I love talking about business. Starting them. Growing them. To me, growing a business is like playing real life monopoly. It's the ultimate form of real life creativity. Sure you can be an artist or a musician, but the actual skill of turning that creativity and turning it into a living as well as a way of life, well, that's the fun part.
Not everyone wants to be an entrepreneur though. Everybody wants to be their own boss, set their own hours, and do what they want, when they want. But no one wants to be an entrepreneur. That's because people know the sacrifice involved. If we all lived a thousand years ago (or whenever it was before money was invented) and we could just all barter goods and services, being an entrepreneur would be awesome. Instead of creating a piece of art and trying to sell it for food, I could exchange that artwork for the food itself. Unfortunately, (or fortunately, not sure which), we don't live a thousand years ago. We live in 2014. We live in a time where your very self worth is determined by the marketplace. If the market doesn't like what you have to offer, it doesn't pay you and you don't eat. If it does however, then the sky's the limit.
To date, I've started four businesses. The first one failed within 6 months. I was 21 and my friend turned business partner turned guy I didn't talk to for 5 years turned friend again, had a brilliant idea. At the time, he was working for a company that brokered electronic components. Basically, every piece of electronic hardware in every electronic device you could imagine, he was (and still is) the middle man to between the manufacturers and the companies that sell the devices. The business model is brilliant, and quite possibly the most recession proof business around. Well he realized after working at his company for 6 months that instead of making the sale and getting his 25% cut for it, why not start his own business and keep 100% of it. So he asked me to be his partner and 6 months later I read everything I could about starting a business, left by bartending job, put my entire savings in, and went in full time. He did the same. With dreams of making a six figure income by the end of that year, we felt on top of the world. We would work hard making and processing sales by day, and sit around discussing running the world at night. That soon depleted after hitting issues due to lack of skill, lack of capital, cash flow issues, and eventually, falling into a business scam where $12,000 worth of inventory was stolen from us. Now we were left to pay back our investors, with no inventory to sell, no more capital, and on top of personal issues, no more will to continue. So we did the only thing we could do, which was close up shop, go our separate ways, and return to our old jobs with our heads down and tails tucked, eventually paying our investors back. If I could do it all over again, I wouldn't change a thing. When you start a business, you learn a few things a job will never teach you. Perseverance, strength of character, and what it means to make money work for you instead of work for money. You learn what going 100% really means when you do it whether you get paid or not.
Three years later, I was in business once again. This time, a fitness boot camp. Leading up to this, I was working at the bar at night and spending my days getting certified as a personal trainer and working at a private studio. Seeing how "bootcamps" were the hottest new thing around and the perfect blend of personal training and group exercise, I franchised with one of the top bootcamp models around. In the year and a half with them, I learned half the equation of doing business, being marketing and sales. You could have the best product or service around, but if no one knows about it, or you can't close the sale, then it doesn't matter. Well after a Groupon and Living Social offer for my business pulling in close to 200 people in the first 3 months, my complete lack of sales experience meant that I kept about 5 of them as full time paying clients. Usually, they were the ones who said "I lost HOW MUCH weight in 3 weeks?! Sign me up!". I soon learned the basics of sales, being LISTENING to the client and OFFERING them a solution to their problem. But by the end of that year and half, the franchise was asking for more and more money while giving less and less value, which didn't sit well with me. So I left them for another franchise.
The second franchise (and what I consider my third business), a group personal training franchise, was a great experience. I learned the value of creating a business driven on systems. I had sales systems, marketing systems, program design systems, training systems, I had systems for everything. For those thinking about getting into business, remember this, SYSTEM means Saving Your Self Time, Energy, and Money. I hired an administrative assistant and assistant coach for a while, and things were going smooth. I also learned the second part of business, which is having an amazing product. All the marketing and sales in the world mean nothing if you fail to deliver. So I focused on delivering an extraordinary experience and soon found myself surrounded by some of the most elite trainers and fitness coaches in the country. But after 2 1/2 years, learned the hard way that a personal training business is quite possibly one of the most grueling business models to be apart of. It takes a real passion to stick in it for the long haul, and by then, my passion and fire had burnt out. 4 years of waking up at 5am and either training clients, writing up client workouts, marketing for new clients, scheduling potential clients, or meeting potential clients until 10pm every day had taken its toll. I needed a new business that would re-ignite my flame.
Which leads me to my current business. While the core of my work is in a network marketing company, I like to say I'm now in the "freedom" business. I work from home, with no alarm clock (actually set at 7:30 in case I oversleep, which I rarely need), and create my day exactly how I choose. I've found the business model of the 21st century. One that has minimal overhead, unlimited income potential, no brick and mortar to pay rent to, is built around creating success for others and help them achieve freedom in their lives, and no employees to hire, train, pay, or fire. It's given me the opportunity to write and publish my first book, "Think The Fat Away" on Amazon, and unlike a personal training business, has interstate and international potential. It's the perfect blend of doing what I love, and a sustainable business model that I can leave as a legacy for my children.
So my journey continues, but before this blog post is over, I'd like to leave you with 5 tips about starting and growing a business based on my own failures.
1) Get into something you love. Your business will only succeed to the extent of how much effort you put in, and if you don't love what you do, it will show in your effort.
2) Use leverage. Leverage the use of systems to save yourself time, energy, and money. Team up with a franchise or network marketing company to leverage their knowledge, experience, and support. Read books, listen to podcasts/audios, attend seminars, and leverage the wisdom of people who have reached the heights of success you wish to achieve. Leverage your money by reinvesting profits into growing your business instead of immediately spending it to "ball out".
3) Build your social capital. Network like a fiend and build strong relationships with others. As they say, it takes a village. None of my success would have been possible without the support of certain individuals.
4) Business revolves around 2 key steps: having the best product/service possible, and making sure everyone knows about it. If you have the best marketing in the world but a crappy product, you'll market yourself out of business once everyone finds out how bad you are. If you have the best product but no one knows about it, you're out of business just as fast.
5) Kaizen. The Japanese term for practicing continuous improvement. It's what made Toyota the highest selling car maker in the country. While everyone was waiting 3-4 years to reinvent their models, Toyota focused on making small improvements over time. Focus on being 1% better every day. That's 365% better year over year.
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Mark Lopez blogs about leadership and personal development in order to strengthen his own leadership skills. As a Christian, father, husband, and CEO of his own life, Mark looks to empower others so they can lead life by their own design. To learn more about Mark, follow him on Facebook.
