The Real Reason Most Entrepreneurs Stay Broke

This one lesson would have made me rich much sooner ...

The absolute biggest mistake I have made in my entrepreneurial career is trying to do too much.

Today, I will share with you the secret to generating wealth when you are young.

LFG. 🔥

If I Could Do It All Over Again

First off, I have no regrets. It is hard for me to say I would have done anything differently because life is a journey and this was the path I traveled.

With that said, I can clearly see in hindsight all the inefficiencies I created for myself over the years and all the extra time and energy I wasted chasing dreams that were not mine or chasing ideas that were not serving me.

When I look back and connect the dots, there is a obvious pattern. Every mistake came from distraction. Every win came from focus.

So in hindsight, here is what I should have done.

I should have stuck it out with Sober Nation

When I started Sober Nation, I did not know anything about technical SEO. I changed strategies constantly because I was insecure and unsure of myself.

I was always searching for the next tactic instead of committing to the strategy I already had. If I would have remained laser focused on the main thing which was generating phone calls, I could have made tens of millions and probably be retired.

There are directories today that generate millions in profit every year. When I was young, I was intimidated by these bigger companies and I made the unconscious choice to be small because I did not believe in myself enough to think I could compete with them.

Every time I looked at sites like Addictioncenter.com or recovery.org, I caught a glimpse of what Sober Nation could become. But instead of doubling down, fear made me pivot. Again and again.

Looking back, there was no difference in skill between Sober Nation and those larger directories. The only difference was focus and execution.

I should not have bought Copyblogger

This is something I am grateful for, but realistically I should not have done.

Copyblogger has been a huge blessing in my life. I have loved every second of it and it has delivered value to me far beyond what I expected when I first bought the company.

Emotionally, it felt like a power move. Logically, it was a distraction.

I cut my attention and focus in half the moment I bought the company. Suddenly, I had to juggle the team at Stodzy and the team at Copyblogger. The project management alone was difficult, but the two companies also followed completely different business models, so I was constantly switching between two parts of my brain.

If I had been more discipline, I would have focused on branding myself as the healthcare marketing expert.

As I said, life is a journey.

I should have started investing sooner

Inside the Machine Method community, I teach a concept called Machine Mode.

Machine Mode is simple. Use the cash your agency generates and reinvest that cash into businesses that align with what you are already doing.

A few years ago, I invested in a drug and alcohol rehab center. As part of the agreement, I became the person responsible for the digital marketing.

So I got paid for my services, which lowered my risk, while also gaining equity in a company where I could apply my skills.

Machine Mode is where most of my real wealth has been created. Yes, I have been burned on some investments and I made some poor decisions. But that is simply the cost of doing business.

My Machine Mode should have consisted of my services and a network of healthcare investment assets that increased my cashflow and generated distributions.

But I lost focus. I invested in tech start ups, media brands, and random companies.

If I were smarter, I would have tripled down on my agency and invested only in companies that were aligned with my core competency.

The truth is, I like the idea of building a personal brand and my ego loves being asked to do podcasts and being knows as a savvy business person. But I probably would have been better off staying in my healthcare lane.

There’s nothing wrong with being anonymous and rich.

My Plan Going Forward

A few years ago, I realized this mistake, and moving forward I am solely focused on healthcare companies. And I encourage you to do the same.

For example, one of my students is building an agency that focuses on urgent care clinics for pets. In time, she can leverage her services and the cash she generates to build a portfolio of investments in pet urgent care. This way, she can generate profit from both sides of her business while branding herself within a specific space that gives her more opportunities in the future.

For some time now, I have only been focused on Quantum Leads. I am going to build the best healthcare marketing company in the world. I’m not chasing a bunch of different ideas. I’m all in on the healthcare brands that I love. (While also managing Machine Method but let me live a little. 😁)

Now that I am fully focused on Quantum, this gives me the ability to triple down on my customers. For example, my network of directories is coming together well, which will only add more value. Currently I am right on the cusp of launching directories on

• stem cell clinics

• plant medicine retreats

• autism agencies

• ketamine clinics

• med spa clinics

• botox clinics

• hormone clinics

Then all of the work I do becomes centered around generating results for my customers while also creating a scalable asset that increases the multiple of my company.

Focus is the key. The discipline to execute is extremely difficult, but if you can do it, your future self will thank you.

It Takes What It Takes To Learn

The cruel joke here is that most young people reading this will not be able to execute this into reality. Most lessons must be learned the hard way.

But for the tiny fraction of you who will read this and have the emotional strength to put it into action, you will be rewarded ten thousand times.

You can only learn these lessons through failure.

Ironically, the thing that holds most people back is the fear of failure.

“What if it does not work out?”

News flash. It will absolutely not work out the way you hope it will, the way you plan for, or the way you expect. When I started building my business, I had no idea that this is where I would end up.

That is why it is hard for me to look back at my journey and feel like I made mistakes. What I really did was collect experiences, and through those experiences I learned lessons.

And that is what I hope for you.

Just get after it. Do things. Make mistakes. Fail. Learn painful lessons. Fail again. And again. And again.

Embrace the failures and the bumps in the road as part of the adventure that is entrepreneurship.

In time, you will find your way, just as I have.

Love you guys. Talk to you next week.

Tim

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I’ll Teach You How To Build A Seven Figure Business

If there’s one lesson I’ve learned from my life as an entrepreneur, it’s this.

ENTREPRENUERSHIP IS NOT COMPLICATED.

Internet gurus love to talk about “frameworks, secrets, and insights.” The reality is that every business follows the same exact process in order to generate sales, build internal systems, and scale.

I have broken this process down into six steps, which I call The Machine Method.

If you’re serious about starting an online business, I will guide you on your quest to seven figures.

Welcome to the machine. 🤖