Tag: entrepreneurlife

CAN YOU DELIVER?

It doesn’t matter what you do or what you sell, all businesses are in the delivery business – they have to deliver value.

Value is a funny thing, right? We all might have a different definition or PERCEPTION of what that means. A seller might think one thing and a buyer another. In any situation it’s the perceived value that matters most. If the buyer does not see the perceived value of what it being purchased to be higher than what it being paid, there is either no deal or a resentful buyer. Resentful buyers do not turn into repeat or loyal customers.

The best policy is to under promise and over deliver. Eliminate any question about the value of your offer. Who wants to be in the hard selling business? Not me. It all boils down to offer creation. How you create, position, and deliver your offer should leave your prospect with no questions, arguments, or resistance. Or should I say, customer? Create the irresistible offer and prospects quickly become customers.

How to do that? That is longer discussion for another time.

Talk Soon,
Kevin W. @Leap272
Owner – Operator

You have to leap if you want to live.

ANY PORT IN A STORM

When the weather is stormy, any port will do, right? I am not a captain of a real ship but I have run businesses for many years. Business climate changes all the time. The environment, the eco-system, and the algorithms of the platforms we advertise on, just to name a few. The one constant in life is change. We are at the mercy of so many factors beyond our control we have to be ready, we have to be prepared, we have to be able to change course and respond quickly to navigate to safety when this happens.

No one person or business can plan for everything, but you need to weave flexibility and adaptability in to the fiber of your business. This helps to ensure that when adversity strikes you can respond. You might not be fully ready or prepared, but you can survive.

Here’s and example; one of our businesses had a unique product. We were/are in a pretty competitive industry but within our niche we were the first to market for all intents and purposes. Having low to no competition with our product, we did quite well. We rode that for quite awhile.

We did have other products in our lineup but the top one accounted for 80% or more of our revenue. We knew we had to mitigate the risk of having all our eggs in one basket. To do so we started improving our other products and creating new, vertical products that served the greater market outside of our little niche.

Well the storm hit. We were almost too late. We had two competitors release products that directly competed with our number one within months of each other.  Fortunately, we had done just enough to pad our basket that we were able to keep the doors open; we found a port. It was pretty rough for the next several years, but we survived.

Weave flexibility and adaptability in to the fiber of your business, so when adversity strikes you can respond.

Talk Soon,
Kevin W. @Leap272
Owner – Operator

You have to leap if you want to live.

Appreciate The Good Times

Business owners know exactly what I am talking about. Just as in life, there are good days and there are bad days. There are good months and there are bad months. There are good years and there are bad years. It’s just part of the game and life as a business owner.

I have found it important to appreciate and celebrate the good times. And, most importantly, be grateful for them. You can do your best to avoid bad times but you can’t avoid them all together. You can plan for everything because there is so much out of our control. Remember the good times and remembering why you are in business to begin with will help you get through the bad times. Celebrating and appreciating them help solidify the memories so they are easier to recall.

Remember the good to get you through the bad.

Talk Soon,
Kevin W. @Leap272
Owner – Operator

You have to leap if you want to live.

AGAIN WE RISE: An Entrepreneur Always Gets Back Up

Again we rise, we do our thing and we fall. Again we rise, we do our thing and we fall. Again we rise, we do our thing and we fall…

Each time we fall we must rise again…
Each time we rise again we must rise higher…

Entrepreneur is a sexy buzz word today that motivates the lazy, entitled, bottom feeders of society. Alright, that’s a bit harsh, but there is some truth to it. There are so many people – wantrepreneurs, looking for the easy way out, the quick fix, and the get rich quick formula. These are the ones giving real entrepreneurs a bad rap rivaling the stigma of the insurance salesman, or the vultures of the used car lot, and, let’s not forget the pyramid scheme pushers. They are the ones that have the 5 easy steps, the 12 hour this, the secret this and the proven never shared before that – all of which will make you rich in no time flat. They are the ones that prey on the weak, the desperate, and the lost.

There is no overnight success. There is no get rich quick anything, except those that took a thousand sleepless nights and countless years to materialize.

You want to be a successful entrepreneur? Get ready to fall and rise again…and again, and again.

The key is to always get up. We all fall down, we all fail, what sets the entrepreneur apart is, we always get back up.

Talk Soon,
Kevin W @LEAP272
Owner-Operator

You have to leap if you want to live

Go All In

“The risk of going all in only scary until you do it.” – me

The clichés the mottoes, the personal mantras are everywhere. “go all in”, “go big or go home”, “I am I can and I will.” They are cute. They are nice. And, they are true. If you use them as words to live by and actually do it, that is.

The reality is that if you want to succeed at anything from running a marathon to landing your dream job to running your own business, you have to go all in. You can never reach your full potential running the rim. You have to go big and you to believe that you are capable and that you can and will accomplish what you set out to do. If you don’t you are already starting behind the eight ball; your very own eight ball that can be the hardest one to get around.

There are enough doubters on any path; you can’t afford to be one of them. Don’t get me wrong, I understand that self doubt is part of the process, but you must learn to move through that quickly. You have to be confident. You have to be your number one fan. You need to rally the squirrels in your head to spin the wheels in unison and cheer you on. And, you must go all in. If you don’t you will never really know what might have been. What could have been. And, quite possibly, what should have been.

Don’t resolve to live a life with that thorn gently poking your side, leaving that itch unscratched, lurking below the surface causing a life a regret. Manufacturing those thoughts of “if only…”,”would if I…”, “I should have…”

You’re right. If only you went all in. Would if you had gone all in? You should have gone all in because if you do and you fail, you can’t walk away with your head down full of regret. You can walk away a winner because you tried your best and your mind is open to possibility instead of packed with embarrassment and regret. Your mind is open to the lessons of failure that make you stronger and better, and most importantly, willing to go all in again and again, and again and whatever is necessary to accomplish what you set as your goal.

The risk of going all in only scary until you do it.

Talk Soon,
Kevin W @LEAP272
Owner-Operator

You have to leap if you want to live

Can I Say…Something About That?

“Doing The Right Thing Is Always The Right Thing…” – Unknown

I’m not sure who originally said this. I know I have heard Zig Ziglar, Tony Robbins, Russell Brunson, Gary Vaynerchuck, and many others all say similar sayings. I have heard many people use variations of this long before I started following any of these guys.

Now I haven’t asked them personally, but being a follower of them all, I would take a wild ass guess and say that each of them have said it because it’s true and they wholeheartedly believe it. Really, it just seems like common sense to me.

So what’s not to believe? It’s true! Then why is so hard to do? If something is the right thing to do that’s means it’s right and therefore it can’t be wrong. End of story. There isn’t anything to discus, nothing to debate or argue about Just do the right thing now and stop thinking about.

Again I ask why is it so hard to do? Is it just me or are there plenty out there just like me that make decisions harder than they have to be? Decisions that don’t really leave much room for discussion, yet I can burn tons of my energy and waste countless hours of my precious time pondering, evaluating, weighing the pros and cons, looking at all sides, exploring every option, and on and on. When all I need to do is stop thinking about it and just do the right thing. Why do I make it so difficult? Do I just have to make extra sure, one more time? Is it fear? Is it self-consciousness? Is it stupidity? Is it the need for drama or attention because even negative attention is attention. Is it a combination of all these things?

After years of learning the hard way by doing the wrong thing I would love to say I always do the right thing today. That would be a lie, however, but it sure gets easier the more I try. It takes less energy; mental, emotional, and spiritual. It’s like a muscle and the more you exercise your do the right thing muscle the stronger it gets. The stronger it gets, the easier it is to do the right thing next time. You do the right thing then move on and focus on the next right thing. No need to mind trip and worry if you did the right or become consumed with whatever you did, how you did it or how you should have done it. You place all your energy on the present and doing the next right thing today.

So take it from me and the wise guys before me and just do the right thing.

Talk Soon,
Kevin W. @Leap272
Owner – Operator

You have to leap if you want to live.

BRAIN EATERS Part 7: What’s The Score?

“At the center of your being
you have the answer;
you know who you are
and you know what you want.”

― Lao Tzu

Do you know who you are? Do I even know who I am? This entire series has danced around that topic. At least part it. That topic is really just an invitation to discover the greater part of the iceberg below the surface. In this series I focused on the things that occupy most of the space in my brain.

What occupies my brain is really a surface level topic, not the center of my being. However, the journey to the center must start somewhere. I feel the brain is as good a place as any. Looking deeply at what occupies my brain and really seeking to understand and answer the questions the brain eaters conjure will lead me to the center. The real questions and answers are there.

Have I found the right questions to ask? Have I found the answers? Have I listened to the answers? Do I know who I am? Do I know what I want? How does my scorecard look today?

I believe self discovery and growth is a life long journey. I have felt many times throughout my life that I had discovered who I am and what I want, later to discover I was wrong or that there was more to it than I thought at the time. Looking back I have realized that early on I might have been wrong some of the time but as I have moved forward and honestly sought the truth, it was more a matter of peeling layers. We are a complex species and it seems that more will always be revealed as we progress through life.

At this point in my life I do believe I know who I am. Will I learn more? Absolutely, I am a firm believer that once we stop learning our purpose in this life is done. Even after we become the teacher there is more to learn.

So where do I stand today? What is the score? How am I doing? This really could be a long and deep conversation which is better left for another time. Instead I will focus on how I am doing within the context of what I have discussed throughout this series.

The questions then become:
Am I keeping the brain eaters contained?
Am I staying focused, present, and calm amidst the chaos in my brain?
Am I doing the things that are good for me that help manage the brain eaters?
Am I…? See, there the brain eaters go getting carries away.

The most important lesson I have learned about self awareness, self discovery, and self evaluation is that there are no wrong answers if answered honestly. Nothing counts but honesty as you are only lying to yourself.

I am doing better about managing the chaos in my brain. I am not taking it out on others and I am not trying to do everything. I am focusing on just a few things and trying to do better at each.

I would love to say that I am doing great with the four things that help me most; writing, talking, exercising, and meditating. I do them all but the truth is, the quantity of each has dropped off a bit since taking over the pie shop a year ago. I need to find a way to put more time and effort in to each because they really do make a huge difference in the quality of my life.

The two that I have been able to do the most are writing and talking. Journal writing, not creative writing is what I have been able to do every day. Just writing things out helps to get them out my head. It takes some of the food away from the bran eaters and takes some of the power away from the thoughts. I do hope to create more time for the creative writing as it produces a very similar result. Talking things out with another person has really increased over the last six to nine months and has been very helpful. Sharing with another person helps get different, unbiased perspective on everything. It is very hard to calm the chaos with the same mind that created it.

In conclusion, I have been able to mitigate the damage caused by my bran eaters but I definitely need to put a few more points on the board for Kevin. My goal is to carve a bit more time for all of these things but focus more on quality instead of quantity since my time is limited.

How’s your scorecard looking? 

Talk Soon,
Kevin W. @Leap272
Owner – Operator

You have to leap if you want to live.

BRAIN EATERS Part 6: Coronas On The Beach

“‘Cause I feel our time has come
And we can walk down to the ocean,
And sit with the rising sun”

– Dustin Bushnell / Jared Watson / Roman Rene Ramirez -The Dirty Heads

Coronas on the beach anyone? Not for me, despite all this Covid business. However, a walk down to the ocean would be nice.

I know I said the last part was the conclusion but I have to add this another part because I started writing this series before the ‘rona hit and there are brain eaters as a result. I thought I would share on some of my covid brain eaters.

Of course, during a time like this there fear. The uncertainty of what will happen today. Will we make enough today to stay open another day? Will we even survive this pandemic? Will we still be around when this passes and things return to normal? Will there ever be a normal again? What will I do if this doesn’t work out?

Fear; it consumes and eats me away from the inside out. Fear pushes me to the edge and for some, over. As you can see if you look closely at all the fear based questions, they all have to do with the future. How can I combat that fear? The first thing is get back in the moment. Fear is never present-based, unless one is in eminent danger, of course. Most of the time, the fear is about something in the future that I think might happen. To mitigate that and weaken the fear I need to realize that I am good right now. Any of the three things I discussed in the previous part, writing, meditation, or exercise, help me to do this. Once I bring myself back to the present and understand that in this moment I am good, the fear begins to subside. It is important to realize that fear can only feed on what offer it.

Another big one during this pandemic is resentment. When fear has a thorn in me I am already off balance and sensitive to my environment. People have been acting much different during all this. Some have been a great example of what a good neighbor really is and has restored some of my faith in humanity. Others, however, have demonstrated the darker side of the human race. So I judge and get resentful.

Fear and resentment is a dangerous cocktail so I have to do something to rid myself of them otherwise I usually end doing something that I regret. Again, the three things above help a lot. I also talk to others and share what I am thinking and feeling and that takes much of the power out of whatever I am tripping on. Just like fear, resentment can only survive if I feed it.

Enough of the bad brain eaters, how about some good ones? Ideas! The entrepreneurial tendencies never subside, even during a pandemic. The ideas have been flowing because those squirrels have been working overtime. Part of it is definitely the survival instinct kicking in because the reality is this is life or death for my two main businesses right now.

I need to be focusing on ideas that will help them survive. Change is always part of business. The ability to adapt and change course is imperative to survival. I have made it this far in business because of I have been able to make tweaks to adapt to the changes that happen beyond my control. There are so many external factors like regulations, administrations, competitors, disruptive technology, just to name a few.

I would definitely put pandemic on that list as well. The ones I listed about are very common, a pandemic is not. A business often has things in place to respond to the common changes but not pandemics. Fortunately, they do not happen that often. This current coronavirus pandemic, however, is definitely proving to be a major force to reckon with for businesses. Especially when one business is a restaurant and the other is travel dependant.

Currently, the ideas are winning the brain eating battle in my head. The fear and resentments has subsided and only make rare cameo appearances. When they do I quickly take their food away. This pandemic has really opened my eyes to the reality that it can really change the way we do things moving forward after the threat of the virus passes. As a result, I am focusing on both present and future ideas. I need to first focus on ideas that are going to keep the businesses alive through the day, and then I need to look at ideas that focus on our long term survival.

That’s what is currently eating my brain.

Talk Soon,
Kevin W. @Leap272
Owner – Operator

You have to leap if you want to live.

BRAIN EATERS Part 5: Conclusion

“So let it be written, So let it be done” – Hetfield, Ulrich, Hammett, Burton – Metallica

Hold on to those lyrics for a bit, I’ll get there in a moment. Different context but you’ll see the relevance.

Have you heard the saying “too much of a good thing…?”

Just think of “healthy” fats; avocado, coconut, etc. They are healthy for you in moderation. At the end of the day, they are still fats and once you cross that line and consume more than your recommended daily serving, you are entering negative territory.

I touched on the old adage a bit in the last two parts of this series. I discussed two positive things that occupy my mind yet eat at my brain in excess; ideas and day dreams.

Both are great things and are the catalysts for all advancements the world has seen in history. Maybe not all started with a daydream, but I can’t conceive of any great idea or change not having a daydream involved at some point leading up to the change. Perhaps it was referred to as a vision or an inspiration. Whatever the case might be something initiated the desire to do something that created the change.

What comes first is a chicken and egg discussion and I don’t want to go there but here is how my mind works; I have an idea then I daydream about it and how it will impact my life and the world, or I daydream and an idea comes to me. It has happened both ways for me and is so common I have hard time thinking about it any other way.

Here is the negative side of it, however; I have the idea or daydream and I can’t stop thinking about it. I become totally obsessed and consumed and can’t focus on anything else. There is no resting moment of peace but constant chatter and banter in my head. It’s exciting and frustrating at the same time. That’s it when I cross the line into too much of a good thing territory.

In the last two pars I wrote about ideas and daydreams individually, but as you can read they usually go together for me. When I either occur they fuel the other and get trapped in the rabbit and I simply can’t function.

Regardless if something is inherently positive or negative, anything in excess usually ends up as a negative. There are always exceptions, love and kindness, for example. Unless, of course, you focus all your energy on outward love and kindness but neglect yourself. That could be a problem. I don’t want to go there today.

The point is we all have brain eaters that we need to be aware of learn to manage properly. There are plenty of things we can do to manage them so we don’t turn into zombies. What works for some might not for others. I only know what works for me and my personality type.

My head is like a water hose from the old cartoons that start to bloat and grow bigger and bigger until they finally burst from all the pressure. All the issues I have discussed in this series build that pressure and eventually they are going to find their way out. If I don’t open a pressure release valve, it’s not going to be pretty. Here are some things that I do that really help:

WRITE:
This helps me get what’s in my head out and relieves some of that pressure. It takes away some the squirrel food. Good or bad, I need to get it out of my head. It not only relieves pressure, but it also helps me gain a bit of perspective on it. Once I put something on paper it takes away some of the power an mystery. This is especially true for the negative things like fear and resentment. Once I put it down and read it to myself I can see how silly it all is.

TALK:
Share the secret. In business, when I get lost in ideas I need to share with someone else to help ground me so I can focus on what needs to be done to make the idea a reality. With the negative stuff, sharing with another takes even more of the power out. What is  even more powerful, is that the viewpoint of someone that lives outside of my crazy head is usually much more logical and practical, if you choose your sounding boards wisely, that is. There’s a common saying “you can’t solve a problem with the mind that created it.”

MEDITATE:
Great spiritual leaders have been advocating this for centuries. I have practiced this on and off for years. I just recently begun to burn it into my daily routine and it has paid dividends. There are so many theories, opinions, styles, and methods for meditating. It is easy to get overwhelmed and confused but it really is hard to do it incorrectly. It is a personal thing and I encourage you to explore the possibilities and give it a try.

EXERCISE:
This is my “active” meditation. Whether I am alone or with friends, it is me time. The health benefits of exercise are obvious, but the mental and spiritual are not as obvious. I am biker and a runner. My love is mountain biking and trail running. I love to be off the grid and away from the hustle and bustle. I have added road biking because the trails are not accessible year round where I live. These activities allow me to decompress and blow off steam and I also do a lot reflection and brainstorming. It just does wonders for me.  If I don’t get it done, I feel it, and so do those around me.

There are so many things you can do. These are just the things I choose to do and are just a fraction what is available. I encourage you to find something that works for you and start doing it. I only touched on these for the sake of brevity, but I could write pages on each one detailing what I do and how is has impacted and improved my life.

Hit me up if you want to talk more about these or need that sounding board to help walk you through your current fire. Either way, doesn’t let your brain be eaten…let it be written, let it be done!

Talk Soon,
Kevin W. @Leap272
Owner – Operator

You have to leap if you want to live.

BRAIN EATERS Part 3: Ideas

“An idea is salvation by imagination.” – Frank Lloyd Wright

Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant! We can do this, and then we can add that. And then this, and then that, and then…On and on I dive deeper inside the rabbit hole of ideas. These brain eaters are more fun than my big three but they too can drive me mad. My mind is haunted by a million ideas that won’t stop multiplying. They won’t stop spinning in my head long enough to grab hold of one. I can’t stop long enough to focus on any one thought or idea.

It must be the entrepreneur’s dilemma; the inability to innovate and focus on one thing at a time. I simply can’t do it; it’s too much to ask.  This idea is great but what abbot that one?  How can I make them both work? Should I start two companies? Can I make a hybrid and have the best of both? Should I do one at a time and hope no one thinks of the other before I can get to it?

If I’m lucky enough to stick with one my brain goes down another hole where that one idea spawns a thousand more. Again, spinning, and bouncing, and banging, and thrashing from side to side; idea whiplash.

Maybe it’s just part of being an entrepreneur, or maybe it’s just me. I have listened to many entrepreneurs and believe it’s the first. I must admit, I love it; it drives and inspires me but it is also maddening. Fortunately, I have grown and matured as an entrepreneur, for the most part. I am still taken hostage often by a million ideas but today I have learned to focus better and slow the wheels a bit.  I have learned that I can only one, maybe two or three, things at a time. Beyond that, no matter how good the idea, the execution suffers.

For me this comes with guidance, practice, and experience.  I look to those that have come before me and I practice what has worked for them. As I continue down my path I gain experience and continue to practice what works for me. I used to want to do it all by myself. Whether it was pride, fear, convenience, impatience or something else, it made it much more difficult to navigate alone.

One of the best things I have done was to work with mentors and coaches.  Another was to build a team and a network of people with complementary skills and personalities.  Just think what it would be like if you filled your bus with a bunch of yous!…

Can you imagine what it would be like in that rabbit hole? You’d never make it out, at least not with your sanity. Besides, I already argue with several imaginary Kevins as it is.

We don’t need to do it alone, as with the negative brain eaters, isolation allows them to grow, fester, and take control.  An idea without action can drive one mad.  I can easily become lost in the rabbit hole and alone it’s hard to find my way out. With the right people in our circle we have a much better chance at surviving the brain eaters. We are the visionaries and need to fill the circle with people that plug the holes created by our weaknesses. People that can keep their heads out of the clouds, stay out of the rabbit hole, and keep their feet firmly planted on the ground for daily execution.  They can help formulate the tactics to get the idea from concept to reality. They help contain us so we don’t get lost in the rabbit hole when we need to push the current idea forward.

Ideas are great and it’s good to be creative, but like most things in life, anything in excess can be bad, Moderation is key and not easy for an introverted visionary like me, but just like fear, too many ideas can cause paralysis.

When there is too much going on in my brain overwhelm takes over and I do nothing.

I think I speak for many entrepreneurs when I say that if I can’t do the things in my head I go to a bad place. Entrepreneurs are thinkers and doers, if we are stuck we can’t function.

If you are indeed like me, surround yourself with the right people because we can think and do all day, but if we can’t focus all that thinking and doing, it just drives us deeper down the hole, eating more and more of our brain.

Talk Soon,
Kevin W. @Leap272
Owner – Operator

You have to leap if you want to live.