Order of Man - FFN 066： Building a Business

00:00:00.000 You're a man of action. You live life to the fullest. Embrace your fears and boldly chart

00:00:05.000 your own path. When life knocks you down, you get back up one more time. Every time.

00:00:10.460 You are not easily deterred or defeated. Rugged. Resilient. Strong. This is your life. This is who

00:00:17.240 you are. This is who you will become. At the end of the day, and after all is said and done,

00:00:22.800 you can call yourself a man. Gentlemen, what is going on today? My name is Ryan Mickler,

00:00:28.020 and I am the host and founder of the podcast that you are listening to right now, The Order of Man.

00:00:32.840 Each week, I'm interviewing the world's most successful men. I'm getting into their minds.

00:00:37.220 I'm learning what inspires them, what motivates them, and essentially what makes them tick,

00:00:41.580 and then we're delivering those conversations to you. Today, guys, is a little different. If you've

00:00:46.160 been with us for any amount of time, you know this is our Friday Field Notes where I share some thoughts

00:00:50.180 that I've had from throughout the week. If you're just joining us, now you know. I do have a quick

00:00:55.080 favor to ask of you before we get into the conversation for today. If you would, please

00:00:59.580 make sure you subscribe to our show so you never miss an episode. And second, and this one means a

00:01:04.280 lot, guys. Please, please, please take a minute or two and leave us an iTunes rating review. We are

00:01:10.520 close to hitting 500 reviews, and while that number would be great, the fact is that reviews go such a

00:01:16.880 long way in helping us gain some visibility for the show. We are constantly around the top 50 or so

00:01:23.860 in all of business, in all of the world, which is staggering to me, but that said, I've got my

00:01:29.180 sights set higher. And with your help and you spreading the message, I think we can do it.

00:01:33.820 Also, if you would, take a look at our exclusive brotherhood, The Iron Council. I'm not going to get

00:01:38.680 into all the details too much today, but this is an opportunity for you to join a group of like-minded,

00:01:45.280 high-achieving men, and you can learn more about what we're about at orderofman.com

00:01:50.220 slash ironcouncil. All right, with that said, let us get into the discussion for today.

00:01:55.720 I want to talk with you about building a business and the power that comes from and is inherently

00:02:00.580 found in entrepreneurship. I know that's a buzzword these days, but I think that's because there's so

00:02:06.560 much good that comes from this capitalistic society in which we live. It's not perfect,

00:02:11.900 but each and every one of us have the ability to think of an idea and more importantly, to actually

00:02:18.280 make it come to life. And before I get into some tips and ideas that I have, I need to throw out

00:02:23.660 a disclaimer because inevitably somebody's going to say to me, Ryan, you don't need to be an

00:02:28.220 entrepreneur to be a man. Please understand me in no way, shape, or form. Do I believe that?

00:02:34.600 We're simply talking about today, something that has been beneficial in every single person's life,

00:02:39.760 whether you're the entrepreneur or you've enjoyed the benefits of the entrepreneurial spirit.

00:02:45.640 If you're an employee of a company, that's cool. If you're working up the corporate ladder,

00:02:51.160 that's cool. I don't think less of you. And I don't think that makes you less of a man.

00:02:55.840 The second disclaimer that I need to make is that I am not an expert. I am learning how to build a

00:03:01.240 business myself. I feel like I've gotten some things right. And obviously I've gotten some things

00:03:06.400 wrong, but I grew up in an environment that was anything but entrepreneurial. I didn't sell

00:03:10.880 or trade baseball cards on the playground. I didn't sell lemonade on the side of the road when

00:03:15.960 I was a kid. I didn't go door to door offering my lawn mowing services. My mom has always been

00:03:21.920 an employee. So business ownership has been the furthest thing from my mind. And what I want you

00:03:27.780 to know is that I don't have some course to sell or some book to sell you. I have no vested interest

00:03:33.880 in the information I'm going to share with you other than it's been working for me.

00:03:38.080 Good. Now that we're clear, let's talk about this. After all of my years as an employee working from

00:03:43.360 company to company and job to job, I have come to the realization that there is just something about

00:03:48.620 having the pressure of owning a business on my shoulders. That if I win, it's because I made the

00:03:54.860 right choices and I did the right work. And if I fall short, it's my own fault. That to me is

00:03:59.660 empowering because it means that when I do fall short, I have complete and absolute control over it.

00:04:05.260 And what's also amazing in building a business is the process of having a moment of inspiration

00:04:12.420 and nurturing that idea into a viable strategy and working that strategy over and over and over again

00:04:19.480 with a lot of reflection and analysis and then creating something that people value and want.

00:04:25.600 And this is most important that they're willing to pay you for all from a simple idea, synopsis,

00:04:32.300 firing in the brain. That is an incredible process to me. So let's break down some lessons.

00:04:39.140 Of course, I'm not going to have the time to share everything with you today because there are so many

00:04:43.560 layers to this. But if I can share with you three or four tips or tools, strategies, techniques,

00:04:48.660 tactics that you can begin to see where you need to focus some of your time and attention as you work

00:04:53.340 on your business. And the first thing I want to talk with you about is the passion debate.

00:04:59.140 Some people are going to tell you to find something you're passionate about and others will tell you

00:05:03.120 that's a fallacy and passion can be developed later. If you actually want to hear more about the latter,

00:05:08.640 you can check out my interview with Cal Newport. He's the author of Deep Work, among other books.

00:05:14.300 That interview is at orderofman.com slash 063. Quite honestly, though, guys, I don't know.

00:05:20.220 I don't know if it's one or the other. I think it's probably a combination of both.

00:05:23.140 I do believe that if you truly want to create a thriving business, you better at a minimum

00:05:27.980 be at least interested in the subject. I think a lot of people chase the money. And while I think

00:05:33.540 it's important also to take a look at market trends and strategies, we live in a place in a time that

00:05:38.840 you can make money doing just about anything. I've had ups and I've had downs in my business. And

00:05:44.500 without some level of interest in what I'm doing, I think I would have given up on this thing a long

00:05:50.580 time ago. If you can't be excited about whatever it is you're doing, you're going to give up quickly

00:05:56.640 and you're never going to get to the point where you are engaged in the deep and meaningful work

00:06:00.720 that Cal Newport talks about, which leads me to my next point. And that is that you should be in this

00:06:07.340 game for the long haul. I started Order of Man in March of 2015. So as of this recording, we've been

00:06:14.620 going for about two and a half years. I didn't make a single dime, not a single dime until November

00:06:20.220 of that year. And that month I only made $1,100. And that means a lot of late nights and early

00:06:26.960 mornings and weekends of busting my tail to get this thing up and running without any compensation.

00:06:34.620 And if you don't have the entrepreneurial mindset that this is going to take some real dedication

00:06:38.860 and some real discipline and a whole lot of time, you're not planted and grounded in the reality of

00:06:44.640 the actual situation. Most internet gurus want to talk with you about the short game. They want to talk

00:06:49.600 with you about how easy it is to make money and how they were an overnight sensation. I think some

00:06:55.860 entrepreneurs are just trying to deceive you probably to sell you something. And I think there's

00:06:59.560 others that have forgotten what it took to reach the level of success that they enjoy now. But playing

00:07:05.760 the short game also keeps you from making good decisions. If you're playing to win immediately,

00:07:11.460 you might make some decisions on products or offerings or your messaging that are going to help you now,

00:07:18.120 but they're going to hinder you later. And then on the subject of products and offerings and

00:07:23.780 messaging, if you're going to be an entrepreneur, and this is my third point, you need to know that

00:07:28.420 you are now a marketer. You're not an entrepreneur or a business owner. You are a marketer. Now, a lot of

00:07:35.240 people will say that the product is the most important thing. I'm not going to tell you that because

00:07:40.060 that's a given. You've got to have a good product. Everyone already knows that. But if you can't market

00:07:45.680 your product, you're dead in the water. You are now a marketer first and a fill in the blank second.

00:07:53.760 Marketing is about knowing your audience. It's about understanding their pains and frustrations.

00:07:58.840 It's about sharing your product or your service in a way that resonates with those pain points.

00:08:04.280 And if there's one thing that you need to get better at when it comes to marketing,

00:08:07.520 it's the ability to tell a good story around your brand and your product and your service.

00:08:12.380 Do that and a lot of other things will fall into place. And then on a finer point of marketing,

00:08:17.660 and this is the last point that I want to talk with you about today, it is imperative that you

00:08:21.560 find a way to stand out. It is so easy to get lost in the sea of sameness. Now, one of the

00:08:28.180 unintended consequences of the beard that I have grown is that I stand out in a crowd. I can't tell

00:08:33.700 you how many conversations I've been able to strike up simply because I look different than everyone

00:08:38.360 else. Another point of difference in my day-to-day life is the vehicle that I drive. When I'm cruising

00:08:43.920 around town, I drive a topless 76 International Scout. I've had so many people come up to me and

00:08:50.200 tell me about their first car or how their dad would take them camping in their Scout. My Scout is an

00:08:56.480 instant barrier crusher. It's unique. It stands out. And people are always interested and willing to talk

00:09:03.980 about something that they don't see every day. So guys, entrepreneurs, aspiring entrepreneurs,

00:09:10.540 that's all I have for you today. Again, not every man needs to be an entrepreneur. It certainly

00:09:15.080 is not for the faint of heart, but I can tell you that I get a little chill up my spine when I see a

00:09:20.020 man who has an idea and then he breathes life into that idea for the benefit of himself and his family

00:09:25.900 and the people he is there to serve. We live in an incredible time, unlike any other time in human

00:09:31.780 history where the barrier to entry to building a business and being an entrepreneur has never been

00:09:36.760 lower. And what a huge blessing I think that is for all of us. As for me, I wouldn't have it any

00:09:42.980 other way. Guys, I'm going to sign out for now. I will look forward to talking with you next week,

00:09:47.180 but until then, take action and become the man you are meant to be. Thank you for listening to the

00:09:53.000 Order of Man podcast. If you're ready to take charge of your life and be more of the man you were meant

00:09:58.020 to be, we invite you to join the order at orderofman.com.

Order of Man - July 28, 2017

FFN 066： Building a Business

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