23: The First Principle of Entrepreneurship: Profit First! with Mike Michalowicz

We have the great pleasure of interviewing another amazing guest on today’s podcast! We’re having a conversation with Mike Michalowicz, and he is very well-known everywhere! Mike started three different million-dollar businesses before he turned thirty-five, and he has written several books, including Profit First, Clockwork, The Pumpkin Plan, and his most recent book, Fix This Next: Make the Vital Change That Will Level Up Your Business.

He is joining us today talk about his journey, and to discuss what he has learned along the way, including his successes and his failures, the principles of Profit First, his Business Hierarchy of Needs, what it takes to be an entrepreneur and the one thing that all business owners need to bear in mind when testing out a new idea. 

How Mike became an entrepreneur

At first, Mike never really wanted to be an entrepreneur. He graduated from college with the idea of landing his one dream job, but unfortunately, that didn’t work out. After failing the interview, he returned home and started working at a computer store. It was while working there that he decided that he wanted to be the guy sitting in the back of the business, counting all the money and smoking cigars. And that motivated him to start a business of his own.

The reality of business

He started a business, only to discover that business owners are mostly stressed and panicked with everything that is going on. He had committed himself to entrepreneurship, however, and even though it all seemed terrifying in the beginning, he persevered.

Leveraging and amplifying his successes 

Due to his commitment to becoming an entrepreneur, Mike started appreciating the journey, and he began leveraging all his business successes.

Selling his business 

As a result of all his success, he was able to build his company and sell it. He started another company soon after that, which he later sold to a Fortune 500 company.

His darkest journey

In his early thirties, Mike was arrogant and ignorant and thought he knew everything. And he spent lots of money on beautiful houses and expensive cars. 

The darkest part of his journey occurred when he became an angel investor, and when he realized that he was no good at it. He was advised by his accountant to declare bankruptcy, but he did not do that because he felt that it was his responsibility, and not that of his creditors, to dig himself out of all the mistakes he had made. As a result, he ended up losing everything.

The turning point

Mike went home to tell his family that he had lost everything, including their house. Upon hearing what had happened, his nine-year-old daughter stood up, ran to her bedroom, and returned with her piggy-bank in her hands. She told Mike that since he was no longer able to provide for the family, she would become the provider. 

Mike will never forget that moment because it was the turning point for him. It took him about a year-and-a-half to two years after that to get back into the swing of things. 

Why people become entrepreneurs

That experience was a wake-up call for Mike, and it humbled him. It also made him realize that he had shirked the most important responsibilities of entrepreneurship, which are to gain financial and personal freedom and to be a provider.

Re-learning entrepreneurship

Mike committed to becoming a provider for his family. To do that, he realized that he needed to figure out a viable solution, and he also had to re-learn entrepreneurship. 

Mike initially started writing for himself

Mike got advised to keep a journal to vent the painful emotions he was feeling. That brought him clarity, so he continued doing it for some time. Then he started writing books. 

Writing books to simplify entrepreneurship

It was through his experiences of the highs and the lows of running a business that Mike came to understand that he needed to simplify entrepreneurship. He initially wrote books for himself because he needed the kind of information that he was writing about. He also wanted to take the opportunity to help others by simplifying the entrepreneurial journey and supporting people in their business endeavors.

 

Links and resources:

You can get free chapter downloads for all of Mike’s books.

You can also find Mike’s books and resources at www.mikemotorbike.com 

 

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