Do you know Buck Rizvi?
His ecommerce brands Ultimate Lifespan and RealDose Nutrition have generated over $50 million in revenue…
And through Health Profits Academy, he coaches people on how to launch and grow successful (and ethical) supplement businesses.
He’s a really sharp dude who’s been in the game a long time…
And in this blog post, as a favor to all of us, he shares his 4 Keys for Success:
1. Take Inventory
“The first thing you should focus on is taking inventory, establishing what’s important to you and what’s not important to you.”
What do you stand for? What do you stand against?
Buck says that as soon as he figured out his core values, it took away the anxiety he felt when making business decisions:
The opportunities he would consider, the marketing strategies he would use, how he would relate with customers…
Which meant he was able to make decisions quicker, and make more decisions that were going to have a positive impact on his business in the long run.
This is something that Carrie, my wife and business partner, has helped me with a lot.
Especially in the beginning when I was so concerned with getting things off the ground, she was there to hold the moral line: to make sure we treated our customers and team well, that we sold quality products and used good practices.
If you’re trying to build a business that will last, it’s so important that you lay a good foundation.
I talk more about our core values in this blog post: Do You Have Company Values?
2. Focus on What You’re Good At
“Once I started to focus on the areas that I was really good at, and finding people that I could work with that could fill in the gaps… things started to take off.”
Buck and I share two things that we’re good at: building ecommerce brands and creating educational content for business owners…
So that’s what we focus on.
I think it’s fun to try new things and see what works — I’ve tried my hand at various ecommerce services and events and a ton of other stuff…
But in the end, experience has shown me that it’s better to specialize than to try to be a renaissance person.
And as Buck says here, there are plenty of people out there that can fill in the gaps. This industry is full of great opportunities for partnerships, joint ventures, affiliate relationships and the like.
3. Don’t be a Lone Wolf
“Another big breakthrough for me was not trying to be the lone wolf all the time; don’t think that you’re the one that’s going to take on the world and be successful on your own.”
Now that you know what you’re best at, it’s time to get people to help you do it!
I know the idea of hiring employees and building a team can feel daunting…
But it’s absolutely necessary if you plan to scale your business to 7 figures and beyond (and it’s really not as hard as it sounds!).
10 years ago I was a one-man team — a solopreneur, if you will. It was a fun part of my journey, but I was overworked and wasn’t able to achieve the scale I wanted.
Now I lead 4 brands with over 50 employees that generated $25 million in revenue last year…
And I’ve learned that, with very few exceptions, you can only achieve this kind of growth if you build a team and learn to delegate.
Want to learn how I built my team? Watch the replay of my webinar on project management.
4. Get Help from Someone Who’s Already Done It
“[Find] people that can collapse the timeframe for you to get from Point A to Point B — typically, that’s people who have done that before you.”
You’re clearly ahead of the game on this one if you’re reading this blog post.
Again, I agree with Buck: The best way to learn something is to find someone who is very good at it and ask them to teach you.
Smart Marketer is one of the great joys of my life. I get to take what’s working in my businesses and share it with other marketers and entrepreneurs…
But it wasn’t very long ago that I was the one seeking guidance.
I was brought up in this game by James Schramko of SuperFastBusiness.
When I was only knee-high to a duck, he showed me the ropes and taught me to build my own community of marketers.
I’ve had many other mentors and coaches along the way and it’s been so, so helpful.
“It’s a false economy that not spending money on coaching is going to save you something,” says Buck.
“You’re actually going to make more money and you’re going to get there faster.”
So there you have it — Buck’s 4 Keys to Success:
Take Inventory, Focus on What You’re Good At, Don’t Be a Lone Wolf and Get Help.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this post!
Highlights:
0:15 Focus on the things you are good at
0:45 Establish what is important to you
1:20 Don’t be the lone wolf
1:45 Find people that can collapse the timeframe for you to get from Point A to Point B
