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Tag: entrepreneur

December 10, 2024By Paula Pant

#565: Codie Sanchez: From Wall Street to Washing Machines

When Codie Sanchez worked in finance, she wasn’t planning to buy a laundromat. But facing 60-70 hour workweeks and realizing she didn’t want her boss’s job, she started looking for an exit strategy. Instead of buying a fancy car during her “midlife crisis,” she purchased that first laundromat – a decision that would lead her to acquire multiple laundromats, car washes, and other local businesses.

Codie joins us to break down how regular people can buy and run profitable local businesses, even without previous ownership experience. These “Main Street” businesses – think laundromats, car washes, landscaping companies, and other local services – often generate steady cash flow without requiring complex technology or massive scale.

She shares eye-opening stats about business ownership in America: while 80 percent of Americans owned a business in the 1800s, today that number has dropped to just 6 percent. Meanwhile, private equity firms have increased their ownership of small businesses from 4 percent in 2000 to 20 percent by 2020.

But there’s good news for aspiring business owners. Codie breaks down 21 different ways to finance a business acquisition, from seller financing to equipment loans. She explains that 60 percent of businesses sell with some form of seller financing, making ownership more accessible than many realize.

Want to avoid common pitfalls? Codie introduces her RICH framework:
– Research: Define what type of business fits your goals and skills
– Invest: Get skin in the game, but never risk bankruptcy
– Command: Use systems and metrics to avoid accidentally buying yourself a job
– Harness: Build toward bigger goals if desired

She emphasizes starting small — master one business before attempting to build an empire. A successful acquisition requires understanding the “roadmap to making money” – the 5-7 key steps that drive profit in any business.

The numbers tell an encouraging story: while 90 percent of startups fail within 10 years, small business acquisitions have a 75-95 percent success rate. Codie attributes this to buying proven business models rather than starting from scratch.

Perhaps most importantly, she challenges the notion that “boring” businesses can’t generate serious wealth. From a roofing company founder becoming one of the world’s wealthiest women to a garbage collection entrepreneur building a billion-dollar enterprise, Main Street businesses have created numerous millionaires and billionaires.

Want to learn more? Check out Main Street Millionaire.

Keep reading...

February 1, 2024By Paula Pant

#485: How to Start a Business in One Weekend, with Noah Kagan

If you’ve ever thought: “I’d love a business BUT …

“I don’t have TIME.”
“I don’t have MONEY.”
“I don’t have IDEAS.”
“I have TOO MANY ideas and I don’t know where to start.”
“I’m not technical.”
“I’m not creative or artistic.”
“I’m not good at sales.”

You’re not alone. Countless people don’t start businesses or side hustles for these reasons.

And they’re losing thousands — perhaps millions — in opportunity cost.

How much could you make if you started a side hustle that eventually scaled into a business? Possibly millions. Today’s guest, Noah Kagan, is living proof.

Noah was employee #30 at Facebook. His stock options, if fully vested, would be worth over $1 billion today.

(If you want to do the math — his stock options came to 0.1 percent of the company, which has a current market cap of $1 trillion.)

But Noah was fired just a couple months before his stock options vested. So rather than getting a billion-dollar payout, he got nothing.

He sank into a deep depression, eventually recovering with the help of a therapist who counseled him on how to reframe the experience.

Then he rolled up his sleeves and got to work. He became a serial entrepreneur, building multiple businesses. His most successful venture now makes $80 million in gross revenue, and his personal take-home is $3.3 million per year (which comes from a $200,000 annual salary and $3.1 million profit distribution.) His net worth is $36 million.

Not a billion, but still not too shabby.

Noah recently wrote a book called “Million Dollar Weekend: The Surprisingly Simple Way to Launch a 7-Figure Business in 48 Hours.”

He sits down with us (in person!) to share:

— how to find business ideas
— how to overcome objections and rejections
— how to scale

By the end of the episode, the common objections that you often hear — like “I don’t have time/money/ideas” — will be quashed.

Please enjoy!

Keep reading...

February 18, 2015Written By Paula Pant

How Sarah Quit Her Job, Launched an Online Business, and Now Travels As Much As She Wants

Five years ago, a Canadian woman named Sarah embarked on a series of life-changing steps.

She moved 215 miles away from her hometown. She returned to college (after initially failing a few courses) to finish her degree. After graduation, she landed a cushy job with a pension and plenty of benefits. She got engaged. They bought a house.

 […]

Keep reading...

April 30, 2012Written By Paula Pant

Make a Profit AFTER Paying Yourself

The biggest mistake I’ve made as an entrepreneur? Confusing my role as an investor with my role as the general manager.

As an investor, my role is to infuse money into a project or a company. Then I kick back and wait for the returns.

As the general manager, my role is […]

Keep reading...

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