Just Sold My Business: Now What? | Shaan Patel DSH #844

Summary

Digital Social Hour: Just Sold My Business: Now What? | Shaan Patel DSH #844

Release Date: October 30, 2024

In this insightful episode of Digital Social Hour, host Sean Kelly welcomes Shaan Patel, a successful entrepreneur and Las Vegas local, to discuss the journey of selling a business, rediscovering purpose, investment strategies, and the evolving landscape of entrepreneurship. The conversation delves into personal anecdotes, business growth strategies, and valuable life lessons for aspiring entrepreneurs.

1. Selling a Business and Navigating Purpose Loss

Shaan opens up about his experience selling his marketing agency, sharing the emotional challenges that followed the sale.

Shaan Patel [00:00]: "Just sold the marketing agency and I felt pretty lost for a few months... I was literally waking up every day like, damn, what do I do today?"

Sean empathizes, highlighting a common struggle among entrepreneurs who become deeply tied to their businesses.

Sean Kelly [00:09]: "I've heard that from other entrepreneurs that have sold their businesses that they lose their purpose, which is crazy."

This segment underscores the identity shift and the quest for new meaning post-exit, a topic that resonates with many who have navigated similar paths.

2. Shark Tank Experience and Its Impact

Shaan recounts his appearance on Shark Tank during its peak season, detailing the intense competition and the unique experience of pitching to Mark Cuban.

Shaan Patel [01:09]: "I think that season was like the peak of Shark Tank. Everyone was watching."

He explains the significant boost the show provided to his business, emphasizing how national exposure can exponentially increase revenue.

Shaan Patel [03:20]: "After we aired on Shark Tank, we 10x the business. We went from half a million to 5 million in annual revenue."

Shaan’s candid discussion about connecting with Mark Cuban on a personal level illustrates the importance of storytelling and personal connection in securing investments.

3. The Rise of Podcasts and Modern Networking

Transitioning from television to digital platforms, Shaan highlights the growing importance of podcasts in today's entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Shaan Patel [04:31]: "Now obviously the game has changed and we're adapting with social and podcasts. Podcast is where you got to be now for all the entrepreneurs out there."

Sean shares how his own podcast, Digital Social Hour, has not only amplified his business reach but also enriched his network with invaluable connections.

Sean Kelly [04:38]: "It has blown up my revenues. But like the guests I have on, just learning from them."

4. Investment Philosophy: Diversification and Passive Income

A substantial portion of the discussion delves into Shaan’s investment strategies, emphasizing the importance of diversification and creating passive income streams.

Shaan Patel [06:12]: "My goal has always been... if you can get your passive income to pay for all your expenses, then you don't need to work."

He advocates for a balanced portfolio, incorporating equities, real estate, and cryptocurrencies, while stressing the significance of liquidity—particularly favoring stocks for their ease of access.

Shaan Patel [11:10]: "Reason I like public equities and stocks is... it's super liquid."

Shaan also introduces the "Dundo philosophy," which encompasses saving, spending, earning, and investing wisely to achieve financial freedom.

5. Entrepreneurship from a Young Age: Fostering Early Skills

Reflecting on his early ventures, Shaan emphasizes the value of cultivating entrepreneurial skills from a young age. From selling Pokémon cards to co-authoring a book with Mark Cuban, he illustrates how these experiences lay a strong foundation for future success.

Shaan Patel [15:08]: "First company I ever started was probably selling Pokemon cards. Selling burn CDs, middle school, selling Jordans on eBay."

He and Mark Cuban co-wrote Kids Startup, a book aimed at inspiring children to embrace entrepreneurship as a viable and rewarding career path.

Shaan Patel [17:02]: "Make it cool to be an entrepreneur, make it a career... it's probably the most financially rewarding career there is."

6. Leveraging Expertise Before Starting a Business

Shaan advises aspiring entrepreneurs to build expertise in their chosen fields before launching a business, echoing Warren Buffett’s investment strategy of staying within one's circle of competence.

Shaan Patel [25:42]: "Warren Buffett says he only invests within the realms of what he knows."

He warns against jumping on trends without sufficient knowledge, using AI as a contemporary example where deep understanding is crucial for success.

Shaan Patel [25:43]: "Become an expert first. Do what you know."

7. AI in Healthcare: Transforming Medical Practices

The conversation shifts to the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in healthcare, with Shaan discussing innovative applications like AI-driven dental diagnostics.

Shaan Patel [27:09]: "They put the photos in. AI tells you how many cavities you have. Really tells you if you have any infections in your gums."

He foresees significant changes in medical fields, predicting increased efficiency and accessibility through AI advancements.

8. Personal Health Journey: The Importance of Physical Activity

Shaan shares his personal transformation story, detailing how committing to a fitness program helped him lose 40 pounds and adopt healthier habits.

Shaan Patel [28:39]: "I dropped 60 pounds over the course of a couple of years... the first time ever I had a six pack."

He underscores the importance of incorporating physical activity into daily routines, advocating for the widely recommended goal of 10,000 steps per day.

Shaan Patel [29:50]: "The biggest thing that helped you lose weight... just getting 10,000 steps a day."

9. Prep Expert: Empowering Students to Secure Scholarships

Shaan introduces his company, Prep Expert, which is on a mission to help students win over a billion dollars in college scholarships over the next decade. The company has already assisted over 100,000 students in improving their SAT and ACT scores, gaining acceptance into top colleges, and securing significant scholarships.

Shaan Patel [32:37]: "We're in a $1 billion scholarship mission... over the next 10 years is help students win over a billion dollars in college scholarships."

He highlights the challenges of the current education system, particularly in Las Vegas, and how Prep Expert is bridging the gap by providing effective test preparation and consulting services.

10. Conclusion and Resources

Wrapping up, Shaan provides listeners with resources to connect and further explore his work. He mentions his website, social media handles, and his book, Self Made Success, aimed at entrepreneurs seeking to enhance their productivity and business acumen.

Shaan Patel [32:37]: "You can go to prepexpert.com and for entrepreneurs out there listening, you can connect with me on any of the socials."

Sean concludes the episode by encouraging listeners to access these resources and thanking Shaan for his valuable insights.

Sean Kelly [33:32]: "We'll link it all below. Thanks for coming on, Sean."

Key Takeaways

• Identity Beyond Business: Selling a business can lead to a temporary loss of purpose; it's essential to explore new passions and ventures to regain a sense of direction.

• Power of Exposure: Platforms like Shark Tank can dramatically scale a business, but leveraging modern tools like podcasts is equally crucial in today's digital age.

• Investment Wisdom: Diversification, liquidity, and passive income are cornerstones of a robust investment strategy. Continuous learning and adaptability are vital in managing investments effectively.

• Early Entrepreneurship: Encouraging entrepreneurial endeavors from a young age fosters essential skills and can lead to long-term success.

• AI and Future Trends: Embracing and understanding emerging technologies like AI can transform industries and open new business opportunities.

• Health and Productivity: Maintaining physical health through regular activity enhances overall productivity and well-being, which is beneficial for sustained entrepreneurial success.

• Educational Empowerment: Initiatives like Prep Expert play a critical role in bridging educational disparities and empowering students to achieve their academic and financial goals.

For more insights and resources discussed in this episode, visit prepexpert.com and check out Shaan Patel’s book, Self Made Success, available on Amazon.

Transcript

[A]

Just sold the marketing agency and I felt pretty lost for a few months. On purpose because I had all this money.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And I was literally waking up every day like, damn, what do I do today?

[B]

Yeah, I've heard that from other entrepreneurs that have sold their businesses that they lose their purpose, which is crazy.

[A]

Right?

[B]

Like, it's almost like you're so. As an entrepreneur, you're so invested, you're tied to your business, that your meaning of life comes. So is that kind of what you felt?

[A]

100%. All right, guys, got a fellow Vegas local here today, Sean Patel. How's it going, my man?

[B]

Doing well, Sean, thanks for having me. Excited to be here.

[A]

Absolutely, man. I remember your episode on Shark Tank.

[B]

Oh, you do? Okay, that was a while ago. I don't. I don't expect most people to remember that.

[A]

Long time ago. I've watched every episode up until season probably nine, and then just got too busy. But that was a great show.

[B]

Yeah. I mean, that's funny because most people have started, like, stopped watching around season nine or ten. And I think that's just a function of people are watching live TV way less. Like, in general, you know, everyone's going to the streamers. And I was really lucky because I was on season seven. That was like the peak of Shark Tank. Everyone was watching. Everyone got together on Friday nights, especially families. And so it was like the perfect time to be on the highest viewership I think they had that season.

[A]

Yeah, you caught it at the peak.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I'm sure auditioning was really tough that year.

[B]

Yeah, I think my year was like 50,000 people had applied. I think 120, 150 they tape, but. But only about half of those actually end up airing.

[A]

Wow.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah. So that's something that a lot of people don't know is that they don't actually air all of the pitches. And so you have to make sure that you're interesting and entertaining. And that was really tricky for me because I have one of the most boring businesses in the world. I have, like, a test prep business. So I made sure I had, like, a lot of good stories from my childhood and entrepreneurship, and I think that's what sold it for me. And that actually is probably what got me the deal with Mark Cuban. Because once I started talking about my up, he, like, rolled his eyes when I came in with my pitch. He's like, oh, test prep, SAT prep, whatever. And I was like, oh, man, I just lost the shark I was trying to get. And it was funny because he kept listening to me Less than. And at some point I told a story about my dad working really hard in the motel growing up. And then he started telling me a story about his dad working on upholstery on cars. So we kind of connected on a personal level, even more so than the business. And I think that's probably more so why he invested than the actual business itself. And he did like an Aqua Hire. It was, it was really cool experience.

[A]

Wow. That's rare to get Mark on a personal level. That's usually Barbara's thing.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. He's, you know, he's a very cool guy. You know, I think people think he's a hard ass on Shark Tank, but he's probably the most humble person I know. Like, he's a billionaire. He could be totally have the highest ego and he has none of it.

[A]

Yeah, he just sold the maps for like, what, 4 billion?

[B]

Yeah. And you won't see him walking around with like an expensive wash or expensive car. Like, he's just super down to earth like the regular guy still. If you saw him down, walking down the street, you wouldn't even notice.

[A]

Yeah, I still see videos of him in dance class at Lifetime.

[B]

Oh, really?

[A]

It's like him and a bunch of girls.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[A]

He's still going to that. He's still pulling up to hoop at Lifetime.

[B]

Yeah. Like it. And that's the life you want to live when you get to that like level of wealth and fame, like to be able to still go to the, you know, community gym, still, like walk around and not have to have like a bunch of securities or picture. I think he does it right, man.

[A]

Absolutely. And that, that Shark Tank episode blew up your business, right?

[B]

100%. Yeah. After we aired on Shark Tank, we 10x the business. We went from half a million to 5 million in annual revenue. Yeah. I think that weekend we did close to. We did about a quarter million dollars in revenue just from the airing. I mean, Shark Tank was. I don't know if it is anymore, but it was the best marketing tool for any business because you basically got to keep the attention of people for 10 or 15 minutes of time on primetime television. You got in front of 10 million people for 10 or 15 minutes. I think someone did a study on like, what's the marketing value of that? And it ended up being $10 million. Wow. Yeah. So that's how much in marketing that the businesses and the entrepreneurs that go on that show used to get. Like I said, viewership's gone down recently. And I think that's probably why Mark's leaving the show too. But yeah, I mean, it was incredible. Now obviously the game has changed and we're adapting with social and pod. Podcast is where you got to be now for all the entrepreneurs out there.

[A]

Yeah, podcasts are hot, man. On the networking side, it's. It's been phenomenal. The people I've met.

[B]

Yeah, Yeah. I mean this, this podcast has probably blown up your business now.

[A]

Oh, yeah, it's blown up my revenues. But like the guests I have on, just learning from them.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Like having on billionaires.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Crazy.

[B]

Yeah. That's insane. I mean, what made you started, by the way? Just curious.

[A]

I just sold a marketing agency and I felt pretty lost for a few months. On purpose because I had all this money.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And I was literally waking up every day like, damn, what do I do today?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Like, it's a weird feeling, like having that. Because I could have retired.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So having that feeling at 25 years old is weird. But I just started this for fun at first, just interviewing my friends, people I thought were cool. And it turned into me just absorbing a lot of information and taking a bunch of different turns that, I mean, that's incredible. Yeah.

[B]

I've heard that from other entrepreneurs that have sold their businesses that they lose their purpose, which is crazy.

[A]

Right?

[B]

Like, it's almost like you're so, as an entrepreneur, you're so invested, you're tied to your business that your meaning of life comes. So is that kind of what you felt?

[A]

100%.

[B]

Really?

[A]

Dude, I would wake up literally like in my sleep. Cuz I'm big in crypto.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

There would be days I would wake up, my portfolio would be up like 50k, 100k and I wouldn't care.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

I wouldn't have any. Like, I'd be upset, honestly.

[B]

Really? Yeah.

[A]

It was just so, like, it's almost like I cracked the code of life. Like I could just print money.

[B]

Damn.

[A]

So it was weird, dude.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah. You would think, like you'd be like on the top of the world. Right. But like when you get there, it's different.

[A]

But once you have everything you need, like house, cars, you know, kids or whatever.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

What are you going to buy? Like.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. It's. There's diminishing returns for sure.

[A]

Yeah. So I think there's a lot of different theories on how much you need to reach that level. Some people think it's. I've heard up to 60 million, 10 million, 25 million. I think it's different for everyone.

[B]

I think My goal has always been, and I think anyone's goal should be this is if you can get your passive income to pay for all your expenses, then you don't need to. You don't need to work. You can. Can work if you want. Which sounds like, you know, it's. It's very similar to a place that probably you're in, that I'm in. That many people are in. So, like, let's say your burn rate a year is, I don't know, half a million dollars. Right. You would probably need. What is that? Like, if you want to make 10% on 5 million per year, like, you need 5 million asset. But obviously that's income coming in. There's a lot of stuff between appreciation and actually spending it and all that. But, yeah, I think the goal is. My goal is, like, gets to seven figures passive. If you can do that, like, it's really hard to burn more than seven figures, although there are people that do that. But if you can do that, then I think you're safe.

[A]

But we're Asian, so we're good with our money.

[B]

Yeah, exactly. Exactly.

[A]

Yeah. There's some crazy stats on Indian Americans, actually. Yeah, you guys make the most in Americana.

[B]

That just came out. Elon Musk just tweeted that. Right.

[A]

It makes sense, though. You guys save so well.

[B]

Yeah, I mean, there's actually a, like, a philosophy that. That it's called. It's called Dundo philosophy. So Dundo means basically, you're really good with saving and spending both. So, like, in order to be good with money, you have to be good with a lot of different aspects of it. Right. You have to be good at first saving it. But that's just the first part. You got to be good at spending it because you got to spend less than you make. You got to be good at earning it. You got to be good at investing it. So, like, I feel like many ethnicities and people in general are good at like, one or two of these, but unless you get good at all four, that's when you really achieve financial freedom, right? Yeah.

[A]

Which one would you say was the hardest for you to master?

[B]

So I think growing up and you. I don't know about your background, but probably, like, if you grow up in a pretty conservative and humble background, it's pretty easy to save. Like, you get. You get that in built into you. Like, you know how to save money. It is also, you usually, like, in a immigrant household, you can get pretty good at not spending too much because, like, your parents, you know, whoever you grew up with is pretty good about not overspending. So I think those two come pretty naturally to me. Then there's earning, I think again with the American dream immigrant household that I grew up in. That was not hard because it's just like the heart. The beautiful thing about America is generally if you work hard and you stay at a goal and you, you know, whether you need to go, whether you educate yourself formally or informally like you did for crypto, if you work hard generally what's nice is it's one to one where you will get more rewards. Now that's not always the case. Not always. Just about work hard. You got to work smart too. But earning is usually not that hard. The hardest part that I think for most people, including myself, was learning how to invest. It's taken a lot of trial and error. You know, I'm getting close to 35 now and I've been investing since I think I bought Apple stock when I was a sophomore in college.

[A]

Wow, you still have it? Yeah, dude.

[B]

Never sold.

[A]

That's discipline.

[B]

Yeah. So I mean that, that was obviously my best investment. I don't know, I'd have to take a look at what those first.

[A]

When are you going to sell it ever or not?

[B]

Yeah, you know, I don't think I'm gonna like wow. Yeah. I mean maybe at some point, but I don't think anytime soon. I still see Apple being a big player in the AI game. One thing that I've thought about for Apple is like what's the customer lifetime value of an Apple customer?

[A]

It's gotta be five figures.

[B]

Yeah, right. It's like it's. I mean it might be six figures, it might be like I just think about myself like the number of MacBooks, the iPhones and then if you look at a family household, like if you took a thing about customer lifetime value of Apple, everybody and I tried to look this up on the Internet, I couldn't find it. So if anyone in the comments knows, please let us know what the customer lifetime value. But if you multiply that out times the billion customers they have, the valuation gets pretty insane.

[A]

Yeah. Cause I buy a phone every two, three years. I buy a MacBook every two, three years. The AirPods I lose every month.

[B]

I mean you've probably spent well into the five figures. Maybe six figures.

[A]

Dude, I just had to repair my Mac from water damage. That was 1500 just for that.

[B]

Yeah, I mean there's nobody that integrates hardware and software better. I know people like to talk about Apple and do all you Know, they think there. There's another company that's going to eat their lunch, but I just haven't seen it yet. Maybe one day, but. But yeah, so. So the point was, you know, I've been investing since I was 18, 19 years old, 35. So I'm 17 years, and I'm still learning things every day. And. And I think you never win the game of investing. You just continue to get better at it, like, and it's a lot of fun.

[A]

Yeah. Investing is always changes, too.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah. You got to be. You got to be with it. Like. Like what I just said might. Might not be true. In 10 years, maybe Apple will be gone. You know, who knows? But as far as, like today, in 2024, when we're recording this, I think it's still a good stock to hold.

[A]

Yeah. Is stocks like your biggest percent you allocate money towards?

[B]

Yeah. So the reason I like public equities and stocks is one, it's super liquid. So I know a lot of people are very into real estate, and obviously there's a lot of benefits to that. Tax, depreciation and, you know, leverage, etc. But what I like about stocks is it's liquid. And so anytime you need liquidity, it's easy to get out. Real estate's a lot harder, not that it's not possible. And you can take out lines of credit. I totally understand that game, but everyone has different games. Like, it's. I just consider it a big game. Some people play the real estate game, some people play the crypto game. So you play equities. I think it's good to be diversified across all asset classes, if you can. So I have all of that. I have crypto, I have real estate, I have equities. And what I think is really important is for people just getting started with investing is try it out yourself. Because I'm the kind of person that needs to, like, burn their hand themselves. Like, you know, like, I can't have someone tell me, like, oh, that's not going to be a good idea, or don't invest in that. I'll usually, like, just need to do it and be like, oh, man, I lost money on that. And then. And then I'll see the things that work, and then you just do more of the stuff that works and less of the stuff that doesn't work.

[A]

Yeah, I like Hormozi strategy. How the best investment's always in yourself.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. He has the S and P and me, Right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's really smart. I mean, that's. That's true. The best investment that I've ever made has definitely been in my own skills development and business. So know my company prep expert. The more time, energy, effort and money that I've put into it generally has generated the better returns for like a test preparation, profit, perspective. But at the same time, what you want to do is when you do have a skill set, a business and income, you want to reinvest that into other assets. Because one of the simple lessons that I think a lot of young people, especially probably watching this podcast, should learn is that your money, you can either work for money or money can work for you.

[A]

And.

[B]

And I prefer that my money works for me. So I like to make money in my sleep. So how do you do that? You do that through earning interest, dividends, appreciation. I mean, right now the interest rate's like five and a half percent that you can get on treasury bills. So that's basically guaranteed money with zero risk unless the United States falls, which, you know, that's a whole other discussion. Yeah, yeah. So, I mean, five and a half percent is pretty good on cash. Now, we've never seen that.

[A]

Very good.

[B]

Yeah. Mean, we were in a zer environment for a while. Zero interest rate. Right. And so that's pretty much gone now. And I don't think it's going to go back. I don't think you're going to see interest rates that low again. So your money can always earn you basically 3 to 4% for a long time. So if you have money in a savings account or a checking account, that's giving you 0.01%, as most of the big banks do, you're losing out on a lot of, you know, opportunity there.

[A]

100%. Yeah. You could be getting 5% a year, which is if you have 100k, that's 5 grand a year extra.

[B]

Yeah, it's like, and, and you know, people will, you know, complain about spending five grand on a vacation or something, but it's like if you just put this away, like your vacation has just been paid for. Right. Like, it makes total sense to just have your money work for you while you're sleeping. And I don't know, you know, it took me a long time to realize, like, I should not be working so hard for money. I should have my money work hard for me. I think at one point I had like a million dollars in a checking account. Like, it was stupid.

[A]

I could have been 50 grand.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, it was stupid. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so obviously then I started investing, putting it in different assets and stuff.

[A]

Like that was the test prep. Your first company you ever started?

[B]

First company I ever started was probably selling Pokemon cards. Yeah, Pokemon cards, fifth grade. Yeah, yeah. Selling burn CDs, middle school, selling Jordans on ebay.

[A]

So you've been a hustler.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. And I think that's probably, if you look back at any, like, great entrepreneur story, but I don't know enough about your story, but you probably have the same similar stuff, right? Like, usually I think you, you have this knack for wanting to buy and sell and arbitrage stuff. You don't really realize it. Like, I didn't know when I was in fifth grade that I like this, but. Yeah, like, did you do. Did you.

[A]

I did candy. I did. I might have did cards. Crazy bones. You remember those?

[B]

Yeah, no, no. What's that?

[A]

Weird things, dude.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I don't even know how to describe that. Runescape.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

I was a merchant there. Maple Story. Yeah, definitely buying and selling when I was a kid.

[B]

Yeah, I remember. And so like Mark Cuban and I wrote a book for kids called Kids Startup. And what we wrote about is like, all the businesses that you can start as a kid, including thing like, I think he used to sell trash bags door to door. I talked about how I sold Pokemon cards. You know, we give them ideas from lemonade stands to, you know, Etsy wallets and things like that. Because what you want to do is instill entrepreneurship as a kid. If you can. If you want to be a successful entrepreneur later, you can learn it in your 20s, 30s, 40s, of course, but the earlier you get started, like, any skill you're going to be, you're going to develop better habits, better skills, etc. And so the idea behind the book was, I don't understand why, you know, if you go to a kid and you ask them, like, what do you want to be when you grow up, they typically will give you like doctor, engineer, lawyer, or like, now they're saying YouTuber. Right. But they're giving you like generic professions except for the YouTuber one. But, you know, no one says entrepreneur. So what we really wanted to do is make it cool to be an entrepreneur, make it a career, help people realize that this could be something that, you know, you could do full time. And it's, as you know, it's probably the most financially rewarding career there is.

[A]

Oh, for sure. There's a lot of sacrifice at first, but I think it pays off if you stick through it.

[B]

Yeah, especially when you, when you sacrifice young. Like I'm so happy. I worked hard in my 20s on my business because now in my 30s, like I don't work nearly as hard, but I make way more through the business. Through entrepreneurship, I've developed way more skills that I'm not scared to start a new business. If my business went out of business or if I sold my business, I think I could start something else that's successful. Because you develop so many skill sets. It's back to the Hermosi thing on that's what you want to invest in, is your skills. And if you can become great at marketing, great at selling. One thing that I think is super undervalued is just great at product development. So developing your product or service, you know, for me, I still work a ton on our test prep, curriculum, books, etc. Because I just want to make it as good as possible because I and I log those hours as what I call product value. And I think every entrepreneur doesn't do enough of this, which is like once they start making some sales, they start getting too much into the marketing and selling, which is of course very important. But the best marketing you can do literally is just create a killer product or service.

[A]

Right.

[B]

Because what's that's going to do is that's going to have the your customers tell other people that this is a great product or service and that's word of mouth and that generates free marketing. That's literally the Apple model, right? Like Apple doesn't have to market their products. I mean they do, but they don't need to. Like, it was literally like, this iPhone is so great, you should buy an iPhone. Right? Like that's what you want to duplicate, right? Like whatever product or service you have.

[A]

100% or else you'll get too many refunds, complaints, and the business will die out.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. And you, and it basically, if you have great word of mouth, you have zero customer acquisition costs.

[A]

Right? Elon Musk?

[B]

Yeah. I mean for the first five years of my business at Prep Expert, we spent $0 on marketing.

[A]

Wow.

[B]

And my business doubled in revenue every single year. Yeah. I mean it went from 25 to 50 to 100 to 250 to 500,000. But what that meant was it was literally students doing well in my test prep courses telling other students that this course works. And then we just kept doubling. And then obviously we then poured gas with digital marketing and stuff like that later. But I think in the beginning, just focus on your core product service, make it really good, make customers tell other Customers. Because it's so good.

[A]

Absolutely. You got a perfect SAT score, right?

[B]

Yeah, so I got a perfect SAT score, but I'm not naturally a genius. A lot of people assume that, like I'm super smart or something like that. I'm actually like, I was good at school, but I was not like a super good standardized test taker. Got only I had a ton of test anxiety, actually. And I still have test anxiety.

[A]

That's ironic.

[B]

Yeah, it's ironic because I own a test prep company, but. Yeah. So, you know, on the very first sat, I barely got above average. I don't know if you remember, it used to be out of 2400 points.

[A]

Yeah, I took it when it was.

[B]

Oh, you did?

[A]

Okay, so, yeah, I was the last year, I think.

[B]

Yeah. So we were kind of in that same age demographic. So that's when I. So I raised my score from 1760 to 2400. So. 640 points. Yeah. Spent hundreds of hours in the library studying right here at Sahara west and was able to get a perfect score. Only 0.02% of all students get a holy score. Yeah. So I think 50 million students have taken the SAT. About 10,000 perfect scores out there. Yeah. So it's pretty, pretty difficult. And so what I did is I wanted to help other students improve their test scores the way that I did. So I developed all this course curriculum, books and content to help students basically learn the test like I did. And in the very first six week course I ever taught here in Vegas, my students had an average score improvement of 376 points.

[A]

Dude, that's a lot.

[B]

Yeah, it was equivalent of taking a student from the 50th percentile and putting them in the 90th percentile.

[A]

Wow.

[B]

And so, you know, of course we had parents and students who wanted more courses. And over the past 13 years now, we've helped over 100,000 students improve their SAT and ACT scores, go to top colleges and win over $100 million in college scholarships.

[A]

Dude, that's incredible. And I feel like Vegas is a good market because don't we have one of the worst education systems here?

[B]

Yeah, that's the ironic part is like, people are like, wait, you're from Las Vegas? And that's like the 49th or 50th in the nation for public school education. Right. But you know what I think, especially for entrepreneurs and families that are thinking about moving to Vegas, is I wouldn't be so worried about that because you're not your environment. And on top of like, I Grew up going to these public schools and I did really well in them because of two things. One, my family valued education. Two, I went to magnet programs. So I went to like math and science magnet programs which were usually in like worse areas. But that magnet program usually had like a good community of like good students. Um, and then the third thing is like when you're a smart student, you can really stand out when everyone else is not that smart. Like, like you could stand out in Vegas. I don't think I would have stood out in like, like a Northern California or a New Jersey where you're from.

[A]

Jersey was tough.

[B]

Yeah. Or Boston or some. Somewhere that's like academically minded.

[A]

So there's so many Asians in Jersey.

[B]

Yeah. So it's like you can really, really stand out if you are in an environment that lets you stand out. Because like I feel bad for like, like kids in Jersey who are like smart but like you got to be the cream of the crop out there.

[A]

There were kids getting 2300s and they couldn't get an Ivy Leagues for my high school because I was just like kind of normal.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, exactly. It's so I actually think that can be worse for your self esteem and your like a bit your, your own mental health in terms of like your ability to achieve when you're around so many amazing people. It can actually be like a negative thing versus when you're like the best all the time. You're like, oh, I can do anything.

[A]

No, for sure. For me it was tough cuz I'm half Asian and all the Asians crushed it in school and I never really fit in.

[B]

Yeah. So you're an example of that, right?

[A]

Yeah, no, there's definitely like academic pressure both from the friends and the family.

[B]

My mom 100%.

[A]

Yeah. Did your parents really pressure you to be really good at school?

[B]

Yeah. Yeah, I definitely think, you know, my dad was a big pressure so he didn't get into med school in India. He was like one point shy. Yeah. It was like crushing. So now he's a pharmacist, but it was always his dream to be a doctor. So he really pushed me to become a doctor and so I actually did become a doctor. Oh, wow. Yeah, so I actually went through med school. I went through dermatology residency. But at the same time I had my like side hustle business and now the business became bigger than the main hustle of be, you know, dermatology. So I still do dermatology, but I only do it online. I do teledermatology. Just to keep my skills up and my certifications.

[A]

There's a cap on that too.

[B]

On what?

[A]

Dermatology.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. It's crazy. They only graduate like 600 dermatologists a year or something. So, like, that's why dermatologists are generally well paid. Because, like, if you have only 600 people a year graduating for a population of 300, that's the whole country, only 600 a year. So that's why it's so hard to get an appointment with a dermatologist.

[A]

Wait, why is it so low?

[B]

Yeah, I mean, I honestly think the American Academy of Dermatology keeps the supply low in order to keep the demand high and keep the compensation higher for.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. I knew it was bad. I didn't know it was that bad.

[B]

It's super bad.

[A]

Holy crap.

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

Whenever I book an appointment, it's like three months.

[B]

Yeah. That's why.

[A]

Damn. Yeah. But you made the right choice, clearly.

[B]

Yeah. I mean, I love entrepreneurship. Maybe in the future. What I love about entrepreneurship is combining a really good skill set with entrepreneur skills. Marketing, sales. And so, you know, I don't know yet, but in the future, I'm thinking maybe I could combine my dermatology experience with some entrepreneurial venture. Whether it's AI and dermatology, there's a lot around diagnosis right now, the cosmetic aspect of dermatology. So right now I'm just so focused on the test prep business. But I think that could be some. There's some potential there. And that's what I would say to any entrepreneur or person who has a skill set in the audience is like, if you want to be an entrepreneur, leverage your current experience. If you're an engineer, you know, do something that you really know well. If you've studied crypto for a long time, like, you have, you know, do something there, like, but you have to. So my biggest tip to entrepreneurs is do what you know, like. So Warren Buffett says he only invests within the realms of what he knows.

[A]

Right, Right.

[B]

And that's really smart investment advice. Like, once, as soon as. And I've always. I've seen this happen to. I said, I burn my hand. Anytime I start investing in stuff I don't really understand. I usually end up losing money, lose all of it. And so, like, it's the same thing with entrepreneurship. It's like everyone's trying to jump on the AI trend right now because that's what's hot. I totally get it. But then go put in the thousand hours to learn about AI and become Good at machine learning and, you know, do like, no one wants to do the hard part. It's like, just hop on to the next thing. So, like, become an expert first. Do what, you know, like, become really good, get good skill sets and then start a business. Don't do it like, everyone does it the opposite. They, like, try to start the business without fully understanding the industry or getting the expertise necessary. That's the wrong way to do it because, like, you're going to get burned by everyone else who's way smarter than you in that industry.

[A]

Yeah, I get AI course ads every day.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah. And there's nothing wrong with that. Like, you should in, like, what Horosi says, invest in yourself. Sure. Take those courses, become an expert AI, then start a business.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Don't just, like, you know, take one course and, like, try to start a business all of a sudden, like, you really got to be an expert.

[A]

I went to a holistic dentist the other day in Vegas. Have you heard of these yet?

[B]

No.

[A]

Okay, so this one's cool. It's called Four Season Dentist.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

And so they take photos of your teeth. And honestly, it took a while. It took an hour. I was getting annoyed. So I'm like, why are they taking all these all of a sudden? They put the photos in. AI tells you how many cavities you have. Really tells you if you have any infections in your gums.

[B]

That's pretty cool.

[A]

And they show it, like, live in front of you. So I had seven cavities. Some of them were so small that a regular dentist couldn't even tell if they were looking at your teeth.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

So it was really useful.

[B]

Yeah. I mean, I think that's going to happen in a lot of medical and healthcare. I already, I just made a short form video the other day, like, advising students not to become a radiologist, because I think radiologists are going to be the first doctors to get replaced. With respect to, like, they're already using AI to diagnose chest X rays, CTs. You know, you're going to need far fewer radiologists unless you're like an interventional radiologist that does procedures. But like you said, in dentistry, they're using it now in dermatology, they're starting to diagnose skin rashes and lesions using AI. So I think, you know, medicine's going to change in a big way coming up here with AI.

[A]

Yeah, I think they'll eventually get to the point where they could do a body scan, detect all disease.

[B]

Yeah. There's that company Pre Nouveau, right oh, I've seen that. Yeah. I really want to do it.

[A]

It's mri, right?

[B]

Yeah. I think it's like whole body. I think they don't do the heart, but I think that's generally where the population is going, is taking control of their own health, you know, rather than having a traditional primary care physician kind of tell you this is what to do or this, not what to do. And even in, you know, with a background in medicine, I would still advise people that's the best way to do it. Because no one's going to care about your own health more than yourself.

[A]

Right?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah, I definitely want to take that one. Or maybe Tony Robbins has one. Um, I saw you recently lost £40.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. So that was a really cool fitness experience. I want went on. So shout out to R and T Fitness, it's an online training program. I work with the founder, Akash, he's. They're based out of the uk. And basically what I love about it is it's a whole, like, whole. It's not just diet and training, it's also like accountability and mindset, which is half of it, you know, like. So I dropped 60 pounds over the course of a couple of years or a year or so, and it was the first time ever I had a six pack. Yeah, it was awesome. Now that's gone away since, but I'll try to get it back again. But I'm bulking now, that's kind of why. But yeah, I got. I really leaned up and it was an incredible experience. I mean, everyone knows what to do. It's just having the accountability to do it. It's like you gotta train, you gotta eat right. You gotta, you know, if you're trying to drop weight, eat less than you take in. If you're trying to gain weight, eat more than you take in. And obviously there's macros to it too.

[A]

Yeah. What was the biggest thing that helped you lose weight? If you had to pick one.

[B]

Ooh. You know, the biggest thing, which sounds super simple, but honestly, I never did it until I started working with RNT Fitness was just getting 10,000 steps a day.

[A]

Really?

[B]

Yeah. Which is crazy, right? Because if you think about it, most people, especially entrepreneurs and, you know, office jobs, we're sitting around all day. So now I make an active effort just to always be walking as I try to take as many meetings as I can and have my camera off so I can walk during the meetings. I try to walk during lunch, walk after lunch, etc. But like, if you walk 10,000 steps a day. There's a lot of research that shows it lowers your risk of Alzheimer's heart disease. It lowers your body weight, clearly. So if you want to eat more, just walk more. Like, walking is so simple. You don't need to go to the gym. You literally. And it's great to be outside. Not outside right now in Vegas, but it's great to be outside and go for walks with people. It's super simple. And you'd be surprised, like, if you don't actively do it and you're just sitting all day doing an office job or on calls, you probably only get, like, three, 4,000 steps a day. Which, you know, it's. It's really bad to be that sedentary dude, so.

[A]

I can relate to this so much.

[B]

Really?

[A]

Yeah. So I got an MRI two months ago. Right.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

I had a guest on that's an MRI expert. So we went to the hospital. He got me an mri, and then we were going to show the results on the episode. The results were so bad.

[B]

Really?

[A]

Yeah. I had visceral fat everywhere.

[B]

Oh, my God.

[A]

And we looked at how many steps I was walking. 3,400 a day.

[B]

There you go. I said three to 4,000. Yeah.

[A]

So now I do, like, eight. Eight to nine at least.

[B]

Yeah, Yeah. I mean, you got to get to. So I think the actual studies show 7,000 is the bare minimum, for sure. But, yeah, like, if you can get to 10. But 8 to 9 is a great number to be in. And, like, I was just in Europe for a couple weeks, and it's amazing, like, how much you have to walk in Europe. We were in Italy, France, Amsterdam, etc. Like, I was getting 15,000 steps a day. It makes total sense why, like, Europeans don't have nearly as many health problems as Americans do because, like, they're just walking everywhere, you know, like, literally just to walk around. Around Amsterdam, you just have to walk or you can bike. But, like, we just walked, and we were getting 15,000 steps a day, and it was like, you could eat whatever you want. You wouldn't gain weight. And I'm sure our health was. But we didn't measure the health. But I'm sure our health was better.

[A]

Yeah. That's why I like Manhattan, because whenever I go there, I'm walking 15, 20K easy.

[B]

Yeah, exactly. Yeah. And New York City is a great example of it, too. Like, you know, you can go out, eat, drink, and you probably won't gain a lot of weight because you're walking all day. So in the west coast, cities like Vegas and la, I think, you know, you especially gotta make an active effort to get our steps in.

[A]

Absolutely. Sean, what's next for you? Your companies and where can people find you, man?

[B]

Yeah. So what's next for me is we're growing Prep Expert. We're in a $1 billion scholarship mission. So what we want to do for over the next 10 years is help students win over a billion dollars in college scholarships. It's my passion. You know, student debt is near 2 trillion. Average cost of cost, cost of college, like 200,000. And so we're really helping students. My favorite part of Prep Expert is helping students get half a million, quarter million, $100,000 scholarships. Totally Life changing. So for parents out there, students out there who want to learn more about our SAT ACT courses, our college consulting, they can go to prepexpert.com and for entrepreneurs out there listening, you can connect with me on any of the socials. My name spelled Sean Patel. S H A A N P A T E L. And I also have a book that I think would be great for entrepreneurs who are looking to improve their productivity, time management and entrepreneurship. It's called Self Made Success. You can find it on Amazon.

[A]

Perfect. We'll link it all below. Thanks for coming on, Sean.

[B]

Sounds good. Thanks, Sean.

[A]

Yep. Thanks for watching, guys. See you.