The Million-Dollar Advice Most Founders Never Get: Inside the Room Where Winners Decide

just because something looks good from the outside doesn't mean you're ready to bet your future on it yet, you know. And it's not that you're being fearful, that's just being careful, it's being wise, you know. Look before you leap.

Welcome to Big Hitters. I'm Larry Weidel, and this show is for people who are done playing small. Each week we break down what it actually takes to win at a high level— the decisions, the discipline, the adjustments that separate those who almost do it from those who do it. No theory, no fluff, just straight talk from someone who spent 50 years building winners. If you're serious about momentum, you're in the right place. Let's get into it.

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you got a great idea, you're ready to jump into it, uh, you're not quite sure? You go to your best friend, or, you know, the person you think give you the straightest advice, and you ask them And a lot of times their yay or their nay can be the difference maker for, you know, another set of eyes looking on it. They may see something you don't see. And so that's why we always ask, well, what do you think? What do you think? Well, you better be sure you got people, quality people around you. I think this is, this is one of the reasons I believe why, if there is any truth to the thing that, you know, you're to a large extent, your future will play out based off of the quality of your 5 most important friends or people you spend your most time with, because you're gonna be asked, those are the people you wind up asking the questions. What do you think about this? What do you think about that? And they're, if they're not too bright or they're not thinking the way you're thinking, you know, they got a more limited worldview. They may keep you from doing something that would be incredibly revolutionary for you. You know, they, they might be the worst people to ask, but that's why you wanna make sure you got the right people around you. I remember a funny story in, I I'm not patting myself on the back. I just, this is one time I happened to be right, thank goodness. But we were in the senior leadership with Art Williams in a room in Atlanta, and he had come with some new game plan and we had to make a decision about this, that, the other. He went on and on for about an hour. Here's what we need to do. We're at a table where we had like 12 people around the room. We're listening. He's up at the front and he goes around, well, what do you think? You know, and he starts with the first guy and then goes to the second guy. Well, I like, you know, cause Art was all for it, you know, whatever it was. He was ready to pull the trigger and he goes, well, what do you think? What do you think?

What do you think?

Everybody was, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Now, as we went around the room, I was thinking, it's like, wait a minute, that's the dumbest idea I ever heard. If we do that, this, that, the other come up and we'll create all kinds of problems over here. And nobody else had happened to notice that. I wasn't a particular genius, but I happened to notice that part.

And I have—

I've never been afraid to speak up. So he got everybody. Yes, yes, yes, yes. That was the last one. And he got to me and I said, yeah, that's great.

By the way, if you're still listening right now, you're different. You don't just consume content, you're actively looking for an edge. And that's who I built the Big Hitter community for. Not people chasing motivation, people chasing momentum, not theory, proximity, proximity to operators who are actually in the arena making real decisions and winning at a high level. Inside Big Hitter, you get conversations we don't have on the podcast, direct access to people who build what you're trying to build in a room that holds you to a higher standard every single week. This isn't a hype group. It's not networking for the sake of networking. It's where serious people go to sharpen their thinking and compress their timeline. If you're done just listening and you're ready to be in the room where it actually happens, head to joinbighitters.com or click the link in the show notes. The right room changes everything. I'll see you inside.

But if we do that, this, this, this, and this will happen. Are we thinking about that? Do we really want that to happen? And everybody looked at each other like, no, we don't want that to happen. And then so Art, I said, well, I don't think we should do it. So then Art went back in reverse order around the room and ask everybody what they think. And they say, no, I'm against it. I'm against it. I'm against it. I'm against it. I'm against it. And we did, you know, we saved ourselves a nightmare. We didn't do whatever it was. But, you know, that just happened to me one time. I guess I remember because that's one time I was right. But the deal is that in life, people will ask us for our opinion. And, you know, because we all, you know, based our judgment, you know, it's great to have other sets of eyes on here. But here's an example how it even plays out in your own family. My friend Brian, he's been on my podcast, you know, he's just built several multimillion-dollar businesses and helped so many people. Just a great teacher and trainer. But he was in his own life. You go through these situations with your kids, and I've seen his kids grow up. And so I really love this story. He talked about before he got started, he had started with a butcher shop right out of college. And so he was a butcher. He was a real good one, but eventually bought the butcher shop. And so he had a butcher business, but then he wanted to go beyond that. And he, again, he went into financial services and then he went beyond financial services into other things. And so fast forward years later, you know, he gets his kids, his family, they do great things. But now his son has graduated. He's out there looking for a business and One day his oldest son comes in and says, you know, he's out there, he sees a, you know, he knows his father came from the butcher business. And so he said, he sees a butcher shop for sale in town and a great opportunity. He's doing well, the guy's just aging out. And so he asks his dad, he says, should we buy it? You know, would that be great? Should we buy it? You know, I can run it. You know, basically, you believe on me, this and the other. And so when your kids come to you with things like that, a lot of times you're stunned. You don't know, you know, know exactly what to say. But fortunately, Brian's wife, Lindley, she perked up and she gave him the million-dollar advice. You know, somehow the moms always know what to say. And she said— she didn't say no, she didn't say yes. She said, why don't you go and work there first and see if you even like it? Man, just priceless wisdom. And so made sense to him. And so he did. 3 months in, they ask him, well, what do you think? He said, I love it. So Ryan went out, bought the butcher shop on the spot, and pretty soon no one was running it. And, you know, it's a huge success. They're expanding. And, you know, the thing is, just because, you know, the lesson I took from that is just because something looks good from the outside, doesn't mean you're ready to bet your future on it yet, you know? And it's not that you're being fearful. That's just being careful. It's being wise. You know, look before you leap. You know, you know, those— there's a reason why those kind of sayings have come out. And so sometimes you just need to check something out. You know, it can seem like you like it, but when you get in there, maybe it's not so great. And especially the butcher shop, you know, the whole thing about, as they say in the sausage business, If you really like sausage, stay out of the meat plant because once you see how it's made, you might never eat it again, you know? And so that can be true of a lot of businesses. Hollywood, you know, the music business, you know, great on the outside, you know, all the glamor and everything. Yeah, but wait till you get in and see the people you deal with, the situations that come up. And so don't get blindsided by the sizzle. You know, get behind the scenes, see what's real, see what it takes. And even if you have to go in there and start at the bottom, you know, if you like it, you probably work your way up and then, you know, bigger opportunities will come. You know, you're in the right place. But before you jump in, you know, the action step is before you jump into your next big opportunity, go get your hands dirty, test it, try it, taste it, experience it, and see if it's right for you, see if it's the right place for you, see if the people in that business are the right kind of people you want to be around, see if the opportunities that you're looking for, you know, and the, you know, the opportunity for expansion and moving up and incomes are there that, you know, you're looking for because you're going to have hard days in anything. And so if you've already checked it out and you know that you really feel good about it, really like it, you know, that gives you the fuel you need to push through. And so don't guess.

No.

And that's how winners win. You know, they do little simple things like that. There's, you know, in life when it comes to winning, there's millions of little simple things. And, you know, that's why, you know, like you want to have the right kind of people around you. You want to be in a situation where you're picking up on a regular basis these kind of insights, these kind of things to watch out for in life because, you know, they give you an advantage, save you time. Keep you from getting off track. And a lot of this comes from having the right kind of people around you. And that's the great thing about, you know, imagine you're at a point like that and you don't have anybody to ask, or the people who are around you don't have any experience and you know they don't, you know, they're great in other things. They know nothing about business and about making a commitment like that and launching off. And so that's the great thing about why, you know, we have the Big Hitter community. So you do, you can be surrounded by a large group of people who are winning in a lot of different— you know, they got a wealth of experience to bring to the table, and they're going through their own transitions and they're going after their own mountaintops. And so along the way, they learn a lot of stuff and they don't mind sharing, you know, they don't mind passing these things on. And if you're in that kind of community, you can, you can get answers when you're confused. But also when they get confused, you can pass on to them things that you've learned. And that's very rewarding. You know, you don't have to wait till you're some guru nationwide teacher to start passing on hints that you've learned about winning to other people. You can do it inside the community. It is very rewarding. It's part of making life fulfilling. And so, you know, if you don't have these kind of people in your life or you want more, think about joining, visiting us over at joinbighitters.com. Come join the party and the wonderful world of winning. Is unlimited and the people there are having a good time. You know, they're sweating, they're working, but they're experiencing positive success. And we want that to be for you, you know, for you. We need more winners in the world, folks. Every— that's why everything I do is pretty much focused on the community because we need more winners. And rather than being, you know, speaking all over the country and putting on retreats and this and the other, I focus all my energy inside the community so that I can get the maximum return on my investment with a particular group of people and help them develop into high achievers, you know, founders who build multimillion-dollar companies, wind up making millions of dollars themselves, employ thousands of people, build countries that go around the world. You know, that's, you know, that's what we need more of in the world. People are making a positive impact. And so if you want that to be you, come join us at The Big Hitter Community, and you can find us at joinbighitters.com.

That's it for this episode. If this resonated with you, do me a favor, share it with someone who's ready to level up. Winners find winners, and the right conversation at the right time can change everything.

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