Meet The Billionaire that Works a Normal Job
Summary
TLDRLarry Janeski, known as the 'blue collar billionaire,' built a $650 million basement repair empire through innovative products and a strong work ethic. Starting at 17, he quickly grew his business by focusing on hands-on, irreplaceable work that AI and outsourcing can't touch. Janeski emphasizes a positive mindset, loyalty, and balancing work with personal life. His journey from building homes to running a multimillion-dollar company highlights the value of perseverance, teamwork, and making meaningful contributions beyond just earning money.
Takeaways
- 🏢 Larry Janeski built one of America's largest basement repair companies, earning $650 million annually.
- 💡 He invented revolutionary products used by millions in their homes.
- 💼 Larry emphasizes the importance of working smart, not necessarily long hours.
- 👷♂️ His company values hands-on, blue-collar work that can't be outsourced or replaced by AI.
- 💰 Employees in his company can earn over $100,000 a year due to the demanding nature of the job.
- 🛠️ The company's success comes from steady, incremental growth over 40 years, not quick wins.
- 📚 Larry was inspired by motivational tapes early in his career, which significantly influenced his mindset.
- 🏠 Larry's journey began with building homes at a young age, leading to a thriving basement repair business.
- 🤝 Employee loyalty is high, with many staying for over a decade, contributing to the company's stability.
- 🔧 Larry's business includes innovative products like dehumidifiers and air purifiers, many of which he or his son designed.
Q & A
What is the annual revenue of Larry Janeski's businesses?
-Larry Janeski's businesses generate $650 million a year.
How long has Larry Janeski been running his basement repair company?
-Larry Janeski has been running his basement repair company for 40 years.
How much did Larry Janeski earn in his first year of business?
-In his first year of business, Larry Janeski earned $188,000.
What is Larry Janeski's philosophy on work hours for CEOs?
-Larry Janeski believes that if you have to work 70 hours a week, you're doing it wrong.
Why does Larry Janeski think that blue-collar jobs are secure from automation and outsourcing?
-Larry Janeski believes blue-collar jobs are secure because tasks like fixing basements cannot be replaced by AI, outsourced to India, or performed by robots.
What kind of environments do Larry Janeski's employees work in, and how does he describe their work?
-Larry Janeski's employees work in difficult environments like crawl spaces with mud, bugs, and dead animals. He describes their work as incredibly hard and respects them as real men for handling these tasks.
What is the salary range for some of Larry Janeski's workers?
-Some of Larry Janeski's workers make over $100,000 a year.
What is one of the key reasons for Larry Janeski's success according to the transcript?
-One of the key reasons for Larry Janeski's success is his persistence and not quitting even when facing significant challenges.
How does Larry Janeski view the importance of money in his business success?
-Larry Janeski does not see money as the primary measure of his success. He values the trust and relationships with his employees and the positive impact he has on the world.
How long have some of Larry Janeski's employees been working with him?
-Some of Larry Janeski's employees have been working with him for up to 21 years.
What educational background helped Larry Janeski develop his skills?
-Larry Janeski attended a Regional Vocational Technical High School, where he chose carpentry, which gave him the skills to work with wood and build structures.
How many patents does Larry Janeski hold for his inventions?
-Larry Janeski holds 32 patents for his inventions.
What type of products has Larry Janeski's son designed?
-Larry Janeski's son has designed the world's most efficient high-performance dehumidifier and the world's best air purifier.
What mindset did Larry Janeski credit for his success?
-Larry Janeski credits a positive mindset and learning from motivational programs for his success.
How does Larry Janeski maintain a calm demeanor despite running a large business?
-Larry Janeski maintains a calm demeanor by having a great team of loyal employees who handle problems effectively, preventing major issues from reaching him.
What does Larry Janeski believe is crucial for business stability?
-Larry Janeski believes that having a loyal and long-term team is crucial for business stability, as continual turnover prevents gaining traction and expertise.
Outlines
💰 From $188K to $600 Million: The Blue Collar Billionaire's Journey
Larry Janeski, known as the Blue Collar Billionaire, built one of the largest basement repair companies in America. Starting at 17, he made $188,000 in his first year, constructing homes with friends and his younger brother. Over 40 years, he developed revolutionary products and amassed a portfolio of blue-collar businesses generating $650 million annually. Larry emphasizes that hard work with hands-on jobs can't be replaced by AI or offshored. He shares his belief that working excessively long hours is a sign of doing business wrong, advocating for a balanced approach that doesn't ignore family or personal life.
📚 Life Lessons: Beyond Wealth and Hard Work
Larry Janeski shares that success isn't about money but about relationships and the positive impact one leaves on the world. Reflecting on his career, he stresses the importance of not overworking and maintaining a balance with family and fun. Larry also mentions his upcoming book, 'Million Dollar Weekend,' and a lost chapter that offers strategies to double income without new customers, create complementary products, and optimize pricing for maximum profit.
🚀 Motivational Roots and a Positive Mindset
Larry attributes much of his success to a positive mindset shaped by motivational tapes from speakers like Brian Tracy and Earl Nightingale. Despite initial ridicule from friends, he credits these tapes with changing his life. Now, he creates his own motivational content to inspire others. Larry's $13 million office tour reveals loyal employees and a well-run business, emphasizing the importance of a stable, skilled team for long-term success.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Blue Collar Billionaire
💡Basement Repair
💡Entrepreneurship
💡Motivational Tapes
💡Innovation
💡Positive Mindset
💡Employee Loyalty
💡Work-Life Balance
💡Perseverance
💡Craftsmanship
Highlights
Larry Janeski has built one of the largest and most successful basement repair companies in America.
Janeski has a portfolio of blue-collar businesses making $650 million a year.
He achieved this success while working less than the average CEO, emphasizing work-life balance.
Larry started his business at 17, making $188,000 in his first year.
He built his first house with friends at the age of 18, leading to a cascade of job offers.
Larry emphasizes the irreplaceability of blue-collar jobs by AI or offshore companies.
He highlights the hard work and dedication of his employees, who perform challenging tasks daily.
Some of Larry's employees make over $100,000 a year due to the demanding nature of their work.
Larry values the combination of working with hands, head, and heart, equating it to artistry.
He overcame significant financial setbacks, including a $5.5 million loss, by persistence and resilience.
Larry has not worked a weekend in 30 years, advocating for a balanced life.
His business philosophy is centered on relationships, trust, and making a positive impact rather than just making money.
Larry's company has a highly loyal workforce, with many employees staying for over a decade.
He attributes much of his success to maintaining a positive mindset and lifelong learning.
Larry has created his own motivational tapes to inspire others, coming full circle from his early learning experiences.
Larry’s $13 million office includes innovative and patented products, designed by him and his team.
His company produces the world's most efficient high-performance dehumidifier and air purifier.
Larry believes that a well-constructed team and a stable workforce are crucial for long-term success.
Larry does not see white-collar work as superior to blue-collar work, valuing practical skills and hard work.
His business model includes innovative marketing and customer service strategies, generating thousands of leads annually.
Transcripts
what's the range of Revenue all this
does over 600 million a year
yeah basements meet Larry janeski the
blue color billionaire he has built one
of the largest and most successful
basement repair companies in America
he's invented revolutionary products
that Millions use across their home he
has a portfolio of blue colar businesses
making $650 million a year and he's
achieved this all while working less
than the average CEO if you you have to
work 70 hours a week you're doing it
wrong so today we're finding out what it
takes to build a billion dooll bluecolor
Empire you've been running this for 40
years well I started when I was 17 and
how much did you make your first year I
made you know $188,000 maybe I don't
know I got a call when I was 18 years
old you know can you build a house for
me yeah but I'm 18 years old so if
that's a problem let me know in six
weeks me my friend who was 17 years old
and my younger brother who was 14 years
old on summer vacation the three of us
you can't make this up we built the
house and then when we were done the guy
next door comes over says can you build
mine and then we built his and the guy
on the other side comes over can you
build mine and that's it I was Off to
the Races how does it feel when I say
the phrase blue color billionaire you
know it might be surprising to you but
you know hello you know in before you
know whatever 1990 we didn't have
computers and they were
people that did well before then okay so
Tech isn't the only way to make money
okay you know you go to the store you
buy groceries you go to a mall and you
have all this retail but you know the
cool thing is about working with your
hands is that you can never be replaced
by AI Amazon's not going to take over
your job is not going to be offshore to
India or anywhere else right nobody can
go in to a a homeowner and fix their
basement you know from Amazon or from
India or no robot is ever going to fix a
crawl space it's just not going to
happen right we need guys who are
willing to get dirty they know how to do
what to do and why they're there and
that's what we do these guys are real
men okay you would see what these guys
do you would not believe it you would
not believe what these guys do what do
you mean the work that they do how hard
work it is crawl space work we go into
crawl spaces that are this high and they
got dead mind and and snake skins and
bugs and it's all mud under there and
they crawl in there when they leave at
the end of the day the customer could
crawl in their in their pajamas and
slide around and these guys go into
these very difficult environments every
single day and they make a an incredibly
almost impossible job look easy and we
pay them very very well what's the range
of salary someone these guys make over
$100,000 a year because they earn it
it's hard to see this here but he who
works with his hands is a laborer he who
works with his hands and his head is a
Craftsman he who works with his hands
his head and his heart is an artist from
making $188,000 Building Homes to owning
a $600 million a year business I had to
find out what Larry's secret is that's a
big jump from here to $600 million a
year like did just you started hey I'm
just going to do basements and and just
the demand was there it's been 40 years
okay come on we didn't make a big jump
we made a lot of little ones there's a
lot of business people are looking for
the quick hit right I'm going to start
this business I'm going to sell it in 3
years right you're going in it with the
wrong mindset to begin with my doctor
energy saer business I went $5.5 million
in the hole with no end to the losses in
sight and then my partner quit and sued
me so what do I do do I quit no I kept
going 11 years later I made $1 today
it's very profitable we're making houses
more comfortable more energy efficient
they burn less fossil fuels and
electricity and they're less expensive
to own I've had a great positive
environmental impact on the world
because I didn't quit do you have
regrets about working too much and was
all this worth
that I'm glad you ask because I don't
want people to think that I was the
classic story of The Busy business guy
who was married to his business and
worked so much and and ignored his
family that is EXA not the issue and I
haven't worked the weekend in 30 years
if you have to work 70 hours a week
you're doing it wrong you cannot ignore
your family you cannot ignore you know
having some fun in the beginning you
think it's about making money you think
it's about making a lot of money right I
think that a lot of business owners
don't stick with it long enough to
realize what it's really about and it's
not about the money I I don't get my
self-esteem from how much money I make I
get it from those people right from them
looking at me and saying I trust you at
your funeral nobody's going to say oh we
had so much money they don't care it's
the relationships and the good that
you've done the footprint did you leave
the world better than when you found it
that's what it's about I've been working
hard on my upcoming book million dooll
weekend which is coming out early 2024
stay tuned looking through my notes I
found a lost chapter that is not in the
final book very m my serious it reveals
things like how to double your income
without any new customer how to create
complimentary products to generate more
income one solar preneur did this and
made an extra
$340,000 how to optimize pricing
strategy and maximize profits and more
the Lost chapter is not online or Amazon
or anywhere else it is only for people
on my list like you you can download it
for free at noah.com
lost that's noah.com
it's also Below in the description all
right back to the video a huge part of
Larry's success that he downplayed in
his early career was how serious he took
having a positive mindset you got a lot
of your education through motivational
tapes you got a lot of your learnings
early on I discovered n g Conan audio
programs when I was 19 and it changed my
life and I would listen to cassette
tapes driving around in my truck and my
friends would make fun of me you know
listen to all that motivational crap and
stuffff so I kind of hit it from them
for a long time you know but I wear
those things out yeah Brian Tracy and
Earl Nightingale you know he's like a
father to me you know and now it comes
full circle as Larry has created his own
motivational tapes to inspire others on
their Journey some people say I can't be
successful because I'm not
talented
really I don't believe that now was time
for Larry to give me a tour of his $13
million office and as he was taking me
through we met a few of his employees
and I was blown away by how loyal they
are to Larry Michael how long you've
been here 9 years November 14 all right
9 years November 14th Sue how long
you've been here almost 20 years yeah
how long you've been here 16 years 16
years how long youve been
here going to be 21 years what makes you
want to
stay oh the people just whole atmosphere
of the company the thing I I don't
understand Larry how are you so
calm there's a saying flows uphill all
the problems that no one else could
solve go up to the leader I don't get
those problems my phone doesn't ring uh
and it's on right now I didn't turn it
off because I have good people so you
need to create a team a great team of
people who stay if you have continual
turnover nobody gets good at what
they're doing right and then you're
constantly rebuilding your company you
know if you turn everybody over every 24
months you have a brand new company
every 24 months you can never get
traction you're going to go for a ride
on the world's slowest elevator no come
on how did you learn your initial skills
I I went to a Technical High School a
Regional Vocational Technical High
School I chose carpentry yeah so I
wasn't afraid to cut wood and nail it
together so this is marketing so they
generate you know 15,000 leads a
year if ftim gets a a lead from the
internet she's calling within 60 seconds
I just want to see the Google reviews
this is just so good this is like so
well run let's see what the customers
say 3 days ago five
stars added a full bathroom to my
basement Tech professionals came on time
high quality work they put in a basement
to dehumidifier system so all this is uh
displays of different products that we
that we either manufacture or uh
distribute to our our dealers um I
invented most of our key products for
basement waterproofing and crawl spaces
I have 32 patents can you show us some
of those products yeah this is a
dehumidifier that my son designed um
this is the most efficient high
performance dehumidifier in the world my
son also developed the world's best air
purifier he built this
room that we would fill with smoke and
watch it clear the
air and uh we have videos on it to to
prove that this is the world's best air
purifier we set up lasers in here so you
could see the smoke and uh we put every
competitive air purifier in here and did
the same test and you could see the
smoke go right through it with your own
eyes so this is Boom toown this is the
1880s mining town theme so this is the
Boomtown mine and this is what the
miners would have oh wow been going
after there
that's cool that's cool plus this is
your stuff too no uh this is foam yeah
so I sprayed the foam and pushed them in
yeah so we we built all this you know
designed and built the whole thing you
know we're contractors right so that's
like I'm so over Tech this tech company
suck dude I'm get I'm getting dirty my
hands messy so this is a vintage
industrial space and all the desks are
like 100y old oak desks and you know all
this stuff is most of all this stuff
including light fixtures is you know
from old factories and stuff this is a
sculpture of the business Machine model
all my dealers walk in here they know
what that is and and it actually
operates this was from Grand Central
Station literally mailbox is from Grand
Central Station this year when someone
says Blue Collar what does that how does
that make you feel or what do you think
when you hear that for me I've always
been blue collar I I don't think of it
that way I don't think that white collar
is any better I mean you could have a
guy who's a billionaire but uh if his
foundation's messed up who are you going
to call now
buddy if you like this video you are
going to love this video right up here
where I talk to five millionaires over
the age of 80 and ask them if the money
was worth all the sacrifices they made
make sure you're subscribe to the
channel if you are not already we have
some exciting billionaire interviews
coming soon Uncle no loves you and I'll
see you out there PE PE
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