Business
This week’s Misfit Entrepreneurs are Alex and Leila Hormozi. Alex and Leila are an entrepreneur power couple. They have scaled three companies to well over $100M in cumulative sales across 3 different industries (software, service, eCommerce) and continue to grow. Their companies include Gym Launch, a service and coaching company, Prestige Labs, a premium supplement company, and ALAN a lead management software firm. In fact, they took Gym Launch from 1 employee to over 70 and $28 million in revenue in just 3 years. Needless to say, Alex and Leila have not only figured out how to scale and grow companies quickly and effectively, but they’ve also found the right balance as a couple to do it well and I want to dig into all of this with them in this episode. Alex Hormozi Podcast – The Game Alex and Leila both have Youtube Channels where they give a lot of advice Alex and Leila met in 2016 through online dating. Both were very focused on their careers. But they met for the first data and found a lot of commonalities including their love of business and their backgrounds. How they saw business was similar. In fact, after Alex heard what Leila wanted to do, he told her to skip all that and come work with him. Over 3-4 weeks of them talking and her learning more about the Gym Launch concept, she saw a great opportunity to work together. She ended up leaving her business and joining him with Gym Launch. They ran the business as just them for a year and then began to build out the teams, etc. They actually were doing such a good job that some gyms could not handle the capacity they were creating for them, and it caused problems. In fact, Alex and Leila almost gave up. They re-worked the business model so they or a rep for them did not have to be present and things took off. From there, they got into supplements specifically for gyms. They also developed a lead management software and other solutions. Alex mentions that they had a logistically challenged business that they had to fix, even though they were very good at doing what they did. Alex was good at the solution side, but Leila is really good at putting the team and leadership into place. What has been your secret to working well as a couple? Leila They want to be around each other is the foundation. You have to desire to be around each other all the time. There is never anything between them – they don’t allow things to go un-addressed, fixing them when they come up. Delineating each other’s responsibilities is important. Making sure to drive toward the same goals. How does your dynamic work or change during tough times? Alex We are fairly even keeled. It’s important to separate a circumstance from emotions. It is not a reflection of who you are, it just is. Separating the stressor from the response is a key skill. Finding out what information each other is working with that the other doesn’t have when there is a problem. Staying in each other’s lanes when it comes to making decisions in the business is also very important. They trust each other to make the best decision, but seek input as needed. What are the principles you use to develop a successful business and teams? A lot of it is psychology. Really understanding people and making sure to put them in the best place to succeed. Being willing to have good, but hard conversations. Working on your emotional intelligence is very important to success. You pick the people, you assemble the people, you coach the people. “Sharp mind, kind heart, strong will.” Core values: Candor, Micro-speed/macro-patience, have humility, give credit/take blame At the 23 min mark, Alex and Leila talk about their culture… “To have a great company – marry the smarts and the hearts.” Explain your marketing and lead strategy… Fundamentally, there are 2 ways to grow a business: Get more customers or make it each customer more profitable. Fancy fails, simple scales. Paid media, earned media, owned media are the areas of marketing. Referrals are one of the best and easiest ways to grow. You should not scale other areas until the word of mouth is a significant driver of your business. Mastering an area is that it will continue to produce once you’ve set things up and don’t have to be involved in it constantly. Give an example of a front-end offer that works well? Win-win. For Gym Launch, a customer can start using Gym Launch absolutely free and if they don’t make at least $4000 in their first 30 days, you don’t have to continue. Back-end? Value ladders should never stop. You solve problem one and problem two, but solving problem two creates problem 3 that needs a solution and so on. Value ladders typically stop at the level of competence of the entrepreneur selling them. Your job is to continuously grow your ability to find and solve problems building out your value ladder. Alex’s book on this is called Hundred Million Dollar Offers Best advice for an entrepreneur starting out today? If you are not moving at the pace you want to look at what you may be lacking. Is it a skill? Is it a belief? Is it a character trait? Identify this and go seek it. Let go of any identity that you hold – identity is habit and may not serve you in the way you need to succeed. Start with a blank slate and become the person you need to be through the habits needed to succeed at what you are doing. Best Quote: To have a great company – marry the smarts and the hearts. Alex and Leila's Misfit 3: Alex: Think in decades not months. Leila: 99% of your thoughts are not true. Alex: Do the boring work. Leila: Feelings are not to be obeyed, but something to be managed. Alex: Volume begets skill. The more you do, the better you get. The better you get, the more you do. Leila: Learning how to make smart decisions is one of the best skills you can require. Don’t build up decision debt. 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