Day 310 – Shall I compare thee to a Summer’s day?

Being an Entrepreneur is kind of like the weather in Seattle.

In almost any conversation I have had with people about living in the Seattle area, the subject of the weather comes up. People from all over the country are convinced that it rains constantly here. It is partially thanks to the entertainment industry producing shows like “Sleepless in Seattle” and “Frazier”, which portrays Seattle as a dreary place. In fact Seattle actually gets less annual rainfall that a lot of other US cities. Seattle actually ranks 44th in the US for rainfall. We are behind almost every major city on the Eastern Seaboard including New York, Boston, and Miami. The primary root of this misconception lies in the relatively high number of days per year with rain. So, if we have more days of rain than most cities but less rainfall, how does that work?

Welcome to the Seattle drizzle. You see, in most places when you think about rain, it actually rains. Here in Seattle it is like a . . .really thick wet cloud of gray misery. If you have ever wondered why your car needs intermittent wipers, it is in case you come to Seattle. Most of the days of the year here, it is gray, miserable, and kind of depressing. During the winter our days are even shorter because of how dark and cloudy it is. Short, dark days filled with annoying drizzle rain are bad but, when you add in the cold of the winter it really is quite nasty. It seems to never really get cold enough to snow around here it really like to get to about 32.5° and rain. That is how the weather around here likes to treat us.

If you have ever had the pleasure of coming here during the summer however, you may have seen a different side of this fair city. You may have been exposed to a little secret that we try to keep to ourselves. When it is clear, warm and sunny in Seattle, I believe there is not many places on earth that can compare. The green lush trees, the snow capped mountains against a sea of bright blue skies is really something to behold. We have so much to offer around here when the weather is nice it is almost perfect. People feel better, smile more, and there is a real attitude difference. Anyone who lives here knows exactly what I am saying. We tell most people that the days we get like that, even though they are fewer in number than the rainy ones, make up for the miserable days. The nice days are really what keeps people here. They are really that impressive. The good days are really good.

Being an Entrepreneur is the same way. There are going to be dark days. There are in fact a lot of dark days. Days when I question my sanity and want to quit. Days when I wonder if it would have been better to lay down my curiosity and to have gotten a job. Days when the gray darkness and drizzle just weigh me down.

I live for the few days of sunshine though. When business is good, it is really good. Days of victory and triumph are my days of Sunshine and blue skies. Success is a snow capped mountain and sales are the sun on my face. The good days are why I do what I do and there are just enough of them to keep me going through all of the dark days. It takes courage to get started but, I am seeing way more sunny days than I used to.

Day 141 – Success Notes

Yesterday I told you that I spent about 90 minutes in a webinar hosted by Success Magazine’s Darren Hardy. Today I wanted to simply share my notes from that webinar. The topic was six insights from six years of homework on what creates super success.

#1 – Think Big “I dreamed big dreams. I dreamed the kind of dreams other people said would not be possible.” –
Howard Schultz, CEO Starbucks

The size of your life will be determined by the size of the problems you solve. If you are going to do something do it big. What is the difference between a real estate agent and Donald Trump? The size of the projects they work with.  Dare to think big then multiply that by 10!

#2 – Surround yourself with great people “A company consists of one thing—people. A company will only be as great as the people in it.”
-Richard Branson

What makes the difference in companies? What separates two like companies? People. People are what make companies, people make the difference. When choosing the right people for your team it is important to identify your own strengths and weaknesses. Build your team to support your weaknesses. Pick people that will check you and complete you. Empower them to operate in their individual strengths and you can multiply your capacity through the right team.

#3 Do the HARD work “Work your face off! Have an outrageous work ethic” –Gary Vaynerchuk

Before you can do the work you have to be convinced that you deserve to be in the game. You are no different than anyone else and you don’t need their permission to be there. Howard Schultz says that your competitors are out there to take food of your table. If you don’t take it, they will. There is no so called getting lucky. You have to put in the work, hard work. You need to be tenacious and work like hell. Eradicate relaxing and complacency.

#4 Insane Intense Focus “It takes a desperate obsessive focus. You’ve really got to focus with all of your fiber, and all of your
heart and all of your creativity.” –Will Smith

Focus is about saying “NO”.   Your point of impact – what can you do to make the most difference? Prune your life. Figure out what is the thing that you are best at. Delegate leadership to free time to focus. It takes desperate obsessive focus.

#5 Massive Failure “To grow you have to accept risk. Accept some experiments. If you are only succeeding, you are not
taking enough risks.” -Michael Dell  

Are you failing enough? What did you fail at today? Failure is a learning tool and part of the process. Life is about falling, success is about getting back up. Get UP! Se adversity as a challenge.

#6 Constant & Never Ending Growth “Investing in yourself is the best thing you can do.” –Warren Buffett

Keep pushing – never become complacent. Strive to better yourself. Be greedy when it come to knowledge. Investing in yourself is the best thing you can do. Become obsessed with learning.

I apologize for the choppyness of the thoughts. This was copied directly from my notes.

 

Day 140 – Pumped!

Oh yeah today was a day of hard work and focus!

I had a delivery first thing this morning. I was super excited to deliver the shot chiller back to Bar Myx, the local bar that gave it to us to brand. It looks great and the owner is excited to have it and start selling Eve’s Apple Pie.

I came hoe right away because it was time for school! Something I ahve gotten away from in that past few months and after today I don’t know why. I really do try to fill my head with knowledge. I read and learn about other successful people and try to apply their experience in my journey. Jim Rohn says that success leaves clues.

Today I spent about 90 minutes on a webinar put on by Darren Hardy of Success Magazine. I really like this guy. If you have not read “The Compound Effect”, you should definitely put it on your list. Webinars, books on tape and books are my college and continuing education. My businesses are my real life lab. I have great instructors and mentors in successful people that coach me through their experiences and encouragement.

Of course there is no substitution for experience but looking at the foot steps of others, there is certainly plenty to be learned. Think its all bull and hype? Here is a list of the people that I heard from today and regularly study:

• Sir Richard Branson
• Donald Trump
• Tony Robbins
• Warren Buffet
• Bill Gates
• Steve Jobs
• Will Smith
• Barbara Corcoran
• Howard Schultz

Yeah, those are the Professors where I go to school. They are all unarguably successful and provide tools and encouragement to me when I need it. They don’t just say ambiguous things they show you a path and tell you how to execute. Unfortunately even with these navigators the path is treacherous and many fall by the wayside. I refuse to be one of those casualties and push on.

The rest of my day was spent on deliveries and sales calls and perhaps you can imagine by my level of enthusiasm that they all went well. I said Sunday night that I was gonna hit it hard this week. I am just getting started!

Day 115 – If you find expertise . . .be humble enough to listen

Today I had lunch with a guy that I was sort of interviewing to help out at our I502 growing facility. During the course of our conversation I was telling my story. My story of how I have come to be the person I am, an Entrepreneur.

Of course the conversation turned to my Shark Tank experience and I shared my experience leading up to the taping, the actual taping, and the eventual airing of our segment.

Before I talk about the rest of the conversation and the emotions I have felt the rest of the day I want to precursor that with this. I do not feel like I am anything special. I am simply different than most people. I am simply a guy who loves what he does and finds satisfaction in doing what I do.

I have realized in the last two years that I have actually been working for myself that this is truly what makes me happy and what I am called to do.

I was having a conversation with a guy who has spent his whole life in corporate America. He has held executive positions for companies like Best Buy, Visio, and has worked directly for Paul Allen.

I finished sharing my story, telling this gentleman how I have ended up where I am and he stated talking. He shared his genuine admiration for who I was. He told me that I had ginormous balls and he respected who I was and what I had accomplished. Here is a guy who made $400K a year and he was telling me how much he admired me? It was a very humbling experience but, it just helped me see that people are different. I am different. You are different.

My experiences as an entrepreneur have given me simply a different skill set than someone who has taken a corporate route. He shared with me the how difficult it was to have an original idea and actually make something happen in a corporate environment.

When I have an idea I do not have a board or a committee that is going to bog things down. I can simply act. While there are advantages and disadvantages to this. It has allowed me to learn at an accelerated rate. I learn very quickly what works and what doesn’t through actual experience.

This gentleman was an expert in his field. He knows way more than I could hope to learn about botany and growing. He helped me realize that while I enjoy the freedom of just slinging mud at a wall, there is value in having an expert on your team. I have said that there is an advantage in not knowing what you don’t know but, there is also a very real danger in that too. There is no reason to remain ignorant about things and if you can get help you should take it. More important than that you should seek it out when you can.

 

Day 106 – I HAVE to fail.

People ask me every once in a while what I wish I knew before I started my first company.  My answer is always the same, “Nothing!”

I have learned a very important lesson since my first business selling Now & Laters in my 3rd grade class. Growth only comes from failure. I know this and I have heard it before but, let me repeat that. I want to repeat it not just for you but I need to remind myself of this on a daily basis. Growth only comes from failure.

The only way you will move forward in any endeavor is from learning. If you gain success from accidentally doing things right it is far less valuable than failing and learning what NOT to do.

Lets say I pitch Moonshine to a large company that has 400 locations across the country and they love it! They order 15 cases and pump it through their system and everything goes perfect. I may develop a false sense of confidence based on luck and unknown information. What if the buyer had been looking for my exact product? What if the owner of the company told them to take on the next local company to walk through the door? I would not know. So when I go to other companies and pitch, if they don’t take the product, I do not know what is wrong. The product could be bad, it could be over priced, or just another “me too” product that is not unique at all. Whatever the case, because I had such an early success I may not be looking at my product or pitch for faults. I may just look at the customer and dismiss them as idiots because they did not just buy like the big chain that did right away. Nor did I learn how to overcome any objections in my early free success. Eventually I would keep hitting my head against the wall thinking something was wrong with my customers and ignoring a big flaw that will eventually come back even from the big chain. Then . . .disaster!

If I fail over and over I am able to identify faults and correct them. I can only correct what is wrong. I can only find out what is wrong through some sort of failure. It is not just part of the process, it is a valuable part of the process.

When I overcome a failure I feel pretty good. I feel pretty good that is until the next one comes and I fall flat on my face. Failure hurts, I will not lie. It absolutely sucks. That is why I have to remind myself over and over that it is necessary and part of the process. I have to hype up the failure because I really hate it. I hate rejection and the negativity that goes with it.

Any successful entrepreneur or salesman will tell you that you that the no’s are necessary in order to get to the yeses. Basic sales has a simple formula, 10 presentations = 2 to 5 sales. That is an average that has been proven over and over. so on the opposite side of that 5 to 8 people are telling you to pack sand. Well it is time to put on the big boy pants and understand that, that is just the way it works. People will tell you no. More than will tell you yes. We do this for the yeses though, so who gives too rats about the no’s?

Success is the same way. I am in business to succeed. Motivations aside I am here to win. I cannot win without failing. I will fail more than I succeed and that is just the way it goes.

Michael Jordan has missed more baskets than he has made. Babe Ruth has struck out more times than he has hit a home run, and Thomas Edison had darkness more than he had light. These men had it figured out and learned. They knew that failure was part of the process. Even though it hurt they kept going and grew the thick skin that allowed them to go on.

They failed in order to succeed.

Day 83 – Hello Monkey wrench!

I had lots of plans for sales meetings this week but I had a wrench thrown into that plan Saturday. As far as wrenches go this is a good one but a wrench none the less. It seems that Eve’s has been even more popular than I had thought and I was only keeping track of my sales and not the sales of the distillery itself.  As of this moment I only have 4 cases and we need to go into production like yesterday!

We have ordered to apple concentrate, need to order some glass, and have everything else we need. So Saturday I will be trekking to Cashmere and making our next batch!

I have a couple retail displays and contacts at Total Wine and BevMo! ready to go. We are searching for a Distributor and things are ready to rock! The response that we got at the Distillery Festival was beyond our expectations. So I will be continuing to set up meetings and hit it hard next week.

Getting it made will not take long. Since this is still a craft spirit once it is made we have to send it off for testing to get the alcohol percentage measured and after we have that we have to get labels made accordingly. That will be the thing that takes time.

Being honest here to you . . . I have to be in just maintaining mode and taking care of orders that come in from existing customers. The worst thing that could happen would be for me to have to tell customers yeah I can fill your order in about a week.

Luckily I have enough product to handle existing accounts so this will not be an issue but, it is of course a bit stressful. As far as problems go, running through product faster than expected is a great problem to have!

Day 34 – Underdogs

Perhaps it is because the Seahawks won Superbowl 48 last night but I want to talk about being an underdog. I want to speak to the critics and also to my cheerleaders. Don’t worry I am not going to go all sports on you. Anyone who really knows me also knows that would never happen.

I am going to let you in on a secret, one that I have come across time and time again. Maybe it is just me but I believe there is some human nature revealed in this secret. You may not agree with it or take issue with my opinion and that is fine but, I ask you to really look into it. The secret is this: People, in general, really do not want you to succeed. I will repeat it just so you can be sure you read it right. People, in general, really do not want you to succeed. Yes, there are exceptions and when you find the exceptions hang on to them because they will help you when you are down. They will yell at you to get back up when you have fallen and they will help dust you off when you have gotten up to take another swing.  They will be your biggest cheerleaders. They should be your business partners and your closest friends. The ones you really give access into your life to. If you are married like me I hope your spouse is that number one cheerleader. Without the true support of your spouse you will fail every single time.  The bigger group is made up of your friends, family and acquaintances. They are not trying to sabotage you or even consciously hoping for your demise. I would submit though that much like crabs in a pot, subconsciously they do not want you to have more success than them. They will hold you down with criticisms and doubt, but even more subversively they will hold you down with lack of support.  Secretly even subconsciously they realize that if you can be successful that maybe they could be too. Maybe they are not prepared or willing to do the things that it takes and instead of looking at themselves and making changes it is easier to hold you back keeping you in the pot.

You have others that are watching you also. People who don’t know you at all but are watching. Investors, other business people and even your competitors. If you are like me, you have a track record of being the underdog. In a market against others with experience,money, and resources. Others who are either your competitor or someone who could just as easily take your idea and do it themselves. They look at you as some poor schmuck that will never make it. You will drown in the deep end of the entrepreneurial pool. You may currently lack resources, contacts or any number of anythings, but if you have that cheerleader . . . that one individual that can look you in the eye and tell you that they believe in you, then you have all you need to succeed. Combine that with hard work and passion and you are unstoppable!

Time for my sport reference! The Seahawks are made up of individuals that no body else wanted. 3rd round draft pics, 7th round draft pics and even 30% of the team is made up of guys that did not make the draft. The Head Coach Pete Carroll has taken these guys and because he saw something in them he tells them that he believes in them and builds them up. Look what they accomplished last night. Going into the Super Bowl, most of the talk was about the Denver offense and how Seattle was good but they would not be able to stop the #1 offense in the country. Underdogs by at least 2 points everywhere. With the belief of their head coach and their amazing fans Seattle dominated that game. No one else believed they could do it and they proved them wrong.

I am pretty confident that most people have a feeling that I am going to make it this time but, that was not always the case. I have had friends that called me Mr 90% and told me to just get a good job. That I was wasting my time and I should stop living in the clouds. I have competitors and others in my industry that still think I have no idea what I am doing and that I will just go away. The funny thing is that when an underdog wins, everybody “knew they could do it”. It’s okay I know who is really on my team. I love what Will Smith said, “If you were not there for my struggles, don’t think you can participate in my victory.”

If you are an underdog embrace it! Find your true support team and kick some butt! Network and associate with those who not only want to see you succeed, but will help you. I will cheer you on! Just ask me. I love to associate with underdogs, as long as you’re hardworking and passionate not just a wantrepreneur I want to know you!

 

Day 25 – The Week in Review and the Mastermind group

Okay I know Saturday is supposed to be for my week in review but I have a little more to say. So . . . This week has been moderately productive. Lots accomplished but most of it has been administratively. I guess that is to be expected for the month of January but, I would like more. We signed the lease for the warehouse on the I 502 Project and that was a very big deal. Certainly a milestone. I met the electrician last night and he gave me a challenge but I got it all figured out. and we are fortunate to have everything on that project screaming ahead at break neck speed. Eves was good this week as we are getting lots of national inquiries and may even be presenting to Kroger & Walmart in the next couple months! YES!!!! Something definitely happened in Wired Waffles this week as we had several orders come in from out of the blue. Looks like  Men’s Health writer mentioned us somewhere! Man! looking back I would say this has actually been a kick ass week!

So, I am sitting here and taking a moment scrolling through “wastebook” and I see a recurring ad for Damon John Shark University. Coming soon to the Seattle area! Register now! What a load of shit! Damon John is not even coming. It is a company he has put his name on with sales people selling some program claiming to be able to “jumpstart” your business and get the investors you need. Here is my problem: Damon John for one did not pitch to investors. He did not go out and have to get polished to talk to some angel investor. He knew LL Cool J from the hood and got him to invest. The same way you or anyone else goes to family and friends first. now he is a smart guy I have no doubt. I have stood face to face with him and talked business for over an hour, but he is certainly capitalizing on his tenure as a shark on ABCs Shark Tank.  Before you spend your hard earned money on a seminar that no doubt is going to get you to spend even more money I would like you to investigate what Napoleon Hill calls the Mastermind.

The Mastermind is a group of your peers that all have a common goal that coome together for the betterment of all. The Mastermind principle has worked for years and profitable for some of the richest men in the history of our country. Henry Ford, John Rockefeller, and the great J Paul Getty have all been a part of a Mastermind group. It cost them nothing but their own time and talents being shared with a few select peers. In have a Mastermind group. I group of men that I respect in different areas of business that I can bounce ideas and challenges off of. They objectively look at decisions I make and ask good and sometime hard questions about how I have come to certain decisions. They offer advice and criticisms and I have given them permission to do so. These people know me and care about my success because I am doing the same for them. I do not have to pay them not do they pay me. We are gathered together for the collective success of the group. Take for instance previously mentioned Henry Ford. His mastermind group was not made up of inheritance and trust fund kids but self made men. All of whom were successful after joining forces. These men included: Thomas Edison, Harvey Firestone, Alexis Carrel and Charles Lindberg. How would you like to have been a fly on the wall of that meeting? These guys influenced or directly created things from the car and electricity to the Boeing 747 and the artificial heart.

Trust me when I tell you that you have friends like these in your life! Find them and approach them! If you have not read Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, you should pick up a copy.

Day 13 – Momentum

Momentum, what Darren Hardy of success magazine calls “The Mighty Mo” is the quest of any business. Momentum is what happens when the little snowball you have made and started to roll down the hill, begins to roll on it’s own accord. When you catch the Mighty Mo and your snowball starts to take off it is the most magical thing you can imagine. Doors open at a dizzying pace, you phone does not stop ringing and the orders pile in so fast you get burried in your own excitement. It gets rolling faster and faster and it gets bigger and bigger and before you know it you have arrived. At least that is what I thought.

First of all let me tell you that getting Mo to show up is not like tossing out the welcome mat and making a phone call. Mo is like the celebrity guest that only shows up after you have put in the work and made a place that he would like to go. Hours of blood sweat and tears go into trying to get Mo to grace your doorstep. Getting that snowball started is the hardest thing a business owner will ever do. Any of you know that have ever built a snowman can relate. Its easy in the early stages to form your snowball and easily roll it around your yard. You form your business or idea and get it to market then even get some sales. Then as you gain some traction the snowball becomes bigger and harder to move around the yard. You get more sales and struggle to keep up with demand, have production issues, or become spread too thin to cover it all on your own. This is where it gets really hard.

My friend Bud explained it to me this way, when a rocket is launched form the earth it expends 90% of its energy just to leave the atmosphere. Most of that 90% is expended at the very top just before it breaks free of the earths atmosphere and enters orbit. The snowball in my illustration is no different. it get harder to push and almost impossible just before Mo shows up.

I have been fooled many times into thinking that I had what it takes for Mo to show up and I have done the ABSOLUTE worst thing to do. I let off the gas. I pulled back in expectation that Mo was in the next limo pulling up to the red carpet. I have thought that customers I have made are big enough to create other customers and the phone would just ring. I have been schmoozed by smooth talkers who said they would help push my snowball only to never show up.

I have realized that if I want Mo to show up, that I will have to be a sweaty bloody mess to get him here and that I will be working so hard when he shows up I will not even notice he has arrived. You see how different that is from me outside waiting to part the velvet ropes for him? This is a realization I have just come to in the last couple of weeks. I know it may seem obvious to many of you and I thought I understood it too. Those of you in business can totally relate and have probably been exactly where I am. Through frustration and self reflection I hope and believe that I have actually found the formula to write the proper invite for Mo. I hope he has a great time when he shows up and I will catch up with him later. For now I have work to do.