Joe Apfelbaum of Ajax Union. Joe has had several successful six-figure businesses, and Ajax Union is no exception. The company did $4 million last year, and they have plans to hit $6 million for revenue this year. Take a few notes from Joe’s playbook and take your own business to six-figure success.
Famous Five:
Favorite Book? - Think and Grow Rich, Traction, and The Miracle Morning. Getting Things Done What CEO do you follow? — Tony Robbins Favorite online tool? — Google Docs, Trello and MailChimp Do you get 8 hours of sleep? — I sleep when I’m comfortable. Last night I got 9 hours of sleep If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? – The importance of reading and studying books. Relationships matter.
Time Stamped Show Notes:
01:40 – Nathan introduces Joe 02:35 – Joe just had his fifth kid 02:55 – Ajax Union was not his first six-figure business 03:30 – It started as a side gig 04:05 – They did $500000 in revenue in 2009 04:25 – 2015 revenue was $4 million 04:45 – They shifted to focusing on their bottom line 05:00 – Revenue per client is $10000 05:15 – A focus on giving better service, not bringing in more clients 05:25 – 20 employees 05:55 – Their goal for 2016 is 6 million 06:10 – Bottom-line margins were small in 2015 06:35 – He wanted to run a smaller business and lose less money 07:15 – The underlying cause of a lifestyle business 07:35 – Paying himself well and living a good life 08:00 – Take-home income was over $200k 08:50 – First year revenue was $500000 09:15 – Paid on a retainer basis 10:25 – Unparalleled marketing support 10:45 – Churn is irrelevant for this stage of the company 11:20 – They turn down clients. 11:35 – A focus on bottom-line growth this year 11:55 – Working with Jacobtime 12:30 – Joe is a killer marketer! 13:00 – Taking stable businesses and helping them take off 13:30 – An investor put in $1 million 14:05 – They wanted the partnership 14:45 – Valuation for his company was very good 15:30 – An angel investment 15:45 – Profit sharing 16:15 – His podcast, CEO Mojo 16:30 – Doing weekly interviews and figuring out the obstacles of getting to having six-figure businesses 17:10 – A goal to grow a database of content 17:25 – In the process of writing a book based on that content and creating courses 18:30 – The true value of documenting the stories of entrepreneurs 19:00 – He wants people to see that success in your business, life, and family is possible. 20:00 – People can follow Joe at Facebook.com/joeapfelbaum and on LinkedIn 20:20 – Snapchat and Instagram 22:30 – The Famous Five
3 Key Points:
Start your business as a side gig, and make the transition to owning your own business easier. Create a lifestyle business that gives you more freedom to live a happy life. Focus on the quality of the service you are providing before you start drawing in more customers.
Resources Mentioned:
Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible. Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts. Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+ Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books. Toptal – Great for business people to start building their app Think and Grow Rich, Traction, The Miracle Morning and Getting Things Done – Wherever you’re at with your life or your business, one of these books will be right for you! Google Docs, Trello, and MailChimp – Joe’s favorite online tools CEO Mojo – Follow Joe’s podcast to hear the stories of successful six-figure entrepreneurs Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives
