3 Things I Wish I Did Earlier In My Business #524

What happens when your dreams take an unexpected turn? For me, Lachlan Stuart, it was a radical reshaping of my idea of success. As a child, I had my heart set on becoming a professional athlete. But life had other plans, and I found myself at crossroads. Join me as I candidly share my rollercoaster journey of launching a business, transforming my passion for advice-giving into a profitable coaching venture. I'll be peeling back the layers on the trials and triumphs of my entrepreneurial journey, the crucial moments of revelation, and the power of understanding your goals and priorities.

Let's not forget the importance of charging for value and outcome, not time - a game-changing principle that I adopted in my coaching business. Listen as I divulge how I conquered my financial limitations by immersing myself in a network of successful coaches and entrepreneurs. Yes, there were sacrifices - time with loved ones, personal needs put on hold. These regrets have taught me the value of striking a balance between helping others and self-care. And to round it all off, we explore the transformative power of community and accountability in personal growth and development. It's an insightful, eye-opening discussion you don't want to miss!

Chapters

• 0:00 Discovering Entrepreneurial Passion and Overcoming Challenges
• 12:00 Building a Successful Coaching Business

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

And I remember getting a message from a gentleman and he was asking for some advice and it was based around you know, what would I have done if X and it was in that moment, I was like hmm, or just clicked. It was like I keep getting asked for advice, I'm overseas, I can give advice right now and I could charge. That's when the penny dropped, that it's like okay, well, what if I could create a business that I get paid to do? What I'm already doing anyway, and what I'm at the moment really passionate about, creates transformation, it makes me feel good and it allows me to live the life that I want to live in.

Speaker 2: 0:40

The man Let Cam Project podcast, a podcast in powering rear-driven men to live more fulfilling lives. We are here to challenge your beliefs, redefine success and talk about the important stuff in a relatable way. Don't forget to subscribe and leave a review. My name's Lockheist Stuart. Let's get into it.

Speaker 1: 1:01

What I wish I learned before starting business. Welcome to episode 524 of the man Let Cam Project podcast. I'm your host, lockheist Stuart. Today is another solo episode and I hope you have been getting value from these episodes. If you have remember, hit subscribe so you don't miss another episode, leave some comments and even take an extra 30 seconds to leave a rating and review on Apple podcasts. You can even leave a really, really lovely written review. But let's get into it.

Speaker 1: 1:28

So I always wanted to be successful. Growing up, from a young age, I excelled in sport and I developed this idea of what success was and for me, I believe that in order to be successful, you either had to be a professional sportsman, you had to be a celebrity of some sort, or you had to be a doctor. They were the people that really were able to achieve the idea of success that I had in my head. And when I realized that probably wasn't going to be a doctor, definitely wasn't going to be a celebrity, and I was good at sport, I really honed in on that, did everything that I could to make that a possibility, and so, throughout the training sessions and the sacrifices and everything that I did to achieve that, I got to a point where I realized that sport wasn't going to be that career path. And it was a hard realization because part of that the idea of creating that dream life where I had the money and the wealth to not only buy the things that I wanted, to have the house, but also to provide for a family, when that would come and just do nice things that idea of what wealth can really give you that disappeared with that because, as I said, I went all in on the sport and didn't really drive with that and I guess what I really wanted to do was to make my life mean something. I had this feeling, and I still have it to this day, that I am here to do something great and when you lose what you thought was going to be everything to, you thought that was the way forward. It's humbling, it's defeating, but there is an opportunity to learn from all the skills that allow you to succeed in one area. Right, and I remember I still remember this day I was driving back.

Speaker 1: 3:24

So when I moved back from France playing rugby over there, I was driving back with Dad and I was working as a labourer for him. So Dad had his own building company and for ages, it's like you should do an apprenticeship. And I was like no, builders just don't earn enough money. And I just kept putting it off, putting it off, and in my head I'm racking my brain over a number of months how am I going to get back to making my life really mean something, where I can achieve this wealth and this success that I designed? Not only for the external reasons you know, the money and not having financial stress but to really make my life mean something and to be able to protect and provide for my family. And so I remember, at Will Driving Home, it was a hot day, it was December, so summer in Australia, it was boiling hot and we'd had an awesome day out on the job site putting up a shed at this place and it was, I reckon, 35 degrees Celsius. And, as Will driving back, you know, once again my brain's ticking over. I'd had an awesome day.

Speaker 1: 4:21

I was talking with my dad, we'd had a few beers and I was like I think I'm going to sign up and do this apprenticeship and the reason why in my head I justified to myself that if I do this, then the next step is having my own building business, which is then going to achieve that level of success that I want. And what I realized after, you know, as soon as I signed the papers and I started doing the prac and speaking with more builder owners and dealing with tradies as because dad obviously gave me more responsibility I recognized that it wasn't going to fulfill my needs around what I wanted and what I wanted business. What I wanted from business, which is the first point, that will you know, I wish I learned more about this when I started, but it's important to know what you want from your business. So for me, I was very clear, because it was around this point that I met my now wife and I made a decision that I wanted to be in an industry or have a business that allowed me to become healthy, you know, maintain my physical and mental health, because, as an ex athlete, that's what I prioritized. I wanted to have connection, I wanted to be around people who built me up and made me feel valued and heard, and it was a reciprocal relationship.

Speaker 1: 5:29

And I wanted freedom. Right and freedom to me, and still has the same meaning, is a flexibility to be able to design my life how I want it. If I want to travel, obviously, living here in Nashville, but also the freedom where finances don't define what I can or can't do. Okay, and that number continues to change. But I recognize pretty quickly that I wasn't going to be able to do that in the building industry. One because you're dealing with other trades and whatnot, and it became quite stressful, but also from an hourly rate when people stuff you around and all of that sort of stuff. It just wasn't going to allow me to do what I wanted to do.

Speaker 1: 6:05

So it wasn't too long after that that a mate who I was playing rugby with introduced me to network marketing. Before all of you guys hit stop, get off this podcast. I'm not doing it anymore. But I want to share some powerful lessons that I learned from it and then I'll get you know. You keep listening on. I will get to these three things that I wish I knew before I started my own business, because one of the best decisions I've ever made.

Speaker 1: 6:27

But it was around that time that I got introduced to network marketing. I'd never heard of it very soon as I started talking about it as the usual responses you're in a pyramid scheme, what are you doing? But I was sold on the dream that I could have a life of flexibility, I could have an uncapped income and I would, you know, build some great relationships. And to me, at that point in my life, that's what I'd been wanting, that's what I'd been desiring ever since I'd given up footy. And so I didn't care about the how. I just knew what I wanted. I wanted that life, and I was so committed to it. I was 23. And if that was the way that I was going to get there, then I was fucking doing it. I was so committed to doing that. It wasn't a should, you know, should I do this? It was a must. This is how I'm getting there, and after a while I started to succeed in it.

Speaker 1: 7:16

I hit one of the top ranks as an executive and was doing a lot of cool stuff, but I was learning a lot of skills along the way.

Speaker 1: 7:22

I was running events, I was coaching people, I was showing people how to do sales, how I was marketing myself, how to, I guess, leading in a way to develop a team.

Speaker 1: 7:31

I had an organization of around 4,000 people and it was going well. But then I started looking at my paycheck and more of a reflection of the work that I was putting in versus what I was getting paid. Now, don't get me wrong, I had a lot more flexibility in my life, but when I worked out how many hours I was actually putting into building this business and you have to put hours into building your business, but this is what got me, based on the structure of this business it was only about 6% on the sales. Now, when you have a lot of sales running through your organization, it can be quite good. But I started thinking to myself well, okay, yes, they provide the framework, they provide the product, they provide coaching and stuff, but I'm still doing a lot of stuff that if I were to do it for myself and it's probably more of what I enjoy doing the coaching and seeing people create transformation then I could get 100% of that before tax bloody tax.

Speaker 2: 8:29

So I lost motivation pretty quickly after that.

Speaker 1: 8:34

I recognize that 94% of, I guess, the income that I was generating from the sales business was going back to the company for a lot of the work that I was doing. I was like, okay, that's all right, but the motivation that I had to continue growing my business diminished. And obviously when you're not motivated or you're not inspired to do something, for me personally it's like, okay, do I need to ask myself some questions here? Is it just a flat spot or is it time for something new? And obviously I was around 26 back then, so I believed it was time for something new. I'd learned a lot of great skills, met some great people, had more confidence in myself as an individual that I could build a business I could lead, I could do all the things that I needed to, or I believed I needed to do to build this. So I remember I was in Europe one day and I remember getting a message from a gentleman and he was asking for some advice and it was based around what would I have done if X? And it was in that moment. I was like, hmm, it just clicked. It was like I keep getting asked for advice, I'm overseas, I can give advice right now and I could charge, and that's when the penny dropped that it's like okay, well, what if I could create a business that I get paid to do? What I'm already doing anyway, and what I'm at the moment really passionate about, creates transformation, it makes me feel good and it allows me to live the life that I wanted to live in. As I mentioned, it was that freedom, connection and having those health components. And I reviewed it and I was like tick, tick, tick. All right, this is it, let's do it, let's see how it works.

Speaker 1: 10:10

I had an idea of what it took to start a business based off the frameworks that I'd been given from building the organization within network marketing, but there were some things that I wish I had learned that would have saved me a lot of time and a lot of money. I probably would have got to where I wanted to go much faster, and this is going to be what I believe will be helpful for you, whether you're in your business, you're in a leadership role or you've climbed that corporate ladder, or you're someone who believes, like I did and I still do, that I'm here for something much bigger than myself. And because, obviously, over the years, I haven't spoken too much about business, because I've been trying to prove to myself that I can get some credibility behind it. I can actually establish something on my own. I think it's important to talk about things that you have done yourself, which is why I'm not the coach for everyone and I don't talk about a lot of things that I haven't done. Just that's, for me, integrity and that's what it was. But I'm just trying to see on my notes where I was.

Speaker 1: 11:13

So, when I started helping the people and, as I mentioned, it's like you get paid to do what I love I'm living and breathing inside that perfect triangle, and so, obviously, when you have something that has worked for yourself, I transformed my own life. I got excited about something, I got clear on what I wanted and I found a how, like how I was going to get there. So what was going to get me? Not so much the how, and it was through doing the what that I worked out how to get people excited about life, how to build confidence, how to get people to take action, to build teams in order to create the life that they want, because there's some things that I believe are really key to creating the life that you want.

Speaker 1: 11:54

And so when I started, I was like, okay, well, this worked for me. Maybe I'm an anomaly, maybe not everyone can do this. So I started coaching people for free. I didn't charge for I don't know, maybe the first eight weeks. It doesn't sound like that long a time, but I did help a lot of people. And then I was like, okay, and this is where the money limitation came in. I don't even earn about $25 an hour max. So I was like, okay, well, $25 an hour or a session, perfect.

Speaker 1: 12:20

And then I started seeing results and I was like, as I was reinvesting that back in myself, I started hanging around coaches who were earning more and more and more and hanging around more people who own seven figures. And then like, look, you're not charging for time, you're charging for value and outcome. What does that bring to someone's life? And as I was getting surrounded by that, I was like, okay, well, that's what I'm paying for as well. I'd pay $30,000 to have this fixed now, as opposed to having to figure it out over the next three years when, if I solve this now, it's probably going to make me $100,000. Like, it just makes sense. You would spend 30 grand if you have it to make 100 grand. It's a good investment. So I started increasing the price of my coaching and really then starting to build a business. It was always how can I help more people? Was the question that I would come back to. And then, along the way and this is probably another point actually I haven't put down, but something that just popped up Along the way I got so busy working with men one on one that I wasn't enjoying it anymore.

Speaker 1: 13:21

I didn't have the time to sort of enjoy my life and get people together, hanging out with mates. I was just constantly on coaching calls, doing notes and then trying to recover. So then the question was okay, well, how do I help more people but also help myself? Okay, I think it's important to not neglect yourself in this and, as I mentioned, freedom, connection, health extremely important. So I started going okay, well, let's get groups together, let's get men's groups together, let's get workshops together. Let's start bringing this together, because not only the men that I'm working with experts in so many things that I'm not. They can build relationships with life-minded men, and the power of community holds you accountable for so much longer.

Speaker 1: 14:03

What held me back for so long was I'd always wanted to change. But then I'd go hang out with my same mates who I'd had a, I guess, an idea of how we showed up on the weekend. We'd crack a beer, we'd party. So it was really hard for me to change. But the moment I started hanging out with people who did things differently and wanted different things from their life, I started doing things differently. I started getting different results in my life and I started getting so inspired by the men that I was helping. I was helping men to reignite the love in their relationships right, people who had been married for decades and I was starting to fall in love with their partner again because they changed some habits. Men who were changing their relationships with booze. Not only had I changed my own relationship with alcohol, I was helping other blokes do that which helped them be better around the house, be better at work, and that just motivated me. And I was helping others earn more and get more time back in their life so they could have.

Speaker 1: 14:55

Because one thing I think where people get stuck as well is we get so focused on money. It's always like I need to earn more, I need to earn more, I need to earn more, but when you're very clear on what you want, you can go okay, well, this is how much current I feel I need to earn. And then the next question that I always ask myself is how do I maintain this income and get time back Right? That's the real kicker, I think, for a lot of people. So, as I mentioned, I'm talking about this more because I feel more comfortable in the results that I've created in my business, and you know, I just wish this would have helped.

Speaker 1: 15:30

I wish I listened, because I definitely was told this shit that I'm going to tell you and I'm sure you've probably heard it before but I just wish I listened and did, because a lot of where I've done wrong has not been from lack of doing. It's been from doing the wrong things, and that's lesson number one. It's very easy to feel like you're being productive, doing a lot of stuff, but we need to ask what's the intention of it and what's the return on that investment, because once again, I could have an hour doing, or 20 minutes doing this podcast, or I could have 20 minutes with my wife. I believe there's genuine value in me once again learning to tell stories better, which is one of the reasons why I do podcasts, to sharing information with you and hopefully something resonates with you or clicks for you. Then 20 minutes with my wife, because I know I'm going to get that time with my wife later. But the leverage that could come from this because there's always a goal and I'm completely transparent about that is if you guys get value from these episodes, join our strongman of value journey, like our Academy. It is one of the most incredible programs on the planet and I'll talk more about that later.

Speaker 1: 16:33

But the second thing was getting clear on what you want from business. People always think it's a million dollars, and that's what I did in the beginning and it's more about who you become along the way than what you actually get. And what I won't say regret, but wish I could have done things differently, was I sacrifice so much, so many moments, so many dinners, so much time with my friends that I'll never get back, because I thought I had to hustle. And I see a lot of men doing that now and I'm a big believer that you don't have to sacrifice as much as you think you do. You just need to get clear on what it is that you want From the health areas of your life from the wealth areas. Your life, so you finance and career and the relationships right, because when you're more intentional with that, you can then allocate your time better, so you can still dominate work, you can have loving relationships and you can have rock hard fucking ads, if that's what you want.

Speaker 1: 17:23

So many people try to tell you that it's not possible. It is possible. I'm living proof of that and that's what, once again, the academy is all about. It's really about helping men achieve three years worth of Progress in 12 months by getting clear on what this isn't really understanding, what's going to deliver those results.

Speaker 1: 17:43

The second let's let's call it that because I did give you that extra bonus, one for hanging around to the end. But do what you love and outsource. Arrest as a business owner, okay, whether you know, even influences, you feel you all the face of everything and you have to do everything. People want to be able to do as good a job of you as you. So and once again, people have told me this since day one. I learned this in network marketing through creating leverage on building a team, but for some reason I just couldn't let go. This was my baby, but as with you know, you see, parents even is. There's parents who are great parents and they still make time for the other things that matter, like their social life and the health. And then the parents who just always on top of their children and they sacrifice relationships and let their health go. And I'm not telling you what to do, I just know which one I would do, based on Understanding the long term impacts of your life and being a role model for your children and for other people. So think about what you love, and I learned this from nick bar. So nick bar was a founder of people, is still the founder of bpn subs and only recently he stood down a cio because he just wanted to work on what he loved in the business, which was creating content and spreading the message of what his company is about. He didn't want to have the stress and responsibility of being cio. I've never seen that before. And he inspired me to go okay, what do I genuinely love in the business that I've created? I don't have to be the cio of it or the found, like. I'm the founder but the cio. I don't have to do that if that's not what I enjoy, so we can outsource those things.

Speaker 1: 19:25

Fourth and final is let it wait until tomorrow. You can have a to do list as long as your bloody body and it's very easy to understand or trick yourself into thinking that you're not making progress if you don't get that list complete. What I have now done once again, by getting clear on what are the most important things in my life and what's going to help me deliver the results that help me deliver results to my clients, earn the income that I want, but also have a mental energy and, I guess, framework to be the best husband and mate and all of those sorts of things Is planning out your week to understand. Okay, if I could only get three things done, three significant things done this week, what would they be? And, based off the time that I have, so obviously I have my non negotiables in there, which I'm not going to talk about today, but what would I have to get done daily to make that day a success that's going to lead to a successful week, which will lead to a successful month and quarter, and when you can drop that down at the end of the day? Yeah, I still got shit on my to do this, but as long as I got that one thing every day, or that three things every day done. I can just go look, they were the three goals that I wanted to achieve. Anything extra is a bonus.

Speaker 1: 20:45

So that is the three things that I wish I learned I can't remember the very first one that I said to you, but the other three that I had written down is get clear on what you want from your business, because it helps you really focus. Don't have that shiny discable syndrome. Just understand what do you need to do to deliver that outcome, whether it's income-based or growth-based, whatever that looks like. Do what you love and outsource the rest. You honestly don't need to be as important as you think you are and let things wait till tomorrow, because there's just as many important things your relationships and your health as well that need your time today. As we always say, do it for tomorrow.

Speaker 1: 21:24

So, gents, what I mentioned before the Academy is actually going to have a full rebrand as of January 2024. And with that rebrand comes a price increase or an investment increase on your behalf, because we are putting a lot more into it to deliver and create systems and structures and bring on guests to help you continue working towards mastery in the areas of health, wealth and relationship. So if you want to achieve three years worth of growth in 12 months, you can apply. You can head to the link in my Instagram, the link in the show notes from this podcast, and you can click. You can find out more information firstly, and then, if you feel it's going to be something that you want to be a part of which I don't know why you wouldn't want to be a part of it, I'm in there or heaps of other awesome blows. You're in there. You can apply From there. Your booking application, call with myself or one of our other coaches will get on there and then we'll go through and work out whether you're a good fit and then we'll get you on, boarded and started.

Speaker 1: 22:22

So currently, only until the end of the year it's still $200 a month with a minimum six month commitment. So $1,200 investment you can pay monthly. The reason why we have the six months is we are so adamant about building a rock solid community that not only is there to gain and improve their own life, but they're there to give and improve others' lives, and we can't have transient people. We want committed people. So that is that Do something today to be better for tomorrow. My name is Lachlan Stewart. Thank you for tuning in and if you got value from this episode, please leave a rating, write a review and share this with someone that you care about.