Before we dive in:
Last week I hired 3 overseas team members into my business. 80% savings over US equivalents.
I interviewed a few candidates that were amazing but I don't have space for right now:
Anton - Sales - $1,700 per month
Gonzalo - Software Engineer - $3,000 per month
Lucia - Finance and Accounting - $2000 per month
Kimuel - Customer Service Rep - $1000 per month
Respond to this email if you'd like an introduction and $1k off the recruiting fee.
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When it comes to entrepreneurship, people are the ultimate form of leverage.
To build a business you need people to work for you, partner with you, buy from you.
Every problem is a people problem. Somebody didn’t do what they said they were going to do. Somebody expected one thing and got another.
So how do we know who to surround ourselves with? And more importantly how do we attract these people to our lives and our companies?
As an entrepreneur, I’ve spent nearly all of my energy for 15 years convincing other people to join me on this journey.
To work for one of my companies, trust me, buy from me, invest with me or partner with me.
I’ve had a lot of success—my companies employ hundreds of people.
I’ve raised money from many folks.
I have 15+ people who have ownership stakes and operational roles in my businesses. I’ve interviewed thousands of people. I’ve personally convinced 30+ people in management roles to leave their jobs to come to work with me.
I’ve also made many mistakes.
I’ve navigated thousands of uncomfortable conversations with employees or customers who were upset for one reason or another. I’ve delivered criticism and bad news more times than I can count.
I had to fire one of my best friends who stood up in my wedding a few months earlier. I’ve had an employee cry in my arms because they didn’t know what they were doing with their life, and I couldn’t create the opportunity for them that I thought I could.
I’ve had brutally hard negotiations with partners I was trying to buy out of my companies because they weren’t pulling their weight. I’ve fired family members.
I’ve renegotiated deals I believed weren’t win-win situations, and I’ve had partners come to me to renegotiate deals I thought were win-win situations.
The one thing I’m very proud of?
I always try to do the right thing. That guy who stood up in my wedding and got let go from my company is still a great friend to this day.
Another thing that I’m proud of is that, generally, good people do not leave my companies—I’ve been able to retain key employees for years and years at many of my businesses.
I attract great people who are insanely productive because I do the work to set them up for success. I properly manage expectations. I do what I say I’m going to do. I’m always honest with them even if it hurts.
I’m respectful and have their best interests at heart. I’m not greedy, and I’m happy to pay my people exceptionally well if they add value to my businesses.
But dealing with people is hard. People are not predictable. They will constantly surprise you in pleasant and unpleasant ways. Relationships aren’t rational. They are emotional.
I talk to a lot of people who work normal jobs following directions at a normal company but are considering entrepreneurship.
My first question is always the same:
Do you like dealing with other people?
Can you manage egos and emotions and desires and the rollercoaster of depending on other humans to work with you and around you and for you?
The answer is very often no. But dealing with people is something you have to do all day, every day as an entrepreneur.
And like sales, it doesn’t come naturally to anybody. You must accept the discomfort. You must call yourself an extrovert (even if you aren’t) and become one. You must practice and put in the reps and build the muscle.
I have a lot to learn and I am not perfect. I will continue to make mistakes. I am a work in progress here, and I am by no means the best in the world at communication or relationships or management.
But I know one thing for sure:
If you can unlock and master the art of dealing with people, you will have the ability to build companies, and you will become seriously wealthy. It’s as simple as that.
When you can learn to recruit, hire, and manage a team of great people, there will be nothing that holds you back, and the world will be at your fingertips.
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A few tweets from this week:
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Ranking your business at the top of Google search can make all of the difference between your phone ringing with new customers and you struggling to grow.
My team at Bold SEO has cracked the code for local service businesses to do just that.
They're offering a complimentary on-page SEO refresh (valued at $2,000) to the first 5 people that respond to this email and buy a link/content package with them.
If you'd like an intro to the team at Bold SEO, just reply and I'll make one.
Note: alongside being a happy customer, I am also an investor in the business.
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Onward and upward,
Nick Huber
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