I Make $5M/Year With 3 Businesses

Starter Story
27 Apr 202415:51

TLDRTim Stoddard, a successful entrepreneur from Denver, Colorado, shares his journey of building a $5 million portfolio of businesses starting from scratch. With a background in blue-collar work and personal challenges, Tim found his path to entrepreneurship through writing and SEO. He founded Stazzi Internet Marketing, which serves as the financial backbone for his other ventures. Tim's strategy involves building a diverse portfolio of assets that work for him, allowing him to leverage his earnings to invest in cash-flowing businesses. He emphasizes the importance of methodical SEO, asking the right questions during sales, and being upfront about pricing. Tim also discusses the pros and cons of running multiple businesses, his daily routine, and the constant worry that comes with entrepreneurship. His advice for budding entrepreneurs is to focus on one day at a time and to read 'The E-Myth Revisited' for effective team management.

Takeaways

  • 💼 **Entrepreneurial Success**: Tim Stoddard runs three businesses and earns over $5 million a year, starting from scratch and building a portfolio of assets.
  • 🚀 **Business Growth**: Tim's first business, Stazzi Internet Marketing, grew by focusing on SEO and lead generation, which became the foundation for his other ventures.
  • 📈 **Scaling Strategy**: Tim emphasizes the importance of methodical growth, targeting specific keywords and solving problems for potential clients.
  • 💡 **Opportunity Discovery**: His entrepreneurial journey began with a blog that resonated with others, leading to the realization of SEO's power for business growth.
  • 🔍 **SEO as a Tool**: Tim's success was propelled by his understanding and application of SEO techniques to attract and retain clients for his businesses.
  • 🤝 **Sales and Negotiation**: He shares tips on asking the right questions to uncover clients' pain points and being upfront about pricing to close deals effectively.
  • 💰 **Investment Insights**: Tim has invested in multiple businesses, looking for companies that are cash flowing, liked by him, and have evergreen potential.
  • 🛠️ **Tools for Management**: He utilizes tools like Slack, Loom, To-Doist, HubSpot, ClickUp, and Google Drive to manage and operate his multiple businesses.
  • 🧘 **Work-Life Balance**: Despite his success, Tim maintains a routine that includes family time, exercise, and a clear separation between task assignment and deal-making.
  • 🤔 **Entrepreneurial Anxiety**: He candidly discusses the constant worry and stress that comes with entrepreneurship, and the importance of planning for potential issues.
  • 📚 **Learning from Books**: Tim recommends reading 'The E-Myth Revisited' for insights on managing a team and removing oneself from bottlenecks in the business process.

Q & A

  • What is Tim Stoddard's annual income from his businesses?

    -Tim Stoddard makes over $5 million a year from his three different businesses.

  • What was Tim's initial business model before becoming a multipreneur?

    -Tim started as a solopreneur, running a single business that required more hours of work as it grew.

  • How did Tim's first business, Stazzi Internet Marketing, generate leads?

    -Stazzi Internet Marketing generated leads primarily through SEO, focusing on specific keywords like 'drug rehab marketing'.

  • What is the main goal of Tim's holding company?

    -The main goal of Tim's holding company is to build a portfolio of assets that do the hard work for him, creating a self-sustaining business model.

  • What is the name of Tim's SEO lead generation agency?

    -Tim's SEO lead generation agency is called Stazzi Internet Marketing.

  • How did Tim get started with his entrepreneurial journey?

    -Tim started his entrepreneurial journey by writing a blog, which eventually turned into a lead generation media outlet called Subnation.

  • What is the key advice Tim gives for building a successful blog?

    -Tim advises to be methodical, focus on writing articles that solve specific problems that people are searching for, and to utilize SEO to rank for relevant keywords.

  • What are some of the tools Tim uses to manage his multiple businesses?

    -Tim uses Slack for communication, Loom for video messaging, Todoist for task management, HubSpot for CRM, ClickUp for task management in his agency, and Google Drive for document storage.

  • What is Tim's strategy for finding and investing in new businesses?

    -Tim focuses on three main criteria: liking the founder, the business being cash-flowing, and the business being evergreen, meaning it has long-term sustainability.

  • How does Tim approach scaling his businesses?

    -Tim approaches scaling by reinvesting the money he makes from his agency into cash-flowing assets to build a portfolio where the businesses themselves do the hard work.

  • What book did Tim recommend for managing a team?

    -Tim recommended reading 'The E-Myth Revisited' by Michael E. Gerber for managing a team and running a business effectively.

  • What is Tim's daily routine like?

    -Tim's daily routine involves waking up early, recording assignments for the day, spending time with his kids, going to the gym, working on logistics and task assignments in the morning, and deal-making in the afternoon.

Outlines

00:00

💼 Entrepreneurial Journey from Zero to Multimillionaire

Tim Stoddard, the subject of this video, is a successful entrepreneur who has built a $5 million portfolio of businesses. Starting from nothing, he grew his first business to 22 million using effective marketing strategies. Tim shares his experience as a solopreneur and how he transitioned to a multipreneur, aiming to build a diverse portfolio of assets that work for him. He owns an SEO lead generation agency called Stazzi, which is the primary driver of his other ventures. Tim also discusses his other businesses, including Recovery Local and Copy Blogger, and his strategy for running multiple companies.

05:01

📈 Scaling a Business and Finding the Right Keywords

The video delves into how Tim turned his blog, Sober Nation, into a lead generation business by targeting specific keywords like 'drug rehab marketing.' He emphasizes the importance of SEO and methodically tackling one keyword at a time to build a business. Tim also discusses the pros and cons of running an agency, highlighting the ease of starting with no upstart capital and the challenges of scaling. He shares his approach to sales and closing deals, including asking the right questions to identify pain points and addressing the price early in the conversation to avoid delays.

10:02

🛠️ Tools and Strategies for Managing Multiple Businesses

Tim shares his favorite tools for running multiple businesses, including Slack for communication, Loom for video messaging, Todoist for task management, HubSpot for CRM, and ClickUp for more robust task management needs. He also mentions Google Drive as essential for business operations. Tim's strategy for building a team involves hiring individuals from recovery programs and emphasizes the importance of process documentation and delegation. His approach to finding business ideas involves looking for cash-flowing, evergreen businesses led by founders he likes.

15:04

🏆 Tim's Daily Routine and Overcoming Entrepreneurial Fears

The video provides insight into Tim's daily routine, which includes waking up early, recording assignments, spending time with his kids, going to the gym, and dedicating his afternoon to deal-making. Tim candidly discusses the constant worry that comes with being an entrepreneur and his strategy for dealing with it: focusing on getting through each day one at a time. He also offers advice to his younger self, emphasizing the importance of taking life one day at a time and not worrying too far into the future.

🚀 Workshop Offer for Aspiring Entrepreneurs

The video concludes with an offer for a free workshop hosted by the speaker. The workshop aims to help individuals who are looking to start a business but need guidance on validating their ideas and building their ventures with limited time. The speaker shares his personal experience of building a million-dollar business while working a full-time job and invites viewers to sign up for the workshop through a link provided in the video description.

Mindmap

Keywords

Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship refers to the process of designing, launching, and running a new business, which typically involves taking on financial, psychological, and emotional risks. In the video, Tim Stoddard exemplifies entrepreneurship by starting from nothing and building multiple successful businesses. His journey from a blue-collar background to a multi-millionaire business owner illustrates the essence of entrepreneurial spirit and the ability to overcome personal challenges to achieve financial success.

SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

SEO is the practice of increasing the quantity and quality of traffic to a website through organic search engine results. Tim discovered SEO as a means to drive traffic to his blog, which eventually became a significant part of his business model. In the context of the video, SEO is portrayed as a crucial tool for generating leads and building an online presence for businesses, particularly for Tim's lead generation agency, Stazzi Internet Marketing.

Lead Generation

Lead generation is the process of finding and nurturing potential customers for a business's products or services. Tim's first business success came from generating leads through his blog, which attracted the attention of treatment centers and healthcare providers. The video emphasizes the importance of lead generation in building a client base and scaling a business, as seen with the establishment of Stazzi Internet Marketing and Recovery Local.

Multipreneur

A multipreneur is an individual who owns and manages multiple businesses simultaneously. Tim's decision to become a multipreneur allowed him to diversify his income streams and build a portfolio of assets. The video highlights the strategy of running multiple companies to create a self-sustaining business ecosystem that operates with less direct involvement from the entrepreneur, aligning with Tim's goal of creating businesses that work hard for him.

Portfolio of Assets

A portfolio of assets refers to a collection of different investments or businesses that an individual or company owns. Tim's big goal is to build such a portfolio to achieve financial independence and reduce the need to work for a weekly paycheck. The video outlines how Tim reinvests the money he makes from his agency into cash-flowing assets, which over time, build up to create a portfolio that generates passive income.

Scalability

Scalability is the ability of a business to increase its size, output, or scope without a corresponding proportional increase in costs or management effort. The video discusses the challenges of scaling agencies, as each new client requires more work and potentially additional hires. Tim addresses this by building a team and systems to handle the growth, allowing his businesses to expand without being limited by his personal involvement.

Sales and Closing Deals

Sales is the process of negotiating and completing a deal to exchange a product or service for money. Tim shares his tips on sales and closing deals, emphasizing the importance of understanding a client's pain points, being upfront about pricing, and directly asking for the deal. His approach to sales is strategic and straightforward, aiming to secure commitments and move potential clients towards decision-making.

Investing in Businesses

Investing in businesses involves putting money into enterprises with the expectation of generating a financial return. Tim has invested in various companies, such as Moving Local, Stem Cell Authority, and Kaa, an AI content creation tool. The video describes his investment strategy, focusing on businesses that are cash-flowing, have likable founders, and are evergreen in nature, ensuring long-term viability and growth.

Task Management

Task management is the process of managing and organizing tasks or workloads for efficient completion. Tim uses tools like Todoist to manage tasks and Loom for communication, which helps him stay organized across multiple businesses. The video highlights the importance of effective task management in running a successful multi-business operation, as it allows Tim to delegate and oversee the completion of tasks without micromanaging.

Solopreneur

A solopreneur is an individual who runs a business on their own, without a team. Tim started as a solopreneur with his blog, which later evolved into a series of businesses. The video illustrates the transition from being a solopreneur to building a team, which was a pivotal moment in Tim's entrepreneurial journey, allowing him to expand his operations and reduce the personal effort required to manage his businesses.

Evergreen

An evergreen business is one that remains consistently profitable and relevant over time, regardless of economic fluctuations. Tim's investment philosophy includes looking for evergreen businesses, such as those in the healthcare sector, which he believes will always be in demand. The video emphasizes the value of investing in stable, long-lasting industries to ensure the sustainability of his portfolio.

Highlights

Tim Stoddard earns over $5 million a year running three different businesses, starting from nothing.

Tim's first business grew to 22 million using a specific marketing strategy.

He transitioned from a solopreneur to a multipreneur, aiming to build a portfolio of assets.

Stazzi Internet Marketing is the main driver of Tim's businesses, generating cash and revenue.

Recovery Local is a parent company owning several websites including sober.com and yourfirststep.com.

Copy Blogger teaches online writing, newsletter creation, and SEO techniques.

Tim has built equity in multiple companies over the years, focusing on those with the potential for growth.

The strategy is to create self-sustaining businesses that work hard for him.

Tim's entrepreneurial journey began with a blog that resonated with others going through similar experiences.

He discovered SEO and improved his online writing skills, which led to the creation of Subnation.

Tim's first client came from treatment centers seeking to understand how he built his community.

He emphasizes the importance of methodical SEO, targeting specific keywords and solving user problems.

Tim shares tips on sales and closing deals, including asking the right questions and addressing pain points.

He suggests getting the price discussion out of the way early and directly asking if the client is ready to get started.

Tim has invested in several businesses, looking for opportunities in lead generation and SEO tools.

Running multiple companies allows Tim to explore new ideas and opportunities, despite the mental challenges.

His favorite tools for running multiple businesses include Slack, Loom, Todoist, HubSpot, ClickUp, and Google Drive.

Building a team involved hiring people from recovery homes, and Tim credits 'The E-Myth Revisited' for his management approach.

When investing in businesses, Tim focuses on the founder, cash flow, and the evergreen nature of the business idea.

Tim's daily routine is consistent, involving early mornings, time with his kids, gym, work, and maintaining a structured day.

The constant worry about what could go wrong is the hardest part of being an entrepreneur for Tim.

Tim's advice for his younger self would be to focus on getting through the day and not to worry too far into the future.