黑料门

On this episode, we take a completely different tack from tactical how to and we get deep with noted business author Michael Gerber who coined the phrase “work on your business, not in your business”. We start at the beginning of the entrepreneurial journey.

Transcript

Jesse: How鈥檚 it going, Richard?

Richard: I鈥檓 super excited today. It鈥檚 a big one for us.

Jesse: This is a big one. Yes so, super excited today. Actually in front of me, I have a book in front of me 鈥� that I read probably twenty years ago when I was in college — that I applied at a business that I was in then and I鈥檝e applied ever since. So super pumped to hear from me the original source on this one.

Richard: Yeah. Today we have with us the guru of systems, processes for basically structuring your business for growth from a company of one to a company of one thousand. We have the Michael E. Gerber in house this morning and he is author of multiple books, the most common probably known “The e-myth revisited,” “Beyond e-myth”. He has multiple books in different verticals in which he鈥檚 co-authored with other authors as well. And he has some interesting new projects that sound very intriguing that we鈥檙e going to learn more about at the end of the show. Right now every week Jesse, we pretty much cover a lot of the technical pieces of e-commerce, but wanted Michael to really go in and help these entrepreneurs. Basically, kind of, take them all the way through why it鈥檚 OK to dream and why you should dream. It鈥檚 part of the process of becoming an entrepreneur. And then, you know, we鈥檒l take all the way through some of the things they could do when they鈥檙e first getting started, and then maybe when they鈥檙e telling as well. But first and foremost, let鈥檚 bring in Mr. Michael E. Gerber, welcome Michael we鈥檙e glad to have you.

Michael: Thank you very much, gentlemen, I love being here.

Richard: And so, when an entrepreneur first starts thinking about becoming an entrepreneur, what do you encourage them to do? I know, I鈥檓 familiar with the dreaming room but we don鈥檛 necessarily have to go all the way into the dreaming room, but what is, how important is the dream?

Michael: Well it鈥檚 everything. It鈥檚 everything from the beginning, to the middle, to the end. It鈥檚 the reason you鈥檙e doing it. And so the reason they鈥檙e doing it is what effectively I engage them in. So why are you doing this? So what does this mean to you? So why is this important? So why is this important to the people you believe, you want to take it out to. So what are you going to give to the people you鈥檙e taking this out to? So if I don鈥檛 find something compelling in that, I know that鈥檚 a lot of work to be done. And the problem is having called on literally hundreds, upon hundreds, upon hundreds of thousands of small business owners down the street, knocking on doors. I mean the real doors, not the electronic door, the real door. The doors that people can shut in your face, that nobody wants you to walk into the real doors. The hero is back then, my guys, back then, my guys, my ladies would knock on doors to engage every single small business owner in a story. So I understand the story. So the critical element that鈥檚 missing in almost every small company I鈥檝e ever walk into is a compelling story. Human beings live for stories, and so what鈥檚 the story. Well understand the Torah it鈥檚 a story, you understand, The New Testament, It鈥檚 a story, you understand. Apple is a story, Google — it鈥檚 a story. Every company that鈥檚 ever been started is a story, and so every individual who starts a company has to become and discover the storyteller within them to discover the real reason they鈥檙e doing this.

And the problem is for every single one of them the real reason they鈥檙e doing this is money, meaning to make a living. So every single person I鈥檝e ever spoken to barn none, their answer would be to make some money. Not just some money to make a living, but not just some living but a really groovy living, and not just a groovy living to make a whole bunch of money, the millionaire next door. That鈥檚 why the Millionaire Next Door attracts all that greedy stupid stuff that sits inside of everybody. I want to be free, I want to be independent, I want to have to work my butt off doing it, doing it, doing it, doing it. I want, I want, I want, I want. And that鈥檚 the beginning of the conversation. That鈥檚 a most compelling conversation you can ever have with anybody, because as you begin to, you truly discover what鈥檚 missing in this picture, what鈥檚 missing inside of this human being, this human being, who鈥檚 off the rail, not on the rail. And, you guys know, you鈥檝e been in the business for a long long time, most people you meet are off the rail, not on the rail.

So my job is, first of all, to get them to see that. So what鈥檚 missing in this picture is the most important conversation, one can have, in order to get to the most important reason for being in business that one can have, like Steve Jobs, like the Google boys, etc., etc., etc., etc.

Richard: So why do you think so many people have a hard time dreaming in general. Maybe they daydream a lot but, what is it that seems does it, do you think they feel it鈥檚 daunting, or they just too quick trying to think of the money piece or?

Michael: Dreaming happens. You go to sleep you have a dream, you don鈥檛 go to sleep to dream. Dreaming happens, you don鈥檛 make it happen. So first of all nobody鈥檚 ever been taught to dream. We never were, we never were taught to dream when, we were four years old. We were never taught to dream, when we were 12 years old. We were never taught to dream, but we are 26 years old, when we went into the military, the sergeant didn鈥檛 say “Dream!”

Jesse: I think that鈥檚 seems like the last thing you hear.

Michael: The last thing you had in mind, right. And when we went to MIT nobody said “dream”, so effectively it鈥檚 because we don鈥檛, it鈥檚 foreign to us. So it鈥檚 foreign to us, especially what I call “intentional dreaming”.

Intentional dreaming is an act of dreaming for a very specific reason and that reason goes back to what鈥檚 missing in this picture. And what鈥檚 missing in this picture for the vast majority of people on the planet is what it means to be a human being, what it means to be alive. And so that conversation is in fact the conversation behind the e-myth revisited. So when people tell me: “Michael I read your book and I reread it, and I reread it, and I reread it and so forth or read your book 20 years ago, and then I did your book one time, two times, three times, etc.” They鈥檙e really telling me that the book touched them in a way that a business book doesn鈥檛 do. Business books don鈥檛 touch us, business books make us think. My job wasn鈥檛 to make anybody think, my job was to make people feel, but to feel about how we think. So you understand the two are connected to feel heart and head, heart and mind, to feel about how we think and the absence of any true meaning in our lives. Now understand I鈥檓 not saying everybody is living a stupid life. Well I would, but that would be upsetting to everybody I鈥檓 talking to right now.

Jesse: We have to edit that out! (laughing)

Michael: I鈥檓 not saying that, I鈥檓 saying, but it鈥檚 very close to that. And so that was the motivation for everything I鈥檝e done. So you understand, so what does it mean to lead a stupid life, and what does it mean to lead a true life that has true meaning. Well, I have to come face to face with what does that look like for me.

So in the very first section of the seven steps that I talk about in the “E-myth revisited”, we don鈥檛 start with the business we start with your life. The first step is 鈥� what鈥檚 my primary aim? My primary aim is what do I wish my life to be like, when it鈥檚 finally done. I ask the reader to write their own obituary. I mean to actually write their own obituary. They鈥檙e now gone and they鈥檝e recorded before they left their obituary. What would you want to say and suddenly you come to the real conversation about meaning. So when you introduced me as the systems guide, the structure guy, etc. — and that鈥檚 all afterword. You understand the structure and the systems are all afterward they鈥檙e not the primary, they鈥檙e the secondary.

Richard: Yeah, because you鈥檝e got to set them up according to the dream.

Michael: Of course the dream is the primary, the systems are the secondary that the means to, they鈥檙e not the end. And so most often, I鈥檓 misinterpreted by people who are caught in their minds as opposed to their hearts as a deep thinker. I鈥檓 not a deep thinker, I鈥檓 a deep feeler. In short, I deeply know that the meaning of my life is the whole of my life. Now you know, because you celebrated it, I just celebrated my eighty-second birthday. So, you know, when you get to be 82, you know that there鈥檚 83, there鈥檚 84, and my mom lived to 96. My dad died at 50, so I understand when I say this, I鈥檓 saying this with a very truly mortal experience of this. So what does this all mean? And then it鈥檚 gone. What does that mean? What was the point of all this?

So the dreamer is the creator, the dreamer is the first principle personality of the entrepreneur. The entrepreneur is a dreamer, a thinker, a storyteller and a leader. The dreamer has a dream, the thinker has a vision. the storyteller has a purpose, and the leader has a mission. My job is to help my client understand those and to engage with those, and discover those inside of himself or herself, even if it takes him three years to do it. And understand it鈥檚 going to piss away that time anyway. Even if it took him three years, five years to do it, wouldn鈥檛 make any difference. To suddenly come face to face with the reason you鈥檙e here. I mean the reason you鈥檙e here.

Richard: Big difference.

Michael: I mean, think about it. And suddenly then we鈥檙e working on a business to grow from a company of one to a company of 1000 that has a reason for being here, not just making a living. Do you understand, any dummy can make a living?

Now there are a lot of dummies not making a living and of course I鈥檓 interested in those dummies who are not making a living, but understand, it鈥檚 not because they鈥檙e not making a living. It鈥檚 because there is no reason for them being. So we鈥檝e got to find the reason. And that鈥檚 the job. That鈥檚 your job. That鈥檚 my job. That鈥檚 your job, Rich. It鈥檚 our job. Our job is to find the reason and then dig down deeper, don鈥檛 just accept a quickie answer to the: “So what are you here for what are you here?..” Well I鈥檓 here to make, I鈥檝e heard so many stupid answers. I鈥檓 simply saying it鈥檚 not that, we鈥檙e looking for the real one. And you鈥檒l know the real one the minute they say it. Just as they will, because it won鈥檛 be just something. You follow me?

Jesse: Oh, definitely.

Richard: Well I mean in addition to that some of the things that can kind of be assumed, although, I don鈥檛 like to do that too often. But I imagine reading between the lines and knowing a little bit more about you is, it鈥檚 going to take work no matter what, right. This is, no one just comes out and hands out a million dollars. Not that I鈥檝e found yet. But it鈥檚 going to take work and so having that reason, having that why, having that fuel inside, that inspiration, when you have an inspiration of a dream, energy comes from places you鈥檝e never even really knew you had.

Michael: That鈥檚 important. It comes from places you never even were aware of. And that鈥檚 energy. So the energy is the source of passion, and passion is the source of imagination, and imagination is the source of vision. So effectively if Steve Jobs weren鈥檛 consumed with passion, the passion of the creator, the creator has a passion unlike any passion of any human being on the planet. The creator were born in the image of God, it said, which means were born to create. So you suddenly see there鈥檚 a reason for us being here, we鈥檙e born to create, we鈥檙e born to create what? We鈥檙e born to create a world fit for God. So I鈥檓 speaking to people who may not even believe in God. Say, I don鈥檛 know how anybody could not believe in God. When did you stop believing in God, there鈥檚 no other reason, there鈥檚 no reason at all.

You understand? No, none, zero. It鈥檚 a great story. It鈥檚 the great story that people have told from the very beginning from Adam and Eve. So effectively we have to know what that story is, and we have to suddenly come face to face with our role in that story. Something magical happens. It鈥檚 just it literally is you both know that, because you both and each done that.

Something magical happens to you. It doesn鈥檛, you don鈥檛 make it. It makes you. So it鈥檚 not like “I鈥檝e written that book” — it wrote that book. The reality is it does that and it is the creator within. And it鈥檚 as separate from Michael sitting here speaking to you right now as anything we could imagine. So it鈥檚 not me doing that. It鈥檚 IT doing that. My job is to get plugged into it, and in order to get plugged into it, I have to open myself to it to. To open myself to it I鈥檝e got to shut down all the other “yes but, yes but”, and so forth, and so forth. This might sound terribly, terribly. Whatever, but it is. But it鈥檚 the truth and every single client I鈥檝e had over 100,000 small business clients in the past 40 years, every single one of those 100,000 plus small business owners who came to us, because they read the story and they said: “I got to do this.” Every single one of them had a belief about something that was inhibiting them from creating. We had to get rid of that belief. We had to get rid of all the stuff that they brought with them to the conversation. So I invented what I call a “blank piece of paper and beginner鈥檚 mind.” So the way you approach this is literally a blank piece of paper and a beginner鈥檚 mind. It鈥檚 how you鈥檝e approached everything you鈥檝e ever created. I don鈥檛 start whipping out something and drawing as a schema, I don鈥檛 do that. It never happens to me like that. I start writing words. I don鈥檛 write them, IT does. You may know, and I鈥檓 sure you receive my monologues. Have you received my monologues either of you?

Richard: I have.

Jesse: Yes.

Michael: Yeah. So the monologues, there are now 200 of them and I send one out every week, and there what you might say are what they are entrepreneurial poems, and so I wrote a poem once a week. Now when I say: “I write a poem once a week,” I don鈥檛 really write a poem once a week, IT writes a poem once a week, because I sit down without a thought in my head and just start writing, literally without a thought in my head. There鈥檚 not a plan has ever been put to work on a monologue. Like today, I think I鈥檒l write about. Never. I disallow it. I鈥檓 as interested in what鈥檚 going to come as my reader might be.

So we have about ten thousand people subscribers to our monologues. But what you鈥檒l discover if you truly pay attention to the monologues, you鈥檒l discover how creation occurs. That鈥檚 a fascinating thing. It鈥檚 a fascinating thing. So that鈥檚 what I鈥檝e been doing for the past 40 years.

Richard: I love it. I could imagine — knowing a little more about you than we鈥檙e going to have time to cover this you know 45 minutes an hour. You know I know you could talk about this for the next five years. Just this one piece, because it鈥檚 so critical to it. And I would say before we get into anything else, just to maybe bring in, even though you probably hate I鈥檓 saying this, to bring in the dream a little bit to where someone can comprehend that, it鈥檚 OK to say something, as big as you want to say it like you want to end world hunger. You want to like, you know what I mean, like some people think: “Oh, the dreams got to be, I鈥檓 going to make, I鈥檓 going to sell this widget and I鈥檒l do pay enough to pay the family house and鈥�” It鈥檚 like, that鈥檚 not a dream.

Michael: No, those are objectives.

Richard: Yeah, that鈥檚 not a dream. So what鈥檚 something just in a 2-3 minutes that you would say: “Start with a beginner鈥檚 mind, let the dreams start to come out.” At what point knowing that you鈥檝e done this feeling-thinking thing for a while. At what point do you think someone could, they鈥檒l feel something where they might be onto something, they鈥檙e starting to touch that real dream is. We know they鈥檝e got to keep doing it, it could take three years and I鈥檓 not trying to wrap it all up in a bow here.

Michael: Sure you are.

Richard: Everyone wants a hack, a three year and five minutes just saying, like, how would they know they鈥檙e starting to go down the path of actual real..?

Michael: How do you know when you鈥檙e when you fall in love?

Richard: Yeah you鈥檙e being like my dad when I said “How am I going to know when I鈥檝e tuned a guitar? ‘You鈥檒l know when you go, when you鈥檝e tuned the guitar.’ You tell them, I just never understood that same darn thing.

Michael: Same darn thing. Our dream in 1977, when I started the Michael Thomas corporation — I was Michael, he was Thomas. It was, it came to be the very first business coaching company on the planet. We invented business coaching.

Now that鈥檚 an extraordinary thing to say and people say: ‘Oh come on. You couldn鈥檛 have invented business coaching. It鈥檚 like a one point three billion dollar reality today.’ We invented small business coaching. And, when we decided to do that it was because I鈥檇 been working with small business owners by accident. My brother in law owned an ad agency and he had a problem with one of his clients, and he asked if I would go talk to his client about a problem he had — converting leads into sales.

And I told my brother-in-law: ‘I don鈥檛 know anything about business. And I don鈥檛 know anything about technology’. Because it was just the beginning of the Silicon Valley. And he said: ‘Sure you do, Michael, you know more than you think you do, just come meet with him, please.’ I said: ‘Okay, well, why not.’ No harm done. So I went to meet with Bob, and Bob asked me what I knew about his business and I said: ‘Nothing, Bob.’ And Bob says: ‘Well what do you know about our product?’ And I said: ‘Less than that, Bob. So I don鈥檛 know anything about your business, I know nothing about your product.’ He said: ‘How can you help me?’ I said: ‘I haven鈥檛 a clue, Bob, Ace thinks I can. We鈥檝e got an hour to kill when Ace comes back. So let鈥檚 talk.’ So it began with the assumption that I didn鈥檛 know anything about business and Bob did. Bob did because he owned one. So in my mind, at that time if a guy who owns a business he knows about this, otherwise why would he own one, you understand? So I just started asking Bob questions and I discovered every time I asked him a question he gave me back an anecdotal answer. In short, he really didn鈥檛 have real answers, just anecdotes. Sort of about kind of like, like that. We got to the point where I asked him about his sales. And he tells me about his sales engineers and what鈥檚 a sales engineer, I鈥檓 a complete novice. You understand I was 38 years old, I was a complete novice, complete novice in that regard. Where have you been all your life. I鈥檝e been doing, and doing, and doing, and doing what? I learned how to play the saxophone and I learned how to build a house. I mean, just stuff, I learned to do stuff. I was a technician. We come finally to him describing what a sales engineer is. And I said: ‘Why do you needed engineer to sell this?’ He said: ‘Well, they have to understand the problem that the customer has.’ And I said: ‘Well do you understand the problem the customer has?’ He said: ‘Maybe, that鈥檚 why we created the product.’ I said: ‘So the product was created because you understood what the problem was that your customer likely had. So effectively, that鈥檚 really your positioning statement isn鈥檛 it. You鈥檙e really the solution to the problem your customers got. So you鈥檙e, you don鈥檛 need an engineer to figure that out. Obviously, all you need is somebody who is scripted in a sufficiently intelligent way that they get why you鈥檙e there and why they need you.

Because that鈥檚 all that has to happen at the front. That鈥檚 how you convert the lead into the first benchmark, and what we鈥檙e calling a sale.’ So the question becomes what鈥檚 the first benchmark? And he鈥檚 already lost. He said: ‘Wait a second.’ I said: ‘No, let me explain. The problem is you don鈥檛 have a selling system because you don鈥檛 understand the story. And the story is the ball game.’ He said: ‘Well, do you know how to write that story?’ I said: ‘Sure.’ He said: ‘Will you write it for me? I said: ‘Sure.’ He said Ace would figure out what to pay me, Ace pick me up, I鈥檒l talk to him about it, and then he鈥檒l come back to you. I鈥檒l see you shortly, Bob.’ And that was the end of the conversation.

Ace picks me up he said: ‘What happened?’ I said: ‘He just hired me.’ ‘He just hired you? How?’ I said: ‘Well, I told him to fix his problem.’ He said: ‘But you told me you couldn鈥檛 fix his problem because you don鈥檛 know anything about business, you don鈥檛 know anything about his private guys.’ ‘Well that鈥檚 still true. I don鈥檛, but that鈥檚 very easy to learn. It鈥檚 not the knowing about the product that鈥檚 critical. I learned that in about five seconds, asking him a question. What鈥檚 missing is how we say that to the consumer, and all he got to do is write that.

So that was the beginning of the second one, the third one, the fourth one, the fifth one, the six one. And I鈥檓 suddenly discovering the e-myth right there in front of me. And that is that Bob wasn鈥檛 an entrepreneur, Mary wasn鈥檛 an entrepreneur, Jimmy wasn鈥檛 an entrepreneur, Jerry wasn鈥檛 an entrepreneur. There were technicians suffering from an entrepreneurial seizure. They started a business to make a living, to sell a product without any understanding of what an entrepreneur really does and goes through in order to create a great growing company. My job I saw, was to teach them. So I鈥檓 suddenly in the business of teaching small business owners, whose business I don鈥檛 know anything about and don鈥檛 even care to, how to grow a great growing company. And that鈥檚 I鈥檓 doing that, as I鈥檓 doing that, as I鈥檓 doing that. Suddenly Tom is introduced to me by Ace, because I said I wanted to leave him to start my own company doing this. Tom came in, Tom spent a week with me and he said ‘What do you do, what do you do, what do you do, what do you do?’ And as he鈥檚 watching me do that what he said: ‘Where are you going?’ I said: ‘I鈥檓 going to start a business.’ He said: ‘I want to go with you.’ So Ace unfortunate lost both of us.

Richard: I鈥檓 sorry, Ace, I apologize.

And we started a business do just that, and that was the beginning of Tom鈥檚 and my conversation about a dream, a vision, a purpose, and a mission. We didn鈥檛 start doing what I knew how to do. We started by asking what is the endgame here. And we discovered our dream. My dream then, my dream still is to transform the state of small business worldwide. Anybody listening to me right now can immediately write that down and say ‘OK, to transform the state of _________ worldwide. That鈥檚 the business I鈥檓 in.’ You follow me. That鈥檚 how easy it is to have a dream. But understand, I was really serious about it. You understand, this was a life鈥檚 work. This was my calling. This came to me at the age of 38. I didn鈥檛 go out setting out to do what I didn鈥檛 go out to. Do you ou follow me? To become an entrepreneur — that wasn鈥檛 even in my mind. I was just doing some talking to Bob. It just showed up. That鈥檚 what happens when I say it comes to you, and it comes to you. If you鈥檙e awake, you understand, I was awake in that conversation with Bob, my entire being was in that conversation with Bob.

Jesse: And you obviously ended it with a beginner鈥檚 mind too. It was built in.

Michael: I didn鈥檛 know anything about this.That鈥檚 how I started everything. I don鈥檛 know anything about this. ‘So what?’ — he says that鈥檚 a blessing. Better you don鈥檛 know anything about this than you do, because if you do that immediately shapes the beginning of your enterprise, and it shapes it in a way that will never turn in much you鈥檙e lucky you understand? It wasn鈥檛 luck that I showed up at Bob鈥檚. It was something completely different that I could call a destiny. It鈥檚 been my life鈥檚 work. I could call it destiny. We鈥檝e sold millions, upon millions, upon millions of these e-myth books. I call it destiny because it uncovered something inside of me. I didn鈥檛 know what鈥檚 there. You follow me, and there was no interest in it whatsoever until it woke me up and said: ‘Hello Michael, guess what, guess what we鈥檙e going to do. So my dream, my vision was to invent a McDonalds of small business consulting. My purpose was to make it possible for every small business owner who is called to our story, to our message, to be as successful as a McDonald鈥檚 franchisee or even Ray Kroc. And our mission was to invent the business development system that I could apply in every single small company on the planet, no matter what it does, what it sells, how it sells it. The business development system I could deliver through the hands of a minimum wage kid, just like McDonald鈥檚. A minimum wage kid, just like McDonald鈥檚. That was my small business coach, a minimum wage kid who didn鈥檛 know anything about business whatsoever could take our system, ‘The Michael Thomas Business Development Program’ and delivered to every small business owner on the planet, that was the idea. That鈥檚 what we set out to do. A dream, a vision, a purpose, a mission. That鈥檚 what every single person I鈥檓 talking to right now, suddenly, when they ask what鈥檚 missing in this picture they come face to face — everything.

Richard: One of the things that are, I mean, I could talk to you for days on that, it鈥檚 like to try to get on to one other two other quick things. But thank you so much, that obviously, we鈥檙e going to give people a chance to get to know you more and where they should go to learn more about what you are doing these days. So we鈥檒l definitely be covering that before it鈥檚 over. One of the things I keep hearing you mention all the time is, you know, as Jesse pointed out — work on your business, not in your business. And one of the ingredients in that based on your books, that I鈥檝e read and communicating with you as well, it comes to your other phrase of: ‘How to go from a company of one to a company of 1000.’ And so, let鈥檚 just break it down to something, it鈥檚 not that simple but let鈥檚 try. Your first hire, your first hire, your company of the one you go into a company of two. In most cases, and I know it鈥檚 a little different with e-commerce, but not necessarily. From what you鈥檝e learned over decades. Is there a universal first hire, is it totally unique to that business, is it some hybrid of the above what鈥檚 your experience for usually hire number one?

Michael: Both are true. It鈥檚 universal. It starts with this story. So in our case, we told a story, and we told it we told the story at our case at the Michael Thomas corporation when we did our first hire, and our first hire is to explain who we are and what we do. And so that explanation I gave, and it was scripted, and I memorized it. Now you understand I didn鈥檛 really have to memorize it because I invented it, I created it, and I told it every single day, because I told that every single day when I was calling on a small business owner ‘I am Michael Gerber you don鈥檛 know me, but I鈥檓 the founder of the Michael Thomas corporation, and we鈥檙e about to change your life. Now bear with me. It鈥檚 only going to take about two minutes, but in two minutes I promise you, I will change your life completely. All I鈥檓 going to do is to ask you to take out your calendar and let鈥檚 find a date free for you to come to the most important business development seminar you have ever been to. It鈥檚 called ‘Key frustrations in a small and growing business, and what to do about them.’ It鈥檚 three hours long. I鈥檓 delivering it. If you鈥檙e not right, you鈥檒l leave in the first 10 minutes. If you are right and 99 percent of the people who come to that seminar are spellbound by the time, it鈥檚 done. You鈥檒l see why this call was the most important call of your life and your business, so let鈥檚 see your calendar.’

Richard: That鈥檚 beautiful. I see how it ties in with the dream too because if you have the dream and the wise bigger than you, and now it鈥檚 easier for your employees to buy into the big dream, the employees or hires because, it seems so obvious in hindsight looking back, but if it鈥檚 because鈥�.

Michael: Google started an ice cream shop above an ice cream shop in Palo Alto their first office was a little one room above an ice cream shop in Palo Alto. Google started in an ice cream shop. Google — you understand one of the wealthiest companies in the world, if not the wealthiest company in the world started a couple of guys above an ice cream shop. But what started it was a dream, and that was it was going to provide the most important information about everything to everybody.

Jesse: The funniest part about you bringing this up is I remember the day that — do you remember the day Google actually went live? I remember seeing it. I remember seeing it might not be the exact day but it was the antithesis of every other search engine every other search engine had all these things everywhere all over it was just clouded and so confusing. And this when you went to it, and it was a just blank page like a beginner鈥檚 mind back to your what鈥檚 your dream you know typing what you want here in this little box. And we鈥檒l give you the most relevant stuff back, and everyone just made fun of that. I mean they made so much fun. Look at this ugly thing, but that ‘Why?’ was so big and they stayed so true to it.

Michael: You got it. You got it. The story is everything. So understand when I say this the story is everything. It鈥檚 not just a piece of it. It鈥檚 not a piece of the business development puzzle. It鈥檚 the heart of it.

Richard: And the continuation of that story.

Michael: It drives everything.

Richard: Yeah. So now I understand, back to the question your first hire when you say it鈥檚 both his first hire has to be someone that can continue to tell the story slightly different in a business way.

Michael: We鈥檝e got a receptionist for our first hire. And we ran an ad in the newspaper, and we did a hire, invited them to a hiring seminar, and that first seminar for a receptionist had about 42 women and a couple of men in it. All in the seminar. So now we鈥檙e telling a story to 42 people, we鈥檙e not telling his story across a desk from an applicant looking at a resume. I didn鈥檛 give a shit about a resume. All I cared about was our resume. She鈥檚 not here to tell me about her. She鈥檚 here to hear about me. So who are you, what do you do, why is it important and why should you be spending the next 30 minutes of my life to listen to it. You follow me? That was how we found our first receptionist. She was one of the 42. So then Tom and I interviewed each of the 42. At the end of the 30 minutes, we would say ‘Now, if that sounds like something you鈥檙e absolutely hungry for, say yes. If not we want to thank you for coming in. Take care. You鈥檝e heard our story. I鈥檓 sure you鈥檒l hear it again because we鈥檙e going to be everywhere.’ And so many of them raised their hands, and everybody else sort of wandered off, wandered off. And of the people who raised that now we鈥檝e been doing this for 40 years.

Richard: I think I think Paizo stole something from you. Do you know that he actually I don鈥檛 know the exact number, but it鈥檚 somewhere between three and five thousand dollars? They鈥檒l pay you to not work for him if you get far enough down the process they鈥檒l literally pay you do not work for them because they know you don鈥檛 believe in this story if you鈥檙e taking that money.

Michael: Yeah yeah. And of course, so you understand my point. My point is the story is everything. That鈥檚 sort of everything, and this is not market speak. You understand this is not sales speak. This is consciousness speak. That鈥檚 how deeply invested in the Michael Thomas Business Development Program we were is deeply invested, we were in the company the Michael Thomas corporation. This is how deeply invested in transforming the state of small business worldwide, do you understand, the economic reality of the world depends upon small business. And small businesses suffer, suffer, suffers from that. One the year 2010, there were 497,000 companies started and or of 593,000 that went out of business in that same year. You take that number, and you follow that number, and you鈥檙e going to see it鈥檚 the same, it鈥檚 the same, it鈥檚 the same more businesses fail than are started. And 99 percent of the businesses that have started fail. So why? I鈥檓 saying they don鈥檛 have a story. you follow me? They don鈥檛 have a story.

Richard: So this is actually bringing me to a few things. One of which is we鈥檙e definitely going to have to have Michael back on. Not that it鈥檚 over yet, but we鈥檙e definitely going to have to have him back on because one of the things as a storyteller myself that I feel compelled to help these business owners with is (you鈥檝e heard me mention when we talked online you know I鈥檓 holding up a cell phone right now) and the opportunity is also the obstacle. There are all these other storytellers that are trying to jump in on Facebook, on Instagram, all these different places.

Michael: But they鈥檙e terrible stories.

Richard: Of course. Yeah no most of them are. No, I completely agree. That鈥檚 why I said we鈥檒l eventually go back. But here鈥檚 one question I have for you when it comes to that.

Michael: Let me finish that point.

Richard: OK.

Michael: There鈥檝e terrible stories because they鈥檙e made to sell. They鈥檙e not made out of meaning they don鈥檛 believe them do, you understand? They don鈥檛 believe them. Steve Jobs believed that, he told his story in the first Super Bowl that Apple ran their first commercial when you remember that? I mean David and Goliath. I mean IBM and Apple. Tiny, tiny, tiny little Apple. Everybody loved that story. What a powerful — it lived at the heart of Apple forever. And I鈥檓 going to say until Steve Jobs left.

Richard: I have to agree even though I am a huge Apple fanboy. Everything changed that I鈥檝e experienced since then. But that鈥檚 a whole nother story. So here鈥檚 a question. The business they鈥檝e worked on their dream they have their Why they know their stories, so they know when these obstacles hit they don鈥檛 even seem sometimes like obstacles to those people they鈥檙e temporary bumps in the road to some degree, because they鈥檙e there, let鈥檚 just say binders aren鈥檛 the right word but the blinkers for the horse or whatever. You know because they鈥檙e super focused. And so now they鈥檝e started they鈥檝e got their first hire, their first hire is someone that鈥檚 going to be telling the story, good, and I鈥檓 assuming every hire they鈥檙e after should be there telling the story.

Michael: The can tell a story, but more importantly, they鈥檙e being the story.

Richard: Perfect. So then it鈥檚 perfect. So and now all of a sudden maybe this business finds itself plateauing at one point because like you said your businesses evolve over time and it kind of it creates itself along with you, sounds like it鈥檚 a bit of a co-creation going on. When you鈥檙e plat toeing in a business, What鈥檚 what鈥檚 a way to think or feel about it in that. Do I just need to stay the course and push through this and tell the story more or does it can it be that proverbial ‘What I did to get me here isn鈥檛 going to get me there.’ What do you feel about a plateau?

Michael: First of all you鈥檙e speaking about a hypothetical that doesn鈥檛 exist. That is we鈥檙e assuring them that the company we鈥檙e talking about that鈥檚 reached a plateau has a story. They鈥檝e done that work. They found their dream but you left out that they found their vision and you left out that they鈥檝e found their purpose, and you left out that they found their mission and you left out that they then went to work on the job which is the client fulfillment system to organize their client fulfillment system to deliver a profound positive impact that is literally alive with the dream, the vision, the purpose, and the mission.

Richard: You gave me an easy answer, so if you find yourself plateauing go back to the beginning.

Michael: First of all, you always go back to the beginning. That first always goes back to the beginning and what you鈥檒l discover is we have a system, and we鈥檙e not using it, or we don鈥檛 have a system, and we鈥檙e making it up as we go or, or. And a whole subset of other possibilities. But you understand there鈥檚 a process for all this. So the thing that we have learned over all these years these 40 plus years now is that there鈥檚 a process and the process is a religion. I mean you believe in the process we call it the ‘eightfold path.’.

Jesse: Speaking of let鈥檚 just let you have the rest of this time, let鈥檚 start with New Beginnings we鈥檙e coming up. We鈥檝e got about eight-nine minutes here. I want to hear what you鈥檙e beginning what your new dream that you鈥檝e been creating with your wife and what it is you鈥檙e about with this radical you. Can cause that has to do with this Eightfold Path, and I would love in whatever way you want to spend this last bit of time whether you want to go through the Eightfold Path first and then invite someone to learn more about where they can go to learn more about radikal you, however, you want to do it. The mike is yours. We both look up to you greatly.

Michael: Wonderful, thank you. We came to the realization that my 80th birthday. Dahlia always celebrates my birthdays and the most outrageous ways. I think we have about 70,000 people on the 80th birthday and that was online. We had about 220 of them live. And Dahlia` fooled me into speaking, she told me it was a speaking gig and it was a gig, I knew the business and I knew the place.

So I went there and got up to speak, and I did my 45-minute speech, and then they all rose and standing ovation well. I knew everybody in the audience.

Richard: Something fishy, something strange here.

Michael: But at that birthday we made the commitment that we have so much time and what we have created while it鈥檚 spectacular and while it truly transforms the lives of literally millions of small business owners throughout the world. Now in 145 countries, we haven鈥檛 really done it. We鈥檝e done it for individuals, but we haven鈥檛 done it for the world of small business which is what I set out to do in nineteen seventy-seven. So we raised the question of how are we going to do that. Well, now what we have to do is do it online. And now we have to do it in such a way that everybody can afford it, and now we have to do it in a way that everybody can do it. So we set down to create a school, and we call it a ‘Trade school for new entrepreneurs.’

Now understand when I say new entrepreneurs I mean every person who鈥檚 inclined to start a small business or already has started a small business. Inclined to start a small business — for whatever reason they have thought to create a small business or has already started a small business and is finding themselves stuck as you were describing earlier.

How to engage those people in the process? Well, we created the Eightfold Path to do that, and we called it ‘From a company of one to a company of 1000. The evolution of an enterprise.’ Because in fact, every single job on the planet is an enterprise in the making. If I was a painter painting the house that job is an enterprise waiting to happen. If I was a dog walker meaning, I鈥檓 making a living walking somebody dogs, and there are lots of people doing that, and you wouldn鈥檛 believe it, it鈥檚 a billion dollar business today. Think about that. A billion dollar business today walking dogs. So what we had to do is to make a list of every job on the planet. And then invite every single human being on the planet to transform their lives by awakening the New Entrepreneur within them to transform the lives of everybody else. And to do that by creating a company of one and growing it to a company of 1000 and that is built upon what I鈥檝e just spoken about the Eightfold Path. And it starts online, and it鈥檚 very straightforward:

1. I have a dream
2. I have a vision
3. I have a purpose
4. I have a mission
5. I have a job
6. I have a practice
7. I have a business
8. I have an enterprise.

And the process online of doing that. So radically you is a series of sessions. One each week 52 sessions a year. All video sessions delivered by a radical teacher. And that radical teacher is that kid that I was talking about. A spectacular kid spectacular person who truly is invested in our story and then the story of the lives of every student who鈥檚 called to us and she learns and delivers our script. To understand our script, it鈥檚 the script for discovering your dream. Step 1, step 2, step 3, step 4, step 6, 7, 8 for discovering your vision. Step 1, step 2 through 8 discovering your purpose your dream, the great result you intend to produce. So if I were to say to you, what does the great result you intend to produce through the company you鈥檝e got. You would have to go inside and find that and where would you find that you鈥檇 find in two places one inside you, what you鈥檙e called to do and outside you when you鈥檙e thinking of your most important customer. And when you think about your most important customer, you have to understand what is keeping that person from being who they truly are called to be. What鈥檚 missing in this picture.

So Radical You, it鈥檚 a stunning reality that was launched on March 4th, my wife鈥檚 birthday, 2018. And we have not begun to enroll people in it. We only have 100 faithful students today, but by the time we鈥檙e done, five years from today, there will be 5 million students learning how to grow, to grow, to grow, be under their comfort zone. Here I will be under their comfort zone be on what makes them feel good about themselves to the point where there鈥檚 someone they鈥檝e never met before. And the beauty of it all is everybody can afford it. The Dreaming room tuition for a year. Our entrepreneurial development school is only $479 and 40 cents for whole year of tuition.

Richard: I love it! We鈥檙e closing up on time here, and the place that I have here from your lovely wife that鈥檚 for people to go to learn more is Radical You. That鈥檚 just u/invite, and there鈥檚 I鈥檓 not 100 percent mistaken. There鈥檚 there鈥檚 a process that you鈥檒l go through I鈥檓 sure to some degree, all of which they鈥檒l get to learn more about you. But thank you so much for all your time and your wisdom and even the way you explain at the end, there鈥檚 nobility in every job, and you can grow into something great.

Jesse: Awesome. Thank you, thank you for Michael Gerber for being with us. Really appreciate it.

Michael: Thanks Jesse, thanks, Rich.