You’ve got your idea, and you’re ready to take over the world. Now, where should you start? Should you... write a detailed business plan? Buy the equipment? Take out a loan? Wrong, wrong, and WRONG, according to our guest today. Alan Donegan founded the PopUp Business School to teach a different approach—one that encourages entrepreneurs to measure feedback well before they go into debt or get themselves stuck in a rat race of their own making. In this episode, Alan shows us how to experiment to see if customers will actually pay for your offering (“people will always be nice to you up until the point when you ask them to take money out of their pocket”) and how to organize a trial run to determine whether you even enjoy running the business. You’ll love Alan’s advice to “fail fast and fail cheap,” and to create a “high-trust environment” so you can get paid up front. Plus, you’ll learn how some of the most valuable companies in the world got started using this lean model. Alan shares his thoughts on exactly when to quit your 9 to 5 and go all-in on your business. He also reveals how to keep your energy up when burning the candle at both ends and why understanding the “trinity of management” is vital to the success of your enterprise. This is one of our most actionable, knowledge-packed shows so far. Be sure to download it and subscribe to the BiggerPockets Business Podcast using your favorite app for more! In This Episode We Cover:  What inspired Alan to start his training program How to conduct real-world market research How Amazon and Virgin used the method Alan teaches How to do a “trial run” for your business idea How to get others excited about your product Why saving a portion of profits might someday save your business And SO much more!  Links from the Show  BiggerPockets BiggerPockets Premium BiggerPockets Forums
      
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9: The Secret to Starting a Risk-Free, Debt-Free Business QUICKLY with Alan Donegan

Welcome to a real-world MBA, where entrepreneurs guide you through what it really takes to start, scale, and sell your own business.
Your hosts: J and Carol Scott, who left careers in corporate management to launch their own house-flipping business. Every Tuesday, you'll meet a new guest and learn actionable tips for hiring, firing, marketing, raising capital and more.
So whether you're looking to boost profits or bring a new idea to life, you'll come away informed and inspired. Tune in, and learn how to treat your business like a business!

Business

Investing

Careers

Management & Marketing

Business News

Shopping

Successful business owners are addicted to building businesses, sometimes to their folly. For someone like Codie Sanchez, this isn’t a problem, but a superpower. Codie is a journalist, a venture capital partner, an angel investor, and an entrepreneur. She loves, as she puts it, “building herself out of a job”, which means creating businesses with huge potential, getting a team in place, and heading on to better things.
Now, managing many millions of dollars, she has to look into which businesses are worth capital investments. Codie often advises business owners to act out of confidence, not fear, and consistently hire people that are better at their jobs than them. She places a very high value on having employees and workers who are competent and can help the team grow (as any smart business owner should).
Codie mentions the most profitable skill of today and how she’s using that specific skill to grow her newsletter, Contrarian Thinking. She argues that in today’s society, the top level of hierarchies for time freedom and ideological freedom is financial freedom. If you can decide what you do, where you do it from, what you can and can’t say, and how to live your life, you have the ultimate freedom available.
This episode delves not only into the life of a VC, but how small businesses can keep their loyal customers, grow their audiences, and repel those who aren’t a good fit for them. Regardless of the size of business you have, Codie presents great arguments for everyone about developing yourself, your business, and your mindset.
In This Episode We Cover

Laying the foundation of businesses and “building yourself out of a job”

How to extract yourself from your business and empower long-term success


Contrarian thinking and why it’s a crucial skill in today’s society

How to start a “high margin, low people” business

The one skill you should start building upon today


How to make your audience loyal and push away those who won’t like your offering


And So Much More!

Links from the Show

BiggerPockets Forums

Entourage Effect Capital

Contrarian Thinking Playbook

Check the full show notes here: https://www.biggerpockets.com/bizshow105

      
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105: The MOST Profitable Skill to Learn (From a $200M+ VC Investor) with Codie Sanchez

It’s hard for real estate investors to get started, especially without a mentor, a background in real estate, or an existing network. Many of those interested in buying profitable, cash-flowing real estate are busy with their 9-5 job or even running their own business. This was at least the case for landlord and founder of Doorvest, Andrew Luong, when he talked to his friends about buying rental properties. 
Andrew had a passion for real estate and knew that it was one of the best ways to make residual side-income. When he chatted up friends about real estate, they were interested too. Andrew would send them to agents, property managers, show them profit margins, and more. After a few months when Andrew would ask his friends how their real estate was going, they would reply “I didn’t have time to do any of it, will you just do it for me?” 
Just like that, Doorvest was born. Doorvest allows aspiring investors, regardless of where they’re at in the world, to purchase renovated, cash-flowing properties with management fully built-in. Not only does this help make a potential landlord’s life much, much easier, it also lowers the barrier of entry for anyone trying to get into real estate!
In This Episode We Cover


Resisting lifestyle creep so you can invest in your assets and businesses 

Letting your day job subsidize the other business opportunities around you

Why most people won’t pursue real estate investing 

Capitalizing on the leads you get, and making it as easy as possible for them to purchase/invest


Building systems and processes so you can be fully remote when running your business

Using existing data to make your real estate search more profitable


And So Much More!

Links from the Show

BiggerPockets Forums

Turo

GetAround

Ebay

BiggerPockets Forums

BiggerPockets Events and Happenings

Check the full show notes here: http://biggerpockets.com/bizshow104

      
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104: How Anyone, Anywhere, Can Start Buying Profitable Real Estate with Andrew Luong

What does it mean to be credible? Are you showing up and providing for your customers, your partners, and the world as a whole? These are questions that today’s guest, Mitchell Levy has been asking. Mitchell is an expert on credibility and is trying to make not only business, but the world a more credible place to live and work.
Mitchell has been working in Silicon Valley for over 30 years. When he left his last job at Sun Microsystems, he did right at the cusp of the dot com and ecommerce era. He became an e-commerce consultant and started selling SEO packages. Then he created executive business programs for top colleges, ran multiple CEO groups, started a publishing company, and wrote over 60 books!
To find clarity and credibility, Mitchell says that you need to find a customer's CPoP, the customer’s point of pain. When you can accurately find your customer’s CPoP, you can change the way you speak to them, you can see what they want, and most importantly, you can tailor your business to fit their needs. This type of credibility goes beyond just your business. You should also be known as credible within your circle of influence and online, Mitch shows you how to get there!
In This Episode We Cover

Why credibility is so important in today’s day and age

Knowing who your audience is so you can solve their problems


Finding your customer’s point of pain 


Making the world a better place through credible business


How to make your online presence and LinkedIn stand out


And So Much More!

Links from the Show

BiggerPockets Forums

Clubhouse

BEing Seen & BEing Heard as a Thought Leader! Ted TalkX

EZNow

Thinkific

Linkedin

J's Linkedin Profile

Check the full show notes here: https://www.biggerpockets.com/bizshow103

      
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103: Are You Seen as Credible in A Customer’s Eye? with Mitchell Levy

Many business owners and entrepreneurs have read books like Traction and Rocket Fuel, both of which talk about how to build a successful business, partnership, and how to use the EOS (entrepreneurial operating system). Today we have on the author of both those books, and a new book Entrepreneurial Leap, Gino Wickman.
Gino always had the entrepreneurial drive in him, but wasn’t able to label it for a long period of time. He went to work out of high school and found himself transforming his family business into something that was not only profitable, but would sell for a high price. Gino learned that his “gift” was helping entrepreneurs make their businesses more lean, efficient, and profitable.
We walk through many different components of being an entrepreneur, such as the six key traits of successful business builders, the eight critical mistakes entrepreneurs make, and how to know where you’re at on the “entrepreneurial range”. Gino argues that although many people want to be entrepreneurs, it may not be the most logical decision for them. Likewise, many of those who are successful at corporate jobs may be better served leading their own teams. There’s only one way to find out, get Gino’s new book!
In This Episode We Cover

What the EOS - Entrepreneurial Operating System is

How to know whether or not you’re a natural entrepreneur



The entrepreneurial range and where you may stand on it

The 8 most critical mistakes of entrepreneurs 


How getting sidetracked can derail a successful business 


Whether or not you’re a “partner person” 


And So Much More!

Links from the Show

BiggerPockets Forums

Entrepreneurial Leap Assessment

Elon Musk

Ray Kroc

Jeff Bezos

Steve Jobs

Entrepreneurial Leap Biz Match Tool

Entrepreneurial Leap Cheat Sheet

Check the full show notes here: https://www.biggerpockets.com/bizshow102

      
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102: Are You Ready to Take the Entrepreneurial Leap? with Gino Wickman

We buy and sell a lot of different assets like houses, stocks, and even bitcoin (sometimes). But what about buying and selling businesses? Business acquisitions can seem like an entirely different world, but they aren’t too different from the regular buying and selling of assets we do every day. 
Today’s show features Nigel Guisinger, who you may remember from the wildly popular episode that aired almost exactly a year ago. Last time Nigel talked about buying businesses using seller financing, and now he’s brought a real-world example! With Nigel is his partner and mentee, Sean Ade. 
Earlier in 2020, Sean was looking for a business he could buy and take over. Sean had been getting into house plants during the early COVID-19 lockdowns and looked to see if nurseries were worth buying. After sending some lackluster deals to his partner, Nigel, he was notified that a terrarium shop was closing. Sean consulted with the owner and sent the profit and loss statement to Nigel who confirmed that it was a winner
Sean and Nigel used some very creative financing to get a $1,500,000 business under contract for just $10,000 out of pocket. This episode isn’t just an eye-opener for those who overlook buying businesses as assets, but also for those who don’t know what's possible in financing a business purchase! 
In This Episode We Cover

The opportunity of the “business crash” happening right now

Looking for businesses that fit with your interests 


The importance of having cash flow from day one of ownership


Profit and loss statements, equity, and valuations of businesses

Small Business Administration (SBA) loans 


When and how to hire your first employee after you buy an existing business

And So Much More!

Links from the Show

BiggerPockets Business Podcast 51: Business Opportunity Is Knocking… Answer the Door! With Nigel Guisinger

GoBundance

BizBuySell

Venmo

Paypal

Square

Instagram


Check the full show notes here: http://biggerpockets.com/bizshow101

      
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9: The Secret to Starting a Risk-Free, Debt-Free Business QUICKLY with Alan Donegan

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