Starting A Startup

A lot can happen in 9 months. Many people over estimate what they can accomplish in a week and under estimate what they can accomplish in a year. Here is the update to what was accomplished between both companies in since the last update along with lessons learned.

As the companies grow, things begin to look different. They are not better or worse, they are just.... different. The feelings involved with those changes will always pass on as we move into the next change. The only things we can do is choose how we want to experience that change.

A friend once told me "Say yes and then figure the rest out later." I thought that was an irresponsible way to live. Then, I realized it is how I should live. Weird... It worked!

Being able to modify and move is one of the most important aspects of running a business. Whether you are a seasoned company or an early startup, rigidity can end you. There are no shortage of surprises that happen in business. The only rigidity that keeps your business strong are your core values and ethics of operation. How you act and adapt to these surprises should be anchored in those. You should be willing to die on the mountain for those values. Everything else can and will change, be prepared to be surprised CONSTANTLY. Things rarely turn out the way you expect them to.

Pointing fingers has s negative connotation. When yopu hear the phrase, you may think of "blame". Sometimes though, a different finger pointing is exactly what you need. Pointing your finger to the horizon or to provide accountability will grow your business.

Habits quickly form whether they are good or bad. Holding others accountable for top performance also helps hold yourself accountable. Appreciate those in your life that identify ways to help you grow through criticism. Learn to love criticism and critique. Eliminate the emotion and listen to the message. Grow yourself by enjoying the pain of improvement and change.

Whether it is your friends, your vendors, your employees, or your mentors, surrounding yourself with great people is something everyone knows is a key to success. Can you stake a claim to a squad? Have YOU built your badasses? Who have you raised up grown developed or mentored? It is your responsibility to grow others as much as it is to grow yourself.

Your mind is freshly turned soil. If you don't do something with it, shit is going to grow there that you don't have any use for. Rip out those weeds and start planting your seeds. Dreams are the seedlings of reality.

With chaos, lack of control can be pervasive in your thoughts. Finding what it is you have control over and focusing on positive thinking and executing will bring you back to the top. This update has examples of how dire things can feel and how you can grab the steering wheel and regain control over your journey.

The strong survive any new obstacle but those that thrive are the ones who are willing to adapt. As people claim measurable failure due to things outside their control, many of us look at those failures as an excuse over a long standing weakness. Find the direction you need to go and move. Adaptation is more important than stability.

I bring on one of my favorite guests Tony Grace again where we talk about challenges with hiring people for things you do not know anything about. We also dive into the political issues of Covid and discuss some of the potential future outcomes we will see and concerns with the perception of them.

A few weeks after the most intense injury of my life, I reflect on the last 3.5 weeks of pain and the lessons learned. This could be the greatest challenge of my life. Largest economic swing of a lifetime coupled with a critically injured leader. Even at my worst, I will conquer this. I have never been more ready for this....

What happens when we speak out against something new? When did caring for yourself like you care for others go away? We have a GIANT problem out there and no one is saying what everyone is thinking. This problem is not going to go away. This problem needs to be faced head on. Society will decide that quick enough and we will find out, it was all just a bad dream.

I drive my custom made car "The Mini Buggy" home. Every level of fear, stress, panic, exhilaration, excitement, confidence, and achievement were experienced. I HAD to walk you through the mentality of what it feels like to be 100% committed to a terrible idea and how it feels when you succeed. Are you afraid or are you exhilarated?

As a pandemic sweeps the nation, the High Caliber Team springs into action to..... make fun of it. In the process, we were able to think clearly, be prepared, and give back. It is not as much work as it may seem. You want to give back, why don;t you? It doesn't take much....

EVeryone talks about building your following and best standardized practices. What are you doing it for though? Whether starting a new job, business, gym membership, group activity, why is it you are doing it? Yes, you need to know how to do it the best. Yes, you need to constantly learn and evolve. At the end of the day though, does it make you feel good? Do you enjoy it? Does it serve YOU? If the answer is "NO" to any of that, you will not be successful in it.

We ran the combined tracks and had a blast! So many things come to me after another day on the floor. Why do businesses not live below their means constantly? When and where should I invest the profits? What am I doing this for? What does my family want? What job is the priority. These are the real questions. Have you asked them yet?

After spending 7 days in Europe, it is time to pull some of this shit out of my head and execute. Here is a synopsis of my first experience doing business and collaborating in person overseas. Business is the same. Make friends. Friends help each other achieve. I also get a chance to share my key takeaways from the education seminar on email campaigns and marketing basics.

All changes take time to establish and mature. It takes maniacal effort to identify and create those changes but implementation is where it all can either fall apart or completely come together. Considering everything that each change can affect is an exhausting process but as your ship gets larger, it is going to take more time to turn. You need to see the obstacles ahead before it is too late.

On this Turkey Day, I get a chance to reflect on the years goals and achievements and how we got there. It was not a rule, it was a destination. To get there, we needed to think critically of each step down to the bite size piece and hold ourselves accountable to take those bites. Everything needs a plan to be successful. That is why resolutions suck. They are just rules and rules are destined to be be broken. It is all about achievements. That is something that can be fueled by passion.

All it is really is flipping the switch. Choosing to choose. Find the positives and fun in life and you will find that life is really positive and fun! Work on developing the control of that switch.

Thinking about thinking. That is a deep thought to think about thinking about. YAY PHILOSOPHY! What does it mean to do your best? When have you truly expected greatness from yourself? You expect it from others and accept your failures. How do you do the same for everyone else and reduce the failures they ex[experience. Create the energy that pulses and crashes postivity around you and everyone you go by. Be the best you so that everyone else feels like they have the ability to attain more.

A long overdue update from the busiest part of the business thus far. We all worked until we were brainless and crossed the finish line. Many lessons have been learned and we are still stepping into new territory and discovering new versions of what we want to be everyday. Every step though aligns us closer with our North Star of creating JOY.

We are getting ready to cross the finish line that is our first facility open. Literally only 1 week left. Everything is blowing up with urgency and issues and there is absolutely zero doubt that we are stressed. But why? Why are we so stressed and pressured? I feel more purpose in my life than I have ever before. I would not trade any of these challenges for an easy life. You shouldn't want to either.

People for some reason have a hard time understanding how to connect. They don't understand how to build a culture. They read all the books in the world, they listen to all the advice. They listen to this god damn podcast! All that matters is making connections and giving a shit about that person. The world is not complicated, human emotion is. Take the sage advice of treating others the way you want to be treated and connect with those complicated emotions.

Your team is your everything. Getting them all on the same path requires you to listen to the path they want to go on. Everyone wants to be part of something successful. Being a PART of something requires 2 way communication. Listen to your team and kill your ego. Learn from my mistake and be better.

Where are you now compared to where you were 10 years ago? You made HUGE steps in your life over the last 10 years. Now, you have a team to help you grow faster. Whether it is your core group of friends, family, coworkers, or business groups, this group is there to elevate you. If you can grow this much without much determination, imagine what you can do over the next 10 years with a focused intention and direction? You can do anything.

Taking the time to understand yourself or your business from a customers perspective is vital to the health of your venture. Take the time to look at how the customers flow, what obstacles they may face, how to make things easier for them and how to make sure they have a relaxed environment. I will go over how we approached this process and some of the fun stories behind how we came to the layout and packages we offer.

We all have that "thing" that we say we need to do or keep telling ourselves we are doing when we are absolutely not. That "thing" is likely the key to your next level in life or business. Push to fail, push to be "too early". the thing you will learn will make everything in your life better.

Whether you are starting your race or picking up the baton, the race to the top has no finish line. I am joined by the CEO of a fourth generation company and discuss the differences in the operational changes and obstacles they face in an established business. The challenges never go away, mindset is still king, it is just a different leg of the race.

All the updates! Delegating divisions, Closing with the bank and the SBA 7a Funding Process, Restaurant package submission, Scoping your competition, filming and recording, and allowing others to succeed. Get ready for ALL the information the last month should have brought you.

People are amazing if you give them the opportunity and help them. It is amazing, they will return the favor! Don't let people be anything but their best. #BeHighCaliber is born.

Your brain is a super highway system of thoughts. The more you think about something, the faster and more efficiently you can act on it. Now, imagine those superhighways constantly growing from positive thought. Keep adding lanes to that highway and your world becomes positive. "A person is what they thinks about everyday."

I have learned the hard way about not looking at all options. No other way is it more obvious in the mistakes you will make and the money it will cost as it is in with hiring am employee or getting a bid for a project. Every time I have looked at all my options, my decision has turned out better and more effective. Do not be afraid of the work because the results will prove the value in it.

How are you viewing life and you influence on it? Change your perception and you can change your reality. It is really a lot easier than it sounds. Wait, no it's not, it is exactly as easy as it sounds.

The lease negotiation is back underway! I went in head held high and left feeling triumphant. That feeling swept away the more and more i said what the deal was out loud. Quickly realizing where I stand, it is time to make adjustments to get back on top. What do you do when you are not the best at what you are about to do?

It takes a community to create anything. The bigger the project, the bigger the community. Any resources you need are closer than you may imagine by tapping into your community. Friends, Family, and Co-workers all can help you find everything that you are looking for.

Life, both personal and professional require intent and strategy to pursue effectively. Tracking progress is like following a road map and using landmarks. You can only get to where you want to go when you know the steps you need to take to get you there.

"Gratitude is the least experienced human emotion" Good luck changing that. Winners keep raising the bar so it is very difficult to bask in the glory. Be grateful for the process, not the result. The result is just keeping score.

As I sit here waiting on a call from the bank that is indicating a denial, my acceptance turns concern which turns to anger which turns to the burning passion to not let this bother me. How do you react to the bad news?

No matter who you are coming in contact with, make them your advocate. Build a following and an inner circle by being the person YOU respect the most.

No matter what it is that you are doing, someone is trying to make it obsolete. The core of Capitalism is improvement and progress. Making everything the best you can make it and you will be resistant to your competition making you obsolete.

There will be those that criticism, condemn, or just refuse to support you. It might make you question yourself. Everyone questions themselves. Choose to be convicted you are not ordinary. You are one of the ones "Chosen" to succeed. Without that, you will fail.

Choose your life, every day, every second, every interaction. What is keeping you from doing that is you and only you.

Your Mission, Vision, and Core Value of your company should be one of the most thought out documents you create. It is who you are. It is what you strive for. It is what you are there for everyday. If you can not say those things with pride, you are doing it wrong.

In this episode, I cover much of the components of commercial leases and negotiations we experienced while negotiating a 75,000 square foot retail space. Guaranteed to be one of many podcasts to come on this exact topic.

Things get harder as you progress. The stakes get bigger, and the doubters come in full speed. Do. Not. Give. Up.

What the hell is this hing worth? It is worth as much as you say it is worth and people are willing to buy it for. Let's get some specific numbers on paper here and try and get your starting point though. We will walk through that process and try to get your starting point.

Having direction is a lot easier than you might imagine. It is a flip of a switch mentally that separates those who succeed from those who don't. It is not magic, it is choices. If you could get everything you ever wanted by simply flipping a switch, wouldn't you do it? CHOOSING your future is just that.