Start with the exit strategy in mind and work your way back to where you are today - this is how you lay down the path to your entrepreneurial success. In today’s episode of Beyond 8 Figures, Ramon Van Meer joins A.J. Lawrence to talk about his own entrepreneurial journey to success after running multiple outstanding companies that have brought in millions. 

Ramon believes it is his duty to help others succeed in the way he did. He made it his mission to help 500 people start their own businesses, so he is here today to share his best advice for the new and experienced entrepreneurs. 

About our guest: 

Ramon is a serial entrepreneur who has created, grown, and sold many successful businesses like the multi-million dollar Soap Hub and Growth Hacker TV. He is the founder and CEO of Alpha Paw, a pet-focused company that creates products made from sustainable and biodegradable materials that enhance the well-being of pets everywhere. Ramon has an incredibly inspiring story. An immigrant from The Netherlands, he was homeless as a teen. He was a single dad who started with nothing and overcame his past challenges to become an incredibly successful businessman. 

On Today’s Episode: 

• Where Ramon is on his entrepreneurial journey. -2:46 
• Why Ramon always has an exit strategy in mind for his businesses. -5:18 
• How Ramon’s business methods allow him the freedom to live his life the way he wants.- 9:35 
• The events that had the most significant impact on Ramon's success. -10:22 
• Why failure isn’t always a bad thing. -10:50 
• Ramon’s approach to authentic networking. -12:45 
• The difference between starting at the beginning of a business and starting in the middle. -19:50 
• Maintaining company culture when your business has grown beyond 20 employees. -21:21 
• The importance of understanding where your skillset is as an entrepreneur. -25:06
• How “overnight successes” actually take years. -28:50 
• How Ramon defines success. -30:00 
• Why Ramon prioritizes his son over his business success. -33:28

Key Takeaways: 

• When starting a business, it can be beneficial to think about the outcome you want and reverse engineer from there. This keeps you focused on the goal and more likely to succeed. 
• Failure doesn’t have to be a bad thing. Failure will happen more than success; you just have to learn from it instead of letting it defeat you. 
• It’s instrumental to your success as an entrepreneur if you focus on making you happy and then hire help for the rest. You are more likely to succeed if you aren’t caught up doing tasks you don’t enjoy. 
• When looking for help in your business, you can get a lot of support when you just approach people authentically. 
• When you have a new idea in business, it is helpful to move fast and optimize along the way. However, delaying and waiting for it to be perfect will only delay your success. 

Failure doesn’t have to be a bad thing. On the contrary, it can be the best way to learn and grow in your business. 

[10:49] “I was willing to take risks and have no ego about failure. It’s okay to fail.” 

What lessons have you learned from failing? Tell us in the comments, and don’t forget to say hello if you would like to share your entrepreneurship story on our podcast.

Mentioned in this episode:

• Clarity – An online source for startup advice from world-class experts.
• Dynamite Circle – An online network for entrepreneurs.
• Trends.co – Insights, analysis, and research resource. 
• Design Pickle – About the founder’s interest in creating more balance in life.

Connect with Ramon Van Meer: 

• Website: https://www.alphapaw.com/ 
• Twitter: @ramonvanmeer 
• Company Twitter: @alpha_paw 
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alphapawofficial 
• Instagram: @ramon.vanmeer 
• Company Instagram: @alpha.paw
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ramon-v-a19a01144/ 
• Company LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/alpha-paw/ 

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