12 Mistakes I Made My First Year as an Entrepreneur

so today I want to talk to you about the dumbest mistakes I made my first year as an entrepreneur and and as I was making a list of all the dumb mistakes I made we could have done this episode four six seven eight hours but we got to do shorter episode because I'm only going to cover with you twelve of the dumbest mistakes I ever made as an entrepreneur and I'll start off with my first one we tell what the first one is the dumbest mistake I almost made my first year as an entrepreneur is I almost quit I almost quit I almost believe I couldn't do this I almost believe being an entrepreneur wasn't for me I almost believed that everyone that said Pat you don't have what it takes to be an entrepreneur I almost believed it and almost gave up almost I almost quit my first year as an entrepreneur that would have been above everything else the dumbest mistake I would have made as an entrepreneur number two I try to become a CEO president too early and let me explain to what I mean trying to organize too much too early when you are a brand-spanking-new entrepreneur I did a video last week it was called a phone call - starving entrepreneurs you can see the picture here it's a phone call I made it's like a four-minute video if you haven't listened to you click on the link on the bottom you'll be able to listen to it my message was very simple see when I think about the word entrepreneur right when they think about the word entrepreneur what's the first thing that comes to mind for instance if I were to tell you right now what's the first word that comes to mind when I say Microsoft what do you think about you may said Bill Gates what's the first word that comes to mind when I say Apple you may have said Steve Jobs what's the first word that comes to mind when you think about the Lakers you may have said Kobe what's the first thing that comes to mind when I say Chicago Bulls Michael Jordan what's the first thing that comes to my mind I threw my Golden State Warriors Steph Curry whatever it is that first word what's the first thing that comes to mind when I say toward entrepreneurs to you what is it what is it I don't want to say mine yet what's your first first so to me entrepreneur first is sales and numbers now you may have said create a problem solve a problem that thought that if you don't know how to sell and you don't look at the world of business as a number formula you got to solve your not because it's the only way an entrepreneur is an entrepreneurs because I'm Sherman or sell something Zuckerberg sells Bezos sells Elon Musk cells they are salesmen first Sam Walton sold first Ben Franklin was a Salesman first an entrepreneur must first learn how to graduate sales first back in the days when he moved up in a company do everybody came to the top of the company it wasn't like out is today when people go get a fancy degree no moon they start off at a you know vice president back in the days when he worked out by the company everybody started selling first why because you have to know what it was to be a sales person touching the customers talking to customers and connecting with everybody else as an executive that you know what the salespeople do on a daily basis if you don't know what salespeople do on a daily basis you don't know how to connect with them and you don't know how to connect with the customer his frustration her frustration so my biggest mistake first year was I tried to be too much of a business owner instead of learning how to sell first and survive based on my selling abilities of making money as a sales person dumbest mistake I made was number two dumbest mistake I made number three trying to take advice from too many people let me tell what I mean by trying to take advice from too many people if you're not pregnant yet or if you haven't you as a woman are not pregnant I've never been pregnant or you haven't been a man with a wife who hasn't been pregnant yet when that does happen and if it has you know exactly what I'm talking about everybody wants to give you advice let me tell you what's the best thing to do you won't have a natural baby you won't do a c-section you want to do this you want take pitocin you want to do that you want to go and do this you would take the epidural you know I want to do this women because every Center and whatever they tell you they're telling because that's what they did just know this when you raise your kids that's the best way to raise your kids the way we raise our kids we raise our kids because we put them through this and we put them through down we put them through this that's great everyone has opinion and by the way this doesn't mean they're wrong and it doesn't mean they're right it's their opinion the way I take opinion from the people is here's what I had to do I took way too much advice from way too many people my first mentor was in nine different sales companies at the same time selling 90 different products and he told me that's the way to do it multiple streams of income I realized that's not the way to do it not the way to do it it stills not working for him that was my first mentor at 20 years old 21 years old trying to take advice from way way too many people instead of simplify who has the life that you want to have and what are they doing at the phase that you were at in business what were they doing at deaf a sometimes we don't take the right type of advice because we see somebody that's already got the life so that we want to come at the office at 11 o'clock and they you know they do this and we think we have to have that life no I want to know how you were when you were in the hunt building your business so take advice from people who have the life that you haven't asked them how they did on what they did when they were at your level getting started not at their level it's irrelevant what they're doing at their level it's at your level so take advice from establish entrepreneurs I took advice from too many people that gave me too many different opinions and my brain was going all over the place until I finally realized this is what I'm doing myself number four not knowing how to ask for advice not known how to ask for advice so sometimes you know because you're an employee and you want to become an entrepreneur an employee doesn't necessarily ask for advice an employee's told what to do and you go do it no one goes and say so how do you think I become a better employee very few people ask how do I become a better employee how do I become better in my department most employees I don't like this place boom I leave I don't like this place they don't take care of me boom I live I don't like that instead of you know in my environment I'm kind of like you come tell me what we need to do you come ask me what we need to do to get better what do we need to do to make this department better what do we need to do make the company better I want to hear from you but most companies are not like that most companies the employees are told what to do and they do it right so when you go from being an employee to an entrepreneur your mind hasn't yet shifted to go into you know asking for advice and as an entrepreneur when you're going to becoming an entrepreneur you got to learn how to ask advice from the right people kind of point number three and four is the same thing while learning how to ask advice from the right people how do I do this you know at what when you were at my face how did you do this when you were new like me what did you do not where you are now I hear sometimes on some conference call so hey you made 193 thousand dollars last month what did you do this month it has anything they did this month means nothing to you you got to ask them when you were making $3,200 a month like I am today and you were at this level when you only had 17 customers what were you doing every single day that's the right question on how to ask for advice then making 196 is the final product that means nothing to you what were you doing at this phase if you want to sell yourself to dream and be excited that's fine I understand that but if you want to know how to is you get asked what they were doing with the garage your level point number five forcing versus influencing I try to force too much I forced too much of my clients on my staff members on my sales force my first year oh my gosh I was just wait way too much about forcing people to become successful forcing people to realize why they made the decision to out was just too much force way too much force instead of trying to influence it's almost like trying to manage everyone's success instead of leaving it finally I just said you know what this is putting way too much pressure on me than anybody else because their success is predicated on me if they don't succeed in amptek I said you know what I gotta set an example of success and then I'm going to lead and influence them with my example that took a weight off my shoulder and they enjoyed my style of leadership because it was purely influential it was more about example than it was about you better do this you better do today why don't you do this - you're good it was more about here's what I did here's what I'm doing this is what's working for me this is what I suggest here's what I request I had to learn by a ton of mistakes on going from force to influence from managing to just leading and setting an example point number seven living the dream point number six living the dream to early living the dream to early what does I mean living the dream to early when I started the business I made some money so I went and got a brand spanking new car big car payment driving everybody around I was going to you know out and buying drinks for everybody and partying ahead Pat's in the house it's so cool what up Pat you know and I was good in the party sinks I like that so you know oh my gosh and so lifestyle big going to vague a spending ten grand on a week weekend when I don't even have $10,000 and just it's okay the money is coming on future success and future sales boom lost everything money girl car everything gone first year gone wiped out credit card score 484 everyone's calling collecting debt you're one okay that's what happened I try to live the dream too early way way too early now I think there's a mistake as well trying to leave a delay too long as what because you know people also want to see that you're expanding in your life - there's got to be a part of that that's taking place that you're expanding in your life - but living the dream too early trying to act as if way too early I don't think that's a benefit either because at the end of the day the number one rule of being in business is what to stay in business you got to make sure you're staying in business to be able to have a shot at growing your business and living the dream - early living too large too early can backfire on you next number seven trying to sell too many products as an entrepreneur so I'll give you a story for myself I'm when I first chose the financial industry so I got started with Morgan Stanley Dean Witter and I'm getting my series 766 31:26 life and health I'm going to go into the financial industry okay I got started day before 9/11 my first day Morgan Stanley Dean Witter was a Monday was nine ten nine ten 2001 is a day before 9/11 and I got involved it was probably the worst time to be involved in the financial industry market tanked about a thousand points the next day 9/11 happens no one want to buy stocks mutual funds don't want to talk to an advisor market kept going lower and lower trust in the market was down fear war anxiety panic no one wanted to deal with anything right and I saw mortgages start climbing up and that's when Nigam if you've seen it movie the big short who's in a big short the big short has to it has I want to say Ryan Gosling is in a big short who's the funny guy from the office what's the funny guy's name from the office florell Carell Steve Carell Steve Carell in the big short actually some pretty big shot actors on the on the big short Christian Bale Bradley up so you know the whole thing is about the Nigam business mortgages were pick a payment negative amortization whatever you want to call this program that came from Australia there you have four payments you can pay the 15 year loan the 30 year loan the interest only or the negative amortization which whatever payment you're making your loan gets bigger and bigger every single month so everybody buy this house I know it's a seven hundred twenty thousand dollar house but you only need to make a payment of you know nineteen hundred twenty dollars and who knows five years from now may go up and a boom it went up but I was tempted to get into the mortgage world and I saw these people doing it I made 28 grand I made 200 grand this guy made 400 grand Scott made 600 grand last month and he's doing this dis justice everybody in La wanted to get into this I was this tempted nothing wrong with the guys that did it people who did it the right but made a lot of money more power to him but I had chosen the insurance and a financial industry that's the industry I chose and I was tempted disclose one week and I came back and one guy was kicking my butt this one guy was completely kicking one of my competitors was killing me and I'd have to go and sit in the room and just watch this guy beating everybody up mortgage mortgage mortgage mortgage mortgage mortgage and so I said we also need a mortgage he also do an escrow he's also doing real estate he's also doing this he's also doing bit he's also doing title he's also getting he's got his money all this other we have to try to become like a bank and we have to do Property and Casualty as well and we have to do tax services one we have to do and I said nope went back to the book blue ocean strategy blue ocean strategy said yet leaner get tighter fewer products focus on a product that's what's going to work and not having read that book I've read it afterwards realizing by pure luck I made the right decision but I was this close of selling many many many different products instead of being focused about a product the challenge as an entrepreneurs when you choose an industry there's going to be booms happen a lot of different industries whatever in this you're going to choose and there's always an industry that seems more sexier I wish I woulda came up with the next snapchat the next Instagram the next Facebook the next Twitter it just seems it's more sexy to come up with the Groupon or to come up with this you know I just wish I would've got me our business is boring you know I wish I wasn't in this boring type of it doesn't matter I am gonna more hedge my money towards the guy that's industry to master that industry than I am with the guy that's constant rying to chase the next big thing that's taking place and I watch guys they went from mega from mortgages into REO to short sale to real estate to you know commercial to modification to selling gold to that sediment to credit repair to credit restoration to get so many twenty-five different things and I kept telling everybody sell one product man sell one product one product one product and you do that sell one product and I almost made that mistake and it cost me my business on where I'm at so don't try to sell too many products become focus and intentional on one product one industry you choosing number eight thinking I knew it all I mean literally when I got started I was as a young kid just an knucklehead who thought he knew everything you know 21 years old I would have been so annoyed coaching myself at that time because I thought I knew everything and then the best thing that ever happened to me the best thing that ever happened to me is I hit rock bottom by far the best thing that ever happened to me sitting rock bottom I think I think for men I have two boys and I'm going to be in pain when I witnessed these guys go through this but I think the best thing that can happen to a man is a heartbreak a very strong heartbreak and a very big failure early on in business and it happened to me early on in life both heartbreak and business it happened early on because I thought I knew it all and it was a slap in the face to save Socrates says the only thing I know is that I know nothing if the greatest minds on their deathbed are saying things like that what makes you and I think we know everything quite frankly everything I'm saying on value Tim it may be inaccurate every single thing I'm saying on and value Tim you may come back and my opinions may be wrong it's work for me this is how to work for me for me it's more about teaching how to think and actually what to think I want to get an entrepreneur to learn how to think than what to think but we don't know everything we got to learn how to adjust we got to learn how to adapt we got to learn how to get better we gotta learn how to improve and so the mindset of thinking you know it all and all the concepts just it's not a place you want to be because it means advancements doesn't come around the corner and I had the know-it-all attitude at a young age and it almost cost me there's a benefit to that there's a benefit because you become as you push the envelope a little bit but there's also the leveling off to know that maybe you don't really know this and let me ask in question somebody I respect to give me proper direction that I trust that maybe they can challenge my position an opinion but it's good that I have the audacity so I like it the fact that there's audacity that you're pushing the envelope but there's got to be coach ability and learn ability that you want to learn and advance as well it doesn't matter who you are everyone's got to have somebody that they have a mentor that's giving them direction with so it was good that I got out of there pretty quickly point / 9 I partied way too hard way too hard I'm gonna have stories of how hard I partied I like Thursday night because was ladies night the best time was Thursday night I mean we used to go to a we had this is back in the days Dublin's I don't know how many times I got kicked out of Dublin's man Dublin's is now shut down but Dublin's was just heavenly for me I mean they had a we had a great time at Dublin's we had a great time at Miyagi's saddle ranch all these other clubs that they had in Hollywood I mean you name it we went through every single one of these things we just party like crazy and we'd go to Vegas and Dre's is open till today but back in the days Drake's was the late you know after-hours and we go all these other places just party said Thursday night and Friday night on Saturday and then Sunday night and then you're trying to get up in the morning and go work on Friday morning and you came home at 3:30 and you go into work and you're kind of like jet-lagged and you know from Vegas flight back or whatever it is and you have no energy and you're going to work now I'm going to pull it off because I'm drinking three Red Bulls today nope I want to be focused I did that for a couple years and then my friends will tell you from high school I went from being the most ridiculous crazy party guy that wanted to do all that stuff to the most boring guy that said stop calling me I don't want a party anymore one incident took place one night at a nightclub at Highlands which was a ugly fight that almost led to arrest and all this other stuff and I said don't call me anymore I don't want to deal with this the only way I'm in a party is I'm going to party going around the world and seeing the world and I want to celebrate with some ridiculous celebrations and business and success in life all this other party stuff that drinks the girls it's so boring after man it's like the same old crap over and over again there is no real life and substance behind it I want the juice of life I want to hide the last of the day I die I want to be naturally high this is why don't drink coffee I don't drink redbull I don't eat any of these energy stuff I don't I want the natural highs of life is what I'm seeking what I'm looking for but it almost cost me a business because I thought well listen man we watch these movies well for Wall Street and boiler room and you got to go and party very hard because that's what these guys doing the movies BS if you want that life you go get it if you want the bigger real life the real real players and send how they party man they own the nightclub they don't party with the people at the nightclub they own the business they own the products being sold they don't go in there mingle and doing all that other stuff and so it's all based on your standards on what you want to do but I can't lie I've been to hundreds of ladies nights I've been to a club many times if you're my age and you're from California we've probably partied at some of the same places together okay all right let's not bring any memories by though if you know me from the past we don't need any comments on the bottom okay number 10 acting like a boss instead of an employee I made a mistake let me tell what I mean so I mean I'm an entrepreneur now man I get to do whatever I want to do I can come in whenever I want in my hours and you know it's just so mama nobody tells me what to do I'm an entrepreneur I come out 11 o'clock if I want to because I chose to be an entrepreneur and you're going to fail when a person goes from being an employee to an entrepreneur they're missing one thing they don't have a boss anymore and they're not used to being a boss and they don't make a good boss if you're worried about you'd be a boss in your past life and you're not a good boss that's why you were never a boss in your past life if your boss your boss okay so when you become an entrepreneur one things missing you don't have somebody that's gonna hold you accountable you don't have someone that's going to tell you what were you at 8 o'clock in the morning you don't have that you don't even like when somebody does at you because no one's paying your hourly anymore no one's paying you 20 bucks an hour 15 bucks an hour 30 bucks an hour 40 bucks or whatever it is so who's someone to tell you what were you this morning nobody is so that environment that you're going into you're thinking to yourself what the hell am i doing you know so if you don't hold yourself accountable or don't have somebody that's going to hold you accountable a person somebody that's directing you challenging your running mate a partner many times you'll see that not working out so for me I went in I wasn't a good boss to myself it cost me my first year and eventually obviously self-motivated you learn how to hold yourself accountable all this other stuff then the rest is history but you're one I've seen many people not make you because of that so point number eleven kind of follows that it's not having a schedule create a schedule and stick to it and punish yourself if you don't like literally I didn't have a schedule just kind of like showing up create a schedule just like that you have a job except at a job you work 9:00 to 5:00 as an entrepreneur you work 7:00 to 10:00 just so you know that HP dokgo becoming Entrepreneur Award few hours you could become an entrepreneur because you work twice as many hours but then you and your own business any control the time once people don't become entrepreneurs because they make more money they want control and freedom and a lifestyle and that lifestyle may take three five ten years it won't happen overnight what happened overnight so but set a schedule stick to it and the last one I'll tell you the last one I'll tell you is is the value of a business plan you know I remember I got started early on and I was on this meeting and this one girl who had gotten involved in business we had both become advisors right around the same time she wrote a business plan 60 page business plan I'm gonna make this kind of money I'm gonna do this I'm gonna do that and I'm just scratching my head I'm like man I have no idea how to even write a business plan I don't even know what a business plan is and there was not like internet to go and type in seven points right in a business plan there was no online blogs you know on how to write a business plan I don't know how to write a business plan what am I going to do on writing a business plan so the value of a business plan is this much when you're you're one of an entrepreneur your business plan should be actionable items and habits to learn and apply every day such as I'm going to make 250 calls today I am going to give away 50 business cards today I am going to network online and connect with 50 people on social media today and what counts so I'm not just going on newsfeed Facebook I'm getting numbers and scheduled follow-up appointments that's what counts habits I'm going to read an hour per day I'm going to study my trait an hour per day the business plan is not here's what I'm going to headquarter number one quarter number two quarter number three it's more I'm going to learn this skill set this month then I'm going to learn this skill set this month then I'm going to learn this skill set this month then I'm going to learn this skill set this month that's a business plan not a 75-page business plan a habit skill set discipline plan is really what's critical over all the other stuff so you know very very critical reading and putting that part of your plan on a daily basis is very important because you're improving your mindset self-affirmation you know self auto suggestions statements you're telling yourself books you're reading on how to improve yourself audio CDs you're listening to things that get you going very very important for doing that and obviously when you do that plan it's eliminating certain relationships certain associations who you want knew to be in your life that's what the plan is the plan is not a business business plan that you have to write this intimidating business plan at a kid from USC with an MBA is going to teach you how to write and charge in your 1,500 bucks nonsense I've seen hundreds of kids coming out of big universities writing business plans as entrepreneurs who failed and are working at somebody right now for nothing so you're writing a business plan to value with your one not a lot your three or five-year ten more because then you understand the cycles of the business the seasons of the business you know you're more of a mature entrepreneur dot dot dot and that's not the purpose of this video okay so those are 12 of the dumbest mistakes I've made I've made many more like to hear some of the dumb mistakes you've made comment on the bottom with some of the mistakes you've had if you have any questions on what I said in this video comment on the bottom I do get back to the comments it is increasing but we do still get back at the comments that we are getting on value tainment and if you haven't subscribed to this channel please do so subscribe on the bottom two to the value tainment channel and if again you're watching this video on a complete different website please be sure to visit Patrick bed david.com Illya thank you thanks for watching have a good one everybody bye-bye

Channel: Valuetainment

Views: 1,847,690

Rating: 4.9006195 out of 5

Keywords: Entrepreneur, Entrepreneurs, Entrepreneurship, Entrepreneur Motivation, Entrepreneur Advice, Startup Entrepreneurs, valuetainment, patrick bet david, entrepreneur mistakes, advice for new entrepreneurs, how to get started in business

Id: qgc89GEO_nE

Length: 24min 26sec (1466 seconds)

Published: Thu May 12 2016