One of the things I have done consistently in my business and the last twenty years is I have always had a mastermind group. And so, I have always had buddies. These are people who are either at the same level as me or maybe one or two notches ahead of me in business. We meet regularly to support each other and to learn and grow from each other. It's a bit like Devin, you've done this. What did you do when you were faced with this challenge? Oh well, Lindsay, I did blah blah blah. So You can alw...
Jul 14, 2021•29 min•Ep. 262
I'll advise that person to set really high standards for their team and keep it consistent. It's not the product that matters cause businesses and startups change their products and business model a lot and they experiment with that. But having a great team is key to success.
Jul 13, 2021•24 min•Ep. 261
Rely on other people. Figure out what you are putting into your brain that is going to create the actions you are going to break. Surround yourself with good counsel. With people that you trust. With people that will give you good information. People who are not looking to try and profit from you, but people who are really looking who will build you up and support you. You need a village to make a business. You need individuals and, you have to rely on other people to help you. It's not a weakne...
Jul 12, 2021•30 min•Ep. 260
Just go out and do it with as minimum investment, both monetary and time, as possible. I think a lot of new entrepreneurs that I see are infatuated with starting the next Facebook. To do that, what they do is they build out this huge idea with all these different layers that they don't know anything about actually doing. But it all sounds great to them so, they pitch that to people. And people maybe like it, maybe don't but tell them it's cool. Then they go out and try to raise money and put tog...
Jul 10, 2021•27 min•Ep. 259
Stick with it. I mean, it is a two to four to five-year process. First of all, I would say today is the day to start a business. Tomorrow is not as good as today. The reason being; I know everybody stuff on their plate but, the older you get, the more responsibilities you have. You have a wife. You have kids. You have all these new responsibilities that are going to make it harder and harder to start a business. Thankfully I started the last company when I did not have a wife and kids. It allowe...
Jul 09, 2021•42 min•Ep. 258
Take a deep breath, sit back, and think about your brand. Think about your product. Are you communicating the way you think you are communicating? You may be thinking you are doing everything a hundred percent. Or even if you are a start-up, and you are trying to figure things out. Take that same deep breath, think about your business. Think about your brand. Are you communicating or, have you created a message that resonates? If you are not sure or, even if you are sure. Or maybe it's a refresh...
Jul 08, 2021•28 min•Ep. 39
Try to get something out as quickly as possible, even if you don't focus on getting the right pricing right out of the race; that's fine. What you want with an idea is you want to understand. are people going to pay for it? And are you solving a real problem? It's very hard for people to project themselves with something that you say. Try to give them something tangible. I would say get it out as quickly as possible.
Jul 07, 2021•22 min•Ep. 257
Really research your market and craft because a lot of times I think we see someone that is successful and, we want that success. But we don't do our due diligence to research. Can I really do this? One of the things I really love to ask people is, would you do it if you had to do it for free? A lot of times people don't realize when you're an entrepreneur the money does not immediately come. Then it's feast or famine a lot of times. Sometimes you are really making money, and sometimes your not....
Jul 06, 2021•29 min•Ep. 256
Follow the structure of things because you do need the systems and processes and everything else. But don't be afraid to go in your own direction with things. I actually saw someone who posted on an entrepreneur board of I am just too nice; how do I learn to be that bolder, stronger, meaner type of boss or employee? The first thing and, no one ever responded when I commented this but, I said you don't have to. You can be super nice. When I have somebody who screws up, I might be upset, and I ste...
Jul 05, 2021•23 min•Ep. 255
It's finding a balance between confidence and humility. You need supreme confidence in your idea and your unique ability to make this idea a reality whether is a product or service or whatever. At the same time, you need humility to know not only what you don't know. I knew I am not good at marketing and sales. I need to also recognize there is other stuff I don't even know I don't know having the humility to bring that on but balancing when I bring in a third party to get advice balancing that ...
Jul 03, 2021•30 min•Ep. 254
Don't be a control freak and give up control earlier. Not give up control as in I have seen people who go: oh, I am going to employ somebody who is an expert and just let them do it, no, that is not what I mean. I mean, any entrepreneur starting a business does everything. We stand at the front of the copier and make the copies. We make the coffee, etc. We tend to do all of that. The key to being successful is doing what you do best which generally is entrepreneurs generating business.
Jul 02, 2021•33 min•Ep. 253
What the research shows is that diversity of start-up teams is super important. Start-up teams with a single member with hyperactive-impulsive ADHD outperform. Start-up teams with two members with hyperactive-impulsive ADHD tend to suffer, and they don't perform so well. You probably have examples in your own experience where you see that dynamic play out. So if you are on a team like that, it's really important to realize that yes, even though I am the founder and CEO, you are very influential ...
Jul 01, 2021•26 min•Ep. 38
Being open to wearing many hats and being creative and not thinking of it. It's a very different mindset. Working for a larger company, even coming from GM, honestly moved too slow for me. I loved what we were doing but, it probably would have taken five years to do what we're going to accomplish in one year. I think you have to be ready for that coming to a start-up. Even if you have come from a big company or even smaller companies, just be open to change. Chaos happens; it's normal but, be pr...
Jun 30, 2021•30 min•Ep. 252
Make sure you are scratching an itch that you are actually interested in and not just chasing something. It's really competitive out there. It's hard enough to start a business, so try and find a place where you are going to provide some sort of unique value.
Jun 29, 2021•21 min•Ep. 251
Obsess over your customers in ways that you really understand their job to be done. And here I reference the Clayton Christensen model of; what are people actually looking to hire somebody or something for?
Jun 28, 2021•40 min•Ep. 250
Start do and go for it. People are very I would stay informationally driven. They are reading, and writing blogs, watching videos but, they never are action takers. I would rather people go for it and learn from their mistakes. At least you won't live with regret.
Jun 26, 2021•30 min•Ep. 249
So I really think the idea is to understand your financials more than anything. I think that is going to be the key. When you start talking to people who are going to want to back you, they are going to want to know that you know what you are talking about. It's great to know your idea. It's great that you have a passion for your idea but, if you don't understand the long-term effects of what you're doing. If you don't understand the business that you are in. If you don't understand those basic ...
Jun 25, 2021•24 min•Ep. 248
Number one is to pick up the phone and have a consultation with an attorney. Most attorneys, including my firm, probably yours too, will have an initial consultation of a certain duration at no cost to the client. To kinda walk them through and ask the right questions and see if a further consultation or services and warrant. A lot of people have the I can do it myself mentality and, that's good up to a point when you actually figure out you don't know what you don't know. I tell everybody if yo...
Jun 24, 2021•34 min•Ep. 37
Don't give up. No matter how hard it gets and how many lows you have, just get back up, ignore everyone else and keep going. Do not give up ever. No matter what, don't give up.
Jun 23, 2021•23 min•Ep. 247
For me and, I think for most people is understanding who you are, understanding your personality. Understanding what type of things you are going to fit well with. Some people just grind through it. It does not matter what it is they; are just going to outwork and fix it that way. And for me that is torture. I can't imagine just pushing. I don't enjoy that. I am much more of the work smarter, not harder mindset. So really understanding who you are and what fits you well.
Jun 22, 2021•29 min•Ep. 246
People have million-dollar ideas every day. If you don't have the experience, or networking, or the know-how to get it started and up off the ground or maybe even motivation. There are so many times that people have these million-dollar ideas that, I think, it's really valuable to write those down. Then maybe nine months later when your friend texts you and says: hey there are desks for sale or whatever it might be, you can get those off the ground and get running. I think there is a lot of valu...
Jun 21, 2021•26 min•Ep. 245
Commit. Commit to what your goals are. Commit to what your visions are. Then find the right partners. Find your right co-founder. Find the right resources because it is very hard to build something alone compared to with a team. I think the chances of success and the timeline gets much shorter when you have a co-founder and a team that complements the skills that you have. That is the number one piece of advice I would give.
Jun 19, 2021•22 min•Ep. 244
Just listening really well. We have an internal rule that if you hear something three times from three different people, three different conversations should peak your interest cause now that not just someone's wants or desire. That might actually become an industry-wide need.
Jun 18, 2021•31 min•Ep. 243
My team and I recently discovered, as a few months ago, called Notion.so. If you are looking for a creative, quick way to store and capture your processes, look into that tool. It is basically a wiki that, unlike Dropbox or google drive. Yes, you can document all of these things. But what I find is you are using some of these platforms, even SharePoint or again google drive, Evernote, tools like that. They're great because it is stored in the cloud. Notion is also a cloud-based app but, it gives...
Jun 17, 2021•26 min•Ep. 36
Be sure of yourself and reframe your thinking to where it's not trial and error but, it's trial and inevitable success. Once you have your focus on what you are doing and your goal for your business or start-up, that conviction will allow you to see whatever error or mistake you make along the road as a lesson to be learned towards that inevitable success. If I was speaking to someone I would let them know that everything is trial and inevitable success. There are no errors or mistakes, only les...
Jun 16, 2021•22 min•Ep. 242
Get out of your way. When I get out of my way and, I actually open myself up. I have a business coach we use now. I actually open myself up to allowing someone else to give me some advice and say; hey Sandra this is right. We really need to go down this route, hold back from this, do this. It really opens me up for great things to happen. That's really what has been happening for us now with Tidy Spaces. When I get out of the way, all these things start to happen. It's unbelievable.
Jun 15, 2021•36 min•Ep. 241
Do all of your research up front. You can't do all of your research up front. You are always learning new things every single day. But, do your homework. No idea is had in a vacuum. If you have an idea, make sure you look at the lay of the land. Look at all the competition that exists out there. Make a spreadsheet even. Get out your whiteboard and look at all the ways that your business is different from their businesses. Use that difference at the end to shine or design a marketing strategy aro...
Jun 14, 2021•31 min•Ep. 240
Try to control the expenses and don't spend on things that are not beneficial and stand on the ground. Don't look at the unicorns and all this. Now yes this is the target but, stand on the ground. This was a mistake that I did and so much was spent was acting as a startup concept that you read about every day and spend a lot based on that but at the end of the day it comes by steps.
Jun 12, 2021•19 min•Ep. 239
Ask for help. It's something that took me a while because I have a lot of pride and think I can teach myself anything, which might be true but, it might take years, and that's not very smart. Every time I have asked for help, it's always led towards more progress. And faster than I would be able to do on my own. And most people want to help you succeed.
Jun 11, 2021•29 min•Ep. 238
And so I think on the lower side, on the block and tackle side, make sure you have your information in excel format or Quick Books so that you can manipulate your information and get it clean. Then on the other side, make sure you have someone to talk to. Whether it's someone like us or whether it's an investor or advisor to talk you through things like profitability and questions that you will need to answer to the taxman but also to future investors.
Jun 10, 2021•30 min•Ep. 35
