I’m often asked how I determine the guests on my podcast, Launch Your Business. The answer is pretty simple. I just think back to when I first started my business and all the associated challenges and confusion that I experienced.
Then, I bring on the people that I wish I could have talked to back then. Maybe it’s because they’re a subject matter expert who can teach the nuts and bolts of running a business. Or maybe their story is inspiring and provides a much-needed boost of motivation.
But either way, after each episode, you’ll gain insight on how to do at least one thing better.
Here are some of my top takeaways from recent guests. Afterward, I’ll let you know how you can be a guest on the show as well.
Pat Flynn: Become part of the audience you want to build
When you’re trying to build an audience, it’s tempting to dive in and offer what you think the audience would like. Instead, Pat says that you ought to become part of the audience — that way you know what their likes and dislikes are, what annoys them, what key terms they use and the gaps in the market that you can fill.
“I think empathy is so key, and it’s impossible to empathize with somebody or a group of people who you just met for the first time,” Pat said.
Shaquille O’Neal: Delegation is the key to unlocking opportunities
While chatting with Shaq, I asked him to share the one question almost nobody asks him, but they should, because his advice would be so valuable.
“How do I do so much? And the answer is delegation. For example, if I was going to own an African American successful media company, I’d call you brother. Cause I know you’re educated. I know you’re smart. I know you’re well respected in the business and I’m not gonna micromanage you. I’d call you once a week.
I’m not gonna do any work. I’m calling you. I delegate and I don’t micromanage. That’s how I can own a bunch of things and still be here in my country and state.”
I’m pretty sure Shaq offered me a job, I’ll keep you posted on that.
Quentin Allums: Systems are necessary for scaling
Quentin Michael Allums is a serial entrepreneur, and he said that one mistake he made early on was avoiding systems. The thought here is that systems and set processes are constraining — but really, they free you and your team up to spend your time and energy on other things.
“If you have a process, a system, you will go so far,” Quentin said. “Even if it’s not perfect, just keep up-leveling as you go. It will help you with hiring, it’ll help you with content, and it’ll help you scale. And you don’t wanna build on a rocky foundation, which is what I did.”
Anthony Trucks: Disconnect your identity from your output
During my conversation with Anthony Trucks, former NFL player and current international speaker and coach, he brought up a powerful analogy. He said that at a difficult time in his life, he should’ve thought of his life as a tree, and his successes as the fruit.
“Playing football fell off the tree and it rolled somewhere and it died, right? … But I didn’t realize that I (and none of us) have ever been the fruit. We’ve always been the tree. And when you don’t take care of the tree, all the rest of the fruit dies,” Anthony said. “And so for me, I had to realize you are not football, man. You are the kind of person that created that outcome for your life. So do it somewhere else.”
Amy Porterfield: Courage and confidence are different things
“I always say that confidence is something that comes when you start to see a track record,” Amy said. You start with small steps, you see small progress, and your confidence grows. “Courage happens when you don’t have a track record yet, you have no proof this is going to work. You’re going to take a leap of faith, you’re going to have the courage to move forward because you know you want it badly enough. And so we all have to start with courage over confidence because courage will absolutely be there before confidence ever will.”
Ashley Kirkwood: Your team is not there to make you money
When I asked Ashley what she wishes she’d known earlier in her entrepreneurial journey, she gave me an answer I’ve never heard before: Your team is not there to make you money — they’re part of your big-picture mission.
“I work for my team,” Ashley explained. “I try to become a better person for my team. I want to encourage and help my team grow like they are everything to this business. And I wish I would’ve known that earlier because I would’ve hired earlier. I would’ve cultivated them earlier. I would’ve started reading personal development books even earlier at the same time as I was reading sales and marketing books.”
Tanner Chidester: If you’re not willing to send some DMs to grow your business, you probably need to change your perspective
One thing that Tanner Chidester said he encounters while coaching is the lack of grit for the startup phase. When you have a big idea and no team, you are going to need to power through some less-than-pleasant jobs – but the good news is, there are worse things than sending sales emails or DMs.
“People forget, I did door-to-door sales for eight months, six days a week, 12 hours a day,” Tanner said. “I’ve told people doing that was harder than building a 20 million per year business. He continues “I’ve had guns pulled on me [and] knives. So I just think people, they don’t really understand what it takes to be successful.”
T.I.: Don’t let other people’s opinions cloud your vision
T.I. has come up with plenty of ideas that have led to numerous entrepreneurial ventures. He said that one key is keeping your vision to yourself when it’s in the early phases.
“Your vision is yours for a reason. My vision is mine for a reason. Usually, the first thing we do when we get a vision is take it to the people around us and say, ‘Hey, look, this is what I had an idea of doing.’ And they’ll probably (because of their fears, their failures because they don’t believe that they could do it because it’s not their vision), they would say, ‘Nah, that ain’t gonna work.'”
The worst part of this? If you let your friends talk you out of a good idea, when you see someone else making that vision happen, you’ll have no one to blame but yourself.
In his work as a coach, Alex Schlinsky says that everyone is pursuing freedom – but often the definition is blurry. Maybe the person defines it as financial freedom without taking into account the time it requires to generate lots of income quickly, or maybe they’ve allowed someone else to define freedom and fulfillment for them.
“The anti-hustle model is all about identifying for you very specifically what time and financial freedom means, what success really means, what happiness really means and doing that deep work so you can build the formula to your ideal and dream life instead of allowing me or anyone else to decide it for you.”
Hala Taha: Showing your process can rally an audience
While many entrepreneurs are tempted to showcase only their polished finished product, podcasting network mogul Hala Taha credits her early devoted fanbase to her willingness to let her audience in on the process — even when it was as unpolished as showing her recording setup in her mother’s basement.
“I think what made me magnetic is because I was sort of the underdog,” Hala said. “I just think that it was magnetic and I was just trying to be of service. My goal actually wasn’t to monetize the show, I literally would tell people that it’s impossible to create a business out of podcasts. And now I literally have a business from my podcast, and for two years I was like, podcasting is just to be of service.”
Craig Siegel: Failure is part of the process, and it can be a good thing
“Full disclosure, spoiler alert: Entrepreneurship (or anything in the world really worth creating) is going to be challenging,” Craig said. “Specifically in the beginning, I don’t think you can replace that season of grind where you’re really working.”
He went on to add that there’s a gift in failure if you’re willing to find it.
“As long as you’re having good misses, and you’re learning, and you’re figuring out what doesn’t work, so you can reapply to what should work … It’s all part of the process.”
Ready to learn more from Craig? Check out his new book The Reinvention Formula: How to Unlock a Bulletproof Mindset to Upgrade Your Life.
Want to be my next guest?
I want to help you get unstuck so you can multiply your revenue potential. And, I’d love to chat with you about it on my podcast. Here’s how to make it happen.
First, leave a review on your favorite podcast platform and share at least one thing you’ve learned from a previous episode. It can be one of those listed above or any other episode that has been released. Then, share that review as an Instagram story and tag me at @itsterryrice as well as Entrepreneur magazine using the handle @entrepreneur. One last step. Screenshot your review and complete this Google Form.
We’ll then select participants to appear on the show so you can share more about your business and receive a real-time coaching session from me. This will be an ongoing opportunity but you must post your story by August 31st in order to be considered for the first round of guest appearances.
This story originally appeared on Entrepreneur
