Intro to a future penta-millionaire

[CPisHere]

Okay okay I was unnecessarily rude and should shut up so I'll do that now.

 

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[mayana]

Okay okay I was unnecessarily rude and should shut up so I'll do that now.

Very cool! Not everyone will come out and say that Glad that you are still around.

 

[jsk29]

I mostly agree with cparsons on this one

See healthstatus's post:

Be careful putting too many "personal" expenses through the company, it destroys the personal liability protection that a corporation normally provides. We had dealings with a shady character, when we were forced to go to court to get several hundred thousand dollars of resolution, he bankrupted the company. We showed how he had used the company as his personal bank (legal term is piercing the corporate veil), and were able to go after his personal assets.

vs

I plan to be there by the end of next year? OR I will be there by the end of next year?
You have to be certain about your decision, you need to have the hunger to make it happen. Otherwise your dream will never materialize.

This is a tough road with a lot of competition. If you make the wrong choices you wont make it. If you did not work hard enough you wont make it. If takes a lot of trial, error and field testing to get the recipe right.

How many books have you read this year? How many people did you meet this year to share your progress and get feedback?

I suggest you to check this video by Tony Robbins - LINK
Here is a video beak down - LINK

One gives a personal example of what problem they encountered along with concrete advice.

The other gives vague, motivational peptalk (reminds me of a Tai Lopez youtube ad) without any personal anecdotes about how they overcame a similar business issue.

edit: and sure great advice can come from unlikely places, but I like playing in favor of the odds not against them

 

[eTox]

Awesome thread. Thanks for giving an update and keep it going

 

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[Andy Black]

Just in case someone stumbles across this....

Here we are 5 years later. My plan was to quit within a year and a half. I haven't quit yet (but 100% will by the end of the year - though it will be to run a different business I recently bought). I wanted 10 stores & $6million within 10 years. I still just have the one store, and certainly nowhere near $6 million.

The single biggest thing that I did not understand 5 years ago was the COST OF GROWTH. In a capital-intensive, inventory-based business like retail - growth is very expensive. I was massively under-capitalized and that substantially impacted the rate of growth we were able to achieve as well as the amount of money we were able to take out of the business.

I also vastly underestimated the seasonality of the gift retail business. 50% of a retailers sales can happen in October-December. January was a somber reality. It took me a lot longer than expected to hit the revenue numbers I was aiming for - in large part due to above, cost of growth.

Ultimately, these two things are part of a much larger concept I didn't recognize - the general learning curve of entrepreneurship. It takes a few years to really figure out what you are doing.

I no longer have a goal for a certain net worth or number of stores - I don't know that I want more stores. I'm more concerned with hitting a monthly cash-flow number that is sufficiently above my needs to invest in big new projects. I plan to be there by the end of next year.

Wow. An update after 5 years? That's so cool. I love the honesty too.

Interesting that you no longer have a goal for net worth. I personally don't have a goal for net worth. Maybe that will change, but currently for me it's "progress over profits" ... (maybe until I'm ready to hit the accelerator?)

In the book "Ready, Fire, Aim" the author says the biggest problem in phase one of growing your business is that "you don't know what you're doing".

Haha. It feels that way to me... Like I'm untangling my legs before I break into a trot, lest I fall on my face.

What advice would you give to people about setting goals?

 

[CPisHere]

Wow. An update after 5 years? That's so cool. I love the honesty too.

Interesting that you no longer have a goal for net worth. I personally don't have a goal for net worth. Maybe that will change, but currently for me it's "progress over profits" ... (maybe until I'm ready to hit the accelerator?)

In the book "Ready, Fire, Aim" the author says the biggest problem in phase one of growing your business is that "you don't know what you're doing".

Haha. It feels that way to me... Like I'm untangling my legs before I break into a trot, lest I fall on my face.

What advice would you give to people about setting goals?

I loved Ready, Fire, Aim.

I personally have found Scott Adam's SYSTEMS approach much better than setting goals.

Here's a blog post he wrote about it, but I highly recommend his book (and his recent series about Trump is the most fascinating thing I've ever read)
http://blog.dilbert.com/post/102964992706/goals-vs-systems

 

[Andy Black]

I loved Ready, Fire, Aim.

I personally have found Scott Adam's SYSTEMS approach much better than setting goals.

Here's a blog post he wrote about it, but I highly recommend his book (and his recent series about Trump is the most fascinating thing I've ever read)
http://blog.dilbert.com/post/102964992706/goals-vs-systems

Aha! Yes, that's how I prefer to work. Get into a rhythm, do the right thing, and the results will follow.

James Clear wrote an excellent article about systems vs goals here:

• http://jamesclear.com/goals-systems

I recently had a call with someone of the SMART goals mindset (who funnily enough had a net worth goal) and I tried really hard to explain my way of working. I was editing it to drop into the forum but I wasn't sure it would have been useful. I'll add it to my list.

 

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[CPisHere]

Aha! Yes, that's how I prefer to work. Get into a rhythm, do the right thing, and the results will follow.

James Clear wrote an excellent article about systems vs goals here:

• http://jamesclear.com/goals-systems

I recently had a call with someone of the SMART goals mindset (who funnily enough had a net worth goal) and I tried really hard to explain my way of working. I was editing it to drop into the forum but I wasn't sure it would have been useful. I'll add it to my list.

A SMART goal is an okay starting place, but it's just not real helpful to achieving the goal. Fine, set the $X million net worth goal, but then choose a system to achieve it and focus on that.

Nick Saban, football coach at University of Alabama, may be the greatest practitioner of this philosophy with his "process" focus.

 

[mitchyQ]

For me, the issue was less about his financial position to give you advice and more about the specific advice he gave. He basically gave you a lot of motivational platitudes, but given that you've been running this business for 5 years it sounds like motivation is not what you need.

After five years of running a business, telling someone that they need to work hard and they need to read books and they need to really want it is ridiculous. You don't get five years into a business if you're not motivated and if you're not working hard to make it work.

Reminds me of the time a couple years ago when I was at a party and a guy there finds out that I flip houses. He struck up a conversation and decided to give me advice. But, it wasn't worthwhile advice... It was stuff like, "You make your money when you buy," and "If your offer isn't embarrassing, you offered too much." The best part of the conversation is when he recommended my own book to me without knowing who I was. And I just listened and smiled.

I was annoyed with that guy, but NOT because I felt like he wasn't good enough to give me advice. I was annoyed because he didn't take the time to figure out his audience before giving advice and he didn't tailor the message towards his audience. Same with the guy's response to your post.

In the entrepreneurship world, being able to figure out your audience and tailor your message appropriately is a very important skill.

If you don't mind me asking, which book is it?

 

[AgainstAllOdds]

For me, the issue was less about his financial position to give you advice and more about the specific advice he gave. He basically gave you a lot of motivational platitudes, but given that you've been running this business for 5 years it sounds like motivation is not what you need.

After five years of running a business, telling someone that they need to work hard and they need to read books and they need to really want it is ridiculous. You don't get five years into a business if you're not motivated and if you're not working hard to make it work.

Reminds me of the time a couple years ago when I was at a party and a guy there finds out that I flip houses. He struck up a conversation and decided to give me advice. But, it wasn't worthwhile advice... It was stuff like, "You make your money when you buy," and "If your offer isn't embarrassing, you offered too much." The best part of the conversation is when he recommended my own book to me without knowing who I was. And I just listened and smiled.

I was annoyed with that guy, but NOT because I felt like he wasn't good enough to give me advice. I was annoyed because he didn't take the time to figure out his audience before giving advice and he didn't tailor the message towards his audience. Same with the guy's response to your post.

In the entrepreneurship world, being able to figure out your audience and tailor your message appropriately is a very important skill.

This. I'm 100% on @Cparsons ' side with the thread drama.

Also, I've never understood the argument of "I will" vs "I plan" when it comes to things that are out of the individual's control. "I plan" is a phrase that a rational person will use after taking into account the fact that he doesn't 100% control the outcome.

Also, congrats on the success @Cparsons. It's been great following your progress.

 

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[nradam123]

I don't want to be rude, but are you in a position to be giving me advice?

Read my post again. If you don't identify with it, leave it.

 

[devine]

This. I'm 100% on @Cparsons ' side with the thread drama.

Also, I've never understood the argument of "I will" vs "I plan" when it comes to things that are out of the individual's control. "I plan" is a phrase that a rational person will use after taking into account the fact that he doesn't 100% control the outcome.

I'm wouldn't take a side of a guy who didn't make it but gives advices like if he did.
Neither I would take a side of a guy who failed at his own goal and now butthurts when somebody tries to school him.

Regarding "I will" vs "I plan", in regular talks it doesn't matter. You can say "I plan to fly to Narnia on a dragon, rob a small castle with 129 gold bars in its treasure (I did the research and it's exactly 5 million dollars after I sell it in the US), I plan to accomplish it in age 1318."
But when you're setting a goal, "I plan" means an "I plan, plan, plan, plan... plan" infinity - you give yourself a wrong command.
"I will" is also good only like yesterday, today it's "I'm starting X right now" and 30 minutes later "I'm doing X for the next N hours".

I attended a good masterclass on planning this summer, I can share my notes if enough people will ask, because wrong planning is the #2 reason why people never succeed.

 

[BlakeRVA]

Look, I agree it was bad advice. My point is that you shouldn't burn bridges with people for no reason. You never know who you are talking to or how they might be able to help you in the future.

What if someone gives you bad advice on the forum? Ignore it or help them understand how they can improve the feedback they give others.

As MJ talks about in his book, your net worth is directly tied to the value you provide to others.

It starts with the little things. Be respectful and helpful and see where it gets you in life.

 

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[CPisHere]

What if someone gives you bad advice on the forum? Ignore it or help them understand how they can improve the feedback they give others.

That's how I should have handled it.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Despite the sideshow drama, just wanted to say thanks for updating the thread. Most people who make bold declarations disappear from the forum and go into hiding because they find out posting "I'm going to be rich in 5 years!" is not the same thing as doing it.

 

[Jon L]

Despite the sideshow drama, just wanted to say thanks for updating the thread. Most people who make bold declarations disappear from the forum and go into hiding because they find out posting "I'm going to be rich in 5 years!" is not the same thing as doing it.

Very much agree. We all benefit quite a bit from posts like this.

 

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[CPisHere]

Despite the sideshow drama, just wanted to say thanks for updating the thread. Most people who make bold declarations disappear from the forum and go into hiding because they find out posting "I'm going to be rich in 5 years!" is not the same thing as doing it.

Thank you MJ. I can honestly say two books had a huge impact on me before starting down this road (Rich Dad Poor Dad & The Millionaire Fastlane ).

Rich Dad Poor Dad woke me up from the illusion and status quo of a middle class life. TMF helped me understand what starting a business really meant and refined my thinking.

I've made several Edits to the Update now as I think of important things about the past 5 years.

 

[nradam123]

Woah, I just read this thread and its all about me lol.

Honestly, what i feel really happy about is that I would have participated in this drama 11 months ago. This is feedback that I have matured a lot mentally in my journey.

Secondly, I get feedback all day, every hour sometimes. Some feedback hurts. What I learned "very" early on is that every feedback matters. When i improve my product or service its the feedback that takes me from A to B and B to C until I reach Z. The key is to figure out how to understand the feedback without letting your mind and ego get in the way.

Lastly, its for OP's own good. Forget my feedback, but if you reacted to it, its guarantee that you haven't been tested (or learned from the tests) enough in business in 5 years.