Evan Carmichael explains how modeling success accelerated his business. When his software company made only $300 a month, he studied how Microsoft grew and copied their partnership strategy instead of trying to reinvent everything. Within a month of pursuing partners already serving his target market, he landed multiple deals that saved the business.
Chapters
The fastest way to accomplish any goal that you have is to model success. Find someone who's already done what you're trying to do and put their strategies to work for you. Otherwise, you're going to end up going down the wrong path, spending all your time and money on a route that doesn't serve you. When I had my first business, it was hard. It took us a lot longer than we thought it would take to get things going. It was a lot harder than we thought it was going to be. I was pulling out $300 a month. $300 a month was not enough. I had to tell my friends that I couldn't go have dinner or drinks with them after work, and it was because I couldn't afford it. And I was too embarrassed and too ashamed to tell them Hey guys, I know you're making your $80,000 a year as investment bankers and I'm supposed to be living the entrepreneur dream. You're supposed to be jealous of me and I can't afford the $20 that it's going to take to go out and buy some drinks or have some dinner with you. And I reached a point where I just had enough. You can only go on for so long without seeing something change. And I either had to find a way to make this business work or I had to go do something else. And then a light bulb went off and I realized I'm in the software business and I'm not the first guy to try to sell software before. Somebody has figured this out. I just need to copy what worked for them and make it work for me. So I looked at companies like Microsoft and how they got started. I don't care how Bill Gates makes an extra million dollars an app. But how did he go from zero to one? How did he make that first million dollars? That's what I wanted to learn from. And Microsoft did it through partnerships. Find someone who's already selling to your target market and find a way to work together. So I applied that to my business. It was in a month I had my first deal and closed another one and another one and continued to seek out companies and individuals who we could partner with who could help us grow our business. And these guys pulled us into the light. They showed us things we didn't understand. They introduced us to people who we didn't know. They gave us knowledge that we didn't have. Without these guys, I might still be making a couple hundred bucks a month, or I might have had to shut down that business. They pulled us through. They helped us grow our business, and they helped us sell our business. And it all came from Modern Success at Microsoft. And I'm grateful that I found that strategy, but also frustrated that I had to reach that bottom, such a low, before I could figure it out. And so I hope for you that you'll find it a lot sooner than I did. Whatever challenge you're facing right now, whatever goal you have, somebody has already figured it out. Find out who they are, copy their strategies, apply it to your business, and you will shortcut your path to success. I guarantee it. Do it today. Good luck.
