If there’s one topic that gets entrepreneurs going, it’s the difference between those talking-the-talk about entrepreneurship and those who are walking-the-walk.
Rightfully so. The people who have gone years without taking a night off — let alone a vacation — in the name of building a successful company, are not amused when “thought leaders” who have barely built anything themselves are giving advice.
They don’t mean it in a bad way; nor do they intend to discourage it–in fact, some of the most successful entrepreneurs make it a point to give back to the community and share what they’ve learned along the way. They just raise their eyebrows a bit, as if saying, “There’s a lot more you need to experience before you can truly call yourself an entrepreneur.”
I recently pulled aside someone consider a genuine expert on entrepreneurship, Andy Frisella. He’s the CEO of a suite of successful health and fitness companies, one of which is 1st Phorm International, a giant brand that has deep roots in the fitness community on social media. He’s also the host of a successful podcast, The MFCEO Project, in which he digs into the tough lessons entrepreneurs need to learn on their journey to building a successful company.
Go back almost two decades, and you’ll find the precursor of 1st Phorm: the brick-and-mortar Supplement Superstore, which Frisella built from the ground up and ran for a number of years.
Here are three lessons Frisella learned while going from one Supplement Superstore location to having a portfolio of companies that rakes in over $100M a year.
1. Get started.
The most common first problem…