359 Blind Spots Robbing You Of Financial Freedom

Jeffrey Feldberg: [00:00:00] Welcome to the Deep Wealth Podcast. It's so great to have you back. And today I'm going to do a solo session. And actually what got me going on this, it's a terrific quote that I heard. Let me read it to you.

It's not the will to win that matters. Everyone has that. It's the will to prepare to win that matters. And that's by Paul Bear Bryant. He's the college football's winningest coach with 323 victories, including six national championships. So from the sports arena to the business arena, here's a rhetorical question for you.

And you know me, I love my rhetorical questions. Here it is.

Do you know the blind spots or what we call here at Deep Wealth the inflection points standing between you and your financial freedom? 

And for most business owners, they say yes, but the real answer is no. So for today, let's do a deep dive into the hidden pitfalls that are silently destroying your business's value and whether it's robbing you of your profits today, ultimately, it can deny you your financial freedom tomorrow as your enterprise value goes down. Not a great [00:01:00] thing. So, let's do a deep dive on something that most business owners don't even know what's happening until it's too late. These are the business value or enterprise value killers. 

Now, let me ask you another question.

How many times have you heard a business owner say, I know my business inside out, I've built it from the ground up. There's nothing I don't know about it. Well, if you've been around long enough, you know, that's the first sign that something big is missing and that something could be costing them millions.

You see, when it comes to business, it's not the things you see that sink the ship. It's the things you don't see. The silent killers lurking in the shadows, quietly eroding your profit, your enterprise value day over day, dollar by dollar. You're not just in the business of making sales or delivering sales.

You're in the business of building value. Let me say that one more time. You're in the business of building value. And if you're not careful, those hidden killers will gut the value faster than you can say liquidity event. 

So, what are these so called silent killers? Let me share them with you. They're operational efficiencies that you've ignored because that's how we've [00:02:00] always done it.

Quote unquote. 

They're the over dependence on that one key employee you think's indispensable. Until they leave, they take half your business with them. They're the weak financial controls that you've brushed off as, quote unquote, good enough. Only to find out that they've cost you a big time when it's too late to do anything about it.

They're not just minor issues. These are value killers and they're sneaky. They don't make a grand entrance. They don't announce themselves with fanfare. No, they quietly chip away at your business, eroding its value from the inside out. And by the time you realize what's happened, it's too late. But here's the thing as an entrepreneur, founder, business owners, you're busy.

You're fighting too many fires to notice these silent killers. 

Most business owners, and by the way, I put myself into this boat, particularly when I first got going, most business owners are focused in the business instead of on the business. On the business, you're too busy. You're focused on sales, customer service, day to day operations, all the friction that arises.

And as a result, you're missing the bigger picture. You're not seeing the cracks in the foundation until the whole house is [00:03:00] coming down. And it's a tragedy because this situation is completely avoidable. So look, no one's saying that building a business is easy. In fact, let me take it a step further. The skills to start a business are very different to grow a business, which are very different to exit or sell that business through a liquidity event.

But you didn't come this far to let your hard work go to waste. So if you want to protect your business and ultimately your wealth, your financial freedom, let's get serious about uncovering these silent killers and dealing with them head on, dealing with them today. So today we're going to dig into all these value killers one by one, I'll expose them for what they are, and I'll give you the tools to isolate them, take them off the plate, and move forward full steam ahead.

This is not theory, we left that for the textbooks, we left that for the classroom, this is practical actional steps from the trenches that you can take right now today to safeguard your business value and ensure that you get what you deserve when it's time for your exit.

So let's jump in, but before we do, [00:04:00] please put some time aside, whether it's grabbing a pen to take some notes, or maybe you're going to do it on your notebook, your smartphone, whatever it is, put the time aside as we now jump in into what is silently killing your business, because knowing is the first step to doing something about it. 

 And before we hop into the podcast, a quick word from our sponsor, Deep Wealth and the Deep Wealth Mastery Program. We have William, a graduate of Deep Both Mastery, and he says, I didn't have the time for Deep Both Mastery, but I made the time and I'm glad I did.

What I learned goes far beyond any other executive program or coach I've ever experienced. Or how about Bruce? Bruce says, before Deep Wealth Mastery, the challenge I had with most business programs, coaches, or blogs was that they were one dimensional. Through Deep Wealth Mastery, I'm part of a richer community of other successful business owners.

The idea shared forever changed the trajectory of the business and best of all, the experience was fun. And we'll round things out with Stacey. 

Stacey said, I wish I had access to the Deep Wealth Mastery before my liquidity event, as it would have been [00:05:00] extremely helpful. Deep Wealth Mastery exceeded my expectations in terms of content and quality.

And you know what, my Deep Wealth Nation, why they're saying this is because Deep Wealth Mastery, it's the only system based on a nine figure deal. That was my deal. And as you know, I said no to a seven figure offer, and I created a system that we now call Deep Wealth Mastery that helped myself and my business partners, welcome from a different buyer, a different offer, a nine figure exit.

So if you're interested in growing your profits, preparing for a future liquidity event, if that's two years away or 20 years away, and you want to optimize your post exit life, Deep Wealth Mastery is for you. Please email success at deepwealth. com. Again, that's success, S U C C E S S, at deepwealth. com. We'll send you all the information about Deep Wealth Mastery, otherwise known as Scale for Ultimate Sale. That's where you want to be. You want to be with other successful business owners, entrepreneurs, and founders just like you who are looking to create market disruptions.

And they want to lock in their financial freedom and have success [00:06:00] and fulfillment. 

That's the 90 day Deep Wealth Mastery Program. It has your name on it. All you need to do is take the next step. Send an email to success at deepwealth. com.

So when it comes to the importance of identifying blind spots, let's get one thing straight. Every single business has blind spots, even yours. I don't care how long you've been in business, how successful you think you are, or how much you believe that you got it all figured out.

The truth is, if you're not actively looking for these things you can't see, those things are going to sneak up and they're going to bite you where it hurts the most, right in the wallet. So here's a brutal reality. What you don't know can and will hurt you. You see, these blind spots are what we at Deep Wealth call the skeletons in the closet.

They're like termites. They're small. They're hidden. They're busy chewing away at the foundation of your business while you're sitting pretty, thinking everything is fine. You don't even notice them until the walls start crumbling down around you. And by then, it's too late. So let me tell you something most so called, and I use this in quotes, most so called experts.

Aren't going to tell you. Your business doesn't fail because of the big, obvious mistakes. [00:07:00] It fails because of the small, subtle ones. The things that you overlook, the things that you assume are just fine. Those are these skeletons in the closet, those blind spots that will ruin your business from the inside out.

So think about this. How many times have you heard about a successful business? One that seemed to be thriving one day, all Only to be on the brink of collapse next. In fact, later on, at the end of the solo episode, we're going to do a few case studies and I'm going to walk you through some of these titans of business that are no more, all because of what we're talking about.

Now, this doesn't happen overnight. It happened because the business or the business owner had these blind spots, areas of the business that they didn't know were rotting away. Until it was too late to fix them. In fact, by the time you find out about them, there's so much momentum going against you, it's really very difficult to stop that momentum going the opposite way, to tame it and now get it back in your direction.

And here's the kicker. Your blind spots, they're not where you think they are. That's why they're blind spots. They're not the things, you know, or even the ones that you think you need to work on, they're the things you Don't [00:08:00] even realize our problems. They're hidden in the processes you assume are running smoothly in the employees that you think are irreplaceable in the customer relationships that you're taking for granted.

So the first step that you need to do right now to save your business from these blind spots is be open, have an open mind and admit that they're there.

The second step, we've now got to get ruthless about uncovering them. This isn't a maybe someday kind of task. This isn't, yeah, I'll get to it tomorrow. This is, let's do it right now. Stop what I'm doing. Don't pass go. Let me figure this out. Let me find them. Let me put this time, this effort, this energy into doing it.

And not just me, but my team itself. Why? I said it before. I'm going to say it again right now. Blind spots are silent killers. They don't make themselves known until they've already done the damage. And by then you're on full on damage control. You're scrambling to patch up the holes and put up the fires that could have easily been prevented if you would have taken the time to identify them in the first place.

So let me be crystal clear. The longer you ignore these blind spots, the more damage they do. It's like driving down the highway with your eyes closed. [00:09:00] Assuming the road is straight, sure, you might get lucky for a while, but eventually you're going to veer off the road. And when you do, it'll be a catastrophic crash. So here's my challenge to you. The seeds of failure are found in today's success. So open your eyes, start actively looking for the things that you don't want to see, because these are the things that can cost you everything that you've worked so hard to build.

So that said, now all that out of the way, let's talk about the tools, the strategy, and the mindset that you need to expose these weaknesses, these skeletons in the closet, so you can fix them before they fix you. Remember, ignorance is anything but bliss, it's expensive. So let's roll up the proverbial sleeves and let's get to work.

 Specifically, there are four areas I want to make you aware of. Number one, these are operational inefficiencies, otherwise known as the profit drainers. So let's talk about operational inefficiencies. If you think you're running a tight ship because everything seems to be working, you're already on the wrong track.

Operational inefficiencies are like the leaks in a boat. They may start very small, but over [00:10:00] time they will sink the boat. So here's what you need to know. Just because something's always been done a certain way, it doesn't mean it's the right way or the best way.

I'm talking about outdated processes, unnecessary steps, and bottlenecks that are bleeding your business dry. And you know what the real kicker is? Most business owners don't even realize that these inefficiencies exist. Because they're too busy putting out the fires to see the slow burn happening right under their noses.

Let me point you to step one big picture in the Deep Wealth nine step roadmap. And here, what we're looking for are, again, these exact blind spots, or these inflection points, and this one, otherwise known as Artificial Intelligence, or AI. That's the inflection point of the day, probably the one of the next generation.

And so while this is happening, Are there areas in your business that you've been getting along just fine, but AI could get you there that much quicker. AI could have you do it in a fraction of the time and cost. Those are the kinds of things that we're talking about. So just because it's worked up to this point, doesn't mean it's what you need taking you forward.

[00:11:00] So what do you do? You need to strip away. Every layer of your operations and look at them with a cold, hard eye. Where are you losing time? What new technologies have come out that can have you make up the time? Where are you wasting your resources? Why are you making it harder for your team to do their jobs?

Fix these areas, fix these leaks, and you'll see an immediate boost to your bottom line. It's found profits. It's always been there. You've just been looking at it in the wrong way, but, and it's a big one. If you ignore them, it's money out of your pocket.

The second area, it's your over reliance on key individuals. And let me share with you, this is like a house of cards. So when you tackle this blind spot, this over dependence on key individuals, you have one superstar, one employee, and maybe it's you. Maybe it's someone who's been in the company forever.

That's who's holding everything together. But I've got to tell you something. When your business is too reliant on whether it's you or another person, it's It's a ticking time bomb. What happens as an example, if it's one of your employees, heaven forbid, they get [00:12:00] hit by a bus, or as I like to say, they get abducted by aliens, or what if they get a better offer from a competitor and walk out that door?

You think they're loyal, but loyalty doesn't pay the bills and people always jump ship when it's in their best interest and their family's best interest, no matter how long they've been with you. So when that happens, what happens to your operation? It can all come crashing down like a house of cards. So what's the solution?

Begin to build systems and processes that don't rely on any one person. In fact, when we go through the Deep Wealth Mastery Program, our 90 day program, when we get to step four, due diligence, this is where, and we're going to talk about this a little bit later, our entrepreneurs, founders, business owners are going through the system.

They're finding these weak areas. One of the things that they're going to do is they're going to start documenting. They'll make screen recordings. They'll start writing key processes down. So it's no longer reliant on one person, by the way, this is huge when you're expanding. Instead of having to spend all that time and effort on training, you now have it written down.

You have films, you have recordings. You're no longer reliant on the [00:13:00] one person. It makes you. Infinitely more scalable. And at the same time, you can cross train your staff and you're documenting everything. You know that the business is going to run smoothly, even if your top performer is no longer in the picture.

So it's not just about protecting your business. It's about increasing the value because I can guarantee you, and I've seen this time and time again, when your future investor or buyer is at the deal table, the last thing that they want, they see this as a huge red flag. It's a second full time job.

Otherwise known as your business. They're saying to themselves, gee, when Jeffrey is no longer here, is there even going to be a business? So do yourself a favor, make sure it's not reliant on any one person. You have everything documented. You have the right team in place doing all the right things.

You and the team aren't relying on just one person. Everyone is cross trained. You can do that. And that leads us nicely into the third area. And this is weak financial controls. These are the silent saboteurs.

When it comes to financial controls or lack of them, which is [00:14:00] unfortunately more times the case than not, you are doing more damage than you realize. If you're running your business with sloppy financials, it is asking for trouble, period. End of story. Full stop. That you may think you may believe you got a handle on your finances, but here's the deal.

If you're not rigorously monitoring every single dollar that comes in and comes out, you're leaving yourself wide open to fraud, theft, and just plain old mismanagement. And don't think it can't happen to you. I've seen businesses brought to their knees because the owner trusted the wrong person with the proverbial checkbook.

So what do you do? What's the fix? First of all, you need to put the proper financial controls in place. I'm talking about the segregation of duties, regular audits, detailed financial reporting that gives you an absolute clear picture of where the money is and where it's going. And it's not a set it and forget it kind of situation here.

You need to be in the trenches, reviewing those reports and cashflow. Remember, if you're not watching your money, someone else is [00:15:00] guaranteed. And as I like to say, this is not. Abdicating your responsibility. It's delegating. And when it's delegating, again, you're not walking away and forgetting about it. It also means that you're not the one that's actually doing it.

You have the right team. You have the right people in the right seat, on the right bus. They're doing all the right things when it comes to the financial controls, but you're still there to review things. Remember, you're the owner, you're the founder, the entrepreneur, you've got the vision, this is your money.

You'll see things that others won't simply because they're not you. But you can do it from a distance with other people that are doing what they're supposed to do. And speaking of risk, we rounded out to the fourth area and that's a customer concentration risk. This is the ticking time bomb.

So when it comes to a customer concentration risk, let me ask you, do you have a few big clients that make up the bulk of your revenue, Is it Pareto's Law, the 80 20 rule, 80 or 90 percent of your profits are coming from 10 or 20 percent of your clients?

Hey, on paper, it sounds great, right? Absolutely not. It's a ticking time bomb. When too much of your [00:16:00] revenue is tied to a handful of customers, you're walking on the proverbial razor's edge. What happens if one of these customers leave? What happens if they go out of business?

What happens if they decide to renegotiate or cut their spending in half? Suddenly your steady stream of revenue turns into a trickle and you're scrambling to make up the difference. So what do you do? How do you defuse this time bomb? Well, it's simple. You just have been done, but in one word, diversified. Spread out your revenue across a broader base of customers so that no single client has a power to bring you down. Yes, I know it takes time, effort, even money to make this work, but the peace of mind that you get, the increase in your enterprise value, it makes it all worth the while.

One of the first things that your future investor or buyer is going to do when they look at your business, they're asking themselves, where are the lion's share of the profits coming from? And if they see a customer concentration, either they're going to walk away from the deal right then and there, or they're going to penalize your enterprise value.

Neither is a good thing. And as worse, if they decide to [00:17:00] move forward with a deal, they're going to want to speak to those customers. It's a real fine edge there in terms of what's going on. So what would define a high customer concentration? Well, it depends on your future investor or buyer.

A general rule of thumb, if you have your revenues or your profits, let's go with profits that are 10%. Maybe 15% of your profits are from any one customer that's already too high. So ideally, the profits are coming in single digits for any one of your customers.

So set in another way. If one, your customer leaves, sure, you may feel it. But it's not going to bring you down or when your future investor or buyer is looking over where your profits are coming from, they're not raising an eyebrow because it's all fairly distributed amongst your many, many different customers.

So, all that said, I've peeled back the curtain on the common blind spots that can gut your business value. Let's now get into the real work. How do you uncover and address these silent killers before they take you down? This isn't doing a little spring cleaning. 

This is all about rolling up your sleeves and getting into the trenches to root out the problems [00:18:00] that could destroy everything everything that you've built. So let's dive into the strategies that you need to put to work right now. And before we go on, I know what you're thinking to yourself. Yeah, Jeffrey, I'm busy.

I'll get to it. I'll get to it tomorrow. But again, the last time I check, there's never a tomorrow in the calendar. Here's another way to look at it. When you do this starting today, nudge, nudge, wink, wink, you're not only increasing your profits today, but you're also increasing your profits today, but down the road, you're going to show up for your exit, your liquidity event.

You're going to have a much more valuable company. You'll be able to unlock your financial freedom. You'll secure it, and you'll live the life of your dreams. You'll get what you finally deserve. All those years of the blood, sweat, and tears to build the business, it'll pay off. So the first thing I want you to think about is conducting regular business audits.

This is what I call the brutal truth check or step four due diligence in the Deep Wealth nine step roadmap. So, first up, you've got to start conducting regular business audits. 

Now I'm not talking about the kind off audits that your accountant will do, you know, that yearly audit to keep the IRS off your back. I'm talking about getting down and dirty with every aspect of your [00:19:00] business to find the rot before it spreads. This means looking at every department, every process, every system with a magnifying glass. Are your operations as efficient as it could be?

Are your finances as tight as you think they are? Are your employees as productive and as engaged as you need them to be? If you're not finding the problems during these audits, either you're not looking hard enough or you're in denial. And don't just rely on your own eyes, bring in a third party for an unbiased perspective.

Someone who doesn't have a stake in keeping the status quo. Fresh eyes help you see the things that you've been blind to for so many years. Yes, it's uncomfortable, but, and this is a big one, it's a lot more comfortable than finding out about these issues when they've already cost you millions, maybe years, even decades that you've been at it. And you know, one of the things that we do in the Deep Wealth Mastery program, again, our 90 day Mastery Program in Step Forward to Diligence, we have a checklist.

And this is not only for your internal processes, this is also, well, who are you dealing with? Who are your vendors? Who are your [00:20:00] suppliers? 

If you want that checklist, send an email to success at deepwealth. com. Again, success at deepwealth. com and the team will send you that checklist absolutely free. Our pleasure in terms of helping you find these business killers.

Again, send that email to success at deepwealth. com and we'll send you somewhere between 300 to 400 points. You can go through it. Every single year, you and the team, it makes your business better, more profitable, and you'll thank yourself tomorrow when you start doing that today. 

Now, the second area that I want you to think about, it's advisory teams.

This is the power of an outside perspective. Now, I want you to think about, well, how do you leverage an advisory team? Well, you're smart, you're experienced, and you know your business better than anyone, but the truth is your perspective is limited. 

You're too close to your business and you're probably missing critical issues that someone from the outside could spot in a heartbeat. So this is where an advisory team comes in. These are seasoned professionals. They've been there, done that, and they bring a wealth of experience to the table. They're not bogged down in a day to [00:21:00] day grind like the team is, or maybe even you, nudge, nudge, wink, wink, which means they can see the bigger picture.

They can identify the problems that are flying under the radar. And here's the thing. You've got to be willing to listen to them. Don't bring on an advisor team member, just a rubber stamp, what you're already doing, challenge them to challenge you. And when they point out a problem, don't argue, fix it.

Remember their job is to make sure that you don't mess it up. And that's a job worth listening to. And I'll share a quick story from the trenches, my own. I kept my e learning company, Embanet, so under the radar that I was very reluctant to bring in outside members, outside advisory team members to help with the business.

Hindsight's always 20 20. Had I done that, Embanet would have been more of a known entity out there. And I suspect that these advisory team members would have helped get more clients. They would have grown the business.

And the truth of the matter is, when you're preparing for your exit or your liquidity event, look to Step 6 Advisory Team. This is where you're going to be bringing on the advisor team anyways. You have a chance to kick the proverbial tires, is [00:22:00] this person right for me and the culture and the team?

Do I like working with them? Do they make sense? So when it really counts, when you're preparing for a liquidity event, you have a tried and true advisor team, something to think about. 

So the next area is the KPIs or the key performance indicators, the pulse of your business. So one of my favorite tools for uncovering blind spots are the KPIs.

Now, if you're not using KPIs to monitor the pulse of your business, it's like flying blind. KPIs are your early warning system.

They tell you something's off the rails long before it becomes a full blown disaster. But here's the catch. Not all KPIs are created equal. You need to be tracking the right ones. The ones that actually matter to the health of your business, to the value of your business. I'm talking about metrics that reflect your profitability, efficiency, customer satisfaction, employee productivity.

If a KPI isn't giving you actionable insights, stop, don't pass, go, dump that KPI and find one that does. And by the way, just as bad, I see business owners, entrepreneurs, they say, Hey, Jeffery, here's our list of [00:23:00] KPIs, and it's an encyclopedia of KPIs. Okay. I'm exaggerating somewhat, but there's way too many KPIs.

Don't confuse activity with progress. You absolutely need to have a handful of KPIs, no more than that, that are like the levers in your business. When you pull the lever, it catapults your growth, your efficiencies, your profits. And at the same time, it's not just looking at the numbers.

You've got to act on them. So if your KPIs are showing a downward trend, well, are you just sitting around hoping things are going to get better? Or instead, you're jumping in, finding out what's causing the dip and fixing it. That's how you stay ahead of the curve.

And that's what prevents those blind spots from turning into a full blown crisis.

And rounding things out, the fourth strategy, it's scenario planning and stress testing. This is where you're preparing for the worst, but you're hoping for the best. So when it comes to scenario planning and stress testing, this is where you really separate the pros from the amateurs.

Are you running amateur night? I sure hope not, because most business owners don't think about the worst case scenario until it's already happening to [00:24:00] them. And by then it's way too late. So scenario planning is about thinking through, okay, what if, what if We lost the biggest client. What if there's an economic downturn?

What if a key employee leaves? What if there's a sudden change in regulation that impacts your industry? You've got to plan through these things. Think through them, think through the scenarios and have a plan in place for how you're going to handle them.

When you do a stress test, you're taking it a step further. It's about putting your business through the wringer to see where the cracks are. You're going to simulate the worst case scenarios and see how your business holds up. 

Where does it buckle? 

Where does it break? 

Where does it thrive? 

Once you know that, you can start reinforcing the weak points so you're ready if the real thing were to hit.

 And if we're honest about it, and we always are, here's the cold, hard truth. Something will go wrong. Maybe it's not today, maybe it's not tomorrow, but at some point, you will face a crisis. And when you do, either you're ready for it, or you're scrambling to pick up the pieces. Scenario planning and stress testing, they ensure you're in the first group, not the second.

Now I know, [00:25:00] this sounds like a lot of work, and yeah, it is. But here's the thing, there are no shortcuts to success, and there are no shortcuts to safeguarding your enterprise value. So if you want to avoid being blindsided by the things you didn't see coming, you've got to be proactive. You've got to dig into your business, ask the tough questions, and make the necessary changes before it's too late.

So with all that said, in the next segment, I'm going to walk you through some real life examples, some case studies of businesses that either dodged the bullet by following these strategies, or they got taken out because they didn't. And trust me, you're going to want to hear these stories. It's a wake up call for anyone who thinks that they've got it all figured out.

So let's talk about actual companies that face serious blind spots, inflection points. Some of them, they got caught in them, others didn't, and the consequences were massive. So let me dig into a few case studies that highlight the importance of identifying and tackling those silent killers. 

One of my favorites, and this is case study number one, it's Blockbuster and digital streaming, the fatal blind spot, or as we like to say, [00:26:00] Deep Wealth, the David versus Goliath, the modern day tale of Blockbuster versus Netflix.

Once upon a time, not that long ago, Blockbuster was the undisputed king of video rentals, but they had a critical blind spot. They underestimated the impact of digital streaming. Blockbuster was so focused on their brick and mortar business model that they didn't see the digital revolution coming, even when companies like Netflix were knocking at the door.

By the time Blockbuster realized their mistake, it was too late. It was too late. They failed to adapt and that's what led to the downfall. Netflix, the company that they could have bought for a fraction of what it's worth today, now dominates the market. And, you know, let me take it a step further.

Blockbuster began to actually turn the corner. And when you listen to the co founders of Netflix talk, there was a point in time that had Blockbuster kept on doing what they were doing. They, believe it or not, they would have put Netflix out of business. 

What did Blockbuster do? 

Well, they began to embrace the digital streaming. They began to [00:27:00] embrace, let's remove the late fees. They were going to give the customers a choice of, okay, you can get the rental at the store, you can either get it online. We'll put that all together in one package. Had they moved forward with that, Netflix probably would have been no longer. 

So what happened?

Well, the board of Blockbuster, it's called greed. They were all about the profits. They saw that this potentially could take time and effort away from a business model that they already felt was working. Not only did they stop that, they fired the then president of Blockbuster, brought in a new person.

They reversed everything that was being done, and that was the nail in the coffin. So again, look at what's coming around the corner. Again, step one, big picture, inflection points. Ask this one question. I asked it earlier. Let me ask it now. 

What's the one thing that could put you out of business? 

As crazy as it seems, as far fetched as it may sound, work with it.

See where that goes. So from case study one, let's go to case study two, the infamous Kodak and digital photography.

The irony here, Kodak [00:28:00] invented the technology that was ultimately their own demise. It was Kodak that invented the first digital camera, but they were so invested in the film business that they didn't want to do anything with the digital trend. They believed that digital photography would cannibalize their lucrative film sales, which they were right, so they buried the technology.

So Kodak's blind spot was their failure to recognize that the market was moving with or without them, Kodak went from being a giant in photography to filing from bankruptcy in 2012, their blind spot. It wasn't a lack of innovation. This is the kicker here. They invented the technology. Instead, it was a lack of willingness to disrupt their own business model. So the lesson here, if you don't cannibalize your business, someone else will, or as we love to say here at Deep Wealth, why don't you be the one to put yourself out of your existing business into a bigger and more profitable business?

Let's go to case study number three, TabBank, and this is turning a blind spot into a 23 million opportunity. So, TabBank, this is a case where [00:29:00] they identified and addressed a blind spot that led to a massive increase in their value. TabBank was struggling with stagnant growth and they realized that their blind spot was how they were approaching their marketing campaigns.

They were too focused on the traditional methods. They weren't leveraging digital strategies. So after they recognized this blind spot, they partnered with an agency to overhaul everything that they were doing. And instead they began to focus on data driven insights. and customer centric strategy. So what happened?

They increased their sales pipeline from 1. 2 million to 23 million in 12 months. By addressing their marketing blind spot, they didn't just fix a problem, they unlocked significant new growth. 

And we round things out, it's actually a very sad case study here. It's the NASA Challenger disaster, the cost of ignored warnings. It's a very sobering example. NASA's Challenger, this was a tragic event. It occurred because the engineers, they had these concerns about these O rings that were used in the shuttle, that these O rings in cold weather conditions could have issues, but the concerns [00:30:00] weren't effectively communicated to the decision makers.

who underestimated the risk. So the one blind spot here, it was a failure in communication and an organizational culture that didn't prioritize addressing the uncomfortable truths and the result was catastrophic. And this highlights the extreme importance of ensuring that all potential risks, no matter how big or small they are, are communicated and considered, no matter how inconvenient they may seem.

So what's the takeaway here? Every business, no matter how big or small, has blind spots. The difference between success and failure often comes down to are you willing to recognize and address them before they cause irreparable damage? And these case studies, they should be a wake up call. Don't wait until it's too late.

Start identifying and fixing your blind spots today. And I hope you saw a theme in this. It didn't matter how successful, how big the company was. Again, every business has blind spots and it's not a matter of how smart or talented the team is. It's a matter of [00:31:00] are you prepared to hear the cold hard truth?

These case studies illustrate the critical importance of why you must address your blind spots right now today. Whether it's adapting to industry changes like Blockbuster or Kodak, or leveraging strategies around data like Tab Bank, the difference between thriving or collapsing. It lies in how well you identify and you mitigate these silent threats . 

Well congratulations you made it this far and you're serious about protecting the value of your business. So with that said, let's bring it home. Let's now talk about what you can do today to start identifying and addressing those blind spots that could be silently undermining everything. Everything you've worked for, it's not vague advice or pie in the sky.

These are real practical steps that you can put into action immediately. So let's dive in. So again, strategy one, perform a rigorous self audit. See what you don't want to see. Take a long, hard look at your business with the intention of finding what's wrong. Now, I know nobody likes to look for problems, especially when everything seems to be going so well, but if you don't actively search for those issues that are holding you back in [00:32:00] plain sight, they're going to bite you when you least expect it.

Start by going through your financials with a fine toothed comb. Look for inefficiencies, cash flow issues, and any anomalies that could indicate a deeper problem. Don't stop there. Take a critical look at, well, your operations, your customer service, your product quality, your employee performance. Be brutally honest with yourself, because if something feels off, it probably is.

So your takeaway when it comes to strategy one, use a SWOT analysis. What's a SWOT analysis? If you're not familiar with it, SWOT, S W O T. S is for Strengths, W is for Weaknesses, O is for Opportunities, and T is for Threats. You're asking yourself, this is for you, the team, okay, what are our strengths?

Where are the weaknesses? What are the opportunities? What are the threats? And ideally, what you're doing for your weaknesses and threats, you're figuring out how you can get those off the table. How do you address them? For your strengths and opportunities, How can you apply your strengths to those opportunities to make a market disruption, catapult your profits, your growth?[00:33:00]

And if you can do this on a quarterly basis, not just a one time exercise, your business will be the better for it. Strategy two, cultivate a culture of open communication, or as the saying goes, don't shoot the messenger. So one of the biggest reasons that blind spots exist is because employees, oftentimes they're afraid to speak up.

They see a problem, but they don't want to be the bearer of bad news. It's your job to change your culture. Make it clear that you want to hear about problems early on and in great detail. In fact, don't only highlight the problem, come up with a solution. Create channels where employees can report these issues, even anonymously, if they prefer.

And when someone brings you a problem, you're there to help. Thanking them. And the more importantly, you're acting on it. You're showing your team that, hey, when you point out an issue, hey, it's acceptable. We want it. It's rewarded. And this actually goes to Step 2 X-Factors in the nine step roadmap. One of the foundational X-Factors It's your business culture.

Is it rich and thriving? And part of it, it's a [00:34:00] transparency. It's a communication. So what can you do? What's an actionable tip you can do right now? Have a regular check in. It can be a meeting with your team, with all the employees at all levels, where they can voice their concerns or suggestions without fear of being reprimanded.

Use these sessions as an opportunity to uncover any issues that might not show up in a standard audit. Strategy three, test your assumptions. Red team your business.

Now when it comes to your business, you have assumption about what's working, what isn't, what the future holds. But assumptions, it can be dangerous, especially when they're unchallenged. And that's why you need to actively test them. So create a red team within your company. What's a red team? It's a group specifically tasked with challenging the status quo.

Their job is to poke holes in your plans, question the assumptions, uncover the blind spots that might be too close to see. It's not about being negative. It's about being prepared. Think of it as an experiment. So your actionable tip right now, coming out of this episode, schedule, as a minimum, [00:35:00] quarterly red team sessions, where the group reviews your strategies, identifies potential flaws and overlooked risks, make sure the team has the authority to question anything and everything.

Okay, rounding things out here with strategy four of five, stay ahead of industry changes this is a big one. Industries evolve. Technologies change. What worked yesterday won't necessarily work tomorrow. The businesses that survive and thrive are the ones that stay ahead of the curve. Do not, I repeat, do not get caught flat footed because you missed a trend. Make it a priority to stay informed about industry developments, emerging technologies, and shifts in consumer behavior.

Don't just react to changes, anticipate them. So your actionable tip, and I spoke about this earlier, let's look to artificial intelligence, AI. What are you doing about AI? Are you burying your head in the sand? Are you taking a wait and see approach? If the answer is, well, yeah, that's what we're doing, stop.

Stop. Don't pass, go, adopt AI, experiment with it from your frontline employees all the [00:36:00] way to the top. How can AI help your company? Look to AI as a huge experiment. If you're not sure what to do, where to begin, well, begin to read publications, emails, conferences, other thought leaders, podcasts, where you can learn what to do and how to do it. And rounding things out, strategy five is. Implement a continuous feedback loop, never stop improving.

You need to embed continuous improvement into the DNA of your business. This means not just reacting to problems as they arise, but proactively seeking out areas of improvement every single day. It's about creating a feedback loop where you're constantly learning, adapting, and growing. Whether it's refining your products, improving your customer service, optimizing your operations, there's always something that you can do better.

And the businesses that make continuous improvement a priority are the ones that always outlast and outperform the competition. So what's an action tip? Right now, today, your KPIs, nudge nudge, wink wink, you remember your KPIs, the ones that you're using, right? Those handful of KPIs, use those KPIs [00:37:00] to track your progress in real time and make data driven decisions on where to focus your improvement efforts, and at the same time, you're reviewing those KPIs on a regular basis and adjusting your strategies based on what you're seeing.

Now, with everything that I've said, let me give a shameless plug to Deep Wealth Mastery, the 90 day system. Yes, there you go. There you have it. Because everything we've talked about today, I'm Auditing your business, fostering open communications, testing assumptions, saying ahead of industry changes, embracing continuous improvement.

It's at the heart of what we teach at Deep Wealth. We're not just here to help you avoid pitfalls. We're actually here to help you build a business that's resilient, adaptable, and primed for massive success. Because Deep Wealth Mastery is not just about surviving. It's about thriving. It's about taking control of the future for your business and ensuring that when the time comes for your exit, your liquidity event.

You're not just getting a good deal. You're getting the absolute best possible deal. So take these steps, put them into action and watch how they transform your [00:38:00] business because if you're serious about taking things to the next level, you know, that time is your most precious commodity. Don't waste it. Don't do the heavy lifting. Come to us. Hey, Deep Wealth Mastery, the 90 day program, that's the only system that's built on a nine figure exit deal. That was my exit deal. So hear it from the pros.

This is tried. It's proven. It's from the trenches. It'll get you from here to there that much quicker. And you'll have peace of mind knowing that you're doing exactly what you're supposed to be doing at the right time. So with all of that said, I know you must be thinking, oh my goodness, where do I begin?

What do I do? 

And look, No one said that building and maintaining a successful business is easy, but the strategies that I've talked about today, they're not just about avoiding failure. They're positioning your business to thrive, grow, and capture value on what you've worked so hard to create.

 Because let's face it, the time is going to pass anyway. So why not have the time pass doing the right things at the right time?

And I know, you have that will to win, but let me go back to how I started this [00:39:00] solo episode, that wonderful quote from Paul Bear Bryant, it's not the will to win that matters, Everyone has that. It's the will to prepare to win that matters. And let me ask you bluntly, do you have that will to prepare to win?

Because that's what matters. That's what's going to have you cross the finish line. So I want you to think about that.

And you have to admit that Paul Bearbrine quote absolutely is spot on, but you may be wondering, okay, yeah, Jeffrey, I do have the will to win, but how do I prepare? 

What does that look like? 

Again, because the skills to actually sell a business for your exit free liquidity event are very different than the ones that you use to start your business and grow your business.

So if you're wondering, what do I do? 

How do I do it? 

Where do I begin?

I encourage you to come to Deep wealth Mastery, our 90 day Mastery Program. It's strategies from the trenches.

Do yourself a favor, enroll today because this is where you're going to learn how do you grow your profits today while you prepare for your liquidity event. And your liquidity event, it could be 2 years [00:40:00] away, it could be 22 years away. It doesn't make a difference. You're going to show up with a more valuable, a more successful and profitable company.

You will not be a statistic. You're not going to be the 90 percent of liquidity events fail as worse. You're not going to be like most business owners who are leaving 50 percent to over 100 percent of the deal value in their future investor or buyer's pocket. Heck, look at me. If I would've said yes to my first seven figure offer, I would have left that nine figure offer.

That's the one that I created. In the buyer's pocket. 

Deep Wealth Mastery, that's the key that unlocks everything for you. What do you do? It's very simple. Send an email to success at deepwealth. com. Success at deepwealth. com. One more time, email success at deepwealth. com. Tell us you want to learn more about Deep Wealth Mastery.

We'll send you all the information. You'll take what you heard in the solo episode and so much more. You'll surround yourself in a community of like minded entrepreneurs like you who are going places. They have a winning track record. They have a terrific future in front of them. And just like them, you [00:41:00] are all going towards a main goal of, hey, I'm going to unlock my financial freedom.

I'm going to unshackle myself with these golden handcuffs, and I'm going to have an excellent life. Absolutely terrific journey and ride all the way there. So again, Deep Wealth Mastery, success at deepwealth. com.

And again, be a part of countless other entrepreneurs who welcome Deep Wealth Mastery to help them grow their profits, increase their enterprise value, and ensure that they have the absolute happily ever after in their post exit life.

So there you have it, Deep Wealth Nation. What did you think? So with all that said and as we wrap it up, I have another question for you.

Actually, it's more of a personal favor. Did you find this episode helpful? Have you found other episodes of the Deep Wealth Podcast empowering and a game changer for your journey? And if you said yes, and I really hope you did, I have a small but really meaningful way that you can actually help us out and keep these episodes coming to you.

Are you ready for it? The dramatic pause. I'll just wait a moment. Drumroll, please. Subscribe. Please subscribe to the Deep Wealth Podcast on your favorite podcast channel. [00:42:00] When you subscribe to the Deep Wealth Podcast, you're saving yourself time. Every episode automatically comes to you, and I want you to know that we meticulously craft Every one of our episodes to have impactful strategies, stories, expert insights that are designed to help you grow your profits, increase the value of your business, and yes, even optimize your post exit life and your life right now, whatever you want that to look like.

And every time you subscribe and a fellow entrepreneur subscribe, it's a testament to how together, Yes, we are. We are changing the social fabric of society. One business owner at a time, one liquidity event at a time. So don't let the momentum stop here. Subscribe now on your favorite podcast channel.

You'll never miss an episode. You'll be the first to hear from the top industry leaders, the innovators, the disruptors that are really changing and shaping the business world, and maybe you're commuting, maybe you're at the gym, maybe you're taking a well deserved break that we spoke all about on this episode.

The Deep Wealth Podcast, it's your reliable source for the next big idea that could literally [00:43:00] revolutionize your business. So once again, please hit that subscribe button, stay connected, inspired, and ahead of the curve. And again, your next big breakthrough moment, it might just be one episode away. Maybe it was even this episode.

So all that said. Thank you so much for listening. And remember your wealth isn't just about the money in the bank. It's about the depth of your journey and the impact that you're creating. So let's continue this journey together. And from the bottom of my heart, thank you so much for listening to this episode.

And as we love to say here at Deep Wealth, may you continue to thrive and prosper while you remain healthy and safe. Thank you so much. God bless.