Valuetainment - 299 - 12 Mistakes First Year As An Entrepreneur

00:00:00.000 30 seconds, one time for the underdog, ignition sequence start, let me see you put them up,

00:00:08.980 reach the sky, turn the stars up above, cause it's one time for the underdog, one time for

00:00:16.040 the underdog.

00:00:17.220 I'm Patrick B.W., host of ITEM, and today I'm going to talk about the 12 mistakes I

00:00:21.020 made my first year as an entrepreneur.

00:00:23.240 The dumbest mistake I almost made my first year as an entrepreneur is I almost quit.

00:00:27.760 I almost quit.

00:00:28.680 I almost believed I couldn't do this.

00:00:31.620 I almost believed being an entrepreneur wasn't for me.

00:00:34.560 I almost believed that everyone that said, Pat, you don't have what it takes to be an

00:00:39.460 entrepreneur, I almost believed it and I almost gave up.

00:00:42.380 Almost.

00:00:43.000 I almost quit my first year as an entrepreneur.

00:00:46.080 That would have been above everything else the dumbest mistake I would have made as an

00:00:50.280 entrepreneur.

00:00:50.640 Number two, I tried to become a CEO president too early.

00:00:57.160 And let me explain to you what I mean.

00:00:59.560 Trying to organize too much too early.

00:01:02.260 See, when I think about the word entrepreneur, right?

00:01:05.000 When I think about the word entrepreneur, what's the first thing that comes to mind?

00:01:07.400 For instance, if I were to tell you right now, what's the first word that comes to mind when

00:01:11.680 I say Microsoft?

00:01:12.680 What do you think about?

00:01:13.700 You may have said Bill Gates.

00:01:15.540 What's the first word that comes to mind when I say Apple?

00:01:18.560 You may have said Steve Jobs.

00:01:20.240 What's the first word that comes to mind when you think about the Lakers?

00:01:22.700 You may have said Kobe.

00:01:24.260 What's the first thing that comes to mind when I say Chicago Bulls?

00:01:27.000 Michael Jordan.

00:01:27.900 What's the first thing that comes to mind when I think about Golden State Warriors?

00:01:30.500 Steph Curry.

00:01:32.080 Whatever it is, that first word.

00:01:33.800 What's the first thing that comes to mind when I say the word entrepreneur to you?

00:01:37.500 What is it?

00:01:38.720 What is it?

00:01:39.240 I don't want to say mine yet.

00:01:40.160 What's your first?

00:01:40.940 First.

00:01:42.000 See, to me, entrepreneur, first is sales and numbers.

00:01:45.840 Now, you may have said create a problem, solve a problem, da, da, da, da.

00:01:48.900 But if you don't know how to sell and you don't look at the world of business as a number formula

00:01:53.280 you've got to solve, you're not, because the only way an entrepreneur is an entrepreneur

00:01:58.360 is because an entrepreneur sells something.

00:02:01.060 Zuckerberg sells.

00:02:02.200 Bezos sells.

00:02:03.300 Elon Musk sells.

00:02:05.060 They are salesmen first.

00:02:06.420 Sam Walton sold first.

00:02:08.520 Ben Franklin was a salesman first.

00:02:11.380 An entrepreneur must first learn how to graduate.

00:02:14.760 Sales first.

00:02:15.520 Back in the days when you moved up in a company, the way everybody came to the top of the company,

00:02:19.460 it wasn't like how it is today when people go get a fancy degree and they start off as

00:02:22.420 a vice president.

00:02:24.280 Back in the days when you worked up at a company, everybody started selling first.

00:02:27.160 Why?

00:02:27.280 Because you had to know what it was to be a salesperson, touching the customers, talking

00:02:30.020 to their customers, and connecting with everybody else as an executive that you know

00:02:33.540 what the salespeople do on a daily basis.

00:02:35.320 If you don't know what salespeople do on a daily basis, you don't know how to connect

00:02:38.720 with them.

00:02:39.400 And you don't know how to connect with the customer.

00:02:41.140 His frustration.

00:02:41.960 Her frustration.

00:02:42.620 So, my biggest mistake first year was I tried to be too much of a business owner instead

00:02:48.920 of learning how to sell first and survive based on my selling abilities of making money

00:02:54.660 as a salesperson.

00:02:56.560 Dumbest mistake I made was number two dumbest mistake I made.

00:02:59.200 Number three, trying to take advice from too many people.

00:03:02.160 Let me tell you what I mean by trying to take advice from too many people.

00:03:04.760 If you're not pregnant yet or if you haven't, you as a woman are not pregnant, I've never 0.99

00:03:09.300 been pregnant, or you haven't been a man with a wife who hasn't been pregnant yet, when that

00:03:14.640 does happen, and if it has, you know exactly what I'm talking about.

00:03:18.120 Everybody wants to give you advice.

00:03:20.040 Let me tell you what's the best thing to do.

00:03:21.120 You want to have a natural baby.

00:03:22.000 You want to do a C-section.

00:03:22.740 You want to do this.

00:03:23.300 You want to take Pitocin.

00:03:24.000 You want to do that.

00:03:24.560 You want to go do this.

00:03:25.360 You want to take the Epiderm.

00:03:26.160 You know, I want to do this.

00:03:26.960 And whatever they tell you, they're telling you because that's what they did.

00:03:30.920 Just know this.

00:03:32.380 And when you raise your kids, that's the best way to raise your kids.

00:03:34.280 The way we raise our kids, we raise our kids because we put them through this, and we put

00:03:37.660 them through that, and we put them through this.

00:03:39.120 That's great.

00:03:40.460 Everyone has opinion.

00:03:41.940 And by the way, this doesn't mean they're wrong, and it doesn't mean they're right.

00:03:46.300 It's their opinion.

00:03:48.380 The way I take opinion from the people is, here's what I had to do.

00:03:52.420 I took way too much advice from way too many people.

00:03:54.720 My first mentor was in nine different sales companies at the same time, selling nine different

00:04:00.380 products.

00:04:00.860 And he told me that's the way to do it.

00:04:02.740 Multiple streams of income.

00:04:03.760 I realized that's not the way to do it.

00:04:06.360 Not the way to do it.

00:04:07.240 It still is not working for him.

00:04:08.540 That was my first mentor at 20 years old.

00:04:10.600 21 years old.

00:04:11.400 I took a, trying to take advice from way, way too many people.

00:04:15.020 Instead of simplify, who has the life that you want to have, and what are they doing at

00:04:23.200 the phase that you were at in business?

00:04:26.100 What were they doing at that phase?

00:04:27.240 Sometimes we don't take the right type of advice because we see somebody that's already

00:04:31.220 got the lifestyle that we want.

00:04:32.420 They come at the office at 11 o'clock, and they do this, and we think we have to have

00:04:37.420 that life.

00:04:37.860 No, I want to know how you were when you were in the hunt building your business.

00:04:40.560 So take advice from people who have the life that you have, and ask them how they did and

00:04:46.220 what they did when they were at your level getting started, not at their level.

00:04:49.780 It's irrelevant what they're doing at their level.

00:04:51.920 It's at your level.

00:04:53.160 So take advice from established entrepreneurs.

00:04:55.840 I took advice from too many people that gave me too many different opinions, and my brain

00:04:59.580 was going all over the place until I finally realized this is what I'm doing myself.

00:05:02.680 Number four, not knowing how to ask for advice.

00:05:06.680 Not knowing how to ask for advice.

00:05:08.060 So sometimes, you know, because you're an employee, and you want to become an entrepreneur, an employee

00:05:14.480 doesn't necessarily ask for advice.

00:05:15.780 An employee's told what to do, and you go do it.

00:05:17.960 No one goes and says, so how do you think I've become a better employee?

00:05:20.740 Very few people ask, how do I become a better employee?

00:05:23.380 How do I become better in my department?

00:05:25.060 Most employees, I don't like this place, boom, I leave.

00:05:27.680 Oh, I don't like this place, they don't take care of me, boom, I leave.

00:05:30.060 Oh, I don't like this, instead of, you know, in my environment, I'm kind of like, you come

00:05:34.560 tell me what we need to do.

00:05:35.920 You come ask me what we need to do to get better.

00:05:38.240 What do we need to do to make this department better?

00:05:40.120 What do we need to do to make the company better?

00:05:41.500 I want to hear from you.

00:05:42.680 But most companies are not like that.

00:05:44.380 Most companies, the employees are told what to do, and they do it, right?

00:05:47.380 So when you go from being an employee to an entrepreneur, your mind hasn't yet shifted

00:05:51.460 to go into, you know, asking for advice.

00:05:55.100 And as an entrepreneur, when you go into becoming an entrepreneur, you got to learn how to ask

00:05:59.560 advice from the right people, kind of point number three and four is the same thing, but

00:06:03.260 learning how to ask advice from the right people.

00:06:04.960 How do I do this?

00:06:06.140 You know, at what, when you were at my face, how did you do this?

00:06:09.500 When you were new like me, what did you do?

00:06:11.240 Not where you are now.

00:06:12.440 I hear sometimes on some conference calls, so, hey, you made $193,000 last month.

00:06:17.960 What did you do this month?

00:06:19.440 It has, anything they did this month means nothing to you.

00:06:22.700 You got to ask them, when you were making $3,200 a month like I am today, and you were

00:06:30.520 at this level when you only had 17 customers, what were you doing every single day?

00:06:35.460 That's the right question on how to ask for advice.

00:06:38.440 Then making $196,000 is the final product.

00:06:40.440 That means nothing to you.

00:06:42.060 What were you doing at this phase?

00:06:43.260 If you want to sell yourself to dream and be excited, that's fine.

00:06:46.100 I understand that.

00:06:47.380 But if you want to know how to's, you got to ask, what did we do when we were at your

00:06:50.220 level?

00:06:50.980 Point number five, forcing versus influencing.

00:06:53.120 I try to force too much.

00:06:55.020 I force too much on my clients, on my staff members, on my sales force.

00:06:59.480 My first year, oh my gosh, I was just way, way too much about forcing people to become

00:07:04.900 successful, forcing people to realize why they made the decision.

00:07:08.560 I was just too much force, way too much force, instead of trying to influence.

00:07:11.700 It's almost like trying to manage everyone's success instead of leading.

00:07:14.880 And finally, I just said, you know what?

00:07:16.140 I said, this is putting way too much pressure on me than anybody else because their success

00:07:22.060 is predicated on me.

00:07:24.680 If they don't succeed, then I'm taking, I said, you know what?

00:07:26.860 I got to set an example of success and then I'm going to lead and influence them with my

00:07:33.000 example.

00:07:33.780 That took weight off my shoulder and they enjoyed my style of leadership because it was purely

00:07:39.380 influential.

00:07:40.340 It was more about example than it was about, you better do this, you better do that.

00:07:44.200 Why don't you do this?

00:07:44.780 Why don't you do that?

00:07:45.540 It was more about, here's what I did.

00:07:47.940 Here's what I'm doing.

00:07:49.200 This is what's working for me.

00:07:50.600 This is what I suggest.

00:07:51.840 Here's what I request.

00:07:53.240 I had to learn by a ton of mistakes on going from force to influence, from managing to just

00:08:00.100 leading and setting an example.

00:08:01.980 Point number six, living the dream too early.

00:08:04.340 What does that mean, living the dream too early?

00:08:06.900 When I started the business, I made some money, so I went and got a brand spanking new car,

00:08:12.060 big car payment, just driving everybody around.

00:08:14.920 I was going to the, you know, out and buying drinks for everybody and partying and hey,

00:08:19.580 Pat's in the house, it's so cool.

00:08:21.380 What up, Pat?

00:08:22.160 You know, and I was good in the party scene because I liked that.

00:08:25.060 So, you know, oh my gosh.

00:08:26.620 And so lifestyle big, going to Vegas, spending 10 grand on a week, weekend when I don't even

00:08:32.700 have $10,000 and I'm just, it's okay, the money is coming on future success and future

00:08:37.200 sales, boom, lost everything. 0.74

00:08:41.180 Money, girl, car, everything, gone.

00:08:46.080 First year, gone.

00:08:47.760 Wiped out.

00:08:48.860 Credit card score, 484.

00:08:50.600 Everyone's calling, collecting debt.

00:08:52.280 You're one, okay?

00:08:54.140 That's what happened when I tried to live the dream too early.

00:08:56.900 Way, way too early.

00:08:57.660 Now, I think there's a mistake as well, trying to leave it delayed too long as well because,

00:09:01.920 you know, people also want to see that you're expanding in your life too.

00:09:05.520 There's got to be a part of that that's taking place, that you're expanding in your life too.

00:09:09.460 But living the dream too early, trying to act as if way too early, I don't think that's

00:09:15.640 a benefit either because at the end of the day, the number one rule of being in business

00:09:19.140 is what?

00:09:19.540 To stay in business.

00:09:20.660 You got to make sure you're staying in business to be able to have a shot at growing your business.

00:09:23.720 And living the dream too early, living too large too early, can backfire on you.

00:09:29.020 Next, number seven, trying to sell too many products as an entrepreneur.

00:09:33.860 So, I'll give you a story for myself.

00:09:36.400 I remember when I first chose the financial industry.

00:09:39.240 So, I got started with Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, and I'm getting my Series 7, 66, 31,

00:09:43.860 26, Life and Health.

00:09:45.080 I'm going to go into the financial industry, okay?

00:09:47.860 I got started the day before 9-11.

00:09:49.660 My first day in Morgan Stanley Dean Witter was on Monday, it was 9-10.

00:09:52.700 9-10, 2001 is the day before 9-11.

00:09:55.500 And I got involved.

00:09:56.620 It was probably the worst time to be involved in the financial industry.

00:09:59.120 Market tanked about 1,000 points the next day.

00:10:01.560 9-11 happens.

00:10:02.440 No one wants to buy stocks, mutual funds.

00:10:04.040 No one wants to talk to an advisor.

00:10:05.940 Market kept going lower and lower.

00:10:07.700 Trust in the market was down.

00:10:09.300 Fear, war, anxiety, panic.

00:10:12.140 No one wanted to deal with anything, right?

00:10:14.200 And I saw mortgages start climbing up, and that's when Negam, if you've seen the movie

00:10:18.940 The Big Short, who's in The Big Short?

00:10:21.660 The Big Short has who?

00:10:22.660 It has, I want to say, Ryan Gosling is in The Big Short.

00:10:26.680 Who's the funny guy from The Office?

00:10:28.140 What's the funny guy's name from The Office?

00:10:30.820 Pharrell, Carell, Steve Carell?

00:10:32.380 Steve Carell.

00:10:32.780 Steve Carell's in The Big Short.

00:10:34.640 Actually, some pretty big shot actors are in The Big Short.

00:10:37.660 Christian Bale, Brad Pitt.

00:10:38.440 Christian Bale, Brad Pitt, yeah.

00:10:39.580 So, you know, the whole thing is about the Negam business. 1.00

00:10:43.620 Mortgages, where pick a payment, negative amortization, whatever you want to call this

00:10:47.840 program that came from Australia.

00:10:49.840 There you have four payments.

00:10:51.020 You can pay the 15-year loan, the 30-year loan, the interest only, or the negative amortization,

00:10:56.340 which whatever payment you're making, your loan gets bigger and bigger every single month.

00:10:59.740 So, everybody, buy this house.

00:11:01.260 I know it's a $720,000 house, but you only need to make a payment of, you know, $1,920.

00:11:06.200 And who knows, five years from then, it may go up.

00:11:08.060 And then, boom, it went up.

00:11:09.220 But I was tempted to get into the mortgage world.

00:11:12.360 And I saw all these people doing it.

00:11:14.100 I made $28,000.

00:11:15.280 I made $200,000.

00:11:16.080 This guy made $400,000.

00:11:17.060 This guy made $600,000 last month, and he's doing this, this, this, this.

00:11:20.420 Everybody in LA wanted to get into this.

00:11:22.400 I was this tempted.

00:11:23.480 Nothing wrong with the guys that did it.

00:11:25.120 People who did it, the right, but made a lot of money.

00:11:26.860 More power to them.

00:11:28.300 But I had chosen the insurance and the financial industry.

00:11:31.720 That's the industry I chose.

00:11:32.720 And I was tempted this close.

00:11:36.740 One weekend, I came back, and one guy was kicking my butt.

00:11:40.180 This one guy was completely kicking my butt.

00:11:41.780 One of my competitors was killing me.

00:11:44.140 And I'd have to go and sit in the room and just watch this guy beating everybody up.

00:11:48.120 Mortgage, mortgage, mortgage, mortgage, mortgage, mortgage.

00:11:50.080 And so I said, we also need to do the mortgage.

00:11:53.680 He's also doing escrow.

00:11:54.680 He's also doing real estate.

00:11:55.720 He's also doing this.

00:11:56.800 He's also doing that.

00:11:57.860 He's also doing title.

00:11:58.840 He's also getting, he's got his money, all this other.

00:12:00.660 We have to try to become like a bank, and we have to do property and casualty as well,

00:12:04.580 and we have to do tax services as well, and we have to do.

00:12:06.860 And I said, nope.

00:12:08.280 Went back to the book, Blue Ocean Strategy.

00:12:10.700 And Blue Ocean Strategy said, get leaner, get tighter, fewer products.

00:12:14.180 Focus on a product.

00:12:15.320 That's what's going to work.

00:12:16.660 And not having read that book, I read it afterwards, realizing by pure luck,

00:12:20.080 I made the right decision.

00:12:20.960 But I was this close of selling many, many, many different products instead of being focused

00:12:26.680 about a product.

00:12:27.740 The challenge as an entrepreneur is when you choose an industry, there's going to be booms

00:12:31.760 happening in a lot of different industries, whatever industry you're going to choose.

00:12:34.160 And there's always an industry that seems more sexier.

00:12:36.620 I wish I would have came out with the next Snapchat, the next Instagram, the next Facebook,

00:12:40.520 the next Twitter.

00:12:41.100 It just seems it's more sexy to come out with the Groupon or to come out with this, you know,

00:12:45.400 I just wish I would have.

00:12:47.180 Our business is boring.

00:12:48.520 I think, you know, I wish I wasn't in this boring type of, it doesn't matter.

00:12:52.020 I am going to more hedge my money towards the guy that's all in an industry to master that

00:12:56.700 industry than I am with the guy that's constantly trying to chase the next big thing that's taking

00:13:00.460 place.

00:13:00.780 And I watched guys, they went from negam, from mortgages into REO, to short sale, to real estate, to, you know, commercial, to modification, to selling gold, to dead sediment, to credit repair, to credit restoration, to so many, 25 different things.

00:13:18.140 And I kept telling everybody, sell one product, man.

00:13:22.360 Sell one product, one product, one product.

00:13:25.460 Can you do that?

00:13:26.080 Sell one product.

00:13:27.420 And I almost made that mistake and it cost me my business on where I'm at.

00:13:32.040 So don't try to sell too many products.

00:13:33.460 Become focused and intentional on one product, one industry you're choosing.

00:13:37.460 Number eight, thinking I knew it all.

00:13:39.560 I mean, literally, when I got started, I was a young kid, just a knucklehead who thought

00:13:45.480 he knew everything, you know, 21 years old.

00:13:48.500 I would have been so annoyed coaching myself at that time because I thought I knew everything.

00:13:52.980 And then the best thing that ever happened to me, the best thing that ever happened to

00:13:56.620 me is I hit rock bottom.

00:13:58.400 By far, the best thing that ever happened to me is hitting rock bottom.

00:14:01.100 I think for men, I have two boys and I'm going to be in pain when I witness these guys go

00:14:06.420 through this, but I think the best thing that can happen to a man is a heartbreak, a very

00:14:11.220 strong heartbreak, and a very big failure early on in business.

00:14:15.460 And it happened to me early on in life, both heartbreak and business.

00:14:18.880 It happened early on because I thought I knew it all.

00:14:21.740 And it was a slap in the face to save.

00:14:23.340 Socrates says, the only thing I know is that I know nothing.

00:14:26.280 If the greatest minds on their deathbed are saying things like that, what makes you and

00:14:30.000 I think we know everything?

00:14:31.380 Quite frankly, everything I'm saying on Valuetainment may be inaccurate.

00:14:34.180 Every single thing I'm saying on Valuetainment, you may come back and my opinions may be wrong.

00:14:38.840 It's worked for me.

00:14:40.040 This is how it's worked for me.

00:14:41.300 For me, it's more about teaching how to think than actually what to think.

00:14:44.360 I want to get an entrepreneur to learn how to think than what to think.

00:14:48.140 But we don't know everything.

00:14:49.900 We got to learn how to adjust.

00:14:51.040 We got to learn how to adapt.

00:14:51.980 We got to learn how to get better.

00:14:52.960 We got to learn how to improve.

00:14:54.280 And so the mindset of thinking, you know it all and all the concepts, it's just, it's not

00:14:57.840 a place you want to be because it means advancements doesn't come around the corner.

00:15:00.640 And I had the know-it-all attitude at a young age and it almost cost me.

00:15:04.900 There's a benefit to that.

00:15:06.440 There's a benefit because you become edgy, you push the envelope a little bit, but there's

00:15:10.420 also the leveling off to know that maybe you don't really know this and let me ask and

00:15:16.860 question somebody I respect to give me proper direction that I trust that maybe they can

00:15:21.300 challenge my position and opinion.

00:15:23.600 But it's good that I have the audacity, so I like it, the fact that there's audacity,

00:15:28.380 that you're pushing the envelope.

00:15:29.920 But there's got to be coachability and learnability that you want to learn and advance as well.

00:15:35.860 It doesn't matter who you are.

00:15:37.200 Everyone's got to have somebody that they have a mentor that's giving them direction with.

00:15:40.820 So it was good that I got out of that pretty quickly.

00:15:42.940 Point number nine, I partied way too hard.

00:15:45.420 Way too hard.

00:15:46.340 I mean, I have stories of how hard I partied.

00:15:48.440 I like Thursday night because it was ladies' night. 0.97

00:15:50.120 The best night was Thursday night.

00:15:51.900 I mean, we used to go to, this is back in the days, Dublin's.

00:15:55.640 I don't know how many times I got kicked out of Dublin's.

00:15:57.960 Man, Dublin's is now shut down, but Dublin's was just heavenly for me.

00:16:02.760 I mean, we had a great time at Dublin's.

00:16:05.500 We had a great time at Miyagi's, Saddle Ranch, all these other clubs that they had in Hollywood.

00:16:10.420 I mean, you name it, we went through every single one of these things.

00:16:13.140 We just partied like crazy and we'd go to Vegas and Dre's is open until today,

00:16:17.120 but back in the days, Dre's was the late, you know, after hours.

00:16:20.940 And we'd go to all these other places, just partying.

00:16:22.580 Thursday night, then Friday night, then Saturday night, then Sunday night.

00:16:25.420 And then you're trying to get up in the morning and go work on Friday morning.

00:16:28.280 And you came home at 3.30.

00:16:30.340 And you go into work and you're kind of like jet-lagged and, you know, from Vegas flight back or whatever it is,

00:16:36.320 and you have no energy and you're going to work.

00:16:37.980 No, I'm going to pull it off because I'm drinking three Red Bulls today.

00:16:40.780 Nope.

00:16:41.760 I want to be focused.

00:16:42.620 I did that for a couple of years and then my friends will tell you from high school,

00:16:47.480 I went from being the most ridiculous, crazy party guy that wanted to do all that stuff

00:16:51.500 to the most boring guy that said, stop calling me.

00:16:53.380 I don't want to party anymore.

00:16:54.820 One incident took place one night at a nightclub at Highlands,

00:16:59.140 which was an ugly fight that almost led to arrests and all this other stuff.

00:17:03.900 And I said, don't call me anymore.

00:17:05.680 I don't want to deal with this.

00:17:06.580 The only way I'm going to party is I'm going to party going around the world and seeing the world.

00:17:09.700 And I want to celebrate with some ridiculous celebrations and business and success in life.

00:17:15.780 All this other party stuff, the drinks, the girls, it's so boring after a while, man.

00:17:20.260 It's like the same old crap over and over again.

00:17:22.620 There is no real life and substance behind it.

00:17:25.700 I want the juice of life.

00:17:27.560 I want to hide that last till the day I die.

00:17:30.120 I want to be naturally high.

00:17:31.740 This is why I don't drink coffee.

00:17:33.260 I don't drink Red Bull.

00:17:34.760 I don't eat any of these energy stuff.

00:17:37.500 I want the natural highs of life is what I'm seeking, what I'm looking for.

00:17:42.620 But it almost cost me a business because I thought, well, listen, man, we watch these movies, Wolf of Wall Street and Boiler Room,

00:17:48.720 and you got to go and party very hard because that's what these guys do in the movies.

00:17:52.380 B.S.

00:17:53.120 If you want that life, you go get it.

00:17:54.940 If you want the bigger real life, the real, real players, that's not how they party, man.

00:17:59.120 They own the nightclub.

00:18:00.240 They don't party with the people at the nightclub.

00:18:02.200 They own the business.

00:18:03.740 They own the products being sold.

00:18:05.220 They don't go in there mingling and doing all that other stuff.

00:18:08.580 And so it's all based on your standards and what you want to do.

00:18:10.540 But I can't lie.

00:18:11.320 I've been to hundreds of ladies' nights. 1.00

00:18:13.680 I've been to a club many times.

00:18:15.040 If you're my age and you're from California, we've probably partied at some of the same places together.

00:18:19.600 Okay.

00:18:20.060 All right.

00:18:20.580 Let's not bring any memories, by the way.

00:18:21.840 If you know me from the past, we don't need any comments on the bottom.

00:18:24.280 Okay?

00:18:25.620 Number 10, acting like a boss instead of an employee.

00:18:29.280 I made that mistake.

00:18:30.080 Let me tell you what I mean.

00:18:31.120 So I'm an entrepreneur now, man.

00:18:32.980 I get to do whatever I want to do.

00:18:34.420 I can come in whenever I want in my hours.

00:18:36.780 And, you know, it's just so I'm...

00:18:37.980 Nobody tells me what to do.

00:18:39.600 I'm an entrepreneur.

00:18:40.360 I come out at 11 o'clock if I want to because I chose to be an entrepreneur.

00:18:44.060 And you're going to fail.

00:18:46.640 When a person goes from being an employee to an entrepreneur, they're missing one thing.

00:18:50.340 They don't have a boss anymore.

00:18:51.500 And they're not used to being a boss.

00:18:52.920 And they don't make a good boss.

00:18:54.000 If you were a boss, you'd be a boss in your past life.

00:18:55.980 And you're not a good boss.

00:18:56.900 That's why you were never a boss in your past life.

00:18:59.400 If you're a boss, you're a boss.

00:19:01.540 Okay?

00:19:01.860 So when you become an entrepreneur, one thing's missing.

00:19:05.280 You don't have somebody that's going to hold you accountable.

00:19:07.600 You don't have somebody that's going to tell you, what were you at 8 o'clock in the morning?

00:19:10.360 You don't have that.

00:19:11.220 You don't even like when somebody does that to you because no one's paying you hourly anymore.

00:19:14.460 No one's paying you $20 an hour, $15 an hour, $30 an hour, $40 an hour, or whatever it is.

00:19:18.460 So who's someone to tell you, what were you this morning?

00:19:20.380 Nobody is.

00:19:21.500 So that environment that you're going into, you're thinking to yourself, what the hell am I doing?

00:19:25.740 You know, so if you don't hold yourself accountable or don't have somebody that's going to hold you accountable,

00:19:31.900 a person, somebody that's directing you, challenging you, a running mate, a partner,

00:19:36.960 many times you'll see that not working out.

00:19:39.380 So for me, I went in.

00:19:41.040 I wasn't a good boss to myself.

00:19:42.700 It cost me my first year.

00:19:44.140 And then eventually, obviously, you're self-motivated.

00:19:46.560 You learn how to hold yourself accountable, all this other stuff.

00:19:48.940 And the rest is history.

00:19:50.340 But you're one.

00:19:50.900 I've seen many people not make you because of that.

00:19:52.320 So point number 11 kind of follows that.

00:19:54.280 It's not having a schedule.

00:19:55.380 Create a schedule and stick to it.

00:19:57.060 And punish yourself if you don't.

00:19:58.560 Like literally, I didn't have a schedule.

00:19:59.900 It was just kind of like showing up.

00:20:01.480 Create a schedule just like you have a job, except at a job you work 9 to 5.

00:20:05.680 As an entrepreneur, you work 7 to 10, just so you know that.

00:20:08.640 You don't go become an entrepreneur and work a few hours.

00:20:11.180 You go become an entrepreneur because you work twice as many hours,

00:20:13.700 but then you own your own business and you control the time.

00:20:15.940 Most people don't become entrepreneurs because they make more money.

00:20:18.400 They want control and freedom and a lifestyle.

00:20:20.920 And that lifestyle may take 3, 5, 10 years.

00:20:22.780 It won't happen overnight.

00:20:24.040 It won't happen overnight.

00:20:25.460 So but set a schedule and stick to it.

00:20:26.920 And the last one I'll tell you, the last one I'll tell you is,

00:20:30.320 is the value of a business plan.

00:20:33.460 You know, I remember I got started early on and I was on this meeting

00:20:38.620 and this one girl who had gotten involved in business.

00:20:43.500 We had both become advisors at around the same time.

00:20:46.580 She wrote a business plan, 60-page business plan.

00:20:50.260 I'm going to make this kind of money.

00:20:51.560 I'm going to do this.

00:20:52.220 I'm going to do that.

00:20:53.220 And I'm just scratching my head.

00:20:54.460 I'm like, man, I have no idea how to even write a business plan.

00:20:57.800 I don't even know what a business plan is.

00:21:00.080 And there was not like internet to go and type it,

00:21:02.100 seven points to write a business plan.

00:21:03.260 There was no online blogs, you know, on how to write a business plan.

00:21:07.240 So I don't know how to write a business plan.

00:21:08.720 What am I going to do on writing a business plan?

00:21:11.040 So the value of a business plan is this much when you're year one of an entrepreneur.

00:21:19.320 Your business plan should be actionable items and habits to learn and apply every day,

00:21:25.220 such as I'm going to make 250 calls today.

00:21:29.520 I am going to give away 50 business cards today.

00:21:33.260 I am going to network online and connect with 50 people on social media today.

00:21:39.860 And what counts, so I'm not just going on News Feed Facebook,

00:21:42.940 I'm getting numbers and schedule and follow-up appointments.

00:21:46.380 That's what counts.

00:21:47.840 Habits.

00:21:48.660 I'm going to read an hour per day.

00:21:51.060 I'm going to study my trade an hour per day.

00:21:54.600 The business plan is not, here's what I'm going to hit, quarter number one, quarter number two, quarter number three.

00:21:59.060 It's more, I'm going to learn this skill set this month.

00:22:01.780 Then I'm going to learn this skill set this month.

00:22:04.320 Then I'm going to learn this skill set this month.

00:22:06.120 Then I'm going to learn this skill set this month.

00:22:08.180 That's a business plan.

00:22:09.700 Not a 75-page business plan.

00:22:12.160 A habit, skill set, discipline plan is really what's critical over all the other stuff.

00:22:18.180 So, you know, very, very critical.

00:22:21.560 Reading and putting that part of your plan on a daily basis is very important because you're improving your mindset,

00:22:26.820 self-affirmation, you know, self-auto-suggestion statements you're telling yourself,

00:22:31.800 books you're reading on how to improve yourself, audio CDs you're listening to,

00:22:35.000 things that get you going.

00:22:36.580 Very, very important for doing that.

00:22:39.380 And obviously, when you do that plan, it's eliminating certain relationships, certain associations,

00:22:45.520 who you want new to be in your life.

00:22:47.080 That's what the plan is.

00:22:48.040 The plan is not a business, business plan that you have to write.

00:22:51.180 This intimidating business plan that a kid from USC with an MBA is going to teach you how to write

00:22:57.100 and charge you your $1,500.

00:22:58.680 Nonsense.

00:22:59.840 I've seen hundreds of kids coming out of big universities writing business plans as entrepreneurs

00:23:03.700 who failed and are working at somebody right now for nothing.

00:23:07.260 Writing a business plan to value with year one, not a lot.

00:23:09.960 Year three, year five, year ten, more.

00:23:11.820 Because then you understand the cycles of the business, the seasons of the business.

00:23:15.340 You know, you're more of a mature entrepreneur, dot, dot, dot, dot, dot.

00:23:18.320 Thanks, everybody, for listening.

00:23:19.540 And by the way, if you haven't already subscribed to Valuetainment on iTunes, please do so.

00:23:24.280 Give us a five-star.

00:23:25.680 Write a review if you haven't already.

00:23:27.040 And if you have any questions for me that you may have, you can always find me on Snapchat,

00:23:31.260 Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube.

00:23:33.220 Just search my name, Patrick MidDavid.

00:23:35.140 And I actually do respond back when you snap me or send me a message on Instagram.

00:23:40.120 With that being said, have a great day today.

00:23:41.860 Take care, everybody.

00:23:42.560 Bye-bye.

Valuetainment - May 09, 2019

299 - 12 Mistakes First Year As An Entrepreneur

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