"I'd Like To Be At A Billion" | Ep 241

Summary

Podcast Summary: "I'd Like To Be At A Billion" | Ep 241

Host: Leila Hormozi
Title: "I'd Like To Be At A Billion"
Release Date: February 14, 2025
Description: In this episode, Leila Hormozi delves into the challenges faced by entrepreneurs aiming for exponential growth. Through real-life listener questions, she offers actionable insights on scaling businesses, leadership, marketing strategies, and personal productivity.

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Introduction

In this episode, Leila Hormozi addresses a series of listener questions centered around scaling businesses to the billion-dollar mark. Each listener presents their unique challenges, and Leila provides tailored advice to help them overcome obstacles and achieve their ambitious goals.

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Listener 1: Patrick – Residential and Custom Homes

Business Overview:
Patrick sells residential remodeling and new custom homes to affluent clients. Last year, his business generated $1.3 million in revenue. His aspiration is to scale to a billion dollars.

Challenges:

• Focus and Vision: Struggles with staying focused on the current business while chasing long-term goals.
• Capacity and Expertise: Lacks the capacity and experience to execute large-scale projects directly.

Key Discussion Points:

1. Alignment of Current Actions with Future Goals (00:56 - 01:36):
   Leila emphasizes the importance of ensuring that present actions are directly linked to future objectives. She questions whether the foundational work Patrick is doing now is building towards his billion-dollar vision.

   “Do you see how what you're doing today ties to what you're going to be doing then?” (00:56)

2. Accelerating Growth Without Compromising Quality (02:21 - 06:23):
   Leila advises Patrick to eliminate limiting beliefs about slow growth. She suggests finding ways to speed up the process without breaking the business structure. This includes leveraging partnerships wisely and questioning the necessity of each step in the growth plan.

   “Maybe it's harder in construction, maybe it was harder in gyms... but it’s not useful and it's not going to lead to getting there faster.” (04:30)

   “Compress the timeline in half by finding other ways.” (05:45)

Conclusion:
Leila encourages Patrick to challenge his growth timeline and explore innovative methods to accelerate his business trajectory, ensuring that each move aligns with his long-term vision.

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Listener 2: Katie – Boudoir Portraits

Business Overview:
Katie operates a boudoir portrait business catering to women seeking empowerment and self-love. With 17 years in business, she achieved $1.2 million in revenue last year and aims for unlimited growth.

Challenges:

• Leadership Development: Frequently changes teams due to leadership issues.
• Improving Leadership Skills: Seeks resources to become a better leader beyond current strategies.

Key Discussion Points:

1. Learning from Diverse Leadership Models (07:30 - 09:40):
   Leila recommends studying leadership from various fields such as sports coaches and pastors. She highlights figures like John Wooden and Andy Stanley as examples of effective communicators and leaders.

   “I studied a lot of coaches for basketball teams, football teams, and then I've studied a lot of pastors.” (07:30)

2. Implementing the Pyramid of Success (09:40 - 10:39):
   Leila shares John Wooden’s Pyramid of Success as a tool for evaluating and improving leadership qualities within her team. She suggests rating team members on key traits to identify areas for development.

   “At the top was competitive greatness... I have to work on that.” (09:40)

3. Prioritizing Focus Areas (10:39 - 10:57):
   When addressing multiple leadership flaws, Leila advises focusing on one critical area at a time that offers the most significant return on effort.

   “Which rug is worth picking up?” (10:39)

Conclusion:
Leila encourages Katie to adopt structured leadership frameworks and focus on incremental improvements, enhancing her ability to build and retain effective teams.

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Listener 3: Trey Shenneman – Growth Strategy Consulting

Business Overview:
Trey provides growth strategy consulting and implementation for founder-led public figure brands. His business generated $1.5 million in revenue over the past year, aiming to double it to $3 million.

Challenges:

• Dual Business Units: Balancing consulting and implementation sides.
• Operational Independence: Seeking to expand the implementation side without over-reliance on himself.

Key Discussion Points:

1. Hiring the Right Talent (11:00 - 14:00):
   Leila advises against acquiring an agency solely based on revenue. Instead, she emphasizes the importance of finding individuals with relevant experience and the right attitude towards leadership and teamwork.

   “Find somebody who is humble, who's growth oriented, who wants to learn more than they want to be.” (12:57)

2. Avoiding Common Pitfalls in Hiring (14:00 - 14:35):
   Leila warns of hiring candidates who may resist authority or have an aversive attitude towards teamwork, which can disrupt business operations.

   “Are they aversive to authority?... It doesn't work when you're on a bigger team.” (13:10)

Conclusion:
Leila emphasizes the importance of strategic hiring, focusing on individuals who align with the company’s growth objectives and can operate autonomously within the business framework.

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Listener 4: Jane – Naturopathic Fertility Doctor

Business Overview:
Jane specializes in fertility as a naturopathic doctor, helping couples conceive. Her business achieved $700,000 in revenue last year, with goals to exceed $10 million.

Challenges:

• Overcomplicating Processes: Struggles with simplifying business operations, particularly in content creation.

Key Discussion Points:

1. Simplifying Content Creation (14:53 - 16:13):
   Leila suggests streamlining Jane’s content creation process by reducing steps and embracing more spontaneous methods like live streaming or selfie-style recordings to increase volume and authenticity.

   “The most important thing is that you out execute it.” (15:53)

2. Embracing Low-Effort Content Strategies (16:54 - 19:09):
   Leila advises focusing on content that feels natural and requires less effort, noting current trends favor more genuine and less polished content.

   “The more effort that you put into content, the more it becomes like you're an actor, not a content creator.” (18:16)

Conclusion:
Leila encourages Jane to adopt simpler, more authentic content strategies to enhance engagement and reduce the overwhelm associated with complex processes.

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Listener 5: Amy – Contingent Workforce Solutions for Cybersecurity Vendors

Business Overview:
Amy provides contingent workforce solutions to cybersecurity vendors, with a revenue of $5.6 million and a target of $10 million.

Challenges:

• Time Management and Admin Tasks: Struggles with balancing business demands and personal life, seeking ways to free up time.

Key Discussion Points:

1. Delegating Non-Core Tasks (20:11 - 24:36):
   Leila emphasizes the importance of hiring support staff such as executive assistants (EAs) to handle administrative tasks, allowing entrepreneurs to focus on high-impact activities.

   “Anything that is not the best use of my time... I would love you to help with.” (21:07)

2. Changing Mindset on Delegation (24:35 - 27:03):
   Leila highlights the necessity of viewing delegation as a strategic move to reclaim time and improve overall business efficiency.

   “It is selfish to allow your time to go to those things when you have that many people relying on you.” (23:18)

Conclusion:
Leila advises Amy to invest in support personnel early on, transforming how she manages her time and enhancing both personal well-being and business productivity.

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Listener 6: Thaddeus – Boutique Hotels in Oregon

Business Overview:
Thaddeus operates two hotels in Oregon, with current revenue of $4 million and an EBITDA of $1.5 million. He aims to scale to $10 million.

Challenges:

• Marketing Constraints: Limited marketing expertise and resources.
• Operational Involvement: Over-involvement in daily operations hindering growth.

Key Discussion Points:

1. Hiring Senior Marketing Roles (25:25 - 30:56):
   Leila recommends hiring a senior-level marketing professional who can strategize and execute marketing plans, freeing Thaddeus to focus on operations and expansion.

   “Hire a senior marketing role... to immediately get your time back.” (28:59)

2. Strategic Hiring Practices (30:56 - 34:26):
   Leila emphasizes proactive recruitment strategies, such as leveraging LinkedIn for finding qualified candidates and setting realistic expectations during the hiring process.

   “Set expectations low... give them three to six months to get acclimated.” (30:57)

Conclusion:
Leila advises Thaddeus to prioritize hiring experienced marketing leaders, thereby addressing both his marketing constraints and reducing his operational burden to facilitate scalable growth.

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Listener 7: Greg – Tax Strategy Services for Real Estate Investors

Business Overview:
Greg offers tax strategy services to real estate investors and blue-collar businesses, with a revenue of $850,000 aiming to reach $3 million.

Challenges:

• Employee Skill Gaps: Existing hires lack the necessary skills for the next level of growth.

Key Discussion Points:

1. Transparent Skill Assessment (31:42 - 34:26):
   Leila advises Greg to conduct honest assessments of his employees' skills against required roles, clearly identifying gaps and setting realistic expectations for growth or transition.

   “If somebody's aspiring for a role... I'll show you the gap.” (32:07)

2. Managing Employee Transitions (34:26 - 35:06):
   Leila underscores the importance of setting clear, manageable expectations and providing adequate time for new leaders to integrate and contribute effectively.

   “It has to be a very realistic expectation setting... give it three to six months.” (34:26)

Conclusion:
Leila recommends Greg implement structured skill evaluations and transparent communication with his team, fostering an environment where employees understand their development paths and the company’s growth expectations.

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Listener 8: George – Wealth Advisory and Tax Planning

Business Overview:
George runs a wealth advisory and tax planning business generating $9 million annually with 47% margins. His goal is to scale to $25 million within the year.

Challenges:

• People Constraints: Needs to hire staff more rapidly to meet growing demand.
• Balancing Distributions and Reinvestment: Struggles with managing personal distributions while ensuring the business has sufficient funds for growth.

Key Discussion Points:

1. Managing Personal Distributions (35:06 - 36:10):
   Leila advises George to balance personal financial well-being with business reinvestment by taking distributions that allow him to feel secure enough to take calculated risks within the business.

   “You take enough distributions so that you feel comfortable taking risk in your business.” (35:06)

2. Risk Management Through Personal Savings (36:10 - 36:19):
   She emphasizes the importance of having personal savings to mitigate business risks, ensuring that personal financial stability does not hinder business decision-making.

   “If you have enough, you feel like you can take that risk.” (35:10)

Conclusion:
Leila encourages George to establish a balance between personal financial security and business reinvestment, enabling him to make strategic growth decisions without personal financial constraints.

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Listener 9: Cheryl – Printable PDF Travel Itineraries

Business Overview:
Cheryl and her husband sell printable PDF travel itineraries for destinations in the western United States, generating $450,000 annually with plans to scale to $3 million.

Challenges:

• Product Pricing Constraint: Currently selling itineraries at $50 each, limiting growth potential.
• Exploring High-Ticket Items: Considering the addition of high-ticket items like tours but concerned about the associated risks.

Key Discussion Points:

1. Introducing High-Value Products (36:27 - 37:15):
   Leila suggests experimenting with high-ticket items that align closely with Cheryl’s existing offerings, such as physical maps or enhanced digital products, to test market feasibility without overextending resources.

   “Do an experiment before you do the entire entire change.” (37:15)

2. Executing Small-Scale Tests (37:15 - 39:00):
   She advises launching small-scale pilot projects to assess the viability and execution quality of new offerings, ensuring that any expansion is met with exemplary execution to validate the strategy.

   “Test it first for real... ensure you have the right execution.” (37:15)

Conclusion:
Leila recommends Cheryl adopt a test-driven approach to introducing high-ticket items, ensuring that each new product aligns with customer needs and is executed flawlessly before scaling.

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Notable Quotes

• “Maybe it's harder in construction, maybe it was harder in gyms... but it’s not useful and it's not going to lead to getting there faster.” – Layla Hormozi (04:30)
• “If you have enough distributions, you feel like you can take that risk.” – Layla Hormozi (35:06)
• “The more effort that you put into content, the more it becomes like you're an actor, not a content creator.” – Layla Hormozi (18:16)

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Conclusion

In "I'd Like To Be At A Billion," Leila Hormozi provides invaluable guidance to entrepreneurs striving for significant business growth. By addressing diverse challenges—from leadership development and marketing strategies to personal productivity and product diversification—Leila equips her listeners with the insights needed to navigate the complexities of scaling a business effectively. Her emphasis on strategic hiring, authentic content creation, and balanced financial management serves as a roadmap for those aspiring to build unshakeable, billion-dollar enterprises.

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Subscribe for More Insights:
New episodes are released every Monday and Wednesday. Join Leila as she continues to share lessons on scaling big businesses and building a billion-dollar portfolio through acquisition.com.

Transcript

[Patrick]

My name is Patrick. I sell residential remodeling and new homes, custom homes, to wealthy individuals. We do 1.3 in revenue last year. I'd like to be at a billion. Yeah, funny.

[Layla]

Me, too.

[Patrick]

Yeah. So what's stopping me, obviously, is me. But I guess more. More seriously is I know that, like, the end goal is for me to do development. That's probably 30, 40 years, you know, to get to the billion or whatever it is. 25, who knows? The question is, is how do you stay focused enough on the thing you're doing right now and the current track and the current business you're at and not get sidetracked to where you want to be? Because my problem is, is that I chase where I want to be at in 10 years. And I'll take opportunities, I'll take those meetings. I'll take this, I'll take that. But I have no capacity to actually be there, let alone the experience to build a $100 million building.

[Layla]

Understood. So I would ask you this, which is, do you see how what you're doing today ties to what you're going to be doing then?

[Patrick]

Yes. And part of me always questions is, am I wasting my time? But I have to be able to build out the framework of, hey, this is how we deliver products. We have a team to do it. If we can build a $2 million home, we obviously have a standard of what we do, and that'll allow us to build a $5 million commercial building. And it's very related. It's different, but it's related. But I always get trapped in, like, am I wasting the next four years of my life? Or is this next four years required to become the person in the company that we need to be in the future?

[Layla]

Well, I'd ask you this, which is. Is it that you don't think that you're. Because you said it's me stopping me. Right. Or do you mean that it's the business model? Like, is there a way that you could just go straight into doing that?

[Patrick]

I always question this, and I tried this last year. And what it comes down to is that I basically have to. It's all partnerships, and it's no longer the company that I want to build. It's everyone else's company. And I can do that. I can bring in people and experts that are way smarter than me, people that can raise way more money than me. I'm fine with that. But I don't want to live up to their lower standards and sacrifice the business that we should be building. The buildings that we should be building and the company that we should be building.

[Layla]

So I'll say this, where I want to go also involves partnerships. But finding the right partner might take one, two, in some cases three years. Because you've got to look for the person, you've got to network, you've got to talk to people. I don't think that many people get to a multi, you know, billion, multi, billion dollar company in the sector you're speaking of without strong partnerships. But it sounds like maybe you've met some shitty people that have tainted your view because like it's construction. Understood. But I mean I've had many people, I have had many people come here in construction who have been like stand up humans. And so I will say like it exists. It would just take more time to find. So like I'm oscillating between two things for you, which is like, I do think it's possible that you could accelerate your path. I think that like the, the okay, let me tell you this. Maybe it's harder in construction, maybe it was harder in gyms, maybe it's harder when you're a public figure, maybe it's harder in different situations. That's not a useful thought for you. It's like, maybe it's true, but it's not useful and it's not going to lead to getting there faster. And so I might say like, that might be true, but it's not going to help me. So fuck it, I'm going to get rid of that thought. I think the second piece to it is like, I like the idea of you laying a really deep foundation and it sounds like you understand that all the steps that you're doing to get there. But I also like questioning when I have a plan, is there a way that I could do this five times faster that wouldn't break everything? And I think that that's actually like where I've stopped myself in the past and where I've had to learn is like, I'm definitely good at, I may get rich for sure. Get successful for sure. Be a great leader for sure. Not fast. Like I know how to do everything for sure. Not necessarily fast, but so where I have to like come in and play red chair in my own mind is I have to say, how could you do that in half the timeline? What would you have to do to compress the timeline in half? And that's something that I have to ask myself because I tend to lean towards like, I don't care how long it takes, as long as I get there for sure. So you have to know what type of person you are and how you manage yourself in that situation. Like, I know that I have to come in and basically question how fast I'm doing things, because I already know the for sure way. But are there some tests of speed I can make along that for sure path? And so I think for you, it sounds like you know the for sure way, but maybe it is worth questioning, are there other ways even. And I would even say this even besides the partnerships that I could get there in half the time and I will make myself, when I don't like a solution that I have, I will make myself. I'll say, until you come up with a third option that is good and that is exciting, then do not move forward with either of these. So maybe there's a third door that you haven't thought about. And so that's probably how I would think about it if I were you. I don't think it needs to, and I don't think it should take you that many years. Like, in the day and age that we live in right now, 25 years, I would be like, how do you get there in 4, 5? It's absolutely possible now, even though it's construction. Like, think about all the things that are changing right now. I mean, we're gonna have robots this year. You know what I mean? Maybe you can hire them to build for you for real. So I also think, just like, one thing that's really difficult is some of the best business books of all time that are written are a decade old. They take nothing into consideration of how quickly things move now. Because the rate of innovation is like this. The rate of human progress is like this. And so one thing that I always keep in mind when I'm talking to somebody who sold their business five or 10 years ago, when I'm reading a book from a decade ago, when I'm all that is, everything's so different now. Everything can go so much faster. So I think questioning that and thinking, how do I do this in five years? And I truly believe you could be standing here in five years and absolutely be at 100 million or a billion. Honestly, I don't think that's improbable at all. It's just the question's always, what would it take? You know, like, I know what it would take for acquisition. And that's just a matter of, am I willing to make that trade?

[Patrick]

Thank you very much.

[Layla]

For sure.

[Katie]

My name's Katie. I sell boudoir portraits to women Seeking some kind of empowerment or self love kind of vibe, or possibly a gift for a significant other. But whatever we do, we did 1.2 last year and I want to be like way bigger than that. I don't even have a number. I'm just kind of looking at unlimited growth.

[Layla]

What year are you in business?

[Katie]

17.

[Layla]

Okay.

[Katie]

So yeah, I did 40 sessions beginning of the year, 1.2. By the end of the year, just cause we're scaling up.

[Layla]

That's really good.

[Katie]

Decided to go for it. My question is, I've had multiple teams over time and almost exactly a year apart, I've entirely fired the entire team. Cause it wasn't working out. Obviously I was the problem. Of course I'm trying to figure out, other than stalking your podcast, which your team has told me on multiple occasions to do and I already do, what other sources can I like learn to be a better leader. Obviously doing it and like going through the motions helps, but what other recommendations would you have?

[Layla]

You know, I don't study a lot of people in business leadership. I study a lot of people in ancillary industry. So I've studied a lot of coaches for basketball teams, football teams, and then I've studied a lot of pastors. Because if you think about it like a lot that speak to leadership, especially because if you own 100 churches, you are a leader. Right? And they also have a very good way of communicating because guess what, they do sermons as well. So I actually would look in both of those niches to look at people who you could learn from. Like John Wooden. He's somebody that I've read like pretty much all books written about him and that he's written, I think on. On the other side, I really like Andy Stanley and Craig Grueschel. I like both of their content a lot and resonate with a lot of it.

[Katie]

Are they podcast books?

[Layla]

Podcasts. Those ones. And all of these are podcast handbooks. To be fair, I would just look those people up and then see what you like. I mean, if you just googled best coaches of all time, NBA top three, it's like what makes those people who can create great teams over and over again. And you'll see a lot of similar things. I think one thing that I really loved from John Wendy's is he had this thing called the pyramid of success. And it was essentially like a pyramid of all the characteristics that go into being a great competitor. And at the very top was competitive greatness. That's one of our core values now. And the reason is because I thought it was, like, such a kitschy phrase, and I just, like, really, really resonated with it, right? Because it's really somebody who, like, loves being excellent because they just. They want to be excellent. Not because of the money, not the fame, not anything. It's just, like, they love being excellent. That pyramid in itself, it's something to study, but it's also something to look at and rate yourself with. So something I did is I took his Pyramid of Success and I brought it to my leadership team multiple different times. And I said, great. So I'm gonna walk you through. Each of these character traits are that go into being a fantastic. Like, they say team player or leader. And I had people rate themselves on a scale of 1 to 10 on each of those things. If you read his book the Pyramid of Success, you will see. And then I said, great. Which one are you? Lowest. Okay, let's start there. We're gonna work on that. And I do that with myself as well. Now. I haven't done that one a few years. I think at this point, I usually have a good level of awareness as to, like, what I'm doing wrong. Because I just look at the team around me and say, where are their deficits? And then that's point back to myself.

[Katie]

Yeah, I just have so many, like.

[Layla]

Oh, well, I would say this, which is, like, if you have a lot of things that you need to work on, you don't do yourself any favors trying to work on more at once. That's the first thing. And I would say the second thing is, like, which one do you get the most return on your effort for? Like, if you fix that one thing, you would get more bang for your buck than if you fixed a million other things. Right? Like, there's a lot of businesses. Like, businesses are always broken. There's always shit that's, like, not going well. It's like under a rug. Like, when I say bugs under rug, it's just like, don't. Yeah, don't pick that one up. Like, there's a bunch of shit under there. Businesses always have that. It's just like, which rug is worth picking up? Because you're like, oh, there's actually, like, a venomous spider under this one, and it will kill me if I do not get it right. It's like, I think about character traits like that. Like, if I don't fix this about myself, will it be detrimental to my business or to my life in general? And then I start with that one first. So basically, like, which one is more likely to kill Me. Great. And I start there, might die.

[Trey Shenneman]

Hey Layla, thank you for being here. My name is Trey Shenneman. I sell growth strategy, consulting and implementation to founder led public figure brands.

[Layla]

Nice.

[Trey Shenneman]

We did 1.5 million in revenue in the last 12 months. I'd like to be at 3 this year. What's stopping right now is I sort of have two business units within the business. I have the consulting side and then the implementation side.

[Layla]

Okay.

[Trey Shenneman]

On the consulting side, that's 100% me. And there's a constraint within the constraint. And that we've just got some personal family medical stuff going on this year. That's going to mean I can't contribute as much time to the business. I think I've the team's help today. I think I've got some ideas on how to solve that one. My question for you is on the other side. So there was a slide that Ed put up in the first. Talk about when you're going to build a marketing function out, you should hire the people in an agency. We are the agency. People hire when they want to learn how to insource it eventually, which naturally means we have an end date. So from a continuity standpoint, it's going to be six, nine or 12 months. And then if we've done our jobs well, we're going to be off the table. So I would really like to expand that business and operationalize it even more without me having to be as involved in it, if that makes sense. So my question to you around is like, what if you were to make a single hire into a business? Like knowing that that's a business of itself, it does about 850,000. About 50% of revenue is in that business. Would you, would you look to hire someone from, you know, agency experience, like acquire an agency and bring them in, maybe add their revenue in as a way to kind of get the operator. If that makes sense that you're looking forward to on the agency side.

[Layla]

Let me ask you one question to clarify. So you say it's the implementation side of growth consulting. That can mean a few things. Do you mean is it mainly focused on marketing and sales?

[Trey Shenneman]

100%. Okay, 100% focused on marketing.

[Layla]

Would I buy someone's agency based on your revenue and the revenue they'd be coming in at? Maybe, but probably not. Because most agencies.

[Trey Shenneman]

I agree, that's my passion about I'll.

[Layla]

Buy it and then you can burn it down. You know what I mean? It's like what do you buy? Buying? Yeah.

[Trey Shenneman]

If you just want.

[Layla]

Yeah. And so it's like if you just want one person, I think that giving somebody like, I mean, the question I would say is like, how much were you going to offer to buy it for? It's like just see if you can pay that person as a sign on bonus. You know what I mean? If I were trying to find somebody to do that, I think there's a few different things which is like, I don't think that's the only avatar that you could go for. I think that equivalent skill sets that I could tell you is like somebody who's run an agency that does a million dollars a year, somebody who's worked in a company where they've run their own division.

[Thaddeus]

Yeah, sure.

[Layla]

Also probably has the same skills. The difference is this, which is, you know, we have a, like a quite a mix. Like 50, 50 of that type of person. The piece you have to be careful on if you bring somebody in who's had their own, is that are they aversive to authority? So I've probably brought in accidentally two people that are obviously not on the team who, you know, said they wanted to learn, to grow, etc. But then when they come in, well, you do have somebody telling you what to do now. Right. And you don't make the final call. And that's just part of being usually on a team. If you're not the very top of the team. And they were just like completely aversive to that, like just general. Didn't like the idea of people telling them what to do or having any influence over what they did at all. And so that doesn't work when you're on a bigger team and you're trying to grow a big business. If you can find somebody who's humble, who's growth oriented, who wants to learn more than they want to be. Right then I think that that's a great person to look for.

[Trey Shenneman]

Okay, thank you very much.

[Layla]

Absolutely.

[Jane]

I'm Jane. Can I put this down a little? So I'm an naturopathic doctor and I specialize in fertility. So I help couples who are struggling.

[Layla]

Thank you for the perfume. That was so sweet of you.

[Jane]

Did I send you? No, that wasn't me.

[Layla]

Wait, what?

[Jane]

That was somebody else.

[Layla]

Oh my goodness.

[Jane]

Okay, that wasn't me.

[Layla]

Okay, understood.

[Jane]

I'll take credit, but no. So I help couples who are struggling to conceive. Bringing healthy baby home. I did 700k last year. And then the immediate is like to get over a million and then to 10 million and then kind of see what I want to Do. The thing that I feel like is stopping me based on what I've learned is that I'm over complicating a lot of things. And so I guess the advice that I'd love, like, how can I catch myself when I'm doing that? So then I'm not continually, you know, it's like, I don't know what I don't know until you come and you're like, oh, my God, this should be so much simpler.

[Layla]

Okay, so let's give me an example of where you overcomplicate things and it's creating a problem.

[Jane]

Content creation, for example.

[Layla]

Okay.

[Jane]

Ed, lovingly just be in front of the camera. Just ask the questions that you know that the market needs to hear and then just pump that out.

[Layla]

Yeah. Instead of what are you doing right now?

[Jane]

Kind of like that. But then there's like an ideation station. Then my marketing person, like puts it into the calendar. And then I look through, I make sure it makes sense to flow. And then I have a filming day and then they do the editing and then I review.

[Layla]

Understood. Okay, which way do you like more?

[Jane]

I mean, when someone like blatantly points it out, I was like, well, I should do that because it sounds like volume is the game at the early stage. So I can't do high volume of what we're doing now because it's too, like, there's just too many things and I get overwhelmed. Plus, like, I still have to deliver. So, yeah, it's just like finding things that are simple but also still effective in going to where I want to go.

[Layla]

What type of content are you making right now?

[Jane]

We do. I mean, we just vary it from like, coaching to shift belief to character to conversion.

[Layla]

Okay, what do you want to talk about?

[Jane]

I mean, I can talk about lots of stuff. Like, that's not the problem. I find, like, if I get cued, I can just.

[Layla]

Right, so if you get cued. But how do you cue yourself?

[Jane]

Right now I'm in the chats a lot, so then I'll just see what the people are saying. And I'm like, oh, they just don't know what this is a problem.

[Layla]

So here's what I'm trying to figure out. When someone over complicates something, it's actually usually a form of procrastination to a degree. So is there a reason why when you don't make content, like, you might have an idea? Right. If I have an idea and I want to talk about something, I just go live? It's also a lot Less than a lot. Because usually I'm thinking about something. I call someone on my team because I have an idea for them. But if I have an idea about content, I'm like, oh, I should just go live. Or I should just do a Q and A. Or I should just. You know what I mean? So, like, what's. Where's the friction in between? Is it a thought? Is it a. I just think that.

[Jane]

Like, there's no structure then that I'm like. Because I have thoughts all the time. So I'll do. I'll write my thoughts into like a slack and then I'll dump that into the ideation station and then I'll, you know, it'll cue me. Oh, yeah, that's right. I had that thought a week ago or whatever. I can write content about this now.

[Layla]

Yeah, understood. I get what now? The thing.

[Jane]

Because if I just, like show up all the time, it'll be so random.

[Layla]

That's probably a good thing, huh?

[Jane]

Yeah. I don't know. Is it. Is that what it.

[Layla]

Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I mean, I was literally like in a meeting with my team earlier today because today was my content day and it was like, yet more going live on Instagram, more just like photos, whatever. I was like, I did. I was in Mexico. I went on, I did shorts, I did things, you know, But I will say this, if you don't allow, if you don't do it for a period of time, you're not going to see the results. Yeah, I get the best results on social media when I just like go live and there's like no structure. My highest performing podcasts in the last two quarters were all just like legitimately stream of consciousness rant. Like, it was just like me fucking. Just talking on my ass. I was like, I don't even know anymore. Like, I'm like, sorry, I don't even know. This makes sense. I'm like on the treadmill, like, huffing and puffing. I'm like, getting my cardio in. Here's the thing is that you have to look at what's the scarcest resource. So content specifically. No, no, no. In the marketplace.

[Jane]

Oh, okay.

[Layla]

Right. Everyone's making content now. Everyone looks like a content creator. So what do people want? They want the opposite of that. Highly produced was so, you know, let's go like five, six years ago, it was like lo fi. Then it swung to highly produced. Now all people see is like, highly produced, highly staged, highly edited. And it feels like nobody's actually getting to know the person. So now what is it doing? It's swinging back to lo fi. If you look at some of the creators that have come up that have been just, like, really fast growing, it's like them with a handheld, you know, and like a diary style. And so I think that in this instance, in this point in time in culture, doing the thing that takes the least effort and feels the least comfortable to you is probably the right thing to try. A lot of times in business, the more effort we put in, actually not the better. Right. So the more effort that you put into content, the more it becomes like you're an actor, not a content creator and not a real person.

[Jane]

Yep.

[Layla]

The more effort that you put into helping somebody on your team, the more you actually make them dependent on you and you take away their autonomy. Right. The more that you pour into your customers when you have time, the more you set wrong expectations that in the future it's going to look like that too. So, like, a lot of times we overcompensate for things. We actually make them worse, not better.

[Jane]

Yeah. And so, like, I do that.

[Layla]

Yep.

[Jane]

So, like, do I just stop doing it?

[Layla]

You just. It's not that. It's. You need to start doing something else. Start. Stop focusing on. Stop focusing on what you got. Stopped focusing on and say, what am I going to do instead? Instead of sending a slack to this person, I will just hit go live. Instead of sending a slack, I'm going to record a selfie style on my phone and then I'll send it to my editor. So it's what you do instead, not what you stop doing. Replace the behavior rather than just telling yourself to not do something. And once you see that the content performs, then you will be positively reinforced for it. And then I won't. You wouldn't have to remind yourself. You're just going to be like, oh, that works. I'll keep doing it.

[Jane]

Thank you.

[Layla]

Of course.

[Amy]

Hi, my name's Amy. I sell contingent workforce solutions to cybersecurity vendors. We do about 5.6 million in revenue. We've kind of grown 1mil a year. Love to be at 10mil by the end of the year. I wish I had a more intelligent question for you, but your team answered everything else over the last two days. This is my final one for you.

[Layla]

It's okay.

[Amy]

And I noticed in your content, you mentioned a lot about your EAs and them saving your life, and you had no idea what you needed help with. I'm already at the point where I kind of. I'm just putting all My time into the business and then my dog and that's it. Yeah. If we do hit the scale, I think we're going to hit it this year. I don't know how to create more time in my life. And I was wondering, like, what have you done that's really helped you kind of turn up and be your best for your team and kind of manage all the admin and like health insurance and everything else that helps your actual life go forward as well?

[Layla]

Oh, wow. Yeah. I don't even know what health insurance I have.

[Amy]

Yeah. I've moved countries and I've still got. Not got it set up. I've still insured in the wrong country right now.

[Layla]

Yeah.

[Jane]

Yeah.

[Layla]

I look at it like this, which is like. And some people as I share this, like, this is just personal to me. So, you know, if you love doing certain things that I list off, please keep doing them. I want to spend my time on the things and the people I love. Right. And so anything that is not that is what I want an ea, a PA and admin to help me do. And so when I got my first person, I basically said just like, as much as you can, that's not the most valuable thing that I'm doing, I would love you to help with. Right. And so then I always have built the teams out where it's like anything that I is absolutely not the best use of my time and doesn't go to somebody else on my team. Can you help me with? It's like, it could be meeting notes, it could be holding people accountable, it could be hosting guests, it could be an event, it could be the food I have at my house, it could be my wardrobe, it could be my makeup, my hair, my personal appointments, taxes. Buying a house, buying a building, cleaning, like anything. I just, I guess here's what I'm asking is like, do you want permission to get that person?

[Amy]

I feel like I'm too small to, like justify it right now, but I also just don't have enough time.

[Layla]

What? Dude, Like, I hired an EA when I think we were doing like $250,000 a month.

[Jane]

Okay.

[Layla]

I was like, oh, my God.

[Amy]

I got a cleaner for the first time last month. And that was game changing. I got a cleaner for the first time last month and that was.

[Layla]

Dude, I just like, the issue I have is I'll just stop. So, like, I just like stopped doing stuff. I was like, I look like a mess. The house is a mess. I think I don't smell good. Like, my eyebrows are bushy. Like, I need help. You know what I mean? So I think this, which is like, I just look at it like this, right? Like, I think your attention, it's like a jar of marbles. And it can be your business. It can be personal life. It can be personal things. It can be whatever. All those tiny little tasks. Ordering things on Amazon, making sure the house is clean. You know, laundry. Do I have food for tomorrow? Oh, shit. I ran out of this thing. Like, oh, did I follow up with that person? Did they do that task? Are they doing this? Like, what's happening here? What about my taxes? What about. That is all tiny little things, but they're all. Each like, say you have 100 attention points. Each one steals one or two. But if I have 25 attention points going towards my eyebrows, my. I smell. I don't have laundry. I need socks. Socks.

[Amy]

She just asks someone. And they organize appointments, right?

[Layla]

And so this. This is unacceptable. This 25%. This is why. I don't understand why people don't get an ea sooner. I. That's. I cannot tolerate that 25%. It, like, if I have to order something on Amazon, I'm like. I'm like, oh, I have to reorder eyelashes. You know, it's just like, why am I doing this with my time? I want to think about big shit, right? Because I feel responsible. Because you are responsible for all those people who rely on you for your clients and for the other people. And so it is selfish of you to try and keep these tiny tasks because you could be putting all that attention towards helping them grow, helping the company grow. Because if you achieve the company vision, they achieve theirs. And so you have to make that frame switch, which is, like, it is selfish to allow your time to go to those things when you have that many people relying on you. That's the switch I had to make to allow myself to have somebody to literally be like, where's my eyelash glue? Right? Because it felt so ridiculous at first. And so I think that what the smart thing to do is probably hire somebody who's an exception, experienced executive assistant, because they will be able to tell you a lot of the things they can do. Now I would say this. You probably want somebody that can do personal and business both. Don't start with one or the other. I would say start with somebody who can handle both those things. Like, hey, I want you to come in as an executive assistant. I also will need help with, like, food and laundry. And that's just what I'm gonna do in the beginning sure.

[Amy]

Thank you so much.

[Layla]

Of course.

[Thaddeus]

Hi, Leila. Pleasure meeting you. Hi, my name's Thaddeus. I sell rooms to guests, but boutique rooms in Oregon.

[Layla]

Oh, cool. Any hotel or a hotel?

[Thaddeus]

We operate two hotels. One's a boutique hotel. We took a no tell motel, made it to a boutique hotel. So we're ramping our final stages of our renovation. We do about 4 million in revenue, about 1.5 in EBITDA. We'd like to be at about 10 million in revenue. What's stopping us is me and our marketing. So our market's pretty small, about 10 hotels, but we're trying to stick out. And I know you and Alex talk about honing in on the quality of your product.

[Layla]

Right, Right. So explain to me your relationship with hotels. Because you said renovation, but then you also said we sell hotel rooms. So do you own the hotels?

[Thaddeus]

We own the hotels.

[Layla]

Okay, understood. But then Your market is 10 hotels. So what does that mean?

[Thaddeus]

So the. The market that we operate in has 10 hotels. So we're playing in total. Yeah, so we're playing in that market.

[Layla]

Okay. Do you plan to expand beyond that area?

[Thaddeus]

We would love to.

[Layla]

Okay, so with your revenue right now, is there a way that you could increase revenue at the current hotels that you have? How long have you had them?

[Thaddeus]

The one hotel we're focusing on is 2015. So almost. Almost 10 years now, so.

[Layla]

Oh, wow. Okay. So you've had it for 10 years and then the second one.

[Thaddeus]

The second was 2007. So that's actually running pretty well. I think we're sort of capped.

[Layla]

Understood. Okay, so they're pretty efficient. Yeah. And that's good profit margin for hotels.

[Thaddeus]

Yeah. And that's why we made the switch to boutique for the other hotel. Because our revpar indicates how much we can make was about $50. Now we're about to 150. And I think we actually have room or grow.

[Layla]

Understood.

[Thaddeus]

Based on the boutique vinyl.

[Layla]

Yeah, yeah. No, I really like that. So you're essentially looking at another location.

[Thaddeus]

Yes, we'd like to maximize our existing, but we don't have the marketing for the boutique hotel, if that makes sense.

[Layla]

Okay.

[Thaddeus]

We'd like to grow the market by advertising. Hey, this is what we have. This is the new product. But at the same time, I think I'm getting in the way of the production of the hotel because I'm in it too much, I believe. And I'm trying to find the right people to replace me.

[Layla]

So you're too involved.

[Thaddeus]

Yes.

[Layla]

Understood. So is your constraint marketing or is Your constraint that you don't have help.

[Thaddeus]

Both.

[Layla]

You don't have marketing help.

[Thaddeus]

Yes.

[Layla]

Okay, so you need to find somebody. Do you understand marketing?

[Thaddeus]

Well, not so well.

[Layla]

Okay, then that's good to know. So you need to find somebody who's super proficient in hotel marketing. Yes, that makes sense to me because I will tell you this, like, boutique hotels are almost like destinations. You know what I mean? And so at least I look at it that way. Because when I'm looking for somewhere to go, it's like half the time they pop up on my feet. I'm like, I don't know. Never thought about Arkansas, but it's a nice bathtub. Some of them have been like, I would never go there. Looks like someone died in that room. But hopefully you don't. Okay, so I think what is a smart strategy is probably if you plan on expanding locations in the next. How. When would you like to look at expanding locations?

[Thaddeus]

A year?

[Layla]

Okay, so what probably makes sense is that you don't hire somebody that just can do marketing for these hotels, but you hire somebody who can do marketing for any hotel that you get. So you need somebody in this. In this case, because you have healthy profit margin, because you've been doing this for a while, and because you're not proficient in it, I think that you need somebody in a senior marketing role. That's what I would suggest. For example, I'm like, elementary level when it comes to tech. Like, I'm just like, help. Like, I just. I'm just like, I don't know. So it's like, okay, I need to bring in somebody who really understands that in order to get to the next level with my business. I think for you, it's that with marketing. Right? Like, if me and Alex were not partners, I would. The first hire I would make is like a very senior level marketing role. Because I'm like, I have no idea. Right. That being said, I think the question is with how many teammates you have right now, what title would resonate? Right? Is it like, do you need a VP of marketing? Do you need a senior director of marketing? I think that's what I would think through if I were you. And then I would have that person essentially look for somebody who can do the marketing for those two that are in the same area.

[Thaddeus]

Correct.

[Layla]

And then they can hire the next person to do it for wherever your next location is. But I think that this is one of those where you need to. You need to go up a level rather than go for the level you need right now based on your plans to grow. Because what you're going to have to do is in a year you have one of two choices, which is either you hire somebody else to do the marketing for this new location or you bring in somebody above the person that's here to help continue to build out the marketing department. But then when you hire that person, this person has like a 50% chance of churning because now they've got a new boss and we stay for the boss, not the business. So I would just hire this person so that you don't have to worry about churn and then you immediately get your time back as well. Have you hired somebody of that level before?

[Thaddeus]

No.

[Layla]

Okay. I think that you're probably looking at like the easiest way is like what we do even like in recruiting. I mean it sounds like everything can all sound over complicated, but like LinkedIn, like I've literally done this when I've been looking for a role. I'm like VP of boutique hotel marketing, Google in LinkedIn. Right? Not Google and LinkedIn, but like search for LinkedIn list of people, right? And then it's like I'm gonna message them, right? And so like I literally in the beginning of acquisition.com to get a first few of my like high level people. That's what I did. And I just messaged people on LinkedIn and I was like, hey, this is the opportunity I've got. Like we get on the phone and like for half of them I was like, and if you're not interested in this, I was like, if you have a friend that you know in the industry who has similar skill set to you that would be willing to get on the phone with me or is looking for an opportunity, like please let me know. And what it did is for the people who said no, but had a referral that was really helpful because then I got to interview them. And for the people who were like, no, but I can get on the phone and give you an idea of what you're looking for. That gave me so much of a better idea of the type of person I needed based on getting to talk to people who had the exact title and the experience in the industry that I was looking for. So if I were you, that is what I would do next. Great.

[Thaddeus]

Thank you so much, Layla.

[Layla]

Of course.

[Greg]

My name is Greg. I sell tax strategy services to real estate investors and blue collar businesses.

[Layla]

Nice.

[Greg]

And our revenue is around 850 and we want to be around 3 million by the end of the year. So one of the big hindrances or Constraints that I have is we've made a lot of hires over the past year as we've grown. And what I'm realizing is that some of those people don't have the skill level kind of for the next level of growth. So it's not that they're not hard workers, not good people, all that kind of stuff. They're not lazy. It's just I'm not sure that they can handle the next level of growth. So you just mentioned to him about 50% chance that they leave if you hire a boss over them. So how do. Do you think through that or approach that with those people?

[Layla]

Are you looking to hire a boss for some of these people? Yeah.

[Greg]

Or figure out how to train them into that position.

[Layla]

So always be honest. Tell people where they stand if you don't think that they're going. If they don't have the skills for the role. Like a. A really simple framework. My team all knows this. I've either done it to them or taught it to them, which is like, if somebody's aspiring for a role, or I say a role is needed, I write a job description for it. And then if somebody's like, well, I would like to go for that role, I say, great, I'll show you the gap. So I will take the job description, and in red, I will highlight in red the areas where you're like, you have a 0 out of 10 skill here. Okay. Right. You're not doing it. And I don't think you'd be good at it. Yellow is like, you kind of do this, or you're like, okay at it. You're mediocre at it. And then green is like, you're actually already doing this and you're very good at it. Okay. And then I show it to somebody and I'm like. And then I tell them, basically, in order for you to have this role, here's what this would actually need to look like. It would need to be 85% green, you know, X percent yellow, one red maybe. Right. And so that's the first thing is like, you know, the job of anybody who's in this position that you are is to show people the gap. A lot of people will get defensive. They'll fight back. They'll say, why are you hiring this person? Like, I could do this job. Because they don't know the gap. They don't even know what you're going to require of that person. Yeah. So that's the first thing is like, that's how you manage those people. Now, if You've done that. And everyone's like, yes, I understand now I'm not adequate for that role. You're like, yes. By the way, it's a completely different job than what you have right now. And you're gonna bring in somebody. The most important thing is that you do not set expectations high. This is what so many people do wrong, is that you get someone, you're like, you know, I'm gonna tell them it's gonna be so much better. But here's the thing. They have had you, most likely. And so you are, in many people's eyes, the best boss that they could have because you own the company. And so it has to be, like, a very realistic expectation setting of, like, listen. And I try to go low. I'm like, it's gonna. It's gonna be tough. It's gonna be tough. You know? You know, maybe they're not the best gear. Maybe this, like. And no matter what, even if the person is great, it's change. And change equates to loss. And so no matter what, they feel like they have a loss because they get less time with somebody they like, right? Unless you're a shitty boss. In that case, this is easy for you, right? So if you're a shitty boss, this is gonna be great. Because then they're like, thank God you brought somebody in. So I would say that. Set expectations low. Tell them, hey, it's change. It's gonna be hard, but we're gonna work through it. You guys, you need to give it three to six months, okay? That's how long it takes. Takes like three to six months for a new leader to get in there and to really get things going. And so you don't want to set the expectations. Can be, like, amazing right away. There's so few people that come in, and they're just amazing leaders right away. Because even if they are a good leader, that person still misses the person they just had.

[Greg]

Yeah, okay.

[Layla]

Thank you. Helpful. Okay, great.

[George]

So my name is George. I have a wealth advisory and tax planning business. We do about 9 million a year at 47% margins, and we would like to be at 25 million by the end of this year. A little bit ambitious, but we feel like we can do it. And what's stopping us? I would probably say we have a people constraint. We need to hire faster.

[Layla]

So you have demand you don't have the people to fulfill.

[George]

Yeah, but the question I have bigger than that is as you're growing your business and you're thinking long term about enterprise Value. How do you balance, like the distributions that you take as an owner for yourself while still being mindful of the future investment you're going to have to make in the business for the growth that you want to have long term?

[Layla]

I view distributions as you take enough distributions so that you feel comfortable taking risk in your business. Okay, like that is like, that's it. Yeah. Like you take distributions to the degree that you feel comfortable to take the risks in your business. If you feel like you can't take a risk because you don't have enough personal savings. Personal. In your bank account. Yeah. Then it's stopping you from growing your business. Because it is, this is the reality is that you are tied to the business. Your net worth is all in the business. And if, and people might say, oh, that's selfish, but well, hey, if the business goes to zero, right. The owner doesn't even just go zero, you might go to negative. Right. Whereas other people, they just go get another job. Right. And so you have to make sure that you've got enough that you feel that way. So that's different for everybody. You know, like we obviously before acquisition.com sold our company and had a big nest egg. And so I didn't feel like I need to take anything out of acquisition.com, you know, at some point if, if the risk in acquisition gets bigger and I feel like, oh, shit, my personal liability is now a lot, I actually might need to take more out. So I have my personal liability covered, then I'll do that. Because if I see that's gonna affect my decision making in the business, I will do that.

[George]

Okay, thank you, that's helpful.

[Layla]

Of course.

[Cheryl]

I'm Cheryl and my husband and I sell printable PDF travel itineraries for people to travel to the west. And it's a word online business. So of YouTube, all things like that. And we say west, like, you know, Zion, Yellowstone.

[Layla]

Okay. I was like, California.

[Cheryl]

We're actually covering Yosemite soon.

[Layla]

Okay, okay, that makes sense.

[Cheryl]

15 locations. We have itineraries for.

[Layla]

Understood.

[Cheryl]

And we make about $450,000 a year. We get to keep almost all of it because our overhead is so low. But I think, you know, we'd like to get to maybe 3 million. But our constraint is that our itineraries cost $50. And so even if we sell 8,000 of them or whatever, you know, our business will never get that big. And so it was recommended that we try to sell like a big upsell, a big high ticket item. Our only idea is doing tours, but that's like a whole new business. And I think it would put our business in a lot of risk because of just how much it would cost to start something new like that. Do you have any thoughts of other big ticket things we could sell besides a tour?

[Layla]

Oh, I have two things. One, the first thing I was thinking of is a giant physical map. Because most of I go to those parks, I've been to all of them. There's giant physical maps everywhere. So, like, that seems like close to what you're doing. Obviously, I know it's more production than a brochure, but that was the first thing came to mind is like they have the big physical maps are either double paned, you know, with some kind of tempered glass or, you know, posted so that when you go there and you're doing hiking, they have trails and it's a big one that's like central. That was the first thing for a big ticket item that would be closer to what you're doing. The second piece is this. Experiments not change. Right? Okay, so if you want to make a strategic change in your business, do an experiment before you do the entire entire change. Everything that you guys learned here. If you're like, yeah, I'm gonna go roll it out. Wait, like, let's test it first for real. Because you're gonna learn more on how to roll something out properly and you'll see. Is there a better way to do it than my original hypothesis? Because like we've talked about, it's all a hypothesis, like for the tour groups. Like, yeah, it's a big risk. That's why we don't just suddenly say we do tour groups. We would just be like, hey, we're going to do a tour group for this one place at this one time, on this one day in three months. And we're going to see how it goes. We're going to give it an 11 out of 10 execution and we're going to see how it works. Here's the thing. The most of the times, big changes don't work not because the strategy is wrong, but because the execution is poor. And so think about this, right? If you do an experiment, you usually have enough resources in a company that's small that if you give yourself enough time and you put enough resources towards it, you can do a 10 out of 10 execution on a small experiment. We're doing one tour group at this one place, at this one time, you can do an 11 out of 10 execution. But if you guys say, I'm going to do this huge change you might give it a 5 out of 10 execution, and then you'd be calling ed being like, this shit doesn't work, right? And that's why a lot of things don't work, is because we don't give it the right execution, not because the strategy is wrong. I'm sure you could fucking kill it with tour groups. It's a little bit of a difference from your business, but, like, I'm sure you could kill it at that. You could kill it with the maps. You kill it. It's just that what do you have the resources to do? So in the beginning, what we need to do is we need to make sure the most important thing when you test something, the most important is that you out execute it. Like, it needs to be perfectly executed. Otherwise you don't even know if the strategy is correct. So what I would say is this. You could test both. Do the smallest test possible, which is this. Test if you can sell it. Test if you can sell it. Sell how? See if you can sell one of each and then fulfill one of each, and then say, what did I learn from that? Which one of these would actually make more sense? You might surprise yourself and see that actually the tour groups are like, wow, this is easier than I thought. It's actually like, here's some benefits, here's what I learned. And like, here's the thing. You will learn more by testing more things than you will by just testing one, as long as you make sure that you maintain fantastic execution for both the tests. So, like, for me, for anything that I'm looking at doing, I'm constantly asking, what's the smallest test I could do to make sure that this is a change worth making? And then everything we position, it's always as a test, it's not as a change. And if the test works, we keep trying to test it again and again. And then what does it happen over time? It becomes a change. You know what I'm saying? And if not, it's just like, oh, it was a test, it didn't work, fuck it.