Election Day 2018, Too Much Business to Handle, and The Alexander McQueen / Trina Turk Model

Welcome, everybody. This is Chris Collins. I'm very sorry that we started a.

Couple minutes late here.

We were having technical difficulties, which seems to be the theme for this show. Happened a couple weeks ago, too. We are going to iron that out, though, and we will fix it and be consistent, I promise. I hope everybody voted today or is going to vote.

It's very important.

Don't you gotta rock the vote, especially.

In these crazy times.

I feel like the left, so left.

Being cnn, CNN and the right being like Fox News, agitate everything to the extremes.

But if most of us, like most.

Of us here in this room voted, we'd be okay because most of us have common sense and we're in the middle. We're not extreme on anything. We don't want communism and socialism, but we don't also want to have to go to church if we don't want to. And so, you know, we respect each other. And so I think that a lot of our problems could be fixed if.

If everybody voted because they can all.

Wash out in the middle.

Mostly.

We're mostly in the middle. I think we have an exciting show for you today.

I want to give you the number. So if you have a business problem.

You have something that you're stuck on and you need the business whisper to unlock your mind and your potential. I'm a magician at this. I need you to call 833-7-WHISPER. If you can't spell whisper, you're not our demographic. But if you can, then let me help you. I live to help you. This is, this is the most fun part of my day is being able to talk to other entrepreneurs like myself and use my what seems like a million years of experience fixing businesses, but really it's just about a little over 20. But I've been to hundreds of businesses and I've seen the good and the bad. I pay very close attention to actions that people take and the outcomes of those actions, good or bad. And I know some recipes that can help you bake a cake of freedom and success and more fun, too. I think we should have more fun now.

Side note on the show and we're going to get to the callers because I know we have a couple holding here tomorrow on Business Outlaws, the big show that I do with my best friend, Big Mike. We have a very special guest. We have a couple guests coming in, but the highlight is Iron Mike Tyson.

Is going to be here in the.

Safe house and we're going to have him on the big show and we're redoing our Menu. So, you know, business Outlaws is the only show with a bud tender. So Mike has a bud tender, Screwy Louie. And I have a bartender and actually have two bartenders. And they are practicing for the big show tomorrow to not disappoint our studio audience as we serve them Cuban cigars and cocktails and whatever the budtender has going. Big Mike's blends. And so the ladies, I don't know if we can switch the camera to them, but they're hard at work on two drinks. They're going to serve them to me during the show. I think we might need some help from the audience in naming them, but I know that they're working on a drink called me vita that has an elder flower in it. I don't know if you've ever tried an elder flower, but it's kind of fun.

Creates a little experience.

And that I think will hopefully be the first one that I'm sampling. Is that the first one I'm going to sample. So at any time, ladies, doesn't matter if I'm on a call. This research is the most important thing that we could be doing. You're doing God's work there. And we're going to go to our first caller, but feel free to interrupt at any time.

Jimmy.

Yes, sir.

What kind of a guy calls a business show and says, I have too much business?

I guess a guy who actually has too much business.

Isn't that the problem we all want to have?

I don't. Well, it's the problem I have.

Okay, tell me. Tell me a little bit about your business. No. Growing and having too much business can be crippling. You can choke to death. I've seen it happen many times. And running out of cash if you grow too fast. So tell me a little bit about your business.

Okay, so what I'm doing, right, like my business is a. Like my company is a trademark clothing line called the Proper Gentleman. And proper started out with the Proper Gentleman.

I like that name and that's a great name.

Thank you.

The Proper Gentleman.

Okay, so, yeah, so I started out with. And basically this was just something that just fell into my lap because at the time I was doing.

Like high end hot rod upholstery, like high end interiors, and was just stressed out. I didn't, you know, didn't have a hobby or anything. And this was an idea that I had sat on for a few years, you know, about having a custom wallet. So.

As you know, it's just, you know, just looking for a hobby, you know, picked up, you know, basic sedative to work in and, you know, tinkered with it for a couple of weeks and then made the very first wallet and posted it on my Facebook and just said, you know, who, who wants one? And the next day I added up all the orders that I took and it was, you know, close to 1200 bucks. And it has been like that since, you know, since then. And so four straight years it's been, you know, I've had, I've had it just, you know, ongoing backlog for, you know, custom wallets and whatever. I can't make anything fast enough because it usually sells, you know, within, within a day or two. And you know, so I can't, I can't establish inventory to go out and do any kind of like pop ups or you know, even to go set up at a, a guns, a gun show or anything on the side just to get out of the, you know, out of that shop, out of the studio. I mean, I'm, I'm really just, you know, right now I'm looking at probably three grand worth to be done.

So you're in jail, basically. Pretty much success has put you in jail.

Is that, is that how.

Well I am in jail? And it's because you remember the, the interior business that I, that I had before previous to this? Well, I had a, you know, nasty divorce with the, with the partners there. And on the way out I was kind of starved to death because I have no business sense at all. So I was living on credit cards and stuff like that. And I'm still dealing with all that debt. So I can't go into a line of credit for machinery that would help me because I'm doing everything by hand. Everything that you, you know, if you look at my.

Yeah, you hit me up on Instagram, right?

Yeah.

What's your, what's your Instagram? Because your stuff is beautiful.

The proper gentleman.

The proper gentleman. Yeah. And so, yeah, your stuff is, is unbelievable.

So thank you.

I'm, I'm gonna give you some, some good ideas here, Jimmy, but just help me through a couple things so I understand. So how, how, how long does it take you to make one of those pieces? And are they all custom orders? Are you making them and then putting them up for sale?

You know, each wallet, I mean, you can spend 15 to 20.

Depending on how much detail you put in them. I mean, I try to put a lot of details into them.

Did you say 15 to 20 hours? Yes, sorry, the phone, the phone cut out. So 15 to 20 hours on each one. And what do you sell that dude for?

My highest end customs can go. They range between 650 to, you know, I've sold some in the 1100 range.

Okay, so let's just talk about averages. Your, your average one that you make takes 15 or 20.

Average is about 750. About 750.

And how long does it take?

About 15 hours.

Okay, so if I take 750 and divide it by 15, we're making $50 an hour?

Yep.

Okay, and then what I try to do, what's the cost of the material? So if you're selling it for 750, how much is the leather and all that?

I mean, the material cost is about $15.

Okay, so you're still close to 50. So material cost is low. And then do you have any employees or any assistance or anything like that?

No, I, you know, I tried that before and it was, you know, I'm just. Yeah, I was in the military for a while, you know, nine years, and I managed people. I was there. And I just, you know, not real good at it anymore. I don't, I'm not real interested in babysitting grown men.

What about babysitting grown women?

Hey, you know, I'll make an exception, I guess.

You might not want to mix the two the way I said that. Okay, so we're making, if I'm getting this right, you're making two to three pieces a week.

No, no, the, because the, the process, it, it takes you because you, you, you do one part of it and then you have to let it dry and then you have to do the next part and let it dry. So it's normally a two to three day process to do each one. So I'm trying to do two to three per week. But.

It'S, you know, me being a one man shop, it's. So I don't, I don't have the luxury of just sitting and working all day. I'm still having to do all the marketing, all the photography, all the sales, you know.

So you make it one and a half a week?

Yeah, I can do that. Usually one, one and a half to two. But if I'm hustling.

Okay. And so.

Yeah. Okay. And you, you don't want to have an employee?

Well, the custom stuff is what is the main drive right now. And to be honest, I started this to be, you know, after I realized that there was a little momentum going and I had to have a trademark. I trademarked my company as a clothing brand because I want to grow it into, you know, a full on clothing line that will eventually compete on a national level against someone like Eddie Bauer or, you know, American Eagle or something like that, you know.

Right, but we're far from that right now, right?

Far, far from that. Yeah. So. But what I'm trying to do is transition or taper off from the custom stuff in order to start pushing more apparel in order to get more of the clothing stuff in front of the customer on a more regular basis. Because up until now it's just been, hey, here's another custom wallet. Here's another custom wallet.

Have you, Jimmy, are you a drinker?

No.

You don't drink at all?

No.

Oh, man. Imagine the money I would save if.

I was like you.

Imagine. Okay.

I. I see two things here. And as the business whisper and you got to kind of help me go. So I'm gonna. I'm gonna give you two options and.

Then you tell me which one resonates with you more.

But I. I feel bad now doing this during our call, but they are serving me. Is this a Mia vita?

Oh, I'm not a. I'm not a recovering alcoholic or anything crazy like that. I just. I'm just not a. I'm just not a. You know, I. Trust me, dude, I was. I drank like a. Like a fish forever, you know, military, and then, you know, just that was it. But I think around 2013, 2014, I stopped.

Well, we're practicing for tomorrow. For tomorrow because we have Mike Tyson on and we're redoing our menu here in the safe house. And so they're testing drinks, so they just served me. We only serve tequila drinks here in the safe house, by the way.

Nice.

And so this is called a Mia vita, which is your life, which is a little insight into what this drink.

Is going to be.

But it has an elder flower. Have you ever had an elder? Ever eaten an elder flower?

I have not. But I heard you talking about it. I'm gonna check that out.

Makes your tongue, it makes your whole mouth feel a little weird. So I'm eating the elderflower now. I'm gonna drink this.

Go ahead, I'm watching.

Oh, that's good. But is that sugar on the rim?

I maybe want a little more spice.

And we do like tahin.

Man. That's good though. Oh, the party started. Okay, Jimmy, I have two ideas. Steer me. Oh, I guess I. All over my beard. I have sugar all over my beard. I have two directions, and I want you to kind of lead me. So one direction and what I've seen Work really well with somebody that wants to spend most of their time creating. So it sounds like to me you're not interested in having employees, but you like creating. You like designing clothes, designing the wallets and creating. So am I accurate in that?

You are, yes, sir.

So a lot of big designers that I know from, you know, Trina Turk onwards have a partner that is in the background that owns 25% of the company. That partner is really good at managing people, finances and accounting, inventory managing. You, you need to think of yourself as being managed like an A list movie star. Like somebody's going to manage your calendar, they're going to tell you where to be, they're going to keep you on track so you can just let your mind be free and you can create. You don't have to always worry about what am I doing tomorrow and what do I got going here and what money's in the account and whatnot. They tell you, hey, you can spend.

This, you can do this.

And you kind of are managed like a famous artist or athlete. And they have 25% of your company, they're a partner, they're vested in your performance. They have a track record Even like Alexander McQueen partnered a couple times and then he ended up partnering with Tom Ford and Gucci in the end, before he passed away, but he sold his company.

And so that's kind of how I see the most successful designers in the clothing field. They have a partner that owns a minority of the company, but is the finances, the human resources, the hiring, the managing, and you're free to create. Now that's one side. The other side is you get yourself an employee that's commission, that could be a freelancer. They don't have to be an employee, they could be outsourced. But you pay them like, you know, for every product I do, you're gonna photograph it, write the descriptions, put it up, you're gonna take orders, manage the website and you pay them kind of piecemeal on the performance of how you're doing. And so they're vested in posting and selling. They get a little percentage of sales maybe and they're doing that. So that's kind of more to me a band aid that would get you through right now. But the partner and somebody who's really good in accounting and the business part is how you launch into being a real clothing company. And you know you're going to have commission salespeople, you're going to, you're going to scale really, really quick if you really want to be that big and you need somebody who's going to manage all that for you because it will be impossible for you to create the. The stuff you want to create and do all the business. So tell me kind of how you feel about those two ideas.

I'd be like, you know, send me a contract. I'd be ready. I'm ready. What you described is exactly what I've been kind of waiting and kind of looking for someone to, you know, know, partner with. And you know, exactly what you're saying. I mean it.

So this is what I would do. I would run an ad on. Indeed. For somebody who's ran a clothing company, somebody who is a vice president. I mean, especially here. You're in Fort Worth, Texas.

Yes, sir.

So I'd probably run that ad in la, in New York, because there's so many clothing companies here, but there's somebody out there that's going to love your stuff, it's going to resonate, and they know all the shortcuts. They could join. You know, you. You want to go to dinner with them, you want to hang out with them for a weekend or two and really make sure that you blend with them, you know, ethically, and that you have some chemistry with them. Right? So you want to spend a little time, but should you spend a couple weekends with them and really get to know them? They should have experience in that industry. They should know how the system works, how marketing, how sales works. They have experience at a bigger company, but they're looking to own a piece of something and scale it. And those people are in abundance. Trust me. You would have a hard time interviewing all of them if you ran that ad. And indeed, there's tons of people at these big clothing companies. I have, you know, I've met them that are really talented because, you know, the best clothing companies attract the most talented people. A lot of times they're really talented, but they're entrepreneurs and they want to own something and they want to be vested in something. And at the end of the day, they still just work for Marc Jacobs or, you know, John Varvatos. And they. They want to have something. And so you offer them, you're offering them that.

Does that resonate with you?

It does. It makes total sense. And that would be. That'd be something I'd totally be open to doing. And, you know, like you said, I've had. I've had several offers. You know, some. Some guys had just made some ridiculous offers. But, you know, what were the offers they do have? I had one guy, it was he Was going to. He offered me 250 grand for 30% of the company. And.

He, I don't know, he was, you know, he's a finance guy. You know, dealership. He was a finance, you know, finance guy at a Chevy dealership. Good friend of mine, you know, he was a car business guy, not a clothing guy. So.

I don't know.

What am I gonna do with it?

Yeah, I don't know that you want this person to come in with a lot of money. You want them to come in with a lot of connections and momentum. You guys don't miss.

Yeah.

You want somebody in that industry.

Give me the money. But what am I gonna do with it?

Yeah, no, you won't. Like, you want. You. You are like me. You want to create something great that people enjoy. The money will take care of itself, right? Yeah, you got to be a good steward of the money. You got to watch the money. But at the end of the day, it's way more important to me that I affect people in a positive way. And then I get to spend my time creating, writing books, you know, making things that, that make people better. And then I'll, you know, I'll charge for it and I'll make money, but the money isn't the first thing. If somebody came in and offered me money for my company, I wouldn't even be interested.

I don't want. I don't want that.

So, yeah, I would. So would you do me that favor and run an ad on. Indeed. In LA and New York and be very specific in that ad. Like, don't write it like it's a job ad. Write it like you're looking for a partner and talk about in the. In it. Talk about what kind of person you want, what your values are, what you don't want. Be very, very specific. Like if you got three people that responded to it, but all three of them were what you wanted. I'd rather have that than have you weed through hundreds and hundreds of ads.

Sure.

So, you know, be very, very specific. Like, if there's things that drive you crazy about people that, you know, for me, I, I'm. People that are late, that, you know, don't. Aren't. Professionals, don't have a sense of what they're doing. Drive me crazy. So put that in there.

Oh, the self awareness thing is a huge deal for me.

So put that in there. You need to be self aware, like, you know, really. Right.

Probably want to work it alone.

Yeah, well, there's a lot of us like that, though. You're just an introvert like the rest of us, so do that. And then when you call me back and let me know how it goes, and if you want me to proof that ad before you put it up, send it over to us and I'll proof it and I'll kind of. I'll tell you what I would.