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Hi all.
So this year has been a ride and Im thinking about writing a progress blogg to get input but also to organise my days. Maybe I will get some good advice and maybe others can get some ideas.
This all started in june last year with my first business which was a beauty clinic where we rented a room in an existing clinic with just my partner who did treatments, turnover was about 5k a month and 1k profit. In december, I got the idea that I could sell machines to beauty clinics to others. The advantage with this was that I could buy machines from myself for the purchasing price and sell to others for retail price, at 30k for basic machines. Win-win.
Took a 3 day business trip across the world to a company that sell machines and one business lunch later, I had an agency.
In december, I made 110k in sales with 35k in profit from 3 machine sales. I put the profit info opening my own Beauty Clinic in February.
This was fantastic since I was a struggling med-student with 0 capital with alot of student debt so having this 35k was a godsend.
From february to may, the machine sales dried up due to covid and I could not get any more sales. This made me focus on the clinic and after 1 month, we where fully booked. However, it was just my partner working there and me in the reception and she made a turnover of about 15k with 10k profit / month. After 6 weeks of being opend, we had a 4 week waiting list. It increased to 6 weeks after being opend for 2 month.
Why? Because I had broken the "Entry Barrier" of CENTS. Because I could get machines for the purscasing price and lease from myself, I opend with the most advanced beauty clinic in my state. I opend a fully functioning clinic from day 1 with services that would have taken years of profit to invest in for a normal business. Most of my competitors had 1 machine, we had 4, and after a little while, I leased 2 more from myself.
This oviously led to a problem of Scale. I had all the machines that I would ever need but only 1 person working in the clinic. With a waiting list of 6 weeks, I had to hire staff. This was not easy. We had countless intreviews but no one was good enough. However, my partner rememberd a college who worked at another clinic nearby who apparently was fantastic in every way. 1 phone call away and an offer to increase her salary by 200usd, she started at our clinic the month after. I also hired a nurse part time which I knew from my time at the ICU working with the covid patients.
During this last month, the machine company got going again with a few very lucrative deals which lended a total turnover of 290k with 140k profit total. And still has 2 orders pending which if accepted by the bank will net another 60k profit and 120k in turnover. Even better, this business only cost me 500usd a month so the margin is great.
However, after the first big orders came in a month ago, I just hit a wall. From working 12-16hour a day year after year. First in medschool which I failed again and again, to getting and recovering from depression, anxeiety and burnout, to trying to pass the exam while working in the ICU with the covid patients, opening 2 businesses and making them succeed. To the removal of years of stress now that I know I can finaly pay my bills every month, buy a car and offer a good life for me and my family.
So now, since I got my employee which we have trained to be the clinic manager, I only work just a few hours a week. However, I have done almost no work for the last month, even though the money keep coming in and I am just in bed or on the couch. However, I feel the recovery time is soon up so I have made a strategy to come back on track because I think Im onto something big.
I have 1 goal which for me is very obvious:
Create a beauty Empire with advanced beauty clinics of 1000 clinics world wide, create my own machines which will accompany the clinics and create a brand of cosmetics which I sell online and in the clinics.
So I guess alot of you are asking. Why focus on the clinics and not machines? The machines has made you 140k in 8 month in profit with maybe another 60k on the way.
The answes is value. I have come to understand that value is worth more than money.
The Clinics a better business model, even though it makes less money now. If we look at CENTS, I can break every criteria. The machine company will soon reach its limit and a limit of its value. I am also passionate in building clinics and not in selling machines. I can fix the value problem with the machines by making my own brand, but I can only choose 1 business now and the clinics has way better long term potential.
Lets break down why:
Entry - Easy, I have my machines which I buy from myself at a big discount. We also break Entry by our skills and knowlage in the area. Im halfway through medschool which has helped alot with the product of the clinic. My partner has studied beauty and cosmetology for 4 years at a university so all in all. An A+ team with knowledge far superior than my competitors.
Need - Easy, every clinic I open is the most advanced beauty clinic there is with the most services and better prices than my competitors.
Scale - Open a few with direct ownership, later franchise. Scaling is unlimited because people across the world want to look nice.
Control + Time - This is the tricker part. Thankfully, I have gotten a mentor from a country owned mentor program which helps new, aspiring businesses for free (!). She owns all McDonalds in my state and has about 800 employees and countless restaurants. McDonalds is famous for having one of the best inftastructure systems in the world so we are working on copying as much as possible to apply to my clinic(s). This will in turn have good controll and time management.
I am also looking to sell the machine company because I dont like it that much and my broker has valued it to about 1 million, he also belives he has a few old clients of his who is very interested in purschasing it. Then I can turn the profit I make from selling the machine business into scaling the Clinics at super sonic speed.
I have calculated that it cost me 50k to open a clinic. It will give me a profit of about 100k-150k a year on avarage. So about 200-300% return of investment yearly.
To reach this goal I have come up with a strategy.
Short term goals:
Mental and physical health.
Mental and physical
Business goals
1 Business can be a lot of work, 2 is overwhelming at times.
I have learnt that a business can be alot of work but not in the way people normally think. There is always some small thing that needs to be done, from paying bills, closing deals, buying toilet paper, fix the heating to daily work. It is not the total time that is overwhelming, it is just that there are so many small decition/tasks that you have to do. And especially for me who is a new entrepreneur, it has been tough to keep up and I forget things at times. I have however found that the solution is to write everything down on a list.
Luckely, theese two business was very, very similar and ultra synergistic. However, I would never dream of opening 2 business at the same time that is not super compatible, if that.
Get a suit.
From what I have experienced, I really do believe everything became possible because from thefirst day I started the journey into fastlane, I have always had a suit on. From meeting with the bank, leasing companies, consultants, customers etc. The power of the suit should not be underestimated. Just from negotiation, I have probably saved 10-20k. People treat you better if you wear a suit and in turn, lower their prices, give better deals etc. However, you need to get a few things for it to work:
This has helped alot. I meet my mentor 1 time every month and alot of the time, it is not very productive. No one will give you a ready blueprint which you can follow. However, she has told me a few ideas that can probably be summarised by 2 sentences which has changed the way I see how to do business on a larger scale
Consultants will probably suck
I have met so many consultants that does not live up to my expectations. Most of the time, they do a job, I am not happy and I learn their skill and do a better job. Then I have to teach them how to do their job. The solution to this I have learnt is to do a thourough background check before you hire them. See earlier work etc.
Always negotiate
If you get a price, that is not the price you will pay. You can lower it by 10-20%, every time. Remember the suit? Get one.
Marketing is important
Marketing is super important. I am fully booked in part of my marketing strategy. Understand SEO and have a consultant do it for you or learn it yourself and save cash.
If starting a business, learn webdesign, photoshop or Fiverr.
Paying someone to build a website for you can be expensive. Learn it yourself, it will probably be better anyway. Learn photoshop too.
If not. Fiverr.com is great for content.
If you break Entry in CENTS, you will become rich.
If you are able to break the Entry in CENTS, you have a business worthy of pursuing. like, how difficult is it for your competitors? Can you make it easier/cheaper for yourself. You very may be on your way to something big.
There might be 2 ways of thinking, try to find what works for you.
I have been thinking about business psychology during theese last months and I believe that there are people that think "wide" and people who think "tall".
Wide is people who want to do magnitude, find a decent product and then scale it, opening many but smaller things. Example Howard Schulz of Starbucks. Not nececary the best product but many of it. Because of amount of mass in the businesses, he can scale exponentially and cut prices and streamline the process.
Tall is people that want to focus on the one product. Example MJ DeMarco with his online taxi site. 1 but better product.
If I where to give advice, I would try to first understand if you are a "Wide" or a "Tall" thinker.
I am a "Wide" thinker. I want to open wide and more clinics. My partner is a "Tall" thinker, she just want to improve the clinic(s).
If you are trying to find a business idea, this might give some insight.
Be the stupidest person in the room all the time every time.
Always ask questions. Try to learn. Dont be afraid to let people explain things. Doing so will teach you so much.
Business is not for everyone and not everyone is for business
This is something I have really noticed. I have met alot of entrepreneurs this year but a majority does not understand business. You need to have a certain grasp on how things work and I believe you cant learn it in a book or in a class. It is something that has to be figured out and not everyone does. No shame in that and people is destined for various things. I for example is not destined to become a doctor, no shame in that. Tried and failed. But life has showed another path.
Its a fun ride and you dont know where you end up
When I was younger, I was 5 years in the military as a combat and demolition diver among other things. Later worked abit as a bartender/DJ, went to Med School to become a doctor, failed and now my priorities is what colour of womans nail-polish we will use. Life can be interesting and if you are on one path today, it can lead to another tommorow. Just adapt and enjoy the ride.
So this year has been a ride and Im thinking about writing a progress blogg to get input but also to organise my days. Maybe I will get some good advice and maybe others can get some ideas.
This all started in june last year with my first business which was a beauty clinic where we rented a room in an existing clinic with just my partner who did treatments, turnover was about 5k a month and 1k profit. In december, I got the idea that I could sell machines to beauty clinics to others. The advantage with this was that I could buy machines from myself for the purchasing price and sell to others for retail price, at 30k for basic machines. Win-win.
Took a 3 day business trip across the world to a company that sell machines and one business lunch later, I had an agency.
In december, I made 110k in sales with 35k in profit from 3 machine sales. I put the profit info opening my own Beauty Clinic in February.
This was fantastic since I was a struggling med-student with 0 capital with alot of student debt so having this 35k was a godsend.
From february to may, the machine sales dried up due to covid and I could not get any more sales. This made me focus on the clinic and after 1 month, we where fully booked. However, it was just my partner working there and me in the reception and she made a turnover of about 15k with 10k profit / month. After 6 weeks of being opend, we had a 4 week waiting list. It increased to 6 weeks after being opend for 2 month.
Why? Because I had broken the "Entry Barrier" of CENTS. Because I could get machines for the purscasing price and lease from myself, I opend with the most advanced beauty clinic in my state. I opend a fully functioning clinic from day 1 with services that would have taken years of profit to invest in for a normal business. Most of my competitors had 1 machine, we had 4, and after a little while, I leased 2 more from myself.
This oviously led to a problem of Scale. I had all the machines that I would ever need but only 1 person working in the clinic. With a waiting list of 6 weeks, I had to hire staff. This was not easy. We had countless intreviews but no one was good enough. However, my partner rememberd a college who worked at another clinic nearby who apparently was fantastic in every way. 1 phone call away and an offer to increase her salary by 200usd, she started at our clinic the month after. I also hired a nurse part time which I knew from my time at the ICU working with the covid patients.
During this last month, the machine company got going again with a few very lucrative deals which lended a total turnover of 290k with 140k profit total. And still has 2 orders pending which if accepted by the bank will net another 60k profit and 120k in turnover. Even better, this business only cost me 500usd a month so the margin is great.
However, after the first big orders came in a month ago, I just hit a wall. From working 12-16hour a day year after year. First in medschool which I failed again and again, to getting and recovering from depression, anxeiety and burnout, to trying to pass the exam while working in the ICU with the covid patients, opening 2 businesses and making them succeed. To the removal of years of stress now that I know I can finaly pay my bills every month, buy a car and offer a good life for me and my family.
So now, since I got my employee which we have trained to be the clinic manager, I only work just a few hours a week. However, I have done almost no work for the last month, even though the money keep coming in and I am just in bed or on the couch. However, I feel the recovery time is soon up so I have made a strategy to come back on track because I think Im onto something big.
I have 1 goal which for me is very obvious:
Create a beauty Empire with advanced beauty clinics of 1000 clinics world wide, create my own machines which will accompany the clinics and create a brand of cosmetics which I sell online and in the clinics.
So I guess alot of you are asking. Why focus on the clinics and not machines? The machines has made you 140k in 8 month in profit with maybe another 60k on the way.
The answes is value. I have come to understand that value is worth more than money.
The Clinics a better business model, even though it makes less money now. If we look at CENTS, I can break every criteria. The machine company will soon reach its limit and a limit of its value. I am also passionate in building clinics and not in selling machines. I can fix the value problem with the machines by making my own brand, but I can only choose 1 business now and the clinics has way better long term potential.
Lets break down why:
Entry - Easy, I have my machines which I buy from myself at a big discount. We also break Entry by our skills and knowlage in the area. Im halfway through medschool which has helped alot with the product of the clinic. My partner has studied beauty and cosmetology for 4 years at a university so all in all. An A+ team with knowledge far superior than my competitors.
Need - Easy, every clinic I open is the most advanced beauty clinic there is with the most services and better prices than my competitors.
Scale - Open a few with direct ownership, later franchise. Scaling is unlimited because people across the world want to look nice.
Control + Time - This is the tricker part. Thankfully, I have gotten a mentor from a country owned mentor program which helps new, aspiring businesses for free (!). She owns all McDonalds in my state and has about 800 employees and countless restaurants. McDonalds is famous for having one of the best inftastructure systems in the world so we are working on copying as much as possible to apply to my clinic(s). This will in turn have good controll and time management.
I am also looking to sell the machine company because I dont like it that much and my broker has valued it to about 1 million, he also belives he has a few old clients of his who is very interested in purschasing it. Then I can turn the profit I make from selling the machine business into scaling the Clinics at super sonic speed.
I have calculated that it cost me 50k to open a clinic. It will give me a profit of about 100k-150k a year on avarage. So about 200-300% return of investment yearly.
To reach this goal I have come up with a strategy.
Short term goals:
Mental and physical health.
- Start excercising again on monday (was very active before with both martial arts and gym)
- Wake up 07:00 every day, starting monday.
- No alcohol for 1 week
- No sugar for 1 week
- Pick up Unscribted
- Change logos on my clinic because I am building a brand and copywriting the name. Hence I have to change the branding.
- Have training with my mechanics on some new machines to offer service and repairs for my customers.
Start a marketing campaign for my machine company- Improve my clinic website
- Correct mail adress to my clinic and machine company
- Fix the phone rederection line to my mechanics
- Control parent leave for employee
- Double check AC bill
- Check the possibility to make a webshop for my machine website to sell small items
- Create a graphic profile for the clinic site
- Create an instagram and facebook page for the machine company
- Get my bookkeeping in order
Mental and physical
- Excercise minimun 3 days/week
- No dopamine stimulants (Alcohol, sugar, porn etc.) for 1 month
- Finish the book
- Eat clean for 1 month
- Close the current deals for the machine company
- Create a webshop for the machine company if it is doable/profitable
- Sign the deal for the 2'nd clinic
- Find employees for the 2nd clinic
- Market the 2nd clinic
- Have a healthy, active but balanced lifestyle
- Increase my private and my business network and make new friends and colleges
Business goals
- Sell the machine company
- Open 3+ other clinics, then franschise
- Open a cosmetic company
- Open a company that develop machines from scratch and brand it.
1 Business can be a lot of work, 2 is overwhelming at times.
I have learnt that a business can be alot of work but not in the way people normally think. There is always some small thing that needs to be done, from paying bills, closing deals, buying toilet paper, fix the heating to daily work. It is not the total time that is overwhelming, it is just that there are so many small decition/tasks that you have to do. And especially for me who is a new entrepreneur, it has been tough to keep up and I forget things at times. I have however found that the solution is to write everything down on a list.
Luckely, theese two business was very, very similar and ultra synergistic. However, I would never dream of opening 2 business at the same time that is not super compatible, if that.
Get a suit.
From what I have experienced, I really do believe everything became possible because from thefirst day I started the journey into fastlane, I have always had a suit on. From meeting with the bank, leasing companies, consultants, customers etc. The power of the suit should not be underestimated. Just from negotiation, I have probably saved 10-20k. People treat you better if you wear a suit and in turn, lower their prices, give better deals etc. However, you need to get a few things for it to work:
- Charcoal suit if you are young, Navy if you are old. It till make you look older/younger
- Black or brown leather shoes
- Matching leather belt
- White or light blue dress shirt
- Some tie
- Pocket square that has some of the colour of the tie, shirt, suit or leather
- Suit has to be 100% wool
- You have to tailor you suit
- The brand is not important, you can get it second hand. As long as fits 100%, and then, you take it to the tailor to make it fit 110%
- Get a dress watch
This has helped alot. I meet my mentor 1 time every month and alot of the time, it is not very productive. No one will give you a ready blueprint which you can follow. However, she has told me a few ideas that can probably be summarised by 2 sentences which has changed the way I see how to do business on a larger scale
Consultants will probably suck
I have met so many consultants that does not live up to my expectations. Most of the time, they do a job, I am not happy and I learn their skill and do a better job. Then I have to teach them how to do their job. The solution to this I have learnt is to do a thourough background check before you hire them. See earlier work etc.
Always negotiate
If you get a price, that is not the price you will pay. You can lower it by 10-20%, every time. Remember the suit? Get one.
Marketing is important
Marketing is super important. I am fully booked in part of my marketing strategy. Understand SEO and have a consultant do it for you or learn it yourself and save cash.
If starting a business, learn webdesign, photoshop or Fiverr.
Paying someone to build a website for you can be expensive. Learn it yourself, it will probably be better anyway. Learn photoshop too.
If not. Fiverr.com is great for content.
If you break Entry in CENTS, you will become rich.
If you are able to break the Entry in CENTS, you have a business worthy of pursuing. like, how difficult is it for your competitors? Can you make it easier/cheaper for yourself. You very may be on your way to something big.
There might be 2 ways of thinking, try to find what works for you.
I have been thinking about business psychology during theese last months and I believe that there are people that think "wide" and people who think "tall".
Wide is people who want to do magnitude, find a decent product and then scale it, opening many but smaller things. Example Howard Schulz of Starbucks. Not nececary the best product but many of it. Because of amount of mass in the businesses, he can scale exponentially and cut prices and streamline the process.
Tall is people that want to focus on the one product. Example MJ DeMarco with his online taxi site. 1 but better product.
If I where to give advice, I would try to first understand if you are a "Wide" or a "Tall" thinker.
I am a "Wide" thinker. I want to open wide and more clinics. My partner is a "Tall" thinker, she just want to improve the clinic(s).
If you are trying to find a business idea, this might give some insight.
Be the stupidest person in the room all the time every time.
Always ask questions. Try to learn. Dont be afraid to let people explain things. Doing so will teach you so much.
Business is not for everyone and not everyone is for business
This is something I have really noticed. I have met alot of entrepreneurs this year but a majority does not understand business. You need to have a certain grasp on how things work and I believe you cant learn it in a book or in a class. It is something that has to be figured out and not everyone does. No shame in that and people is destined for various things. I for example is not destined to become a doctor, no shame in that. Tried and failed. But life has showed another path.
Its a fun ride and you dont know where you end up
When I was younger, I was 5 years in the military as a combat and demolition diver among other things. Later worked abit as a bartender/DJ, went to Med School to become a doctor, failed and now my priorities is what colour of womans nail-polish we will use. Life can be interesting and if you are on one path today, it can lead to another tommorow. Just adapt and enjoy the ride.
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