• Have major growth on personal billing side
• Bring on new professionals as partners/coaches
• Look at more corporate development work (stuff we’ve done in years past but been unfocussed on due to other shiny things)
• Staying out of challenging partnerships
• Finding more HWs and RKs in the world of business to partner with

Here’s the update:

• Have added 34 clients to my coaching client roster
• Have had the pleasure of working with both Moss Adams and HSBC Securities in Q1 with more work to discuss this year
• Connected with some great professionals in Toronto/Calgary
• Have met literally dozens of amazing professional women in Seattle.
• Have added a consultant to the Seattle scene (hi Kerry) and looking at how to move forward with our work after May in a slightly different direction.
• Have just added a new Ghost Adviser to the team Friday. Pierre Piche was a summer student I hired about 9 years ago for a company I was the contracted Director of Marketing for. It was an absolutely horrible situation (financially and with the venture capital group we were working for), but I had the chance to work with Pierre to show him how I developed out markets from a ‘grass roots’ perspective. Fast forward and after having working in the corporate world and then running his own high-end beverage company, we have decided that he will join the Ghost CEO team servicing Kelowna and the Interior. I think this will be a great fit because he delivers results, was trained by yours truly, he’s a hunter, and is a battle proven entrepreneur.
• My billings (personal/non-license) are up 136% over this time last year. My expenses are down 64% For those keeners out there, you can figure out that the margins just got much fatter.
• Simple Bookkeeping Systems and Lullably League are cruising along. We are getting ready to let LL full out of the gates and we have 9 interested parties waiting to look at licensing documents
• We are about to complete our first Campus CEO at UBC. I’m expecting business plans tonight and we will be having the judges panel on May 11th on campus. This is a program I’m going to be rolling out at the University of Toronto and UCLA in either Fall 2010 or Spring 2011. We will likely be running these regularly at UBC and the gals involved in this one have been stars.
• Two more companies are poised to launch. I’m having difficulties with scheduling with these two partners, but I think they will by dynamite business models once we put some horsepower behind them.

In the end, a very powerful start to a very important year. I’m dyno testing (a test mechanics use to figure out horsepower of an engine) my own coaching practice and will take it up to 100 clients. I’m poised to be in this position by end of Q4 this year. The Seattle market continues to heat up and I can forecast at least 20% of the clients being from Seattle. It’s a quick drive from the house and the level of clients coming out of that market are absolutely amazing.

That’s all for now. Need to get ready for a handful of prospect calls this morning, some conference calls with business owners later today, and drinks with a friend afterwork to discuss money-making ideas. Get in the groove my friends, it’s yours for the taking.

C/

I like Dragon’s Den mainly because it gives me a reason to scream at the television. Knocker entrepreneurs overvalue their junior business ideas, show up with no sales, and act like they are on the same level as the dragons. I really like when a moron tells them that they ‘are going to miss out’ and they ‘obviously don’t see the opportunity.’

This week’s show gave the background on each dragon. From single mother of four to an immigrant who came to Canada with almost nothing, these five people never got anything given to them. Most thought they would fail, there were times when they came close. But they all stepped into it and made it happen. What I found to be the nugget (the gift) in that show was Kevin’s story about working in an ice cream parlour. The nasty owner told him to “get down on his knees and scrape the gum off the floor.” He told her no and he was fired. He decided at that point to NEVER work for someone else again. Never give his power to someone else. That story really resonate with me as I’ve been similar situations where the person I worked for asked me to do something so insulting, so demoralizing, that I realized I was selling my soul for money. That doesn’t work out.

True entrepreneurs, those of us that don’t make it a choice, but it is a calling, have had this story happen to us. Recently, I told a would-be entrepreneur that they might be better served going to work in the corporate world. Running the gauntlet will let you know if it is for you, or if you must have control of your life in each and every way. Employees think starting a business is risky; entrepreneurs think that having someone else responsible for if you eat or not is risky. I’m the latter, but many friends are the former. It is up to you to decide what works for you. Life is too short to scrape gum off the floor.

Invictus, by William Ernest Henley

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul

If you’d like a copy for your room/bag/fridge, grab a PDF here.

Best,
Chris.

I’ve made a lot of mistakes in life and in business. I’ve stumbled, tripped, fallen flat on my face, and stepped in the ‘dodo’. I used to get really pissed when I’d make a mistake because I think stupidity should have a price, but over the years, I’ve gotten a bit softer. I realize (finally) that making mistakes is part of the process. You don’t learn if you don’t stretch and sometimes when you stretch, you fall on your bean. That’s the way that it works. I think any success that I’ve enjoyed has been directly related to a previous mistake I made. Too often, business owners are so worried that they are going to make a mistake, they don’t do anything and that inaction, in effect, is the mistake that is costly. Inaction is the greatest mistake any of us can make. It’s been the cause of World War 2, and even the current recession. Everyone stops and looks at what is happening, but no one steps in for fear of doing the ‘wrong’ thing.

I had bad business partners (mistake) and now I have good partners (learning from my mistakes)

I used to ’save’ clients from themselves (mistake), and now I suggest the path, but empower them to make the right decisions (learning from my mistakes)

I used to pass over business deals that I was unsure how to build (mistake) and now I take on the challenge knowing that I can learn and do very quickly (learning from my mistakes)

I used to destroy competitors to get them out of my market (mistake) and now I partner with them to build more together than we can alone (learning from my mistakes)

The only reason I am where I am is because of the mistakes that I’ve made in the past. Now I know from learning (sometimes very costly and brutally) what ‘not’ to do. Where I get pissed now is when I make the same mistake twice. I still get the odd partner that sneaks in with a good pitch only to lie on their belly when the going gets tough. I get disappointed when this happens, but now quickly weed them out of the family. Fortunately now, I have champions in the circle and things are good. But as more people come in, there is always the ‘chance’ someone will sneak in.  I’m not going to be perfect every time, but by making mistakes time and time again, I get stronger with my resolve not to duplicate them. This is a good thing and something you can only learn from falling down.

Take a risk. Take a chance. Calculate the upside and the downside and jump. Don’t over think your decisions. Use your gut and choose to explore the unknown opportunities for you. My best business experiences and knowledge have come from the worst business deals and partners. The best way to learn how to be careful around the stove is not to bake a cake. It’s to touch the element when it’s on high. That sends an immediate lesson to you. Same goes from the missteps. Fear is an acquired habit. So too is being curious about potential and knowing that even if it doesn’t work out the way you thought it would, there are going to be some very valuable lessons in there IF you choose to learn from them.

I’m doing some big expansion this year and although I hope everything is unicorns and rainbows, I know there are going to be some hiccups. Having ridden this horse before, I know that any mistake I make, I will (because I always have) figure out a way to fix it and keep moving forward.

Now get off this blog and go take some risks!

C/

My dad always said, “You can play now and pay later or pay now and play later. If you play now, it will always be more expensive down the road.” What he was teaching us is that you need to put the work in BEFORE you reap the rewards. With the credit/housing crisis here in the US, it shows that many people tried to ‘live the lives they wanted’ before they had earned them. Buying houses they can’t afford, cars they can’t service, and vacations that they pay on their credit cards. People are being wiped out because they didn’t do the work first. They wanted to ‘pretend’ that they had arrived before ever paying the piper.

I’m spending a month in the tropics which feels both relaxing, but more important, gratifying. While my friends were all getting the big homes, the big cars, and taking the big vacations with the impressive pictures…I was building. I didn’t vacation, I didn’t buy the big house, I didn’t buy the new cars, and I didn’t jaunt all over the map to party. Instead…I worked. I know that paying now, would allow me to play later without worry. Here I am. The stuff in your life will not make you happy just by having it. You can go run up your credit cards and live like a rock star and that will bring you momentary happiness. Then the dread will set in when you realize the Visa bill is coming tomorrow and you are paying 19% interest on a balance you can’t possibly cover.  A friend emailed me bitching that I get to take “all this time off” and he gets two weeks of a year. I told him that it isn’t unfair, it is that we have made different decisions. He chose the ’security of a job’ and I chose to build an asset that created revenue. Remember that security that you crave may keep things out (unemployment, no money, etc.) but it also keeps you in (doesn’t allow you time to explore things you are passionate about, spending time with people you enjoy, having the freedom to choose.

Building a business is the single most important time investment you can make in your long term ability to ‘play’. It will generate revenues that allow you to sneak away without financial hardship. You may work very hard for 1,2,3,5 years, but in the end, that investment will return to you over and over again. When you see people enjoying the spoils of their hardwork, don’t feel sorry for yourself. Instead, find the inspiration to model what they have done so that you can enjoy what the enjoy. It isn’t about taking risks, it’s about getting past instant gratification (which we are all to focused on). Stay your course, build your model in a sustainable model, and enjoy all that being a business owner has to offer. We all start with the same options. How will you leverage yours?

For me…I’m needed back at the pool. There’s a drink waiting…

The last couple of years, I’ve been building up a portfolio of companies that:

• Have a distinct offering within three niche markets
• Have the potential of being cash flow positive in a short amount of time
• Have little or no substantial debt
• Target professional women or do something to support women in the economy
• Are run by someone who understands their markets and has the horsepower to get the job done
• Can the overall idea, or any of the components, be licenced?

In exchange for an equity stake and preferred position on dividend payout, I leverage capital. Financial capital, intellectual capital, human capital, systems, networks, and know how. This type of business is often called Venture Capital. This is wrong. The work I do in this type of model is Angel Investment. People use the terms back and forth so I thought I’d lay it out once and for all. After completing 25+ of these deals, I thought that I would take a moment to illustrate the difference.

Venture Capital is someone like me using a pool of money owned by others, and leveraging an equity stake in a company. This is done to grow, flip, transform, or be amalgamated into something else. The money is almost always held in a ‘fund’ that investors put their financial resources into.  Think of it like a capitalist co-op.   There’s a lot more to it, but that is the simple definition.

.Angel investment is an individual like me using my own capital, knowledge, contacts, ideas, systems, etc. to take an equity stake in a company and co-pilot its development into a profitable model. Dragon’s Den makes itself out to be Venture Capital, but it is really Angel Investment. I found a great reference on WIkipedia that lays it out:

Angel investments bear extremely high risk and are usually subject to dilution from future investment rounds. As such, they require a very high return on investment. Because a large percentage of angel investments are lost completely when early stage companies fail, professional angel investors seek investments that have the potential to return at least 10 or more times their original investment within 5 years, through a defined exit strategy, such as plans for an initial public offering or an acquisition. Current ‘best practices’ suggest that angels might do better setting their sights even higher, looking for companies that will have at least the potential to provide a 20x-30x return over a five- to seven-year holding period. After taking into account the need to cover failed investments and the multi-year holding time for even the successful ones, however, the actual effective internal rate of return for a typical successful portfolio of angel investments is, in reality, typically as ‘low’ as 20-30%

When an Angel investor gets into play, not only could they waste their time, money, and systems, but they risk damaging their reputation with too many failed companies. That’s why Angels consider the personality as much as anything else when determining fit within their portfolio. A good person that is bad at business can be fixed; a bad person that is good at business is cancer to an Angel Investor.

Due diligence is a part of business that Angels do to try to weed out the good ideas by bad people/bad ideas by good people.

For existing businesses, I look at:

• financial modeling
• exit opportunity analysis
• research of the industry
• validation of market size
• competitive analysis
• site visits, and etc
• As a rule, I don’t buy debt as an Angel unless the model is making positive cashflow

For new businesses, I look at:

• target market identification and size
• competitive analysis
• competencies of the people involved
• industry trends
• cost of penetration
• the personality of the person with the idea (Can they get it done? Can they survive while the company is growing? Are they committed? Are they an employee (mindset) pretending to be and entrepreneur? Will they listen to the advice you give them or are they going to fight without knowing?)

At the end of the day, it is a gut cheque (using your intuition). Does this company make sense at this time, with this person, in these markets, following this plan? If all lines up, I pull the trigger. If I’m not sure, I start to pump the brakes, and if something feels really off, I hit the kill switch.

I’m sitting at Starbucks in Kerrisdale looking at my business models. We are about to close the first month of the year and when I was looking at the numbers and status of everything, a thought pops into my mind. HOLY SHIT! This is all working! I set a pretty aggressive plan for this year. Quadrupling revenues while decreasing costs. I’m on pace right now from a revenue stand point and I’ve decreased expenses (compared to last year), by a whopping 87%. Yes…87% reduction in overhead. That all goes into my pocket. Campus CEO is rolling with an amazing group of ladies, the bookkeeping/babysitting models are rolling with new opportunities coming in daily, and I’m sitting here with a shit eating grin on my face because what I envisioned is now happening. The coaches are all in play (but some are working much too hard which we need to tweak.) New clients are coming in through champions, a handful of prospective coaches have some interesting potential we are exploring, and the US market is waking up again. Did I mention I’m heading to the Caribbean for 4-5 weeks?

It all starts with a plan. It starts with you (or me) sitting down and putting to paper the revenue projections and then placing strategies that will support those projections. Is it magic? No. Does it take focus and commitment? Yes. I’ve found myself the last two weeks having a hard time sleeping (and fighting off a lingering cold). It dawned on me today. I don’t have insomnia. I have excitement. Last year, all the cannon fodder got out of the various models and champions are running the race together. Partners, clients, coaches all running in cadence towards big things and it’s fun. In any given day I’m chatting strategy with a client in Miami, chatting with a prospective coach in Vancouver, and having frank conversations with 30+ entrepreneurs that are still in university. This doesn’t suck.

What are you doing to make this your year? Are you getting rid of your dead weight? Are you focusing on what is working and buring off what doesn’t? It only gets easier if you make it easier. I’m seriously thinking about ramping up my own private practice to 100 clients by the end of summer. I mentioned this in passing to three champions, and I already have some really interesting people waiting for sits when they open up. Tell me this isn’t living!

Get out there and clean house people. If you want to fly with eagles, don’t run with turkeys.

I am reminded today that the big picture is necessary, but the baby steps are where magic happens. It is you putting one foot forward each day, putting weight on it, and moving the next foot forward that gets you to the top of the mountain. Too many times, people get frustrated, disheartened, upset because they aren’t at the top yet. They think that they have paid their dues, should get an elevator ride, rather than take the stairs, and beat themselves up. Your success this year, and throughout your life, is going to be from taking one step at a time. Put one foot  in front of another and keep going. I love in the movie “Castaway” when Tom Hanks finds out that after being lost for five years that his love has married (and had kids with someone else).

“I was never gonna get off that island. I was gonna die there, totally alone. I was gonna get sick, or get injured or something. The only choice I had, the only thing I could control was when, and how, and where it was going to happen. So… I made a rope and I went up to the summit, to hang myself. I had to test it, you know? Of course. You know me. And the weight of the log, snapped the limb of the tree, so I-I – , I couldn’t even kill myself the way I wanted to. I had power over *nothing*. And that’s when this feeling came over me like a warm blanket. I knew, somehow, that I had to stay alive. Somehow. I had to keep breathing. Even though there was no reason to hope. And all my logic said that I would never see this place again. So that’s what I did. I stayed alive. I kept breathing. And one day my logic was proven all wrong because the tide came in, and gave me a sail. And now, here I am. I’m back. In Memphis, talking to you. I have ice in my glass… And I’ve lost her all over again. I’m so sad that I don’t have Kelly. But I’m so grateful that she was with me on that island. And I know what I have to do now. I gotta keep breathing. Because tomorrow the sun will rise. Who knows what the tide could bring?”

As you take each step, you never know what that step is going to lead to. By putting the little pieces together, you can start to orchestrate something amazing. When I’m asked how I’ve built Ghost CEO over time, I just say, “I started with an idea, a client, a process, a couple of tools, and each day I worked to get better, smarter, faster, and more knowledgeable about profit modelling. There was no magic. I just put one foot in front of the next and now after nine years, 6,234 sessions, I know one thing…I have much to learn. Going back to the individual components making magic, here is a great youtube video a friend put me onto. Amazing how he puts the little pieces together. Nothing on their own; together they are magic. What brilliance will your next step unleash? I’m excited to find out. I hope you enjoy this video as much as I do. Have a great weekend. Rest…you deserve it.

C/