Category: entrepreneurship

12 Lessons I have learned from 8 years as an entrepreneur.

When I set out on my entrepreneurial adventure 8 years ago I had a lot to learn. So I became a student of entrepreneurship in the same way that I became a student of Journalism, Psychology and Bratwurst at The University of Wisconsin. I read books, magazines, and blogs. I talked to friends who were entrepreneurs and business leaders. The non-standardized tests started in April of 2016 when I launched the advertising and ideas agency, The Weaponry. And I am still tested every day.

8 years later, I can’t imagine my career without this chapter. I have learned a lot about what it takes to launch and run a business. It turns out there is a lot more to it than printing up a batch of business cards and cool company t-shirts. (Although you should do those things too.)

I wanted to share 8 lessons I have learned along the way. Because 8 ideas from the past 8 years seemed well-balanced. But I had too many lessons to stop at The Ocho. So here are 12-ish lessons I have learned that you should know if you are thinking about starting your own business, or if you already have a business and you now need to get your fecal matter straight.

12 Lessons I have learned from 8 years as an entrepreneur.

  1. Don’t quit your day job*. This is the most important lesson. Start working on your new business as a side hustle. Use your nights and weekends to study, plan and create your business. Use the income from your day job to fund your embryonic startup. Start generating revenue from the new entity. Then, as your startup indicates that it will be able to replace your required income, you can transition out of your full-time employment. But allowing your startup to grow as a side hustle will take a lot of pressure and stress off the early stages of entrepreneurship. From my first paid project to leaving my day job was 5 months. But a year or two of side hustling is not crazy. It is time well spent. *Note: This lesson is only for people who currently have day jobs. If you don’t have a day job the next 11 lessons are for you.

2. Good people are gold, Pony Boy. Business is the ultimate team sport. A great business is simply a great team of people running great plays. Find the right people. Treat them well. They will make the company and the culture amazing. As an entrepreneur, you get to pick your entire team. It’s one of the best parts of entrepreneurship. That and picking the dress code.

3. Good processes make it happen. Your systems and processes enable success, reduce friction, and organize the organization. Determine your organization’s way of doing everything. Write it down. Share it broadly. It ensures that everyone in your organization knows that you always pass the Dutchie on the left-hand side. Don’t worry if the process isn’t perfect. You can always improve it when you discover a better way. Read The E-Myth by Michael Gerber and Traction by Gino Wickman to help you dial this in.

4. Great creative thinking is key. As an advertising and ideas agency, creativity is what our clients come to us for. This has to be great or nothing else matters, like Metallica said. However, all entrepreneurial organizations should focus on creative thinking. It is how you get things done when you don’t have all the resources you wish you had. And it is how you beat competitors who always do things the same old way. Because creativity creates competitive advantages.

5. Great customer service is a must. This is why your clients stay. Always think about your service, and how you can make it better. We want to treat our clients so well that they never want to leave. And we want to make sure they hire us again when they leave their current job for a new opportunity. This has happened more times than I can count. And I am relatively good at counting.

6. Business development is critical. You have to put focused effort into expanding your business. There is natural attrition that happens in business, even if your product and your service are great. The economy plays games you can’t control. So do a dozen other influences. Businesses that forget to find new customers eventually die. Sometimes they die slowly. Sometimes they die all at once. But the net result is the same.

7. Trust is everything. At the beginning of your entrepreneurial adventure, people will take a chance on buying from your new entity solely because of you. The company will have no real track record or history of doing what it says it will do. But you do. Be a trustworthy human. That personal trust will be the bridge that gets early customers to try your offering before you have real proof that your business is as good as advertised. (Also remember to advertise that you are good.)

8. Build in a fair profit. It’s not enough to have paying customers. You have to understand the cost of your goods or services. Then you have to build in a fair profit. Which means if your offering costs you $100 to deliver, you must charge $5, $10, $20, or $100 on top of that to make sure the business makes a fair profit. That profit is what keeps the business sustainable. Some customers and most procurement departments will try to beat the profit out of your business. Don’t let them. Know what you need to make, know your value, and stick to it. Like a cocklebur on corduroy.

9. Share the success with your team. Business success is team success. You have to recognize and celebrate the contributions of everyone involved. When you do, a good team is eager to create even more success. That stuff is addicting. Like Dot’s Pretzels.

10. Relationships are extremely important. The personal relationships you create help create your success. Those include your relationships with your team, clients, partners, vendors, bankers, brokers, accountants, lawyers and the media. But all your relationships matter to business. Because you never know where your next referral will come from. And you never know who you may need as a character witness. Or who may be carrying an extra kidney that you may need one day. And don’t neglect your relationships with your family to make the business work. My relationship with my wife Dawn has been the most valuable relationship on my entrepreneurial adventure. And I get to spend more time with my kids now as an entrepreneur than I did as an employee. Which is perhaps the biggest win of all.

11. You have to keep experimenting. Business success is an interesting combination of running tried and true plays and trying new things that create new advantages. It’s kinda like the way you have to keep things spicy in your romantic relationship. Businesses that keep experimenting with new technology, new offerings, and new models survive changes. So stay on your toes. (If you have toes.) Watch the horizon for change, both in your industry and the broader economy. Expect that the future will be different than the past and you will be prepared for the strange changes. Like David Bowie said.

12. Create a newsletter. This is a great way to stay in contact with your community, which includes team members, customers, partners, supporters, potential customers, potential employees, the media, fans, and your parents. Add value through each issue. Share your news and successes. Social media channels are beyond your control, and it can be challenging to get your message in front of your audience there. But a newsletter is your own media outlet. It is like an express train to your audience’s inbox. Choo Choo! We use Mailchimp for our newsletter. There are many good options you can find using the Googler. You can sign up for The Weaponry newsletter here to see how we do it.

Bonus

13. Learn to spell entrepreneur. When you become one you end up writing the word a lot. At least you do if you have a blog sharing your experience as an entrepreneur. To spell entrepreneur, remember that all of the vowel holes start with ‘e’ and you come last. Which is how I remember that there is a ‘u’ after the last ‘e.’

Key Takeaway

Starting your own business is an exciting and rewarding adventure. It enables you to design your own life. It combines the thrill of competitive sports with the satisfaction of having a positive impact on your team members and your community. To start your journey, do some prep work. But then get going. You will learn what you need to know along the way. Remember to always bet on yourself. It is the safest bet you will ever make.

*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.

+For more of the best life lessons I have learned check out my book, What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? from Ripples Media.

The Weaponry turns 8 years old!

When I first started my career in advertising I dreamed of starting my own agency one day. And one day I did. That one day was eight years ago. Today, I can say that there is almost nothing better than to say that your one day happened in the past. That your one day has an actual date. That your one day is not a hope, dream, or wish. It is part of your permanent record. Like that suspension from high school.

How It Happened

I didn’t just dream about starting my own business. I envisioned it. I planned it. I took action. And I made it happen. I did what I told myself I would do. And because I did, I started believing that I could take on other big challenges. Like starting a blog, writing a book, or swallowing a spoonful of cinnamon without crying for my mommy.

You may have noticed there were a lot of ‘I’s in the last paragraph, eleven to big exact. That is because it takes a lot of personal action, initiative and determination to start a business. But once you’ve started, it takes a lot of weness to keep it going. I am extremely thankful to our talented team of Weapons for building The Weaponry into the organization it is today.

The Weaponry was born on April of 2016. (I know that because I checked its born-on date, like a can of Budweiser from 1996.) In the beginning, it was a huge accomplishment to get to our first birthday. In fact, it was a huge accomplishment to make it to each of our first 5 birthdays, because such a high percentage of businesses don’t last 5 years. Kinda like a Kim Kardashian marriage.

But the thing that I love most about The Weaponry turning 8 years old is that there is no real significance to it. 8 years is not a memorable milestone. The business is simply taking care of business. Like Bachman-Turner Overdrive. If we put out a press release saying The Weaponry Celebrates 8 Years of Business no media would reshare our news. Except maybe The Adam Albrecht Blog. Because I know a guy there.

No Surprise Party

The other thing I love about turning 8 years old is that it is not a surprise. No one worried when we hit 7 years that we wouldn’t be here for the 8th. We didn’t eke out another year by the skin of our teeth. (Although I have never understood that saying. And I’ve never met a dental dermatologist.) Quite to the contrary, The Weaponry has had our two best years in 2022 and 2023, growing steadily each year.

Key Takeaway

When you start a new business there is a lot of instability. Which is part of the fun. And most of the challenge. But there is a great reward in reaching stable ground. It’s important to appreciate the steadying effect of hard work, smart systems, tested processes, a strong team, and accumulated experience. They make your business more predictable. Undoubtedly, there will always be more challenges ahead. And you will be ready for them when they come.

*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.

+For more of the best life lessons I have learned check out my book, What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? from Ripples Media.

4 Keys to entrepreneurial success I wish I had known before I got started.

I am asked about my entrepreneurial journey a lot. It seems that far more people are interested in starting their own business than ever sail their own entrepreneur ship. If you are considering starting your own business, either as a side hustle or as your main hustle, here are 4 things that I have done that I highly encourage you to do too.

1. I Took Action. 

Everyone has a dream. And I dreamed of starting my own advertising agency for a long time. But to actually start your own business you have to move beyond dreaming to doing. Starting in the fall of 2015 I took an endless series of small actions that led me to today. My business, The Weaponry, will turn 8 years old next month.  So if you want to make sure you don’t die with your dream still inside you, take action to make it real. (Also look both ways before you cross the street.)

Suggested readings to spur your action:

2. I Saved. (Not Like Jesus)

As a professional creative thinker, I take lots of risks with idea exploration. However, I am fiscally conservative. I have been cautious with our expenditures, our office space and our staffing size. I have been conservative about leaving cash in the business, versus taking it home as part of my return. As a result, The Weaponry has strong reserves to outlast downturns. This was a key reason I didn’t panic at the disco in 2020 during the Covid Cray Cray Fest.

3. I Planted Seeds.

Business development is critical to creating a pipeline of opportunities. Over the years I have stayed in touch with old friends. I’ve made one hundred billion new friends. I have had phone conversations, chocolate milk meetings and lunches. I have volunteered my time. I have guest lectured and given talks. I write a blog. I wrote a book called What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? I co-wrote a book titled The Culture Turnaround with Jeff Hilimire. I have given interviews and served on committees and boards.

All of those things are like planting seeds. You never know when they will sprout or what they will turn into. So keep planting seeds and watch what happens, with Andy Cohen.

4. I Delivered

The best source of new business is a happy client. And you develop happy clients by delivering for them. (Especially if you are an obstetrician, or a milkman.) The Weaponry has grown by keeping our clients happy and expanding our work with them. We are also expanding by having happy clients leave for great new jobs and bringing us with them to their new companies. I have a really great team. And I appreciate all that they do for our clients. It is why we are still here, and still growing strong.

Key Takeaway:

To develop a successful business you have to take action. Without action, you are just a dreamer. You have to save money so that you are prepared to weather the storms that will surely come. You must keep planting seeds by creating and nurturing relationships and providing value to others. Then you must deliver the goods. Nothing grows a business like happy customers. None of it is easy. And none of it is that hard. It is simply the price you have to pay to get what you want in life.

*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.

+For more of the best life lessons I have learned check out my book, What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? from Ripples Media.

An important reminder to get started because you learn faster by doing.

One of the great mistakes we make in life is waiting to act until we know everything there is to know about a subject. It seems we want to know everything there is to know about running a business before we start one. We want to know everything there is to know about investing before we commit our money. We want to know how to write a book before we actually write a book. And we want to know everything there is to know about raising a child before we ever have sex*. (*My kids may be reading this.)

Most of this quest for knowledge is simply procrastination. Starting the process is the greatest teacher of all. Because standard-issue humans learn best by doing.

When you take the first step the next step reveals itself. (Unless you are Eddie Rabbit, in which case you take that first step, ask her out, and treat her like a lady.) You will get better and smarter faster by starting than by studying alone. Until you take the first steps you don’t know what you don’t know. However, once you begin you quickly learn what you need to know next.

A Case in Point

I had thought about sharing some video lessons from my book What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? for a long time. I knew that the summaries from each chapter would translate into good shareable video messages. But I never acted on it. Because I wasn’t clear on the best way to do it.

Then one morning when I got to work I talked to Taylor Amann, our social media manager at The Weaponry (and resident American Ninja Warrior) to help me get started.

Here’s What happened.

  1. We set up her phone on our ring-halo light tripod.

2. We explored recording the video standing up and sitting down.

3. We placed my laptop behind the phone so I could read the script.

3. We found a teleprompter app on my computer that allowed us to scroll the script like the teleprompter a newscaster uses to deliver lines directly to the camera. (And, yes, I reminded San Diego to stay classy.)

4. After getting a take we liked Taylor found a good app that automatically translated my spoken word into words on the screen. So viewers could read the words I was saying as I said them. This is not only great for reinforcing the lesson I shared, but it made the video fully digestible with the audio off.

5. Then we discovered that the app, also had a teleprompter. Which would lead to an even better sightline to the camera than the laptop teleprompter offered.

6. Finally, we rerecorded the video, on the halo light tripod, using the new app, which turned Taylor’s phone into a perfect teleprompter/camera combo. The app automatically added the supers so you could read what I said in real time.

The Learning

What stood out to me about this process is that by getting started we kept getting smarter and smarter. Within 30 minutes we went from never having tried to record a video like this to having discovered the perfect app that made it simple to combine the recording, the teleprompter, the supers, and even add music, or a zany slide whistle.

The video is not perfect. My shirt is all scurzumpled. I don’t have the energy I’d want for a shareable recording. But we quickly went from nothing to knowing how to create the video we wanted through a simple progression of testing, learning, and improving.

Key Takeaway

Don’t wait to get started until you know everything. Condition yourself to take the first step sooner. Because the first step is the kindergarten step. All other learnings and lessons come as a result of that first step. What you learn from a book, class or video is just theory. The application is where the quick and useable lessons kick in. So get going. Get smarter as you go. And get back to me when you realize how useful this approach is.

*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.

+For more of the best life lessons I have learned check out my book, What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? from Ripples Media.

How to become a great entrepreneur without going to business school.

I was listening to a podcast over the weekend while mowing the lawn. I always listen to something educational while doing yard work. I imagine that I am a professional landscaper, working for the man, and I plan to bust out of my lawn jockey job by learning as I mow.

In the podcast, the interviewee told the host that he went to business school to get his MBA because he wanted to learn how to start and run a business. When I heard this I laughed out loud. In fact, I laughed so loud that I heard myself over the roar of the lawn mower, despite the fact that I was also wearing ear protection.

The idea that you need an MBA to start a business is hilarious. I launched The Weaponry, the advertising and ideas agency I lead, 7 years ago. I studied Psychology and Journalism in college. I took only one business class at the University of Wisconsin. But I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express.

The Knowledge You Need Is Everywhere

There has never been a better time to start a business. There are countless books on the topic. There are only slightly more countable podcasts. (Although it is odd to compare the relative countability of countless things, no?)

You can follow the blogs and social feeds of entrepreneurs to learn from them. And many you can reach out to directly through social media by slipping into their DMs.

Entrepreneurship is not a secret club you get into by attending to an Ivy League business school. You can learn everything you need to know through self-directed education. And through a little trial and error.

Adam Albrecht’s Entrepreneuerhsip 101

If you really want to become an entrepreneur here is what you need to know:

To start a successful business you need to:

  1. Offer a product, service or experience people want or need.
  2. Learn how how to sell the thing you offer.
  3. Spend less than you make.

Your assigned reading starts with the great how-to book on entrepreneurship, The E-Myth by Michael Gerber.

To learn from other great entrepreneurs check out the How I Built This podcast wherever your favorite pods are cast.

Key Takeaway

You can be an entrepreneur without an MBA, without going to business school, and without going to college. You just need a strong desire to start your own business. The keys to successful entrepreneurship and business ownership are available at your local library, your local bookstore or your local Amazon website. Inspiring stories and examples are available on podcasts, in magazines, and in books. There are no barriers to entrepreneurial education. Which means there are also no excuses. If you think entrepreneurship is the next step in your career then get going. There is nothing stopping you but you.

*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.

+For more of the best life lessons I have learned check out my book, What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? from Ripples Media.

If you are struggling to find your next great job, create it yourself.

In 2014 I moved to Atlanta. The amazing advertising agency I worked for had been acquired by a public holding company a year earlier and the new company wanted me at the Atlanta headquarters. I had been banana-splitting my time between Atlanta and Columbus for 3 years at that point. And I was happy to finally move to the ATL full-time. But I could tell the new holding company was going to make things very different. And I expected a plot twist. And I wanted to write the script for that twist myself.

Shortly after moving to Atlanta, I began looking beyond the horizon to plan for the next step in my career. I was looking for the next great ad agency to join within a circle of acceptability near my nearly retired parents and my mother-in-law (who was not actually a lawyer). After living in 3 states in 8 years I was making plans to set the circus down someplace where my 3 children could enjoy middle school and high school in one town.

I had conversations and meals with many different agencies. But like those guys combing the dessert in Spaceballs, I didn’t find what I was looking for. Not to say there were not a lot of great people and great agencies. But I could afford to be choosey. I had a new job. And a jar of Jif.

The conclusion I came to was that the business I was looking for in the place I wanted to live, with the culture I wanted, with the compensation I expected, did not exist. So I decided that I would create my own business. Within a year I had a full-fledged passion project on my hands. I spent my nights planning and building what would become The Weaponry. And it checked all my boxes. Because I designed it specifically so that it would.

Creating your own business means that you get to create your own dream scenario. Like Wayne and Garth. You get to decide what you do every day. You get to decide where you live, what the culture is like, and who you work with. Better yet, you never have to apply for a job, wait for a gatekeeper to reply to you, or wonder why some other employer didn’t like you more. Which is pretty fricken great.

Key Takeaway

If you are not finding the place you want to work, consider creating that place yourself. Don’t wait for someone who doesn’t know you or recognize your full potential to get back to you. Don’t let other people close doors on you. Take control of your future. And your income. And your happiness. It’s easier than you think. I started the advertising and ideas agency The Weaponry 7 years ago. Along with asking my wife Dawn to marry me, it was one of the 2 best decisions of my life. If you have questions about how I did it, email me at adam@theweaponry.com. Or reach out to me on the socials. I’m typically @adamalbrecht. If you know someone who really should start their own business please share this with them too.

+For more of the best life lessons I have learned check out my book, What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? from Ripples Media.

How you can help a baby business grow to adulthood.

If you want to help people become really great at things you have to let them first be bad. It’s part of the process. Beginners need to know it is ok to fumble and bumble a bit as they find their way. When I started my advertising and ideas agency, The Weaponry, one of the best gifts I gave myself was permission to be an amateur. Because high expectations and standards at the start of a new journey tend to kill motivation, growth, and joy.

I have a client who just opened a new restaurant in a new town. Opening a new restaurant is a massive undertaking. It involves creating a new physical space and hiring an entire staff who have never run the operating system required to make the business work. The start is messy. (Kind of like the first draft of this blog post.) I have great respect for those willing to take on the difficult task.

My client had a soft opening event, where they invited people to come and test drive the restaurant, for free. This gave the chef, cooks, waitstaff and manager an opportunity to work out the kinks, like Ray Davies. Following the 2-day free-for-all opening, they remained open without fanfare for 2 weeks before their official grand opening event. Those 2 unadvertised weeks allowed the staff time to find their groove, like Stella. Or Madonna.

However, during those 2 weeks, a handful of people wrote negative Google reviews about their experience dining at this fledgling startup restaurant. They complained about the wait time or about the lack of niche condiments for their particular health challenge. And, yes, some wrote that their food didn’t come out to their liking. However, the outstanding reviews far outnumbered the negative, which offers an exciting and favorable glimpse into the future experience for everyone visiting the restaurant.

Support Baby Businesses.

When you visit a new store, restaurant or business, give them some grace. Just like a child needs time to learn, and a beginner of any age needs experience to improve, a new business needs time to become a well-oiled machine. Complaining publicly with negative reviews in the first month of operation doesn’t allow for the required maturation process.

When you publicly complain about an infant business you hurt its chances of ever becoming a full fledge business. And if we create an atmosphere where businesses don’t have time to learn and grow we will only ever have massive chain stores and restaurants. We would snuff out local entrepreneurship. Which would be McUnfortunate.

As parents, coaches and managers we calibrate our expectations to the age and experience of those we are trying to help. As customers, we should do the same. It is helpful for us to teach, coach, critique, and even complain about the shortcomings of our experience directly to the person or organization in question. But hold off on sharing your disappointment publicly through negative reviews until the organization is past the wobbly legs stage. Which I suggest is the first month of operation.

The new entity won’t work out every challenge within that first month. But they should figure out how to make their wrongs right with the customers through proper apologies, compensatory price adjustments, free extras, or an incentive to return for a second chance, like 38 Special.

Key Takeaway

If you want to encourage more great businesses in your community or spheres of interest, grant them permission to begin as amateurs. There will be mistakes and learning at the start. These are the occupational hazards of entrepreneurship and operating a new business. As customers, we owe it to newbies to offer honest constructive feedback to help them grow and mature quickly. Honest, early public praise is one of the most valuable assets a new business has. While early negative public reviews hurt a business’s ability to grow into the excellent resource you want and expect. By sharing early negative reviews directly with the staff, rather than the public, you become a valuable part of the improvement process. And you help accelerate their growth and maturation rather than hinder it.

If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.

+For more of the best life lessons I have learned check out my book, What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? from Ripples Media.

My exciting new opportunity with one of the country’s hottest new brands.

A few weeks ago I was watching an interesting video reel on Instagram. It was a clip from the Pat McAfee Show, featuring a conversation between host Pat McAfee and former NFL linebacker and Green Bay Packer great, A.J. Hawk. The former NFL stars were not discussing football. They were talking about a bar. And not one made of chocolate. Or soap.

The bar in question is called PINS. And to call it a bar is an understatement. It’s really a massive entertainment space. Yes, it features large and well-stocked bars. But it’s also loaded with fun activities, including duckpin bowling, and high-end pinball games. Hence the name PINS. (I don’t get to drop the word hence nearly enough.)

Pretty cool, huh?

Pins also offers bocce ball, ping pong, giant Jenga, life-sized beer pong, foosball, arcade games a slide, ring toss thingies, and fire pits. In other words, it’s more like a party than a bar. Or maybe it’s half bar, half party. Like a Barty.

McAfee was not just discussing the bar, he was raving about it. He described the atmosphere at the PINS in Indianapolis as electrifying! He said it was amazing! And he said it was huuuu. (I assume he was saying it was huge, but someone cut him off. But maybe he was saying it was Hugh. As in Hefner. Which would be an innovative new-school /old-school complement in one.)

A lot of ball action here. But check out that ceiling art!

Hawk replied that indeed, he knew all about PINS. In fact, his son had his birthday party at PINS in Dublin, Ohio. (Because PINS is entertainment for all ages until little kids’ bedtime.) Hawk also shared that the guy who created PINS was from Columbus Ohio, where Hawk lives.

The rest of the crew on the show chimed in with more praise and accolades for PINS, and McAfee concluded the segment by saying, ‘Thank you Columbus. And thank you to That Guy!’

I was excited to see the segment and hear these great testimonials about such a popular new brand. Not just because I love great new brands. And not just because I love Columbus, Ohio where I lived for 7 years. But because of my exciting new opportunity.

PINS has 9 locations across the Midwest and South, with 6 more locations planned. Including locations in Atlanta and Austin, slated to open this year.

Let’s Talk!

PINS CEO and Founder Troy ‘That Guy’ Allen and Director of Engagement Erin Frum, contacted me to ask if I would speak at their annual meeting. Well, more accurately, Erin invited me to speak. Troy just told me I was going to be speaking as if I had no decision in the matter. Which was just as well, because being involved with a hot company like Rise Brands is a no-brainer. (Or what I call a scarecrow decision)

Pins, whose full name is Pins Mechanical Co., is owned by a great brand creation company called Rise Brands. Their claim is ‘We create kick-ass brands.’ Indeed they do. To date, Rise Brands has created 4 great brands including Pins Mechanical Co., 16-Bit Arcade (an old-school arcade game bar), Weenie Wonder (think Chipotle for hot dogs, not Magic Mike), and No Soliciting, a members-only club. (Which is another good reason not to be dismembered.)

Me and That Guy, Troy Allen and some serious blinds.

The meeting and my keynote are next Monday in Columbus. I am thrilled to share some learnings and lessons from my book What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? to help the team become even greater. Thanks for the invite Troy and Erin. And thanks to Pat and AJ for making this opportunity feel even cooler than it already did.

I’m ready for you Rise Brands! See you Monday!

Key Takeaway

Keep adding value. People love great people, places, and things that enhance and enrich their lives.

+If you are looking for a speaker for your next event you can reach me at adam@theweaponry. Although I probably don’t have any more speaking availability until July.

Which of your strengths do you use to make money? Here are my top 7.

Last week I was invited to Minneapolis to give the keynote address at Ungerman’s annual meeting. Ungerman is a Twin Cities-based restoration company that offers 24/7 emergency cleanup and repair. They are a great company to have on speed dial after a flood, fire, storm, or epic house party.

The company gathered to reflect on its successes from 2022 and plan for a great 2023. I spoke to the Ungermaniacs about one of my favorite topics: How to become your best self. I related lessons from my book What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? to the company’s core values. Everyone who attended got a copy of the book. I announced the giveaway like Oprah announcing that everyone gets a car. At least it sounded like that in my head. (And you get a book! And you get a book!)

Ungerman Top Dawgs, Kirsten Meehan, Ron Ungerman Jr., and Lindsey Uselding. Sisters Kirsten and Lindsey are stars of the upcoming HGTV show Renovation 911! (Not to be confused with Reno 911)

After my talk, there was a Q&AA portion of the program. (Questions and Adam Albrecht.) Heather Jurek, the head of Human Resources, shared that the team at Ungerman focuses on strengths and opportunities/growth areas. She asked me to share what I thought my #1 strength was.

While I shared an answer with Ungerman, I’ve thought a lot about Heather’s questions since the talk. (Those sneaky HR leaders know how to get you thinking about yourself!)

However, I have reframed the question to elicit an even more valuable answer. The question I find most interesting is:

‘What strengths of yours earn you money?‘

I began searching for the answers by considering the ways that I earn money.

The 4 ways I earn money:

  1. The Weaponry. The advertising and ideas agency I founded and lead.
  2. Books Sales from What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? and The Culture Turnaround
  3. Speaking Engagements.
  4. Investments

My Money-Making Strengths

With this backdrop, I analyzed why people choose to spend their money with me. The answers came quickly when viewed through this lens.

  1. Creativity: I have spent my career in advertising as a professional creative. First as a writer, then as a Creative Director and Chief Creative Officer, before launching The Weaponry in 2016. Creativity is my craft. If I lost everything and had to start again with just my children and my wife (like Lee Greenwood sang about in God Bless The USA) my creativity is the strength I would lean on for my comeback. Because there is always a demand for creative thinking.

2. Strategic Thinking: This is my career strength 1A. It provides the valuable foundation for my creative thinking. My problem-solving and game-planning skills are critical differentiators. They are why I get so many calls from business leaders who want my help thinking through their challenges. Work on your problem-solving skills and strategic thinking every day. Study other successful people. You can learn a lot from their examples.

3. Energy/Enthusiasm My natural energy is my most visible strength. I love taking on whatever work needs to be done. I get invited into a lot of important rooms because my energy has a positive effect on those around me. It has had a major impact on sales and business development because people enjoy spending their time and money with people they know have the energy to make a valuable contribution to their business. My energy is also a significant reason I get hired for speaking events. Because as Maya Angelou said, ‘People will never forget how you made them feel.’ I encourage you to put more energy into your energy. It is both a highly valuable and highly renewable resource.

4. Trustworthiness: Those who have worked with me in the past keep coming back because they trust me. They trust that I will deliver. They trust that I can help them navigate their challenges, which can seem ethereal in advertising and marketing. My trustworthiness is the reason clients took a chance on The Weaponry when it was a startup with no website, no logo and no business cards. Trust me on this.

5. Relationships I am better than most people at developing and maintaining relationships because I value relationships more than most people. People like to work with people they like. (Or as the kids would say, People like, like to like work with people they like, like.) My relationships keep leading to new opportunities, new referrals and new relationships. All of which positively impact The Weaponry, my book sales, speaking opportunities, and my investments. Make sure you develop and maintain more and better relationships.

6. Risk Taking: My above-average risk tolerance is what led me to bet on myself and launch The Weaponry. It is what lead me to invest time, energy and money into books that had no guaranteed ROI. My risk tolerance also enables me to invest in businesses when they are in the toilet. Which has led to several of my greatest returns. Pairing risk tolerance with research and good strategic thinking is a powerful recipe for success. If I ever write a cookbook full of recipes for success, I will include this recipe as a hot dish. If you want more rewards, take more risks.

7. Storytelling On day one of my career I would not have guessed that my storytelling skills would have made me money. But storytelling has been an extremely valuable strength for me. And it is a strength everyone should work on. It creates value in job interviews, when developing relationships, when writing books and when delivering speeches. It is central to marketing and advertising. And it is the best way to convey the rest of your valuable strengths to the world.

Key Takeaway

You must first add value before you can extract value. Which makes it important to know which of your strengths provide the most value to others. Develop your rare and valuable skills. Become sought after for your strengths. It is the best way to have the greatest impact on the world. And making a significant impact pays off in more ways than one.

*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.

+Thanks for inviting me to talk Heather, Lindsey and Kirsten. And special thanks to Nate Uselding for suggesting me to the Ungerman team!

If you want to be an entrepreneur the great limiter is you.

I thought about becoming an entrepreneur for a long time before I summoned my inner David Lee Roth and actually jumped. In fact, I thought about starting a business for nearly 2 decades before I launched the advertising and idea agency The Weaponry. Which means that, unlike Geddy Lee, I didn’t rush into anything.

Once I had my entrepreneurial awakening in the summer of 2015 I began generating income within just a few months. I officially legalized The Weaponry as an LLC (yeah, you know me) in the spring of 2016. And while I have physically looked back since then, I have had no regrets.

Over the past 7 years, I have learned a lifetime’s worth of lessons about entrepreneurship. (Starting with how to spell the word itself.) But the most important thing to know about entrepreneurship is this:

The entrepreneur is the great limiter of the business.

10 Ways Entrepreneurs Limit Their Business

  1. You will be limited by your energy and ability to work hard.

2. You will be limited by your network and willingness to reach out and connect.

3. You will be limited by your ability to recruit and hire. (Think about it. There must be hire love.)

4. You will be limited by your willingness to create standardized processes.

5. You will be limited by your ability to give up control to others.

6. You will be limited by the size and scope of your vision.

7. You will be limited by your ability to control your greed and keep your hands off the cash flow, Gordon Gekko.

8. You will be limited by your ability to grow sales to scale your operation into a more effective and efficient machine.

9. You will be limited by your creativity and willingness to innovate

10. You will be limited by your risk tolerance. If you are not willing to walk the tightrope to the promised land you will never get there.

Perhaps most importantly, there is no one else to blame if you don’t become an entrepreneur at all. And if you are an entrepreneur, there is no one else that will prevent you from growing your business’s annual revenue to $100,0000, $1,000,000, $100,000,000, or $1,000,000,000 per year. That’s on you.

As the entrepreneur, you are both the gas pedal and the brake. Most people are afraid to take their foot off the brake, and as a result, never get going. Which means they never see where their journey could have taken them. Don’t let that be you.

Key Takeaway

Find your entrepreneurial gas pedal. Get going. Keep going. Then go faster. It will be your willingness to go, grow, create, and accelerate that will determine how far your journey takes you. We all have a limited amount of time. So go while you can. Realize that you are the determining factor. So be determined to be more.

*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.

+For more of the best life lessons I have learned check out my new book, What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? from Ripples Media.