Great ideas fail because they fail to solve an existing problem.

Instead of searching for great ideas, just solve the direct problem in front of you and move forward.

The goal is to solve the problem, not to become attached to your great idea.

You may come up with 100 ideas to solve the problem.

That is where you find your great idea.

But what does this statement really mean, and to what extent?

Most of us go through our daily work routines, making decisions on autopilot and forgetting the crucial role that mindset plays in our business successes and failures.

Imagine this: You are an entrepreneur with great ideas and solutions. You strongly believe that your ideas will work. However, suddenly, like a storm on a sunny day, things take a negative turn - customers leave, and your partners abandon you.

In that moment, is your mindset equipped to handle the situation?

It’s not just about success but also about not giving up and persevering through tough times.

Many of us have been taught about success, but we rarely learn about the importance of not giving up.

To learn these lessons, one can either go through the army, go to the gym, or play sports.

Stoics stay calm and rational when facing challenges, even in chaotic situations. They don't give up but instead adapt and find solutions to move forward with determination.

A weak mindset sees everything falling apart. It is paralyzed by fear, indecision, and anxiety.

In the business world, uncertainties are the only certainties.

Are you prepared to handle the challenges that come with customer payments, contract cancellations, complaints, and subscription cancellations?

How do you react to these problems? Do you let them frustrate you, or do you handle them calmly and with balance?

Here's the truth: People act on their own self-interest, not yours.

It's not personal; it's just business.

It's important not to let your emotions take over and instead respond with rationality.

While products, services, and strategies are essential in business, your mindset is the silent force that drives you toward success or drags you into failure.

So next time you face a challenge, remember: It's not about what happens to you but how you respond that truly counts.

If you have the right mindset, you can get through any difficult situation.

Imagine approaching someone to offer your expertise and doing business with them. What matters most at that moment?

It's the result you can provide for them and how quickly you can deliver it.

To deliver results, you need education on the subject, experience within the subject, and the skills necessary to complete the task at hand.

While education and experience stay with you, skills deteriorate over time if not regularly practiced - this is why people who learn a foreign language but do not use it for ten years often lose that skill.

The same goes for business.

Once you decide to participate in business, you need to acquire new skills and training continuously.

Education is proof that you have learned a subject, while skills prove that you can deliver results.

It happened to me when people explained cryptocurrency and blockchain and kept saying that they are the future.

If you cannot communicate with clarity, you cannot establish trust with your audience. People zone out fast, and you only have a short amount of time to get your point across before they walk away.

Today, I want to show a simple framework to help you communicate your message across.

This framework is powerful because it can be applied in any circumstance and on any format (verbal, text, etc.) or platform.

This framework is called S-E-X-I:

• S - Statement

• E - Example

• X - (E)Xplanation

• I - Importance

By using this framework, you will never look back. It allows you to explain your ideas in detail, and emphasize the importance of your message.

Statement

Before you speak, know that the opening statement matters more than you think.

It allows you to capture someone's attention, like a hook. You need to hook them to pay attention and listen to you.

Unfortunately, many people aren't aware of this. They start their sentence with an introduction like "Hello everyone, my name is A, B, C" and go on for days without making a strong statement.

Skip the introduction, make a statement that wakes people up.

For example, "I will show you how to make a million dollars online" or "I have 5 secrets to share with you today, and I believe your life will change after listening to these 5 secrets."

These are statements, not mellow points.

Remember, a strong opening statement can make all the difference.

Example

After making your statement, follow up with an example.

This helps to paint a clear picture and provide context for the audience to continue listening to you.

Stick to the rule of one statement, one example.

You don't need 10 examples to convince your audience. Just make sure that the example you present is relevant to the audience. The more relevant it is, the better they can receive your message.

There are 4 different types of examples that you can use to illustrate your point:

• Personal examples: Use examples and stories from your personal experience.

• Examples from other people: Use examples from others that you've witnessed.

• Stories that you've heard. Just make sure to cite the source

• Data and statistics: These are also examples. Go online, look for current news related to your statement, and use it as proof. Testimonials, videos, and other media are all examples as well.

Explanation

After making a statement and providing an example, now it’s time to give an explanation.

At this point, the audience has already maintained their attention in what you have to say.

In your explanation, clarify what you meant by your statement and how the example relates to the audience. This helps to make your message more persuasive, especially for those who haven't heard of your statement or examples before.

Tell the audience the main point, how it works, and who has done it, if relevant.

Again, keep your explanation short and simple.

Importance

After making your statement, example, and explanation, the last part is to tell the audience why these things are important.

This will make your message more meaningful and memorable.

The truth is that most people will forget 99.9% of your message, unless they can apply it to their own lives.

Highlight the significance of your message to make it stick with the audience.

If you want people to take your message away with them, don’t forget the last part.

When in doubt, keep it simple and S-E-X-I

There are plenty of communication frameworks out there that you can use for everyday conversations.

Trust me, there are more than just this framework.

But whenever you are forced to give a toast and you don’t know what to say, keep it simple and remember to keep it S-E-X-I.

Be great!

It also ensures that customers have an above-average experience while doing business with you.

Think of it as a relationship. You can't become best friends with someone out of the blue. You need time to get to know and understand each other before that happens.

Similarly, a sales funnel facilitates the relationship between your product and customers. It helps you attract customers, engage with your business, and retain them over a long period.

Different businesses require different types of sales funnels to get people interested and convert them to buyers.

To build a successful sales funnel, there are fundamentals that you need to learn and apply. Here are some examples:

1. The offer: The most important part of your sales funnel is the offer. What are you offering people that they cannot refuse? For example, you could offer a free bag of instant coffee for every bag of ground coffee purchased. Make your offer as attractive as possible, and your sales funnel will sell itself.

2. Lead generation: Lead generation is the process of getting people to sign up for your offer. The goal is to capture their names, email addresses, and sometimes phone numbers. These details are assets that you can use to nurture relationships with them over time.

3. Upsell/Downsell: If people say yes to your offer, they may want more. For example, when you go to an Apple store, you may not only want to buy an iPhone. What about cases, screen protectors, or other accessories that can add more value to your purchase? Think about what else you can offer as additional or complementary products.

4. Delivery: Now, it's time to deliver your product or service. Is it digital or physical? How long does it take to deliver? How much does it cost? Always overdeliver. This will make your buyers happy and encourage them to come back because they know they get more value than what they pay with you.

5. Nurture: Once people buy from you, it's your job, duty, and responsibility to keep them. Send them emails, thank-you cards, reminders, and tips. The nurture stage is all about communication. Your brand is alive as long as it can communicate with your customers, not as long as you can sell them anything. The purpose of this is when they think of a product similar to yours in the future, they must think about you first.

These are the five essential items in a sales funnel that apply to any business, including real estate, brokerages, mom-and-pop shops, restaurants, agents, chiropractors, etc.

You can build a sales funnel on paper or a whiteboard. You can also use CRM software like Clickfunnels or Kajabi to help you build the funnel.

But remember, the technology should assist your vision, not replace it.

A business with a strategic sales funnel will serve more people, sell more products, and get people to pay more for the product than a business that doesn't have a funnel and only "sells a product or service."

I hope you find this valuable for your products and services

See you next time.

It's not only about “who you know but also about who knows you.” This statement has a complete cycle of knowledge for both ends, you and other people.

For example, you may know the U.S President, let's say Joe Biden, but he doesn't know you, so you don't have anything in exchange.

But if someone knows you, and you don't know that person, there is a very low chance you can do business with them.

The key here is to create a complete cycle of known - you and the others both know each other.

What you know is also important because it allows you to add value to the people you're doing business with.

What you know that carries value will act as a bridge between you and the other person. Let's say you know a lot about accounting and finance, and you meet a person who knows about marketing. Both of you can exchange value for an idea or a startup that needs to get known and run smoothly.

The ability to get known takes a lot of courage to put yourself out there and share goodwill.

In return, you will make friends with people who can help you accomplish your goals. Get creative. Meeting new people, getting into relationships, and doing business together takes courage, creativity, and confidence. This will help other people have confidence in meeting you, get lots of benefits from you, and do a lot with you later.

There's an old saying, "your network is your net worth."

So get out there, get known, and make friends with a lot of people.

Now you may ask, what if I make friends with bad people? Well, there is a solution.

Out of 10 people that you meet, there will be at least 1 good one. Get rid of the other 9, and make friends with the good one. Then you will make friends with the good one's friend. Because mature, successful people only surround themselves with successful people.

No brainer. This is the simplest strategy to scale your great network.

I hope you find this useful.

There are 4 ways that you can acquire customers:

1. Cold calling

2. Content marketing

3. Word of mouth

4. Affiliate

The idea of acquiring customers should actually come after the idea of acquiring leads.

To acquire customers, you first have to acquire leads. Without leads, there is no such thing as customers because people haven't known you and your brand yet.

Out of those four methods above, the best and most cost-effective way to acquire customers is number three - word of mouth.

When you scale up your marketing and sales team, it will cost you money. When you do more affiliate marketing, it will also cost you money.

But when somebody tells their friends that your product or service is good, it costs you zero.

And for that to happen, your product and service must be really good.

The strategy for acquiring customers can follow these steps:

1. You must have a product or service to sell (it doesn't have to be perfect).

2. Build an irresistible offer around your product or service.

3. Market your product or service through the four ways mentioned above.

4. Get customer feedback and improve your product and service.

Do this 100 times until you become a master.

Good luck!

If you’re an entrepreneur, you either get better or worse. Staying stall is simply not an option if you’re building a business.

Entrepreneurs often find themselves in positions of constant improvement, gathering skills to make their business work.

When I started this journey of building my business online, I began as an online tutor, helping many students around the world with economics. The first dollar I made was super cool, and I didn't realize I could make additional income outside of my work.

However, it came to the point where I couldn't handle hundreds of students when they came all at once. I got sick and had to reduce my work rate.

Right now, I am building a different model, one where I can scale my knowledge and skills to a larger audience. I realized that building a newsletter business model is fun and engaging, and learning new skills like writing and storytelling is a new domain that I participate in.

Entrepreneurship is a lifelong journey of personal investment.

There is no amount of external funding that can replace the value of personal investment.

When you invest in yourself, you acquire skills that others don't have. In the early stages, you invest in yourself, and in the later stages, you invest in other people.

However, many people hold strong beliefs about the world, including their skills and abilities, that are full of preconceived biases.

If you want to grow, invest in skills, not beliefs.

Belief alone will not build your business; skills will - the more skills you gain, the more ability you'll have in running your business.

Real success is attributed to self-improvement.

In the startup world, success is often attributed to timing, market, and consumer preferences.

However, these are the things you can never control.

The only thing that you can control is your ability to get up, show up, perform well, and deliver results.

You must understand how to gain skills and improve yourself.

A business grows based on the founder's skills and abilities, which grow along with it.

If you put a “dumb dumb” to run a business, the business will not grow. However, if you put a world-class player equipped with solid skills, the business will grow.

The "dumb dumb" may have stronger beliefs than the A players, but what they lack is showing up and taking action.

The business performs based on the maximum level of skills that the founder can perform.

Entrepreneur fails not because of a lack of money but because of a lack of personal growth.

Have you ever met someone, and 5 years later, they're still the same? The truth is that this also happens in any area, any industry, and even at the top level of the game.

Great entrepreneurs are constantly going through an evolution.

Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, and many others, their 50s aren't the same as their 40s, and their 30s aren't the same as their 20s.

Self-improvement and personal growth help you to move up the ladder without falling behind.

It creates a foundation for you to execute all the skills into your project, which is the business that you are running.

At different stages, your business requires different skillsets:

• In the beginning, you need skills like sales, marketing, prospecting, and product offerings to get your business off the ground.

• Then you need to learn accounting and finance to manage efficiency.

• And if you want to scale your business to a larger entity, investing and capital allocation is another skill you add to the playbook.

In order to grow a business, you need to develop a sincere interest in learning these skills. Unfortunately, many people despise sales, which prevents them from even starting their business journey.

Goals are the lifeblood of progress

Self-improvement without goal setting is like sailing without a compass.

When setting goals, you are establishing a future standard, a result that you want to achieve.

Unfortunately, many people have the wrong idea about goal setting. They study frameworks like SMART with the hope that it will improve their lives. When those frameworks stop working, they give up.

In reality, goal setting is a process of testing your preconceived ideas about the actions needed to accomplish desired results.

You start with a goal, then plan your strategy to achieve it. Then, you measure the results along the way to see if your strategy is helping you make progress toward your goal.

At this point, there are two possibilities: either your strategy is helping you move forward, or you are stuck.

If you are stuck, you can either increase your actions or change your strategy but do not give up.

You will attract haters and critics

One realization when starting to grow is that you are likely to encounter haters - they will criticize you, throw shade at you, and shame you.

Unfortunately, there will always be people who try to bring you down out of jealousy and envy.

On the bright side, you can control how to respond to those people. You can control how close they are to you.

Just stay away from those people and focus on your personal development.

If you're doing good things and striving to become a better version of yourself, you will attract more great people to your life.

Look for great people, make a phone call, send a DM, introduce yourself, and make friends with them.

Surprisingly they’re very welcoming to meet people who are striving to improve themselves.

Great people are the ones you should pay attention to, learn from, and grow with.

Master emotion and become resilient

Emotions are important for entrepreneurs because every decision you make should be based on rationality instead of emotion.

Yes, you can get angry, sad, or even cry, but don't let it stay with you for too long. Give yourself 24 hours to recover, get back to where you are at your best, and start again the next day.

Warren Buffett said, "You don't make business decisions with emotion."

Make every business decision when you're at your best, often fresh in the morning or after taking a shower, you name it.

On facing failures and challenges

I've failed more times than I can count, and I’m still alive today.

In the beginning, you are likely to see failures.

You may realize that the strategies you used haven't generated the returns you wanted.

One of the best ways to deal with that is to train yourself to be rational, to adopt “stoicism”, and to continue putting in the work.

Don't let your frustration take the best away from you.

Instead, focus on improving your skills and abilities.

The key here is to develop courage and awareness and learn from other people who have mastered failures, overcame challenges, those who aren’t shy away from them, and continually keep putting in the work and production in the business.

“If it’s easy, everyone would do it”

This quote sticks in my mind the most when writing this letter.

When I was in high school, my buddy told me he often got up before sunrise to train for soccer.

Halfway through the semester, I joined him and was surprised to find that we were the only 2 people on the field!

I realized my buddy had been training by himself the whole time.

I asked him if it would be easy for the team to adopt this routine because we would improve so much together.

My friend told me, “Ricky, if this were easy, everyone would do it.”

I realized that the path of entrepreneurship is very similar to early morning soccer, where you train by yourself, show up, and find opportunities to improve.

The audience is not there to watch you train and improve; they’re there to watch you play.

The first part is harsh and lonely, but if you persevere and don't give up, you will see bring a great show in the other half.

Be great!

My hypothesis is that you are a business.

Everything you do, especially with people, has a certain value.

You create value by solving problems, whether they are your personal problems or someone else's problems.

The easiest problems you can solve, make money, and build a business from are the problems you've solved in the past, and they are often your personal problems.

Think about the last 5 years:

• What challenges have you overcome?

• How you overcame those challenges - what steps did you take?

• What problems appeared along the way?

• What were your solutions?

• Was it a product, framework, or system?

• How did your life change once you solved the problem?

Once you answer those questions, the next step is to go find 10 people in person or online and offer your help.

Don't charge them anything, but ask them for reviews.

Once you have 10 reviews, put a price on your solutions.

Price is an arbitrage, so you can either put $1 or $1,000, or $10,000, depending on how you value your time.

Along the way, learn to market yourself and learn to sell.

Books, blogs, podcasts, and programs can help really fast.

Once you get to this step, start taking massive action.

Multiply everything you did to a scale that is supremely active.

No matter what strategies and frameworks you apply, you have to put in a lot of action to drive results

When you create a business this way, there is no financial risk but an infinite return on your money, well-being, and connection.

Think about it.

You have solved at least one problem in your life, and the next step is to sit down and document what you did - the solutions - and find 10 people who need your solution, get a review, and then use it to scale your business.

(People pay $17 monthly on Chegg to get an Algebra solution)

Building a business this way is within your circle of competence. You're not building a rocket like Elon Musk does, which takes an infinite amount of risk.

There are plenty of ways to build a business, but I believe the best one to start is a service business that solves problems that you've succeeded in.

There are plenty of people out there who are struggling with the same things you did.

So what’s the risk to get your business in front of people and help them?

Zero risk, infinite return.