“About 1 in 15 people are entrepreneurs. Only 1 in 600 will ever make it to a million dollars or more. And only 1 in 6,000 will make it to 10 million or more.”
Carl Gould is a world-renowned serial entrepreneur, best-selling author, and business keynote speaker who has built 3 multi-million dollar businesses by the age of 40. As CEO and founder of the 7 Stage Advisors, Carl has helped thousands of new and seasoned entrepreneurs reach their full potential to catapult their businesses to the next level.
As a business advisor, he encourages young entrepreneurs to take a class in selling and follow it up with a marketing class, as these tools of influence can help owners of small businesses achieve success. Additionally, it is also essential for business owners to enhance their communications skills because selling is similar to coaching, which is also the same to mentoring and negotiation. Being able to explain to others what you do well and how you can benefit them through your collaboration are critical to business growth.
Join Carl as he shares his journey from being an entrepreneur to the worldwide leading authority on business and entrepreneurship and how the combination of entrepreneurship and coaching has helped his company become the farthest-reaching business mentoring organization in the world.
Website: https://carlgould.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlgould
Twitter: https://twitter.com/carlgould
Facebook: http://facebook.com/thecarlgould/
John: Thank you for listening to the Business Sphere. Don’t forget to share this episode and subscribe. My guest today is serial entrepreneur, author and speaker Carl Gould. He built three multi-million dollar businesses by the age of 40. And his company’s seven-stage advisors helps businesses grow to the next level. Thanks for joining me today, Carl.
Carl: Oh, thank you so much for having me.
John: So I’m excited and honored to have you as a guest on this episode today. But for all the listeners that don’t know who you are, Carl, if you don’t mind sharing with them, how you became who you are. And what’s your superpower today?
Carl: Well, thank you. Well, I mean, I got into entrepreneurship very much by accident, literally, I should say, by injury, I was going to school for accounting and finance. And I had a pretty bad leg injury my second year of school, and I had to leave school. And so there I was, my leg was in a cast for three months. And then I had to go through months of physical therapy, really years, but intense for those few months to learn how to use my leg again. And you know, all of my student loans came due my grants and scholarships went away. And before you know it, I’m broke with a broken leg sitting at home and I’m like, I gotta make some money. So I knew how to do a couple of things. I don’t know how good I knew how to do them, but I knew how to do them.
And so, I, I joined I started a landscaping company, I had a design-build landscape firm. And I grew that business for seven years sold it. Then I started a construction company, a home building and you know, real estate development company. And I had that business till 2004. But I started coaching in 1990. So I went to a personal development seminar really loved it, I dove into NLP and disk and all these peak performance sciences. And I also got certified by Tony Robbins and Stephen Covey, and Ken Blanchard and the Dale Carnegie, the dieses methodology you name if there was a certification out there, I got it. And so all through the 90s, if there was such a thing as a side hustle. At the time, we didn’t say it then but my side hustle was coaching. So there I was doing a life and intervention and results coaching for business people, for individuals, you name it, and, and I hired a business coach and mentor for my business in 1996. And I really loved I enjoyed it. And I said, Wow, I want to do this going forward. And so what I did was I combined my entrepreneurship journey with coaching. And in 2002, I launched the business that I have today, which is seven stage advisors. So I went from a guy who grew up in New Jersey, and you know, work local businesses, service businesses, to steal a guy from New Jersey, who now travels the world. And I work with businesses all around the world, doing coaching and mentoring and training.
John: That’s such a fine journey, to say the least. And I do have some curious questions. Because back before you even became a business person in your second-year university, did you have that, I guess, upbringing where your parents distilled some values of hard work or, you know, service type kind of? Did you have coaches and mentors early days to get you equipped mentally, in terms of mindset to even have the foresight to take on that next leap of faith of business entrepreneurship in your second year?
Carl: Yeah, well, I came from a very, I grew up in an entrepreneurial family. I’m one of 10 kids. I’m the fifth of 10 in my family, and there were a lot of entrepreneurs in my family were very much a bunch of go-getters. And yeah, so I look I grew up in an environment where you either got a job or you’ve made up your job, you know, and so but very much a very hard-working family. I mean, our the work ethic was there. There was no shortage and of that, but also at the same time. You know, when you’re one of a large family, you can’t you’ve got to assert yourself for the things that you want. You know, there’s 10 Hungry mouths on the table and there’s one, one bowl of pasta. You don’t reach in, then you’re not eating that, you know there. So, you know, you’ve got to ask for what you want. And that’s what I learned from that experience is that if I go get it, if I hustle, if I bring value, it’s going to work out. And it did for me. So that was one of the very early lessons that I learned as an entrepreneur was, you know, this is a hustle game, I can hustle my way to, you know, a five $10 million business and as long as I’m the one getting there first or doing the little bit extra, then I very much am going to be the one that wins that job.
John: That’s amazing to hear. So if you don’t mind sharing, I know your first foray of business ownership, which is that landscaping business No, not landscaping, the was it landscaping? Landscaping was the first one. Yeah, yeah. First one that you know, after a couple of years, you sold it? How did you go about discovering that it was an opportunity? Did you have friends and family? Did you see a wanting to add? Or did you kind of just put some fliers together saying I have a truck? I can go out and buy raw materials and do the work? And did you then hire service people to do it? Or were you the one doing the work yourself?
Carl: Well I was doing definitely doing the work myself in the beginning for sure. I put the word out that I had a landscaping company that I was open to be hired. And the very first couple projects I did were referrals from family members. I remember my two younger brothers each had friends whose families needed a project done, so they referred me and then you know the way it works in construction, think about that a hole that you’ve just done work for. And the expression is nine around the nine houses that surround that house. So two on either side, five, on the other side of the street, you do a job for one person, and then you mark it to the nine around. That’s a process then. So yeah, when people would see me doing a project, and then come out and say, Wow, I didn’t know you did that sort of work? Can you do that for me? Can you do that for me? And before you knew it, I was there’s always has been there always is there always will be the need for people to do work home services. It’s always hard to find somebody who could do the job so and so I didn’t instead of just saying Well, wait, no, sir. Ma’am, I can’t talk to you. I’m working on this project. I would say I’ll be there.
As soon as I’m done today. I go there write up an estimate on the spot. Now like, well, we’re thinking of I’m like, that’s fine. You can think all you want, but I’m going out and I’m giving 10 estimates a week. If you want to don’t I could do it. I could do a Monday. Wow, you could do Monday, Monday. So I would be well we’re thinking of getting a couple of other elements and like, Alright, go ahead. But understand that my production schedule is going to fill. So will there’s so if you want, I’ll come back Monday to talk. Or I can come back Monday and have this thing done by Wednesday. And you know, that you could tell they’re kind of like, Alright, let’s go, you know, and I just found that by hustling. That’s the way it went. So I started out with a referrals. But as soon but I jumped on every single opportunity. No matter how far I drove to Connecticut, I drove to New York, I went, I went down do you know, to our cell, I did every project. And everywhere I did a project, there was always a neighbor from the nine around who wanted something, you know, and so that’s the way I got things started.
John: That’s amazing to hear. Because not only do you have that force of hard work, and you know, hustling for the sale, right? Because it’s all about making that urgency happen and delivering that supply-demand, like I scarcity effect, right? Where people need to know that you can do good work, you’re there, and they can wait. But you may have to wait three months down the line. Right? So it’s all about that urgency of that. So learning that early day, and then after many years did you then provide hire people build systems create more processes crews. So you were able to get to a point where then you were more sellable as a business?
Carl: Yeah, so we, we use subcontractors, we hired a team. And so as quickly as I could, I didn’t do it as much in my landscaping business as I did in my construction company. It’s probably one of my mistakes, was I did too much of the work in the landscaping business. And it just caught up with me. I was it was exhausting. I mean, I was doing well. And the business actually doubled every single year until I sold it. But boy, I put in a lot of effort and energy, you know, and so, so that catches up to you after a while physically, you know, and it did with me too. So I didn’t take the delegation lesson well enough at the time. But I did that I learned that lesson better when I did my construction companies.
John: Yes, but you were able to figure it out, right? So eventually, you know, your time is scarce energy is what you have in store. And you’d rather utilize it for working on your business rather in it. And it took time to figure that out. Was there a time in that first foray of your business that gave you that kind of a mental picture of I can grow so much faster if I wasn’t doing the work? And if I were to delegate more, or was that more the second construction business that you had?
Carl: Well, the it was more in the construction business. But one of the things that it was kind of the AHA, it was obvious, but it’s like the obvious aha was, you know, when I’m building a house, I need a licensed electrician, I’m not a licensed electrician, I need a licensed plumber, HVAC, contractor, roofing contractor, these are all things that I wasn’t licensed to do, or I didn’t know how to do. So I hired an electrician. And I remember going to the job one day, pulling up, getting the guys all set up here, the plan says we’re trying to accomplish, here’s the owner, if they come by here, the parameters of the job. And then after 45 minutes, I’m like, I can go. Right. And they had it because they’re pros. And then later on in the job, I had two or three contractors on the job site. And I had to organize them like, Hey, you’re phase one, your phase two, you have to work together on this particular part. But I realized that the more I bought in the other trades, and I just made sure that they had the space in the area to work and operate that yeah, I could be doing multiple things at the same time.
On one project, then I noticed, wait a minute, if I have more than one house in the subdivision, you know, I can have multiple contractors on multiple sites. So then it started becoming exponential. And then when I had the electrician on one job, I would say, Hey, listen, I’ve got two other jobs for you. You know, and then it got to the point where what I would do is I would meet with my subcontractors at the beginning of the year. And I would say, I’ve got this many houses, I’ve got this many renovation projects, I’ve got this many additions, I said, and I will say to them, I’ve got 15 projects, I’m going to award to you give me a price as if you’re doing all 15 Not Not that you’re doing one at a time. And I’ll just lay out the schedule for the year. And I’ll give you an idea when these are going to happen. This is quarter one, this is quarter two, this is quarter three, this is quarter four, just know and here are the addresses, here’s where I’m going to be so you can kind of plan yourself out, materials wise and everything else. So give me the price. Now, what this stuff is going to cost for me this year, you know, reasonably if I asked for something new, obviously, there’s a change order. But we had this great relationship where they all kind of knew what I was working on at the beginning of the year.
John: And that’s amazing that you’re able to do this with subcontractors and trades. But people think about it as products, right? When you’re able to go to a supplier or a manufacturer and ask for a volume discount, you’re doing the exact same thing on trades. And you’re asking and planning as opposed to buying paying for someone inside your own company. And maybe that is a different stage of your business as well like hiring in-house staff so that you can actually get them to do a lot more volume in different projects, but also comes with a lot more responsibility, liability and all the bonded insured stuff, right. But people want that freedom of choice, right with subcontractors.
They’re independent contractors. But if you give them more security with X amount of jobs, and they plan it out, and there’s a guaranteed income they’re much more willing to work with you because you’re one of the most loyal type businesses that they can rely on interns that steady paycheck, right. So right, on coming from that world and because for myself, for all the listeners, I used to work at Yellow Pages and I only dealt with small medium-sized businesses in trades, from everything healthcare to every type of industry, so I get to meet business owners like yourself, and it was fine. Right, talking to them engaging and being ultra curious because I was not a business owner I was just a sales rep. But they were really talking about themselves right and they love business owners love talking about themselves. So their favorite subject. So I love, like just asking because I wasn’t a business owner yet, right. So what did you learn after Selling? Or do you still currently have that home renovation business? And then moving to the coaching, mentoring business that you currently have?
Carl: Yes. So I don’t, I don’t still have either of those construction or home improvement businesses, but what I do still do projects for myself now and again, I still invest in real estate, and I still have. But you know, I still will do projects now and again, for investment purposes. But yeah, the, I mean, I was doing this mostly for myself in the beginning, but it you know, it’s more of an investment line for me now.
John: And which is it’s moving from a different stage of life, right? So you’re a business owner, you know, you’re able to grow, liquidate or sell, get some profit or get some equity in there. And then now you’re utilizing your money to invest. Right. But a lot of business owners are, that’s their sole reliant income stream, right? Now you are diversified investor, I would say.
Carl: I am more diversified now. So I have a good friend of mine taught me, you know, invest your money in business, and paper assets, like insurance and stocks and bonds and mutual funds and retirement plans, and also in real estate. So have a little bit of all three. And so that’s what I do.
John: Amazing. So let’s go on to your next phase. I know it’s been about 20 years of growing your own seven-stage advisors business. So I know you were doing all these coaching and courses and learning from all the Dale Carnegie’s and whatnot. So when did you decide to start that? And how was the ramp-up? And how is it going for you?
Carl: Well, in the very beginning, and in the early ’90s, you know, there was no, there was no coaching industry the way it is now. I mean, there was obviously an industry but nothing like it is now. And so I was just the certified coach, or I attached myself to the intellectual property of other experts, because I was brand new in the field. And so I learned, you know, the six human needs and human needs psychology from Tony Robbins, I got certified in disc and NLP, situational leadership by Ken Blanchard, Dale Carnegie leadership, the dieses methodology, Franklin Covey, all those, I learned those tools, and I was the, if you wanted to, you know, have coaching in those areas, then I was your guy. And so I would either do it on my own, or I would do it to their company and be the referred coach, or go to their seminars and coach their attendees.
And so I did that all through the ’90s. And I probably did a few 1000 hours of coaching. And it was just a coaching practice, I just did it on my own. But I really loved it, I really enjoyed it. And the what turned out to be a smart move now was because of the exposure I got was in the beginning, what I did was, since I had a nine to five, business, I told these companies, I’ll coach anybody that you have from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Europe, Middle East because they were timezone friendly. I said, I’ll take all your international clients, because I could get up a little early in the morning to coach the European and South African group, or Middle Eastern group. In the starting in the afternoon, that was the next day in Australia. And then after a while, I took the West Coast of the United States, because, you know, their afternoon was my evening, and I took on East Coast clients last. So I built this entire international kind of clientele in the beginning and presence. And that’s really served me well, over my career. You know, it was a, it was a move out of necessity at the time. But it was, you know, it really helped me out going forward. So it was all been, you know, I was just a single practitioner during the ’90s. And then I got certified or accredited, I should say, by the Institute for independent business. And their model is that you are a team when you go to a coach and advise and mentor a client. And so I very much fell in love with the team concept. And I love the idea that multiple experts work on the same client. So then I expanded seven-stage advisors to include the team concept.
John: Amazing, and I love you explaining that you spent all these hours learning all these hours after and this is where the hustle kind of mindset has always been ingrained. And it just doesn’t actually happen by accident. You’re born with it like you’ve been doing it not even knowing that you were doing it probably in your ’20s and before that, and eventually the reward starts happening. later in life, not realizing because these habits had been formed, right, and maybe in your ’30s and ’40s, you’ve already been doing it for so many years, that it’s just natural, right? And then you are able to afford the time during your, I guess, suck in business, the, you know, the building, real estate, one, where you’re able to then delegate and have more time and freedom to do this coaching and business, mentoring one, and allow you to really understand what you really wanted to do. And throughout the stages, it seemed like you kind of uncovered what was your true passion and goal? When was that kind of realization? Because you were a business owner, small, medium-sized, service-based business owner to then becoming this coaching business that’s global? Like, was there a time, that kind of triggered you to say, this is why I wanted to do for the next 5,10 rest of my life?
Carl: Yeah, it was, I have to give credit to one of my early mentors, a guy by the name of Eric Lehman, I met him when I had my construction company, and we worked together for I think it was five years and going through his business mentoring process made me really want to do business coach Well, coaching as a business as a full-time business. And just going through it and realizing how much I got out of it, and how much I enjoyed doing it. And I could see how much he enjoyed it to that whole process. To me, I was like, because I said to him one day, I’m like, I want to do what you do. And he says, Well, I’ll introduce you to the Institute for independent business. Because the that’s a, that’s a group that accredited me and they’re looking to grow and the whole bit, and I think it’d be a good fit and all that. And so, that was really what made me want to do this as a full-time business. And my challenge was at the time, still to this day, I mean, coaches don’t usually make that much money. I mean, at the time, the average coach made like $20,000 a year, I think the average full-time coach now makes like 80,000, which is a lot of money. But if you live in New Jersey, and you have a family and you want to own a house, it’s not enough, unfortunately. And so I had to find a way to make this a full-time business where I could bill invoice six figures. So I could be the primary provider in my family, you know,
John: So it took time to build, right, your, I guess, scaling to a point where that becomes six-figure and you have people to support your, you know, your business endeavors, right? Yeah. When did you start hiring new people? And when did things start taking off? Because I know you were doing it on the side. But you’re also dropping your name to all these organizations and people to do the word of mouth referrals? Was there a time in a moment where it was like, wow, I can start saying that? If I left my business and career and do this full time, I will replace that income? Because I know it will support me.
Carl: Yeah, so I started in 2002. And I started with the team concept right out of the gate. And I started involving other advisors, you know, because during the ’90s, I would be coaching somebody and they would say, Hey, Carl, do you know a sales trainer? Or do you know somebody who knows marketing? Or do you know somebody who’s good at HR? Do you know someone who’s good to finance, and I was getting the requests over and over again. And I said, Why do I keep sending this away? Yeah, I know these people. I know. I’m in my coaching circle. So I went to them. And I said, Hey, I need a finance expert. You up for it. I need an HR expert. Yep. for it. I need an ops expert. Yep. for it. And so now I walk in, and I’m like, Oh, you got to meet the team. They’re unbelievable. And I saw the team.
John: So eventually, you brought them in house? Or are they more subcontractors getting a referral fee kind of business?
Carl: Subcontractors, Because, you know, most people get into the coaching business for lifestyle reasons. Yes, it’s not because they want another job. They want the freedom and the flexibility. And so it worked better, to allow them to remain as independent, because they all have their own businesses. So I didn’t work. None of them are full-time with me. They all do their own thing, and then we just collaborate on projects.
John: Amazing. So after the last, say 20 years during this coaching business, I would imagine you’ve been traveling all over the world, meeting clients, what do you enjoy the most? And or a couple of things that you really enjoy and what don’t you enjoy doing in your business?
Carl: Meaning in the coaching business?
John: Yes, in the coaching business?
Carl: Well, I you know, I like The part of travel I like is I like seeing new parts of the world and new cultures and how people do things. And it’s, it’s exciting to see the way they approach problems. I don’t like the actual travel, you know, people like, wow, you went to so and so I’m like, listen, the glamour of travel went away, 20 minutes after wheels up, then it was just sitting like this for five hours I had nothing exciting about. So I do not enjoy the time away from family, I don’t enjoy. I mean, I really like where we live on an outdoor person, I like to be outside a lot. So this bit, you know, one of the things I loved about construction was I was outside every day, right now I’m inside, you know, 10 hours a day. these are some of the trade-offs. And so those are some of the things I don’t enjoy. And, you know, and I don’t enjoy when we can’t get a client to do the things that they want to do or need to do in their business. So those are some of the disappointments and I and we as a team take that on personally, like, Okay, what did we do? How did we fail the client that they did not do that work? But those so those are some of the things I mean, I have a team that does like the back of the house work like, you know, the finances and the cash flow management and, and you know, all the administration, I don’t enjoy doing that. But I don’t have to do it. So I wouldn’t put that on the list necessarily. And I get to focus on the parts of the business that I like the most, which is teaching and coaching and guiding and training.
John: Especially your expertise, right with all the training that you’ve had, as well as all the type of businesses and people that you’ve been able to support and help throughout your lifetime as well. So where are you right now in your business, in your career in your life? Because it seems like we’ve gotten from business ownership to, you know, the service base trades, to then starting this coaching and mentoring having this team to support you and your lifestyle? Do you see yourself continuing this for the next 5,10, 20 years? Or do you see the next iteration of where you want to be in the next future?
Carl: Well, I, you know, someone said to me that, Carl, you’ve got the business everyone wants when they retire, I get to write books I get to speak, I get to coach and help others, you know. And so I’m like, wow, yeah, I said, I just got into it in my ’30s as opposed to in my ’50s or ’60s. And so I see myself continuing to do what I’m doing. Now, what I would say that I would do more of is I’m probably right, I’d have another book coming out later this year. So I’ll write more books, I’ll speak more. And one of the things that I started early in my career was aI certified and trained or accredited in one way, shape, or form, you know, over 7000 business coaches worldwide. And I’d like to get back to that. And the reason why I want to do that late in my career is, you know, I know how many people want to do this work. And I got into it, because I was so excited. And I got to do the job and the work I love. And people used to come to me to have me teach them how to do it. I wanted to get back to that and do that more.
John: Amazing. And I think that’s so important, right? Like, follow what you enjoy doing. A lot of people follow it for the wrong reasons, right, which is financial, or they’re chasing comparing to others, or they see what other people are doing. But they don’t really understand what’s behind the scenes and what needs to be done. In terms of legwork. Right, like you mentioned, you put in the time you put in the hard work, you put in the sweat equity hours, in everything you’ve done to get to where you are. Right. So for all the listeners, like is there anything that you regret that you could have done differently? If there’s things that you, you know, can change? What would you have changed?
Carl: Well, from a professional standpoint, I probably would have set up my retirement earlier. I’m in my 50s. Now I’ve done that, but I probably should have done it earlier. I wish I would have done that because I have time on my side and never would have, you know, would have been more it would have been it would have set me up earlier in my life. But in my business, I wish I thought bigger earlier. And you know, I think big now I think big. And then I meet somebody I’m like, wow, they think big. They think big to him? I don’t think so. You know? So I might have thought bigger earlier. And I would have partnered up and I would have leveraged I would have learned the power of leverage and finance earlier meaning borrowing money and scaling through other people’s money. I mean, I built most of my businesses grassroots. I bootstrapped it and you know, and I borrowed money only when needed rather than using it as a tool so I likely would have revisited that I do that now. And I probably would have, I probably would have started writing earlier, and more often. So those are the things I’m doing that now. But you know, I look back and I’m like, should have done that little earlier.
John: But then you also look at you didn’t have time or you had a different stage of your life right, so giving your time to reflect and have more wisdom right? But also you also mentioned you have a family, and spending time with your family is important and even yourself, like you’re also taking care of yourself you’re much more healthier I would imagine, because you have more time because you’ve set yourself up for this part of your life right?
Carl: Very true, that’s so true.
John: So looking back I look, and you know I’m amazed by your success but I know it’s hard work to get there, and for all the listeners that are wanting to become a coach or is a coach and frustrated because they’ve been spending a couple years and not a 80k a year yet. And that’s the average, you know it takes time it’s not an overnight success and it’s the grind, it’s the hours you got to learn you got to keep making mistakes, you got to keep putting in the time and effort, because it’s not easy to run a business, to learn everything and know everything,and yes that also means you go to network, you got to learn to sell you got to learn to do the work, you got to learn a lot of skill sets, and that’s a part of the business mindset, the business journey that we are all in it right as entrepreneurs.
Carl: Sure, yeah it’s you know, I think one of them, you know although I got into entrepreneurship early and it was kind of by accident I do realize it was for me, you know it suits the way I like to live the pace I like to keep, and I get energy from the fact that entrepreneurship is life without a net. You know like the challenge of me knowing that if I fon’t make this happen, you know all the things I have in my life are going to fall apart like that actually juices me, I’m like that I’m like all right well, ha ha ha well we’re going to make that happen right ? and so it is motivation for me, and so I and it’s not for everybody and it’s you know, only what is it about one in 15 people are entrepreneurs, only one in 600 will ever make it to a million dollars or more, only one in 6,000 will make it to 10 million or more you know. So it’s not for everybody you know 14 out of 15 people work for somebody else and for a reason, you know and so, yeah I mean it was i was blessed a bit early on, that i was maybe nudged in the direction i really needed to go anyway, but i’ve enjoyed the ride for sure.
John: And I love you mentioning, like you’re one of 10 kids and you basically had to fight throughout childhood to get what you wanted, and that right there means survival at its fitness right like it’s the dog eat, dog world that we’re living in. In the US, in Canada and Australia in Europe, everyone wants to be a business owner. Everyone sees headlines of ultra-successful people, they all think they want it, they all think but they don’t really understand what’s going on, exactly ,behind their life and do they really want to live it, because a lot of endless nights, no sleeping travel away from family, a lot of hard speaking events like a lot of work is involved.
Carl: There’s no doubt it is the most energy, it’s the most thing most energy you will expend in your life is this, and if you don’t like it it’ll drain you quick, if you love it’ll feed you quick. It is hard to manage the balance, I mean that’s what I spend a lot of my time on with my clients, who are all CEOs so it’s hard to manage that, but boy when you do it’s quite a rewarding path, because you can have as much impact as you want, you can help as many people as you want, you can do the work you like, you as much as you want you can make the money that you want I mean so that.
John: That’s awesome, I mean I really enjoyed our conversation carl. If there is one final note. If for all the listeners, that are looking or are early stages of the business, what would you advice them to do, or if there’s a skill that they don’t currently possess what would you go out and ask them to start learning and start working, on because these business owners, especially the younger ones, that are in their early 20s don’t have a lot of life experience they don’t really understand what it takes to be successful in whatever success means to them, what would you advise them?
Carl: I would advise them to take a class in selling, follow that up by a class in marketing but really understand how to articulate what they do, and build the communication skills because selling is similar to coaching, which is similar to mentoring, which is similar to negotiation they’re all tools of influence, and to be a successful business owner you have to be able to explain to another person what you do well, and how you can benefit them by your collaboration. So you have to have those skills you can say, well I’ll just hire it all right? well, you have an endless bucket of money, then go ahead and hire it but before you hire those people you got to explain what the hell you’re doing so if you’re getting started out I would say go take a class and sell it.
John: I love you ending that with the sales acumen of a skill set that a lot of people don’t even consider as an art, but I love that carl.Thank you so much for all the listeners that don’t know, don’t have your social handle like where can they find you reach out to you if they have any question, or check out your advisory firm?
Carl: Sure, well you can check me out at carlgould.com, our advisory firm is seven the number seven-stage advisors dot com. My personal website if you wanna hit me up is carl360.com.
John: Amazing, and for all the listeners that don’t know who your ideal type of client that you seek out who are they? and what’s your profile like who do you typically like servicing and what do they look like?
Carl: So I’m looking for business owners who are growth-minded, looking to grow either double their business, or grow by a million dollars a year or more. We are industry agnostic we work in all industries and that helps us, because we understand what’s innovative in once, in one industry and we can pick that up and we can drop it in your business, because the innovation in an industry comes from the front lines of another industry, it doesn’t come from within the industry you need somebody outside the industry to help you innovate, and so that’s what we do. And so we’re looking for that growth-minded business owner, because we that’s a different set of activities we’re gonna recommend to you, than if you’re not growth-minded if you’re just looking to stabilize that’s good but we’re looking for someday who’s looking to grow their business.
John: Amazing, well thank you carl I had such a great time conversing with you, you dropped some great nuggets there. So I really want to appreciate and thank you for your time your, you know precious moments and great wisdom that you dropped here, but we’ll stay in touch if you’re ever in Toronto Canada, I’m Canadian reach out to me and we’ll have a great time, thank you so much.
Carl: For sure, thanks for having me.
