The Production Line Method to Getting Rich
The Production Line Method to Getting Rich
Everyone wants to know "the secret to wealth."
People like to think of it as a secret, because then it makes the possibility of wealth creation mysterious and elusive.
"I could get wealthy if only I could discover the secret."
But there is no secret to success. You already know what it takes.
Success requires you to produce an outcome.
The more valuable the outcome you can produce, the more you will get paid.
That's it.
This is Why Every Entrepreneur Should Start as a Freelancer
The Twitter maxis don't like when I talk about service businesses. The general consensus is that client service work is for schmucks and losers. Only low level entrepreneurs work directly with clients while "real" entrepreneurs raise money from VC's and build software products.
If the most recent tech stock crash has taught us anything, it's that leverage has it's downsides and that profits actually matter. 🤯🤯
All of the best entrepreneurs I know started off as freelancers.
They developed a skillset, then they charged people money to perform the skillset. As they improved their skill, they charged clients more money for the same work because the value of their production increased.
Without exception, all the entrepreneurs I admire and look up to started out their careers as service workers. They are ...
writers
designers
carpenters
landscapers
personal trainers
accountants
house cleaners
If you look beneath the surface, you will discover that all these professions have one thing in common.
They get hired to produce an outcome.
The E-Myth Revisited (The Book that Changed Everything for Me)
Over the last year, I've gotten more emails, DMs, and messages than ever before. My personal brand is growing and as such, people are becoming exposed to my ideas.
One of the most common questions I get is about scale.
"How do you manage so many different companies?" is a question I get often.
From the outside looking in, I could see how my media companies give the impression of being some massive organization, but in reality, it's a small and lean operation.
I operate my business through the exact principles I learned by reading The E-Myth.
So when I get emails, DMs and messages from people looking for advice, I always advise them to read the book.
Why? Because it will teach you how to creates systems of production that do the hard work for you.
In short, the book is a roadmap to help you transform from a "technician" (a freelancer) to an entrepreneur (a successful business owner). The book will take you from working in your business, to working on your business.
I recommend watching this video below for a quick recap.
After all the interactions and all the book recommendations I've given, how many people do you think have actually read the book?
Only one person. 😞😞
She has used the information in the book to scale her web design business to 7 figures within a year. This person took the ideas of The E-Myth, spent months creating the systems and documentation, and then quickly got out of her own way. This allowed her to focus on growth and sales.
It's been a remarkable transformation and her and I have kept in touch during the entire process.
I think about this a lot. After seeing how methodical and predictable her success has been, it makes me wonder; why do so few people gravitate towards doing the hard work that moves the needle?
Why do you avoid the simple work that makes the difference? How come most of you don't make the right choices, even through the answers are laid out right in front of you?
Most of you prefer to let your imagination run wild. You fantasize about being Jeff Bezos and you want to hear about the visionaries who make the world a more fascinating place.
Almost no one wants to learn about documentation of systems, processes, hiring, department workflow, org charts, HR and company structure.
You want to read about getting more followers and how to grow your YouTube channel.
That's exactly the problem. You're way too focused on leveraging attention and not at all focused on leveraging production.
Read that that again. 👆👆👆
The reason why my team and I have been able to build our mini empire is because we dedicated ourselves to building a production line. We focused on doing the hard and boring work that no one else wants to do, but ultimately that produces the best outcome.
The Production Line Method to Wealth
After I read the E-Myth, I had a revelation. I realized that my agency isn't simply a client services business, but it is a team of people who work harmoniously to produce content.
I realized that my agency could serve as two different operations.
On one hand it is a client services business. Clients pay us a monthly retainer and in exchange, we facilitate a service that produces a valuable outcome.
But also, it's a self fulfilling production line. Instead of using investment capital, I can invest the extra cashflow back into my operation to fund new businesses and put them into production.
With this mindset, I never have to set out to "create a new business." But rather, I look for opportunities that are in line with the outcome I am already generating, and then put the infrastructure together so the new project can fit right into my production line.
This method is how I've been able to manage more than one business at a time, because in reality, I'm only managing one business ... Tim Stodz Productions.
But ... there is a catch.
The production line needs people to operate it, or else it bottlenecks and collapses on top of itself.
Why People are the Best Form of Leverage
To start, let me first acknowledge that I realize people are more than labor. People are employees and teammates and friends. Obviously, I recognize that and my company culture embraces it.
However, for the sake of this article, let's objectively look at people simply as a labor force.
Understanding Leverage
I write about the concept of leverage often, but for people who are reading my work for the first time, here's the gist.
In business ... there are four different forms of leverage.
Labor
Capital
Media
Code
Code and media are typically seen as "the best" forms of leverage, because they have infinite scale. For instance, you could build a software product (code) one time and sell it an infinite amount of times. Or you could write a blog post (like I am doing here) one time, and it can be read an infinite amount of times.
This concept is true on a base level. But it fails to realize one important aspect.
That is ...
who creates the media?
who writes the code?
At the beginning of every production is a person. You need people need to create content and you need people to manage operations.
Code and media can't operate a business on their own.
Of course, you can be a solopreneur and build an online brand and leverage the internet in a way that generates money for you. But even if you take that route, I think you will quickly discover that you need to hire staff.
Eventually, you'll need someone to manage your sponsorships, or your customer service, or your content calendar.
Most of your staff will be working on operations and production.
So you see ... even code and media depend on labor. There's no way around it.
Want to get Rich? Create a Systematic Production Line
When people ask me "how do you manage so many companies at once?" I answer them by saying "I created a production company."
This makes it very easy for me to buy a new company or create a new company, because as long as I believe I can grow the company through media production, the cost of scale is very low.
However, let me repeat that in order to do this properly, you need to combine your use of media and code with the effective organization of labor.
And in order to properly organize labor, you need to be methodically document job titles, workflows, and systematize your operation.
Content + People + Systems = Getting Rich 💰💰💰
This work of systematizing is not easy. It's boring, tedious, hard, frustrating and grueling. But when I'm feeling frustrated with this process, I always remind myself that the fun work will grow my awareness and the boring work will grow my bank account.
You Can Start Right Now
If you're interested in this method, I recommend looking into my course. In Agency Clarity, I have built the framework to show you how to go from a client services business to a production company.
And in the spirit of clarification, let me summarize by giving you a list of tasks and assignments that you can do right now to build your own production line.
Follow these steps...
Define what it is you are producing. (Are you selling cakes? Are you selling digital products? Are you selling a service?)
Create documentation to teach others how to bake the cake, or write the content, or perform the service.
Hire people to produce the outcome so you can focus on selling your product / service at scale.
Then move on to the next section of your production line and repeat the steps all over again.
Do this enough times, and within a few years, you will have built an entirely automated production line of value. You will continuously replace yourself so that you will never be the bottleneck inside your own company.
But rather, all your time will be dedicated on growth and operations. As the CEO, this is where your time is most valuable. At this point, you will be the owner of your own production line, and now you can do whatever you want.
This has been my path to freedom, and I believe it can be yours as well.
The best part is, you can apply this system to any business and any field.
You can do it and you should start now. Your future self will thank you.