Andrew Rogerson's Blog, page 68

Can I use my retirement money to buy a business or franchise?

The guest on my radio show on April 30, 2013 was Monty Walker who’s the principal of Walker Advisory Services. Monty’s company specializes in a number of unique services for business owners or those wanting to become a business owner. One of these services is setting up and then managing a plan for a new entrepreneur to buy a business or franchise with money in a 401k or IRA to fund the initial purchase of their business or franchise. Once the entrepreneur becomes a new business owner, they can then invest and grow their business and then when they are ready, sell the business and use the proceeds from the sale to fund their retirement.

With the global and national economies moving out of recession, a strong trend is developing from those that have been working in Corporate America and are between the ages of 35 and 50 and built a 401k or IRA plan to decide that corporate life has been nice but there is more. Many executives in corporate America have built a strong skill set and have an interest to test their entrepreneurial skills and so this is one of the services Monty Walker and Walker Advisory Services can assist.



The use of 401k and IRA plans is highly regulated by both the Federal Department of Labor and the IRS. This is because the money in a 401k and IRA plan has been given special tax treatment as its purpose is to fund the retirement of the investor. To therefore allow this money to be used before the investor retires requires following and meeting strict compliance requirements. To help the entrepreneur correctly use their funds, Monty and his team handle all the Plan Administration and act as a Fiduciary as well as meet all the Compliance requirements of both the Department of Labor and IRS.

During my conversation on air with Monty I asked him some questions and here are his answers.

What’s the name of this service you provide? It’s called the Entrepreneur Retirement Plan of America.

Can this money in the retirement plan be used with other money to buy a business or franchise? Yes – this money can be used along with any cash as well as an SBA loan or other loan source to buy a business or franchise.

How much does it cost to setup a plan? The initial cost is approximately $4,500 then an additional monthly fee applies to manage the plan investments and to meet all compliance, cover the cost of annual Third Party Procedural reviews, regulatory amendments and updates as well as unlimited plan related consulting.

Are most CPA’s that handle tax returns and other tax professionals familiar with this type of plan? No. As Monty explains, it normal for him to introduce the Entrepreneur Plan of America program to a CPA, explain it structure and compliance. Monty welcomes a conversation from the business buyer’s CPA or tax professional so they understand how everything works.

The Entrepreneur Plan of America program meets the needs of a very small number of business or franchise buyers as it only helps those with money in a 401k or IRA. If you want more information there is a 12 page PDF available to download from my website by clicking the following link http://www.rogersonbusinessservices.com/pdf/RSPT%20Preview%20Package.pdf

If you prefer, you are welcome to listen to my conversation with Monty on my radio show and you can do this by clicking on the following link – ERPA conversation with Monty Walker

Why getting a business loan is so difficult

Why getting a business loan is so difficult. You’ll notice this is a statement and not a question as I recently found the answer. On May 23 I was part of the audience for a presentation organized by the Sacramento Valley Chapter of the Risk Management Association. The topic of the forum was called “Bank CEO Forum…Sailing Uncharted Waters.” The main event at the presentation was a discussion with three members of a panel who were all CEO’s of their respective banks; Ray Davis from Umpqua Holdings Corporation, Bob Flautt from Folsom Lake Bank and Scott Kisting from America West Bank.

The presentation went for about 90 minutes and covered a cross section of issues around the economy and specifically the current business lending environment. Two things in particular stood out.

The first was that the banks are wrestling with the huge amount of legislating that is coming out of Congress. It was the opinion of all 3 CEO’s that the volume and complexity of the legislation was requiring all the banks to carefully review and decide each loan. All three CEO’s were in agreement; they simply had no interest in approving any loan and then have the different government regulation agencies be called in to see an underperforming or failed loan then look at the underwriting process to see if any short cuts or mistakes had been made. The implications were clear. If one loan had failed or was underperforming the regulators would look at all loans which was a huge time consuming and distracting process. All loans are approved at a point in time. Once a loan is approved then things change. Trying to avoid a mistake that had great clarity after the event was unreasonable but was part of the process.

For the bank CEO’s to manage this difficult and complex regulatory environment, their approach was very simple and predictable. Instruct the Business Development and Loan officers who received requests for loans to be careful with the loans they would submit for further review.

One of the interesting discussions was how a bank would decide if a loan was worth considering or not. There are financial or technical lending requirements to approve any loan. If a loan application did well with most of these requirements, in previous times this would probably be enough to have the loan approved. However, the banks now want to know the applicant and if they feel the borrower has a good chance to repay the loan. That is, the financial and technical loan requirements are important but what’s more important is the character of the borrower. As one CEO put it, when we approve the loan we want to know the borrower will repay it.

If you are thinking of applying for a business loan, get to know your banker. Press the flesh, that is, go and meet and talk to them. Don’t have a conversation over the phone and explain why you need the loan, how you’ll pay it back and why you are a good credit risk. Go and talk to them so they can get a feel for who you are and why.

This one statistic from one of the CEO’s caught my attention. He said that for every 200 loans the bank approves, they have to be sure 199 will be repaid. That’s the margin of error the banks are currently working in.

At the beginning of this year I was able to close a business transaction with an SBA loan for over $1 million. In my opinion, the reason the loan was approved was because the borrower and I made a visit to the SBA lender and spent 2 hours explaining in detail the history of the business and the direction the borrower planned to go. It was the personal meeting that made all the difference.

The SBA loan process is very extensive. One of the requirements is for the borrower to complete a Personal History statement or form 912. This form outlines the personal history of the borrower and if they’ve had any criminal convictions. If this is the case, a lender will be reluctant to get into the loan application process as it simply takes too much time. Whether we like it or not, the SBA requires the banks to make sure they are lending to people of high personal character. If there is a problem, the bank has to complete the entire underwriting process and then submit it to an SBA office in Washington DC for review and approval. It is simply not in the lenders interest to spend so much time and energy trying to get a loan approved. They are better to spend their time and resources looking for other lending opportunities.

Each quarter I get a report from the SBA regional office in Citrus Heights showing which banks are lending. It’s public information. Often I post this report on my website. If you are interested in seeing the most recent report, simply click this link – SBA May loan approvals. As you will see, the banks are lending. The application and review process is very thorough and therefore slowing down those loans that are being approved. If you have an interest to get a loan, start talking to a lender and make sure you present yourself well enough and can assure the bank that at the end of the day, you are going to repay your loan.

If you are interested in getting an SBA loan, give me a call on 916 570-2674 and let me help connect you with a lender that can help.

Are you building a business to sell or is it just a hobby?

Are you building a business to sell or is it just a hobby? On a weekly basis I get calls from business owners asking the value of their business as they have decided it’s time to sell. The owner explains the history of the business and what their business does, which is important as I want to understand their business, their different revenue streams and then importantly, the cash flow the revenue streams are generating after all business expenses are paid.

A lot of business owners then go into detail about the potential and opportunity to a new buyer if they were to buy and own the business which is also good as a business needs to have good potential for it to be attractive to a buyer. For example, the other day I had a call from a business owner that had a shoe repair business that he worked and owned for 35 years and now he was planning to retire and so wanted to know how many buyers I could introduce to him. One of my early questions was to ask what his gross sales each year had been over the last two years. After giving me the number and I asked the cost of his rent and other expenses the business was making a little money but an obvious question was how many buyers were interested in buying a shoe repair business and just as importantly, how would a new buyer learn the skills of repairing shoes?

Similarly, I received another call from another business seller that was repairing Apple products including iPhones and iPads. Initially I thought this must be a great business as there are so many Apple products being sold that there must be a market for a lot of repairs. After I found out that he was working full time in the business plus two of his children and making about $35,000 per year it was clear this wasn’t a true business but a hobby as Apple simply did not sell parts and provide enough training for this business owner to build a viable business.

A final example comes from another business owner with a retail business. The business was doing well but during our conversation she explained that she was taking a lot of cash from the business to support her sister as she was in ill-health. The amount of cash being taken meant no one knew the true performance of the business and so it was not viable to sell as there was no way to substantiate how well the business was performing.

These are just three examples to show some of the variables that prevent a business from selling. The economy is always in motion. Because it’s in motion and because of new technologies, things are in constant change. If you own a business then you have to move with the change or pretty soon you may not have a business. One of my examples above is directly in the technology business and you’d think would profitable and growing. However, that was not the case.

In my final example, the business owner was unintentionally eliminating any chance she had to sell her business. As she said to me, she was looking for a good business broker that could explain to potential buyers how well her business was doing. Unfortunately for her or perhaps fortunately for me, I wasn’t that business broker as I can only represent to the market for the seller the numbers on the tax return. The tax return is also the place where third party lenders will go to decide if they are willing to finance a loan.

If you own and operate a business please manage it and treat it with the disciplines it requires. These include good financial records and statements, processes and procedures in current training and employee manuals, awareness and use of technology to enhance the business, strong sales and marketing activities and complementary operations so the business is strong and has potential to grow so the owner can sell the business when the time is right and get the best price possible.

Selling a business comes with many challenges. It’s a complex process to truly break down and explain to a potential buyer how and why a business is operating, where it’s at now and critically, where it can go in the future under a new owner. Fear is the number one emotion as humans we deal with on a daily basis. Buyers are full of fear deciding whether they want to take the risk to become a business owner and many drop out of the process. Did you know that only about 2% of the US population owns a business? It’s the American Dream to be a business owner however if the take up rate is only 2%, you have to work with many business buyers before you find someone that’s willing to handle all that risk.

If you own a business and its time to do something else that’s more important than what you are doing now, give me a call and let me help you start the journey to your new destination. You should have plenty of questions as there are many steps to take. Give me a call now on 916 570-2674 and let me answer those questions for you.

Is a franchisee an entrepreneur?

Is a franchisee an entrepreneur? This is an interesting question that keeps popping up. What’s interesting is that everyone seems to have an opinion but what’s even more interesting is that there doesn’t seem to be an agreement about whether a franchisee is an entrepreneur. What do you think? Post your comment. Here’s some observations and comments that have been made.

When you are having a discussion and sharing an opinion a good place to start is with definitions. The dictionary definition I found for ‘entrepreneur’ says “someone who organizes a business venture and assumes the risk.” The definition of a franchisor is “the person or group that owns the franchise concept and allows others to use it through a licensing agreement.” The definition of a franchisee is “someone who receives or pays a fee to receive the licensing or franchise agreement.”

If you put all the above definitions together its clear a franchisor is an entrepreneur and depending on your point of view, the franchisee may or may not be depending on how you see the amount of risk they take.



Perhaps there is a better way to define whether a franchisee is an entrepreneur and that’s by creating a new word and with it, of course, an appropriate definition.

To achieve this definition, let’s look at the role of the franchisee.

The franchisee buyer before they buy into a franchise concept has many options. They can start their own business, they can buy an existing business or they can look at the thousands of different franchise concepts and decides which option makes the most sense to them. So it’s the franchisee’s option to find the right concept that works for them. However, what stands out is that the franchisee buyer has the option to start their own business or buy an existing business but instead chooses the third alternative which is to buy the concept that appeals the most to them thereby reducing a lot of the initial risk.

If you agree with the above thought then a franchisee buyer is not a true entrepreneur as they are relying for a lot of their success on the vision of the franchisor, the concept that’s been put together which is generally very proven, includes the initial and on-going training, the sales and marketing material and proven systems that do things like manage the collection of customer money, a book-keeping function and financial statement reports system and other items that greatly increase the franchisees chances of success.

Some other observations I’ve made when trying to answer this question is that franchisee buyers tend to be a little more conservative. I am not talking about their politics but I am talking about the amount of risk they are willing to take. A true entrepreneur tends to tackle risk head on and not be held back by the very real chance of failure. That’s what the franchisor is doing. Putting their concept together with all its moving parts and then hitting the market to see if their concept will sink or swim. Because the entrepreneur takes the initial risk, the franchise buyer is able to measure the franchisor’s success by seeing how many franchisees adopt the concept but more importantly, their level of success. Or to use a gambling term, a franchise buyer is able to hedge their risk to see if others are being successful.

Is a franchisee an entrepreneur? I think a better and more useful word is intrapreneur? How do I define an intrapreneur? My definition of an intrapreneur is a franchise buyer that is open to expert guidance, often very methodical or able to follow a set of processes or procedures and able to bring one highly developed skill set to complement the franchise system. For example, a lot of franchise buyers come from corporate America. They have worked in a large corporation and developed strong management skills or strong finance skills or strong sales and marketing skills and perhaps either tired of the corporate model or hit a ceiling where promotions may be fewer and less rewarding. Due to these limitations and an interest to see if they can enjoy the rewards of owning and operating their own business they decide a franchise is a great option for them if they find the right concept.

Is a franchise an entrepreneur? In my opinion a better word is intrapreneur. Regardless of the word you use, owning and operating a business is great fun and brings great rewards but at the end of the day, it’s important to carefully and thoroughly explore the options and do the necessary due diligence to make sure it’s a good investment and a good fit. Not everyone is cut out to be in business be it owning and operating a franchise or an independent business concept. If you get it right it means you get to follow your dream as opposed to working for someone else and building their dream.

If you want to know more about buying a franchise to see if it’s right for you, give me a call on 916 570-2674 and ask me your questions. If you first prefer to get some more information visit my website – Successfully buy a franchise

Importance of a financial plan for a business owner

Importance of a financial plan for a business owner. Most business owners spend a disproportional amount of time running their business to make sure it’s successful. Similarly, most business buyers, especially those buying a business in their late 30’s and 40’s are doing so because they believe they can earn more as a business owner than as an employee and therefore set themselves up for when they plan to retire. In my opinion, too many business owners know how every nuance of running their business but what they lack is an understanding of what they should do with any extra profit they make during good years. Successful gamblers understand you won’t win every time you place a bet and therefore it makes sense to take money off the table when they are on a winning streak. This equally applies to business owners when they have good years as they too need to take profits off the table and diversify their risk by investing their profits or money in other investment strategies.

The guest for my radio show on April 23, 2013 was Rich Frank. Rich is a financial planner with Edward Jones and has been offering financial investing advice for over 14 years. Rich and I spent about 35 minutes together on the show and during that time I was able to ask him a number of questions.



My questions and his answers included

1. If you are sitting down with a new customer or client for the first time, where do you start?

2. Very briefly, what are the different components of a good financial plan?

3. What are the elements or strategies of a good financial plan?

4. What is the financial planning process and explain it to me?

5. How does a good investment strategy complement the financial planning process?

6. Why is choosing an age you want to retire a key part of any investment strategy?

7. What does it cost to invest in an investment strategy?

Part of my conversation with Rich was about strategies a business owner should consider as part of their plans to diversify their risk. Rich said that the strategies a business owner would employ are different to those of an employee. Business owners have a set of tax deductions unavailable to employees. Some of these options include making these investments available to the employees so there is a need to be careful that the laws are understood and followed.

Rich and I also spoke about the importance of a business owner getting a business valuation before they move into the many steps to sell their business and divest themselves of their business. Too many business owners have a false belief about the value of their business. Getting a business valuation helps set expectations and makes sure the seller understands the strengths and weaknesses of the business and its chances of selling. Also, if you a business owner that is working with me to sell their business, an extra step I’ll take is to try to get third party finance identified so if a qualified potential buyer has the skills, credit score and down payment to qualify for third party finance, the seller is not forced to carry a large sellers note.

Rich and I also talked about the steps a business owner should take if they receive a large cash component from the sale of their business. We concluded our conversation by talking about the steps a business owner should take if they plan to pass the business on to their children rather than sell it to a third party.

There were many other questions I was able to ask during my conversation with Rich. If you would like to get more information about putting together a well-rounded financial plan and investment strategy, you can give Rich a call on (916) 973-1741 or visit him at his office in Lyon Village at 2580 Fair Oaks Blvd. Suite 16, Sacramento, CA, 95825 or across the road from Loehmann’s Plaza.

If you prefer to get some more information, you are welcome to listen to my conversation with Rich on my radio show and you can do this by clicking on the following link – Rich Frank of Edward Jones.

The winner is Pro Martial Arts

The winner is Pro Martial Arts! During the first week of January 2013 the phone rang and the callers were a married couple named Craig and Lori. The purpose of their call was to ask me for a second opinion about a franchise they were just about ready to buy.

Craig had a very impressive resume from working in the IT industry. By education Craig had a degree in computer science from a Los Angeles university. His work experience included software programming for Intuit while his current position is the Lead Programmer for a software development company here in Northern California.

Lori also had an impressive resume with her current work writing technical articles for three websites. By education, Lori had a degree in Sociology from UCSB. Her work experience included different forms of technical writing and some programming and IT.



So I agreed to meet with Craig and Lori at a local Starbucks and understand their concerns and give them some feedback based on my experience of owning my own businesses and being a franchise consultant. During our meeting, Craig and Lori explained the new franchise they were looking to buy was a new concept and they were being aggressively pursued by the franchisor for their strong technical skills. However, Craig and Lori weren’t sure this was the right investment in a franchise for them as they felt their income was conditioned on too many factors. Craig and Lori had other concerns that the franchisor may take business away from Craig and Lori if there was a disagreement about who found the customer.

After our meeting Craig and Lori agreed to go back and talk with the franchisor and then if they needed more help, let me know. Well that didn’t take long as the next day I received a call from Craig and he had spoken with the franchisor and decided with Lori that this franchise was not the right option for them. Craig and Lori also asked me to help them look for the right franchise investment for them by completing a Confidential Buyer Questionnaire. And that was the start of a very interesting journey for both Craig and Lori with me as their consultant that played out over the next 3 ½ months or so as follows.

After getting the Buyer Qualification Profile from Craig and Lori I introduced 7 different franchise options to them. The initial focus was to look at industries with which they were familiar but also to look at options that may not seem a good fit but had elements that were of interest to them. Craig has extensive business and management experience in the IT industry. Lori is also very much at home in IT due to the technical writing she performs. It was an obvious fit them to look at an IT franchise which provides a Managed Services Program to businesses that wanted to outsource their technical support. Other industries were the Senior-care industry which is growing very well at the moment due to the aging baby boomers, two book-keeping and accounting franchises because of Craig’s experience with Intuit and a home based marketing business.

Over a period of four weeks or so doing the due diligence of listening to and attending presentations to each franchisor and consulting with me, Craig and Lori had narrowed their interest to two franchises. Their interest was such that each franchisor invited Craig and Lori to attend their Discovery Day which is a formal way for both the franchisor and franchise buyer to meet face to face and decide if both parties wish to enter into a franchise relationship.

The Discovery Days for each franchisor went very well but after looking in-depth at each option the decision was made not to move forward with each franchise. Although disappointing with all the work done not to make a positive decision to join each franchise, finding the right franchise investment is what this franchise consulting process is all about. In addition, because of the work done and the learning it provides, new franchise options opened up that had previously been dismissed and so the next look at franchises included Proshred which is a paper shredding and recycling business. Through the research done by Craig and Lori this seemed a very good franchise option to explore and so they went to their Discovery Day. After spending the entire day with the franchisor and getting all their questions answered, this once again was not the right franchise for Craig and Lori and so the decision was made to look at more options.

These new options were in industries that Craig and Lori had previously considered but one franchise looked at was totally new and this was called Pro Martial Arts. The core focus of Pro Martial Arts is helping children build confidence, staying safe, and developing character while getting fit through karate workouts. Also, what sets Pro Martial Arts apart from other karate studios is their exclusive Armor Program which teaches children how to deal with bullying and predator prevention both online and in the students’ everyday lives. Although Craig and Lori have no direct experience or background in the industry, they brought a desire to make a difference in their local community, strong analytical skills to hire a Program Director to manage each of the five locations they bought and a tenacity to be successful in owning and operating their franchise.

In looking to help Craig and Lori find the right franchise there was one mantra I kept encouraging them to adopt and that was to look at buying the right franchise that allowed them to do things from a position of strength. Craig and Lori liked the idea but occasionally they would move off course because they found interest in other options but at the end of the day, they honored this mantra of buying a franchise that allowed them to do things from a position of strength. Their position of strength, in the case of Craig and Lori was their ability to drill down and ask many, many questions until they were satisfied, listen to what each franchisor was offering and then deciding if it was a fit with who they were and where they wanted to be.

Working with Craig and Lori as their consultant has been a privilege. Over the 3 ½ months or so we worked together we had many long conversations. At all times, Craig and Lori were organized and disciplined with what they wanted to know. At times they had doubts about what they were doing but these were fleeting. Because they did the research, made the validation calls, had the financial strength to make their investment and were clear in their communications they are excited about being the latest and largest franchise owners with Pro Martial Arts in Northern California. Along their journey to find the right franchise, Craig and Lori had different options. However, the winner to add Craig and Lori as their franchisees is Pro Martial Arts. The reason I see Pro Martial Arts as the winner is simply because I believe Craig and Lori will be an asset to Pro Martial Arts. Craig and Lori are relentless with their thinking and analysis and this will not only hold them in good stead to operate the best locations for Pro Marital Arts in Northern California but use the knowledge and experience they gain to help make the Pro Martial Arts franchise so much better.

If you are thinking about buying the rights to your own franchise and have questions, give Andrew a call on 916 570-2674. If you want more information visit Buy a franchise.

Marketing tips and tricks for business owners

Marketing tips and tricks for business owners. Mon Hart is a marketing coach and specialist in Sacramento, CA that helps business owners and managers grow their business. Part of Mon’s trademark is her incredible passion and desire to help her clients define and then achieve their success by developing and growing their brand. Her focus also includes helping a business owner to understand the importance of both a business plan and a complementary marketing plan, the need for a business owner to create a consistent plan for networking and prospecting success and tying this altogether with a clear and concise message.

Mon Hart has been been a marketing coach for over 25 years. On Tuesday February 05, 2013, Mon was the guest on my radio show, Money 2.0 on 105.5FM and came to talk about the importance of marketing including how to get more customers and referrals, what is networking and prospecting, why a business and marketing plan is critical for success and other marketing topics to grow a business. Success also comes from knowing what to say when making sales calls and how to close the deal.

There were many other questions but more importantly, great answers during my conversation with Mon. If you would like to get more information about the strategies and tactics we talked about, please click the following link and listen to my conversation with Mon Hart

Strategies to turnaround a business

Strategies to turnaround a business. No two businesses are the same. What works for one business may or will not work for another. The economic recession since 2008 has put enormous pressure on many businesses leaving some owners to worry about their next steps. If you own a business and it needs urgent help to either save it or move to the next level and have the motivation, you may be looking for professional advice and assistance from somebody who has done it before.

Bob Greeley has been the principal of Greeley Lindsay Consultant Group for the last 30 years. Bob’s focus is on two areas of a business; helping a business manage incredible growth and helping a business that has immediate and critical cash flow problems and is in danger of closing shortly. On Tuesday March 12, 2013, Bob was the guest on my radio show, Money 2.0 on 105.5FM and came to talk about seriously distressed businesses which has been the focus of his business as a consultant, a court receiver, and a Bankruptcy trustee.



There were many other questions in my conversation with Bob. If you would like to get more information about the strategies and the steps to turnaround a business, you are welcome to listen to our conversation by clicking on the following link – Bob Greeley of Greeley Lindsay Consultant Group.

Successful entrepreneurs believe all beliefs are false

Successful entrepreneurs believe all beliefs are false. On Wednesday April 03, 2013 I attended an event where Jim Britt was the guest speaker. I’m not sure Jim’s age and I’m not sure he would know or tell you as he would see it as totally unimportant. However, Jim’s been incredibly successful. He’s been around long enough to be able to say he was an early mentor to Tony Robbins. Tony Robbins is the self-help guru, motivational speaker and author of books including Unlimited Power, Unleash the Power Within and Awaken the Giant Within. Tony works with Presidents, Prime Ministers, CEO’s and other top achievers to remove any road blocks to success. For Jim Britt to say he mentored Tony Robbins it means he needs to know what he’s talking about.

Jim did a study of 12 over achieving entrepreneurs. He did this study because he wanted to find out the traits for them to be successful; very successful. Jim was able to boil it down to six traits or characteristics. None of them had anything to do with university degrees or lucky breaks or being born with money. They are incredibly simple and here they are in no particular order.

The first trait to be successful is a desire to change. As Jim says, this one is real simple. If you are happy with what you have then you see no reason to learn new skills or do things differently. If you have no desire to change then nothing new or different will happen whether you have it all or not.
This next one is what Jim calls the disease of static action. Real simply, if you have a desire for change but do not do anything about it you will get the outcome you chose; which is no change. The bottom line is that if you have a desire for change, for it to be effective it comes with one requirement and that’s to take action.
The third trait and probably the place where most of us come unstuck is that to be successful it requires you to make a conscious decision that you will do whatever it takes to achieve what you want. If this means more education or giving up something, very successful entrepreneurs will do it; without compromise.
Trait or characteristic number four is the need to be bold. Successful people are willing to do what unsuccessful people claim are too hard or cannot be done.
The fifth trait is to move out of your comfort zone. As Jim put it so simply, you need to become someone different.
The final trait is to master the skill and embrace the power of letting go. We all make mistakes, things go wrong or bad things happen. Successful people recognize the importance of this skill which is not to get distracted or get down on yourself because something bad happened or you made a mistake and obsess about it Those that are highly successful don’t dwell on it simply move on.

As Jim said, a decision to be healthy rules out being unhealthy. By way of example, smokers have trouble quitting because they frame the action to stop smoking as giving it up or quitting. A better approach is to think in terms that I will always be healthy. By definition, being healthy does not include smoking so it’s much easier to create the outcome to not smoke by choosing to want to be healthy as opposed to thinking you are quitting or giving something up.

It takes energy to change. Being successful is not only about doing things but doing things differently.

Jim also made an interesting observation. We attach a feeling to an experience. A negative experience creates a negative feeling and so this negative feeling can prevent us from doing something we need to do to become successful like ask for help, or learn to speak in public or give up a negative behavior.

One of the best comments he made though I thought was “All beliefs are false.” If you believe money is hard to get then that will be the case. If you believe you can’t learn or master something then that too will come to pass.

Finally, Jim said that people buy you first. If people don’t relate to you, understand you or find you believable then your chances of success are gone until you turn that around.

If you own a business and its time to do something else that’s more important than what you are doing now, give me a call and let me help you start the journey to your new destination. Give me a call now on 916 570-2674.

The power of marketing and 2012 Entrepreneur of the Year

The power of marketing and 2012 Entrepreneur of the Year. This is pure and simple a business success story and how true entrepreneurs focus no more and no less on simply getting it done. No excuses, no fear, no procrastinating. True entrepreneurship.

Jason Lucash and Mike Szymczak, at the raw age of 24 and after working in various companies in their marketing departments made the decision to start their own business together in August 2009. The company they launched was called OrigAudio. The products they made were music portability products and innovative solutions. Music portability products and innovative solutions is a fancy way to say they created a new way to attach speakers to devices that played music…and do it superbly.

For example, one of their devices called a Rock-It allows you to take a built-in cord and connect it to anything, yes anything, and it will use that “anything” as a speaker to allow you to hear your favorite music. “Anything” can include a tissue box, a polystyrene cooler or a painting. The price for the Rock-It which is now up to version 3 is $34.99. Don’t believe me? Click this link to watch the video on their website – The Rock-It 3.0.



They have headphones for $35.00, speakers in the shape of a cube for $49.99 they will customize with your favorite photos and a device called the Volcano which is a very small speaker that weighs 3.13 ounces and is all you need for awesome sound and is totally portable. Plus, if you want to pump up the sound to pump up your party, simply daisy chain as many together as your neighbors can stand and rock on for $24.99 each.

But wait, there’s more! But to find out the more, simply go to the OrigAudio website and knock yourself out. OrigAudio

For a couple of guys that started their company in August 2009 they were able to generate huge interest about their products and rapidly increase the value of their company simply because they applied their marketing skills. And here’s how.

Their first major break was being seen by an executive at Time Magazine. He was so impressed with their products they were named in Time Magazine’s “50 best inventions of 2009.” So the company was launched in August 2009 and three months after launching they are recognized by Time Magazine.

If that wasn’t enough, ABC TV have business show I watch most Friday’s at 9.00pm called “Shark Tank.” As Jason Lucash says, probably one of the most authentic reality shows as its where actual investors called “Sharks” listen to the pitch from a company that wants the money and business acumen from five investors or “Sharks” to help grow their company. All the “Sharks” are credible business people in their own right having built multi-million dollar success stories but with their own personalities.

Jason and Mike appeared on the show and actually had an offer to invest in their company from one of the “Sharks”, Robert Her. What’s interesting is that if an investor makes an offer and it’s accepted, the offer is not binding on either party until the show goes to air. So Jason and Mike accepted an offer to work with Robert Herjavec but because it was quite a few months later before the show went to air, OrigAudio had grown considerably and so Jason and Mike saw no reason to do the deal with Robert Herjavec.

From Time Magazine’s “50 best inventions of 2009” and the ABC hit TV show “Shark Tank” business for OrigAudio was awesome. However, the trifecta was not far as this came in 2012 when Jason and Mike were named Entrepreneur Magazine’s “Entrepreneurs of the Year.”

On Tuesday March 19, 2013 Jason Lucash from OrigAudio was my guest on my radio show, Money 2.0 on 105.5FM and was able to share his incredible business success story. If you would like to hear my interview with Jason, simply click the following link, learn and enjoy –

Jason Lucash from OrigAudio