0:02 Who are you? And where are you going? What do you want? [Music] Hello and welcome to People Making Money. I'm your host, Kevin Beml, and we're here I'm here every Wednesday at 10:00 a.m. Pacific time to talk about job hunting, building and growing a business, building wealth, all the financial and professional aspects of our lives or the work aspects of our
0:38 lives. So today I'm going to talk about how one one how you can learn to start a business. So, um th this is a a topic near and dear to my heart. Um and and I don't recall if I've told this story um recently or if if if if ever at all in this show, but I was a recent college graduate. I I got my degree in architecture from the University of Southern California and
1:14 uh I got out of college in 1982 1983. There was a major building recession going on and no firms were hiring uh prospective architects like me who didn't have a license, let alone architects who did have a license but were fairly new to the business. And so I went to work for the lawyer uh that my mother was working for at the time. I was doing bookkeeping and then I started doing some legal research for the firm and uh I used to prepare responses to
1:50 interrogatories and process case paperwork on workers compensation defense claims and all all kinds of stuff. and the lawyer uh that I was working for uh wanted to send me to law school and have me go to law school in the evenings and continue to work for him uh during during the day. Um I I part of it I think was the his associate who specialized in intellectual property law which was quite interesting. So I had done uh
2:26 legal research for him uh that was pretty complex. Intellectual property law is is is a complex area of the law and he was you know not to be immodest um he was impressed by the research that I did and and how I had and how accurately I had summarized the research and uh and I told him no, you know, if I go back to college, I think I'm going to get an MBA. and he said to me, "Look, do yourself a favor. Whatever you do, do do an MBA. It's
3:02 unless you're going to go to work on Wall Street, you don't need it." And indeed, that was one of the best pieces of advice I've ever received in my business career. It's it's up there with uh the the the man who pulled me aside when I came back to Los Angeles after uh going off active duty with the Navy and I was attending a networking meeting at his office and he he pulled me aside after the meeting and said, "Look, can I give you a piece of advice?" By then, I'd learned yes. The answer to that always is yes because you can always
3:39 ignore the advice but to not listen is is foolish. And and he said this time around only do business with people you like and trust and he is so right. The business is hard enough and the wear and tear of doing business with people that you don't trust or you don't like is tremendous. The pressure of course is on when you're new to business. You're starting a new professional practice or you're starting
4:15 a new company, a new plumbing firm, whatever it is. The pressure is on to do business with whoever walks in the door. at least met metaphorically walks through the door. The problem with that is if you're dealing with people that you don't like and trust it, they take so much time out of your day to handle that you you don't have the time to properly market your business and build one that really s is sustaining and growing
4:52 and is something that you you really want to engage in and and be proud of. So, like I said, the temptations to ignore that that advice are manifest. Uh but but you know, I I would give that piece of advice to every single person I know. Do business with people you know and trust. and and you know if if someone's acting in a filthy manner just
5:29 push them aside. No thanks. Don't want to do business with you. And oftentimes their reply is going to be but you're new in business. You can't afford to turn away business. Okay? That's their that's their way of saying I'm going to abuse you. I'm going to take advantage of you because I know that you're weak and helpless and I can dominate you. That's what they're saying to you when they make that statement, right? Instead of saying instead of asking, you know, why don't you want to why don't you want this piece of business? Well, it really doesn't fit
6:05 with what I'm doing. I think we have different business styles and I I don't think it's going to work out. different different business styles. I I don't understand. Right. That's someone who okay maybe they did something you must you misunderstood what they did. They misunderstood something you said or advice. Okay. There there of course there are misunderstandings that happen between a company and clients or company and customers, right? But when someone starts telling you you can't afford to
6:41 give up their business, that's when you know you don't want their business. So, so where do you learn these kinds of lessons and all the other myriad lessons that you need to know to start a business? Right? So, for me, a a as I've already noted, I did not get an MBA. I did not go to business school. I went to architecture school. And I've observed to many people that my education in architecture, which is
7:16 essentially a problem-solving um discipline, was actually a very good background to have for running a business. Because in architecture the way it works is you get what's called a program which is what the why the building needs to be built. Okay? And and then you have to make that program a reality. That's that is in a nutshell what architects do, right? And
7:51 and in a nutshell that's that's what a business does, right? A business identifies a problem or a a shortfall and it it resolves that problem or fills that shortfall. That's that's fundamentally what a business does. A a business that doesn't do one of those two things is it's it's not going to be successful. Right? To start a business where there's no demand for the product or service is not going to fly. And you can say, well, I'll create the demand. Well, okay,
8:26 maybe. I mean, yes, that does happen, but that's a much more difficult way to go and it's much riskier. What happens if you can't create the demand, right? So, there are lots of ways to learn how to uh to learn how to be in business, how to start a business. Okay? I'm going to go over some of them. I I I put a list together and um you know not all of these are going to be the right answer for you. That's and and that's why there needs to be, you know,
9:02 numerous avenues, okay? Because some of us learn, we all well, we all learn in different ways and and some some of the suggestions I have will work for you and others you're going to go, "No, no, there's no way I'm doing that." And that's fine, right? You look at people who've started businesses and become successful. Lots and lots of different ways they got there. Okay? Right? So since since I I've already mentioned formal education and discouraged you from getting an MBA but let's let's start with formal education. So
9:39 what I will say is if you're looking to start a business that will be intimately connected with Wall Street and when I say Wall Street of course I don't literally mean wall the street Wall Street in New York. What I mean is a business that's going to be involved in finance a a and or very highlevel consulting like like you know Bane and and and and EY and and and those kinds of you know worldwide consulting businesses. So in
10:14 in that case, if that's the kind of business you're looking to start, then probably you already have an MBA, right? Because you've been working for another company that typically requires their hires to have an MBA. Okay? So in that but if if for whatever reason you don't have an MBA yet, but that's what you want to do. So then in that case, you know, how getting an MBA probably makes sense. Okay. But if you're looking to be entrepreneurial, if if you're looking to be in in the in
10:50 the in the tech world, of course, that's all the rage, you know, for the last couple of decades. But if even if you're not looking to be there, if you're looking to be entrepreneurial in real estate or some some kind of um service contracting, building trades, um uh import export, uh wholesale, retailing, okay, an MBA is not going to help you. It's it's just not. Okay. Now, the what an MBA does is it puts you in an atmosphere where you can make contacts. Okay? But the contacts you need for
11:28 these types of businesses, you're unlikely to meet them. you will meet contacts in in finance and those kinds of areas. But for starting uh I always come back to the example of a plumbing business because it's such a great business to be in and and you can do so well in the plumbing business. But you don't need anyone who's you don't need contacts in finance to start a successful plumbing business. What you need are contacts who can help you get a hold of the kinds of supplies you need in a plumbing business. whether it's
12:04 fixtures or pipe or whatever it is, right? And you're not going to meet those people in an MBA program. You're just not they're not that's not where they are. They're they're in business already making money. Okay? Now, there are some NBA programs that focus specifically on entrepreneurship. Okay? And if you're looking to do, for example, a tech startup of some kind. So, one of these sort of MBA programs as they're sometimes called, that can be a
12:41 a potential way for you to learn what you need to learn and also make contacts. If you're going to do a tech startup, at some point, you are going to need finance, okay? because that that is how the life cycle of a tech business works. So you're you're going to start out with some kind of angel capital which is most likely to come from yourself and family and friends, close friends. Okay? And then you'll go to some kind of maybe seed capital round. Okay? And then eventually the the game is to get to your first
13:17 series A venture capital round. Okay? series A, series B, and then you know you go public and hopefully you've got a unicorn and you make a billion dollars and and you're fine, right? So that kind of technology business. So then having the kinds of contacts that you would make in an MBA focused on entrepreneurship that may be valuable to you. Okay. But you you you need to be someone who does well in the academic environment. So if
13:52 you're not someone who does well in that environment, then again, an MBA is not going to help you out because it's it's not it's it's not an environment in which you're going to be able to present yourself most effectively. Okay? So don't waste your time and don't waste your money. These programs are expensive. Okay? And while you know you can borrow money, it has to be paid back. Okay? Or if your parent is a veteran like me, maybe they still have their their GI college loan availability. So maybe you can use that to go, you know, and not have to pay for it. Of course, there are, you know,
14:27 there are grants and scholarships and that sort of thing, but make sure that if if you're going to go the formal education route, it's you're going to really be able to take advantage of it. Okay. Uh, I have a friend of mine, a Navy colleague who went and got an I think it's called an MBA program. It's like an MBA for veterans program. And you know, I mean, when he asked me about it, I said, I I don't think it's ever going to do anything for you. And I don't think it has. He's a very successful guy. He's an entrepreneurial
15:03 guy. what he learned in the military as a command master chief in the Navy far more important than anything he would learn in an MBA program even an MBA program specifically for veterans and I don't think he made uh substantial contacts in that in that program from what you know from the follow-up conversations we've had he did it I think for him it was a credential and and you know I've never asked him if he regretted it I don't think he had to pay for it I think he used his GI bill but um you know
15:39 the the the temptation to say I've got to get an MBA. Resist that temptation. Okay? Unless the facts are clearly supporting it. Okay? And and and it's the same thing, by the way, with a like a BA um a bachelor's of business administration, a BBA, all of that. It's really all kind of the same in in the same uh category in that sense. So, you know, look, the the pros are it's a structured learning environment. Okay, there are networking and there are networking opportunities and there is there is credibility that
16:15 comes, you know, with that MBA designation or even a I've got a, you know, bachelor's of of business administration, something like that. Okay. But the cons are it's time consuming, it's expensive, and it's very unlikely you're going to get any hands-on startup entrepreneurship focus unless you're in a program that specifically is set up for that. Okay. So, the other part of of formal education is community college or continuing education programs run through community colleges. Now these
16:52 this is a I think a better uh option in formal education for most of us uh because first of all typically in community college we don't have to be degree oriented although you can get an AA degree an associate of arts degree uh in in you know in business or entrepreneurship in in some community colleges really you can just pick the courses that will be useful for you in starting a business. So for example, you can take a course in bookkeeping or bookkeeping and accounting. Okay, that that's that's a terrific skill to have
17:27 even if you're not going to be, you know, doing the bookkeeping, the ability to understand how how bookkeeping works and and so to be able to look at the financial statements that your bookkeeper is putting together for you, very very valuable. Okay. Now, a lot of that is kind of common sense, okay? but not all of it. Okay, it's not necessarily common sense how depreciation works because all of that is a creature of the tax code, right? So, you can learn those kind of things. When I was in architecture school, I took an accounting class in the business
18:03 department, Marshall School of Business at USC. I'm very glad I did because that one class in accounting has has really helped me over the years in terms of the bookkeeping accounting for the various companies that I've started and run. Okay. So, so with community college, you can take the classes that are focused on what you need to learn. You can take classes on marketing. You can take classes on real estate. Okay? And they're far less expensive than at a college than at a,
18:38 you know, four-year college or or, you know, university, even more so. Okay? And they're just they're just not as time consuming. It's more flexible, more practical. Okay, now obviously it's not as prestigious as going to, you know, the Marshall Business School at USC, but who cares? Honestly, most people couldn't care less. The only people who care are the big Wall Street banks, the big international consulting firms. And by the way, they care less today than they
19:14 did 10 or 20 years ago. EY, which used to be called Earnest Ernest Young, one of the big accounting firms, they have many positions now where you don't need to have a college degree at all. And they tout that in in their recruiting, right? So more and more companies, even large companies that historically required a college degree, are not doing so anymore because they've realized that a college degree doesn't necessarily mean that they're getting a good, hardworking, competent employee. Okay?
19:51 So use college, whether it's community college or or something, you know, higher than that. Use it to your best advantage and how it fits your goals. Okay? Don't don't let the college craft what you get. That's not going to help you. Okay? Craft what you need from the college and then find a find a setting where you'll get that. Okay? All right. So, that's formal education. uh somewhat similar these days because so much of of formal education is online is online
20:29 courses. The difference is is there are lots of online courses that are available. Okay. But um they're not they're not necessarily being done or they're they're not being done by colleges, universities, etc. Okay. Uh, for example, um, shoot Kaplan. Okay, Kaplan has tons and tons of great courses ve oftentimes very practical. Now, most of Kaplan's courses are for
21:04 getting some kind of license. So, especially if you're going if if you're going to build a business based on a license, whether it's a real estate license, an insurance license, professional fiduciary license like me, please come into our profession. We need more people. Um, anything like that where you have and and where you're required to do periodic continuing education. Okay. So I I think I when when I had an insurance license and securities licenses, I took a a large number of Kaplan's courses and
21:41 I thought most of them were good to truly excellent, great information, well presented. Okay, it was it was serious learning. It wasn't the kind of stuff just click through it as fast as you can so you can get done with your, you know, your your CE and and submit it to renew your license. No, it it it and believe me, I I'm hard to please when it comes to education. I've been a teacher for more than half a century now. Okay, it's officially over half a century as of last year because I started teaching
22:16 when I was 13. So there are and there are other platforms out there. Now you know you do have to be careful. There are there's lots and lots of stuff out there but what are the credentials of of the inst of the organization? What are the credentials of the person doing the teaching? Do they really know what they're talking about etc etc. Okay so uh you know there are things like uh Corsura, UDI, LinkedIn Learning, Skillshare. there's lots of platforms and and and you know not all these platforms vet the
22:53 people who who post classes there. Okay. On the other hand, oftentimes they're not very expensive. Okay. So like the one of the nice things about Kaplan is you get access to per virtually everything for maybe a few hundred dollars at most. Okay. And and you'll get access to for a year. So you can just like just you know churn through the stuff and get get all that knowledge very inexpensively less inexpensively than community college especially these days community college has become more expensive and and for
23:28 these other things LinkedIn learning Kosura Cosera Coserero however it's pronounced right oftentimes the courses are are pretty inexpensive okay and and so you can you can try them out uh and and see if if it's good and if it's not. All right. Well, see if you spent, you know, 25 bucks on it and it's no good. All right. You know, you learned a good lesson for 25 bucks. Okay. So, um I you know, check out these online courses. Look for ones that that are that you think will be valuable. I
24:04 later in the in the episode, I'm going to talk about the things you you should learn, right? So you can fill in gaps in your knowledge by looking for online courses. Now I I will I I have a real estate license and I need to do continuing education, right, to keep that license. This this is a vast desert here in California. And for someone like me who specializes in probate and trust matters, I've looked several times for some excellent continuing education on probate and trust real estate and I
24:40 found zero. Okay. So, for all you people out there who want to do some content creation, right? Please do something on, you know, high quality on real estate uh for probate and trusts and get it qualified for continuing education for the I think million people who have real estate licenses here in California. Um so, you sometimes you're just not going to be able to find what you want. By the way, there is excellent education available online for people in my field.
25:15 So, for example, the American Bankers Association has uh an outstanding certificate program, much much better than anything you would get at any college, university anywhere else. Okay? Now, it's not cheap. It's I think it's a couple of thousand dollars if if memory serves. 1,800 comes to mind. Okay? But you can look for that kind of specialized um education for what you're looking to do. And there's there's a relatively good chance you'll find it. Okay? Now, think about it. $2,000 versus, you know,
25:52 40 50 $100,000 going to a university. I guarantee you if you were interested in coming into my field, and again, welcome. You're welcome to come in. Let me know if you want to join. We need more people. Uh if if you're interest if you're interested in becoming a professional fiduciary, the $2,000 that you would spend getting the certifi certification through the American Bankers Association is going to be far more valuable than anything you would get from a college or university. That's the reality of education today. Okay. So
26:27 online courses great place to look to to find uh learning opportunities. Okay. startups uh startup accelerators and incubators. So there's and there's lots of them. The most well-known ones are like Y Combinator, Tech Stars, but I mean a lot of cities have have created sort of public private partnerships and they've they've started incubators uh to attract uh talent, entrepreneurial talent uh to their to their city. So Austin is a I I talked about the five
27:03 best places, the five best cities in which to start a business. I think I talked about couple couple three weeks ago if memory serves. So uh at least two of the cities I I mentioned uh uh Denver and uh Austin u and I think I also mentioned Salt Lake City. I all three of those have have a pretty robust uh incubator and startup accelerator culture there. So there that that's a those are great environments again depending on what kind of business you want to start and they they they typically focus on an industry tech
27:40 being the most obvious one. So if you're looking to start some kind of technology focused business. So being in the startup accelerator and incubator world makes a lot of sense. uh first of all, they're going to tailor the learning opportunities to what you're doing. Second of all, they're going to have people there on a regular basis that it will be valuable for you to network with. Now, here's the thing about an accelerator and an incubator that's different than uh formal education and that is if you are not comfortable
28:18 networking, which is an essential skill for pretty much every business. Okay, that is a skill they will help you learn. Okay, now I I know a lot of people believe, "No, no, you've got to be born to be a good networker." That is not true. Okay. I you know I I I assure you it is not true because when I was a young man, a bo a boy, a teenager, painfully shy, could not network. Okay. and and yet somehow I figured it out.
28:55 Now I I took I took some classes, not specifically in networking, but I took um the a boot camp um shoot I can't think of the guy's name now. All of a sudden, I went up and very famous sales trainer from the 70s and 80s. I I I took uh his boot camp and and I I I took lots of opportunities to just get out there, watch how people did it and overcome my shyness. Okay? And and that's something that that they will teach you at accelerators and
29:30 incubators. Okay? And and being in that environment, you will meet other people like you who are shy. Okay? Now, by the way, there's a difference between someone who's shy and someone who's introverted. I'm introverted as well, okay? It is exhausting for me to be in a networking environment because as an as an introvert, other people pull energy out of me when I interact with them. Okay? And so after I'm done networking, I want to go home,
30:05 you know, take a shower, have my whiskey and soda, have dinner, and go to sleep and not have to interact with anybody. I'm a true introvert in that sense. Okay? I I can turn on my night non shy self, but I'm still an introvert. An extrovert gets energy from other people. Okay? It's all the extroverts were sucking my energy, which is fine. they're they're welcome to it. I'm putting myself in that environment specifically in order to meet people uh initiate relationships, all that kind of stuff. Okay. So, in the incubator
30:42 environment, you will meet people across the spectrum from extraordinarily introverted like me to extraordinarily extroverted, completely not like me. Right? And and and and we can shift. I'm not nearly as introverted today as I was 30 years ago. Okay? And so th that that's why being in in an environment like an accelerator or an incubator can be so valuable because you're surrounded by people all focused on a with all having similar goals, okay? And focused on achieving those goals. Okay? So
31:18 that's another place where you can learn uh uh how to start a business. When life brings unexpected changes, managing inherited property shouldn't add to your stress. Magnum Properties specializes in probate and trust real estate management. We handle the complexities while you focus on what matters most. From property maintenance to tenant relations, from legal compliance to maximizing value, we're your trusted partner through every step.
31:54 Magnum Properties, Inc. turning property challenges into peace of mind. Call us today at 2132644396 or visit magnumprops.com. Okay, so this is people making money, one of the way to wow shows, and we're talking about how do you learn to start a business? And I've talked about formal education. I've talked about online courses and I've talked about startups and startup accelerators and incubators.
32:29 Uh and and and I'm going to talk about just a a couple of others here uh that that I I think are are potentially valuable. So another is books, podcasts, blogs, YouTube. Okay. So, if you're watching this show, presumably you're doing so because you are interested in learning to start a business. Okay? And I invite you to check out my content, especially the content uh in in my shows, business lessons from the military and people making money because that's focused specifically on helping
33:07 people who want to start a business. Okay. Now, if you're interested in be in being in business in the probate and trust world, so then check out my show on my my Monday weekly show, Trust and Estates Weekly. Okay. Uh but but and I'm just using mine as an example, but there are, you know, just so many uh great podcasts on on starting a business uh and and also there are books. Now, the thing about uh a a book and I and I've read so
33:42 many books over the years, uh books on marketing, books on sales, um books on how to get an idea, how to how to name uh a a a business or or a a a program that you're starting in your business. Uh there there there's so many out there. The nice thing about having a book is you can make notes in the book. You can keep it in your library. You can refer back to it. There are certain books that I refer back to perennially. Um including um she the book is called
34:17 like I'm awesome. Hello I'm Awesome. It's a short book on how to come up with a good name for something that you're doing. The the the the writer she's just she's really just brilliant. That's all I can tell you. Right. And so, uh, books, podcasts, um, again, you can look for something that is that will specifically fill in a gap in your knowledge or will help you increase your knowledge in a particular area where you feel like you may be weak and and you need to learn more. Okay? So, you can be
34:53 very pinpointed. Okay? And the other thing about uh books and podcasts and such is well books still relatively inexpensive. I mean typical book these days is going to be somewhere between maybe $10 and $20. Okay, maybe $30 if you're getting like a really in-depth, you know, finance text or something like that. Okay, podcasts are free, right? We're we we do this for uh to serve our audiences and our bills are paid by our sponsors, right? So
35:31 you it costs you nothing. Now having said that, u sometimes you're going to get exactly the value that you paid for, which is zero, right? That's that is one of the challenges of podcasts. And so you're going to have to go through many in order to find the ones that that you that you assess to be credible and that really fill your needs. Right? So, uh I I put together something that I launched last month called Probate and Trust uh Trust TV and it it's a compilation of
36:06 all the best most reliable material on YouTube in for estate planning and trust and estate administration. Right? So, I'm doing the curating for you so that if you're interested again in getting into the field that I'm in, you you can go to Trust and Estates TV, all the all the best podcasts are there, okay? You don't need to go anywhere else. Now, I don't know if there's other people doing that for for their fields where there's, you know, plumbing TV or something like that, although I talk about it so often, maybe I should do
36:41 plumbing TV as well. Um, but but I wouldn't I wouldn't be able to curate it because I I'm not a plumber, right? But if if you're a plumber, I I encourage you to start plumbing TV on YouTube and and and and look, you know, if there is someone who's done the curating for you and and you believe that person is credible. So then there you go. and you'll have combined it. Probate and trust TV has got I think 10 content creators. Um, right now I'm always looking for new, you know, solid
37:18 credible content creators in in the pro probate and trust arena, but I like I said, I think I've got 10 right now. They don't all post weekly like my friend Bill Gross and I do, but most of them post at least monthly. And we the coverage is comprehensive. Okay. So and and I think uh I mean I think I hope you know uh more people who really want to help others will think about and and actually act on putting together a
37:53 curated channel on YouTube that is targeting a specific area of of of businesses. Okay. So that's that's another way to find out well how do how do I know what I should view what's credible that's that's a way to do it. Okay another uh place you can learn is through work experience and internships there is nothing that I have named so far that will help you learn as much as quickly as working in the field in which
38:29 you want to start a business. And I would say that if you are contemplating starting a business in a field in which you have no experience, the best thing you can do is go get some experience in that field before you start the business. Okay? Because you may have some ideas about how that business works and they could be completely wrong. Okay? This is what this is what happened with for me with with the legal business is what I saw as as as
39:05 the legal business was just it wasn't something I I thought that I was going to be wanting to do. Okay. Now, as things turn out, I probably should have gotten taken that offer to get the law degree, not to become a lawyer, but because it would have been valuable to me throughout my business career. Uh but if you are if you have not worked in the industry or area uh professional area that that you're contemplating getting into minimally look to do some kind of internship
39:40 uh so that you can learn firsthand what it's all about. Okay. And you know, again, the the the pros to it are you're going to have direct exposure. Uh if if you're an intern, even if you're an unpaid intern, there's no cost to you per se if you can afford, you know, to go without an income for a month or two. Okay? Uh and and I don't think there are any cons, frankly. So, you know, you can learn pretty quickly in an internship.
40:15 Now, you're not necessarily going to have total exposure to everything that goes on in a business, you know, when you do a one month, two, three month internship, but still you're going to see a lot. And by the way, what you see and how much you see will be at least somewhat driven by how you act within that internship. So if you actively look for opportunities to be more involved, if you give as much as you possibly can to that company in that
40:50 internship, they'll give you more opportunity to see more of what's going on. Okay, that that's that is the understanding in an internship. Okay. And then uh two two more real quick ones. I'm not going to talk about these a whole lot, but there are workshops and boot camps. Uh a lot of those are sponsored by incubators and accelerators. Um but some some schools uh um like MBA programs sometimes will do boot camps. Um and and and they can be good. Again, it it depends on who the
41:25 sponsor is, what you're looking to do, but you might want to check those out. Okay. And then there are government and nonprofit resources. Uh, for example, SCORE, the service corps of retired executives. Uh, it's a program through, I think, the SBA, the Small Business Administration. So, so there there there there are the I I know I I I when I was in business the first time, I worked with a a sort of a counselor, if you will, at SCORE. I thought he he was very good, really, you know, was very dedicated, knew his stuff. Um and and
42:03 you know, if you're a veteran, there are veteran business outreach programs, that kind of stuff, uh through the VA, etc. So, you know, you can look for those as well. And on the local level, even better on the local level because they're going to be more familiar with the w with what it takes in in your lo location in order to start a business, right? So, uh, if you know if you're if you're thinking about starting a business, um, but you're not sure, then I encourage you to start out with some of the free or very inexpensive options. Okay?
42:41 Because that way you're not making such a huge investment that you get caught in the sunk cost fallacy, which is, well, I already spent this, so I now I have to do this other thing because I've spent so much money already, right? So uh it it may be that uh at some point it will make sense for you to get do some learning at a at a formal education environment. Okay. But I wouldn't start there. Uh unless you're very very clear and certain about what your plan is and and that plan you will benefit from you
43:16 know highcost formal education in working that plan. Okay. So that's where and how you can learn. So now let's talk for the the last uh you know 10 15 minutes what you need to learn. Okay. And the these are the the the core areas of knowledge. I've got uh 10 of them here. Okay. And and I'm going to I'm going to go through them rather quickly. I I could really could probably do an entire show on each one. Okay. So first of all, business planning. So, even if you're going to self- finance a
43:54 startup of of a just a maybe a service business like a plumbing business, okay, it's a good idea to have a business plan. Even if it's just for you, it's just a few pages long. You can go online, find, you know, search free template business plan, right? And the reason it's good to do this is to help you think about what what gaps there are in your knowledge that you need to fill and and and have an understanding of what am I going to need to do to start this business. So writing a business plan is
44:29 a very hands-on way to learn, but it's also a good it's it's it's something you want to learn about. And the best way to learn about it is is is doing it. Okay. So, business planning and and by the way, while typically business planning is is thought of as well, you write a business plan and then you launch a business. Business planning is really an ongoing function these days. The business uh environment changes so rapidly it it makes no sense to write a business plan, start up the business, and then think, "Okay, now I'm good." No, you're
45:05 going to constantly be reviewing it every three months, every six months, every year. something like that depending on what business you're in and how rapidly things are changing in it. Okay, so that's one area of knowledge you you want to gain. The second is uh market research and customer understanding. Okay, and I I think that's that's pretty obvious. So I mentioned at the beginning your business either needs to uh uh fill it essentially needs to fill a need. Okay. So, be it people, you know, need their
45:40 plumbing fixed. Um, people need their estates administrated. Okay. Um, and in both of those cases, here in California, there is a shortage of people to do both those things. So, those are two, you know, you know, absolutely viable uh businesses to to to think about if you're in California. Okay. And but market research helps you find those those gaps, okay, where something something needs to be done, but no one's doing it or there's a shortage of of
46:16 something, okay? And and and so it'll help you come up with an idea of what kind of business you want to start and with with the knowledge that it it is actually something that can be viable. Okay. So, market research, c, you know, customer understanding. It's it's really it's it's really getting down to figuring out to who whom who whom am I going to serve and and how? Okay. So, that's another area of knowledge you want to have. Okay. Product and service or product or service development, right? So, this is,
46:52 you know, if you're going to be selling something, what is it you're going to sell? How are you going to develop it? how are you going to know that it has the right uh uh features and and and same with a service. Okay, so uh you it's going to vary depending on what industry you're in. Okay, but again business changes pretty rapidly. So whatever you started with, it's going to adapt over time for you to keep your business viable. Okay. Whether
47:27 the the techniques that the business uses have to change, whether um you know products become outmoded and new ones have to be developed. Okay. So product or service development again is it's going to be part of the ongoing uh u uh needs of a business. And so you need to know how to do it in order to keep your business viable. Okay. And by the way, all of these categories, it's not it's not as if you learn them once and now you're done. And that's why it's important to either either know how to
48:03 do these things or partner yourself up with someone who knows how to do things. So there's there's I have 10 categories here. Talked about three of them so far. Maybe you know how to do five and and you have a partner who does the other five. That's a great meshing of of talent or a great meshing of abilities. Okay? So, it's not that you have to know all 10, but if you don't know all 10, you're going to have to either contract out the ones you don't know or partner with someone who has that knowledge and experience. Okay. All right. Next is finance and accounting. I already talked about that uh when uh earlier in the
48:39 show. You need to know how to budget, how to manage cash flow. You need to know how to do the bookkeeping, your taxes. Now, again, you may not do your own tax return. You may I don't do my own tax return. My accountant does it. Okay. And as much as I know in that area, and it's actually quite a bit, he knows far more than I do. And he chides me when I try to pretend like I know the answer to this. Right? So I have to be careful now how I send him questions because I find that if I if I send him questions implying an answer, he chides
49:14 me. Now, we've known each other for decades. So, it's it's meant goodnaturedly and it comes from a place of love. So, don't don't get me wrong. I love my accountant. Uh but um you know, I still need the ability to understand what he's saying to me. Okay? So, I need to have that that finance and and accounting background. Okay. Marketing and sales perhaps the most crucial skill necessary for a business to be successful. Okay. The two areas that are most needed are to know how to do or how
49:49 to produce that which the business is in the business to produce or do and the other is how to find customers. Right? So marketing and sales is crucial. Now again you don't necessarily have to be the expert in marketing and sales. Maybe you team up with someone and that person does the marketing and sales and you do you actually you know perform the services or produce the products or whatever. That's a very good matching of talents. Okay. And and but but even if you're not going to be the person regularly doing the marketing and sales, you need to have knowledge in that area
50:25 so that you can you can communicate with your partner and between the two of you, you can make intelligent decisions for your business. Okay. Next is legal and regulatory. Now, if you're in a state like California where this is a heavily heavily regulated state pretty much no matter what you do, right? So, you need to have the ability to find the relevant regulations, understand them, comply with them, okay? And and and deal with the legal issues. Now, that's not to say you need to be a
51:01 lawyer. You clearly do not, okay? But you need to know how to maintain your entity, for example. So, if you're going to be an LLC or a CC Corp or or even a sole proprietorship, there are things that you're going to need to do periodically to maintain that entity. So, if you're just going to be a sole proprietor, which is means the business is you as a natural person. You're probably still going to operate under some kind of fictitious business name, which means you need to file for that uh for that fictitious business name. And then once you've got the filing approved, it needs to be published and
51:36 then it needs to be refiled periodically. So, you know, you can say, "Well, I'm just going to pay people to do that." Okay, you can, but if if you're in the early stages of a business and you're not making a lot of money, you may not want to pay people to do that. It's probably less expensive to learn how to do it. And you can you can go to a video. In fact, I may have done a video. I'm trying to remember if I've done a show on on on how to file a fictitious business name statement. I think I have. And I I just teach you how to do it. So you can watch a video for 30 40 minutes, okay? And do it yourself. It's it's it's
52:13 it is not difficult, okay? And having done it once, you're you're pretty much good to go. Okay. All right. Next is operations and logistics. So this is the other core function, right? Marketing and sales, operations and logistics. Those are the two that I mentioned a moment ago, right? So, managing suppliers and inventory, setting up workflow systems, you know, taking care of customers, right? All of that is operations and logistics. Okay? And no matter how much you know in that area, there's always more to learn. With the advent of AI, large language models,
52:49 automation and such, smart business owners are already figuring out how can they streamline operations and logistics using these tools. Okay, so there's there's two kinds of business operators out there right now. Those who are ignoring AI and those who are figuring out how to use it to make their businesses run more efficiently. And the ones who were who were who are able to adapt it effectively, they are going to prevail. Okay? So, it's not that AI is going to put people out of work. It's just going to change how people work and what it takes to be successful. Okay?
53:27 And that leads right into the next area of learning, which is technology and tools, right? So, you may need to have software. You may need to have some sort of CRM or or bookkeeping software or accounting software or e-commerce software, right? all kinds of things. Again, it depends what your business is. Is it some kind of online business? Okay. And and and are you just going to use a platform like um I don't know, Square or something like that. Okay. So, but you're still going to have to know how to use the platform, right? Or you going to use eBay or Amazon, whatever it is. Okay. So, you're going to have to learn that. Uh and then and I I just
54:03 mentioned AI, right? This is the big technology challenge of of our of our current times. And so often with new technologies, the best way to learn them is to just play around with them. Okay. Now, a friend of mine uh uh gave me an opportunity. I' I've mentioned this I think a couple weeks ago to go to a it was about a 40minute seminar on how to use AI. It was done by uh don't remember the name of the company now, but it was excellent. So if you get an opportunity to do that and it was free, you know, they were
54:39 introducing themselves uh you know to as many people as they can find. They do them periodically in the hopes of um you know finding paying customers. So it it was it was excellent. It was absolutely excellent and and I paid nothing for it other than spending the time. So you look for opportunities to do that. Talk to people you know. How are they learning about AI? Have you heard of any, you know, free classes that you can take? Right? The nice thing about a free class is if you get into it and you're not learning anything, you can always just click
55:14 right out of it and move on with your day. Okay. So, technology and tools, another area that you need to know. And then uh the last two are uh first leadership and management. Okay. Now, if you're a soloreneur like me, my business is me. I'm not sure how much leadership I have to exercise. Self-discipline maybe it's not the same thing as leadership. Uh but uh you know even in my business I have to be able to lead and manage other people who are working on the same estate. So I
55:51 typically describe myself as I'm the team captain. Okay. But I I there's always a lawyer involved. There is almost always an accountant involved. There's oftentimes real estate people involved. There may be other specialists, wealth adviserss, whatever. So, you know, depending on the kind of business that you you're interested in starting, you may need to have some leadership skills or some managerial skills or both. They are not the same. Okay? And th this is the challenge. I I'm not
56:27 aware of any particularly good uh sources for learning these kind of things. Now, I learned leadership early. My dad enrolled me in the Cub Scouts and then the Boy Scouts after that. That's where I learned leadership. And interestingly enough, when I joined the United States Navy uh at at the uh you know ripe old age of 46, 47 when I went to my first billet and I was talking with my supervisor about leadership and he found out I was an Eagle Scout. He would say to me, he said to me, "You you learned everything you needed to know
57:02 about leadership when you were a Boy Scout. Just just remember that and you'll be fine." And and indeed that that was correct. So look for opportunities to develop leadership. Uh become start coaching a sport for one of your children or get involved in some kind of nonprofit where you're volunteering and and you know you can make leadership mistakes uh and and and learn as you go. Fact of the matter is that was the other place that's where I really learned to to to deal with leadership in the sort
57:39 of bureaucratic setting was by being involved in the Jewish federation. So most of leadership experience I had was really kind of small groups and that sort of stuff. That's different than being part of a large organization. So being involved in a nonprofit can help you learn uh leadership skills and managerial skills as well. Okay. And the last one is mindset and resilience. And of course again I I don't think there's any place you go to take classes in that. Uh but you know some of the resources I talked about podcasts, books, okay, those are great places to
58:17 go to find ways to augment your leadership and resilience. Okay. So those are the areas of knowledge that you need to learn and like I said the first part of the show I talked about how and where you can learn them. So uh if you are interested in starting a business or you're thinking maybe I want to do this so start learning about it start now right the best time to have started learning was yesterday the second best time is now and so there are lots of places where you can learn for free so check them out so I thank you
58:52 very much for joining me today especially my live guests wish you a oh uh real quickly Monday next week 10:00 a.m. is my show. 10 a.m. Pacific time is my show, Trust and Estates Weekly. Tuesday at 10:00 a.m. Pacific time, business lessons from the military. One week from today, we'll be back for the next edition of People Making Money. And then next week on Thursday at 5:00 PM Pacific, Pacific time is my show, uh, Jiggers's Place. Join me for a cocktail. We'll sit back and talk about all the
59:27 non business and finance, financial aspects of life. So, thanks again for joining me. Wishing you a wonderful rest of the day and week. And signing off as I always do.