Day 149 – Hard Knocks Extra Curriculars

You have to invest in your future.

Whether its college, trade school, or Hard Knocks, you have to get educated. I have been enrolled in the University of Hard Knocks for about 25 years. It is a school that you enroll in and you never graduate. There is always continuing education and classes available. Attendance is not only mandatory, you really have no choice. The classes come to you. You gain credit by actually recognizing them, completing the tasks, and actually learn something.

Classes are in finance, management, distribution , logistics and many more. The courses are unending. The labs are real life and the stakes are high. some lessons have cost me more than any Ivy League school I assure you. The best thing about Hard Knocks University is that there is no f’s. The only way you fail is by giving up. I realize that I am enrolled and giving up is just not in my nature.

There are time when I am presented with study aids for my University of choice. Books, tapes and success material help me navigate the courses. A lot of times these course helps are expensive. Recently I was presented with an opportunity that I have seen before but was not able to make it happen. I was only not able to make it happen because I did not try hard enough. I have learned here at this school that people will do whatever they really want no matter what. That is another blog and one that is coming soon.

I attended a webinar by one of my success heroes last week. Darren Hardy of Success magazine and author of “The Compound Effect” Darren Hardy has put on several private classes over the last 5 years. Private events that cost a lot of money but, provide amazing information and results. Information that has been gleaned from the kings of success. Jim Rohn, Sir Richard Branson, Tony Robins, and more.

After the webinar I was presented with the opportunity to attend one of these online classes. I will tell you that it was expensive by most standards. A monthly commitment for an entire year. I was face with a decision. Do I let another opportunity pass to get some expert tutelage by a giant or do I use the excuse of finances to justify why I would let yet another class pass by.

I knew I wanted to do this. Even though financially we are in a tough spot. I knew I had to make it happen. Yes I am owner in 4 businesses but cash flow is basically non-existent. I had to decide if I had faith in my future and make a commitment. I spent two days and figured out how to generate the money to pay for the class.

I wanted it  . . . I did it. I made the commitment to invest in my future. This class wil help me with my biggest challenge, prioritization and focus. I am super excited to be in the inaugural class of Darren Hardy’s Insane Productivity class of 2014!

I realize that I cannot move forward without investing in my future. If I do not learn I cannot grow.

If you are unhappy with where you are, ask yourself if you have the tools to move forward. If you do not then you better get them.

 

Day 30 – You have to give it away

Okay so I will start off by apologizing because this is late. I had an evening appointment then went to help a friend and learn some things and I completely forgot that I had not written my blog yet!

Anyway today after waking up at 4:37 am (who knows why) I spent most of the morning working on a power point presentation for the Export Broker in Florida. It was only five pages but I agonize over the details on things like that wanting to get them just right. He seemed pretty impressed by it and I also made a copy for the Distillery salesman to use as well. It will be a useful tool for Distributor inquiries. Later I had a phone meeting with a fellow Shark Tank pal and we discussed an upcoming project that I am super excited about but, I cannot quite share yet. It has to do with our Moonshine line and the distillery but, you will have to stay tuned for more information on that.

After spending the afternoon with my lovely bride watching one of our current shows on Netflix I scurried off to another meeting. Last week I was contacted by an acquaintance of one of my kids asking if we could meet and talk some business. I vaguely remember this kid but to be honest not too much. I sent a text my son and he told me that he was a good guy so I took the meeting. He said he wanted to pick my brain a little so we decided to meet tonight.

This is not an uncommon occurrence for the entrepreneur. Any one who is in business knows the value of networking and that building relationships with like minded people is a very valuable skill. I am often reminded that networking is a two way street , because if you are at it long enough, someone will want some knowledge from you and you have to be willing to share. Even though I was the one sharing tonight, as I was listening to this young man’s questions I was notably impressed. He was articulate and focused. He had an agenda and specific questions and was respectful of my time and listened. He has a very good skill of actually listening and not trying to think of the next thing to say.

He was asking about all of my projects but specifically Eve’s Apple Pie Moonshine. He is looking into perhaps starting a distillery or finding a partner and trying to take his product to market. He also shared a couple other things he was working on including a new app for smart phones. I was very impressed and a bit jealous at the same time. This is a young man who I believe is around 22 years old and is already way ahead of where I was at his age. Yes, I had businesses at that age, but I believe that with today’s technology and access to information it is so much easier to start something new. We talked for about 1 1/2 hours and he asked me two things that really stick out. First he asked I had ever attended college. My answer was no. Other than the University of Hard Knocks I have no formal business education. Trust me when I tell you I have spent just as much and probably learned twice as much. The biggest problem with Hard Knocks U is that you never graduate. My business is my classroom and the only thing that is close to graduation is retirement. Even when I am on the beaches of Belize I am sure there will be something for me to do! The second question was, If there was anything about Eve’s that I could do different what would it be? Now Eve’s Apple Pie has only been on the shelves for 2 1/2 months and we are already operating in the black. We have made back the initial investment and I am actually taking a commission based salary. I am proud of that. It is really to early still for me to say if I would do anything different so as of now I told him I would change nothing, but ask me again in a year! Honestly anything that I could change I probably still wouldn’t because that is how we learn in business. That is the curriculum of Hard Knocks University.

I really enjoyed sharing stories and advice with him and we agreed to keep in touch. I think the kid is going to do really well and I am happy that he has invited me to be a pert of it. My friend Ron did the same for me several years ago and I am just paying it back. I believe if you want to be successful, you have to help other people and to do that, sometimes you have to give it away.