Of Course You Are Failing

This is the Momentum podcast. There must be something in the air because over the last I'm joking, but over the last few weeks I've had more calls than I normally do with entrepreneurs and more and more conversations that I normally do with entrepreneurs who feel like they're hitting a wall, who feel like they're getting challenged from different areas in their life, who feel like they are facing almost insurmountable obstacles. And in this episode, I want to share with you my philosophy on this and why it's so important that we have the right mindset when we come up against the obstacles that feel like we're just not going to be able to get through, around or under them. And why this is one of the most crucial things for us as entrepreneurs. I'm Alex Charfen, and this is the Momentum podcast made for Empire Builders game changers, trailblazers, shot takers, record breakers, world makers and creators of all kinds. Those among us who can't turn it off and don't know why anyone would want to. We challenge complacency, destroy apathy, and we are obsessed with creating momentum so we can roll over bureaucracy and make our greatest contribution, should we pay attention to their rules, but only so that we can bend them, break them, then rewrite them around our own will. We don't accept our destiny. We define it. We don't understand defeat because you only lose if you stop. And we don't know how. While the rest of the world strives for average and clings desperately to the status quo, we are the minority. The few who are willing to hallucinate there could be a better future. And instead of just daydreaming of what could be, we endure the vulnerability and exposure it takes to make it real. We are the evolutionary hunters, clearly the most important people in the world, because entrepreneurs are the only source of consistent, positive human evolution. And we always will be. Welcome back to the podcast and thank you so much for listening. I really appreciate it. You know, before I get to our subject today of of course, you are failing. I just want to give you a quick personal update on some things that are going on with me and my company and just some some really incredible insights that I've had, you know, over the past few months. I a few months ago and really for the past year, I've been feeling like I needed some time and space. And this is something that I hear from entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs who feel stuck or a few who feel like the business hasn't grown like they want it to, where they're they're not making the impact that they want to. And as entrepreneurs, when we feel like we're not making the impact, we want to, oftentimes we feel the need to just push through it, to go over it, to go under it, to just keep pushing and sometimes backing away and giving yourself time and space will give you the clarity you need. And I did that a few months ago. We stopped a ton of the projects in our company. We continue to deliver to our members and they are getting phenomenal results. But I reduced the size of my team. I closed down a ton of pressure and noise, just like I coach other people too, and gave myself time and space to the point where I've only been working less and less and have a full time job in my business, probably 12 to 20 hours a week, maybe less in some weeks. And it has been incredible having time and space. Having this time has allowed me to reevaluate what we do as a company and look at the product through a different set of eyes. And I've jumped on a few sales calls and talked to people that are coming towards us, and it has just been one of the most profound and incredible learning experiences I've had. I don't think I've ever really done this like to back off this much as I have in the past few months. And here's what's interesting. Our business has not fallen apart. In fact, over the last couple of days, we're actually growing and we're getting more people into the program than we were before when we had all the projects and we had all the things. So that has been really fascinating and it has given me this new perspective on what we do as a company, and it's been exciting. I'm sharing this with you because I'm sure I'll share more here on the podcast coming up soon. But Katie and I have actually sat down and we're looking at our product and what we do through a different set of eyes. We are going to do a full product revision of everything that we do on touching literally every single thing that one of our members comes in contact with and from the ground up, rebuild our product. Now, I don't know the next steps to that. You know, I don't know what that will lead to in marketing and what that will lead to in adjustments and how we deliver the product or what that will lead to an adjustment of of any of the other variables in our product. But I have this sincere belief that putting effort into the product and putting in the time that we need to into what we sell and redoing everything and questioning everything and verifying and validating everything is going to completely change things for us. And so if you're a regular listen to the podcast, you'll get updates about this. One of the places that I've drawn a tremendous amount of inspiration is a book called The Perennial Seller by Ryan Holiday. And if you haven't read it yet, I would highly recommend it in a world where and this is from the book, you know, he says In a world where we're taught to spend 20% of the time on the product and 80% of the time on the marketing, we really should look at what would happen if we just build an incredible product. And, you know, when Katie and I had a real estate business, we did that. We had the certified distressed property expert. We had a massive amount of confidence in the product. We revised it probably 12 times in the first year, maybe more, and it became the absolute number one product in its category, not beating all other competitors, but beating all other competitors combined. And that is the thought process we're using for this next phase in our business. And I just wanted to share that with you. I think, you know, this podcast is not really a dialog. It's new from one direction. But I also want to share with you the dialogs that I'm having in my life because they may be insightful for you. My friend Dennis Welch always says everything good happens in a dialog or anything important happens in a dialog, and I truly believe that. And so wanted to give you that quick, quick update. And then I also want to share this concept with you of failing as an entrepreneur, this concept of feeling pressure as an entrepreneur, you know, I've had a bunch of conversations. I'll share one of them with you. Recently, one of our members reached out and was looking for support. And she's at that point where she's just hitting $1,000,000 business and she's getting a ton of market validation and having corporations reach out to her. And there's a lot that's going right, but there's also a lot that has become incredibly challenging. And she is having as much she isn't getting as many sales as she was before. Her lead generation has slowed down a little bit and she's feeling like. There's a ton of stuff that just isn't working out. And she, in the message she left me, said something like, you know, I feel like I'm being challenged in every direction. And I left her message back and said, Of course you are. You know, that's really what it's like for us as entrepreneurs when we're growing a business. Each new stage of growth, we get to get to each new level. We get to present a wholly unique and new challenge. In fact, you can't anticipate the challenges you have as an entrepreneur because until you've grown to the place where you see the new challenges, you don't even know they're there. Up to and including like ultimate success. You know, when I think of ultimate success as entrepreneurs, like I had somebody once tell me that, you know, ultimate success would be to sell my business for eight figures. Well, it doesn't sound like there's challenges with selling your business for eight figures. It sounds like that would be like the most incredible thing that's ever happened. But I actually just had a conversation at lunch with a friend of mine where he's gotten a really substantial offer on his business that he's turning down. And I said, you know, and he said, What do you think? And I said, Well, I want you to know if your shopping offers, if you're talking to people, one of the most difficult days as an entrepreneur in entrepreneur's life is the day after you sell. I've been there. I didn't actually, you know, my first company that I had in my twenties, I didn't actually sell the whole company. I sold contracts, I sold assets, I sold parts of the company, but I made a decent amount of money and it was an exit. And that exit of the company, when I finally had sold the last contract, you know, that day, I was like, Yes, I've done it. I'm out of this. The next day was one of the hardest days of my entrepreneurial career, because I went from this place of connection and flow and energy and validation, and this company needing me and people needing me and contracts, needing me to a vacuum. And so there is no point in transition in an entrepreneur's life. There's no point in transition in our lives. And our business is where the next step creates zero noise. In fact, we are those people who get up every day looking for the obstacles, the deficit, the challenge. And that's just who we are. You know, I just feel like if it gets too easy for us, then it's not even really worth it. In fact, if you think about the highest periods of momentum in your life, like think about one right now, you will find that those periods of momentum correlate with some of the most difficult times in your life. And it's important for us to remember that, because when we're in momentum is when we're overcoming challenges. It's when we're breaking through. It's when we're making things happen is when we are. That's when we're really, like, growing and on the hunt and when we feel fully engaged. And I've actually done some writing around this. You know, I wrote a Facebook post that got a tremendous amount of activity, and I want to read it to you to close out this podcast, because this is a letter to every entrepreneur who feels like they're failing, who feels like they just can't do it, who feels like it's getting too hard, and who feels like they're not going to be be able to overcome the next step. Let me share with you. It reads, Of course you are failing. That's how it works when you're growing a business because you do something new every single day. When you're growing a business, you will always be failing. Stop beating yourself up for it. The way a business grows is by fixing all the breaks as they come up. Failure is a natural part of the process and necessary part of the process. Most people don't talk about this because anyone trying to tell an entrepreneur how to grow a business is afraid to tell them how it's going to be, that it's going to be hard. And it is. It's one of the hardest things you can ever do with your life, but it's also one of the most rewarding. Growing a business is a consistent is a commitment to consistent and constant failures. Have you ever wondered where the 40 from WD 40 came from? That's how many times it took to get the formula right. Anyone who tells you that you can stick the landing on the first try is trying to sell you something and you should run from them. Business equals experimentation and memory and measurement on a daily basis so that you can understand what you should be doing next. After a while, you realize failures aren't really failures at all. Each one of them is an opportunity to reinforce your infrastructure, build your team, and strengthen your company. Next time you start beating yourself up because everything is going wrong, realize it's probably because that much is going right. And as a business grows, so do its deficits. It's your job as a CEO to fix them as fast as they come up. If you're beating yourself up and asking yourself, Why is this always happening to me? I want you to know you are not alone. This has happened to all of us and it keeps happening. After a while your perspective will shift and it will get easier. But it will never be easy. If it was easy, you wouldn't care. Your business is broken, and if things go well, it always will be. The only perfect business is one that is closed. It has no customers, no team, and no issues. I don't ever want to see this happen to you. You don't want a perfect business. You want one that is adaptable. That way, you and your team can overcome any issue, competitor, market condition or obstacle in your way. Perfect businesses don't exist anywhere other than in sales, letters and marketing materials for people. Hiding the problems in theirs don't get sold. You are doing it right. It is never perfect and it never will be. If you've been struggling like every one of us does, if you've been facing obstacles in your business, I want you to know this is how it is. And like I said, it's probably because you're doing it right. If you'd like to have some frameworks that can help you through those obstacles and help you overcome what you're going through as an entrepreneur, learning from other people's mistakes and other people's issues is one of the fastest way to get ahead. Fastest ways to get ahead. You can go to simple operations dot com, sign up for a call with my team and let us talk you through our solutions. And whether you jump on a call or not, I want you to know if it's difficult, if you're feeling a challenge, if you're feeling like there's an obstacle in your way, that's who we are. That's what we live for as entrepreneurs. If it was easy, we would be doing something else. And don't ever forget it. If you'd like to jump on a call with us, go to simple operations dot com. Otherwise, I really appreciate it. Appreciate you being here today and thank you so much for being a podcast listener and take a minute to think about this one. Is there an entrepreneur you know that you should share this with? If so, copy the link right now. Send it to them and tell them how much you love them. Thanks for being the listener. Thanks for being here today. [00:00:01][0.0]