Creating value, right where I'm at

[Strategery]

Tl;dr: I’ve been doing stuff to add value to my family’s business, whether it becomes mine or not. Had a bad attitude towards it, but the forum helped me change my mind for the positive.

I had a really unexpected wake-up call on the forum a while back. I was, in my head, asking a simple question about what I should be focused on… which direction I should go with my current job and my family’s business. What happened was the forum revealed to me that I was turning my back on what I had considered to be some core values. I wrestled with some of the comments for a while, hoping to trick myself into thinking I was in the right, but ultimately my values told my ego to stfu.

This is my attempt to pay back or pay forward the advice that was given to me. I want to show that I am in fact grateful for everyone who took the time to help me. I guess this is technically a progress thread, but I F*cking hate that term… if you wanted to be nosey you could see that I have a few “progress threads” that kind of just died after the first few posts. Mostly action-faking nonsense. So I’m going to do this one a little differently, true Costanza style.

I’ll compose these offline, mostly so that I can stack up a few ahead of time so I won’t feel compelled to write a bunch of bullshit just to keep up appearances. It’ll also give me more time to edit the posts and hopefully provide value to some folks. Because that’s really why I’m here, to provide value, and learn from those who provide tons of value.

With that in mind, I’ll start this first post with some advice that a forum member recently gave me, and a little story about how I started to implement that advice.

Volodya’s advice: Whatever you’ve been doing hasn’t worked. You need to do 10 times what you’re doing now.

I work in scrap metal recycling for my family. Me, my dad, my brother, and my sister. I’m the youngest of four. Being the youngest, I suppose growing up some of the pressure to run the family business was skipped over me, as most of that burden fell directly on the shoulders of my brother. I hated working in recycling. Still do to some degree. It’s dirty, smelly, and dangerous. I’ve broken fingers and sustained concussions doing my daily job. OSHA compliance didn’t really exist at most junk yards when I was younger. Unless an OSHA rep (or anyone in a suit really) stopped by, and then it became “Hardhat Day.” Even office workers would wear a hard hat and high-vis jacket on those visits, just to be thorough lol…

I spent a lot of time in school. Like, a lot. I have a very useless degree in Athletic Training, and then decided I wanted to pursue medical school, then computer science, and later engineering. I never got to any of those careers, because the junkyard always paid me more. I could kill it in class, sure, but I never committed to getting off the ground with something. Recycling was the nail I just couldn’t stop laying on. I’d come back for a while only to see some shiny object in the form of a prestigious job title or potential high-paying salary.

Whatever you’ve been doing hasn’t worked.

Anywho, eventually I found a rabbit hole of entrepreneurship stuff that lead me to MJ’s books and the desire to just be free of normal jobs that would never allow me to follow my passions. So I started on the FLF. Went to Summit. Started a web design biz (for the worst F*cking reasons). Quit my job at the junkyard. Went to another conference where I spoke about fitness (long-time passion). Started an online barbell coaching biz. Stayed in Mexico with the intent to live there. Had my heart broken, followed by my bank account. Came back with my tail firmly between my legs.

For some reason, things felt different this go around. My dad had a fair amount of respect for me. Employees started coming to me for help or advice. People wanted to know what I thought. Things would be going well at work and I would take on new projects. But then something would piss me off that my dad said to me… some snide, underhanded comment about the way I did something. Parents truly have a special talent to undo any maturity you’ve attained and can push buttons that you didn’t remember you had. Why he does this, on a regular basis, I stopped really caring about a while back. But anywho after an argument, I’d start money-chasing again. I’d have 20 stupid F*cking ideas about a business (maybe some were decent) and I’d do precisely F*ck all with them. I would work myself into an internet frenzy on the weekend, accomplish nothing and then very deflatedly drag my a$$ back into work on Monday.

You need to do 10 times what you’re currently doing.

Money-chasing describes what I was doing very well. But more so, I was hiding. Hiding from the work. I’d been doing it my whole life, not just working for my dad. I could always find a justification for why working for him was such a waste of my time.

I could really change things if he would just get out of my way!

He does things so backward!

I’d be better off on my own, then I’d really show that dumbass how to run a business!

So it would go, and I would half-a$$ my work some more. I would accomplish nothing, not for myself, or anyone else.


Eventually, I decided to come back to the FLF and ask for some advice. And then @Antifragile hit me with the above quote. Nothing I’d done before had worked. Not to make me Fastlane, nor have any freedom of any kind. I was unhappy and unfulfilled, ignoring the successful businessman in front of me and all the value that he’d created.

I needed to do 10 times what I was currently doing. This one I struggled with for a while, no joke. I just didn’t get it.

Why work hard at something I want no part of? That’s just a waste of time!

The rationalization for actually getting in and doing the work came indirectly from, again, something Volodya said. He was talking about FTE’s, a subject that always baffled me. I never really had one, so I’ve always been worried that I didn’t have the appropriate amount of adversity to be successful. But I see it two ways now. First, I don’t think an FTE comes from laying uncomfortably on a nail like the dog at the convenience store. If you have a cushy job (or one that allows you to have a cushy life outside of work), you aren’t very likely to have an FTE. In my case, I may indeed work a very physically demanding job, but on the weekends I am very good at pampering myself and being comfortable as shit. Of course my ego rationalizes every dollar wasted on watches, expensive meals, drinks, or whatever bullshit I feel like I “deserve” because I “worked hard.” I am very efficient at leaving work behind on the weekends. So, to have an FTE, I calculate that I need to work harder at what’s right in front of me. I can fight the good fight for my employees, I can provide value for the business, and I can be under-appreciated and disrespected enough to maybe manufacture an FTE… Ok, not manufacture, but if I really put everything I’ve got and then some more into my job, I won’t just be providing value for the company, but also for myself.

The other way I see it, an FTE is simply a very real catalyst that sparks change. MJ’s was a miserable night stuck in a limo in Chicago, which probably resonates with a lot of people who are attracted to FLF. While I can sympathize, I just can’t empathize. I’ve never had to experience something like that, thank God. But what I can do is DECIDE that I’m not going to let my ego shield me from opportunity anymore. I can DECIDE to stop hiding from the work. I can DECIDE to do 10 times more than what I’m currently doing. Horrible experience or not, if I decide to change, and follow through with it, then I’ve had my FTE, or the equivalent of it. If I’m wrong in my thinking MJ, please rip me a new one. Either way, I’m not going to let it stop me from taking action. Oh yeah, speaking of action…

What I’m doing

I sat down a while back with my girlfriend and we first focused on me, my abilities, my strengths, my weaknesses, what I’d done for the company, me me me. We got it out of the way and she took notes the whole time, which basically amounted to one pretty decent looking resume in case, as she put it, I decided to just say F*ck it and work somewhere else. After some contemplation I started working on a list on my own, which focused only on the junkyard, and what needed to happen to it in order for it to become a $100,000,000 business. I was a little disheartened when I finished the list. I couldn’t really do any of those things, my dad nor my brother would ever go for my ideas, even if the ideas came straight from more successful business people. Then I remembered Jocko talking about leading from the middle…

I can’t do all the things the company needs… yet. But I can do some things that would provide a ton of value. So I started making another list. This time it was things that I could change, regardless of ownership status. After completing the first iteration of this list, I felt clear. I felt focused. I could breathe. The obstacle is the way, and I had finally identified the obstacle. Now I’m nowhere near where I want to be in terms of a focused plan of action, but I definitely have enough to get started, and I have. I will not post my list here, as I fear my ego will try to convince me that I’ve “accomplished” things because they got likes. I will only post what I’ve done after the fact, not what I plan to do. So here’s what I’ve done:

We currently pay customers with handwritten checks, after calculating what they’ve sold, also by hand. It is a mind-numbingly slow, antiquated process that desperately needs change. Buy-side software exists for junk yards. On my own, with no one telling me what to do, I researched what we needed and set up a call with a company so they could go through their schpeel and help to convince the bottom line, aka Dad. He was miraculously convinced. The problem now? The software required high-speed internet, which we didn’t have. In fact, we still have DSL. And it was buried without conduit, so every time it rains the internet and phone go out. So to get high-speed internet, conduit had to be laid from the nearest pole to the building. So I rented a mini excavator, bought some conduit after consulting with a tech and the internet, and went to work. Came in early for a week straight so no one would bother me, got it done. Something weird happened that week when I was voluntarily working more… I enjoyed it. I loved working towards a goal. Now I’m still waiting for the internet company to finish the install, and I’m having to harass them every day, but I still feel like I accomplished something by getting the conduit in, buried, and a pull string installed (with a vacuum cleaner, it was kind of cool). Why didn’t I just hire someone to do it? Well, I don’t really have that authority. And Dad doesn’t like spending money on things. So I just did it myself. Not very Fastlane, but it’s working toward building a Fastlane company, maybe even for me.

The other problem I’ve been focusing on, mostly in my spare time outside of work has been hiring. We suck at recruitment and retention. My theory: we just don’t pay enough to compete with local factories that offer lots of benefits. No successes here really other than a few new folks, but it’s something I’m actively working on, and am very open to suggestions.

There are other various engineering/machine-focused projects that I’ve been working on as well, much harder than I have in times passed. I’ve still not really nailed down exactly which direction to go, but I feel a whole lot better providing value on a daily basis.

This is long-winded as hell, I’ll just call this the end of post 1. Hopefully the rest will be a little shorter, just felt like some background was needed. Eventually I’ll talk about some goals I have for the company, but in another post. I'll also talk about how other forum member's advice has influenced my recent actions.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[BizyDad]

Congrats on coming to terms with your life, making tough decisions about what matters to you, and taking actions to improve the current state of affairs.

 

[Antifragile]

He was miraculously convinced. The problem now? The software required high-speed internet, which we didn’t have. In fact, we still have DSL. And it was buried without conduit, so every time it rains the internet and phone go out. So to get high-speed internet, conduit had to be laid from the nearest pole to the building. So I rented a mini excavator, bought some conduit after consulting with a tech and the internet, and went to work. Came in early for a week straight so no one would bother me, got it done. Something weird happened that week when I was voluntarily working more… I enjoyed it. I loved working towards a goal.

That’s the biggest “secret”, which is obviously no secret at all as everybody has access to this knowledge. The “secret” is that when you work towards a worthy goal or ideal, the world “conspires” to help you. Your dad “miraculously convinced” is just a byproduct of you doing something worthy.

Now, why is this relevant to a business? Because it’s the essence of entrepreneurship. You do something that is good, your customers then buy it because they value your product more than their money. They are “miraculously convinced” to give you money!

And another byproduct is that its quite enjoyable. So I am thrilled to read that you enjoyed it. That you loved working towards a goal.

We are all here for you brother to help you climb up and achieve your wildest dreams. Keep it up and we’ll see you at the top.

 

[Antifragile]

Allow me to add a few more things. This post got me thinking for a few reasons:

1. I am pleasantly surprised that one phone call with you @Strategery had such a profound impact. That you took my words to heart and then acted on them! I am really happy for you.
2. Some of the readers will be confused by the advice I gave. I imagine someone reading "Do 10x of something you don't want to do" and reacting with a WTF moment.

Years ago my wife went to a fancy spa at the most luxurious hotel in our city, her B-Day gift. She met this couple who lived the life we couldn't imagine possible. They were staying at the hotel for a few months during the summer because it's beautiful here. They were retired and money was no object, they could afford to live a dream life. Think spa every single day, walks at Stanley Park, car service everywhere. You think it, they either did it or could have done it if they wanted to. They also had properties in other cities (Miami, NYC) but for a few months of the year, when the weather here was perfect, they loved Vancouver.

My wife came back from her pampering day and declared that I must meet this couple. Apparently the guy's name is Sy and he sold his company for some obscene amount of money. I was just getting started as entrepreneur and thought "yeah, great but I am busy building something"...

A few years later, after banging my head against my own shitty ventures and realizing that I wasn't fulfilling my (what we call Fastlane here on the forum) dream, I asked my wife to email them.

We met and hit it off. Sy Sperling, founder of Hairclub for Men. He was a brilliant entrepreneur who took his company across the USA with countless locations. We started spending a lot of time together - he became like an unofficial mentor to me.

One day, we were having lunch and I asked him "Sy, I hear it all the time - be passionate about what you do... or that if you do what you love you don't work a day in your life. How important is that for success in business?"

Sy looked at the table, picked up salt and pepper shakers and said "see, these - if I can make them for $1 and sell them for $2, they are the sexiest business for me, I am passionate about that".

I carry that story with me ever since. Because there was a time when I wasn't "passionate" about real estate. I was hoping to achieve things in "easy" businesses and "fast" in retail, tech, bio ... Only when I let it sink in that the key is to be excellent at something. When I took stock of my own life, I realized that I was consistently good (or lucky?) at Real Estate. I naturally gravitated towards it and made a lot of consistently good decisions. It didn't hurt that I also had the most experience in this field from personal to professional (later). I also realized that I had a talent for running teams (employees scare some people, I am the opposite).


So when @Strategery told me on the call that he was good, he could run his dad's business better than his dad if only this or that ...

At the same time he kept running away, trying and poking at things that were saturated but worse yet, something where he wasn't even excellent. It's like "the grass is greener" syndrome on repeat. That's why I said "Whatever you’ve been doing hasn’t worked."

But if you have already "accidentally" invested this much time and effort into one business and you think you are excellent at it, why not start there and give it a real go? We talked whether the business itself is like an old video rental model, is it dead yet? He said "no". Well, then is it possible to scale it? Can you make it into a national business? The answer was "yes but..."

That's where the "You need to do 10 times what you’re currently doing." comes in. 10x the effort, 10x the results, 10x personal improvement. The only possible outcome from this is that you do become excellent in a field where either your dad chooses you and gives you the reigns or you are now so good you can compete with your dad and 20x it, 100x ... one thing is certain, there is no downside to being excellent.



Best of luck brother, look forward to more updates.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Primeperiwinkle]

This was beautiful to read. I'm excited for you. May your diligence open up avenues for success that are above and beyond anything you can already imagine.

Very cool dude. Very cool.

 

[Strategery]

I’ve been busy. Real damn busy. But I started this thing for a reason, so I’m gonna update for anyone who cares to read. Luckily I know a few folks on here do care, for whatever reason.

I’ve had ups and downs with this newfound, driven process. A common thing I hear from business success stories is that early on a pivot may take place that was completely unexpected. The business plan gets thrown in the trash and the owner heads to where the real need is. Mine has been a similar experience, despite my questionable “ownership.” To understand what I’m saying, I’m going to share some goals I have, for however long my involvement in this company takes.

Goal 1: I want to give the owners of the business, whoever they may be in the future, the ability to operate the business remotely or be able to sell it. I want it to be as ‘turn-key’ as possible. I want to give the owners the option to work or not.

Goal 2: I want to double the revenue of the business, and lay the framework for continued growth.

Goal 3: I want to build people up. Inspired directly from @ZCP, I want to find folks who want more for themselves, and help them achieve it, or at least steer them in the right direction.

There are smaller goals, but these are the main ones. Accomplishing these will be life-changing for the owners of this company.
I was focusing on #2 recently, when I got a working prototype completed of one of the engineering projects that I mentioned previously. It has the potential to allow the company to tap into a new market, catering to people’s laziness. I can’t get into details here, so I’ll have to be vague.
Anywho, the machine is together and works. I’ve used it several times. I thought it was nearly ready to start using until a certain governing body who is concerned primarily with safety said what I was doing was completely illegal and unsafe. F*cking government losers. We conducted a mock inspection with a consulting firm and they revealed several other concerns that would get us into hot water if we were ever inspected thoroughly. Like, serious trouble… so I determined during that mock inspection that this is the true blockade to the company’s growth.

My reasoning is that without compliance:

1. Fees/disciplinary action will increase, possibly to the point of shutting the business down.
2. Both customers(general public) and employees wander around like idiots with their minds on something besides the deadly equipment in front of them. People are going to get hurt or worse without some form of safety measures.
3. This is just one more goddamned thing to worry about, so why not just fix everything we’re able to so we can go back to focusing on the three goals above?

So much like an entrepreneur who realized his target market needs something he didn’t originally anticipate, on my INTRA-preneurial quest I’ve decided that thing the company needs is quite different than what I originally thought. Shit.

I’ve done so much lately that it might be better if I do multiple posts, this is getting long-winded (like usual).

 

[ZCP]

Hit me up if my company can help review / advise / just want to talk it through for 4 minutes

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.