Top 10 Entrepreneurship HACKS for the 21st century

From TRS Podcast: @BeerBicepsGuy & Billionaire @hcmariwala

Life of a Billionaire, Business tips, Hiring Advice, New business opportunities & much more

Life Advice to Change your Mindset🧠

//THREAD//

Owning and operating a SMB is the best tax deal in America.

—

Whether you have a $10,000 side hustle or $10MM enterprise, earning business income opens up amazing opportunities for tax savings and wealth creation.

Let’s walk through how it works
(thread below ⬇️)

Expenses -

Business income opens up an opportunity that W-2 employees do not enjoy - bonafide business expenses.

Of course direct costs incurred are deductible, but many expenses exist in your life already. When you have business income you get to spend them before tax.

Most employees are running a no deductible office at home - now claim business phone bills, home office utilities, dues, travel, education and legal that you spend regardless.

The other deduction opportunity is business use of your personal assets including auto and home use.

Employment taxes -

Another great saving is employment taxes through and S-Corp and set salary.

Taxpayers are given the ability to bifurcate their employment from their ownership and pay a reasonable salary, often times saving thousands in employment taxes.

Benefits -

Also in a SMB the owner has ability to provide benefits including medical and retirement, particularly the business is a solo enterprise.

Medical reimbursement plans, SEPs, 401ks, DB Pensions offer potentially hundreds of thousands in tax savings & deferrals.

Entrepreneurs are ALWAYS builders.

All that changes is what they are building.

Stage 1: building a product

Stage 2: building a team

Stage 3: building a culture

Stage 4: building a strategy

Stage 5: building an organization

Search-funders and SMB buyers with sales experience are starting on second base.

Thread on how sales abilities improve your success odds in acquisition entrepreneurship:

1. SMB Deal Sourcing ~ SALES PROSPECTING

In order to buy a SMB, you need to see hundreds of candidates. How do you do that?

Like in Sales, you have two main prospecting avenues:

1. Inbound - Advertise or network with SMB professionals in your target market, e.g. business brokers / SBA lenders / CPAs / lawyers.

2. Outbound - Find and contact owners of SMBs that fit your criteria to see if / when they want to sell.

Inbound is nice because the opportunities come to you. But they might be few and far between.

Outbound is grunt work, i.e. "Dialing for dollars." Because of this (not in spite of it), outbound has advantages:

- More opportunities.

Higher-volume deal flow → better odds of a successful acquisition. Remember, it only takes one.

- Less competition.

Educated people shy away from grunt work. Your willingness to sweat will be rewarded with buried treasure (off-market deals).

How To Have An Amazing First Meeting (thread).

Learning how to hold amazing first meetings with prospective clients is the single most important "sales" skill a real financial planner can learn.

Here's what I've noticed is important.

Start with getting your head straight.

All the tips and tricks in the world are just hacks without the right mindset.

There are 3 shifts to make:

Mindset 1:

Desperate ---> Confident

No one wants to work with a desperate advisor. The purpose of a great first meeting is for the prospect AND YOU to decide if it's a good fit.

Believe that and it will change the way you think, feel, and act.

Mindset 2:

Salesperson ---> Doctor

I love sales...but the purpose of the first meeting is NOT SALES. It's understanding. You CANNOT write a prescription before you diagnose.

Mindset 3:

Numbers ---> Feelings

You might think you're in the spreadsheet and calculator business, and maybe you are...but you're also in the feelings business.

People need to be heard in the first meeting. Make room for that. Plan on it. Create it.

How to Price Your Services in a Way You Don't Get Busto

// A THREAD //

Whether you're a full-time freelancer or you just want freelance on the side you have to know your price so you don't get busto.

We will discuss the three most common ways how to price your services:

- Hourly rate
- Project rate
- Service as a product

But basics first.

Don't think about the price as a one-night-stand.

Rather build a very close relationship with it.

It:

- helps you to increase/decrease demand
- gives hints about how good/bad your service is
- positions yourself on the market

Know how to use this tool.

Cheaper ≠ Better

Imagine someone selling you a car for $350.

What would you think about it?

Exactly.

Set the fair price, not the scam inducing one.

The cheap price will bring you a specific sort of people.
- to be polite.

So always compete with quality, not price.

1. Hourly rate

This is the most straightforward way how to set your price.

How to set it?

The basic equation may look like:
[Monthly target profit ($) + All costs ($)] / no. of billable hours in a month

PS. Even if you're starting out don't get much lower under this price.