Full transcript
0:00everyone say Mervyn's here and today I
0:03wanted to make this video to ask you a
0:05really important question and to get you
0:08to think about something that that
0:10solved like life and death importance to
0:13your business and the question is why
0:17does your business exist other than for
0:20the purpose of making money so I said
0:22again why does your business exist other
0:25than for the purpose of making money now
0:29it is pause for a moment and and think
0:31about it like why does your business
0:33exist and what's actually quite
0:36surprising and scary for a lot of
0:40entrepreneurs is that when they sit down
0:42and they ask themselves this question
0:44they realize that there is no reason
0:48their business exists other than for the
0:50purpose of making money so you know the
0:53why why is this a problem you know why
0:55can't people just just create businesses
0:58to make money well you can you can do
1:00that if you want but if you know if you
1:02do that it's very hard to actually make
1:06money and it might sound kind of
1:08counterintuitive but here's how it works
1:11you know if you're an if you're in
1:13business you're really in the process of
1:17providing value to other humans you know
1:20no one else buys from our southern
1:21humans and so they give us money when
1:26you know we help them in some way shape
1:29or form so you know how help exists is
1:32when we help somebody solve a problem or
1:35get them from where'd they are currently
1:37to where they want to go in the future
1:39like their desired situation from the
1:41current situation when we help them do
1:43this we create value we help them solve
1:46a problem we help them you know we help
1:48them get to where they want and that's
1:50value and people are happy to pay money
1:52in exchange for value and that's really
1:55what business is business is providing
1:58value and getting paid so when you're in
2:01business yourself with the intent to
2:04purely just make money then it's hard to
2:08make money because money is the
2:10byproduct of value
2:11and money isn't value so if you're
2:14trying to make money then you know
2:18that's like that's that's that's really
2:22messed up because that's not how you
2:23actually make money you make money by
2:25adding value and then money is the
2:27byproduct of the value and this is a
2:31this is pretty like common sense stuff
2:34but it's something that just every
2:37entrepreneur that I meet almost like I
2:40would say 90% of entrepreneurs that I
2:43mean they're just purely in business to
2:45make money and then they wonder why
2:47they're not very motivated they wonder
2:49why they can't get out of bed in the
2:50morning they wonder why as soon as
2:52things get hard they can't keep going
2:55and they also wonder why they're not
2:58making any money or why they're not able
3:00to make as much money as they want or
3:03they wonder why people don't want their
3:06thing and why people aren't lining up to
3:08pay them money and they also wonder like
3:12how other companies are able to get
3:15people to give them money
3:17and it's fascinating and it's because
3:20they can't see properly they can't
3:23understand this concept that business is
3:25the art of adding value and by doing so
3:28the byproduct is money now I'll give you
3:33some very like specific examples of this
3:36happening you know in in reality so you
3:39know this isn't just some theory or
3:41something like that
3:43like this has been this way for a long
3:45time and companies that made them this
3:48mistake they paid for it dearly so a
3:51classic example would be Boeing and you
3:55know if you're not sure what Boeing is
3:56it's like an airplane company
3:58it makes the 747 and a whole bunch of
4:01other plans right it's like one of the
4:02major to aircraft companies in the world
4:06now when Boeing was first started and
4:09when Boeing was doing really well its
4:11mission statement was to make the best
4:15airplanes in the world that's what they
4:18wanted to do that was their intention
4:20and that's why they started the company
4:23and so that's what they were trying to
4:25do and they were motivated as how old to
4:28do it because they wanted to make the
4:29best airplanes in the world you know the
4:31most reliable the fastest the most
4:33efficient the most cutting-edge
4:35airplanes in the world it was a exciting
4:37project and then they set out to do that
4:41they actually achieved that and then the
4:44byproduct of doing that was that Boeing
4:46made a ton of money and it became the
4:48most valuable company on earth for
4:50actually quite a long time and it was
4:52producing amazing airplanes but then
4:55what happened is and this is very
4:58typical right so Boeing had a genius
5:02idea to put a an executive CEO in place
5:07probably with some sort of MBA probably
5:10from like some universities like Harvard
5:11and you know with a suit and tie and
5:14everything in proper corporate speaking
5:16language and he came in and he decided
5:19to change the mission statement and he
5:23changed it to I forget the exact
5:25language but if you google this you can
5:27go look back and you'll find the story
5:30that I'm talking about right now but he
5:32basically changed it to say to you know
5:37to produce airplanes at an extremely low
5:40cost due to our like lean cost structure
5:44or something like that right so
5:46basically and he also said in there and
5:48also to produce financial returns for
5:51our investors right so you know this guy
5:55probably this guy this executive who
5:57took over Boeing he was probably
5:59thinking all right time to stop with
6:00this childsplay stuff about making the
6:03best airplanes in the world let's try
6:05make some money not that we're not
6:06already making money here but we're like
6:09we're already making the most money out
6:11of any company in the world but let's
6:14let's actually try to make some money
6:16you know you got to ask yourself how
6:17delusional was the student how
6:20delusional are most of these dudes and
6:22woman when they when they literally just
6:26change things like this and so you know
6:29he changed it to he changed it and then
6:32what happened is Boeing proceeded to try
6:35and make finance
6:36returns for their investors and we know
6:39we're trying to make financial returns
6:40for the investors they were trying to
6:43cut costs on things they were trying and
6:46you know when you're trying to cut costs
6:47everywhere you're trying to stop
6:50different R&D projects like research and
6:53development projects from going through
6:54you're trying to cut back on technology
6:57and making you know these little details
6:59in the plane that were important to the
7:01engineers and the the people who design
7:03these things now they start removing all
7:05of this stuff because it's less of a
7:07love project and it's less of a hobby
7:09and you know because these these the new
7:13management style is just trying to make
7:15money the old management style is trying
7:16to make the best airplane in the world
7:17so they don't think the same and they
7:20don't see things the same way because
7:22they're trying to make money for the
7:23investors these other guys so they start
7:26going through all of these airplanes
7:28cutting R&D projects laying off people
7:30and doing things left right and center
7:32and then what happened well
7:36Boeing ended up losing a lot of money
7:38and the airplanes ended up not being
7:41very good and then also they opened up a
7:45foot hole in the in the marketplace for
7:49a competitor to come in because they
7:50were screwing everything up really so
7:52Airbus came in and they base in Boeing
7:55basically handed it to him on a silver
7:57platter and they came in and started
7:59trying to make really good airplanes and
8:01they got a really big foothold that
8:03they've still maintained to this day and
8:05Boeing just handed it right to him why
8:09or how by trying to make money instead
8:13of trying to make really good airplanes
8:15and so that's why I asked you this
8:17question at the beginning at the
8:19beginning of this video but why does
8:21your company exist other than for the
8:24purpose of making money because when you
8:26when you struggle to answer this
8:27question you you have a problem and when
8:32you struggle to answer this question you
8:33probably aren't making any money or if
8:34you are it's probably not very much and
8:36if you are you're probably struggling to
8:39grow and so I encourage you to think
8:42long and hard about you know why does
8:44your business exist other than for the
8:46purpose of making money
8:47and you should find a purpose other than
8:51from making money because then when you
8:53wake up everyday and you ask yourself
8:55hey what should I work on today or what
8:57projects should I do this year you know
8:59what things should I do in my business
9:01you're going to have a clear mind and
9:04you're going to have clear eyes and
9:07you're going to be able to see and
9:10conceive things to do that are actually
9:13going to add value because if you're
9:15waking up every day thinking how can I
9:16make the best airplane in the world
9:18you're asking the right questions and
9:20when you when you ask those questions
9:22you'll find the right answers when you
9:24find those things you'll do them you
9:26will execute them and then when you do
9:28those things the market is going to love
9:31you for it because you're providing
9:32great stuff and then the market is going
9:34to react to that by giving you money and
9:38so this is how we achieve our goal
9:41indirectly you know instead of trying to
9:43make money we try to add value we try
9:46solve problems for people and instead of
9:49treating our businesses like a a linear
9:52money-making machine for us and in just
9:56ourselves we should treat business as a
9:59non linear like vehicle to help people
10:02that also gives us money
10:05right I'm not saying you don't make any
10:08money I'm actually saying you'll make a
10:10ton of it if you just focus on the other
10:13thing and I made this mistake myself too
10:15you know when I first got into business
10:17honestly it was just to make money
10:20because I didn't have any and I was poor
10:24in living in my parent's garage and you
10:27know I could really really wanted to
10:29move out of there and so sometimes the
10:32first reason why you get started in
10:34business is to make some money because
10:36you need it so it's like a survival
10:38thing right and there's nothing wrong
10:40with that and that's how I got started
10:43the problem with that was was that every
10:47time I looked at different opportunities
10:49it was just all like all I could see was
10:51just like money so if I looked at in an
10:53expense I was like oh that's that's not
10:55good because that there isn't going
10:57that's gonna be less money for me and
10:59it's not why I'm here it's not
11:01I'm doing this and so you know I didn't
11:04make investments in myself and in my
11:08business for the long term I didn't I
11:10didn't try to provide a above-and-beyond
11:13customer support I didn't try to have
11:16like the best cutting-edge technology I
11:18didn't try to hire and maintain and
11:20train and cultivate the best team
11:23possible because these things cost money
11:25and when you're trying to make money you
11:28don't want to spend the money because
11:30that is the opposite of make but when
11:33you're trying to you know when you're
11:35trying to make something the best you
11:37possibly can then you use you know you
11:40spend money as a tool to make that
11:42happen and then the money comes back
11:44around and comes to you so it's just a
11:47different way to think about it and back
11:50when I was you know just in business for
11:52making money my first goal was like to
11:54make a hundred grand a year and I
11:57achieved that within about I think it
12:00was the first year I was in business I
12:02made zero no kidding I didn't even get
12:04one customer I didn't even make a dollar
12:06so first year was pretty bad and then
12:10the second year as things started to
12:12click and I made about a hundred grand
12:14in my second year all right and the
12:18problem with having a goal of like
12:19making a hundred grand was that as soon
12:22as I achieved it I wasn't motivated
12:24because I had arrived and I was like ah
12:27like I'm just I've just got money now
12:28and so I was lost I didn't know what to
12:31do next I it was it was a weird
12:34experience and I I didn't have much
12:35motivation and it was hard for me to get
12:37out of beard each day and go to work on
12:40on this thing and make it better because
12:42I had already arrived so then I thought
12:44okay well let's just make this number
12:46bigger so I made it bigger like five
12:48hundred grand a year and you know then I
12:51did that and then I remember I bought
12:53like a Ferrari and I did all of those
12:56typical things because I thought that's
12:57what you have a business for right you
13:00you start a business to be rich in
13:01heaven Ferrari there's basically what I
13:03thought and so I did those things but it
13:07was always kind of empty and it was
13:11after I had like one Ferrari in
13:14money I was like how much more happy
13:16would it would having how much more
13:18happy would I be afraid to Ferrari's so
13:21you know it was it was very hard to
13:23motivate myself and it was very hard to
13:26know what to work on because all I could
13:28see was I'm in business to make money to
13:31buy cars and things and so it wasn't
13:34that motivating for me and I never tried
13:37to hire any other people because I
13:39didn't see the purpose in there and I
13:42didn't try to go above and beyond for
13:43what for my customers and with customer
13:47support and investments and things like
13:48that and it was always kind of a chaotic
13:52rollercoaster ride when I first got
13:54started because I was unmotivated until
13:58I could think of a material position
14:00that I wanted to buy then I kind of got
14:02motivated then I got it then I wasn't
14:04motivated again so then I thought of
14:05another material position to buy and
14:07then really I just ended up with a whole
14:09bunch of material positions that then
14:10pissed me off because to manage all of
14:13these things like cars need cleaning
14:15then he'd gas in them I had a boat I'd
14:18like all of this crap and I just haven't
14:20managed owning these things like pretty
14:23much was a full-time job so I pretty
14:25much built myself a job of managing
14:28material positions and then they don't
14:31pissed me off so much because I didn't
14:33have time to work on my business but
14:35even if I did have time to work on my
14:36business I didn't even know what to do
14:37in my business so I was just in a real
14:39kind of confused space and it was hard
14:43to really make any progress or get
14:45motivated at all and the reason why this
14:48happened was because I just couldn't see
14:50things properly back then and so my you
14:53know my my goal with this video is to
14:55help you guys see like see that business
15:00can be something a lot bigger and a lot
15:03more fun and it can be a lot more
15:07powerful than what you think it's not
15:08just dear to make you money you can
15:11actually really do some fun things with
15:14it
15:14and when I when I started to change my
15:17perspective on things and I saw business
15:21as a way to you know to to reinvent
15:24things and make something like the best
15:26iPod
15:27we could then it got fun and so what I
15:31started to do is I started to think well
15:33what if I you know what if I solve this
15:35problem for people what if I taught
15:37people how to start consulting
15:38businesses from scratch and I made just
15:42the best training ever like I'd attended
15:45a lot of trainings I was a student and I
15:46attended a lot of different things and I
15:49I thought what if I made something that
15:51was two thousand dollars that was better
15:54than what people are charging a hundred
15:55thousand dollars for alright that was
15:58the thing that really motivated me I was
15:59like that's what I want to do I'm gonna
16:01make the best course ever and it's gonna
16:04be like a hundred grand in value but
16:05like two grand and we're gonna have like
16:07the best support ever the best
16:09everything ever and kind of like what
16:12Boeing did and I pretty I got that idea
16:14from Boeing I read that one day and I
16:17had an epiphany I was like oh wow so if
16:19that's what you should try and do in
16:21business just try and make the best
16:22thing ever and try and break a new limit
16:25and then that'll be fun inner of itself
16:28and then if you achieved it you're gonna
16:30make a ton of money
16:30accidentally anyway and so that's what I
16:33did and that was honestly when things
16:36and business started to get really fun
16:37for me and also when I was able to start
16:40rallying a team together to help me with
16:43it because it's hard to get a team
16:46together it's hard to hire smart people
16:48and it's definitely hard to motivate
16:50smart people or any anybody when your
16:54goal and your mission with your business
16:56is to make money so that you can buy a
16:59car because how you're supposed to rally
17:01a bunch of people together with that
17:03like hey guys come and help me with my
17:05mission of buying another car alright or
17:08if you're you know if you're a girl and
17:09you want to get like a Louis Vuitton
17:11handbag or something and so you're in
17:12business to do that like I mention
17:14trying to recruit a bunch of people me
17:16like everyone come here we're working on
17:18a very important project here we're
17:21going to make money for me and then what
17:24I'm gonna do with that money is I'm
17:25gonna buy a handbag so let's get to work
17:28like it sounds ridiculous when I say it
17:31like that but this is actually what goes
17:32on all the time most business most
17:35people are in business for all this sort
17:36of stuff in it and it doesn't work and
17:39then they wonder why they don't get
17:40handbag and so you've got to remove this
17:44cloud from you know in front of your
17:47eyes and you've got to remove this cloud
17:49from your brain and you have to see
17:51things properly like ask yourself the
17:55question why are you in business other
17:56than for the purpose of making money and
17:58if you don't have a reason then you
18:01should get one and when you do this I
18:05can tell you that business gets way more
18:06fun you're going to be way more
18:08motivated every day you're not going to
18:10have like you know motivation problems
18:13you're gonna be able to hire I vote
18:14people you're gonna be able to motivate
18:16them too and you're also gonna have
18:19customers that love you and want to buy
18:21your stuff even if you're not running
18:23advertising they'll just they'll spread
18:25the word themselves and you don't have
18:29to pull all of this these marketing
18:30tricks and things like this to get
18:33people to buy your stuff because people
18:35just want your stuff anyway because it's
18:36so damn good so you know this really is
18:39the solution to pretty much everyone's
18:40problem in business is if your business
18:44isn't working it's probably because your
18:46product or service sucks and it's
18:48probably because your product or service
18:50you know you don't care about it because
18:53when you the things you care about you
18:55you tend to make sure they don't suck
18:56and so you know I see a lot of people
18:59and they're they want to make money and
19:01their thing they're selling sucks and so
19:04instead what they think is they need a
19:06new funnel well they need to learn
19:07Facebook Ads or you know they need to do
19:11a webinar and I can honestly tell you
19:13that a webinar or Facebook ads or a
19:15funnel it ain't really gonna save you it
19:19is an awesome magnifying effect to
19:22something that's good you know if you've
19:23got something that's good and it's in
19:25people like it and it's helping people
19:27and it's solving a problem then sure
19:29funnels and ads and all of these things
19:30will massively amplify the amount of
19:34money that you're making in the amount
19:36of customers that you get however you
19:38can't you can't like amplify something
19:42that sucks I mean well you can all
19:44you're just gonna get is just more suck
19:46and so that's that's the problem I see
19:50you know a lot of people they swear it's
19:52the landing page
19:53their spirits you know they swear it's
19:55just the the Facebook pixel or that they
19:58needed use a you know a webinar instead
20:01of a vesl and most of the time it's not
20:03these things it's just that your thing
20:07needs to be better
20:07whatever that is product service
20:09whatever it is and you need a care
20:12because if you cared it wouldn't be the
20:16way it is and you need to change your
20:18philosophy and your why the reason why
20:22you're in business and when you do those
20:24super thing changes everything gets more
20:25fun so that's it for this video today if
20:29you enjoyed it just click that like
20:31button and also let me know what you
20:33think in the comment section below and
20:36if you enjoyed this video subscribe to
20:39my youtube channel I release a video
20:41like this once every week and I also
20:43interview some of my customers and
20:45upload Q&A recordings and things like
20:46that too so thanks for watching and I'll
20:49see you in the next one
20:50next week