Making Bank®️

Welcome back to Making Bank. On today's episode, we have Brandon Dawson  who is a business scaling turnaround expert and leadership mentor who helps business owners and their teams achieve their personal, professional and financial goals through the growth of their business. He's achieved numerous awards in business such as Achieving the Ink 500, ink 5000, fastest growing companies five times, etc. Today he is the CEO and co-founder branding coaches Cardone Ventures clients using his proven leadership and business.   Make sure to listen to this week’s episode of Making Bank with Brandon Dawson.   (3:49) Background Brandon talks about how he worked in his parent’s Hearing Business and this was where he really got to learn all the things that helped him kickstart his life as an entrepreneur. He eventually moved out from his parent’s business to start something of his own using all the expertise he gained from that.    (5:56) Important Lessons Brandon talks about his early life where his dad grounded him and he got an opportunity to allow his fellow classmates to come work at his parent’s farm to raise money instead of him having to do it on his own. He paid them without working at all. This was when he realized that he does not ever want to do work that he can easily pay someone else to do and this was the start of his journey as an entrepreneur.   (10:42) Resilience Resilience in the human mind is the most important tool. People that punch through regardless of how tough it may be will end up having more stamina, more courage and more guts. A lot of people have gotten to be so soft from their parents, they can't compete against those people who want it really super bad and that affects them in their workforce.   (15:31) How To Be Successful You need to have a plan. You need to know what you're moving to. Targets are so important and most business owners don't set targets. They build from the inside out. Most people make the mistake of just hoping instead of building a strategy. It is very important to have a clear cut plan to be successful.   (18:47) Growing Your Business Once you know what you do works, you must always and constantly innovate to be better, to make more money, to improve in your delivery, to improve in your product offering. Most businesses fail even after being successful because they lack innovation and end up getting stale after a few years.   (30:45) Biggest Regret Brandon’s biggest regret was not slowing down a little bit with some of his decision making. He wished he sought from some really good mentors instead of assuming he was smart and could figure it out. He was in survival mode because he was doing everything people said he couldn't do and so he had a high confidence in himself which eventually led to him losing.   (32:55) Best Time To Create Wealth  There's never going to be a better time than in the next three to five years to create significant net worth with all the disruption going on, with all the distraction going and short of getting a nuclear bomb dropped on our heads, there's never going to be a better time to be in business and and to create a net worth than the next three to five years.    Links: @brandonmdawson @BDawsonWJBF @Brandon Dawson

Welcome back to Making Bank. On today's episode, we have Brandon Dawson  who is a business scaling turnaround expert and leadership mentor who helps business owners and their teams achieve their personal, professional and financial goals through the growth of their business. He's achieved numerous awards in business such as Achieving the Ink 500, ink 5000, fastest growing companies five times, etc. Today he is the CEO and co-founder branding coaches Cardone Ventures clients using his proven leadership and business.   Make sure to listen to this week’s episode of Making Bank with Brandon Dawson.   (3:49) Background Brandon talks about how he worked in his parent’s Hearing Business and this was where he really got to learn all the things that helped him kickstart his life as an entrepreneur. He eventually moved out from his parent’s business to start something of his own using all the expertise he gained from that.    (5:56) Important Lessons Brandon talks about his early life where his dad grounded him and he got an opportunity to allow his fellow classmates to come work at his parent’s farm to raise money instead of him having to do it on his own. He paid them without working at all. This was when he realized that he does not ever want to do work that he can easily pay someone else to do and this was the start of his journey as an entrepreneur.   (10:42) Resilience Resilience in the human mind is the most important tool. People that punch through regardless of how tough it may be will end up having more stamina, more courage and more guts. A lot of people have gotten to be so soft from their parents, they can't compete against those people who want it really super bad and that affects them in their workforce.   (15:31) How To Be Successful You need to have a plan. You need to know what you're moving to. Targets are so important and most business owners don't set targets. They build from the inside out. Most people make the mistake of just hoping instead of building a strategy. It is very important to have a clear cut plan to be successful.   (18:47) Growing Your Business Once you know what you do works, you must always and constantly innovate to be better, to make more money, to improve in your delivery, to improve in your product offering. Most businesses fail even after being successful because they lack innovation and end up getting stale after a few years.   (30:45) Biggest Regret Brandon’s biggest regret was not slowing down a little bit with some of his decision making. He wished he sought from some really good mentors instead of assuming he was smart and could figure it out. He was in survival mode because he was doing everything people said he couldn't do and so he had a high confidence in himself which eventually led to him losing.   (32:55) Best Time To Create Wealth  There's never going to be a better time than in the next three to five years to create significant net worth with all the disruption going on, with all the distraction going and short of getting a nuclear bomb dropped on our heads, there's never going to be a better time to be in business and and to create a net worth than the next three to five years.    Links: @brandonmdawson @BDawsonWJBF @Brandon Dawson

Welcome back to Making Bank. On today's episode, we have Brandon Dawson  who is a business scaling turnaround expert and leadership mentor who helps business owners and their teams achieve their personal, professional and financial goals through the growth of their business. He's achieved numerous awards in business such as Achieving the Ink 500, ink 5000, fastest growing companies five times, etc. Today he is the CEO and co-founder branding coaches Cardone Ventures clients using his proven leadership and business.   Make sure to listen to this week’s episode of Making Bank with Brandon Dawson.   (3:49) Background Brandon talks about how he worked in his parent’s Hearing Business and this was where he really got to learn all the things that helped him kickstart his life as an entrepreneur. He eventually moved out from his parent’s business to start something of his own using all the expertise he gained from that.    (5:56) Important Lessons Brandon talks about his early life where his dad grounded him and he got an opportunity to allow his fellow classmates to come work at his parent’s farm to raise money instead of him having to do it on his own. He paid them without working at all. This was when he realized that he does not ever want to do work that he can easily pay someone else to do and this was the start of his journey as an entrepreneur.   (10:42) Resilience Resilience in the human mind is the most important tool. People that punch through regardless of how tough it may be will end up having more stamina, more courage and more guts. A lot of people have gotten to be so soft from their parents, they can't compete against those people who want it really super bad and that affects them in their workforce.   (15:31) How To Be Successful You need to have a plan. You need to know what you're moving to. Targets are so important and most business owners don't set targets. They build from the inside out. Most people make the mistake of just hoping instead of building a strategy. It is very important to have a clear cut plan to be successful.   (18:47) Growing Your Business Once you know what you do works, you must always and constantly innovate to be better, to make more money, to improve in your delivery, to improve in your product offering. Most businesses fail even after being successful because they lack innovation and end up getting stale after a few years.   (30:45) Biggest Regret Brandon’s biggest regret was not slowing down a little bit with some of his decision making. He wished he sought from some really good mentors instead of assuming he was smart and could figure it out. He was in survival mode because he was doing everything people said he couldn't do and so he had a high confidence in himself which eventually led to him losing.   (32:55) Best Time To Create Wealth  There's never going to be a better time than in the next three to five years to create significant net worth with all the disruption going on, with all the distraction going and short of getting a nuclear bomb dropped on our heads, there's never going to be a better time to be in business and and to create a net worth than the next three to five years.    Links: @brandonmdawson @BDawsonWJBF @Brandon Dawson

Welcome back to Making Bank. On today's episode, we have Jack Mccoll who is the founder of Credit Stacking, scaled from zero business credit to over $500,000 in improved credit in just over one year, which he has used to fund a variety of new businesses and investments. He now teaches his unique framework to over a thousand plus entrepreneurs, helping them get access to hundreds of thousands of dollars at 0% interest to start a new business, scale a business or finance, any type of investment. Make sure to listen to this week’s episode of Making Bank with Jack Mccoll.   (2:36) Background Jack mentions that he is the founder of credit stacking.com. When he first started he used his hard earned money to finance his business and then later moved to an equity partner. He then later moved to a business loan but was still paying interest. Then he learned about 0% interest business credit cards, which is 0% for nine to 18 months and you can get access to hundreds of thousands of dollars on these business credit cards.   (4:35) Business Credit Cards  When you're applying for a business credit card, they're looking at the type of business you have? Is it consulting? Is it a trucking business? E-commerce business? They look at the age of the business. Anything over two years you're eligible. The last two things they will look at is the relationship you have with that bank and your business credit score.   (11:39) 0% Interest There's specific business cards that are 0% interest for the introductory period. For some of them it’s six months or there’s nine months. Most of them are at 12 months 0%, and there's some that go up to 18 months of 0% interest. After that introductory period, it goes up to the normal credit card interest rate, which is between 16 and 25% depending on your credit profile.   (13:03) Building Relationships It’s important to build a relationship at Chase and Bank of America. They're the most relationship based banks and they give out very high limits. The relationship should not only be on the personal credit cards, but also in order to open business checking accounts with these banks. These banks will ask about your business because they will give a code called the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code on your bank account, which classifies the risk of your industry.    (15:20) Credit Stacking Different banks will allow you a different number of 0% interest credit cards at a time depending on the relationship you have with them. And then depending on the state that your business is registered in, that is gonna tell you the options you have in that specific state.    (18:23) Credit For Beginners Have someone with a clean payment history act as an authorized user for your cards. Make sure your utilization is low. Don't apply for too many credit accounts too quickly. When you apply for personal credit cards, you wanna be very strategic because it's going to affect your age when you get more credit accounts approved.   (21:10) Top 3 Tips Do your banking for your business at Chase. Their cards can range between $50,000 to a hundred thousand. If you travel, then get cards that give you the best rewards. For example, the Amex Gold or the Amex business Gold gives you four x points per dollar spent on advertising on gas. Lastly, check your personal credit score at www.myscoreiq.com because when you apply for a business credit card, the bank will look at your personal credit score. You want to make sure it’s good.    Links: www.creditstacking.com @kingofdebt

Welcome back to Making Bank. On today's episode, we have Jack Mccoll who is the founder of Credit Stacking, scaled from zero business credit to over $500,000 in improved credit in just over one year, which he has used to fund a variety of new businesses and investments. He now teaches his unique framework to over a thousand plus entrepreneurs, helping them get access to hundreds of thousands of dollars at 0% interest to start a new business, scale a business or finance, any type of investment. Make sure to listen to this week’s episode of Making Bank with Jack Mccoll.   (3:25) Background Jack mentions that he is the founder of credit stacking.com. When he first started he used his hard earned money to finance his business and then later moved to an equity partner. He then later moved to a business loan but was still paying interest. Then he learned about 0% interest business credit cards, which is 0% for nine to 18 months and you can get access to hundreds of thousands of dollars on these business credit cards.   (5:24) Business Credit Cards  When you're applying for a business credit card, they're looking at the type of business you have? Is it consulting? Is it a trucking business? E-commerce business? They look at the age of the business. Anything over two years you're eligible. The last two things they will look at is the relationship you have with that bank and your business credit score.   (12:28) 0% Interest There's specific business cards that are 0% interest for the introductory period. For some of them it’s six months or there’s nine months. Most of them are at 12 months 0%, and there's some that go up to 18 months of 0% interest. After that introductory period, it goes up to the normal credit card interest rate, which is between 16 and 25% depending on your credit profile.   (13:52) Building Relationships It’s important to build a relationship at Chase and Bank of America. They're the most relationship based banks and they give out very high limits. The relationship should not only be on the personal credit cards, but also in order to open business checking accounts with these banks. These banks will ask about your business because they will give a code called the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code on your bank account, which classifies the risk of your industry.    (16:09) Credit Stacking Different banks will allow you a different number of 0% interest credit cards at a time depending on the relationship you have with them. And then depending on the state that your business is registered in, that is gonna tell you the options you have in that specific state.    (19:12) Credit For Beginners Have someone with a clean payment history act as an authorized user for your cards. Make sure your utilization is low. Don't apply for too many credit accounts too quickly. When you apply for personal credit cards, you wanna be very strategic because it's going to affect your age when you get more credit accounts approved.   (21:59) Top 3 Tips Do your banking for your business at Chase. Their cards can range between $50,000 to a hundred thousand. If you travel, then get cards that give you the best rewards. For example, the Amex Gold or the Amex business Gold gives you four x points per dollar spent on advertising on gas. Lastly, check your personal credit score at www.myscoreiq.com because when you apply for a business credit card, the bank will look at your personal credit score. You want to make sure it’s good.    Links: www.creditstacking.com @kingofdebt

Buying A Business: Strategies & Pitfalls to Avoid  #MakingBank #S7E36 Welcome back to Making Bank. On today's episode, we have Jonathan Jay who has been an entrepreneur ever since he dropped out of the university at the age of 19, now 50 years old. He has built businesses and publishing, digital marketing, adult education, coaching, preschool education, and has sold each of those. During the pandemic, he made 48 business acquisitions to create the fourth largest group in his sector in under three years. He now helps other people buy businesses, helps him avoid the expensive mistakes, as he says, he has made all of them.   Make sure you check out this episode of Making Bank with Jonathan Jay.   (3:04) Becoming An Entrepreneur Jonathan talks about how he has always been an entrepreneur all his life. He has never worked for anyone. He only had his own business to run and has been doing that for 30 years. He has done many things, some went wrong and some went right. Overall he has a very successful career as an entrepreneur even if it was challenging sometimes.   (6:02) Why To Buy A Business Look for a business that's been running for at least five years, that makes solid, reliable profits every single month. Buy that business without risking any of your own cash and then once you've got that business, that business will continue to make solid, reliable profits month after month. This is much better than starting a business from scratch and risking the chances of it failing.   (7:25) Risks Of Buying Business The risks of buying a business are always high. The wrong method is going to a bank and asking for a loan using property. This is high stress and high risk. The best way is to find a business that is already striving but has an owner that is ready to sell it and is highly motivated to let it go. The chances of this business being successful are higher as compared to the first option.   (11:31) Convincing Sellers You need to know why they are selling the business and try to ease in on that. Remind them why they wanted to sell in the first place. And also it is important to approach as many sellers as possible. Not everyone will say yes. Some will say no. Hence, at the end of the day it's actually a numbers game and the chances of success highly depends on the numbers of sellers approached.    (14:26) Business Buying System The tendency is to play it small, play it safe.But, when you buy a bigger business, you're actually buying a better business. You're buying a business with better financial controls, with better marketing, and probably a better product because it's reaching more people. More people are buying it. All of these things make a better acquisition.   (18:48) Key Tips For Buying You have to get really good at what we call the discovery call. The discovery call is that 30 minute phone conversation with the owner where first impressions matter. The next step after that is you want to get them to send you some basic financial information. Then right at the very end is selling the business and this will put more money in your pocket than you've ever had in your entire life, and that's when you can really start making a difference in the world.   (24:41) 48 Acquisitions In 3 Years Jonathan talks about how it was a crazy time and how maybe they did get a little too greedy over it. It was stressful and even caused many health problems for him and was even hospitalized for it due to the immense stress. He did not recommend it to anyone and concluded that it’s not advisable to anyone.   Links: www.dealmakers.co.ukhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-jay-3556b230

Buying A Business: Strategies & Pitfalls to Avoid  #MakingBank #S7E36 Welcome back to Making Bank. On today's episode, we have Jonathan Jay who has been an entrepreneur ever since he dropped out of the university at the age of 19, now 50 years old. He has built businesses and publishing, digital marketing, adult education, coaching, preschool education, and has sold each of those. During the pandemic, he made 48 business acquisitions to create the fourth largest group in his sector in under three years. He now helps other people buy businesses, helps him avoid the expensive mistakes, as he says, he has made all of them.   Make sure you check out this episode of Making Bank with Jonathan Jay.   (2:11) Becoming An Entrepreneur Jonathan talks about how he has always been an entrepreneur all his life. He has never worked for anyone. He only had his own business to run and has been doing that for 30 years. He has done many things, some went wrong and some went right. Overall he has a very successful career as an entrepreneur even if it was challenging sometimes.   (5:08) Why To Buy A Business Look for a business that's been running for at least five years, that makes solid, reliable profits every single month. Buy that business without risking any of your own cash and then once you've got that business, that business will continue to make solid, reliable profits month after month. This is much better than starting a business from scratch and risking the chances of it failing.   (6:32) Risks Of Buying Business The risks of buying a business are always high. The wrong method is going to a bank and asking for a loan using property. This is high stress and high risk. The best way is to find a business that is already striving but has an owner that is ready to sell it and is highly motivated to let it go. The chances of this business being successful are higher as compared to the first option.   (10:37) Convincing Sellers You need to know why they are selling the business and try to ease in on that. Remind them why they wanted to sell in the first place. And also it is important to approach as many sellers as possible. Not everyone will say yes. Some will say no. Hence, at the end of the day it's actually a numbers game and the chances of success highly depends on the numbers of sellers approached.    (13:33) Business Buying System The tendency is to play it small, play it safe.But, when you buy a bigger business, you're actually buying a better business. You're buying a business with better financial controls, with better marketing, and probably a better product because it's reaching more people. More people are buying it. All of these things make a better acquisition.   (17:55) Key Tips For Buying You have to get really good at what we call the discovery call. The discovery call is that 30 minute phone conversation with the owner where first impressions matter. The next step after that is you want to get them to send you some basic financial information. Then right at the very end is selling the business and this will put more money in your pocket than you've ever had in your entire life, and that's when you can really start making a difference in the world.   (23:49) 48 Acquisitions In 3 Years Jonathan talks about how it was a crazy time and how maybe they did get a little too greedy over it. It was stressful and even caused many health problems for him and was even hospitalized for it due to the immense stress. He did not recommend it to anyone and concluded that it’s not advisable to anyone.   Links: www.dealmakers.co.ukhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-jay-3556b230

How Entrepreneurs Can Reclaim Their Time & Freedom Back #MakingBank #S7E35 Welcome back to Making Bank. On today's episode, we have Dan Martel who is an entrepr3eneur, angel investor and he became a highly sought after coach in the SAS industry after exiting three tech companies within a 10 year period. He's also an athlete and Ironman philanthropist, husband, father of two boys, and lives an amazing life that he's created for him.  Make sure you check out this episode of Making Bank with Dan Martell.   (3:29) Increasing Life Quality Most of us have the tendency to overwork and really commit ourselves that we lose our most precious resource. Time. That is why many fail to withstand the pressure life throws at them. It is important to get back your time and never lose it because if you can buy back your time, you can definitely increase your quality of life and performance as a whole.   (6:54) Time Assassin The most common time assassins are the Self Medicator, the Saver, the Supervisor and the Staller. All these different attributes exist as individuals in a business and they really have the tendency to slow down or interrupt the growth of a company and workflow as a whole.   (12:07) Time Worth If you do anything that you could have paid somebody else, that buyback rate or less, you're literally working against yourself. You can't build a $10 million company off a $10 task. There's not enough hours in the day. And also instead of hiring more people so you should hire people that will help buy back time out of your calendar.   (14:52) Buy Back Time Instead of hiring two people to do multiple things thinking it will be efficient, it's better to just give the most valuable employee more roles to take because one efficient employee is better than having two of them doing tasks that can be easily done alone. This is how you buy back time efficiently.   (17:08) Hiring Order The hiring order is Admin, then Delivery, then, Marketing and then Sales. These should be the order of hiring in order for a business to prosper. If the order is changed, the flow won’t be effective anymore. They have to be in this order.   (20:00) Zero Inbox Dan Martell talks about how he follows a zero inbox policy. He doesn’t do emails. Doesn’t do inbox. He sends voice messages because most people don't realize that our typing speed versus our talking speed, our talking speed is way faster and it will be clearer and it will save more time.   (21:30) Playbook A playbook is a very important part of handling a business that most CEOs do not even follow. It is important because it has all the necessary guidelines to run the business and also for every employee to be able to follow the guidelines. If it's not followed the business will just crumble and the employee might just lose a spot in the company.    Links: @Danmartell @danmartell www.buybackyourtime.com

How Entrepreneurs Can Reclaim Their Time & Freedom Back #MakingBank #S7E35 Welcome back to Making Bank. On today's episode, we have Dan Martel who is an entrepreneur, angel investor and he became a highly sought after coach in the SAS industry after exiting three tech companies within a 10 year period. He's also an athlete and Ironman philanthropist, husband, father of two boys, and lives an amazing life that he's created for him.  Make sure you check out this episode of Making Bank with Dan Martell.   (3:29) Increasing Life Quality Most of us have the tendency to overwork and really commit ourselves that we lose our most precious resource. Time. That is why many fail to withstand the pressure life throws at them. It is important to get back your time and never lose it because if you can buy back your time, you can definitely increase your quality of life and performance as a whole.   (6:54) Time Assassin The most common time assassins are the Self Medicator, the Saver, the Supervisor and the Staller. All these different attributes exist as individuals in a business and they really have the tendency to slow down or interrupt the growth of a company and workflow as a whole.   (12:07) Time Worth If you do anything that you could have paid somebody else, that buyback rate or less, you're literally working against yourself. You can't build a $10 million company off a $10 task. There's not enough hours in the day. And also instead of hiring more people so you should hire people that will help buy back time out of your calendar.   (14:52) Buy Back Time Instead of hiring two people to do multiple things thinking it will be efficient, it's better to just give the most valuable employee more roles to take because one efficient employee is better than having two of them doing tasks that can be easily done alone. This is how you buy back time efficiently.   (17:08) Hiring Order The hiring order is Admin, then Delivery, then, Marketing and then Sales. These should be the order of hiring in order for a business to prosper. If the order is changed, the flow won’t be effective anymore. They have to be in this order.   (20:00) Zero Inbox Dan Martell talks about how he follows a zero inbox policy. He doesn’t do emails. Doesn’t do inbox. He sends voice messages because most people don't realize that our typing speed versus our talking speed, our talking speed is way faster and it will be clearer and it will save more time.   (21:30) Playbook A playbook is a very important part of handling a business that most CEOs do not even follow. It is important because it has all the necessary guidelines to run the business and also for every employee to be able to follow the guidelines. If it's not followed the business will just crumble and the employee might just lose a spot in the company.    Links: @Danmartell @danmartell www.buybackyourtime.com Welcome back to Making Bank. On today's episode, we have Dan Martel who is an entrepreneur, angel investor and he became a highly sought after coach in the SAS industry after exiting three tech companies within a 10 year period. He's also an athlete and Ironman philanthropist, husband, father of two boys, and lives an amazing life that he's created for him.  Make sure you check out this episode of Making Bank with Dan Martell.   (3:29) Increasing Life Quality Most of us have the tendency to overwork and really commit ourselves that we lose our most precious resource. Time. That is why many fail to withstand the pressure life throws at them. It is important to get back your time and never lose it because if you can buy back your time, you can definitely increase your quality of life and performance as a whole.   (6:54) Time Assassin The most common time assassins are the Self Medicator, the Saver, the Supervisor and the Staller. All these different attributes exist as individuals in a business and they really have the tendency to slow down or interrupt the growth of a company and workflow as a whole.   (12:07) Time Worth If you do anything that you could have paid somebody else, that buyback rate or less, you're literally working against yourself. You can't build a $10 million company off a $10 task. There's not enough hours in the day. And also instead of hiring more people so you should hire people that will help buy back time out of your calendar.   (14:52) Buy Back Time Instead of hiring two people to do multiple things thinking it will be efficient, it's better to just give the most valuable employee more roles to take because one efficient employee is better than having two of them doing tasks that can be easily done alone. This is how you buy back time efficiently.   (17:08) Hiring Order The hiring order is Admin, then Delivery, then, Marketing and then Sales. These should be the order of hiring in order for a business to prosper. If the order is changed, the flow won’t be effective anymore. They have to be in this order.   (20:00) Zero Inbox Dan Martell talks about how he follows a zero inbox policy. He doesn’t do emails. Doesn’t do inbox. He sends voice messages because most people don't realize that our typing speed versus our talking speed, our talking speed is way faster and it will be clearer and it will save more time.   (21:30) Playbook A playbook is a very important part of handling a business that most CEOs do not even follow. It is important because it has all the necessary guidelines to run the business and also for every employee to be able to follow the guidelines. If it's not followed the business will just crumble and the employee might just lose a spot in the company.    Links: @Danmartell @danmartell www.buybackyourtime.com

Unlock Your Business's Potential By Utilizing Data-Driven Decisions #MakingBank #S7E33 Welcome back to Making Bank. On today's episode, we have Jeff Smith. His company was founded to extend the legacy of the family cattle ranch that was homesteaded at this location in the early 1900s.The ranch has been a continuous operation since 1913, and being born through the fifth generation of family ranchers, Kara, Jeff's wife, also has an inborn love and passion for the cattle industry. Their story is super authentic. What they do and how they raise their beef, how they connect with agriculture, their environment, and being able to produce an amazing product for everyone.   Check out today's episode with Jeff Smith on Making Bank.   (2:26) Background Jeff Smith grew up in eastern Oregon. He went to school at Colorado State University, has a degree in agricultural business with minors in finance and accounting. He went to work for a big company called Cargill and was an operations manager there. He went from company to company doing multiple jobs to finally deciding to start Colorado Craft Beef.   (6:55) Business Assessment  With his wife having a master degree in cattle nutrition and also being better positioned geographically along with some industry knowledge, Colorado Craft Beef started in 2017. Beef shipping began in 2018, with a ton of focus groups.   (12:28) Colorado Craft Beef Due to lack of having a mother cow, Jeff partnered with four or five ranches that they work with directly. They help the cow calf producers with genetic yielded data to help them make business decisions that make their cattle more efficient.   (16:10) Business Growth When you sell the cattle to the processor, and then the processor sells the meat and it goes to a wholesaler, and then the wholesaler sells to a retailer, and then the retailer sells. Everywhere along that chain, there's a percentage taken. Jeff Smith said they've been able to actually keep the pricing about the same for the end product, by retaining all those margins in house. (20:57) Mindset Jeff Smith says that Agricultural people are fiercely independent and sometimes they drive him crazy because of that. It's a mindset shift that a lot of people need to have, whether it's just in agriculture or elsewhere. And that's something that has helped them to be a little more mobile, a little more nimble, and a little more transparent with the people they talk to.   (23:07) Regenerative Agriculture What we do at our ranch is different from what our neighbors do because we're in different spots, even though it's literally just over the horizon. If you want to support a different food system and you want to support different things and you want to be informed, do it and vote with your dollar because that is what's gonna change this system.   Links: @colocraftbeef @jeffsoptic @coloradocraftbeef