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What’s going on, my amazing tribe and followers and anyone who … Maybe you’re on this page, and you have no idea how you ended up on here. I’m looking down on my phone right now. I’m trying to share this to the Facebook group to make sure that my group can see this as well as you, so give me just one second here. There we go, share to a group. There we go, Vetpreneur Tribe. All right. Guys, here’s the thing. I’ve been thinking about business a lot lately. A lot of you know I just came back from Denver, Colorado, which was an amazing trip. Actually took my family out there, and we did a drive out there from Austin, Texas and drove back. Spent a lot of time with my family. Did the zoo. Went out to the Rock Mountains while also doing my Mastermind for my six figure plus business earners and the Vetpreneur Tribe, and I started thinking about something.
My guest speaker was Keith Langskov, and he discussed something extremely important during the Mastermind. I’ve been thinking about it over and over and over again. You know, we’re coming up on our one year anniversary of Vetpreneur Tribe. In actually six months, Vetpreneur Tribe became the world’s largest community of military veteran entrepreneurs to ever exist. That’s just in six months. It’s coming up on a year now, and we’re growing every day. We’re literally growing consistently all the time. We’ve got about 130 member requests right now in the Facebook group. I probably decline more than I approve, because I don’t want to allow people who are not veterans and are not entrepreneurs into the group.
I started thinking about how did I create this group to become so successful so fast. Right? I wanted to start thinking about … I like to do reverse engineering, so I do something, it works, I reverse engineer it, figure out. I do something, it fails, I reverse engineer it and figure out why it failed. I’ve been reverse engineering this first year of Vetpreneur Tribe as we’re coming up on the one year anniversary next week. Actually, it’ll be Monday of next week, I believe, as the 2nd of July will be our one year anniversary. I started thinking about it, and what I realized is, why do most businesses fail? Now, I have a favorite saying that the majority of my followers, my true followers that have been around for a long time know, and that saying is, “It’s not about being better. It’s about being different.” Right?
When it comes into business, everybody’s so focused on competing and undercutting their competition and charging less than their competition, being more valuable, all that stuff, but it’s not about being better than your competition. It’s about being different. It’s about providing something that hasn’t been provided before. Vetpreneur Tribe is innovative. It’s new. It’s different. It’s never been done before. Have people tried to do it? Yes. Have people succeeded at it? No. All right? Why did I succeed when many other failed, and it’s because I was innovative. I actually gave up a very, very successful business to start Vetpreneur Tribe. I gave away a six figure business whenever I started Vetpreneur Tribe. Right? I have away a six figure portion of my business, the publicity company that I owned before. I gave away, I licensed all the rights to all my digital content and digital courses to someone in the tribe. I did a giveaway, which led into the group growing to over 10,000 members. It was a six figure business giveaway.
That was innovative. Right? How many people that run Facebook groups give away a six figure business? All right? That’s innovative, and then my courses are all innovative. It’s not just about me teaching through PDFs or PowerPoints or worksheets. I actually build a business alongside them. You know, if we look at Joint Ops, for example. Right? Joint Ops, what we did is we invested in four different businesses, and we’re growing four different businesses at the same time and letting Joint Ops watch us build these businesses. That’s what’s innovative. Right? It’s new. It’s unique. It’s different.
Some people are not innovative enough when it comes to business. If you look at, like, a CPA, if you look at a realtor, if you look at a mechanic, they all do the same exact thing, and they provide the same exact service. Now, what the majority of them do in order to try to stand out is undercut their competition. They’ll take a … They’ll cut their commissions out. Realtors will cut their commissions down lower in order to get more clients. Mechanics will charge less money. CPAs will charge less percentages or decrease their fees in order to start to build their business, but I think undercutting … I know undercutting damages your business. It’s not about undercutting your competition. It’s not about undercutting their prices. It’s about being innovative. It’s about providing something that your competitors don’t provide and charging more because you could provide that service. Right?
Being innovative is not about how do I undercut my competition. It’s about how do I provide something that has not been provided by my competitors to this market. For example, if we look at Vetpreneur Tribe, it’s not the Andrew O’Brien show. Okay? There’s four of us that are the influencers, the leaders of Vetpreneur Tribe. It’s myself, Omari Broussard, Curtez Riggs, and Steven Kuhn. All right? Those are the four leaders of Vetpreneur Tribe. If we look at how all the civilian world does things, if we look at the way the all civilian world does it, there’s on influencer that you follow, DigitalMarketer, Ryan Deiss, ClickFunnels, Russell Brunson, Frank Kern’s Inner Circle, Billy Gene’s School of GENEIUSes. They are all one person that you follow. Right?
What I realized is if I wanted to stand out against all of these other influencers who have much higher followings than I do, a lot more money than I do … Now, I’ve succeeded, but I have not succeeded nearly as much as they have. … how do I do that. I thought, “Well, I could charge less,” but I don’t want to do that, because my value is worth what I charge. All right? I’m doing a live intensive on July … the weekend of July 14th, and it costs $1,776 to attend that two day workshop. Most people would charge 97 to $200 for a two day workshop. I’m charging almost two grand. Why? Because my value, because I know I’m bringing value that’s worth the investment, and because I want serious entrepreneurs in my room.
I thought about, and I was like, “You know what? Everybody tries to get them to follow an individual.” Instead of getting you to follow an individual, I’m asking you to follow a team, because that’s what we did in the military. Right? We followed teams. We followed a group of leaders, not one individual leader. Yes. You had your squad leader, but you also … You had your team leader, your squad leader, your platoon leader, your battalion leader, your fucking company leader. You had all of them. You had all these leaders that you followed, but then you get into the civilian world, and all these civilians are trying to get you to follow one leader.
I don’t want you to follow one leader, because I can only provide so much information. I can teach you how to build an audience. I can teach you how to build a community, and I can teach you how to capitalize on that audience and on that community. What I can’t teach you is how to do strategic marketing, how to build sales funnels. I can’t teach you how to create partnerships with the biggest corporations and the biggest influencers. I can’t teach you basic business strategies. I know how to build my own businesses. I don’t know taxing and accounting and legal and numbers and profit and loss sheets. That’s not my power. That’s not my super power, so I stay away from that, but all of these are things that you need to learn in your business.
In order for me to be innovative, I built a team. I built a team of leaders for you to follow instead of asking you to follow me, and that’s how I was innovative. That’s how the tribe grew so much, because I didn’t make it the Andrew O’Brien show. I didn’t make it Andrew O’Brien’s tribe or O’Brien’s tribe. I made it Vetpreneur Tribe. It’s not about me. It’s about the community as a whole. It’s about us growing and building together. When it comes to your business, you have to ask you this question. Are you being innovative enough? Right? Juviento [Gaton 00:07:52] says, “Exactly.” Lisa, good to see you. Brad, saw that you just joined. Andy, good to see you in here. Paul, awesome to see you.
Guys, what I’m talking about here, for those of you watching right now and those of you that watch this replay, understand that in order for your business to succeed, you need to be innovative. How do you do something differently? Let’s look at the dog walking company I invested in. All right? You all see that I’ve invested in a dog walking company. Why did I invest in a dog walking company? It’s innovative. Who would, in their right mind, would say that they’re going to build a dog walking company to six figures? I would, because I know I can. It depends on the owner of the business, but I feel very confident in the owner of the business that I’ve invested in, that he can do it. Would did we do? All right?
It was innovative, one, for me to invest in a dog walking company, because it’s crazy. Right? Two, how was I innovative in that dog walking company? It is no longer a dog walking company. I’ve told him he is now a dog physical trainer. His job is to help dogs lose weight, become more active, gain muscle, and be more fit, live a longer life. All right? It’s not about walking a dog. Walking a dog is not innovative enough. In Austin, Texas alone, his competitors were huge. He had apps that he’s fighting against, big corporations, big names, plus many, many, many small companies here in Austin that do dog walking. I thought, “How do we be innovative in a dog walking company?” Easy. He’s no longer a dog walker. He’s a dog personal trainer. His job is to keep dogs healthy, get them fit, get them eating right and having the right nutrition. He is literally helping dogs exercise. He’s not a dog walker anymore. He’s a dog physical trainer.
When I’m talking about being innovative … Now, I also told him … What we did is we increased his prices $5 more than all of his competitors. I told him he needs to be $5 more expensive than every competitor, even the biggest ones out there. Why? Because he’s not a dog walker, and so he shouldn’t be paid as a dog walker. He should be paid as a dog physical trainer. His job is to keep them healthy, to get them in shape, and to maintain their health, right, help them live longer. Helping a dog live longer is worth more money than just walking a dog around the block. When you’re looking at this, right, he came to me with the idea of, “How do I grow my dog walking business?” and I came to him with the idea of he is not in the dog walking business. He is in the dog exercise business. He is the dog gym. He is the dog personal trainer. Right?
That’s what I’m talking about. When it comes to being innovative, you’ve got to think outside the box. What is it that your competition isn’t doing? Because I promise you, there’s no other competition here in the United States that is doing the dog physical trainer side. He is the first one that’s going to break into this market as a dog physical trainer versus a dog walker. Why? Because it’s innovative, because now, we’ve created the competitive edge that we can charge more money for, because we came up with strategies. I can’t give away all the strategies. It’s for Joint Ops to know, but he has ways to help the … his clients track the weight and the exercise and the fitness and the body fat and all that, and they get monthly things that come in the mail where they get to track their dog’s health every month and see, physically see tangible results of hiring him as a dog physical trainer. Right?
Now, he is more competitive than any dog walker out there, because no one, no one in the Austin area is doing this. I don’t think anyone in the United States is doing it from what I’ve been able to find. What he did is he came in here, and we strategized, and I came up with this idea of you got to be innovative. You got to think differently. You got to provide something that isn’t … has never been provided before and you got to provide it at a higher cost, because a lot of you are trying to serve the cheap audience. You’re trying to serve what you think they can afford.
Anyone can afford anything if they want it enough. Why can people afford a $200,000 house on a $40,000 a year salary? Because they want it enough. Right? Why can someone afford a $30,000 vehicle on a $40,000 a year salary? Why? Because the want it enough. Because they crave it enough, they will make those payments. They will get that loan. They will go to the bank and request that loan. They will do what they have to do to buy what they want to buy. Anyone who comes to you and says, “I can’t afford this” or “I can’t afford that,” that’s not true. They don’t see the value. Right? Is it there fault that they don’t see the value, or is it because you’re not innovative enough? Is it because you’re not providing them with a reason to afford that? Anyone can afford anything if they want it enough. They can find a way. They can make it happen. They can go mow yards. They can pawn stuff. They can go get bank loans. They can use their credit cards. Anyone can afford anything if they want it enough.
If you hear a lot, “I can’t afford that” or “That’s not in my budget,” it’s because they don’t see the value, and the question you have to ask yourself, is it, because they don’t see the value, is that their fault, or is it your fault? Is it your fault for not being innovative enough and providing something so unique that they just have to have it? Right? That’s what I want you to look at your business. If you hear that, “I can’t afford it,” it’s because they don’t see the value, because you’re not innovative enough.
Mark says, “Has he gotten any clients yet?” Well, right now, we’re in the planning phase for the dog walking company. Mark was just asking us if he’s gotten any clients yet. I think he has two right now. I haven’t checked in with him for the past week, but right now, we’re rebranding his entire business, so right now, we’re on pause while we do this rebrand of everything, because he’s no longer a dog walker, so we’ve got to go through the rebrand process, which I covered and my team is doing for him. Right? He’s making the decisions, and my team is doing it for him. But that’s the thing that I want all of you to understand, is, all right, you don’t need to focus on being cheap, and if anyone is telling you they can’t afford it, it’s because they don’t want it. It’s not because they can’t afford it. All right?
We live in the United States. It is so easy to find the finances, to get the finances, and if I want something enough, I’ll go pawn myself. If I want something enough, I will hustle and grind to save up the money to get that. All right? But it has … The desire has to be there. How do you create desire? Become innovative. Offer something that’s never been offered before, and something that they want. It can’t just be something that’s innovative that they don’t care about. Right? But when we’re looking at that dog walking company, why did I turn him into a dog physical trainer? One, because I learned in Austin, Austin’s a big dog city. They love their dogs.
Second thing I’ve realized is a lot of dog owners are becoming like parents. They treat their dogs as kids. As me as a parent, I care about my kid’s health. Dog owners care about their dog’s health, because it’s not just a pet. It’s not just an animal. It’s part of their family. They care about what it eats. They care about how long it lives. They fear the death of their dog. How do you handle fear of death? You provide them a healthy lifestyle choices where they can extend their life, right, and they live a happier life, and they save money on vet bills. Right? Everybody cares about health and money, so that’s how we attack that. That’s the innovative way that we created that. All right?
That’s what you have to figure out. How are you innovative compared to everybody else that offers that? I don’t care if you’re a frickin’ Tony Robbins coach. What makes you innovative versus all of the other Tony Robbins coach? I don’t care if you’re a Maxwell Team. What makes you different than every other Maxwell coach? I don’t care if you’re in a MLM. I don’t care if you’re a dog walker, a mechanic, a CPA, a realtor, a brick and mortar, a gym owner, a physical trainer. What makes you innovative compared to everybody else in your market? Because if you are not innovative, if you don’t provide something that no one else provides in the unique way that your audience actually wants … Again, innovative is not about just being different by providing something that’s new and unique. It’s about being different and providing something that’s new and unique that they actually want. All right? They have to want what you’re providing. How are you innovative in your business? Right?
Brandon says, “Many companies fail. Will this company be a case study so we can follow it?” Mark, yes. This company is a case study, but it’s going to … We’re going to follow … We’re going to share some of the things that are happening to the tribe, generally, but the Joint Ops is actually watching deep in. They’re watching, step by step, how we’re building this company with backstage passes. Brandon says, “A hundred percent agree with innovation. Many companies fail because their competitors were more adaptive and innovative than they were.” That’s completely true.
Lisa says, “The pet industry is a multi-billion dollar industry.” It is, and again, when we look at these dollars, right, multi-billion dollar industry, how do we attack that? How do we get into that? How do we take some of that multi-billion dollar industry in the unique way? How do we get that? We become innovative. Right? “In the business school, it’s called, ‘What’s your strategic, competitive advantage?'” That’s a great way to say it, Juventino. I don’t do public education, never done public education. I have a GED with a couple successful businesses, so that’s awesome that they’re teaching it, as well, but understand, anyone watching this video, you have to have a innovative way to come in. Right? Stop being like everyone else. Don’t undercut your competition. Stop charging less. Charge more. I never charge less than my competitors.
We were doing inexpensive events, and we were getting maybe 10 to 15 people at our events. Now, I am doing expensive events and getting the same numbers. Right? I had 10 people come to an event for $200. I’m now having 10 people come to an event for almost $1,800. Which one would you rather? Would you rather 10 people coming to an event for 200 or 10 people coming to an event for 1,800? I’m going to make 18 grand on an event for 10 people to attend, and that’s just when they come. That’s not including the upsells that I will offer at that event. Right? Look at the numbers. Do you want to be the guy serving the broke audience, or do you want to be the veteran … Guy or girl. Do you want to be the veteran serving the audience that can actually do it, right, the audience that can afford it, serving the audience that actually values what you provide? All right?
Understand, innovation is key. Look at the references I used, how I built Vetpreneur Tribe. I gave away a six figure business. That’s innovative. The dog walking company is no longer a dog walking company. It’s a dog physical trainer company. That’s innovative. Think about this today. All I want you to do is I want you to pull out your notepad. I want you to get your pen out, and don’t do … type it up on the computer. You got to pen to pad. Right? That’s … You got to … That’s where your creative juices come out, pen to actual paper, not freaking computers, not iPads. Get a real piece of paper and a real pen with ink and write it out.
How are you innovative? What makes you unique? What makes you different than anyone else in your industry? What services are you providing that makes you more valuable to where you can charge more money than your closest competitor? I don’t mean your small competitors. I’m talking about big corporations. What makes you better than them? What makes you more unique, and what makes it where you can charge more than the biggest competitor that you have? That’s my tip for today. All right, guys. Later.
