Exit Coach Bill Black interviews Top Advisors for Tips, Ideas & Precautions for Business Owners who want to grow and protect their company value and plan for a successful Business Sale or Transfer. Listen daily so you can be well-planned!
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July 10, 2024 Time is precious and so are our pets, so time with our pets is extra precious. That's why we started Dutch. Dutch provides 24/7 access to licensed vets with unlimited virtual visits and follow-ups for up to 5 pets. You can message a vet at any time and schedule a video visit the same day. Our vets can even prescribe medication for many ailments, and shipping is always free. With Dutch, you'll get more time with your pets and year-round peace of mind when it comes to their vet care. Hi everyone, it's Bill Black, the exit coach from the Exit Coach Radio show. You know, one of the biggest questions I get on the show is what exactly goes into a business exit plan and when should I start creating mine? Well, I always tell people that the best time to start was 5 years ago, but the next best time is now because you never know when you might need it. So we put together a free report that describes what an exit plan is and what you should know. You can get it free by texting exit plan with no spaces to 44222. That's exit plan to 44222. Again, text exit plan to 44222. Welcome to the Exit Coach Radio show, the show for baby boomer business owners who are looking for cutting edge information as they plan their 3 to 10 year business succession and exit. Every week we interview top professional advisors. Their best tips, strategies, and precautions so you can be well planned. And don't miss our one minute exit coach tip of the day on exitcoachradio.com. And now here's your host, the exit coach Bill Black. Welcome back, everyone. My next guest is Joe Acaso. He's been with us before. He's got a great, some great talks, and I ran into him recently and we talked about some of the great work that he's doing and he's, he coaches bright people like you guys out there, like you that are listening, bright people to turn your talents into treasures. So you can exit your soul sucking job. How's that sound for a for a setup? And we're going to talk about how he does that, what, what kind of is going on in the world out there as people are saying, you know what, I've got talents I should be able to make money doing using those talents. And so Joe, welcome to the show. Thanks so much for joining us today. Joe Hi, I'm sorry I had myself muted. Oh, that's great. Good, good, good to hear from you. Um, so, uh, tell us a little bit about you and your your background Joe for give our listeners a little flavor of what you've been up to and and how you got into this line of work. Well, that's a big question. But, uh, you know, I, I, I grew up, I, I was really into electronics, uh, had a lot of engineering type jobs in the past many years ago, 20 years ago, you know, I made, I had my own business, made a lot of money, then I crashed and burned, lost everything, and beyond. Um spent many years rebuilding myself back up. Um, Made up my midlife crisis, turned into a midlife calling where I went from engineering and marketing and really helping people create businesses that succeed. And we, basically, the, uh the, that, that fork in the road is OK, I lost a bunch of money. Am I gonna Am I going to pursue the money again or am I going to pursue the wisdom about money? And so I chose, you know, pursuing the wisdom about money. And so, uh, Uh, so for a long time I was coaching people that were making $500,000 a year that wanted to go to 5 million, and I did that successfully. Uh, coached over 800 people in, uh, 175 different industries. But what I kept running into is, I'm not making 500,000 a year as a matter of fact, I have a soul sucking job and I want out. And, and so, um, nobody's teaching me how. So back in 2008, I had this concept of the employees scape plan and uh. Uh, really rolled it out about 3 years ago. So, that's kind of where I'm at now. Uh, you know, it's just a whole bunch of people that every Monday they go to work and they got a case of the Mondays, and they want out. Uh, and they just don't know how, um, and so that's, I've been, that's really been my focus is to mentor people and then just to, you know, just to put a little cherry on the, you know, what does that, where does all that come from? How do you do this employee escape plan? Well, it starts with everybody has talents, you know, everybody has talents. I believe everybody. You know, we're all a child of God. We have talents, and we just haven't learned how to turn our talents into treasure or monetize those. And so, that's kind of where I'm at. I, I came up with a system to, to really help people figure out what their talents are and then turn it into a business. Let's go back before we get into that. I love the idea of the employee escape plan. You mentioned something earlier about pursuing the money when you were at a crossroads or pursuing the wisdom of money. Is that what you said? Yeah. A little bit before we move on, that one kind of stuck out to me. Yeah, well, you know, the reason I lost, you know, a lot of the stuff that you think is true isn't true. A lot of times the problem we think is the problem isn't the problem. And so what I realized is a lot of the stuff that people were teaching me about making money in business was just pure bullshit, OK, so like we're not going to polish the turd, OK? We're not gonna make it look pretty. So, you know, you, you realize that the reason I failed is because Uh, there was a lot of bad information. And so I went on an obsessive, you know, it's like I, you know, once you fail, it doesn't feel good, and once you fail, you never want to go there again. You wanna succeed again because you got, you've had that taste of success. And so I went on an obsessive compulsive quest for the truth of what really, really works in business. And, you know, I think you have to sort through a lot of manure information to get to the true gold nuggets. And so, you know, after doing this for 20 years, you know, I think I'm on to something. Well, no, I like that concept. I mean, uh, you know, you and I have both been working with a lot of different people over the years, and I think one of the things I see in business owners that are burned out is they're, they're not being smart about what their, their end goal is. And if their end goal is to someday sell a business, they have to realize how it's going to be valued and focus on, on profitability, not just going and grabbing revenues wherever they can. Um, so there's a lot of rules about money. You're right, there's a lot of wisdom about money, and that's impressive. But let's talk about the employee escape plan. Now that's, I like the sound of that, and you're right, a lot of people are out there going, you know, I have talent, but can I make money at it? Um, and if I can, uh, how, how could I possibly make money? Are things different now than they were, um, say 10 years ago as far as the ability to make money with some of your talents? I don't think so. I think that, you know, I, I think that anybody can make money with their talent, so. Um So, the talents and the treasures is probably a good place to start with. So, what does it take to turn your talents into treasures? Um, number one is you, you need to understand that we live in a world of problems. And there's two kinds of problems. The problems people will pay to solve and the problems people won't pay to solve. So Understanding that other people have problems means you have to look outside of yourself. You need, you know, uh, Gary Halbert had this concept called Operation Money sucks. So you walk down the street and you see different problems. It's like, you know, how can I get paid to do this and how can I get paid to do that through the other person's eyes. So what we want to do is connect the problems in the world with our talents, our skills, our abilities, our passions, you know, and, and, and, um, connect that I can do things that solve problems and some of those problems people will save me to solve, pay me to solve. So, you know, look. You can push a lawn mower today, you know, and get paid 20 bucks. Guess what? That's a business success. Mhm, you turned time and time and materials in the money. Yeah, well, even more, it's not about time and materials as I helped somebody get an outcome. Their lawn was scrawny. It was overgrown, and I trimmed it and made it nice again. You know, I have a, I have a yard that looks bad. You cut my lawn, now it looks good. I'll pay you to do that. Because it improves my conditions. I got you, OK, I, I see, I see. So. Look, people's yards, whether it's that or a housecleaning business or a high-tech business, we get paid for improving conditions. And that was the same 100 years ago. It's the same now and it'll be that way 100 years into the future. I got you. Yeah, it makes a lot of sense. So why do you think people are afraid to start a business? Well, I got kind of like 3 things here that I just jotted down. Number 1 is you got to choose the right business so we can go back into that in a minute. Um, but number 2 is I think there's a, a cloud of ambiguity. I know I have a job. And yeah, I know I could start this great business. But how do I get there? I don't know the steps. I, I mean, um, and so there's this fear, it's just like the fear of the unknown. I just don't know what to do because I was told to go to school, get an education, get a job. Which I did. I learned all that stuff, but now I'm looking at I wanna start my own business and be an entrepreneur. Those are different steps. Mhm. So, so I think that's the second reason is there's a cloud of ambiguity. And, and number 3 is um that there is nothing to be afraid of like that lawnmower example. So here's the deal. Why do people fail in business? If your outflow exceeds your income, then your upkeep becomes your downfall. Mhm, yeah, right, that's true of everything, right? Yeah, if you bring in $25,000 a year and that's the best you could do and you live within your means, you're actually successful. But if you make a million a year but you're spending 1.25%, you're in trouble. Right Right. Yeah, yeah, that's always true. I mean, it's amazing to see how much revenue some businesses bring in and how little they actually end up earning for the owners, and you wonder why do they go to all that risk and all that problem. So in a small business, so it's, it's ambiguity and fear and of course like anything. Um, you have to do some research and work to understand how it's going to work out, and there's certainly tools out there, right? I mean, the internet's full of guidebooks and all kinds of things, and there's, there's people that are coaches out there that can help you walk through all this stuff. So, uh, so once people get past that hurdle, you know, everybody's a little different. How do they figure out what's the right business? You mentioned that like what you know, you got to do something that's right for you. How do you figure that out? Well, you know, you need to actually be intentional about this. You know, this is actually the classic question, what do you want to be when you grow up? Yeah, that's what, you know, your business is something that you're doing. It's, you know, we spend 1/3 of our life sleeping and 1/3 of our life social, but we spend 1/3 of our life in our business. Actually, it's not true, you know, when you're an entrepreneur, you only have to work a half day. You got to figure if it's the 1st 12 or the last 12. OK, um, so, so you need to be intentional about choosing your business, you know, you mentioned something about when people sell a business, you know, there's this whole idea of, um, valuation. Um, that's interesting. That accountants When you talk about like the, the value of a business, the net worth. Um, they look at things like cash, capital equipment, um, you know, real estate, funds, those kinds of things, right? Yeah, they look financially, yeah, right, they look at what's called tangible assets. And what, what, what accountants typically don't look at is intangible assets. And yet, your intangible assets is where your secret wealth is. Absolutely right. You know, the doctor doesn't get, he doesn't make money because of his tangible asset called a diploma. It's his intangible asset of the ability to, to diagnose, prescribe, heal, perform surgeries, basically heal people. OK, so choosing. So choosing your business is, first of all, about inventorying like, what do you bring to the table besides a fork and a knife? Uh, what do you bring to the table in terms of your talents? What, what are your skills? What are your abilities? So if you draw three circles like a Venn diagram, you know, what are your, what are your What are your, um, Like, what's your wizardry? What are you really good at? And then #2 is, what are you passionate about? And number 3 is what can you get paid for? And so choosing the right business is about where those three circles intersect, that's called the sweet spot. So the number one secret to choosing the right business for you is to aim for the sweet spot. You know, a lot of people say, I want to do this great work and I'm really good at it, and it's all philanthropic, but it's like, OK, well, that's not a business. If you're not getting paid, there's no sweet spot. Good point. Yeah, yeah, and there are people, of course, who, who retire and say they never need money again and they're they're completely free of that um of that third circle. But most people, most people need to create some kind of a sustenance income, at least from something that they're, they're looking to do um as a job alternative. Exactly. Um, well, the other side of it too is that you can make a great income, but if you don't love it, it's like you feel like you're selling your soul. Um, Good that's not good either, um, so look. Employee escape plan is for people that have a job already, that already just under the assumption that they have sustenance, but it's not their dream job. Mhm. And so employee escape plan is like, keep your job and let's come up with a plan of what you're good at, what are you passionate about, what will people pay for, and let's create that business, something out of nothing. We're creating your business for you, and then get it going. And let's get you making 1000 a month, and then $2000 a month and get you at $5000 a month. And then, you know, we start making $5000 or $10,000 a month, you can start making the decision to walk away from your job. I like it, and any job, any, any business that anyone is going to start is going to take time to get off the ground and get moving, but the key here is that the the passion, and you're going to probably need that passion because when you're doing something passionate, Joe, isn't it true? It doesn't, it doesn't feel like laborious work. It feels like you're working towards your personal mission. Oh, you wake up every day feeling like a superhero with your rainbow wings on, you know, it's like, I'm doing good in the world today. It's like, it would be a mistake for you to underestimate me or my superpowers, you know, it's. It's, yeah, it's great. That's it's a great feeling and you know what I hear so many, so many times. No, I do that for me, but I do that for my clients. I help, you know, that's the transformation. You know, I got a guy came to me and, and, uh, he's working for Netflix. He's 24 years old and he wants to get into music and have a recording studio and all that stuff, and that's kind of expensive, but in the meantime, he has transformed himself into DJ Judah. He's got a DJ business and he's, you know, he's making money being a DJ. It's Transformation. Yeah, that, and that, you know, again you may not be able to make a living painting, but maybe you could work in and around an art gallery or something along those lines or in the art world. Same with same with music. I know for a fact that I play music making money with painting though. There, there are there. Yes. Uh, yes, there are, there are, but there are a lot like this, this is an amazing distinction, OK? You know, there are people that are auto mechanics, but you know, you really change when you become a marketer of auto mechanic work, and you know, you can be an artist, but you will, the transformation is, yes, I'm an artist and I need to be a marketer of my art. Yes, yes, yes. OK, I got you. OK. So it's the business side of your Of your, uh, what you're saying is you really need to get into and be um cognizant of the business side of whatever it is that you do, right? I mean, you can't just, you probably can't just paint maybe maybe you maybe you're really good and you get discovered somehow, maybe that I call that luck, but Money comes to those who create value. Money comes to those who create value for others. So, like, I have my art, but how can I like use my art and another person says, yeah, that's valuable. That's something that, you know, yeah, I, I, you know, I build homes or I'm in real estate, but art can like transform a home. Yes, yeah. OK, so, so, yeah, yeah. So, so a lot of people out there are, are probably, probably thinking, yeah, I've got some talents and I, I want to do this, but I'm not good at that creative side. I need to, I need someone to bring that out of me. And that's, that's where what you're doing personally comes in where you're basically saying, OK, let's, let me help you take it further, uh, much like a, a, a golf coach would say, you're gonna have to swing the club, but let me help you swing it better, right? Yes, exactly. Look, let's figure out what you can do cause like everybody's got some kind of value they can offer. And then let's convey that value to others, you know, let's create some kind of a value proposition you can put into the marketplace so that you can collect money. And, and if you don't know how to do that, that's what I do all that, you know, I eat problems like that for breakfast every day, you know, that's, that's the world I live in. Um, and yeah, it's coaching is so important, you know, but you know, the good news is anybody can be a coach, the bad news is anybody that can be a coach, uh, that, that girl, Michelle Kwan, who won the gold in ice skating, she had 8 coaches. She had an emotional expression coach and a spinning coach and a jumping coach and a choreography, you know, it's crazy. So yeah, the best people that succeed have coaches. That's true. Oh yeah, yeah, well, I'm again going back to, uh, to golf, I mean, you, the best players have had, have tried many coaches that they, and if one coach doesn't work, they go on, they find somebody else that will work for them because again if you're a pro golfer, what you think, what the heck do you need a coach for? Well, because they always are striving to be better and that's what I. are about business owners who who join groups like Vistige or Renaissance or the other CEO peer groups out there or hire a private coach, they're, they know they can improve and little improvements can make a big difference over time. And so like yourself, you're you're able to say, look, I've got I've got the fundamentals. When you say, OK, what do I do next? I'll know the answer to that, or else I'll get the answer to that based on your situation. And I think there's a lot of people out there, Joe, that are saying. This, this thing's been sucking my soul for for many, many years now. It's time to, it's time to explore that. So tell us, tell our listeners, Joe, how they find out, how they go deeper like with you and what you've put together. What are some of the ways that they can find out more? Uh, number one is employee escape plan.com. Employee escape plan.com. OK, all one word employee escape plan.com. Yeah, and what will they find? What is that? Is that your book or what will they find there? That's my, that's, that's everything you need to know about my coaching program, but also at the top that you number one is you can click, you can schedule an appointment with me. So if you want to have a conversation, click on the schedule an appointment. That's there. I also wrote a book called Resurrecting America's Entrepreneurial Spirit. There's a button there you can push that and you can get download a free copy of my book. Um, and, uh, the other thing is talents into the treasures.com, uh, which is my free webinar. I have a free training that really outlines what it takes to, um, create your business, you know, turn your talents into treasures cause everybody's got them and, and what I've done is put together a system that's, you know, they got free training on talents into the treasures.com. OK, this is great. So I'm looking at your website and there's a nice little video from you and you talk about the six parts to the employee escape plan very clearly spelled out for anybody who would care to look for that. And then I see your, your free gifts, your free book, a strategy session, and a free webinar on there. Uh, it's a, it's a nice looking website and again for anybody out there who is saying, you know, maybe I should look into this. It sure is a nice looking website and it doesn't hurt for you to go there and take a look and see how you can escape from your soul sucking job, how you can recreate your life. I can't think of any reason why you wouldn't want to look at this and take a look at some of the testimonials and, and read through the website and then ah explore it a little bit because like Joe said, we all have talents locked inside sometimes. They've been locked there maybe for many, many years and isn't it time to to to reach out and look into the next phase of your life that can be passionate and exciting. And let Joe help you out with that. Joe, so it's, it's uh employee escape plan.com, nice job with the website. Thank you. Yeah, and uh it's just if you want the help, I'm here. So, you know, a matter of fact, I, for people that are struggling with money, I got a pilot program I'm launching right now that's super cheap too, so, uh, that's something that, you know, reach out, talk to me and ask me about the pilot program because um. Uh, what I'm doing is putting together over a year I'm putting together a curriculum that's gonna be behind a firewall, but for a year I'm gonna develop it through a, through a, a Zoom group, so. Oh terrific. So people can keep in touch and kind of figure out when the right timing is, but again they might pick up some ideas along the way and and figure out when the timing's best for them. But again, if you're, if you're listening to this, you should be looking up employeescapeplan.com and and starting to get in touch and see what this is all about. I think it's really exciting. I think we've never been at a better time for a lot of, a lot of, I mean, even AARP and groups like that are recognizing that. There's a a rewiring of America, not a retiring of America. So for a lot of our listeners are saying I've been doing what I do for so long. I maybe I've got the kids through school. Maybe I've paid off a lot of debts and my life's a little simpler, and I just want to explore something that's going to give me meaning and fulfillment, and that's where they would come. Come to you, Joe, and I appreciate you coming online and telling us all about it. I like the picture that says you're not the boss of me on here. I know I have a closing. Can I get a closing thought real quick? Absolutely, please do. You know, this program is about, you know, the fundamentals. Success is inevitable when you master the fundamentals. Success is inevitable when you master the fundamentals, and that's what my program is all about is like if things aren't working out, let's like let's get you grounded in the fundamentals. Perfect. Perfect Um, be, be serious and intentional like you said about it. Be serious and intentional about it and learn those fundamentals and, and, uh, good things will happen when you combine passion with that, with that knowledge and that the wisdom of knowing the fundamentals. It's all good stuff. Joe, thanks so much for joining me on. It's a real pleasure. It's it's, it's an interesting topic for our listeners because, you know what we hear a lot is the exit planning groups that I go to with various advisers. They say, you know, one of the key things that holds people back from changing, whether it's their job or selling their business or whatever, changing their life is because they haven't taken the time to develop the next thing. They haven't. And without that next thing, they stay in the old thing and then you know, life passes them by. So this is, this is a change agent. Life and by design, not by default. Love it. So again, the website one last time is employeescapeplan.com or you can call Joe at 714-600-0640 if you prefer that's 714-600-0640. But I think you ought to go to the website and check it out because there's there's a lot of great stuff on there. And again, Joe, thanks so much for joining us today and look forward to the next time we get the chance to talk. Sounds great. Thank you. All right, that's going to do it for our show today. I appreciate you being with us, and we'll catch you next time here on the Exit Coach radio show. Hey everybody, it's Bill Black, the exit coach from the Exit Coach radio show. One of the questions I get asked the most is how do I grow the value of my business. I'm so busy working in it. I need to work on it. So we've created a special report for you on 10 tips to grow the value of your business. Just text the word drivers to 442-22 to get a special free report right to your inbox. That's drivers to 442-22 text drivers to 44222. Thank you for listening to Exit Coach Radio. Time is precious and so are our pets, so time with our pets is extra precious. That's why we started Dutch. Dutch provides 24/7 access to licensed vets with unlimited virtual visits and follow ups for up to 5 pets. You can message a vet at any time and schedule a video visit the same day. Our vets can even prescribe medication for many ailments, and shipping is always free. With Dutch, you'll get more time with your pets and year-round peace of mind when it comes to their vet care.
