It’s Abe again.
Four years ago, I invented my Brazilian Jiu Jitsu training dummy and within 2 years, landed a licensing deal with the UFC.
It started as just an idea in my basement, where I built the prototype out of PVC pipe, carpet scraps, and literal duct tape. Fast forward to now, and I get to log into my account once a month and see how much my monthly royalty was from the worldwide sales.
Since that first venture, I’ve also founded and currently run three other successful companies.
Building my own businesses has not only made me a lot of money, but it’s also given me back the time and freedom I never would have had as someone else’s employee.
But before I ever made it this far, I had a massive lightbulb moment. Let me explain…
When you think about business, what’s the first thing that comes to your mind? I’m almost positive that most of you are thinking about big boardrooms, pantsuits, endless charts, and PowerPoints. You know the drill.
I thought the same thing back in the day. I always thought making it into that kind of boardroom was some sort of intimidating and unattainable goal.
But I quickly learned that couldn’t be farther from the truth.
Business isn’t as intimidating as it seems. It’s not intimidating at all, actually.
The boardrooms of most businesses are full of people just like us, who are actually just messing around. Sounds crazy, but it’s true.
Walk through the doors of any company on any given day, and you’ll probably walk into a room of people sitting around, texting each other, and cracking jokes.
It’s not nearly as intimidating as you probably imagine.
What I’m getting at here is simple: the red tape of the business world is “fake.”
So many companies – especially the smaller ones, in my experience – do their best to come off as these super serious organizations, but in reality, none of it matters. They’re doing their best impression of something that doesn’t exist.
Any kind of project that takes even an ounce of creativity is normally pulled together by a couple of people BS’ing in a conference room.
Ultimately, the idea that you need to throw on a tie and put together PowerPoints to “make it” is crap (I would know… I’ve officially reached the point where I can wear shorts and flip flops into a business meeting and people still take me seriously.)
What matters more is your ability to talk to people and make genuine connections. Here’s an example of what I mean…
I used to work at a Fortune 500 insurance company surrounded by people who bought into this “serious business world” idea.
The forms and the terms we used as subject matter experts were way too complicated, and a lot of it was completely unnecessary. And many of this company’s employees were really frustrated that their customers didn’t understand the same language they used full-time.
I had the idea to talk to about five target customers to see what language *they* used to describe their issues. That way, we could change the forms and make them easier to understand for the people that actually needed to use them.
Once I finished these conversations and changed the forms, the help ticket queue went down by 86% as a result.
By ditching the idea that we needed all of that complicated language to succeed, we actually made things go a whole lot smoother.
At the end of the day, success in business isn’t about graphs and data and fancy suits.
The most important part of being in business is the ability to talk to people, make personal connections, and solve problems.
And the cool part is that these are lessons you can take with you into any part of your life… whether you decide to start a business of your own or not.
You don’t need to buy into the fake intimidation and red tape of the business world to get ahead. Instead, think about what your skills are and the things that you know that can help you achieve your vision.
If you have a solid vision, and if you can connect with others on a human level, you’ll go farther than most (and make the most impact too).
Let me show you how to get started in my free newsletter Think Rich or Die Broke.
Click here to sign up. When you do, you’ll automatically be added to the list… AND you’ll get an advance copy of the first three chapters of my new book, Hustlers Die Broke.
I can’t wait to work with you.
Have a great weekend, and we’ll talk soon.
Abe
Four years ago, I invented my Brazilian Jiu Jitsu training dummy and within 2 years, landed a licensing deal with the UFC.
It started as just an idea in my basement, where I built the prototype out of PVC pipe, carpet scraps, and literal duct tape. Fast forward to now, and I get to log into my account once a month and see how much my monthly royalty was from the worldwide sales.
Since that first venture, I’ve also founded and currently run three other successful companies.
Building my own businesses has not only made me a lot of money, but it’s also given me back the time and freedom I never would have had as someone else’s employee.
But before I ever made it this far, I had a massive lightbulb moment. Let me explain…
When you think about business, what’s the first thing that comes to your mind? I’m almost positive that most of you are thinking about big boardrooms, pantsuits, endless charts, and PowerPoints. You know the drill.
I thought the same thing back in the day. I always thought making it into that kind of boardroom was some sort of intimidating and unattainable goal.
But I quickly learned that couldn’t be farther from the truth.
Business isn’t as intimidating as it seems. It’s not intimidating at all, actually.
The boardrooms of most businesses are full of people just like us, who are actually just messing around. Sounds crazy, but it’s true.
Walk through the doors of any company on any given day, and you’ll probably walk into a room of people sitting around, texting each other, and cracking jokes.
It’s not nearly as intimidating as you probably imagine.
What I’m getting at here is simple: the red tape of the business world is “fake.”
So many companies – especially the smaller ones, in my experience – do their best to come off as these super serious organizations, but in reality, none of it matters. They’re doing their best impression of something that doesn’t exist.
Any kind of project that takes even an ounce of creativity is normally pulled together by a couple of people BS’ing in a conference room.
Ultimately, the idea that you need to throw on a tie and put together PowerPoints to “make it” is crap (I would know… I’ve officially reached the point where I can wear shorts and flip flops into a business meeting and people still take me seriously.)
What matters more is your ability to talk to people and make genuine connections. Here’s an example of what I mean…
I used to work at a Fortune 500 insurance company surrounded by people who bought into this “serious business world” idea.
The forms and the terms we used as subject matter experts were way too complicated, and a lot of it was completely unnecessary. And many of this company’s employees were really frustrated that their customers didn’t understand the same language they used full-time.
I had the idea to talk to about five target customers to see what language *they* used to describe their issues. That way, we could change the forms and make them easier to understand for the people that actually needed to use them.
Once I finished these conversations and changed the forms, the help ticket queue went down by 86% as a result.
By ditching the idea that we needed all of that complicated language to succeed, we actually made things go a whole lot smoother.
At the end of the day, success in business isn’t about graphs and data and fancy suits.
The most important part of being in business is the ability to talk to people, make personal connections, and solve problems.
And the cool part is that these are lessons you can take with you into any part of your life… whether you decide to start a business of your own or not.
You don’t need to buy into the fake intimidation and red tape of the business world to get ahead. Instead, think about what your skills are and the things that you know that can help you achieve your vision.
If you have a solid vision, and if you can connect with others on a human level, you’ll go farther than most (and make the most impact too).
Let me show you how to get started in my free newsletter Think Rich or Die Broke.
Click here to sign up. When you do, you’ll automatically be added to the list… AND you’ll get an advance copy of the first three chapters of my new book, Hustlers Die Broke.
I can’t wait to work with you.
Have a great weekend, and we’ll talk soon.
Abe
Follow @angelsandentrepreneurs
Very nice and interesting, looking foward to this main event.