How I Make $100M a Year (After 12 Failed Businesses)
Summary
TLDRThe speaker recounts their entrepreneurial journey, starting from childhood with small ventures like selling cookies, to eventually building businesses generating over $100 million in revenue annually. They discuss the evolution of their businesses, from a streetwear venture to a successful Instagram page sale, and the lessons learned from failures in ventures like a Vietnamese roll shop. The speaker emphasizes the importance of focus, learning from failures, and leveraging platforms like Facebook ads. They conclude with the success of their weighted blanket brand and the launch of an educational platform, Daily Mentor, highlighting the value of mentorship and strategic diversification.
Takeaways
- πͺ Early Entrepreneurship: The speaker started entrepreneurial ventures early, selling cookies during primary school.
- π Learning from Failure: The first lesson learned was the importance of understanding the cost of products, which led to the failure of the cookie business.
- π Digital Business: The speaker's next venture involved selling streetwear through a Facebook group, highlighting the early use of social media for business.
- π Adapting to Trends: The streetwear business failed due to not adapting to changing fashion trends quickly enough.
- π Supplement Business: A successful business involved selling supplements, which taught the importance of understanding and communicating product value.
- π Instagram Growth: The speaker learned how to grow an Instagram page through shoutouts and partnerships, leading to brand collaborations.
- πΌ Diversification: The speaker diversified into personal training and Instagram business, creating multiple income streams.
- πΈ Selling Too Early: The decision to sell the Instagram page too early was a mistake, as the potential for much greater earnings was not realized.
- π³ Tough Industry: The food business (Vietnamese roll shop) was tough and unprofitable, showing that not all ventures succeed.
- π Facebook Ads Mastery: Learning Facebook ads was critical for later success, demonstrating the value of mastering marketing platforms.
- π₯ Rapid Success: The weighted blanket business grew rapidly, showing the potential of finding the right product at the right time.
- π₯ YouTube as Networking: Starting a YouTube channel was more about networking and teaching than making money, showing different motivations for entrepreneurship.
- πΌ CEO Transition: Stepping down as CEO to allow for professional management was a strategic move for growth and personal learning.
- π Focus on Core Business: The importance of focus was emphasized, as diversification without the right management can lead to failure.
- πΌ Coaching and Mentorship: The launch of Daily Mentor was driven by a desire to help other founders avoid past mistakes, showing a shift towards mentorship.
Q & A
What was the first business venture the speaker started as a child?
-The speaker's first business venture was baking cookies and making cordial during lunch breaks in primary school, then selling them to classmates for a dollar.
What was the first lesson the speaker learned from his early business experiences?
-The first lesson the speaker learned was to know the cost of the product, after his mother made him pay for all the ingredients he used for his cookies.
How did the speaker transition into selling streetwear merchandise?
-The speaker noticed the popularity of NBA merchandise among his peers in Australia and figured out how to order them online cheaply, then sell them through a Facebook group.
What was the turning point that led to the decline of the streetwear business?
-The streetwear business declined when the style trend ended, and the speaker failed to adapt the product offerings to the changing market.
What was the successful business that the speaker still recommends others to try?
-The successful business the speaker recommends is starting an Instagram page focused on fitness and supplements, which eventually led to paid promotions from brands.
Why did the speaker sell his nutrition-focused Instagram page?
-The speaker sold his Instagram page because he was tired of managing everything alone, wasn't tracking his progress, and was offered a significant sum of money for it.
What was the outcome of selling the Instagram page for $100,000?
-The speaker felt like he had made it financially, but looking back, he realized it was the wrong move and that he should have continued to grow the business.
What was the main lesson the speaker learned from his failed cafΓ© business?
-The main lesson learned was that the food business is brutal and not all businesses that seem promising on the surface will be profitable, even with hard work.
How did the speaker's experience working for 'The Fifth Watchers' influence his understanding of e-commerce?
-Working for 'The Fifth Watchers' taught the speaker the importance of communicating value to customers and the impact of influencers on brand authority, which were critical aspects he was missing in his previous ventures.
What was the first e-commerce product that the speaker launched that was successful?
-The first successful e-commerce product the speaker launched was weighted blankets under the brand 'Calming Blankets', which were aimed at helping with anxiety and sleep disorders.
What mistake did the speaker make after achieving success with 'Calming Blankets' and 'Udi'?
-After achieving success with 'Calming Blankets' and 'Udi', the speaker mistakenly assumed it was easy to launch successful brands and diversified too quickly, leading to the failure of several other e-commerce ventures.
What is the main focus of the speaker's current business endeavors?
-The speaker's current main focus is on e-commerce, specifically managing 'Udi', growing 'Daily Mentor', and investing in 'Trend Rocket', while also maintaining a focus on his YouTube channel for networking and educational purposes.
Outlines
πΌ Entrepreneurial Journey and Early Ventures
The speaker recounts their entrepreneurial journey starting from a young age, detailing various businesses they started and the lessons learned from each. They began by selling homemade cookies and cordial during lunch breaks in primary school, learning the importance of understanding the cost of products. They then moved on to selling streetwear merchandise, which initially succeeded but eventually failed due to changing fashion trends. The speaker emphasizes the importance of adaptability and mentorship in business. They also discuss their early ventures in fitness and Instagram, which eventually led to a successful sale of their fitness page to a larger network.
π Learning from Failures and the Importance of Focus
After selling their fitness Instagram page, the speaker reflects on the decision to sell and the subsequent realization that it was a mistake. They invested the money into a Vietnamese roll shop but faced the harsh realities of the food business and eventually gave it away. The speaker discusses the common mistake of entrepreneurs chasing visible businesses like clothing brands and gyms instead of focusing on digital and emerging markets. They also share their experience of moving to Melbourne to work for a company and learning about the importance of communicating value and leveraging influencers for brand authority. Despite several failures, they continued to build skills and eventually found success with a weighted blanket business.
π Scaling Success and the Power of Diversification
The speaker shares their success with the weighted blanket business, which quickly grew to over $10 million in sales. They also launched a line of wearable blankets, which, despite initial setbacks, also reached over $10 million in revenue annually. However, the speaker expresses that this success did not bring happiness but fear of losing it all. They then diversified into multiple e-commerce brands, which led to failures due to a lack of focus and understanding of the e-commerce landscape. The speaker emphasizes the importance of focus and the need to replace oneself with capable people before diversifying. They also discuss their current ventures, including a YouTube channel, an educational platform for founders, and an investment in a trend forecasting tool, all while maintaining a focus on their core businesses.
Mindmap
Keywords
π‘Entrepreneurship
π‘Revenue
π‘Cost of Product
π‘Market Trend
π‘Inventory
π‘Digital Marketing
π‘Opportunity Cost
π‘E-commerce
π‘Focus
π‘Burnout
π‘Diversification
π‘Influencer Marketing
π‘Mentorship
π‘Financial Management
Highlights
The speaker has started 15 different businesses since the fourth grade.
Currently, the speaker's businesses generate over $100 million in revenue annually.
The speaker learned the importance of understanding the cost of products early in their entrepreneurial journey.
The rush of turning something valuable into cash was a driving force for the speaker.
The speaker's first significant business involved selling street wear via a Facebook group.
Adapting to changing trends was a key lesson when the speaker's street wear business declined.
The speaker's venture into the supplement industry on Instagram led to a successful sale of the page.
The speaker emphasizes the importance of tracking and managing business growth.
The sale of the Instagram page provided a significant but not life-changing amount of money.
The speaker started a Vietnamese roll shop, which eventually failed due to the brutal nature of the food business.
The speaker's experience with the fifth Watchers taught them the importance of communicating value to customers.
The speaker's first successful business, Calming Blankets, was inspired by a Facebook post and made over $1 million in the first year.
The speaker launched a line of wearable blankets called Udi, which eventually reached over $100 million in revenue.
The speaker's diversification into multiple e-commerce brands led to failures due to a lack of focus.
The speaker stepped down as CEO of Udi to focus on other ventures and learn from an experienced leader.
The speaker's YouTube channel, with 400,000 subscribers, serves as a platform for teaching and networking rather than profit.
The speaker launched Daily Mentor to provide immediate business coaching and problem-solving.
The speaker invests in ETFs and crypto, emphasizing the importance of focus in maintaining these investments.
Transcripts
I've had 15 different businesses since I
was in the fourth grade today I'm going
to break down the businesses that
actually work which now generate me over
$100 million of Revenue every single
year but before that I need to break
down every single business that failed
and the key lessons they taught me see
growing up in primary school I was
obsessed with becoming a millionaire my
primary school it was located next door
to my house so I literally could see my
bedroom from my classroom during lunch
I'd jump over the fence back home and I
would bake cookies and make cordial and
then as soon as school ended I jump back
up for the fancy Grand grab it all and
sell them for a dollar my plan was
pretty simple get really rich and buy
trading cards and it worked for a while
I came back at the end of the day with
my picnic basket which was filled with
cookies before and then now it was just
filled with money thinking I'd made it
this plan quickly fell apart when my mom
actually made me pay for all of the
ingredients wondering why I'd cleaned
out the cupboard it was here I learned
my first lesson which is know the cost
of your product my $20 in sales quickly
went to zero despite my first setback I
was utterly hooked just the rush of
turning something that someone values
Into Cash was just incredible looking
back on it I can't really remember the
first day that I said that I was going
to be a millionaire always knew I wanted
it I just didn't know how it was going
to happen I was constantly trying to
impress people constantly not impressed
with myself but I was still on this
Quest just to become absolutely rich the
good news now is that I had a car and I
also knew how to use the internet so I
saved a few hundred to launch my next
big business venture at the time Street
Wear was massive all the kids in
Australia despite never watching a game
of basketball in their life were wearing
NBA merch so I figured out how to find
the Merch online cheaply and order them
to Australia honestly I'm still not
really sure if this is legal but I got a
couple of hats and started a Facebook
group looking back on it it was so easy
all I had to do is post photos of the
product on this Facebook group and
people would message me to buy them i'
then go dropped them the hats in my beat
up RAV four it got to a point where My
Wo in my bedroom looked like the Culture
Kings wall just covered in hats and then
I expanded into varsity jackets thinking
that they were going to work really well
because they were the new trend unlike
the cookies I was definitely making
profit here I remember probably my best
week I did about $500 and I started
getting a decent amount of cash
underneath my mattress this was all
going well until suddenly everything
just stopped selling the style had ended
while I thought I'd built a community
that was going to keep moving on I
didn't adapt product it was a flash in
the pan if I knew more and I had more
mentors in place I could have created a
Big Brand creating my own clothing line
but instead I just panicked all my money
was sitting on my inventory in my
shelves in my bedroom and I had to clear
them at a loss so I really needed to
build another plan to make me Rich which
led me down to one of my first actual
successful businesses one that I still
recommend that you should do to this day
at the time I was assembling furniture
and I was also studying University to
become a mining engineer and after a
grueling shift I met my dad at a
supplement store down the road from work
the store was Tiny But when I walked in
there there was this huge wall of
supplements and I was absolutely
infatuated I barely read a book at that
point in my life in the 20 minutes were
there I just read these labels on the
supplements nonstop I went on to
Instagram to learn more about what the
supplements did and then I realized that
people were posting a bunch of Education
content about Fitness without hesitation
I started an Instagram called s fitness
which unfortunately standed for shredded
Fitness but you won't hear it from me
I'd go into these supplement stores take
photos of the supplements and post them
on Instagram and just write articles
about them the trick was I discovered
how to actually grow these Pages
nowadays these platforms make you go
viral and put your post as a suggested
post on the feed but back then you
didn't have like even videos on these
platforms you couldn't really go viral
instead I'd wake up at 5:00 a.m. because
that's when you could make sure the west
coast of the USA was still awake and I'd
message 10 plus Pages asking for what's
called a shout for Shout it was simple I
would post their page and that would
post my page you'd lose a few followers
here and there but you'd gain more than
you lost it got to a point where I had
six phones with me at all times at each
Instagram finally brand started contact
me to advertise on the pages and I was
like this is it I'm finally going to be
rich I dropped out of mining engineering
to focus on Fitness and Instagram I also
decided to become a personal trainer I
worked with clients and earned income
from the training sessions during the
day and then at night I would just work
on the Instagram business giving me two
streams of income all kinds of companies
started to reach out to me for paid
promotions I'd post their weight loss
tea or ebook and they give me $20 to
$300 depending on how big the page is
but unfortunately my ADHD started to
kick in here and I became bored of the
process I also started to fall behind of
other brands that were taking it way
more seriously like they were actually
managing spreadsheets and tracking all
of their results the good news is I
stuck around long enough to grow
nutrition planet to 600,000 followers I
was posting healthy re Rees and I woke
up one day to a DM from a huge page it
was called Be Fit Foods which at the
time had over a million followers and it
was owned by a girl named greater Van
Real who had a network over $ 15 million
follows and she wanted to buy my page
because I was tired of doing everything
and I wasn't tracking anything I greed
over a message and pretty much the next
day she wired me the money no contract
just a handshake and a virtual message
it was a strange feeling I was nowhere
near being a millionaire but it felt
like I was it was pretty cringe but I
remember lining up for this club with my
friends pretty much fresh out of school
and I refreshed my bank account there
was $100,000 in it the problem was
looking back on it selling was just the
wrong move I thought it was the right
move to sell because all of the mentor
were saying you know this is a can be a
house deposit or your pages could be
banned tomorrow now while there is some
truth to that unfortunately Their Fear
was based on a misunderstanding of the
space Instagram definitely was in its
infancy then but whatever you spot a new
trend and feel it's going to be big you
should go all in there were brands that
use these meme pages to create
businesses that are now worth over $100
million by staying focused but I
listened to the wrong people and didn't
believe the potential to create live
changing Money bya Instagram if you have
a decision whether to sell or double
down in your early years you need to
analyze the opportunity cost and have a
goal in mind my goal was to reach a
level of wealth that would set me up for
life and basically become a millionaire
$100,000 felt like a lot of money as the
people around me just didn't have any
after I sold I quickly realized it fell
short of my goal regretting this
decision I decided to take all my money
and chase another big win I started a
Vietnamese rooll shop I worked
tirelessly waking up early to get
supplies and running the shop while
managing some Instagram businesses still
on the side but the food business is
brutal and I eventually decided to give
it away because I could not get it
profitable no matter how much I work you
see new entrepreneurs we often glorify
businesses that we can see in things
like clothing brands gyms food places we
relate to all of those things like on a
daily basis even when we're young so we
decided to create a business in those
fields when realistically we should look
at things like in the digital space and
emerging so we can be competitive and
have an edge after failing the cafe I
lied to everyone and told everyone I
sold it because I just couldn't deal
with the shame of failing yet another
business in front of everybody I was in
a very dark place I stopped training I
stopped seeing my friends and all just
because I was trying to save this Cafe I
stred to actually question whether I was
smart enough to become rich this was one
of the clearest memories that I ever
have of being depressed I couldn't get
out of bed and just literally nothing
brought me joy anymore so I decided to
run away and moved to Melbourne to be
around like-minded people I also wanted
to learn more about e-commerce so I
started working for a company called the
fifth Watchers which ironically was
successful through similar Instagram
meme Pages this was my first real job
and it was worth it I learned the
missing link and it's the same missing
link that I see lot with of young
entrepreneurs missing at the moment
which is they don't understand how to
communicate value to customers I also
didn't understand how critical
influences can be to like building
authority for your brand so with this
inflated sense of confidence and new
skills I was going to launch another big
Venture I'd fly back from Melbourne
every single week and training all of
the savings that I had and I would just
grind seasonings in my parents shed the
smell of garlic would just stay with me
all week but again it just went under so
quickly I thought I could make the vies
look beautiful glass vies and that that
would be enough to make them sell and be
different but they were too expensive
compared to the competitors like three
times the price also all of the glass FS
broke when I shipped them when I did
actually ship a couple my bank account I
remember checking it one day refreshed
and it was $0 which was the first time
that had happened in a very long time I
was officially living paycheck to
paycheck it really did feel different I
knew and something good was around the
corner through each failure I just built
so many skills and nobody could take
that away from me I was determined to
just keep getting better and better I
moved back to Adelaide and I approached
a bunch of Adelaide based businesses and
just offered to work for them for free
this gave me hands-on experience with
two Fields Facebook ads and videography
hiring people for videography at that
stage was just super expensive because
nobody had the equipment so everyone was
eager to hire me and after a while they
started to pay me this period of
learning was Cru as it helped me
understand the platform that has made me
the most money out of anything else
which is Facebook ads you see Facebook
ads is the most efficient marketing
platform it was daunting to most people
cuz it was slightly Technical and you
could lose lots of money but by learning
on other people's time I was able to
learn the skill despite being broke
myself the skill finally led me to my
first successful business and my first
successful income stream I was scrolling
Facebook and I came across a mom who was
posting on a community group how she
makes weighted blankets for her autistic
child she wasn't selling them so all the
comments were just people begging where
can I get one can you make one for me I
did some research and I found that there
was scientific evidence for actually
using weighted blankets to help anxiety
and also Sleep Disorders so I decided to
launch my own weed blanket brand calming
blankets I got this beautifully made 7
kilo blanket and launched Shopify
website overnight within the first month
I made over $1,000 in sales on pre-order
business grew so quickly within the
first year I made over $10 million in s
not only this within a couple of months
of finding successful cing blankets I
launched the Udi a line of wearable
blankets and while the initial response
was terrible like influencers were
mocking the product and wouldn't wear it
I kept pushing it and eventually that
did over $10 million itself and now it
does over $100 million in Revenue every
single year after about year of those
Brands I thought hey this is easy I'm
going to launch another brand with one
of my friends called popnots which in
its seventh month did a millon ion in
its month by all accounts this finally
made me a millionaire and made me Rich
but it didn't make me happy it made me
scared I was terrified with what happens
if the udie got taken away from me I
wrongly decided to diversify even more
considering I thought it was easy after
all I just launched these three eight
figure Brands very quickly I went and
launched so many other e-commerce Brands
I assumed it was so easy to do but they
all started to fail despite all of the
previous businesses I still didn't
understand that the key lesson is that
focus is so important I didn't know how
to train hire and incentivize people to
replace myself out of the already
successful businesses I also didn't know
nearly as much about e-commerce as I
thought I did I was so egotistical but
having multiple income streams is often
more risk if your main income stream
still requires your attention there is a
time to diversify but chances are it's
only at the point where you can afford
to hire someone as good if not better
than you to manage that business while
you're chasing other things after a year
of focusing on Udi and restructuring the
organization I decided to Branch out
hiring a CEO to take over the business I
still had its issues but honestly I was
just completely burnt out I also didn't
know whether I was a good CEO or not and
I Knew by stepping down I could learn a
lot from what an experienced person
would do I haven't had a Super Active
role with udie for over a year now I
sometimes come in and help with product
or marketing or if there's a big issue
this actually allows me to focus on my
second stream of income you see the
whole time I was managing all of these
Brands I was also filming every Saturday
morning posting on YouTube the purpose
of this was just never to make money in
fact even now with 400,000 subscribers
and the YouTube making over $220,000 in
AdSense Revenue with all of our content
costs it still doesn't make money and
breaks even the real reason I started
YouTube is I just wanted to teach expand
my network and help with employee flow I
never thought I would sell any form of
Education because I always thought it
was sleazy selling a course but that all
changed when I had a call with a Founder
that was literally in tears and was
about to lose their business they had
just made all of the same mistakes that
I had made like lack of focus too many
products poor Capital Management I
realized a certain program could have
prevented it and I could create that by
properly paying and incentivizing
coaches and invest way more time into
experience content for Million Dollar
Plus Founders this led me to launching
daily Mentor I didn't want it to be a
course I wanted to make sure that it was
every single coach understood things
about the businesses that they were
teaching for so people could jump on a
call and we could solve problems right
then and there we've been growing
rapidly for the 8 months that we've been
around and while it's nowhere near the
profits that I've made from my
e-commerce businesses I literally love
helping these Brands more than anything
else I've ever done one thing that I
learned in my e-commerce journey is how
imperative it is to find the right
product at the right time and that led
me to launch Trend rocket besides from
those three income streams I make a
decent amount of money on like the
interest of my cash as well as dollar
cost averaging into low management fee
ETFs I also invest small bits into
crypto but I don't actively trade
because I've learned my lesson about
Focus if I take my eye off e-commerce
just even for a second oody and daily
Mentor just won't become what I really
want them to become I've just learned
this lesson of focus way too many times
so three forms of income is enough for
me if you like today's video don't
forget to like And subscribe
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