Business Podcasts | 15 Proven Ways to Raise Capital to Start or Grow a Business

Audio Transcription

Yeah, yeah, I know the credit cards are maxed. Yeah. No, I’m not gonna ask your dad for money again, okay? Listen, I know this is gonna work. I got a good feeling about this one. Alright? Okay, I gotta go. Jim! Hey! Hey! Hey! Bob. Okay, nice to meet you, Bob. Hey, we’re here to get you some capital for your business today. Fingers crossed, Bob! I like that. Well, let’s just dive in. Sure. And we’ll unpack it. Tell me about your business. Yeah, you know, Bob, I just feel like I’m really sitting on a powder keg right now. And this industry is about to blow. All we have to do is light the match. You want to light it with me, Bob? Well, let’s see. Sure. What is this business? Yeah, it’s the party business. But more specifically, it’s the pet party business. Like for animals? Yeah, dogs, cats, fish. We’ve done a couple ducks. So you throw parties for pets? Birthday parties, weddings, graduations, anniversaries, office parties, proms, we do it all. Okay, okay, so so what can we do for you? Really Bob, we’re a young company but I’m just, my phone’s blowing up and I probably get a call about once a month and I can only see that doubling in the future. So I need a massive building that I can call my call center. That’s what the capital is for? Right. Let me tell you this, is that there are a hundred and eighty million pets in America and all they want to do is party. That’s it. And who are we to stop them, Bob? One call center away. Okay. I have a few standard questions for you. Bring them on. Yep. There you go. Okay. What are your net earnings? Netted. You know, they’re very netted. I net them myself, so it’s all good. What I mean is how are your profits? Oh yeah, we’re rebounding. Rebounding, so you’re losing money. Oh yeah, oh yeah. But you know, I say it’s addition by subtraction. Jim, do you have any real figures that you can show me? I do. Figure this, Bob. I’m not trying to sell a product here, okay? What I’m trying to sell is the American dream. You can’t put a price on that. Um, do you, do you have a cost analysis? No. Balance sheet? No. P&L? I don’t know if that is. Do you have anything you can show me today? A can-do attitude. And it’s right here. You’re looking at it. We need a little more than that, Tim. Okay. Time out. I thought this might happen. So what I did is I brought a satisfied customer. Say hello to Pebbles. Hey there, Bob. Give this guy all the capital he needs! What are you doing? Oh come on Bob this business is perfect! Thanks Pebbles and a pun. You’re so funny. You’re talking for the animal. Come on Bob and let’s party! Get out. What if we renamed it party animals? Get out. Dead comment. And now, all casting from the center of the universe and the Thrive 50.com world headquarters. Let’s go! Presenting the world’s only business school without the BS, with optometrist and entrepreneur Dr. Robert Zellner and the Horace Hall Business Administration Entrepreneur of the Year in your ear, Clay Clark. It’s the Thrive Time Show on Talk Radio 1170. Three, two, one, go! The Thrive Time Show on Talk Radio 1170. 3, 2, 1, boom! Boom, Thrive Nation. Welcome back to The Thrive Time Show on your radio. I know so many of you look forward to each and every broadcast, and we look forward to connecting with you because we are answering the questions that we receive from you. So many of you will email us info at thrive15.com your questions and Dr. Zellner we’re getting a ton of questions that are flowing in here about how do you fund a startup. This is going to be a fun show because so many people want to know how do you fund a startup. So it could be said that today’s show could be could be the best thing since the invention of the wheel. Or bread, maybe sliced bread. I don’t know. Then you can make sandwiches and stuff. Do you feel like sliced bread or the wheel is a better invention? How does it benefit you personally? Well, since I’m in a carb-free zone now in my life, I’m going to go with the wheel. I could probably actually eat a wheel. It’s kind of glowy. Does he have a globe at him? He does. He has a globe. Is that the carb-free globe? What a nice epidermis you have. Oh my God. I get so much cream. It’s a wonder I come into the box at Rocks. If you really think about it. When you come in here, it’s more of like a man beauty pageant is what it is. Just so much man. I could go to start throat punching at any moment now. Thrive Nation, if you have not seen Dr. Zellner, you need to. He’s a glowing, he’s a glowing radiant being. And we’re talking today about something that is exciting because Dr. Z’s had a lot of success. He’s been an optometrist in Tulsa for almost 26 years. He’s gone on to start an auto auction to invest a significant amount, or at least for him, in a bank, building a bank. He’s gone on to invest in a durable medical equipment company. I go on and on listing all the businesses he’s invested in, and he started, and he’s funded, and he’s seen a grow to success. But at the very beginning, you had to start with funding your business. So Dr. Z, talk to me about funding a business. How tough was it for you? What was your personal story to funding your very first version of Dr. Zellner and Associates? How did you do it, my man? Well, two ways. One, I know this is going to sound just bizarre and crazy. Crazy. It might even sound mean and little. Really? Mean and little? Yeah, I know. Oh, okay. I actually got a job and I saved some money. You’re talking about getting a job? I’d be like 40 hours a week you’re throwing down the drain working for someone else when you could be working for yourself. Yeah, exactly. You’re like the guy coming in, hey bro, just need like 250k bro and I’m gonna rock a coffee shop. Rock it bro. Starbucks gets it all wrong. Expose brick walls, bro, and coffee downs. I’m going to expose Starbucks for the fraud they are with my exposed brick, bro. You know, they make billions, bro. If we just made half of that, bro, they’d be like, more than a billion. I’m going to make thousands, bro. Dr. Z, I got a question. But before you decided that route for yourself, did you approach people with a business plan or ask for it? Did you do that? Oh, glory. What was your first topic? Oh, you have stories? Gee. I’ll tell you what, it was angelic. It was just like out of a movie. Okay, I’m excited. I’m a senior in optometry school, and I want to come back to my hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma. And I find a gentleman that wants to sell his practice. And so I approach him, and we write up a contract. And I put on my finest slacks, dress shirt, tie, and at the time coat, if you will. I went bank to bank to bank with a wonderful plan about a takeover optometry in Tulsa, Oklahoma. And every single one of them said, get out of here. Are you kidding? They would say that to you? Before I call security, I’m going to give you a head start. No. I’m hitting the security button right now. If you don’t allow security, I’m going to be hitting the button right now. I’ve got to get a man. I’ve got to get expelled from my office. I am hitting the security button and get out of here. So there were two things. One, I saved some money. And then two, I had a, I kind of tucked in with kind of a partner, if you will, I’m Art Express at the time. And so I was kind of in partnership with them a little bit, if you will. They kind of helped me with my business get started because I was a doctor next to them. The laws and rules changed over the years. And so we had kind of developed our relationship a little differently. But then we finally cut ties when I’m Art fired me as her president of the optical company. It let you go. Which is a whole nother story. I don’t know, that may be a whole nother show. I would like to do a show about you being fired. Me being fired, yes. Just the entire show. Who on earth would have the audacity to? Who on earth would do it? And that’s okay. I’ll tell you what, a good firing, I mean, that’s sometimes what a guy needs to get his gear and action. Little napalm in the morning motivates. Little napalm in the morning, I’ll tell you what. Soldiers up early at him. But yes, that was kind of a combo. I was working up to seven days a week. I was saving money. I know that sounds crazy, working for a couple, three different- Saving money? I know, I know. Living below my means, delaying gratification, which anymore is very unpopular. Were you tempted to get that car, that house? Social networking, yeah. Were you tempted to? No, because I knew that by not doing what I’m doing today, like in high school, I worked on weekends because I worked at a restaurant, and that’s when you made your tips, right? And everybody else was out partying, everybody else was going to football games, everybody else was doing their thing. Where’s Z? Going to Clay’s dance parties. Absolutely. He was throwing illegally over at Oral Roberts University. Glow sticks everywhere? Glow sticks, yes. Body paint, glow sticks. Body paint, glow sticks. It was weird. Now, Thrive Nation, we’re talking about the 15 super moves for funding your business. So I’m going to start off with a notable quotable from Dr. Z. You, my friend, you’ve said this to me numerous times. You said, nobody is ever going to care about your business as much as you do. So if you do move number one, this move would imply that you care about your business. Credit cards. Am I kidding? No. I’ve met many, many top entrepreneurs who’ve successfully funded their business using no-interest, 18-month credit cards. I have a ton of examples because it’s live radio. I’m not going to give you the names of these people, but I’ll just give you an example. One of my very dear friends had a product that she believed in, and she used an equity line to pull out 90% of it, the limit is 85 or 90% equity out of her house, to invest in the creation of the prototype. Just for full disclosure, her home was worth about $300,000, fully paid off. I remember her telling me about it, how excited she was to pay it off. She has this idea for a product. She’s in her late 40s. She takes the equity out. She funds the prototype, funds the development. And what happens is, Z, she screws up and she gets a buyer willing to carry her product in a major retail store. Whoa, whoa, whoa, you said screw up. You’re being facetious. No, I’m being, so she says, she’s calling these people and going, hey, I want you to carry my product. And they said, we will absolutely put it on the shelves of a major retail store, this big store. It’s going to happen. Everyone listening right now, you would know the name of the store. However, she had to put up at least $50,000 of product on the shelves. And if they sell it, she gets her money from them in a net 30 days after they buy it. So she’s got to come up with 50 grand after she’s already taken out the equity to fund the prototype, to fund the sales team, whatever. And so she went online with a good credit score for the final time and got all the cards she could get and she did it 18 months, zero interest, and funded the product that she believed in. Yep. And she made it back in spades. She made millions of dollars and it was an unbelievable return on investment. But Z, you’ve got to be all in because nobody is ever going to care about your business as much as you do. What do you mean by that? Well, that takes us down to a special place I like to call… Yee-haw! The farm! Who doesn’t like a good farm tale? A yarn about the farm? You know what I’m saying? A good story? Do I gotta put my pants on? With your girlfriend, Dori? I’ll put my overalls on. Let me get a second. I didn’t know you had to wear pants for this show. You got a little weird. In my book, Business Pig, I talk about big business rules and the number two rule is you’ve got to be the pig at breakfast and not the chicken. What does that mean? What does that mean? Does anybody know what that means? Business crickets? Business crickets. Oh, look at you, just clicking the trigger. I got my trigger button down now. You got the fever. What that means is you have to be committed. You have to be able to, as Napoleon Dynamite, Napoleon Hill says, you’ve got to be able to burn the boats as you’re approaching the island to take it over. See, the pig at breakfast gives his life. You make bacon. In order to make bacon, you’ve got to take, you’ve got to, the pig is no longer living. I’ll just fast forward that story. Now the chicken, he lays an egg, so he’s just kind of involved. He’s like, here you go. You know, I have a good breakfast. I hope it goes well, you know, I’ll kind of be around. Maybe tomorrow I’ll lay you another egg. You know what I mean? But they’re not fully in, they’re not fully invested. So I want to ask you, Paul, you are a CPA, but if I had to describe you, you just like Dr. Z, Dr. Z is an entrepreneur trapped inside an optometrist’s body. And you are an entrepreneur in my mind trapped inside a CPA’s body. Which one is more stressful? I mean, is it stressful to be, as a CPA, I mean, do you feel like you’re more an entrepreneur or more CPA? Kind of describe to the Thrivers, how would you classify yourself, CPA or entrepreneur? Well, I would describe myself as an entrepreneur. So when did you first get that urge to start your own thing? Because you actually worked for, didn’t you work for a big accounting firm before starting your own practice? That’s correct. I went to something called college. Oh. And to get a good job. And I got a good job, and then I worked for them for a couple of years and decided to go out. The entrepreneur side of me snuck out, and I decided I know how good I am. And I’m like you, Dr. Z, optometrist, CPA, go to the bank, borrow money. I never heard so much laughter. It was kind of scary. Get out before I don’t have to see you. You now, Paul, you grow through acquisition primarily up to now. I mean, you’ve bought other practices. You’ve continued to grow. What kind of sacrifices did you make to fund your business? Did you sell a kidney? Do you look pretty healthy? I mean, did you sell a kidney? Did you sell a lung? What was your move? No, I actually, what I did is I got a job. What? As well. What? That’s crazy. Was it maybe a slight, silent J, but it’s an ob. Ob. Ob. I’ve never heard of these things. A lot of people haven’t heard of these things. Then on the side, I started my business. So I had a job and a business. The old business-job-slash-combo. So you actually took the money from your job and used that to fund your business? That’s correct. How long did it take you to break even on the business you were funding? Because you’re probably taking the money, all the profits you had, all the money left over after your cost of living and putting that all back into the business. How long did it take you to finally hit the break-even or profit zone? Well, it’s a service business, so it didn’t take too long. Now, to recover my initial investment took me about three and a half years. And I will tell all the Thrivers, if you’re listening right now, and you go, three and a half years, what? Well, Tesla didn’t post a profit for nine years Jeff Bezos He went he just he bypassed for a few hours the other day Bill Gates is the richest man in the world, buddy Yeah, just like two or three hours gonna do that acquisition of Whole Foods is it’s over. Oh, yeah It’s just done seriously and then ESPN. I mean those guys didn’t make a profit for like seven years almost eight years So if you’re listening right now, and you have a big idea, you’ve got to think about, is it worth the sacrifice? Because if it is, you’ve got to be all in. But if it’s not, do not start a business if you’re not committed. Do not do it. Because move number one is the credit card move. Now move number two is family and friends. Now let me tell you what. If you are crazy enough to ask family and friends for money to fund your business, you fall into the category of Jeff Bezos. When everybody else told Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, no. When everyone told him no, he went to family and friends and said, listen, if you will put in $10,000, then 10,000 bucks, maybe 50,000, anything you guys could put in, I’ll give you a certain sliver of ownership. Well, his mom and dad said, Jeff, we believe in you, we’ve seen your dedication, you can office out of the garage, and we’re gonna put in 300,000 which was almost the entirety of their retirement and his mom and dad said we’re gonna put in the entirety of our retirement Well, imagine the relief he felt by when he got the funding but the burden he felt when they said yes Knowing that your mom and dad could no longer retire unless your business Succeeds. I mean that’s a family and friends. We come back, I want to talk about getting money, investment dollars from family and friends and maybe that weird tension that can be created and how you just have to be committed no matter how you fund your business. My name is Clay Clark. You’re listening to the Thrive Time Show on your radio. And I encourage you during the break, get on out to Oklahoma Joe’s and try out their legendary burnt ends and baked beans. I’m a business coach. Stay tuned. Broadcasting live from the center of the universe, it’s Business School Without the BS. Featuring optometrist turned entrepreneur Dr. Robert Zellner with USSBA Entrepreneur of the Year, Clay Clark. Hey, I’m on vacation every single day cuz I love my occupation. Hey, I’m on vacation if you don’t like your life then you should go and change it I’m on vacation every single day cuz I love my occupation I’m on vacation every single day every every single day Oh Thrive Nation if you do not like your occupation I could once relate to you I can tell you when I was working at the Norseman restaurant there in Cocado, Minnesota, flipping burgers, serving as a busboy, I didn’t like that job. And you know what I did? I did 100% the wrong thing. I did the worst possible job at that job because I thought, well you know what, I don’t like this job so I need to get out of this job. And so I’ll do a bad job and I guess I thought that by doing a bad job and complaining, maybe that would get me somewhere else. And what you’ll discover over and over, if you work for a job right now and you work in a business and you don’t like your job, what you’ll discover over time is that when you consistently over-deliver, the man who does more than he is paid for will soon be paid more than for the work he does. The person who does more work than what they’re paid to do will eventually be overpaid. It will happen. And so we’re talking today about this concept where you say, man, I really, really, really want to start my own business, but how am I going to fund it? Well, step one, definitely over deliver while at your current job. Do the absolute best job you can do at your current job. Because Z, if you lose your full time job while trying to start your new business, that’s the worst place to be. Oh, it’s horrible because your income streams, you know, gets cut off and you know, if you’re not focusing on doing the job that you’re getting paid to do, you will be let go eventually. I mean, that’s just the way it is in life. And so you have to have that balance. You have to know how to switch those gears and say, okay, I’m at work now. I’m focused on work. I can’t be around the computer, you know, ordering. It also creates a bad habit for you too when you’re used to not doing a good job. And so when you don’t do a good job, it creates the habit of not doing a good job. And then, so we’re talking about the second move, the second move, which is going to family or friends to raise money. Well, let me tell you what, your family and friends will run from you like the plague if you have a reputation for not over delivering. So I’m going to go around the table, kind of a round table discussion. Let’s go with Justin first off. Justin, when you talk about getting money from family or friends to invest, talk to me about the level of pressure you may feel when family invests in a business venture. The level of pressure, yeah. So there may be a higher level than someone you don’t know, right? Or just the line of credit you take. But ultimately, maybe there’s more at stake there. Because maybe these are people you’re going to see at Thanksgiving, Christmas time, you know, all that stuff. And then you’re just looking at them, you’re like, how’s that business doing? How’s my money? You know, and then they want to tell you what you should do with your business because now they invested in you. And it’s like that stuff. So, there definitely is some pressure there, but ultimately you may need to ask family or friends just like Jeff with Bezos with Amazon did you may need to do that and actually that’s how Elephant in the Room we funded and we are related through you married my sister yeah married your sister! So we went in on that venture together and to be honest I don’t probably anyone else in my family that you’re not listening so I’m not okay with this. But no one else in my family would I have invested with or teamed up with besides you guys. Well, I appreciate you saying that, and I will say this if you’re listening out there at Thrive Nation, is when you take investments from anybody, you have the three C’s, and I want you to kind of break down the three C’s, okay? So here we go. When you take money from someone, one, you get the capital. That’s obvious. You get the capital, the cash, the money. The second is you get the counsel. You get the little tips, the little moves. And three, you get the connections. So if you get investment dollars from a member of the mob, all of a sudden you’re like associated with the mob. You get the little tips. If you get money from your Uncle Billy, who’s never really had a job, but hurt himself on a job and all of a sudden got a cash windfall, your Uncle Billy’s going to want to give you tips. So Z, when you get the cash, talk about the council. Because when people put money in, they want to give you tips. They want to give you feedback. When you’re taking money from the mob, you see, the thing about it, we don’t call it the mob anymore. We don’t call it the mob, I don’t want that. We’re trying to make, you know, fiscally responsible investments. We call it Las Vegas. And to young entrepreneurs that have a job that we think we can protect and, you know, manipulate, I mean, you know, help. Absolutely. Yeah. That’s the thing. You’ve got to be careful where you take the money from, because they will feel like, and they will have access to tell you their opinion on every single thing you do. Funny story. Is that kind of like politics? Yes. Is that what we’re talking about? See, you’re into politics. You love supporting people that are in favor of the Constitution. In politics, you’ve probably seen it, a guy takes money from a certain person, now guess what? Guess who has their ear? Right. I mean, is that a thing? Oh yeah, yeah, they have their ear, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they have their heart, or they have their, you know, their vote, or their whatever, but I mean, they do have their ear. But I mean, you’ve seen candidates who all of a sudden were in favor of one thing, and they get a big donor, all of a sudden they’re in favor of something else. I mean, in every… People can change their mind, I have been known to see people change their mind if that’s what you’re talking about. No, I’m just saying in general, this is a thing. I mean, if you’re taking cash from anybody, be careful of the counsel. This is what I’m saying. Be careful. Now, the connections. I’m going to pick on Paul for this one. Paul, if you take money from somebody, invest. Let’s just say you get money from somebody who you really don’t like them and the people they hang out with. Won’t you have to see them and the people they hang out with when you get their capital? I mean, won’t that happen? Well, yeah, if you’re going to be polite or open the door when they’re banging on it at 2 o’clock in the morning, you’ve got to see them. Yeah, yeah. You don’t spend time with people you get in bed with, per se. Now, here’s the deal, Thrivers. I’m going to read you a notable quotable from General Patton, who was not a venture capitalist, okay? He was a member of the U.S. Army who was in charge of the U.S. Seventh Army in many of the battles fought in the European and Mediterranean regions. He says, this is a legend, George Patton, okay? He says, the time to take counsel of your fears is before you make an important decision. So before you get to capital, you want to think about it. He says, that’s the time to listen to every fear you can imagine. However, when you’ve collected all the facts and all the fears and made your decision, turn off your fears and go ahead. He was legendary for that. He’d listened to all the data, get all the feedback, and he’s like, eventually we have to take action. So man, if you do get capital from family, I hope and pray you’ve thought about that. But once you do, you cannot obsess and worry. You just have to take action. So super move number three. Super move number three. You could create, if you have an existing business, kind of a premium package where basically people in the Dallas Cowboys did this. You saw the Dallas Cowboys, Jerry Jones did this. You could pay for the rights to seats, but then you still had to actually buy the seats. You know, I mean, he sold everything. He sold the naming rights, Z, to the stadium. I mean, that guy, Jerry Jones, I mean, he was able to create value everywhere. Yeah, he kind of redefined a lot of now universities, a lot of other organizations use that model. But that’s pretty sneaky. Sneaky makes sneakers in. You see this a lot of times on some of these crowdfunding websites where they say the first 100 people to invest $1,000 get these VIP treatments or this exclusive. You get your name inscribed on a brick if you’re one of the first investors in a new stadium. Those kind of things. I mean, these are, so those are moves. When we come back, we’re going to talk about all the ways that you can raise money to fund your business. And up next, super move number four, we’re gonna talk about offering discounts for people that pay in advance. So if people are paying in advance, there’s a way to generate a lot of quick cash, but you gotta be careful. My name’s Clay Clark. We’re talking about funding your business today on the Thrive Time Business Coach Radio Show. I’m a business coach and I have a feeling you’re hungry. Go to Oklahoma Joe’s and check, check, check it out. And now, ladies and gentlemen, Scripps Radio and the Thrive Times show proudly introduce to you today’s main event. Fighting out of the blue corner, wearing a blue soccer jersey, featuring a logo from an unnamed international corporation. Go get them, Selma! Weighing somewhere between 102 pounds and 170 pounds and three-quarter ounces. Yes! ounces from Tulsa, Oklahoma, which is a legendary birthplace of the sod farm tourist industry. His professional record includes owning an optometry clinic for over 13 million, 140,000 minutes. He’s been part of growing eight multi-million dollar companies, and he’s lent his on-air co-hosts over 100 dollarinis while forgetting to ever ask him asking for the money back ladies and gentlemen I present to you the undefeated except for those few times when he didn’t lose a couple of bouts understood champion man makes you want to throw a punch I mean I’d get you fired up. You are fired up. Thrive Nation, welcome back to the Thrive Time Show on your radio. Z, I don’t know, are you fighting today? Are you fighting against mediocrity? Is that the fight? I’m fighting to eradicate a number that Forbes publishes. If you Google right now, Forbes and business closing rate, it’s eight out of ten shut their doors 80% I don’t know where they come up with these magical mystical numbers, but Forbes is legit now real quick We have an accountant on the show we have Paul Hood He is a CPA and Paul by the way if people want to get a hold of you or what rumor has it You’ve got a free gift for all the listeners today. What do you give away my friend away? Well? I have a book I don’t if you guys have ever heard of Warren Buffett? Ah, well, no, but I like I like eating at a buffet. Yeah, well, it wasn’t the first thing. It was the first guy, right? He was the guy sort of Luby’s Luby’s. Yeah, first. It’s not all you can eat. It’s all you care to eat. Oh, I like to say it. Well, he has a quote that I that I kind of memorize, which sometimes is easy to do, sometimes not. It says the number one rule in business is don’t lose money. Oh I was just stupid. Yeah, isn’t that crazy? That’s just stupid. Yeah. Well, so what gift are you giving away? Well, the gift I’ve got is he wrote a book about his success and it’s called the snowball Hmm, and I don’t know about you clay But I tend to like to read things from people or follow people that have been successful I have personally read the book snowball and it is the most self-deprecating and helpful book, the autobiography that I’ve ever read. That’s correct. He starts off the book and he’s just very self-deprecating where he starts off and he’s again, he’s personally writing this book and he says, anything that you Google about me that you discover or find about me that’s negative is probably true. And anything that I’m gonna try to talk about in this book, but the thing that he knows about is how to make money and he explains to you the specifics of how to do it So if you’re listening right now This is a book that I personally spent 35 bucks on I bought it brand new when it first came out I ran to Barnes & Noble bought that thing Snowball is an awesome book and it meant Paul. You’re a CPA. How do you get a hold of this book? How do people get a hold of you and how do they get a free copy of this book? Well, they’re definitely gonna want to get it. I don’t know if you remember this in the book, Clay. It says somehow he accidentally ended up with two wives. I do recall that. Can I share the story on the air? You’ll get it. Here’s the thing. This is Thrivers. Please don’t listen to this and say this is a life tip. This is just what Warren Buffett said. He said at a certain point he realized that his current wife was not meeting his needs. We’ll leave it there. So he said he wanted to stay married and then start dating. So that’s what he did. That was his move. And so he was in this weird and just if you read his book, the guy’s got a weird personal life. He’s also the guy who’s chosen. It’s weird. He could buy any house he wants. He didn’t need the Oracle from Omaha still lives in a house he bought like 30 years ago. I mean, it’s a deal where I went to Omaha for a speaking event, I drove up to his house and there’s his car and there he is. I mean, see, this is a guy who’s like living in a nice, like middle, upper middle class home in Broken Arrow. And this guy has just chosen to not move into the gated community, not upgrade. And he just hangs out in Omaha. I know it’s funny because everybody always used to talk about Sam Walton driving an old pickup truck. Yeah. You know, and I’m like, oh yeah, you didn’t talk about the jets and the planes he owned that he flew around and that he’d get in the old pickup truck and drive around. Absolutely. You know what I mean? It’s kind of like, you know. The thing about Warren Buffett is he’s got a lot of idiosyncrasies and if nothing else, you’re going to want to get this book because it’s just a great read. But he breaks it down. So Paul, how do they get a hold of this book? How do they get a hold of you? Well, they can get a hold of me for their free copy. Email me at paul at hood, C-P-A-S dot com. Give me your name, phone number, and address and I’ll get one out to you. Awesome! Awesome! It’s a book, you’re giving it away, it’s like a Santa Claus. It’s free. Awesome! Now Thrive Nation, if you’re trying to raise capital for an existing company, here’s super move number three. And see, I worked with a client in the upper, it’s kind of Northwest, who did this move. What they did is they had a company that sells memberships. And they said, if you want to go ahead and prepay for the year, it’s going to be, let’s just say the membership fee was $50 a month. Sure. He said, if you prepay for the year, it’s only going to be like $400. So instead of 600, it was prepaying for the year. So instead of paying for 12 months, you just get, you get basically four months free if you prepay. That was the move. Sure, sure. And that move generated a lot of quick cash, and he luckily was already in a position where he could meet his monthly obligations. This was just cash generation to open another location. Z, where do you have to be careful when you start letting people prepay for a premium package? You know, you’re saying if you pay in advance, I’ll go ahead and give you a substantial discount. How do you have to be careful there? Well, you have to be careful because you’ve said and what you’ve done is you’ve done your little formula. You’ve found a business coach, and you have formulated what your cost is for delivering your goods. Right. You figure out how much money you want to make per each of these transactions. Right. Because you have your life goals, you have your F6 that you want to attain, and you know how much each of these procedures or things cost you. So you built that in. So if you sell too many of them at a big discount, all of a sudden that shifts that so much. And now all of a sudden, yeah, the first month it’s great because you’ve got all this cash coming in. Tons of cash. Tons of cash. Month six or seventh or eighth, you’re like, oh no. No money’s coming in. Month one you’re saying, I would prefer to have my wine poured into a chalice. I would like a gold chalice for my wine to be poured into. A horn, actually, a horn from a musk. And then about month six, you’re going, if you guys could just get high-common on trash cans. I’d still love you to provide all this stuff, but there’s no more money coming in, because everybody already prepaid for it at that reduced rate. So you’ve got to be careful with that. I worked with a thriver to help him generate the money he needed. It worked out very well for him. But I’m just telling you, be careful when you do that. Now, Subaru number five, raise prices by five. Oh, number four. We’re on four. Whoa. Subaru number four, again, offer discounts for payment in advance. Oh, that’s the one you just mentioned. Yeah, it’s OK. It’s betting clean up there. It’s kind of snuck in there. Now, Subaru number five, raise prices by 5%. Now, Justin, I want to get your feedback on this, because elephant in the room, we have gone through a lot of different price models, and you’ve been pig-headed about offering a really, really high-end service for the price. Talk to me about your journey to raising prices. Has it always been a fun one when you raise prices? Yeah, so just to get started, we are a membership-based men’s grooming lounge, and so talking about, you know, the membership model, that’s month to month, so we don’t realize don’t spend all your money in the first week because you still got to make payroll in the fourth week, you know, things like that. Right. They’re just paying in advance for that haircut they may get on a week four instead of week one. But so talking about offer discounts for pants in advance, raising the prices over the five years, you know, things go up, gas goes up. You do have to bring that in and slowly change those price points. When we come back, I want to hear a little bit more from Justin about raising prices and kind of, you know, because you don’t want to raise prices, but the cost of goods, the cost of life goes up. I want to really get into the details of raising prices. I know that can be an emotional thing for many people. Not you, but other people. Stay tuned. It’s the Thrive Time Business Coach Radio Show. 3, 2, 1, boom! Hey, we need a big championship drive. That’s what we need. We’ve got to start competing, man. Start plating up fire all the time. Hey! Come on now, fellas! We’ve got to answer the bell! Now let’s go! Hey, we ain’t done, fellas! Come on, guys! See, when are you going to have Tom Brady come into the box at Rox and yell at us and encourage us to take it to another level? I mean, that guy is intense, my man. And the OTAs are going on, the preseason, mini-camps. See, this is the time of the year when Patriots fans throughout the world are saying, oh no, I am alone in my city. And I encourage you, if you’re listening right now, come to Tulsa on game days. We’ve got a nice facility here, Zee, and I’m thinking about having a Patriots viewing zone here at the ThriveNFT.com World Headquarters. I mean, I’m talking about hot wings. If you’re listening right now and you are a Patriots fan, email us info at Thrive15.com because a Patriot fan is a rare bird. Everyone hates the Patriots. Yeah, exactly. So if you’re a Dallas Cowboys fan, you can email me at info at Thrive15.com. But you asked the question, when’s Tom going to come into the Boxer Rocks and yells at you? Yeah, when is that going to happen? You pay that clip. Not every show, but a lot of shows. I know you have a supposedly rumor on the street is you have a Tom Brady poster in every one of the rooms of your house. It was weird when we put it in the bathroom. It’s weird when we put it in the bathroom, but there’s something like when you’re on the throne looking at the king, it’s a beautiful thing. And last shows, the good thing about it is if you miss part of the show, you miss a show or you go, oh, I missed today’s show. I was too busy. I was at Oklahoma Joe’s eating lunch and I missed, or I was at a truck stop and trying to get my, you know, my tire aired up and you missed the show. You can always go on thrivetimeshow.com and pick up the podcast, but it’s kind of a funny show. I think it was yesterday, maybe the day before I asked you, I said, listen, I know you have all these posters of Tom Brady, and I know you talk to them all the time. I’ve done it a lot of times. It’s a good conversation. And I asked you a hard-hitting question, which leads me to think we need to do a Tom Brady intervention on you, by the way. I was not prepared. I said, has he talked back to you? And you said in the affirmative, yes, he does. Yes, well, a lot of encouragement I get from Tom Brady. He’ll say things like, quit asking me questions and get back to work. Quit being an idiot. No days off. No days off. Why aren’t you working out? Why aren’t you working out? Where’s your barbell? What’s going on? Do you have a game picked out? Are you going to go see him live this year? Vanessa is trying to find a ticket. Now, here’s the deal. One of the Thrive clients I work with, he came up to me and he said, listen, my friend has box seats and you need to, you guys should connect. So allegedly tomorrow I’m supposed to meet said friend who has box seats, who lives in Boston. I’m supposed to get his cell phone number tomorrow. So once I figure that out, it could be a deal where I mean, a bromance. Well, it could be the beginning of an eight game visit. Because I’m just, I’m obsessed with a favorite. Let’s do it. It’s not a car to play this. They call him and say, hey, bro, what’s up? Hey, bro, what’s up? How you doing? How you doing? Hey, you want some lobster and candlelight and allow me in your box. I swear I will do whatever it takes for Tom Brady. He’s a beautiful man. No, Tom Brady is the man. He’s just the man in the Patriots. We’ve we’ve we’ve improved the receiving core. Four running backs, we got rid of Blunt looking for that extra money, and we got rid of our tight end. We’re tired. We’re tired of people asking for pay increases. No. You’re tired of people asking for money. You’re just like, you should play here for the love of the game. Absolutely. Absolutely. And then Ninkovich just retired. We’ll try to fill in for him, but it’s a great time. And Patriots Nation. Now, Thrive Nation, we’re talking about ways to raise money to fund your business. And Justin, elephant in the room, I know when we started the business and we’ve thought about the value we’re adding, the prices, we haven’t really raised prices in a long time so we’ve kind of got to a good place now, but it was kind of that incremental stair step where it was like, how low can we go? How low can we go? And it was like 15 bucks and then it was, and you finally came up to a price and now people say, you know, how much is the average haircut now? Well, I’ll say this. When we first started, it was, uh, membership was you pay one price and it’s unlimited haircuts. Unlimited. Unlimited. Guys are coming back like every three days. That’s like the limited buffet and you’re like, that guy can eat everything we got. You know, so we realized that there was a couple of guys just like cleaning up on haircuts. Oh, you’re coming in like all the time. You know, you’re like, that man. Like, like, like, what do you say when you say all the time? Seriously, tell me, tell me. Give me the story. Every two and a half weeks you had a couple guys who would come in. Well, once a week. Every single week, you know. They’d just come in for a little trim, a little, how’s your father, a little high and tight, a little something, something. Yeah, yeah, it’s a full, you know, they’re taking someone’s spot. So anyways, they’re in every week, you know, so you gotta budget that. They get the hot paraffin hair. Oh yeah, the paraffin. I’d just come in for that, that’s satisfying. Yeah, Greg, I didn’t think about that. So you gotta restructure things, you got to limit it. And you might… Abuse it? You might upset a couple people, but if you’re going to raise your prices 5%, 10%, you know, you may upset a couple people. This is a question to ask yourself. With the percentage raise, how many people can I afford to lose and stay at the current rate I’m at? Because when you lose those people, what are you doing? You’re at the same current rate you’re bringing in, but you just freed yourself up to grow. And so that’s what we realized, that we could actually afford to lose a certain percentage of people and replace new people. Those new people are used to the new price, and then they are going to be comfortable with it, and they’ll be glad to pay it, and then you grow on from there. Now one thing you have to do before you make those kind of decisions, because you asked yourself what percentage of people will you lose? I would recommend you have somebody on your team who has a sound financial mind. So Paul Hood, you’re a CPA. What percentage of the business owners that you have met, if you’ve met a small business owner, think of all the small business owners or your current clients, thousands of people you’ve met, you’ve worked with, what percentage of them have any concept of their break-even point and how many customers they actually need on a monthly basis just to break even previously to meeting with you. Out of the thousands of people, what percentage? Zero. You serious? Zero. Really? Perfect. Nobody’s in the outlier. None. Why is that? What’s the deal? Are they just in love with the passion, the product, the service? What’s the deal? Well, we’ve been trained to look at accounting and numbers and, as you quoted yesterday, like you’re looking in a rearview mirror, being retroactive instead of proactive. And so all they look at is what did we do last year, last six months, last quarter. They don’t look forward. And to comment on how much you should raise your prices, really what you have to do is you have to establish what your goal is cash flow-wise and then back into it. And then you’ve got to figure out if you lose those kind of clients, how many can you stand to lose? You know, Dr. Z, you studied mathematics in college and optometry. Apparently. So you’re one of those guys I’ve discovered that you are doing the math. You’re able to do, I would say, you could spit, you could sit there. Art from ought is ought. No, but I’m serious. You could definitely deep dive into the math if you wanted to, but you’re able to get a very pretty close approximation of where the business is just by looking at basic math. Why is that so important for you as a guy who’s grown multiple businesses? Why is your ability to just understand the numbers so important? Well, I mean, it’s over years. I mean, I’ll be open 26 years this November. And so, you know, in my business model, for example, I can take my busiest month, multiply it by 10, and pretty much get my gross revenue for the year unless something catastrophic happens, a business burned down or something unforeseen, just crazy like that, which is not happening, isn’t going to happen. The one month where you screwed up on your ad and you said, the first nine patients that show up every day get free. And now, all testing from the center of the universe, and the Thrive50.com world headquarters. Let’s go! Presenting the world’s only business school without the BS, with optometrist and entrepreneur Dr. Robert Seldner. And the Horace Hall Business Administration Entrepreneur of the Year in your ear, Clay Clark. Boom! Thrive Nation, welcome back to the Thrive Time Show on your radio. I know so many of you look forward to each and every broadcast, and we look forward to connecting with you because we are answering the questions that we receive from you. So many of you will email us, info at thrive15.com your questions and Dr. Zellner we’re getting a ton of questions that are flowing in here about how do you fund a startup. This is going to be a fun show because so many people want to know how do you fund a startup. So it could be said that today’s show could be could be the best thing since the invention of the wheel. This show. Or bread, maybe sliced bread. I don’t know. Then you can make sandwiches and stuff. Do you feel like sliced bread or the wheel is a better invention? How does it benefit you personally? Since I’m in a carb-free zone now in my life, I’m going to go with the wheel. I can probably actually eat a wheel. You’re kind of glowing. Does he have a globe at himself? He does. He has a globe. Is that the carb-free globe? What a nice epidermis you have. Oh my gosh. I catch so much. It’s a wonder I come into the box at Rox. If you really think about it. When you come in here, it’s more of like a man beauty pageant is what it is. Just so much man. I could go to start throat punching at any moment now. Thrive Nation, if you have not seen Dr. Zellner, you need to. He’s a glowing, radiant being. We’re talking today about something that is exciting because Dr. Z’s had a lot of success. He’s been an optometrist in Tulsa for almost 26 years. He’s gone on to start an auto auction to invest a significant amount, or at least for him, in a bank, building a bank. He’s gone on to invest in a durable medical equipment company. I go on and on listing all the businesses he’s invested in and he started and he’s funded and he’s seen a grow to success. But at the very beginning you had to start with funding your business. So Dr. Z, talk to me about funding a business. And how tough was it for you? What was your personal story to funding your very first version of Dr. Zellner and Associates? How did you do it, my man? Well, two ways. One, I know this is going to sound just bizarre and crazy. Crazy. It might even sound mean and little. Really? Mean and little? Yeah, I know. Oh, okay. I actually got a job, and I saved some money. You’re talking about getting a job? Gee, I’d be like 40 hours a week, you’re throwing down the drain, working for someone else, when you could be working for yourself. Yeah, exactly. You’re like the guy coming in, Hey bro, I just need like 250k, bro, and I’m gonna rock a coffee shop. Rock it, bro. Starbucks gets it all wrong, bro. Expose brick walls, bro, and coffee domes. I’m going to expose Starbucks for the fraud they are with my exposed brick, bro. You know, they make billions, bro. If we just made half of that, bro, that’d be like more than a billion. I’m going to make thousands, bro. Dr. Z, I’ve got a question. Before you decided that route for yourself, did you approach people with a business plan or ask for… Oh my God. Did you do that? Oh, I have a story. What was your first topic? Oh, you have a story? Oh, I tell you what, it was, you know, it was angelic. It was just like out of a movie. Okay, I’m going to hear. I’m excited. I’m a senior in optometry school, and I want to come back to my hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma. And I find a gentleman that wants to sell his practice. And so I approach him, and we write up a contract. And I put on my finest slacks, dress shirt, tie, and at the time, coat, if you will. I went bank to bank to bank with a wonderful plan about a takeover optometry in Tulsa, Oklahoma. And every single one of them said, get out of here. Are you kidding? They would say that to you? Before I call security, I’m going to give you a head start. No. I’m hitting the security button right now. You’re a little low security. I’m going to be hitting the button right now. I’ve got to get out of here. I’m expelled from my office. I am hitting the security button and get out of here. So there was two things. One, I saved some money. And then two, I had a, I kind of tucked in with kind of a partner, if you will, Imart Express at the time. Yeah. And, and so I was kind of in partnership with them a little bit, if you will. They kind of helped me with my business get started because I was a doctor next to them. Got it. The laws and rules changed over the years, and so we had kind of developed our relationship a little differently, but then we finally, you know, cut ties when Imart fired me as their president of their optical company. Oh, it let you go which is a whole nother story I don’t that may be a whole other show I would like to do a show about you being fired me being fired this entire show who on earth would have the audacity and that’s okay you know they were good firing I mean that’s sometimes what a guy needs to get his gear and a little napalm in the morning motivates a little day in the morning I tell you what two soldiers up early at him but yes I was kind of combo you know I was working up to seven days a week. I was saving money. I know that sounds crazy, working for a couple, three different… Saving money? I know, I know. Living below my means, delaying gratification, which anymore is very unpopular. Were you tempted to get that car, that house? Social networking, yeah. Were you tempted to? No, because I knew that by not doing what I’m doing today, like in high school, I worked on weekends, because I worked at a restaurant, and that’s when you made your tips, right? And everybody else was out partying, everybody else was going to football games, everybody else was doing the things. Where’s Z? Going to Clay’s dance parties. Absolutely. He was throwing illegally over at Oral Roberts University. Glow sticks everywhere? Glow sticks, yes. Body paint, glow sticks. Body paint, glow sticks. It was whiz weird. Yeah. Now, Thrive Nation, we’re talking about the 15 super moves for funding your business. So I’m going to start off with a notable quotable from Dr. Z. You, my friend, you’ve said this to me numerous times. Nobody is ever going to care about your business as much as you do. So if you do move number one, this move would imply that you care about your business. Credit cards. Am I kidding? No. I’ve met many, many top entrepreneurs who successfully funded their business using no-interest, 18-month credit cards. I have a ton of examples because it’s live radio. I’m not going to give you the names of these people, but I’ll just give you an example. One of my very dear friends had a product that she believed in, and she used an equity line to pull out 90% of the limits, 85% or 90% equity out of her house to invest in the creation of the prototype. Just for full disclosure, her home was worth about $300,000, fully paid off. I remember her telling me about it, how excited she was to pay it off. She has this idea for a product. She’s in her late 40s. She takes the equity out. She funds the prototype, funds the development. And what happens is, Z, she screws up and she gets a buyer willing to carry her product in a major retail store. Whoa, whoa, whoa, you said screw up. You’re being facetious. No, I’m being, so she says, she’s calling these people and going, hey, I want you to carry my product. And they said, we will absolutely put it on the shelves of a major retail store, this big store, it’s gonna happen. Everyone listening right now, you would know the name of the store. However, she had to put up at least $50,000 of product on the shelves. And if they sell it, she gets her money from them in a net 30 days after they buy it. So she’s got to come up with 50 grand after she’s already taken out the equity to fund the prototype, to fund the sales team, whatever. And so she went online with a good credit score for the final time and got all the cards she could get. And she did it 18 months, zero interest, and funded the product that she believed in. And she made it back in spades. She made millions of dollars, and it was an unbelievable return on investment. But see, you’ve got to be all in because nobody is ever going to care about your business as much as you do. What do you mean by that? Well, that takes us down to a special place I like to call the farm. Who doesn’t like a good farm tale, a yarn about the farm? You know what I’m saying? A good story. Do I got to put my pants on? With your girlfriend, Dori. Oh, well, I’ll put my overalls on. Let me get a second. Let me get a second. I didn’t know you had to wear pants for this show. You got a weird… In my Bucktail Business Pig I talk about big business rules and the number two rule is you’ve got to be the pig at breakfast and not the chicken. What does that mean? What does that mean? Does anybody know what that means? Business crickets? Business crickets. Oh, what is it with you? Just click on the trigger. I got my trigger button down now. You got the fever. What that means is you have to be committed. You have to be able to, as Napoleon Dynamite says, you’ve got to be able to burn the boats as you’re approaching the island to take it over. And see, the pig at breakfast gives his life. You make bacon in order to make bacon. The pig is no longer living. I’ll just fast forward that story. Now the chicken, he lays an egg, so he’s just kind of involved. He’s like, here you go. You know, I have a good breakfast. I hope it goes well. You know, I’ll kind of be around. Maybe tomorrow I’ll lay you another egg. You know what I mean? But they’re not fully in. They’re not fully invested. So I want to ask you, Paul, you are a CPA, but if I had to describe you, you just like Dr. Z, Dr. Z is an entrepreneur trapped inside an optometrist’s body. And you are an entrepreneur in my mind trapped inside a CPA’s body. Which one is more stressful? I mean, is it stressful to be a CPA? I mean, do you feel like you’re more entrepreneur or more CPA? Kind of describe to the Thrivers, how would you classify yourself? CPA or entrepreneur? Well, I would describe myself as an entrepreneur. So when did you first get that urge to start your own thing? Because you actually worked for, didn’t you work for a big accounting firm before starting your own practice? That’s correct. I went to something called college to get a good job. And I got a good job and then I worked for them for a couple years and decided to go out. The entrepreneur side of me snuck out and I decided I know how good I am and I’m like you Dr. Z, optometrist, CPA, go to the bank, borrow money. I never heard so much laughter. It was kind of scary. Get out before I go home to see you. Now you now have, Paul, you grow through acquisition primarily up to now. I mean, you’ve bought other practices, you’ve continued to grow. What kind of sacrifices did you make to fund your business? Did you sell a kidney? Do you look pretty healthy? I mean, did you sell a kidney? Did you sell a lung? What was your move? No, actually what I did is I got a job as well. What? That’s crazy. Was it maybe a slight silent J, but it’s an ob. Ob. I’ve never heard of these things. A lot of people haven’t heard of these things. Then, on the side, I started my business. So I had a job and a business. The old business-job-slash-combo. So you actually took the money from your job and used that to fund your business? That’s correct. How long did it take you to break even on the business you were funding? Because you’re probably taking the money, all the profits you had, all the money left over after your cost of living and putting that all back into the business. How long did it take you to finally hit the break-even or profit zone? Well, it’s a service business, so it didn’t take too long. Now, to recover my initial investment took me about three and a half years. And I will tell all the Thrivers, if you’re listening right now, and you go, three and a half years? What? Well, Tesla didn’t post a profit from 2003 to 2013. What? If you look up Amazon, that homie didn’t post a profit for nine years, Jeff Bezos. He just bypassed for a few hours the other day Bill Gates as the richest man in the world. Did he? Yeah, just like two or three hours. He’s going to do it. That acquisition of Whole Foods is over. Oh yeah, it’s stupid. He’s done. Seriously. And then ESPN, I mean those guys didn’t make a profit for like seven years, almost eight years. So if you’re listening right now and you have a big idea, you’ve got to think about is it worth the sacrifice? Because if it is, you’ve got to be all in. But if it’s not, do not start a business if you’re not committed. Do not do it. Because move number one is the credit card move. Now move number two is family and friends. Now let me tell you what. If you are crazy enough to ask family and friends for money to fund your business, you fall into the category of Jeff Bezos. When everybody else told Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, no. When everyone told him no, he went to family and friends and said, listen, if you will put in $10,000, $10,000 bucks, maybe $50,000, anything you guys could put in, I’ll give you a certain sliver of ownership. Well, his mom and dad said, Jeff, we believe in you. We’ve seen your dedication. You can office out of the garage. And we’re gonna put in $300,000, which was almost the entirety of their retirement. And his mom and dad said, we’re going to put in the entirety of our retirement. Well, imagine the relief he felt when he got the funding, but the burden he felt when they said yes. Knowing that your mom and dad could no longer retire unless your business succeeds. I mean, that’s family and friends. We come back, I want to talk about getting money, investment dollars from family and friends, and maybe that weird tension that can be created, and how you just have to be committed no matter how you fund your business. My name’s Clay Clark. You’re listening to The Thrive Time Show on your radio. And I encourage you during the break, get on out to Oklahoma Joe’s and try out their legendary burnt ends and baked beans. I’m a business coach. Stay tuned. Broadcasting live from the center of the universe. It’s business school without the BS featuring optometrist turned entrepreneur Dr. Robert Zellner with the USSBA entrepreneur of the year Clay Clark I’m on vacation every single day cuz I love my occupation I’m on vacation. If you don’t like your life, then you should go and change it. I’m on vacation every single day cuz I love my occupation. I’m on vacation every single day every single day. Thrive Nation if you do not like your occupation I could once relate to you. I can tell you when I was working at the Norseman restaurant there in Cocado, Minnesota, flipping burgers, serving as a busboy, I didn’t like that job. And you know what I did? I did 100% the wrong thing. I did the worst possible job at that job because I thought, well, you know what? I don’t like this job, so I need to get out of this job. And so I’ll do a bad job, and I guess I thought that by doing a bad job and complaining, maybe that would get me somewhere else. And what you’ll discover over and over, if you work for a job right now and you work in a business and you don’t like your job, what you’ll discover over time is that when you consistently over-deliver, the man who does more than he is paid for will soon be paid more than for the work he does. The person who does more work than what they’re paid to do will eventually be overpaid. It will happen. And so we’re talking today about this concept where you say, man, I really, really, really want to start my own business, but how am I going to fund it? Well step one, definitely over deliver while at your current job. Do the absolute best job you can do at your current job. Because Z, if you lose your full time job while trying to start your new business, that’s the worst place to be. Oh, it’s horrible because your income streams, you know, gets cut off and, you know, if you’re not focusing on doing the job that you’re getting paid to do, you will be let go eventually. I mean, that’s just the way it is in life. And so you have to have that balance. You have to know how to switch those gears and say, okay, I’m at work now. I’m focused on work. I can’t be around the computer, you know, ordering. It also creates a bad habit for you too when you’re used to not doing a good job. And so when you don’t do a good job, it creates the habit of not doing a good job. And then, so we’re talking about the second move, the second move, which is going to family or friends to raise money. Well, let me tell you what, your family and friends will run from you like the plague if you have a reputation for not over delivering. So I’m going to go around the table, kind of around, around, around table discussion. Let’s go with Justin first off. Justin, when you talk about getting money from family or friends to invest, talk to me about the level of pressure you may feel when family invests in a business venture. The level of pressure, yeah. So there may be a higher level than someone you don’t know, right, or just the line of credit you take, but ultimately, maybe there’s more at stake there, you know, because maybe these are people you’re going to see at Thanksgiving, Christmas time, you know, Valentine, all that stuff. And then you’re just looking at them, you’re like, I need to pay my money. How’s that business doing? How’s that going? How’s my money? And then they want to tell you what you should do with your business, because now they invested in you. Absolutely, little tips. That stuff. So there definitely is some pressure there. But ultimately, you may need to ask family or friends, just like Jeff with Amazon did, you may need to do that. And actually, that’s how L for the Room, we funded and we are related through, you married my sister. Yeah, I married your sister. So we went in on that venture together. And to be honest, I don’t probably, anyone else in my family, then you’re not listening, so I’m not okay with this. But no one else in my family would I have invested with or teamed up with besides you guys. Well, I appreciate you saying that, and I will say this if you’re listening out there at Thrive Nation, is when you take investments from anybody, you have the three C’s, and I want you to kind of break down the three C’s. Okay, so here we go. When you take money from someone, one, you get the capital. That’s obvious. You get the capital, the cash, the money. The second is you get the counsel. You get the little tips, the little moves. And three, you get the connections. So if you get investment dollars from a member of the mob, all of a sudden you’re like associated with the mob. You get the little tips. If you get money from your Uncle Billy, who’s never really had a job, but hurt himself on a job and all of a sudden got a cash windfall, your Uncle Billy is going to want to give you tips. So see, when you get the cash, talk about the counsel. Because when people put money in, they want to give you tips. They want to give you feedback. When you take the money from the mob, you see the thing about it, we don’t call it the mob anymore. We don’t call it the mob, I don’t love that. We’re trying to make, you know, fiscally responsible investments. We call it less things. And to young entrepreneurs that have a job that we think we can protect and, you know, manipulate, I mean, you know, help. Absolutely. Yeah. That’s the thing, you’ve got to be careful where you take the money from, because they will feel like, and they will have access to tell you their opinion on every single thing you do. Funny story. Is that like politics? Yes. Is that what we’re talking about? See, you’re into politics. You love supporting people that are in favor of the Constitution. In politics, you’ve probably seen it, a guy takes money from a certain person and now guess what? Guess who has their ear? Right. I mean, is that a thing? Oh yeah, yeah. They have their ear, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they have their heart or they have their, you know, their vote or their whatever. But I mean, they do have their ear. But I mean, you’ve seen candidates who all of a sudden were in favor of one thing and they get a big donor, all of a sudden they’re in favor of something else. I mean, in every, in every… People can change their mind. I have been known to see people change their mind if that’s what you’re talking about. No, I’m just saying in general this is a thing. I mean if you’re taking cash from anybody, be careful of the counsel. That’s what I’m saying. Be careful. Now the connections. I’m going to pick on Paul for this one. Paul, if you take money from somebody, invest, let’s just say you get money from somebody who you really don’t like them and the people they hang out with, won’t you have to see them and the people they hang out with when you get their capital? I mean, won’t that happen? Well, yeah, if you’re going to be polite or you’re going to open the door when they’re banging on it at 2 o’clock in the morning, you’ve got to see them. You’ve got to spend time with people you get in bed with, per se. Now here’s the deal, Thrivers. I’m going to read you a note of a quotable from General Patton, who was not a venture capitalist, okay? He was a member of the U.S. Army who was in charge of the U.S. Seventh Army in many of the battles fought in the European and Mediterranean regions. This is a legend, George Patton, okay? He says, the time to take counsel of your fears is before you make an important decision. So before you get the capital, you wanna think about it. He says, that’s the time to listen to every fear you can imagine. However, when you’ve collected all the facts and all the fears and made your decision, turn off your fears and go ahead. And he was legendary for that. He’d listened to all the data, get all the feedback, and he’s like, eventually, we have to take action. So man, if you do get capital from family, I hope and pray you’ve thought about that. But once you do, you cannot obsess and worry, you just have to take action. So super move number three, super move number three, you could create, if you have an existing business, kind of a premium package where basically people, and the Dallas Cowboys did this, Z. You saw the Dallas Cowboys. Jerry Jones did this. You could pay for the rights to seats, but then you still had to actually buy the seats. You know? I mean, he sold everything. He sold the naming rights, Z, to the stadium. I mean, that guy, Jerry Jones, I mean, he was able to create value everywhere. Yeah, he kind of redefined a lot of, now, universities, a lot of other organizations use that model. But that’s pretty sneaky. Sneaky makes sneakerson. You see this a lot of times on some of these crowdfunding websites where they say the first 100 people to invest $1,000 get these VIP treatments or this exclusive. You get your name inscribed on a brick if you’re one of the first investors in a new stadium. Those kind of things. I mean, so those are moves. When we come back, we’re going to talk about all the ways that you can raise money to fund your business. And up next, super move number four, we’re going to talk about offering discounts for people that pay in advance. So if people are paying in advance, there’s a way to generate a lot of quick cash, but you got to be careful. My name is Clay Clark. We’re talking about funding your business today on the Thrive Time Business Coach radio show. I’m a business coach and I have a feeling you’re hungry. Go to Oklahoma Joe’s and check, check, check it out. And now ladies and gentlemen, Scripps Radio and the Thrive Times show proudly introduce to you today’s main event. Fighting out of the blue corner, wearing a blue soccer jersey featuring a logo from an unnamed international corporation. Weighing somewhere between 102 pounds and 170 pounds and three quarter ounces. from Tulsa, Oklahoma, which is a legendary birthplace of the sod farm tourist industry. His professional record includes owning an optometry clinic for over 13 million, 140,000 minutes. He’s been part of growing eight multi-million dollar companies, and he’s lent his on-air co-hosts over $100 reamies, while forgetting to ever ask him for the money back ladies and gentlemen I present to you the undefeated except for those few times when he didn’t lose a couple of bouts undisputed champion Dr. Robert Zona oh that’s beautiful oh man it makes me want to throw a punch I mean I’d get you fired up I’m fired up. You are fired up. Thrive Nation, welcome back to the Thrive Time Show on your radio. And we, Z, I don’t know, are you fighting today? Are you fighting against mediocrity? Is that the fight? I’m fighting to eradicate a number that Forbes publishes. If you Google right now, Forbes and business closing rate, they think that eight out of ten shut their doors. Eighty percent. Now, I don’t know where they come up with these magical, mystical numbers, but Forbes is legit. Now, real quick, we have an accountant on the show. We have Paul Hood. He is a CPA. And, Paul, by the way, if people want to get a hold of you, rumor has it you’ve got a free gift for all the listeners today. What are you giving away, my friend? Well, I have a book. I don’t know if you guys have ever heard of Warren Buffett. Ah! Well… No, but I like eating at a buffet. Yeah, well, the first thing, it was the first guy, right? I think he was the guy sort of Luby’s Luby’s first. It’s not all you can eat. It’s all you care to eat. Oh, I like to say it. Well, he has a quote that I that I kind of memorize, which sometimes is easy to do, sometimes not. It says the number one rule in business is don’t lose money. Oh, I was just stupid. Yeah. Isn’t that crazy? That’s just stupid. Yeah. Well, so what gift are you giving away? Well, the gift I’ve got is he wrote a book about his success and it’s called the snowball Hmm, and I don’t know about you clay But I tend to like to read things from people or follow people that have been successful I have personally read the book snowball and it is the most self-deprecating and helpful book the autobiography that I’ve ever read. He starts off the book and he’s just very self-deprecating. He starts off and he’s personally writing this book and he says, anything that you Google about me that you discover or find about me that’s negative is probably true. Anything that I’m going to try to talk about in this book, but the thing that he knows about is how to make money. He explains to you the specifics of how to do it. So if you’re listening right now, this is a book that I personally spent $35 on. I bought it brand new when it first came out. I ran to Barnes and Noble, bought that thing. Snowball is an awesome book. And Paul, you’re a CPA. How do you get a hold of this book? How do people get a hold of you and how do they get a free copy of this book? Well, they’re definitely going to want to get it. And I don’t know if you remember this in the book, Clay. It says somehow he accidentally ended up with two wives. I do recall that. Can I share the story on the air? Are you okay with that? Do it. Do it. Drivers, please don’t listen to this and say this is a life tip. This is just what Warren Buffett said. He said at a certain point, he realized that his current wife was not meeting his needs. We’ll leave it there. So he said he wanted to stay married and then start dating. So that’s what he did. That was his move. And so he was in this weird… and just if you read his book, the guy’s got a weird personal life. He’s also the guy who’s chosen. It’s weird. He could buy any house he wants. The Oracle from Omaha still lives in a house he bought like 30 years ago. I mean it’s a deal where I went to Omaha for a speaking event. I drove up to his house, and there’s his car, and there he is. I mean, Z, this is a guy who’s living in a nice upper-middle class home in Broken Arrow. This guy has just chosen to not move into the gated community, not upgrade, and he just hangs out in Omaha. Omaha. I know it’s funny because everybody always used to talk about Sam Walton driving an old pickup truck. Yeah. I’m like, oh yeah, you didn’t talk about the jets and the planes he owned that he flew around, that he’d get in the old pickup truck and drive around. Absolutely. You know, it’s kind of like, you know. The thing about Warren Buffett is he’s got a lot of idiosyncrasies and if nothing else, you’re going to want to get this book because it’s just a great read, but he breaks it down. So Paul, how do they get a hold of this book? How do they get a hold of you? Well, they can get a hold of me for their free copy. That’s P-A-U-L, Paul, at H-O-O-D-C-P-A-S dot com. Give me your name, phone number, and address, and I’ll get one out to you. Awesome. Awesome. It’s a book. You’re giving it away. It’s like a Santa Claus. It’s free. Awesome. Now, Thrive Nation, if you’re trying to raise capital for an existing company, here’s super move number three. And, Z, I worked with a client in the upper, it’s kind of northwest, who did this move. What they did is they had a company that sells memberships. And they said, if you want to go ahead and prepay for the year, it’s going to be, let’s just say that membership fee was 50 bucks a month. Sure. He said, if you prepay for the year, it’s only going to be like a $400. So instead of 600, it was a prepayment for the year. So instead of paying for 12 months, you just get, you get basically four months free if you prepay. That was the move. Sure, sure. And that move generated a lot of quick cash and he luckily was already in a position where he could meet his monthly obligations. This was just cash generation to open another location. Z, where do you have to be careful when you start letting people prepay for a premium package? You know, you’re saying if you pay in advance, I’ll go ahead and, you know, give you a substantial discount. How do you have to be careful there? Well, you have to be careful because you’ve said and what you’ve done is you’ve done your little formula. You’ve found a business coach and you have formulated what your cost is for delivering your goods. You’ve figured out how much money you want to make per each of these transactions because you have your life goals, you have your F6 that you want to attain, and you know how much each of these procedures or things cost you. So, you built that in. So if you sell too many of them at a big discount, all of a sudden that shifts that so much. And now all of a sudden, yeah, the first month it’s great because you’ve got all this cash coming in. Tons of cash. Tons of cash. Month six or seventh or eighth, you’re like, oh no. No money’s coming in. Month one you’re saying, I would prefer to have my wine poured into a chalice. I would like a gold chalice for my wine to be poured into. A horn, actually, a horn from a musk ox. And then about month six you’re going, if you guys could just get a high-speed trashcan. I’m still happy to provide all this stuff, but there’s no more money coming in because everybody already pre-paid for it at that reduced rate. So you’ve got to be careful with that. I worked with a thriver to help him generate the money he needed. It worked out very well for him, but I’m just telling you, be careful when you do that. Now Subaru number five, raise prices by five. Oh, number four. We’re on four. Whoa. Subaru number four, again, offer discounts for payment. Oh, that’s the one you just said. It’s OK. It’s betting clean up there. It’s kind of snuck in there. Now, supermovement number five, raise prices by 5%. Now, Justin, I want to get your feedback on this, because elephant in the room, we have gone through a lot of different price models, and you’ve been pigheaded about offering a really, really high-end service for the price. Talk to me about your journey to raising prices. Has it always been a fun one when you raise prices? Yeah, so just to get started, we are a membership-based men’s grooming lounge. And so talking about the membership model, but it’s down to month to month, so we had to realize, don’t spend all your money in the first week because you still got to make payroll in the fourth week, things like that. They’re just paying in advance for that haircut they may get on week four instead of week one. But so talking about offer discounts for parents in advance, raising the prices. Over the five years, you know, things go up, gas goes up. You do have to bring that in and slowly change those price points. When we come back, I want to hear a little bit more from Justin about raising prices and kind of, you know, because you don’t want to raise prices, but the cost of goods, the cost of life goes up. I want to really get into the details of raising prices. I know that can be an emotional thing for many people. Not you, but other people. Stay tuned. It’s the Thrive Time Business Coach Radio Show. 3, 2, 1, boom! Hey, we need a big championship drive. That’s what we need. Gotta start competing, huh? Start playing it in fire all of a sudden. Hey! Come on now, fellas! We’ve got to answer the bell! Now let’s go! Hey, we ain’t done fellas! Come on guys! Too many mistakes! Hey! We gotta be perfect, alright? Right? Hey, take it to another level, alright? See, when are you gonna have Tom Brady come into the box at Rox and yell at us and encourage us to take it to another level? I mean, that guy is intense, my man! And the OTAs are going on, the preseason, mini-camps. See, this is the time of the year when Patriots fans throughout the world are saying, oh no, I am alone in my city. And I encourage you, if you’re listening right now, come to Tulsa on game days. We’ve got a nice facility here, Zee, and I’m thinking about having a Patriots viewing zone here at thethrilling15.com World Headquarters. I mean, I’m talking about hot wings. I’m not kidding, if you’re listening right now and you are a Patriots fan, email us, info at thrive15.com. Because see, a Patriot fan is a rare bird. Everyone hates the Patriots. Yeah, exactly. So if you’re a Dallas Cowboys fan, you can email me at info at thrive15.com. But you asked the question, when’s Tom going to come into the Boxer Rocks and yells at you? Yeah, when is that going to happen? You pay that clip. Not every show, but a lot of shows. What I’m going to do is put… I know you have a supposedly rumor on the street is you have a Tom Brady poster in every one of the rooms of your house. It was weird when we put it in the bathroom. But there’s something like when you’re on the throne looking at the king, it’s a beautiful thing. It’s a beautiful thing. And last shows, you know the good thing about it is if you miss part of the show, you miss a show, or you go, oh I missed today’s show, I was too busy, I was at Oklahoma Joe’s eating lunch and I missed, or I was at a truck stop and trying to get my, you know, my tire aired up and you missed the show. You can always go on thrivetimeshow.com and pick up the podcast. But it’s kind of a funny show. I think it was yesterday, maybe the day before I asked you, I said, listen, I know you have all these posters of Tom Brady. And I know you talk to them all the time. I do. A lot of times. It’s a good conversation. And I asked you a hard-hitting question, which leads me to think we need to do a Tom Brady intervention on you, by the way. I was not prepared. And I said, has he talked back to you? And you said in the affirmative, yes, he does. He does. Well, there’s a lot of encouragement I get from Tom Brady. He’ll say things like, quit asking me questions and get back to work. Quit being an idiot. No days off. No days off. Why aren’t you working out? Why aren’t you working out? Where’s your barbell? What’s going on? Do you have a game picked out? You’re going to go see him live this year? Vanessa is trying to find a ticket. Now, here’s the deal. One of the Thrive clients I work with, he came up to me and he said, listen, my friend has box seats and you need to, you guys should connect. So allegedly tomorrow I’m supposed to meet said friend. Allegedly. Who has box seats, who lives in Boston. I’m supposed to get his cell phone number tomorrow. So once I figure that out, it could be a deal where, I mean. A bromance? Well, it could be the beginning of an eight game visit. Because I’m just, I’m obsessed with your car do it it’s not gonna play this a car and say Hey, bro, what’s up? Hey, bro? What’s up? How you doing? How you doing? Hey, you want some lobster and candlelight and allow me in your box. I swear. I will do whatever it takes for Tom No, it’s Tom Brady’s the man he’s just a man in the Patriots we’ve we’ve improved the receiving core for running backs. We got rid of blunt looking for that extra money. We got rid of our tight end. We’re tired. We’re tired of people asking for pay increases. No. You’re tired of people asking for money. You’re just like, you should play here for the love of the game. Absolutely. And then Ninkovich just retired. We’ll try to fill in for him. But it’s a great time in Patriots Nation. Now Thrive Nation, we’re talking about ways to raise money to fund your business. And Justin, elephant in the room, I know when we started the business and we’ve thought about the value we’re adding, the prices, we haven’t really raised prices in a long time, so we’ve kind of got to a good place now. But it was kind of that incremental stair step where it was like, how low can we go? How low can we go? And it was like 15 bucks, and then it was, and you finally came up to a price, and now people say, you know, how much is the average hair cut now? Well, I’ll say this. When we first started, it was, uh, membership was you pay one price and it’s unlimited haircuts. Unlimited. Unlimited. Guys are coming back like every three days. That’s like the limited buffet and you’re like, that guy can eat everything we got. You know, so we realized that there was a couple of guys just like cleaning up on haircuts. Oh, you’re coming in like all the time. You know, you’re like, that man. Like, like, like, what do you say when you say all the time? Seriously, tell me, tell me. Give me the story. Yeah, every, every two and a half weeks you had a couple guys who would come in. Once a week. Every single week. You know. They were just coming for a little trim. How’s your father? A little high and tight. A little something, something. Yeah, yeah. It’s still a full, you know, they’re taking someone’s spot. So anyways, they’re in every week. You know, so you’ve got to budget that. You’re getting the hot, hot paraffin hand dip on those. Oh yeah, the paraffin. I was just coming for that. That just sounds like fun. I didn’t think about that. So you’ve got to restructure things. You’ve got to limit it. You think that’s going to be people that would abuse it? You might upset a couple people, but if you’re going to raise your prices 5%, 10%, you may upset a couple people. This is a question you ask yourself. With the percentage raise, how many people can I afford to lose and stay at the current rate I’m at? Because when you lose those people, what are you doing? You’re at the same current rate you’re bringing in, but you just freed yourself up to grow. And so that’s what we realized, that we could actually afford to lose a certain percentage of people and replace new people. Those new people are used to the new price and then they are going to be comfortable with it and they’ll be glad to pay it and then you grow on from there. Now one thing you have to do before you make those kind of decisions, because you asked yourself what percentage of people will you lose, I would recommend you have somebody on your team who has a sound financial mind. So Paul Hood, you’re a CPA. What percentage of the business owners that you have met, if you’ve met a small business owner, think of all the small business owners or your current clients, thousands of people you’ve met, you’ve worked with, what percentage of them have any concept of their break-even point and how many customers they actually need on a monthly basis just to break even previously to meeting with you. Out of the thousands of people, what percentage? Zero. You serious? Zero. Really? Perfect. Nobody’s in the outlier. None. Why is that? What’s the deal? Are they just in love with the passion, the product, the service? What’s the deal? Well, we’ve been trained to look at accounting and numbers, and as you quoted yesterday, like you’re looking in a rearview mirror, being retroactive instead of proactive. And so all they look at is what did we do last year, last six months, last quarter. They don’t look forward. And to comment on how much you should raise your prices, really what you have to do is you have to establish what your goal is cash flow-wise and then back into it. And then you’ve got to figure out if you lose those kind of clients, how many can you stand to lose? You know, Dr. Z, you studied mathematics in college and optometry. Apparently. So you’re one of those guys I’ve discovered that you are doing the math. You’re able to do, I would say, the… You could spit… Art from art is art. No, but I’m serious. You could definitely deep dive into the math if you wanted to, but you’re able to get a very… a pretty close approximation of where the business is just by looking at basic math. Why is that so important for you as a guy who’s grown multiple businesses? Why is your ability to just understand the numbers so important? Well, I mean, it’s over years. I mean, I’ll be open 26 years this November. And so, you know, in my business model, for example, I can take my busiest month, multiply it by 10, and pretty much get my gross revenue for the year, unless something catastrophic happens, a business burned down or something unforeseen, just crazy like that, which is not happening, isn’t going to happen. The one month where you screwed up on your ad and you said, the first nine patients that show up every day get free glasses and then you’re in a free chicken sandwich. No, no, what I meant was a ninety nine dollars. Oh, I mean, somehow it came out as I’m really glad that you don’t want everybody that comes in. The chicken’s not organic. OK, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, unless you’re a raccoon in your backyard eating all your chickens. You have, by the way, we’re down to sidebar about nine right now. It’s kind of a dark with. If you were going to be get into the negativity that is the facts, 50. Are any of the originals left? There’s one. 50. Wait, wait, wait. There’s 50. So I have a very sensitive question. May I ask you? Yeah, you can. I am preparing myself for it. Here we go. Your children, five human children, named a chicken after me. This did, Dr. Z. Is he the one that made it? No, he did not. He died a savage. It was, it was, yeah. They put up a great fight though. See, I’m gonna tell you what happens. We bought this land and we bought the chickens and we concreted underneath the coop, but no one told us that a raccoon during the middle of the day would come out and rip the head off of a chicken named Zee in your honor. And I will tell you what, they can take our land, but they cannot take our freedom. I don’t know how that relates to this story at all, but Zee, we’re not going to go down without a fight. We’re doing what it takes. You know, I can only think that that chicken named Dr. Zee is in a better place That he’s he’s up in like chicken heaven and that dastardly Raccoon that did that to him I’m sorry about that, but he kind of looked like you. Here’s a question though. How did the drumsticks taste? We did We did not eat any of the chickens, full disclosure, for any of the kids, the people out there who care about animal life, who are crying. Now when we come back, we’re going to talk about these next super moves to raise the capital you need. And one option is you could lease instead of buying things. You could lease things instead of buying things. When we come back, I want to talk about all the things you could lease, maybe some examples from Z’s career or my career where we’ve leased things rather than buying things. My name’s Clay Clark, I’m a business coach, and we’re talking all about everything you need to know to raise the capital you need to make your business grow. Stay tuned. Come in. the year. Normally we like to start the show with an upper, but on today’s show we’re going to start the show with kind of a downer. We had a small business out there, a startup, that came to Z and I and said, hey, I want to start a business entirely focused on spatulas. I believe that I’m going to have the lock on the spatula industry. I think people from all over the world are going to come and gather at my store. And Z and I are saying, don’t start a company focused on spatulas. They said, no, no, no, no, no. We’re going to do it. We’re going to call it Spatulas because we sell spatulas and that’s all. It didn’t work out so well for these guys, and so we want to play their one and only commercial. It never quite made it to radio, and so we want to go ahead and play that one commercial in honor of the startup that quickly failed, city. There’s just one place to go for all your spatula needs. Spatula City! Spatula City! A giant warehouse of spatulas for every occasion. Thousands to choose from in every shape, size, and color. And because we eliminate the middle man, we can sell all our spatulas factory direct to you. Where do you go when you want to buy name brand spatulas at a fraction of retail cost? Spatula City! Spatula City! And this weekend only, take advantage of our special liquidation sale. Buy nine spatulas, get the tenth one for just one penny. Don’t forget, they make great Christmas presents. And what better way to say I love you than with the gift of a spatula. Spatula City! Spatula City! Hello, this is Cy Greenbloom, president of spatula city. I like their spatulas so much. About spatula city seven locations where in the yellow pages under spatulas. My where did you get that lovely spatula? Caleon Tron. Doing yourself that incredibly fun. Why do you think that business didn’t make it? I don’t know. Maybe it didn’t have enough depth to it. I don’t know. You do look like a good spatula, though. I know I’ve been spanked by a few over the years. My mom, who was a kid. I’ve got to ask, because we’re talking about raising capital, but let’s throw that aside for a second. Let’s talk about things that are so far in the past, our parents cannot be incriminated based upon the- Statues of limitations have run off, so that’s a good- Here we go. We’re good. We’re good. When you were a kid Z you know your mom probably would say listen if you do that again Robert I’m gonna so I want I’m gonna start with me. The number of new customers that we’ve had is up 411% over last year. We are Jared and Jennifer Johnson. We own Platinum Pest and Lawn and are located in Owasso, Oklahoma and we have been working with Thrive for business coaching for almost a year now. Yeah so what we want to do is we want to share some wins with you guys that we’ve had by working with Thrive. First of all, we’re on the top page of Google now. I just want to let you know what type of accomplishment this is. Our competition, Orkin, Terminix, they’re both $1.3 billion companies. They both have 2,000 to 3,000 pages of content attached to their website. So to basically go from virtually nonexistent on Google to up on the top page is really saying something. But it’s come by being diligent to the systems that Thrive has, by being consistent and diligent on doing podcasts, and staying on top of those podcasts to really help with getting up on what they’re listing and ranking there with Google. And also we’ve been trying to get Google reviews, asking our customers for reviews, and now we’re the highest rated and most reviewed Pessimon company in the Tulsa area. And that’s really helped with our conversion rate. And the number of new customers that we’ve had is up 411% over last year. Wait, say that again. How much are we up? 411%. Okay. So 411% we’re up with our new customers. Amazing. Right. So not only do we have more customers calling in, we’re able to close those deals at a much higher rate than we were before. Right now, our closing rate is about 85%, and that’s largely due to, first of all, our Google reviews that we’ve gotten. People really see that our customers are happy, but also we have a script that we follow. When customers call in, they get all the information that they need. That script has been refined time and time again. It wasn’t a one and done deal. It was a system that we followed with Thrive in the refining process. And that has obviously, the 411% shows that that system works. Yeah. So here’s a big one for you. So last week alone, our booking percentage was 91%. We actually booked more deals and more new customers last year than we did the first five months. Or I’m sorry, we booked more deals last week than we did the first five months of last year from before we worked with Thrive. So again, we booked more deals last week than the first five months of last year. And it’s incredible, but the reason why we have that success is by implementing the systems that Thrive has taught us and helped us out with. Some of those systems that we’ve implemented are group interviews, that way we’ve really been able to come up with a really great team. We’ve created and implemented checklists and when everything gets done and it gets done right, it creates accountability. We’re able to make sure that everything gets done properly both out in the field and also in our office. And also doing the podcast like Jared had mentioned that has really, really contributed to our success. But that, like that like is of the diligence and consistency and doing those and that system has really really been a big blessing in our lives and also and you know it’s really shown that we’ve gotten a success from following those systems. So before working with Thrive we were basically stuck really no new growth with our with our business and we were in a rut and we didn’t know. The last three years our customer base had pretty much stayed the same. We weren’t shrinking, but we weren’t really growing either. Yeah, and so we didn’t really know where to go, what to do, how to get out of this rut that we’re in. But Thrive helped us with that. They implemented those systems, they taught us those systems, they taught us the knowledge that we needed in order to succeed. Now it’s been a grind, absolutely it’s been a grind this last year. But we’re getting those fruits from that hard work and the diligent effort that we’re able to put into it. So again, we were in a rut, Thrive helped us get out of that rut, and if you’re thinking about working with Thrive, quit thinking about it and just do it. Do the action, and you’ll get the results. It will take hard work and discipline, but that’s what it’s going to take in order to really succeed. So we just want to give a big shout out to Thrive, a big thank you out there to Thrive. We wouldn’t be where we’re at now without their help. Hi, I’m Dr. Mark Moore. I’m a pediatrician. Through our new digital marketing plan, we have seen a marked increase in the number of new patients that we’re seeing every month, year over year. One month, for example, we went from 110 new patients the previous year to over 180 new patients in the same month. And overall, our average is running about 40 to 42% increase month over month, year over year. The group of people required to implement our new digital marketing plan is immense, starting with a business coach, videographers, photographers, web designers. Back when I graduated dental school in 1985, nobody advertised. that was ethically allowed in everybody’s eyes was mouth-to-mouth marketing. By choosing to use the services, you’re choosing to use a proof-and-turn-key marketing and coaching system that will grow your practice and get you the results that you’re looking for. I went to the University of Oklahoma College of Dentistry, graduated in 1983, and then I did my pediatric dental residency at Baylor College of Dentistry from 1983 to 1985. Hello, my name is Charles Colaw with Colaw Fitness. Today I want to tell you a little bit about Clay Clark and how I know Clay Clark. Clay Clark has been my business coach since 2017. He’s helped us grow from two locations to now six locations. We’re planning to do seven locations in seven years and then franchise. And Clay has done a great job of helping us navigate anything that has to do with like running the business, building the systems, the checklists, the workflows, the audits, how to navigate lease agreements, how to buy property, how to work with brokers and builders. This guy is just amazing. This kind of guy has worked in every single industry. He’s written books with like Lee Crockwell, head of Disney with the 40,000 cast members. He’s friends with like Mike Lindell. He does Reawaken America tours where he does these tours all across the country where 10,000 or more people show up to some of these tours on the day-to-day. He does anywhere from about 160 companies. He’s at the top. He has a team of business coaches, videographers, and graphic designers and web developers, and they run 160 companies every single week. So think of this guy with a team of business coaches running 160 companies. So in the weekly he’s running 160 companies. Every six to eight weeks he’s doing reawaken America tours. Every six to eight weeks he’s also doing business conferences where 200 people show up and he teaches people a 13-step proven system that he’s done and worked with billionaires helping them grow their companies. So I’ve seen guys from startups go from startup to being multi-millionaires, teaching people how to get time freedom and financial freedom through the system. Critical thinking, document creation, organizing everything in their head to building into a franchisable, scalable business. One of his businesses has like 500 franchises. That’s just one of the companies or brands that he works with. Amazing guy, Elon Musk, kind of like smart guy. He kind of comes off sometimes as socially awkward, but he’s so brilliant and he’s taught me so much. When I say that, Clay is like he doesn’t care what people think when you’re talking to him. He cares about where you’re going in your life and where he can get you to go and that’s what I like the most about him. He’s like a good coach. A coach isn’t just making you feel good all the time. A coach is actually helping you get to the best you and Clay has been an amazing business coach. Through the course of that we became friends. My most impressive thing was when I was shadowing him one time, we went into a business deal and listened to it. I got to shadow and listen to it. When we walked out, I knew that he could make millions on the deal and they were super excited about working with him. He told me, he’s like, I’m not going to touch it, I’m going to turn it down because he knew it was going to harm the common good of people in the long run. The guy’s integrity just really wowed me. It brought tears to my eyes to see that this guy, his highest desire was to do what’s right. Anyways, just an amazing man. Anyways, impacted me a lot. He’s helped navigate any time I’ve gotten nervous or worried about how to run the company or navigating competition and an economy that’s like, I remember we got closed down for three months. He helped us navigate on how to stay open, how to get back open, how to just survive through all the COVID shutdowns, lockdowns. I’m Rachel with Tip Top K9, and we just want to give a huge thank you to Clay and Vanessa Clark. Hey guys, I’m Ryan with Tip Top K9. Just want to say a big thank you to Thrive 15. Thank you to Make Your Life Epic. We love you guys, we appreciate you, and really just appreciate how far you’ve taken us. This is our old house. Right, this is where we used to live a few years ago. This is our old neighborhood. See, it’s nice, right? So this is my old van and our old school marketing, and this is our old team. And by team, I mean it’s me and another guy. This is our new house with our new neighborhood. This is our new van with our new marketing and this is our new team. We went from four to fourteen and I took this beautiful photo. We worked with several different business coaches in the past and they were all about helping Ryan sell better and just teaching sales, which is awesome, but Ryan is a really great salesman. So we didn’t need that. We needed somebody to help us get everything that was in his head out into systems, into manuals and scripts and actually build a team. So now that we have systems in place, we’ve gone from one to 10 locations in only a year. In October 2016, we grossed 13 grand for the whole month. Right now it’s 2018, the month of October. It’s only the 22nd. We’ve already grossed a little over 50 grand for the whole month and we still have time to go. We’re just thankful for you, thankful for Thrive and your mentorship and we’re really thankful that you guys have helped us to grow a business that we run now instead of the business running us. Just thank you, thank you, thank you, times a thousand. The Thrive Time Show, two-day interactive business workshops are the highest and most reviewed business workshops on the planet. You can learn the proven 13 point business system that Dr. Zellner and I have used over and over to start and grow successful companies. We get into the specifics, the specific steps on what you need to do to optimize your website. We’re gonna teach you how to fix your conversion rate. We’re gonna teach you how to do a social media marketing campaign that works. How do you raise capital? How do you get a small business loan? We teach you everything you need to know here during a two-day, 15-hour workshop. It’s all here for you. You work every day in your business, but for two days you can escape and work on your business and build these proven systems so now you can have a successful company that will produce both the time freedom and the financial freedom that you deserve. You’re going to leave energized, motivated, but you’re also going to leave empowered. The reason why I built these workshops is because as an entrepreneur I always wish that I had this. And because there wasn’t anything like this, I would go to these motivational seminars, no money down, real estate, Ponzi scheme, get motivated seminars, and they would never teach me anything. It was like you went there and you paid for the big chocolate Easter bunny, but inside of it, it was a hollow nothingness. And I wanted the knowledge, and they’re like, oh, but we’ll teach you the knowledge after our next workshop. And the great thing is we have nothing to upsell. At every workshop, we teach you what you need to know. There’s no one in the back of the room trying to sell you some next big get-rich-quick, walk-on-hot-coals product. It’s literally, we teach you the brass tacks, the specific stuff that you need to know to learn how to start and grow a business. I encourage you to not believe what I’m saying, and I want you to Google the Z66 auto auction. I want you to Google elephant in the room. Look at Robert Zellner and Associates. Look them up and say, are they successful because they’re geniuses, or are they successful because they have a proven system? When you do that research, you will discover that the same system that we use in our own business can be used in your business. Come to Tulsa, book a ticket, and I guarantee you it’s going to be the best business workshop ever, and we’re going to give you your money back if you don’t love it. We built this facility for you, and we’re excited to see it. Hey, I’m Ryan Wimpey with Tip Top K9, and I’m the founder. I’m Rachel Wimpey, and I am a co-founder. So we’ve been running Tip Top for about the last 14 years, franchising for the last three or four years. So someone that would be a good fit for Tip Top loves dogs, they’re high energy, they want to be able to own their own job but they don’t want to worry about you know that high failure rate. They want to do that like bowling with bumper lanes. So you give us a call, reach out to us and we’ll call you and then we’ll send you an FDD, look over that, read it, fall asleep to it, it’s very boring and then we’ll book a discovery date and you come and you can spend a day or two with us, make sure that you actually like it, make sure that cleaning dogs is something that you want to do. So an FCD is a Franchise Disclosure Document. It’s a federally regulated document that goes into all the nitty gritty details of what the franchise agreement entails. So who would be a good fit to buy a Tip Top K9 would be somebody who loves dogs, who wants to work with dogs all day as their profession. You’ll make a lot of money, you’ll have a lot of fun, it’s very rewarding. And who would not be a good fit is a cat person. So the upfront cost for Tip Top is $43,000. And a lot of people say they’re generating doctor money. But on our disclosure, the numbers are anywhere from over a million dollars a year in dog training, what our Oklahoma City location did last year, to $25,000, $35,000 a month. To train and get trained by us for Tip Top Canine, to run your own Tip Top K9. You would be with us for six weeks here in Tulsa, Oklahoma. So we’ve been married for seven years. Eight years. Eight years. Yep. So if you’re watching this video, you’re like, hey, maybe I wanna be a dog trainer. Hey, that one sounds super amazing. Go to our website, tiptopk9.com, click on the yellow franchising tab, fill out the form, and Rachel and I will give you a call. Our Oklahoma City location last year, they did over a million dollars. He’s been running that shop for three years. Before he was a youth pastor with zero sales experience, zero dog training experience before he ever met with us. So just call us, come, spend a day with us, spend a couple days with us. Make sure you like training dogs and own your own business. Well, the biggest reason to buy a Tip Top K9 is so you own your own job and you own your own future and you don’t hate your life. You get an enjoyable job that brings a lot of income but is really rewarding. My name is Seth Flint and I had originally heard about Tip Top K9 through my old pastors who I worked for. They trained their great Pyrenees with Ryan and Tip Top K9. They did a phenomenal job and became really good friends with Ryan and Rachel. I was working at a local church and it was a great experience. I ended up leaving there and working with Ryan and Tip Top K9. The biggest thing that I really really enjoy about being self-employed is that I can create my own schedule. I have the ability to spend spend more time with my family, my wife and my daughter. So my very favorite thing about training dogs with Tip Top K9 is that I get to work with the people. Obviously I love working with dogs, but it’s just so rewarding to be able to train a dog that had serious issues, whether it’s behavioral or you know, whatever, and seeing a transformation, taking that dog home, and mom and dad are literally in tears because of how happy they are with the training. If somebody is interested, I’d say don’t hesitate. Make sure you like dogs, make sure that you enjoy working with people, because we’re not just dog trainers where we are customer service people that help dogs and and so Definitely definitely don’t hesitate just just come in and ask questions ask all the questions you have