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Do it. Do that thing you need to do. I mean, you have that idea go chase it down. Go learn what you need to learn to get it done and get it done. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/the-inventive-journey/message

Start. I think people really struggle to get started. I will say that action is the most important thing. If you are thinking about an idea and you can't quite decide, you just gotta go. And you have to go fast. You are going to bump into walls and say, oh, ok, we are going this direction now and, that's all normal. Startups are not normal. I think that's something a lot of people struggle to understand. It's like these are these really weird experiments and, you just have to test and see what works and keep that feedback loop tight and just keep going. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/the-inventive-journey/message

Talk to maybe another business owner. Just because you talk to someone does not mean you have to hire them. If someone wanted to contact me and has questions, that would be fine. I would not mind talking to them. Just ask, ask around, ask people you know. Or, if you have emails for a virtual assistant, shoot them an email and ask them questions. If they are good enough and, classy enough they will answer any questions that person has, without expecting them to automatically become a client. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/the-inventive-journey/message

Try to surround yourself with people who believe in you. So in that same example that I mentioned, that was my biggest mistake and biggest learning. My wife was absolutely amazing. She was a rock and, she was picking me up off the ground when I was in the corner crying and rocking back and forth when the project was going south. She was like, no, you've got to keep going this is just a part of the journey. We are going to get through it, and it will be fine. So she really picked me up. You have to surround yourself with people that are going to tell you that because there are going to be days where it just sucks, and it's not a good day. There are going to be days where this is the greatest job in the world, and you love it. Some days it's just nothing is going my way. You've got to be able to get through those. I think a huge reason why I was able to get through those days was my wife and the encouragement people were surrounding me with. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/the-inventive-journey/message

Always make sure that you are establishing your relationships. Always say to people what can I do for you? And Never burn a bridge even if people are wrong. Wrong things have happened to me, and it does not matter. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/the-inventive-journey/message

Get a coach and or mentor. You probably think it is self-serving saying getting a coach. It may be a little self-serving, but it's also speaking from experience because I have benefited tremendously through the years from having tremendous coaches but, also have had some mentors. If you not in a place where you can hire a coach look up people in your industry, look up people who are doing what you are doing, look at people who are successful at what you are trying to do, and just contact them. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/the-inventive-journey/message

I would say be fearless it really does take that. I have talked to so many people. I was coaching football for my son, just the little league football. One of my assistant coaches, a great guy still good friends to this day, came up to me and says I have an idea that I know will make me a millionaire. I was like, well, awesome, what is it? And he said I am not going to tell you you will go do it. And I said well, one I won't but two fine don't tell me I don't care what it is. Why don't you go do it? He literally said because I am afraid I will fail. I think that has stopped more people from ever becoming successful than any other thing. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/the-inventive-journey/message

First, I would try and make sure they are ready to do it in the first place. I don't necessarily take my own council right here but, particularly for a younger entrepreneur, you got to put in your time. I mentioned earlier that I considered my 10-year at Deloitte an apprenticeship. That's really what it was. I didn't roll out of bed at 25 and start Kalypso. I put in a decade learning the industry, developing my skills, developing a management model, and leadership philosophy. That was the foundation of that firm. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/the-inventive-journey/message

In my experience, this is why the bottleneck of so many businesses is the CEO. It's because they are not making decisions, opportunities are being lost, and everything else is falling behind. They within themselves are not showing up as the CEO in their business. And that is why I am such a firm believer that your business growth can't outgrow your inner growth. If you really want to not just perform at that level but breakthrough to the next you really have to evolve within yourself. You need that level of thinking and the ability to control the stress and pressure and all of the mindset shifts in order to actually sustain your success. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/the-inventive-journey/message

Surround yourself with really good advisers. I know that's said really well but let's talk more about how to pick advisers. I would say that as a founder to find your philosophy for how you are going to grow your company. How you are going to treat the people you are going to support. Find the advisers who are experienced in the area where you have a gap. Go to accelerated programs. Go to your local co-working space. Go Google spaces if you don't have any in your community and search out people that have had success in the areas that you would like to have success in that you are not very good at. Then offer to compensate them well for being in the company. In that relationship over a couple of conversations, you will figure out if they are just trying to get equity or get compensation. Or if they are really in it for a mutually invested interest and the vision you are trying to drive. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/the-inventive-journey/message

Just do the research. You know so many people who have an idea get excited, and they automatically turn to marketing. They start spending money on marketing. I would strongly suggest you do the research. Identify if your product or service has competition or is it innovative? Look and see what other people are doing. What niche do you fit into? Where do your customers hang out at? Those are just some small things to really start thinking of before you just automatically start jumping into trying to make money. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/the-inventive-journey/message

Listen. Find a problem. We were in a hospital once when I broke my back. It was a family and doctor-owned hospital. It was family so, my wife and daughter were there and, my daughter was ten at the time. She said hey I would like a milkshake. They said we don't have any milkshakes. So They called down, and they had a chef at this kitchen. So they made her a milkshake. The next day they had milkshakes on the menu for the kids of the family. They fixed that little problem. I think that it's fixing problems and looking for solutions, and then it is just listening to the people around you. You put them in your sphere for a reason. You hire your attorney. You get your bookkeeper. You have to listen to the people around you. Then you ultimately have to make the right decision. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/the-inventive-journey/message

I am going to steal something that I have never forgotten that I learned 35-40 years ago. People today may not be familiar with it. It's called the entrepreneur credo. One major line in the entrepreneur credo, in fact, it may be the first thing is, never fall in love with your company it is a thing, not a person. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/the-inventive-journey/message

Never ever trust your family. You are alone in this game. Your family is going to be overcoming themselves when they promise anything. Just because they over emotional, they are not rational. If you do that, then it's going to fire back. My one piece of advice is you are alone in this game. Don't count on anyone. No one is there to help you. If you plan that way, then you will go a long way. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/the-inventive-journey/message

Try it out and experience it for yourself. Really put yourself in the shoes of the next generation of shoppers. I feel that it typically costs a shopper an hour of their day to visit any one store. Even if they decide to go to that store, they have to decide whether or not it's worth the trip. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/the-inventive-journey/message

Start small and measure everything. There are so many people when they are starting a business that gets sort of turned one way or another of how they should be spending their money. If you can't measure it, you don't know what's working. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/the-inventive-journey/message

Look at it as a continuing journey. There is not a start into it. It's something that you learn every day. You get better at it every day. I equate it to sports because I played sports. In business, athletically, you don't have to lose. Your mind can just get sharper and sharper. I know now based on my experience in having made decisions. The decisions I could have made better earlier in my career. There is no way for me to improve on myself if I am not a continuous learner throughout the process. My number one advice would just be to be open to learning for the rest of your life or as long as you want to be an entrepreneur, not getting stuck in your own mind. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/the-inventive-journey/message

The importance of one, getting a team that will support you since this journey will take a lot longer than you think to reach any milestone you have in mind. Any projection you have initially, you might think in terms of days or weeks, or months. It will probably be years and, it will be longer than even your wildest dreams are. Have a team that will stay with you through the end. Those people are the ones that will make the journey worth it. They are also the ones that will keep you there and make you not doubt yourself if things don't go according to plan. I guess another piece of advice is to try to do as much research as possible. Understanding key parts of the process. Don't let your excitement impede you from getting the knowledge for you to do well. Know that you won't have enough no matter how much you try you are still going to make mistakes. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/the-inventive-journey/message

Scratch an itch. Build something that you are intimately familiar with that has been a real problem for you in real life. The closer you are to the problem, the easier it is going to be to solve it in a way that other people will understand. The people are experiencing the same problem. I will give you two. Be persistent. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/the-inventive-journey/message

I share too much. I tell too much. Maybe it makes people nervous. Maybe they don't need to know that much to do their job. I always thought I wanted to know a lot therefore, I want to share a lot. Learning how to not do that and I am still not very good at it but, I am better than I was. I don't want to fail my people. I don't ever want to be not always thinking of my team first. I know clients are going to come and go. But, keeping a really good solid team and being considerate of them and genuine for them. I am always double-checking just to make sure that the decisions I am making are ones that in my heart of hearts I know I am doing what I need to do. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/the-inventive-journey/message