On today's episode of Gathering the Kings. If you're gonna start a business or you're gonna start a, you know, you know, like I say, a partnership or whatever with somebody else, make sure you clearly define what you want. You know, make sure you have the terms worked out. Make sure you know how you're gonna exit.
You know, like, all these things need to be figured out in advance as much as possible because If you don't figure them out, then, you know, maybe the other person had different ideas in mind of what they wanted out of it. You know what I mean? And it just causes animosity and friction and It's just not a good good situation to be in.
So I would say just spend some time to think about what you wanna do, what you wanna get out of a project or business or whatever, and then make it happen and, you know, spell it out clearly. 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 real today. We dissect the good and bad decisions they've made along the way Chaz give a true and accurate picture of the journey of success 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 kings like today's guest. Grab your pen and notebook because we're about to dive in. What's up everybody?
Chaz Wolfe Gathering the Kings podcast. My guest today, Luke Arthur is a fellow Midwestern Boy, right here in Missouri, right where I'm at. And, this guy we actually, you know, it's funny we played basketball nearly at the same time missed each other by a couple of years. Probably played together, the same, same circle as kids, not really knowing it, but this dude's built a a 7 figure solar business and then now transitioned still has that, but now transitioned over to worm manure.
So intriguing. And and there's so many nuggets Chaz this guy drops from a young age around, the emotion behind business. And so super vulnerable podcast And, I think that you'll get a lot out of this. Grab your pen and paper. Here it comes. Alright, guys. Gathering the Kings. Chaz, Wolfe, if I got Luke Arthur. How you doing, bro? Thanks for coming. Hey. I'm good, man. Thanks for having me on. I really appreciate it. Looking forward to visiting with you. Yeah, man.
I appreciate, another fellow midwesterner. I know we finally figured out through our conversation that we both We both played basketball in the Midwest different a little different times, but Right. Right. Yeah. We've got that long history of, of basketball, man. Yeah. There you go. Okay. So you're you're here on Gathering the Kings, which means you've got a an incredible business, or in your case, businesses. And so we wanna hear about it.
Tell us tell us what your your I know you've got a couple big ones, but tell us what your main one is. And then, obviously, you can share as much as you want on the other one as well. Yeah. So, I guess the the main one and the the biggest one or 2 different ones for me right now, like, the business that I've been growing for the last, I think it's been, let's see, 5 years now. Is called Simple Solar.
And we, you know, we install and, sell solar and solar systems, you know, for residential and commercial properties. We're in Missouri and Iowa primarily right now. So that one's been the biggest one. Within the last year, I've been kind of transitioning my time over to my other business venture that's more more of a startup type company. It's called Simple Grow. And for that, when we make, organic fertilizer, So the primary product there is it's Wolfe casting.
So, basically, it's like, you know, a fancy word for worm manure, basically, is what it is, but it It works, amazingly well at growing plants, like, every kind of plant you could imagine. It's really big in organic gardening and farming. Wow. Cannabis industry really loves it. It increases the yield of plants and just, you know, doesn't have any chemicals or anything bad. Yeah. So Yeah. It's kinda kinda where my time is right now.
Then I've got the civil solar things still going, but totally got got some people that, you know, helped me run that one. So Yeah. Of course. And and I'm sure we'll dive in some of that. And and so speaking on the solar front, you know, total side note, so I'll I'll need to get with you about some of your solar options because we just I just was telling you off air that we just moved into our home build that we've been building for over a year.
And so and I've got solar on some of my other properties. So I I need to get with you, about some of your solar options because, man, We've got some acreage and and trying to be self sufficient. You know? Yeah. I mean, it's it's really awesome, obviously, for the, you know, the environment, but just from a numbers perspective, I mean, if you're Yeah. You're wanting to save money over the long time. You're gonna be somewhere for a long time.
It just makes sense, you know, because you're you're getting getting rid of your electrical, basically, and you're know, buying a system that can just produce your electricity for you, you know, basically forever. So 100%. Yeah. I've I've, when you when you do the math, to your point, it it's almost ridiculous why anybody wouldn't do it. You know? Yeah. Exactly. Especially on depending on what utility you're on.
Like, some of the rates are just you know, insane now, that you can pay for electricity and just pays for itself fast. You know? Totally. Yeah. I mean, even even states like Missouri, have definitely caught up with the cost. And, and the math works every every way I've split it. It's like, okay. I need I need I need solar for sure. So Yeah. And some of the utilities even have rebates now.
I don't know if yours did or does, you know, does now, but they'll just basically write you a check, you know, for Wow. Going solar to help pay for it. So and then you guys tax benefits too. So Yeah. The tax benefits for sure, but we, I'm gonna have to get your calendar link and get it get a I'll be I'll be I'll be a lead for you. There you go. Wolfe, dude, so tell us, you've obviously got a lot going on with multiple businesses.
I love how you said I had that solar thing, which is obviously crushing it, and that thing over there. As as a as a king in business, you know, and you got all this stuff going on. What motivates you now or what drives you at this point to try something brand new to your point, this startup, even though you've been crushing it in a totally different industry. Yeah. So that's a good question. When I say startup, you know, simple growth, it's it's been around for a few years.
Like, we started it 4 or 5 years ago, but it was kind of like a side project. You know, like, it wasn't a real viable business. You know, we just kind of started it in my buddy's garage, you know, just making it on a small scale, just selling, you know, to people we know, you know, locally or whatever. So we just kept selling out, kept selling out. We kept making more. It kept selling out.
So at a certain point, I was like, you know, this is really could have potential to to grow and grow and grow, and there really wasn't a lot of competition, like, on a big scale, in the Midwest, at least, to, you know, in but it could make tons and tons of this stuff. Yeah. But I did see a use case for, like organic farming and cannabis, organic. I don't know if you guys, you know, re re research much into organic, but, like, the industry is huge.
More people are buying organic stuff than ever before or more yeah, farms are converting over to organic never before. And especially now, it's hard to find fertilizer, you know, especially that's certified organic because in order to have an organic farm, you have to, get inputs that are USDA certified organic for, you know, organic inputs. So it's it's difficult to find that.
So with that, you know, in mind, I just thought, you know, we could ramp this thing up and scale it and really make it big. And I just I kind of enjoy, creating stuff. You know what I mean? Like Yeah. I, you know, I I like running business, you know, big businesses, but I don't necessarily that's not what excites me. You know what I mean? Like, I like the the startup phase and create a new products, creating things that solve problems. You know what I mean? So that's kinda what drives me.
And then it got to a point where we just kept getting a little bigger and bigger each year, like, basically, for the last 3 or 4 years, we've doubled our sales every year and Simple Grove without really doing anything. Like, it just kinda grew organically from search engine marketing and word-of-mouth and stuff like that.
Yeah. So I it got to a point where I was like, well, I'm gonna have to do something because this business is either gonna suffer if I if I don't focus on it or the other business is gonna suffer if I, you know, try to divide myself too much.
Yeah. So that's when, you know, I met some some guys that are experienced in running a solar company and, you know, talked about the issues with them, and we figured out a solution to where they could help me run while I come on over to Simple Grove and focus more of my time on that aspect of it. So, yeah, I just like the whole building things I saw the, you know, the big opportunity in this industry. And, that's kinda how I got to this point.
So, yeah, I think every entrepreneur, relate to you in a in a certain way, like, of of going off into an unknown and, you know, creating something of nothing that's kinda like what you're saying when you got it started. It's just like it kinda started as a side project and then and then eventually gets past side project status.
And so I think that, you know, most listeners, you know, whether they left their job and now their business is that, you know, they whether they're a contractor or a you know, they they run ads on the side for somebody. And and then eventually, they just get enough clients where it takes over what you were previously doing, which is in essence what you're saying, but you just have the experience of, you know, multiple businesses.
And so we're gonna we're gonna draw on some of that as you as we talk about some of your decisions and stuff, but I think it's really cool because you're gonna give us an insight of not only how you built already a 7 figure business, multiple 7 figure business, but then also building like, in the current process of building this next thing, which is, I think, is amazing because you're you're like me. You're you're crazy enough just to keep doing it over, like, Does I wanna do it again?
I wanna do it again. I wanna go to that hard patch of of creating systems and hiring people and, you know, all the stuff of scaling. You know what I mean? Right. Yeah. Exactly. That's the that's the fun part for me. So maybe I'm, you know, maybe we're crazy. I don't know, but that's that's what I enjoy. So Yeah. I I have been called crazy a couple of times, but if it brings me life, then that's what I'm gonna do every day, you know, just after it. You know?
So So with that being said, let's let's talk about, you know, whether it's this stage right now that you're in with Simple Grove or, you know, prior stages with with, the solar. Where did entrepreneurship start for you? I mean, I know I know you went to college, played some ball, but, like, were you already side hustling back then, or did start with how you grew up. Like, tell us how how you how you how you guys start. Yeah. So, that started when I was a kid.
The very first business venture I did was eliminate stand. I'm sure a lot of people did that, but, yeah, my my dad owned a business, and it was right on the main main strip in town. And so, like, I would be there during the day just you know, hanging out and doing whatever. And I was like, hey. I'm just gonna put a lemonade stand out here on the on the front porch. And, you know, we got a ton of traffic coming by, and people would just stop and by eliminated.
So, yeah, I made pretty pretty decent change for a, you know, little kid just out there selling lemonade cups. Yeah, man. But then I also got to you know, help my dad in his business. Like, he, what his business was was installing, like, water pumps and wells. So, like, he did that his dad did that. His dad started the business. It's been over 50 years ago. And then my dad took it over, and he did it for, like, 30 years before he retired a couple years ago.
So I would go out, you know, on service calls with him and, you know, it was physical labor. It was also, you know, some sales dealing with customers, you know, customer service, stuff like that. Yeah. So I just had that ingrained in me from the beginning and just kind of enjoyed, you know, I didn't realize that I enjoyed it at the time, you know, because I was a kid just doing stuff. But then as I got older, I, you know, figured out that's you know, what I like doing. Just something silly.
I mean, we used to play like monopoly all the time. You know, that's not a game that we played as a when I was a kid and what it's like my favorite game, and it's, you know, Chaz to do with entrepreneurship and real estate and stuff like that. So I'd say those things probably contributed a lot. I'm sure they did.
Do you do you feel like because it sounds like if you would go as a kid with your dad, then you probably had a, a relationship with your dad where at least he was pouring into you that direction. Was it was it more than that? Like, did you have this, you know, just incredible relationship with your and then he was able to pour in business mindset, or was it just being around him? Like, give us some more there. Yeah. I would say with my dad, it was we did have a good relationship.
We do have a good relationship, but it wasn't like, like, what you were describing. I'd say just being around him and just witnessing, you know, how he worked and how he did things and, like, you know, everybody knew him. Everybody loved him. You know, he's just good with people, good answering questions, good at explaining things. You know, I think I just picked up on a lot of that from absorbing it. You know what I mean? Totally.
Yeah. And I think, actually, that's probably more usually of the story, especially father to son, both men, and the the trans the transmission of information through really osmosis more than anything. Less less talking, more, more watching and, observing, like you said, which I think is incredible that you had that opportunity. And so that primed you. It got you ready thinking about. I love how you even broke it down. Sales. You had some support.
You had them physical labor, like, different pieces of the business that you got to see from a young age. Yeah. Another aspect to that didn't touch on, but, like, after I well, I went to Missouri State University and got a business degree. That was after I went to Evangio for a year. But that taught me a lot a lot about business.
And then from there, I took a job with, my I got married to my wife, Jody and her her family owned a couple of, well, I think it's up to, like, 5 different stores now in Northwest Arkansas flooring stores. Okay. It wouldn't work for them, and they taught me a ton about business just in a a lot of those lessons applied directly over to the solar installation business that I started because, you know, it had a lot of the lot of the same things. You've got installation queries.
You've got sales of product. I mean, I learned learned a lot about every aspect of that business. And, you know, I ran the installation crews there for a while. I was in sales, started out in the warehouse. I mean, I just saw how all of it worked. You know? And I already had the initial, you know, business lessons and stuff that I learned from my dad, you know, over the years, but then that taught me like a different different side of business in general, and I think Chaz it really helped a lot.
Yeah. I love how you you've done a really good job in just verbalizing the different sections of a business. And and that they they all kinda counteract, and work together, but sometimes most of the time, probably the listener right now in a six figure business, like, he or she's probably wearing mold glass, you know, and sometimes it's hard to differentiate even. They know they're wearing multiple hats, but it's hard to know. Like, okay.
I gotta take my customer service hat off, and I gotta put my sales hat on because I need to be able to make sure I charge accordingly and and then make sure I show value so that way this customer buys or whatever Chaz it is that we're interchanging. Right? Right. Exactly. Yeah. That is one thing. You have to know so many different things, you know, when starting a business. Like, you just I don't know that you can really just be an expert in one thing. You know what I mean?
Like, you gotta know a little bit about accounting and sales and marketing and, management and just you know, HR, you know, there's so many different things you have to learn. You know, I've just absorbed that and learned it over the years, I guess. So yeah. And I'm sure there's been people that been around and and, like you said, family and stuff. And so maybe we can dive into some of that with some of your decisions, but you've you've been around on for journalism for a long time.
It sounds like even at a at you know, being a young guy yourself right now. So, let's let's let's let's go to the bad decision question that I sent over to you. So I wanna know what that bad decision is, but, really, what I'm looking for here is for the listener, they've got their pen and their paper. Like, this is the kind of show that we're on. Like, their hustlers are ready to go. K? And so they're they're waiting for you to share with them something that they shouldn't do.
Like, don't don't waste your time on this. What what would that be? Yeah. So I would say probably the biggest, bad decision I made was not clearly defining a business relationship at the beginning and, like, what I wanted to get out of it. You know what I mean?
So I would encourage listeners, you know, to if you're gonna start a business or start a, you know, you know, like I say, a partnership or whatever with somebody else, make sure you clearly define what you want you know, make sure you have the terms worked out, make sure you know how you're gonna exit.
You know, like, all these things need to be figured out in advance as much as possible because if you don't figure them out, then know, maybe the other person had different ideas in mind of what they wanted out of it. You know what I mean? And it just causes animosity and friction in, and it's just not a good good situation to be in.
So I would say just spend some time to think about what you wanna do, what you wanna get out of a project or business or whatever, and then make it happen and, you know, spell it out clearly. Yeah. It's obviously unbelievable advice and that that you're getting right now Chaz a listener, but, you know, I'm starting a business. I'm excited. And Luke's telling me that I should be thinking about how it's gonna end. But I'm just getting started, Luke. What do you mean?
Like, how how do I get to that place where, right, even in my excitement, right, like, of, like, we're just getting rolling. We're gonna make all this money and da da da. But then, like, I'm thinking about how it could possibly end. What how do I get there? Yeah. So that's a good question. I would say you just have to think big. Like, think what is the best possible scenario that I I see for this business happening? You know, am I gonna Is it gonna be worth a $100,000,000 someday?
You know, is this just gonna be a project that gives me a steady paycheck, you know, for several years? And then I move on to something else. Like, what What are you expecting? What's the best thing you're expecting out of it? Then what are the, you know, steps that it's gonna take to get there? Obviously, you gotta kinda have a a game plan, a roadmap to get to that point. Sure. And then if you have other parties involved, you know, do they have the same vision as you?
Do you, you know, do they wanna, you know, make it a $100,000,000,000 company and you have a, you know, smaller vision in mind, like, you got you have to be aligned with your partners or, you know, people that are investing or whatever, you know, people that are involved. And then you just have to put it in writing and make sure that You both agree, you know, with everything and then go from there.
So it is difficult, especially when you're just getting started to think about all those things, but it's, in my opinion, it's critical just to avoid any animosity, any confusion, any roadblocks, you know, before you even get started. Well, before you get too far along, like, you could you could go ahead and start something and prove that it's a viable thing, you know, before you do all Chaz. But I would say as early as early on as possible. I would recommend it.
And and for the guy who doesn't, you know, have a partnership or considering investors or he's just out there doing his own thing. Would you say that it applies for him too to be able to sit down, think about what the best case scenario is think about a road map, all the things that you've given already? I think so.
I mean, you wouldn't necessarily have to go as detailed, but I think you know, having a a general outline of where you wanna go and where you wanna take the thing is very helpful just because it it helps guide your decisions. You know what I mean? Like, you're not gonna you know, make the wrong decision because you're not planning far enough in advance. You're not thinking big enough, that kind of thing. So I think it it does help.
Maybe not as much as if you're with multiple people, but it it definitely will help. Yeah. With the multiple people, you're, like you said, you're trying to keep away from, issues more than anything. Right? But but even with yourself, it's like, look, I mean, if I can create a plan, you know, not everything goes to plan. We know Chaz, but Sure. It's gonna guide your decisions like you said.
So, if you're taking notes right now based just a quick recap of what Luke's talking about is before you get started or at least, shortly along the way, you've got to be able to put some effort into just thinking. Like, don't don't get don't get so caught up in getting the next job or the next client. Trust me. We both are set, like, him being in solar. I know he's a sales guy. And I'm a I'm a I'm a sales guy. So at the end of the day, like, we're gonna both tell you that you need deals.
You need new clients. You need new projects as quick as possible. But just, like, for a half second, think about what the best case, think about what the worst case could be, create a plan, seems a little cheesy, a little non you know, like, Chaz, like, that's what everybody would say, but I promise you even an hour. Writing some stuff down, be well worth it. Sounds like you would agree. I would agree. Cool, man. Okay. So let's go to the good plus the the reverse.
Like, I'm just all about good decisions. My own history is just a testament of just good decision after good decision. So hit us with hit us with a good the good cream. Like, what what came? What rose to the top in your story? Yeah. So it may be, along the same lines as, you know, a a generic cheesy answer, but I think it's really critical. It's just like getting getting started with the businesses. You know what I mean?
Like, that was the hardest, most difficult thing for me, and I Chaz so much self doubt and so much fear. And, like, no, I can't do this. You know, I I shouldn't do that. You know, like, when I started the solar company specifically, like, like, I didn't even consider that as an option at first. Like, I knew all about solar, and I'd been working for another company and doing that, you know, for years. It took my friends encouraging me and being like, hey. Why don't you just do this?
Like, you don't need to do all that other stuff and, you know, make less money and all this. Like, you can do it yourself. You know? I'm like, no. That that wouldn't work, but I just had to get get over that hump. You know what I mean? And then the same thing with, with simple grow, I, like, I saw all the potential in it. Like, my friend, Dustin, he brought the idea to me and was like, hey. We should do this. And initially, I was like, no. That's that's a dumb idea. That wouldn't work.
That, nope, you can't make money with worm maneuver. You know, that's right. Anybody anybody would have already done that. You know? And so it just took some, some research and, you know, thought and, me looking into it and being like, hey. This actually could work. You know, there's a there's a market here. And then we, you know, took this this step to get going and It's just kinda gone from there.
Like, I think that is one of the hardest things in business is just believing that you can do it and then actually taking the action to do it. Like, so many people have great business ideas. You know, I I know a lot of myself that, you know, thought, hey. I should do this, but then they never actually do it.
Yeah. And then that's what separates the ones that succeed and the ones that just kinda, you know, get by and have, you know, a regular job or whatever or a failing business because they don't actually take the risk and take the chance to to get going. Yeah. How do you like, okay. I mean, I appreciate you saying all that because it's so true, but even more than that, you were super vulnerable about self doubt.
And just like that mindset of like, ah, like, sounds like a good idea, but I'm nervous. I'm scared. I hesitate. Whatever emotion you wanna insert into that sentence. So how if someone's listening Chaz going to go, my gosh. Luke, that's me, dude. Like, I'm with you on that. Like, how how did they get to that place where they just go, you know what? Wiped it out of my brain. Take action. Yeah. I mean, I think there's several several things involved.
Like, one, and I think you're gonna mention it later. It's just like, self development, like building up your own mindset, studying things that, you know, from other people that have won. Like, I read a ton of books, you know, about business and business development and just personal growth and stuff like Chaz, getting to a a certain point where you don't have that negative voice in the back of your telling you, hey. You can't do this all the time. You know what I mean?
Like, it takes a long time to get past that point. Luke, you talking about brainwashing yourself, bro? Yeah, basically. It's a lot, you know, in a good way, I guess. Yes. That's a good way. I I mean, I I joke, obviously, but but in a good way. Right? Like, get re why why would you not want the the voice inside of your head on a regular basis telling you dude, you can do that. Solar business? Sure. Right. Uh-uh. Simple pro, or maneuver. Yeah. Let's go.
Like, why would you why would you not want that voice? You know? Yeah. Exactly. Because from the time that we're, you know, little all the way, you know, up till now, it's like the world just kind of, like, beats you down by telling you you can't do things or, you know, like, people that don't wanna try. They try to pull you back to their level, and they're like, you know, I don't want you to when I'm sitting here not succeeding. You know what I mean? So it's always negativity.
So you gotta it's really rare to be able to, you know, happen to get rid of that and block it out and just forget about it. And then I would say for people just to, in general, you know, think about what the worst case scenario is if you if you started this, And is it really that bad? You know what I mean? Like, most of the time, you put so much fear and things around the worst case scenario, but you don't stop to think about what it actually would look like.
You know, you're not gonna, you know, die if your business failed. You're still gonna bounce back. You're gonna do something else. You know what I mean? Like, there's a Yeah. There's always another path and think about how many people before you have, you know, filed bankruptcy with one company, but then growing another company to 1,000,000,000 of dollar. You know what I mean?
Like, there's always another path that you could take, and I would just encourage you the the best case scenario is a lot better, if it succeeds, then the worst case scenario is bad if it fails in my opinion. So if you have everything to gain and nothing to lose. Yeah. I love that perspective. Actually, you gave 2 perspectives. So if I'm recapping for the the listener here of that, you know, just go You don't have anything to lose. Like, that was the second point there. And and you're right.
The the potential greatness or or the light at the end of the tunnel is actually brighter than you realize. The good is really good. Mhmm. But it doesn't mean that's easy. But you'll never have it unless you take that initial step. And then the other thing that you said, you're not gonna die. Like, it's not gonna kill And and it reminds me of David Goggins, you know, and he just he has this mantra about himself, obviously, but then even in his book, he just is, like, Look, dude.
I'm not gonna die. I'm like, he's put himself literally in situations where he was gonna die. And he's like, this right here, this ain't gonna kill me. And so quick quick side note here, I I I I don't do this often, but it was 2 years ago. My dad and I were in Wyoming were elk hunting. And we're, like, three and a half miles in. I just shot a beautiful bull. I'm I'm actually about to hang him on the wall, like, later this week.
Shot a beautiful bull, and we're a couple miles in, and we're quartering him up with another guy. And we're in Bear Country. So I gotta, like, hike every single £100 quarter, like, a third of the mile away, then I come back. They've cut up another one. And so I'm I'm, like, almost two miles in just carrying these hundred pound quarters just getting him away from the carcass so we don't come back to bears tomorrow, and then we hang him in a tree. It's more like 8 a half hours into this.
Wow. And we still got three miles to get back to the cabin. And so I got my forty pound pack on. I got this 100 pound Antler's head, skull cape thing, you know, that I'm just all the way out, right, three miles. And it was a couple of hours, like, probably 3 a half hours that we it took us to go that that that distance with all that weight. And, my dad was like, dude, I don't know what you're wrong. And what I was on was what you were just saying, Luke.
I literally kept telling myself every about twenty steps is I am not gonna die. Freaking. Keep going. You're not gonna die. Yeah. Bro, keep going. You're not gonna die. You're not gonna die. Yeah. So I don't know I don't know how that, you know, help somebody listening today, but you're not gonna die, dude. Like, just go. Take the risk. Take the jump. Take the action. You know, let's let's go. Yeah. I would agree.
And another thing I would add is, like, all the times I've thought, you know, worst case scenario, oh, this is gonna happen. This is gonna happen. It's never happened. You know what I mean? Like, Yeah. I've envisioned all these horrible negative, terrible things that could happen or, you know, feel like they're gonna happen, but it never actually happens. You know what I mean? You always figure out a way.
You always like, as long as you're willing to keep trying, keep going, you always figure out a way. Yeah. Yeah. There's a healthy fear there, actually, even. Like, I know you're saying, basically, don't have the fear to take action. But, really, what you're, like, the the layer underneath that is that if you have that fear, actually, you can use it to good, which is you you capture the the best case scenario. Okay. So that's my plan. Well, what's the worst case scenario?
Let me plan for that too. And then along the way, like you just said, you you said it exactly which, you know, music to my ears of just you get creative. You figure it out. You know, like, you're just not gonna roll over. You know? And so, it's so good, man. Okay. So when you're thinking about decisions in your business, obviously, we've gone over some good, some bad. Do you have, like, a process for making a decision or, like, any sort of, like, discipline that you follow around decisions?
You know, I don't have, like, a formal us, but I'll tell you what I do. So, like, if I'm if I've got a difficult decision to make, I'll just, you know, I've gotta whiteboard my this. I'll write down, you know, a few different ideas to come to mind. You know, like, here's one option. Here's another. Here's another. Here's another.
And then I'll just start to, you know, shut myself off from all the other things for a Wolfe, spend some time thinking about each one, you know, like and kind of the what we were just talking about, you know, what's the best case what source case with this one and and so on. And I'll I'll think about each one.
And then, you know, through a a series of, you know, pros and cons kind of thing, praying about it, you know, just asking god to help me, you know, make the right choice, you know, if it's it's an important thing. All those things, I always come to a decision. You know what I mean? And and then another thing is you kinda have to make a decision and not waffle. You know what I mean? Like, I'm big on just making the decision and going for it. You know what I mean?
Not well, maybe I should do this or maybe I should do this or I'll leave a, you know, escape route if I make this decision. You know what I mean? Like, just make the decision to go as much what I what I prefer. Yeah. Go. I mean, if you're gonna do it, do it. Like, go all in. Yeah. Exactly. In or out. Mhmm. I love what you said there about praying and and asking for help there.
You know, one thing, that I've been re doing recently is asking for help on the things that I don't probably need the help on. But for my own purposes of, like, posture of my heart asking for help in those places anyway. You know? Right? Yeah. And so that's a little just a little nugget for the, for the listener there. So, alright. Speed round. You ready? Yeah. Speed round, one word answers if you can, but I'm notorious for for digging in and getting more information.
So don't be surprised if I dig in further. Luke, if you could only pick 1 metric, you can only track this one thing on a spreadsheet in all of your businesses. What would it be? Cash. Cash on hand. Cash coming in. Give us give us well, you said one word. So I just, like, shorten it to cash. But I love it. Yeah. I would say, cash flow, like statement of cash flows, you know, what's coming in, what's going out. Yeah. Good. Are you making money?
Yep. Good. Good. K. And what book would you recommend to a 6 figure owner who's really trying to position themselves to go to 7? I like 48 laws of power, but I think it's Robert Green. You're familiar with that one? I am familiar with that one. Yeah. It's got so many lessons. Yeah. And and and he doesn't mind going old school. He's pretty straightforward.
Yeah. There's so many historical examples and, like, just unbelievable detail, that he goes into on things that people have done successfully and lessons they've learned. Yep. I love it. Okay. You kinda answered this a little bit earlier, but do you intentionally network or mastermind with other entrepreneurs? I have done a mastermind group before. I really loved it. I don't do one now. But I do network, like, LinkedIn as big. I make a lot of connections on there with business owners.
Yeah. Yeah. I'm part of, like, trade associations and stuff where solar go to, conferences and stuff like that. Yeah, man. It for me, just to kinda echo some of your thoughts because, you know, on LinkedIn, I think that's actually how we met. I'm pretty sure. But whether it's a podcast or whether it's a relationship to a new vendor, like, you just don't know what you don't know or who you don't know. And so putting yourself out there continuously, it sounds like, was Chaz do you do?
Yep. That's awesome, man. Okay. And so last question, if you lost it all, Luke, everything, both businesses, even your family's business. You couldn't you couldn't even run home to daddy's business or to your your mother and father-in-law. All the business that you know of that surround you is all gone tomorrow. What do you do? So I would find a product and start an ecommerce store and sell it on Amazon. Wow. Just like that. But you're not in that industry now.
And why would why would you go that much? Well, we do sell Simple Grove on Amazon. So there you go. Yep. So it's just powerful, like, the the the vast number of people buying stuff on Amazon is crazy and not just Amazon, but on online. I don't know the stats off the top of my head, but it just getting bigger and bigger every year. And just if you find a product that, you know, meshes dwell with people like the sales volume could just be Chaz.
And I think you can, you know, not happen overnight, but you could scale it. You can grow it. And I think it's just a massive opportunity right now. 100%. And so so if you're if you're a listener right now and you're interested in warm manure, You can find it on Amazon is what you're telling me. Yep. Yep. You search for worm castings, organic you know, worm castings are getting fertilizer or even the brand name. You know, there's tons of things that pull it up, but, yeah, that's awesome.
Simple grow worm castings on there. Dude, that's awesome. Alright, man. So how can someone find you? I mean, we've had we've had a great time here, but, you know, there's there's obviously more to you. And so if someone wanted to connect with you or maybe they wanna buy your your, worm castings, how how can they connect with you? Yeah. So you can go to simplegroda.com. First off, that's our website, see the products, see how about us.
You can find me on linkedin, just, you know, look up Luke Arthur. Our Facebook is simple or is facebook.com/simplegrow. We're on Instagram also. I think it's, slash simple gross soil on there. And, contact information through our website. You can email us or call us or whatever or some. Yeah. That's awesome, man. You've you've provided a ton of value here today, and I love I love your perspective.
Just obviously, from an athlete to someone who's who's grown up in in a household where your where your dad was an entrepreneur. I just think that you've given just a lot of really practical things here. Thanks for coming. Any any last thoughts for the, for the listeners, as a as a little as a little kickoff here, anything that you'd share with them as they're going about their business? Yeah. Well, thanks for having me on. I've had a good time, and I appreciate it.
For the listeners, I would say, you know, like, what I said earlier, just go for it. You know what I mean? Like, there's so many people that second guess themselves into obscurity and don't ever don't ever do it, and you only get one chance in life to do something before it's you know, the times past you buy. So if you're thinking about doing something, and you've done the research and think it's a good idea, just just try it even if it doesn't work.
Like I said, it's not gonna not gonna kill you. And you can, you know, move on to the next thing that's maybe that's what you were supposed trying to to get to you all along. You know what I mean? Yep. I love it. We might have to title this, this pod it's you're not gonna die. There you go. It's not gonna kill you. Well, dude, I appreciate you, Luke. You've been an incredible, guest here today. And so you've given us plenty to think about and take notes on.
We're gonna have to follow the simple grow trail and see, what kind of $1,000,000,000,000 business you turned that into. There you go. Appreciate it. We'll talk soon. Alright. Thanks. Thanks for listening to Gathering the Kings. We hope you got 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, I 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. What that means that we're really wanting only the entrepreneurs who take their business and targets super serious to apply. So if that's you, you think you got what it takes to level up your business. I want you to go to gatheringthekings.com and apply. And we will see you on the other side.