What does it mean to be a “constant learner” and how can busy entrepreneurs (or wannabe entrepreneurs) apply the “five hour rule” to their lives? In episode 19 of LifeWork, Dave and Meagan discuss why regularly including books, articles and other kinds of instructional media in your life is so important when building a business – and how to make it fit around all the other balls you have in the air.

Discussion Points and Links:

• constant-learners-all-embrace-the-5-hour-rule.html">Why Constant Learners Embrace The Five-Hour Rule – The Inc. article that inspired this discussion.
• Strategies for making more time to read and consume educational media
• How “not having time” to read (or do other enriching activities) is often a mistaken perception
• Utilizing commutes and other “downtime” opportunities to learn more
• Skimming vs. a deep dive read: a technique for absorbing information quickly

So you’ve got a great business idea or existing business. Only problem: you need money to either start or grow it. Between angel investors, SBA loans, venture capitalists and other forms of capital-generation, your head is spinning. Sound familiar? We’ve got you covered! In this episode of LifeWork, Dave and Meagan break down the most common forms of business funding, how to figure out which is right for you, and how to get started looking for it.

Discussion Points and Links: 

• What’s the difference between an angel investor and a venture capitalist, and what is each type looking for?
• How do you establish your business’s value and convince a potential investor that they will see a gain?
• How do you decide how much to ask for?
• Creating financial projections: how much is guessing? How to back up your numbers?
• Is it true that it “takes money to make money?”
• How to tap into “other people’s money” (and resources/equipment.)
• What you need to know about Small Business Administration (SBA) loans
• Lesser-known ways to raise capital
• Prosper.com
• LendingClub.com 
• Simple Numbers, Straight Talk, Big Profits!: 4 Keys to Unlock Your Business Potential (Greg Crabtree / M J Lane Publishing, LLC)
• Rich Dad’s Advisors: OPM: How to Attract Other People’s Money for Your Investments–The Ultimate Leverage (Warners Business Books / Michael Lechter)

Is burnout the necessary price for success? No, but you’ll need to work hard. In Episode 17 of LifeWork, Meagan and Dave discuss “crushing it,” whether work-life balance is a myth, and why it pays to set up systems early that can help lighten your workload down the road.

Discussion Points & Links:

• The inspiration for this topic, Damon Brown’s Inc article: yourself-for-your-business-is-silly-and-useless.html">Sacrificing Yourself For Your Business is Silly and Useless
• Hero worship, Gary Vaynerchuk and different levels of success
• Work/Life Balance: Truth or Myth?
• How to set up systems that make work and life more streamlined
• Is it possible to “crush it” hard for a few hours a day and see results?
• Putting margin or “white space’ in your life to make room for the things that matter to you
• Taking care of yourself by putting your non-negotiables on the schedule: hydration, sleep, relationships, good food.

What does your personality type say about your strengths and weaknesses as an entrepreneur? In Episode 16 of LifeWork, Dave and Meagan discuss two popular personality tests, the Myers-Briggs and StrengthsFinder tests, and how being aware of your own strengths, weaknesses, and tendencies can make you a more successful entrepreneur and all-around better person. Meagan and Dave also share their own results and what they think it means about them as human beings and business owners. PLUS: this episode contains a special surprise! The first TWO listeners to leave a comment containing the timestamp when Meagan notices a car on fire outside the window during recording will receive a free copy of the book na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=thegrebircen-20&l=am2&o=1&a=159562015X%22%20width=%221%22%20height=%221%22%20border=%220%22%20alt=%22%22%20style=%22border:none%20!important;%20margin:0px%20!important;%22%20/>">StrengthsFinder 2.0.  Hey, we’re recording live here, people – things happen! Make sure your comment contains a viable email address and we’ll be in touch if you’re a winner.

Show Links:

• StrengthsFinder
• 16personalities – Meagan’s favorite Myers-Briggs assessment tool
• The Enneagram – not discussed in detail during this episode, but also an insightful tool for digging into your tendencies and motivators.

What do we want? Freedom! When do we want it? At a time and place of our choosing!

After a month-long hiatus in which they both went “off the grid” on relaxing vacations, Meagan and Dave are back. In episode 15 of LifeWork, they discuss the systems and team they’ve had to put in place to make their businesses “vacationable,” and how to take that even further to become “fire-able.” They also talk about the incredibly fast-growing popularity of Pokémon Go and what entrepreneurs can learn from the phenomenon.

Discussion Points: 

• Dave & Meagan describe their vacations and the preparation each did to make it possible to disconnect
• How making yourself “fire-able” makes your business more valuable
• Potential pathways to creating a business that doesn’t require you to run it
• The franchise model and how it can apply to a small business
• What if you don’t want to be fire-able? Staying involved in your business without performing your current role forever
• What the breakout success of Pokémon Go says about marketing, being in the right place at the right time, the future of gaming and augmented reality, and how businesses can cash in by luring players to play in their spaces
• Pokémon Go getting started guide

featured imaged credit: Sadie Hernandez, via Flickr Creative Commons

So you’ve got a great business idea. Now what? If your first step is “create the product and then try to find a market for it,” you’re probably putting the cart before the horse. In episode 14 of LifeWork, Meagan and Dave discuss the importance of understanding your potential market before you decide what to create for them, and why it always makes more sense to solve a problem that already exists than to try to force a “great idea” into a market that doesn’t recognize its value.

Discussion Points & Links:

• Why it’s so vital to understand your audience and their needs, wants, and pain points
• How to anticipate the needs of your market – and test your theory
• The importance of pivoting if your initial solution isn’t the right one
• How to educate an audience that doesn’t yet know they need your product
• How to build a solution that unconsciously makes people pull out their wallets
• Facebook advertising
• Meagan’s interview with Tara Gentile
• The Inevitable: Understanding the 12 Technological Forces That Will Shape Our Future (Kevin Kelly, author of 1000 True Fans)

How do you turn your business into a “cash machine?” Can you build a successful business around a small number of high-quality customers who can really benefit from your big idea? And how do you keep your products and services cohesive so that they serve the whole of your business rather than diluting your efforts? Those are just a few of the topics we discussed with Tara Gentile, business strategist and creator of Quiet Power Strategy, in Episode 13 of LifeWork. Listen in to find out how to build a business that goes deep, creates real value, and grows both sustainably and authentically.

Discussion Points and Links:

• Find out more about Tara’s Quiet Power Strategy.
• The vital importance of finding out what your audience really wants and needs
• How to identify your ideal client (without going the “avatar” route)
• What is a cash machine, and how do you turn your business into one?
• How to create cohesion between your offers and big ideas
• Tara’s reverse-engineered content strategy (and how it helps her make sales)
• Why focusing on “going deep” with a small number of ideal clients can help a business scale in a more successful and satisfying way
• Tara’s FREE 6-part pricing course

Featured image: Regina Miller

What does it mean to take smart risks in business –  and how do you balance that potential reward vs what you’re putting at stake to achieve it? In episode 12 of LifeWork, Dave and Meagan discuss different kinds of risks in business, how to decide if a risk is worth taking, and how to minimize the potential fallout if things don’t go as planned.

Discussion Points:

• How a business risk is like an investment
• How accurate are financial projections? And does it matter?
• The more knowledge you have, the safer you can feel taking a big risk
• The importance of flexing your “risk taking muscle” to get better at it over time
• Mitigating and minimizing risk
• Dave’s process for deciding whether a risk is a smart move
• How “inverted thinking” can help you manage for potential outcomes and decide whether an opportunity is worth pursuing.

Is there such thing as a natural propensity toward risk-taking? Are successful people more (or less!) likely to be risk-takers themselves? In episode 11 of LifeWork, Meagan interviews Kayt Sukel, author of the new book The Art of Risk. Kayt’s insights into how the brain measures and judges risk can help anyone be a smarter and more calculated risk-taker, in business and in life.

Discussion Points:

• How and why the teenage/young adult brain is wired for risk, and why that propensity tends to fade as we get older
• What instinct (and isn’t) and why there is a lot more cognitive process involved in that “gut feeling” than you might realize
• Why pro gamblers, extreme athletes and others who engage in what most consider risky behaviors may actually be very strategic in the way they take risks
• How to measure risk in business and life

Resources and Links:

• Kayt’s book: The Art Of Risk: The New Science of Courage, Caution, and Chance
• Kayt’s website: http://kaytsukel.com/
• Follow Kayt on Twitter: https://twitter.com/kaytsukel

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Nick Ruffini is a professional drummer, entrepreneur and student of success. As host of the Drummer’s Resource podcast, Nick interviews the best pros in the world in his niche. He’s been featured in Modern Drummer, Drum! Magazine and all of the other top media in the drumming world. He’s also a former restauranteur.

In episode 10 of LifeWork, Dave and Nick discuss what it takes to make it in the music business, the importance of self-education, choosing happiness and more.

Discussion Points & Resources:

• Anchor.FM
• Chris Sacca
• Making it in the music business
• How Nick started a podcast to learn from the best of the best in his niche
• The importance of self-education AND doing, not just learning
• Think and Grow Rich (Napoleon Hill)
• The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich (Timothy Ferriss)
• The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change (Stephen R. Covey)
• Choose happiness now, and be present – don’t wait until you achieve the goal before you’re happy
• How consistency is a major key to success