people who, like, at that level. Like, okay. Could we go buy a Ferrari cash? Oh, right. Does that does that get me excited? No. And and Right. And and and I I understand why it gets people excited. Look, I one day, I I really want a Corvette. I don't even want a Ferrari. Look, if someone gave me a Ferrari, I'd take the Ferrari. Sure. Sure. But I'm a I wanna have classic vets.
So I do have this, like, tangible sort of worldly kind of idea of, like, something that I want, a thing, a toy. I do wanna enjoy I I do wanna enjoy the wealth that I create. Yeah. And that's that that is I think when you make a lot of money, yeah, you wanna you wanna use it. You wanna have a comfortable life, but but I I just bought a I bought a new watch last week, and I'm so excited about it, but it's a fossil watch, Jasmine. I could've I could've bought a better watch.
Like, a a higher, a fancier, more expensive watch. I could've, but I like Fossil. And to me, I got excited about Chaz, and that's good enough for me. I don't know if that makes me weird. I don't know if it makes me, you know, I didn't get it for the price tag. I didn't give it to save money. I didn't get it so that I could have more money to put my I didn't. I just liked Fossil Watches. And one day, I'm gonna own a 1963 split back Chevy Corvette. It's gonna happen.
Yeah. But it's not gonna be a brand new Ferrari. It's gonna be a classic. Exactly. What what I hear you saying is that you're doing you.
And and I think actually that's the message I wanna kinda just maybe translate to the listener is that whether 6 figures, 7 figures, 8 or 9, the the permission and really can't you kinda hinted at that as that the guys that are, maybe a little bit bigger, they've just realized that maybe the opinions of others don't matter as much, and and I'm gonna if I'm gonna look at my business as a an investing tool, then, yeah, I I get excited about shoveling it back in.
I mean, because because you can only play so much. You can only you know, wine and dine so much, where maybe it feels a little a little gluttonous or a little bit like, ah, Chaz I really need all this. No. But, like, but but the business does. That business will will eat it and eat it fast too. And so we like to, like, insert it into the into the you know, it's like reverse ATM. Yeah. And and that and that's where I get that's where I get indulgent with my spending.
I will I will I will buy new software, incorporate new software, if it my company Yeah. Run better and smoother and makes us scale. And it might seem like an indulgent purchase, Eli, you've already got software that works for that me. Why are you gonna spend more money on software? Well, this does more things, and we can grow within more, or, hire a consultant or an agency to help me with this or that aspect of my business. I'll hire the best. I don't want mediocre.
I don't want a mediocre marketing agency. I don't want a mediocre consultant. I want the best number 1. So I will spring, I'll buy the Rolex of consultants. I'll buy the Rolex or the Lamborghini of marketing agencies, not, you know, not anything less. So I get indulgent with my spending when it comes to adding value to my assets. I I love I love the angle that we're in. I wanna stay in the vein just for just another half second. Want you to answer this question based on who we're talking to.
Obviously, folks that haven't reached the 7 figure mark yet, but they aspire to. What would you say in this vein here of investing or putting back in or maybe staying away from some of the, like, easy things. Because even at 2, 3,800,000, like, Chaz owner could spend some money on some things. And and may and maybe they are the listener, maybe they aren't. I don't know. But what would you say to that person right there in this same vein? What would be the advice?
My advice to that person would be to really take stock of of, like, their their inner wellness. If you've been just living like a popper close to the bone for months or years trying to build your business, and it's starting to scale. And maybe you're at that half a 1,000,000, you know, revenue mark a year, you know, upward, you know, 3 quarters of a 1,000,000, like you said, 800,000 a year. You you you start looking at the corporate account. All your bills are paid.
You you're looking at at a padding of of of of liquid, and you're like, Wolfe, you know, I can pack and really cut myself a sizable check. I would say if you are tending to your business, make sure you reward yourself because being an entrepreneur and a business owner is it's an endurance test. When you start out, I should say. When you start out, it's an endurance test because you're you're struggling to even figure out if you should pay yourself or not.
And then when you do pay yourself, that can there can be a guilt attached to that if you aren't sort of whole on the inside. So my advice or my the what I would say to to someone in that position who is who has a smaller business that's finally starting to scale If you know your business is taken care of, make sure that you're taken care of too. And Yeah. Pay pay your bills. Make sure you're you're make sure your your girl or your boy or that is more comfortable.
Your kids, if you've gotta make sure that they are happy, make sure you're not disappearing into your business when you have other obligations. But sometimes take that money out and make sure you're doing okay, and you don't have to live broke forever. Yeah. Yeah. And for the guys who, have no money in the account because they've been spending it on all the stuff, may maybe maybe slow it down. Maybe maybe put some in the reserve account.
Maybe make sure that when things change markets like they did in the last 60 days that, you you aren't you aren't up a creek without a Right. And and I think about Gary Vee, and I'll just be very brief on this point. Look, if you're obsessed with your company and, like, putting money back in is how you get fulfillment, by all means, do it.
Like, if if you were, like, Elon Musk and you're cool with having a multi $1,000,000,000 valuation of of your company, but you're sleeping in on on your friend's couches and your apartments because you just don't have the liquid because it's all tied up in your net worth with your companies. Look, if that's how you get fulfillment, by all means, do the thing. Like, do your thing. Get that fulfillment.
But if you if part of what fulfills you is, you know, living a life, living a lifestyle or a certain lifestyle or living your life a certain way, please pursue that too. I think you gotta it's a balance. You gotta take care of both your business and yourself. But if you are broken inside, it's just a matter of time until you start making some big, big mistakes in your business. So you gotta you gotta take care Wolfe. And not just physically, but mentally, emotionally.
Yeah. You're spot on, and you're even parling right into my next questions here. I wanna talk about a good and bad decision. So Think back to, you know, maybe earlier on, if you can if you can go back to the place before 1,000,000, and I want you to tell me a good decision that you made that you can share with listeners. I, a good decision I made was to to give my best people raises and promotions.
You think to yourself, okay, if they're your best people, you kinda want them in their lane because they're doing a good job. They're your best people for a reason. They're they're the best at doing what they do. But identifying if they can add more value in to your business, and not only to your bottom line, but to your people, don't be afraid to pay them. You gotta pay people. I think, Jose mentioned this.
Jose Sanchez mentioned this on your show when he was on, you you can't be afraid to pay good people. Right. It is well worth it. So that's that's what I would say is is is scale. Don't be afraid to scale up. Spend that money on the good people that can make it bigger with you. Yeah. And I think that, you know, it's so good to hear that because I think even at every level yeah. We we we reenact this feeling inside of us of going, okay.
I need another this or I need another Chaz person or this department head or whatever, whether it's a team member or a key Wolfe, we still have to, you know, one up ourselves of going, okay. I gotta do this again. I want I need to invest again. And so what would you say Chaz listener right now who's heard you just say, go ahead. Go do it. It's okay. But they're just like, you know, their little knees are just, you know, together.
Because it's gonna cost, you know, maybe 40, 50, 60, a 100 k for, you know, to have somebody who's who's a quality that you're talking about. That's right. So to the person who's scared to pull that trigger, I would ask that person to to try to remember why they started all this. And to try to remember why they're even doing it at all. If you're doing it because you really want the lifestyle of someone who owns a business system, then you've gotta do what those people do.
And that is they reinvest. They get uncomfortable with the operation of their business as far as spending money goes because they know that this is better. It's better to grow. Than to just stay. Fear will keep your business exactly where it is or shrink it. Fear never grows business. Yeah. So you've gotta look inward, maybe do some personal development, network, and surround yourself with with people who have won in business.
If you don't have a mentor, try to find a mentor if someone who does own a business or has owned a business that has kind of taken those leaps and has been where you're trying to go leverage that mentor relationship or those people, that will lift you. You know, they say a rising tide lifts all ships. If you are surrounded by other ships, if you're a ship, make sure the ships around you are the ships of people who have won or who are winning. And you will elevate.
This is what's great about your community is when people link arms with other people in the gathering of the gathering the king's community, they are lifted up and they're get they're given great ideas. They're they're told that they can do it. They're told that that it's okay to be afraid, but but always push forward. So if if if you remember why you did it in the first place and you surround yourself with the people that have won or that are winning, and you just don't stop, Chaz.
You're you're gonna win. That's what I would say to that person. If you're afraid to pull that trigger, Get with people who have pulled that trigger, and eventually you will. Yeah. Love it. I love it. Okay. Let's flip the coin. Bad decision. What happened? My assembly company, I got into business with a guy and and and one of my weaknesses as a business owners, I really like to be liked Chaz. I don't like being the bad guy.
My operations manager, I kinda make him the bad cop, bad cop, and I'm the good cop. But that's a weakness. It's a liability in fact, and it has cost me money, and it's cost me tens of 1000 of dollars. When I first started, I I got in the business with with the wrong person. And this person, took me for you know, almost almost $40,000. And I thought for sure that it would be worth it. And I just kept getting taken advantage of.
So a poor decision was was not following my business instincts and instead just following what's compassionate. Now I don't wanna confuse people. I don't I don't wanna say don't follow your heart because it's important that you that we follow what we believe and, you know, to be to be right.
But we have to wake up sometimes, and we have to kind of examine our current paradigms I got into business with someone who took me for tens of 1000 of dollars and who made it seem like I would be a bad person if I didn't. So I I I got all kinds of messed up from that experience. That was a poor experience, and I knew it time rationally.
I was like, look, if if I put my fiduciary hat on, the the fiduciary responsibility I have to my company, The answer is no to continuing to give money to this partner of mine. But I didn't listen. So that was a poor decision. Not every decision is gonna be a winning decision. You will fail. Right. But when you do, make sure you learn from it. Yeah. How I mean, obviously, looking back and looking at the relationship, but how how how have you learned from this.
And not necessarily what did you learn because I always ask that. What did you learn? But since you said, make sure you go back and learn, How would somebody go do that? Whether it's this example or another mistake, what's your analyzation process? It's it's it's so tough when you're when you especially when you're new. And you're going things through things for the first time. Yeah. Again, if you don't have a mentor, you're just it's the blind meeting the blind.
Make sure that you are with Chaz you're associating with people that have done it. But as far as how it's learned, you're you're gonna you're gonna fall on your face and people don't know what they don't know, Chaz. So I really think it's that's problem that's changing in our business. And I think coaches and and communities are doing a good job of informing business owners Chaz there's just a better way, but there's just a lot.
I I'm just I'm going to say ignorance out there, and I don't mean that in an in an insulting way, I mean, that that people just don't know what they don't know. Most people get into business. They're not mentally or emotionally or financially prepared to do it. Right? But they do try their best, but they don't know how to fail well. So you gotta know how to fail Wolfe. It's easy to quit.
Would would I think about a child walking, a baby walking, you know how many times a baby falls down when they walk, Chaz? Like, it's, like, thousands of times. They hit their head. They skin their elbow. They cry, but they just keep going. They they don't understand doubt if if people, you know, they won't listen to people going, oh, you'll never learn how to walk.
I mean, no one's saying that to a baby, but but they they just they block it out even if they were saying it, the babies would block it they it's like it's like they didn't understand, and they just eventually guess what they do. They walk. Generate by and large, they learned how to walk. They learn how to walk. So It's the same thing with with owning a business. If you just keep going, when you fail, you're going to seek out the lesson.
Yeah. And if you and if you usually, you find it if you seek it out. Yeah. I I've never heard the the analogy of the the baby walking but you're so true. You're so right when it comes to they're eventually gonna do it. And I think even just back to parenting you know, put my parenting hat on for a second. We just had our 4th. And so it's like, I'm I'm just so not concerned about the moment.
I mean, yes, I wanna be there, and we're gonna take pictures, but it's not like, I run to the rest of the world, like, oh my goodness. My my my 4th row me, Joe, she just took her first walk, like like you do with the first one. Right? Because when the first one, it's like, oh my goodness. It's everything. What I realized to your point is that they'll get it. 9 months, 10 months, 15 months, they'll get it. It's it's that it just they'll figure it out.
But to take that, like, another layer and to say if the if the kid could understand from a mentorship perspective, if they could understand, if they could take, like, okay, step and then, like, if they could actually take the direction of the the parent, how much quicker would they walk?
Physically, obviously, there's a limitation there, but if there was no physical limitation, thinking now business, as the listener today as maybe the baby in the example and then finding a mentor, like you're saying, or just listening to guys like you here on on Gathering the Kings. It's like, If if if you can just hear it, like, if you can imagine a baby actually taking the advice of the parents of step, pick up your foot, hold your balance.
Like, all the things that we're saying when they're doing it, but they don't understand, like, you're saying, which is good for them and not so good. So if the the listener can actually listen, Maybe they can walk faster.
If if this goes back Chaz to who your associations are and that rising tide that lifts all ships, Look at the pet if if babies could understand the feedback they're getting from their parents, the the effect and opinion of their parents would go a long way in determining the result of that baby. The thing is that we associate people, we we associate with people who don't necessarily want to see a succeed. They may not say that.
They may not even know it, but subconsciously, it's hard for them to see others succeed above their station. And so imagine if a baby has parents who are jealous or has parent the baby has parents who say, yeah, maybe you'll learn how to to walk, but you'll never learn how to run. A lot of us are living in that reality. We just don't realize it. We have friends and associates who they they've all they've been broke. They've always been broke. And that can weigh us down.
The 4 and Ryan Stuman from Apex, he talks about the the force of average, and the force of average is always pulling us down. Yeah. But if that baby has encouraging parents, parents who know that that baby's gonna walk because they know they can walk. They know that baby's gonna run because they learned how to run. And they're encouraging that child to walk and to run and to really learn how to do it Wolfe. Not constantly picking them up when they fall, but letting them get up.
Yeah. That child's gonna it's gonna they're gonna have a better time and a more more likely, a more likely road to success because their parents are more encouraging. Now, obviously, I've got 5 kids myself. You've got 4. So between our nine kids, I I would hope that we've encouraged nine people, you know, to do to be the best that they can be. But but business owners stay. They don't always have that encouragement. Yeah. So, again, they they don't always know what they don't know.
If they can find a way to work on themselves, they'll seek the answer, and they'll find it. Yeah. Yeah. And and they don't know who they don't know. And so to your to your community points, Chaz, those those ships around us are so important. One quick question before we leave the topic of decision making, I want you to tell me now at the level that you are now. Is there a certain way that you make decisions? Certain process discipline that you follow?
A lot of it really is is from is from instinct. If I think about something too long, I I tend to make some poor poor decisions. I tend to over analyze Yep. And and and that's my own fault. You know, that again, that's a weakness that I have, but I I don't think it's a con I don't think it's an uncommon weakness, Chaz. I think that lots of business owners overanalyze And when you do that, you start overthinking, and then your decisions are based on information that really isn't relevant.
To to the result you're trying to get. Right. So when I am presented with a a a decision in my business, I try to make a decision within a a a short reasonable amount of time. It fits a decision that affects everyone, and as a business owner, most of your decisions affect everyone in your organization, then it's worth it. You know, is it important that a way way into or that that it weighs into my consideration how it will affect my people. Absolutely.
But no one else in my organization or my business is gonna can make that decision. Only I can. Right. So if I take too long, I overthink and I can make or or I could spend too much money or I could not spend enough money. But if I just in my when I'm faced with the decision, I kinda know already, instinctually, instinctively what I need to do. And I usually end up following that, and that's been working. Where do your instincts come from, Eli? I think they come from a couple different places.
1, I think the personal development that I've done over the years has has raised my baseline of acumen. Yeah. So instead of absolutely falling apart when I'm confronted with a difficult business decision, especially one that that has big financial ramifications, I don't fall apart anymore. I kind of grab that bull by the horns and go, okay. Here's an opportunity to to do something special.
And and and I feel like I can credit that to just to reading good books, to associating with good people, into keeping my my personal development and personal growth is something that I'm constantly working on. I network marketing is a good example. I'm not in network marketing right now. Based on my current paradigm, I don't know if I'll ever be involved in network marketing.
Again, however, network marketing taught me, like, a 1,000,000,000,000 different things that have helped me own a traditional business and maybe I won't you know, foray into network marketing again, but, man, I love network marketers because that opportunity really set me on a path of personal development, personal growth, looking at things as a business honoring and respecting and nurturing relationships, all of these things are so
valuable to owning a traditional business, especially when you wanna scale into the 789 figure figure ranks. So I love network marketers and love network marketing. Because it helped make that foundation for me. Am I in it right now? No. Please don't pitch me, but but but I do respect the heck out of that hustle. Yeah. Well, and and you think back is it was your personal development education. I think back to the 3 ish years that I was involved in in network marketing.
I was, you know, 18, 1920, or maybe 1921, but, the reality is is that I read more book in that 3 year period than any college buddy of mine. And and, and even though the the the team building inside of that network marketing didn't work out. Man, the leverage that I've been able to take, just like what you're saying. So, it is funny.
I've thought about that several times of, like, you know, whether it be my son or, like, if I'm actually giving, like, if somebody was come to come to me for real business advice before they actually had a business, So when asked somebody to leave their business, hey. Go do a network marketing company for a year and and do everything that they say. Like Yeah. Not one thing. Don't deviate. Do everything. And then and then maybe you'll have, some gas in the tank to go, to go do your own thing.
To anyone that's failed in network marketing, Yeah. You should you should still be thankful for all the things you learn. I know that if you really gave it all you Chaz, you learned a ton of things. Maybe you didn't build a team of your dreams. Maybe you didn't achieve the rank of your dreams, but stop focusing on that. Look at what you learned. Look at what it has done for you positively, and I bet you can find lots of good that came from a network marketing experience, even when that failed.
Oh, yeah. Some of my some of my clients and partners and connections today come from the decades ago that I was doing that. So it's, yeah, you're big relationships. Okay. Let's let's transition to the speed round. I'm gonna come at you in a little different way with some questions. I wanna know, especially since you're in different industries, I want you to take all of your business. To window it down into one trackable metric, what is it? Oh, they're so different. That's a good question.
I I would say, units units. If it's assembly, it's bikes. If it's payments processing, it's number of of new merchant IDs If it's digital marketing, it's not a a number of new customers. To me, it it it's it's about production. So if I can just nay put narrow down to units, if I I if I know how many bikes I'm my guys are building, then I know generally speaking where I stand as a company.
If I know how many new merchant IDs I'm getting every month, I generally know the the the the welfare, the the well-being of that business. So it would just be and that's kind of a cop out answer because it's, like, sales. What a what a thoughtful idea, you know, judging a company by its revenue. Right? But that that would really be it for me because then I know what I can I know if I'm failing somewhere and or I know that I can pump into that to to bring those numbers up?
So Yeah. And I think that, you know, that's really the the caveat here is that, obviously, we've got lots of different answers that come from different guests, but whatever that one metric is that most people share, it's it's that metric that if all that if that's all that they had, like you said, I then understand generally the rest of, like, everything else kinda falls in the line in my brain. Yeah. You know, I'm back in the age of it for now. Exactly. Okay. Good stuff.
What book would you recommend for a 6 figure business owner? For the average 6 figure business owner, If you haven't read Robert Kiosaki's books yet, I would. People talk about rich dad poor dad, like, it's the Bible, and it's great. It's so good.
Chaz, but the book that you really need to know from Robert Kyosaki is cash flow quadrant because that is the book that helps you understand the difference of of how money is made as a business owner, like someone that owns a business symptom, a business system, versus someone who is self employed and owns a job. Believe me, I've I've I've I've been in both. I've I've been in both really been in all the quadrants.
So I I understand what happens within the quadrants, but but that book will really change the way that you forever look at earning money. So if if you want a small business and maybe you, you know, 100, 200, quarter of a $1,000,000 in sales per year, I know that you're not living the life style that you really wanted to accomplish when you started.
Read the cash flow quadrant by Robert Kiyosaki if you haven't, and apply that to your life and see how you can put yourself in the right quadrant that, like, basically the next quadrant you're supposed to get in Chaz you're trying to get in and make all your actions kind of move toward that direction, and you'll start seeing a lot of changes. You know, like, including higher, higher revenue numbers that that'll put you into place where you could be on this show rather than, you know, tuning it.
Yeah. Love it. K. What you've you've kinda already mentioned, you know, rising tide raises all ships and, obviously, networking. My question to most of my guests is, what do you think about networking and master mining? Since we kind of already know what you think generally, what would you say to the person listening today that maybe they've been listening for a while. They've heard this question many times.
Or maybe they're brand new to the show today, and they're just now hearing about this idea of networking or masterminding with other entrepreneurs. What would you leave them with? I mean, to keep it short and sweet, do it. If it's uncomfortable, do it anyway.
You have to look at networking and associating with other entrepreneurs and and successful business owners as something that is mandatory, not as something that sounds nice, not as something that can maybe you'll fit in your schedule if you're free. No. An investment in your network is an investment not only in yourself but in your business. Whoever nurtures the most relationships wins, period, So you have to look at that aspect of your life.
And, look, if you're an introvert and you're a 6 if you're a business owner in an first of all, I'm praying for you, brother, or sister because that is hard. It is hard to be an, like, a true introvert and and be an entrepreneur. It takes more from you than it does from someone who's an extrovert, like myself. So kudos there. So you my my advice would be, you know, look, get uncomfortable with your with networking with the right people.
I spent 1000 of dollars a month networking with a certain level of people, and it's worth it to me because sometimes you, you know, you'll get involved in business with them, or you'll meet someone Chaz like, hey. You're, like, the expert I needed to get my business to the next level. And they turn around and say, you know, what's funny is I've needed someone like you in my organization or my business as well.
When you network with people who are trying to win, who are trying to not just like be successful, but be like successful millionaires you know, that, you know, even even approaching billionaire status, that networking with people like that is possible, but you can't just walk in. You kinda gotta pay to play. So be willing be willing to invest in yourself and your business by being part of a network of high producing, high performing individuals. Yep. Love the answers.
Operational question for you. If you only had 1 hour each week, to run your businesses. What would you do in that 1 hour to successfully run your business like you do now? Oh, Wolfe. It's a great question. I think that I would, gather up my managers and I would, you know, kind of nurture not just my managers. I guess if I had an hour every week, you said an hour a week. Right? Yep. Ah, this is top chest. I would encourage I would have a big I would have a meeting.
That's might sound counterintuitive, but I would actually have a meeting. That company wide meaning. And I get saying The listener got to hear you processing all of that in real time. It was great. What I would do is I would I would inspire my people, my team, my managers, my employees, with with with stories that relate to them. That they can take then that week, and they can feel like they can win that week.
Because what I try to do in my company is I make sure that all of my people, whether they're my, you know, top level managers or, like, just started out part time assembler, I want them all to think like business owners. I want all of my people, managers, or entry level part time assemblers anywhere between that. I want them to feel like they can have ownership in their career with me. I want them to see a path to success, not just financially, but but personally within my organization.
So if I had an hour, I would just spend an hour telling stories that inspired and motivated my team members to then perform to the best of their ability that week because they know it will help them. Yes. It will help the company, but I want them to feel like empowered to feel like they're winning by working within my organization. Yeah. You've used this word winning, a handful of times.
It it's a it's a favorite word of mine, amongst several others, but, you know, I think that we each have to find ways to win every single day. It's like our duty to find ways to win. And and and at this point, hear you saying is that you would basically get with your people to make sure that they're winning, because if if they're winning, the the the momentum cycle continues. Alright. Last question, Eli, if you lost it all, no more bikes. No more credit cards to swipe. No more nothing.
What do you do? I go out there and I call everyone that I already know. And I ask what they're doing. And I get a feel for how I can give something to them. I think it's I think it's the old method to, you know, to think, oh, well, I'd find something to sell and sell it. That's great. That's transactional. That's one time. That's, like, great. You know, sell something get paid once. That's cool. But, man, if I can bring value because what I what I can't get taken from me, Chaz, is my experience.
What I can't get taken from me is my expertise and the things that I'm an expert in. Those things will always be with me, and those actually have value like, the money financial value to other people. So I would I would go right to my network, which is full of high performing individuals, and I would see how I could add value to whatever they're doing. I wouldn't even think about money. Would just be like, I Chaz do this for you. I can do this for you.
Let me just do it and then we can figure out if it's something that we wanna keep doing. That's what I would do. I would offer as much as I possibly could without talking about price because I know if I pursue that excellence Chaz the success will come. Yeah. Pursuing excellence. Isn't that, the pursuit that, or or your potential? The the the man we're supposed to be or you know, like you said, the one that, is just a few years down the road. I wanna I wanna be able to meet that guy.
I don't wanna I don't wanna meet this guy. 5 10 years from now. I wanna I wanna meet that guy. Yeah. So you've been incredible, in helping us here today, even myself being able to to continue to press in on Chaz. Thank you for that. How can the listener connect with you? It's just real simple. I I let's just go to Eli Bowman.com. All of my links are there. You can find my socials, You can find my book about Bitcoin. You can you can find me there.
And, eventually, I'll have a my own, you know, podcast and show coming out. It's not ready yet, but it's in the works. But all of that Wolfe be will be housed at eliboman.com. So thank you, Chaz. Let me mention that. Absolutely. And, and, you know, crypto's not going anywhere. There's a lot of up and down. You know, a lot of thoughts, a lot of emotion, a lot of big players coming in and out. You know, give us give us 30 seconds. Why'd you write a book on Bitcoin?
I, was a very early adopter of Bitcoin. The the the mission of Bitcoin was I was way more on board with that before I wasn't on board with, like, investing in it. But, man, I've law you know, one day I made 8000 the next day I lost 10,000 just because I'm trying to a trade crypto bad, you know, bad bad experience.
So I I decided to get educated and look at cryptocurrency particularly Bitcoin as an investment opportunity using practices that have worked successfully and worked well over the years in the stock market. So this book is a great, beginners book into investing in Bitcoin. I I wrote it, coauthored it with, with my friend, r, Arthur Fairburn, And that's gonna be available at eliboman.com.
So if you believe in the mission of Bitcoin and you believe in the technology, then, you know, learn how to invest in it well and I think you'll do really well in the future. I really do. That's just my personal advice. I'm not a financial adviser. It's not financial advice. But I think there's a lot there at Bitcoin and in cryptocurrency in general that that can really supplement people as well. Lots of ways to make money.
And and what a what a great way to be maybe potentially, on the front cutting edges. I know when I started investing several years ago, was a little shaky or a little shaky, a little unknown, a little uncertain. Definitely glad I did. Thank you so much again for being here. We wish you nothing but blessing, success. Your family, your business is all up on stuff. So, again, thanks for being here. Thanks, Jess. Thanks for listening to Gathering the Kings.
We hope you guys ton of value today and learn a thing or 2 about taking your business to 7 figures and beyond. If you desire more and want a community around you to help you get there, want you to go to gathering the king's dot com. That's gathering the king's dot com, and I want you to apply for our next becoming a king 90 day intensive. We are extremely exclusive by nature as a group.
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