477 Profit Killing Growth Lie

Jeffrey Feldberg: [00:00:00] Well, hello Deep Wealth Nation and welcome to another solo episode of the Deep Wealth Podcast. I'm your host, Jeffrey Feldberg, and I'm the guy who said no to a 7-figure offer and yes to a 9-figure exit. By mastering the art of preparation today, I'm exposing the profit killing growth lie that's bleeding your business dry, and the simple fix that you must do right now.

So here's a highlight of what's ahead.

What if the fastest way to catapult your profits doesn't require a single new customer?

And would you like to know how to stop that one painful truth that I'm talking about today?

How chasing revenue may be killing your profits later on your enterprise value and what you can do about it?

And do you know the one small action that you can take right now that can add to your bottom line and get this with no extra work?

And finally, the number one reason that most founders fail to have an exit [00:01:00] that unlocks them to financial freedom and to the next chapter of their dream life?

 So what do you say should we unlock your hidden profits reclaim your time, and have your business run without you to give you back your life, lose the host golden handcuffs, and when ready, make your business absolutely irresistible to buyers and investors?

Shall we do it?

What do you say?

Let's go for it.

So let me ask you a question, and I want you to be honest with yourself for just a moment, because I'm going to talk about the real cost of a bad hire.

Have you ever hired someone that you were so excited about, only to regret it days or weeks later?

This individual looked great on paper, said all the right things in the interview, you the team, we're hopeful, maybe even relieved.

Yes, this person is the answer to our problems, to our prayers. And then slowly but surely, the red flags begin to show up. Deadlines missed, message is ignored. The team tension is rising.

And guess what?

You, the founder, the business owner, you're [00:02:00] back in the trenches. You're cleaning up the messes, you're babysitting the adults.

You're not scaling, you're supervising.

That's not leadership.

That's a trap.

Let me share a quick story with you. When I was building Embanet, I remember to this day, I made this one bad hire that cost me nearly six figures in six months. I'll share a quick story with you because it's not just you. To this day, I still remember I was building eminent and it was this one bad hire.

This one individual cost me nearly six figures in as many months. But that wasn't the real cost. The real cost it was my time, my health, my team's morale, and our momentum.

You see, I was the bottleneck running on caffeine and cortisol, and I was stuck in a cycle that I had no idea how to escape. It was Groundhog Day every single day.

And the irony, what we were growing revenue was [00:03:00] climbing but here's the kicker profit, It was shrinking.

So let's expose this big ugly lie that most entrepreneurs believe. Let's take back the curtain because I'm going to reveal the growth trap of why bigger isn't better. Let me take you back to the early Embanet days, because this was the moment that everything changed for me, and I still remember it.

We were landing huge contracts, huge contracts, some of them with 6-figure or 7-figure invoices attached, and my team was pumped.

I was pumped, and it felt like we were finally making it, and then something didn't add up. Each month, yes, the revenue was going up, but so was my stress. But our margins, well, our margins were falling. And the bank account. It was too quiet. And then one night I was reviewing our financials and I saw it.

We were burning our time, energy, and payroll on these contracts that looked really impressive, but it was killing, I repeat killing our profitability.

And then the eureka moment, which I'm glad it happened, but it was a painful one because I [00:04:00] thought, wait a minute, are we scaling or are we just bleeding slower?

So let me be blunt.

Revenue is a vanity metric.

Yes, it looks good on stage. It sounds great to say, but it doesn't mean a thing. If your margins are thin and your business depends on you.

You can be stringent towards $5 million or $50 million or $500 million in revenue. It doesn't really matter if you're going broke and you're burned out, and eventually your company becomes unsellable. And I see this every single day where entrepreneurs are addicted to growth, but allergic to profit.

That one eureka moment as painful as it was, I made a commitment. My team made a commitment, never again.

Never again would we have vanity with the revenue. And instead we began to focus on profits. Now, I'm going to fast forward here. Spoiler alert.

Embanet became the most profitable company in the industry. For every dollar of revenue that we had, our [00:05:00] profits, not gross profits, our net profit was 53 cents. I want you to think about that. That's how high the profits were. And yes, compared to others in the industry, our revenues were a rounding era, relatively speaking, but our profits were king.

And that's all that matters because whether it is for your own financial freedom, an investor or buyer, it's not the top line that matters. It's the bottom line. And let me back this up with some data, according to McKinsey and PWC companies that prioritize profit first strategies have 20% to 30% higher valuations during their Exit events.

And I'm going to take that a step further. It's actually going to be more when you do all the right things. And I'm going to give a shameless plug to our 90-day Deep Wealth Mastery program where you learn the exact strategies that can catapult your enterprise value.

Why?

Buyers don't pay premiums for top line revenue.

They pay for predictable profit and clean systems. And yes, I know you can say, well, Jeffrey, what about this company [00:06:00] here and that company there? It was all based on top line revenue.

Yes, there's always exceptions to the rule, but when times get tough, the top line revenue goes by the wayside, and it's always about the profits.

So why not go for something that's dependable and predictable and begin to focus on your profits?

In fact, in the Deep Wealth 9-step Roadmap, we look at two key steps that focus in exactly on the profits, Step 2 X-Factors, and there we focus on the parts of your business that buyers will drool over when you do it right, high margin, low maintenance, low risk, and then we go to Step 4 Due Diligence, and this is where we clean up the business.

So it's absolutely irresistible under the microscope. And forget your future investor or buyer doing this. It's also all about you, because let's be honest here, what's the point of a liquidity event or a business exit if you don't have a business, if you're bankrupt, if you're losing money, if you don't have that life and lifestyle that you dreamed about?

Now as I'm saying this, I get it. You may be saying to yourself, well, [00:07:00] Jeffrey, growth just feels so good. It validates all my hard work. It impresses my team, myself, my friends. But growth that's not profitable, don't confuse activity with progress. Growth is just fancier stress, and you don't need that.

Your real power isn't in chasing more, it's in knowing what to cut.

So I'm going to pause it right here for just a moment because I want you to write this next thing down. If you're driving, pull off to the side of the road and if you want to write it down on a piece of paper or on your phone, whatever it is, your favorite notes app, whatever you're doing, here it is.

I want you to think of one client that you celebrated signing up, and it may even be a big name, a name that everybody knows, and you sign up this client for a long-term contract. Hey, terrific. But now I want you to be honest. When you think of these clients, these big contracts, are they costing you more than what they're paying?

And you know they do. Be honest with yourself.

And now what I want you to do, I want you to write down that one [00:08:00] name and I want you to ask yourself, would your future buyer or investor see this client as an asset or liability?

Think about that. Be honest with yourself. Again, take the 30 seconds, the 60 seconds.

Who is that big name, that big contract, but it's actually costing you more than what you're getting?

Maybe it's not just revenue. It's your health, your team's health, your mental health, your physical health.

What is that one name?

Write it down. Be honest with yourself. Put it in your favorite app, or write it down on a piece of paper. Whatever it is, stop what you're doing and write that down right now because that one question. That can be everything, and that can be the game changer for you in all areas.

Let's start with your health. We all know that our health is our wealth. Our health is our sovereign right, and it's our number one priority. All the zeros and the success and the accolades in the world mean nothing if we don't have our health.

And that one question can also lead to, hey, my company's now more profitable, less pressure, everything's going the [00:09:00] way that it should. This is exactly the way that I want to. I actually love my business and doing business again. That one question could be the difference later on between no exit or a so-so exit and the absolute best deal of your life.

Now I know what you may be thinking. Jeffrey, I need growth to compete. Yes, you do need growth. I'm not saying to stop growing, but if you're only scaling at a low margin and it's a high effort business, it's like building a skyscraper on sand. Hey, it looks great for the moment. It's a tall building until it topples. It's not supportable. It all sinks in.

So here's how we're going to fix it. There are three key takeaways I want you to know.

Strategy number one, I want you to take a look at your client base, and we're going to use Pareto's Law, otherwise known as the 80 20 rule. You've heard me ask this before time and time again on the podcast with all of our fabulous guests, Pareto, he was an Italian economist, and he found that there's a general rule of the universe, and that is 20% of [00:10:00] actions are often creating 80% of the results.

So now let's put that in to your client base. Generally speaking, it's probably 20% of your client base that's what's creating 80% of your profits. Now, it doesn't exactly follow the 80 20 rule. It might be 10% of your clients are creating 90% of your profit, or 5% of your clients are creating 95% of your profits.

Or maybe I'll say it another way. Which 20% of your clients are creating 80% of your pain?

Anyways, take a look at what that is, and I want you to figure out who those clients are.

Strategy number two, if you look at your future buyer, and by the way, in Step 3 Future Buyer, we talk all about this. If. If you were your future buyer looking at your company, what kind of clients would you want?

And how many clients would you want to have that represent 80% of your profits?

The answer is, it would be a lot of clients. You don't want to be just reliant on 1, 2, 3, 5, or even 10 clients.

And then strategy number three, I [00:11:00] want you to measure on a per client basis the amount of profit that each client is contributing, not just revenue, throw the revenue out. Let's look at on a per client basis, the profit and the profit alone.

Because not all dollars are created equal, and not all clients are equal. So before you add another service or chase another client, I want you to ask yourself, am I scaling smart or am I just scaling stress?

Let me ask that again.

Are You scaling smart or are you just scaling stress?

Because remember, your life, your lifestyle, your future exit is not built on growth alone. It's built on the right kind of growth. This is quality over quantity and have got great news. You can start today As you're thinking about this, we're now going to shift your mindset and walk through the profit first approach that changes everything.

Okay wow. [00:12:00] Let's take a breather here for just a second because in the first part, I hope you've now begun to realize that you may be caught in the growth trap. And looking back at Embanet and my earlier companies, I was absolutely caught in the growth trap. In fact, most, if not all, entrepreneurs are caught in the growth trap.

This next part of the episode is going to show you. The exact way out. And it begins with one simple shift. Can one simple shift, one strategy, one action, make all the difference? The short answer is in an absolute yes. It's a shift in your thinking, in measuring, and ultimately in how you lead your business.

And it's called Profit first. No, it's not. Another catchy phrase or some dusty accounting method that we're just putting out here for you to think about. The profit first is from the trenches, and it's a mindset. It's a business model, a decision. And when you adopt it, everything changes. And when I say it comes from the trenches, it absolutely comes from the trenches.

Remember me? I'm that startup [00:13:00] guy. I'm the bootstrapping guy, where in bootstrap mode, your goal is to live another day. And in the early days of Embanet, we didn't have the luxury of not being profitable. If we weren't profitable, we were simply out of business. And it meant being resilient, as I always say.

Resilience Trumps resources all day long. It was interesting. I was on a podcast the other day and we're talking about that. We're talking about resilience and as I said before, I'm going to say it again. When I look back at the e bonnet journey. If we were venture backed or private equity backed, and we had a big check written for us, I tell you this here and now, Embanet would not have had that future 9-figure Exit.

Embanet would likely not have been successful compared to the bootstrapping where we were fighting each and every day to live another day. It was the bootstrapping, it was that resilience that forced us to do things in a different way. And it was that resilience that eventually led us to become profitable where it was 53 cents of every [00:14:00] dollar was net profits.

And as I'm talking about this, I'm actually thinking about one of the graduates of our 90-day Deep Wealth Mastery program. Let me change the name of the graduate. I'm going to call her Angela. And of course, she was a founder in the Debolt Mastery Program. Angela is smart, she's driven, and she was scaling incredibly fast.

She has a service business. But here's the kicker. Every new client brought more stress. Her margins were shrinking and her team was stressed out. They were maxed out, and the kicker she was starting to resent the business, her and the team that they all loved.

Does this sound familiar?

When we walked her through the Deep Wealth Roadmap, she committed to Step 2 identifying her X-Factors. These are the things that you are world class in your business, the things that your clients absolutely love. It differentiates you from the entire marketplace, from your competitors. And the services in Angela's case, that actually made her money.

And when she looked at this, she lit up. And then from there we went into [00:15:00] Step 4 Due Diligence, and it became incredibly clear, painfully clear what wasn't working. In those 90-days. Here's what she did. She removed three time sucking clients that added headaches, not just headaches, migraines, to her and the team.

She raised prices on two of her core services and she turned a one-off offer into a recurring retainer.

What was the result?

An 18% increase in profits without landing a single new client. And as I say that, I want you to think of the compounding effect. Warren Buffet calls it The Eighth Wonder of the world compounding.

An 18% profit increase, not landing a single client. And those profits, they're going to compound day over day, quarter over quarter, year over year. But more importantly, she got her life back. Her team they all love the business again, and they were reminded of why they do what they do.

That's the power of profit first thinking and the beautiful [00:16:00] thing it's some of your time and focus. It doesn't cost any extra to do this.

Look, your business might already be doing well on the surface, but if your profit isn't growing, if it's flat, or heaven forbid it's even gone on the other side of the ledger, it's now negative. This is not a good thing.

Forget your future liquidity event or your business exit.

Your business, it's shrinking. And it may go bankrupt, it may go away. And you've heard me say this on the podcast before, businesses that have been in business for 15, 20 years, it's somewhere between a 70% and 80% failure rate that they have. Incredible but you don't want to be that kind of incredible. And when it comes to your enterprise value, your future buyer doesn't care about busy.

They care about results, otherwise known as profits, otherwise known as profits that are predictable and are driven by processes. And that's why we hardwire profit first into the entire 9-step Roadmap in the Deep Wealth Mastery system, not as a one-off [00:17:00] tactic, but as an entire operating system for your long-term success, for your stakeholder's long-term success.

Now again, let's take another pause because I know what you may be thinking. Deep Wealth Nation, you're saying, Jeffrey, I don't have the time to build these systems. Let me be blunt. I always am.

If you don't have the time to build the systems, you don't have the time to grow, and you definitely don't have the time to exit rich because buyers aren't just buying your service or your product.

They want a machine that's like an ATM that's constantly delivering profits. No machine. No future. No machine, no Exit. Or worse, if you do go to market, it's going to be a discount sale. It's not the best absolute deal. It's just a deal. And most of these deals aren't great. As you know, up to 90% of liquidity events fail.

Think about that. 90% of liquidity events fail. And I say this in all seriousness, you'd be better off going to your favorite casino and blowing all [00:18:00] your money. You'll do it a whole lot quicker. You'll have more fun in the process. It'll be less painful. And even the quote-unquote successful liquidity events, you've heard me say this before, I'm going to say it again.

Most business owners are leaving anywhere from 50% to over 100% of the deal value in the buyer's pocket. Look no further than yours truly had. I said yes to that first 7-figure offer, which did not have the Deep Wealth Mastery system behind it, I would've been leaving those 9-figures in the buyer's pocket.

So let me pause for just a moment. Let me ask an honest question to give an honest answer to me.

When was the last time that you looked at profit per client?

Not revenue, not workload, not resources. Actual take it to the bank profit on a per client basis.

Right now, if it's not you, maybe it's your bookkeeper or your accountant, whoever that person is.

Speak with them. Get those spreadsheets and those reports open. And now I want you to ask yourself, which of your clients are actually moving [00:19:00] you and the business closer to your dreams, to your eventual financial freedom if you're not already there. So here's what we're going to do. We're going to take three quick wins for shifting into the profit first mode.

So the first takeaway, your first strategy set profit goals, not just revenue goals. Decide today what profit margin do you want to be by, by the end of this quarter?

And what always drives me nuts when I'm speaking to other entrepreneurs, they give me their gross profit.

And hey, forget the gross profit.

Gross profit that's a myth. It's an illusion. The accountants invented that.

We're talking net profit when we're talking about your profit margin and your profit goal.

Strategy two, identify your X-Factors, what services and clients are incredibly profitable, scalable, and desirable for a future buyer or investor.

And strategy three, I want you to begin on a weekly basis, tracking your net profitability.

What does that look like?

Are you [00:20:00] even tracking profitability or are you caught up in all these vanity metrics and everything else?

And it's all too easy to confuse activity with progress.

Don't wait for that one time a year you meet with your accountant to tell you how you did. You need a live view weekly, client by client. Because profit first isn't about cutting corners or playing small. In fact, it's the opposite. It's about making your business work for you, not the other way around. The story I shared about Angela that Deep Wealth Mastery graduate, it isn't unique.

It's what happens when you put profit before ego and systems before hustle. You've already built something remarkable and now it is time to make sure it pays you back. Let's keep going.

Next up I'm going to talk about four powerful profit multipliers that you can apply today, this week with zero new leads required.

Okay, Deep Wealth Nation, are you ready to learn the four profit multipliers?

[00:21:00] Of course you are. Now, if you've made it this far, congratulations because you're doing something that most business owners never do. You're putting profit before ego. A huge congratulations and now let me give you the four profit multipliers.

Each one is powerful and each one is ready for you to implement right now, today and this week. So let's dive in.

Profit multiplier number one, precision pricing.

Now, you might think that you need to work harder or hire more people to grow profits.

But what if your biggest profit boost came from just raising your price?

At Embanet, we tested all kinds of different things.

One of the things that we tested was increasing the price. And you know what it made a huge difference. When we increased our price clients didn't blink.

Why?

Because we were solving a painful problem for them. They were only too happy to have that pain go away, A small increase in price. It catapulted our profit without a [00:22:00] single new sale, without any additional effort.

Why?

Because every extra dollar from that price increase goes straight to the bottom line. And when we went from Embanet 1 to Embanet 2, and if you remember Bernet one was all about keeping the seats filled. Embanet two was all about filling the seats. We had learned our lesson about the power of precision pricing.

When we released Embanet 2, when we launched it to the market, we were the highest in the industry. But we also offered the biggest value to the industry. And so precision pricing is everything. Now, if I go back to the early days to start up Jeffrey at Embanet, I didn't have the confidence in myself.

And you know what?

The pricing reflected that I was giving it away, and I know I'm not the only one. Be honest with yourself.

How is your pricing?

Are you giving it away far too long?

Yes when you have premium pricing, you're adding premium value. You may lose some existing clients. You may lose some future clients, [00:23:00] but they're self-selecting out.

You only want to work with the clients that appreciate what you do, and they're willing to pay that so-called price because the additional value that they're getting. Because remember, again, every extra dollar from a price increase goes straight to the bottom line. And in the Deep Wealth 9-step Roadmap specifically, again, Step 2 X-Factors, it helps you spot the services or features or your value far exceeds your pricing. And in fact, I've said it before, I'm going to say it again. Some of your X-Factors are actually those hidden Rembrandts in the attic that you want to bring out for public display. So what can you do with this? I want you to start small this week. Why not try a one or 2% price increase this week and make it a low risk offer?

You don't need permission to stop leaving money on the table. Just do it. See where it goes. Keep on testing, find out where the limit is, maybe from one or 2%, you now try three or 4% and then maybe 5% or 10% and keep on testing until, okay, you know what? [00:24:00] This is the maximum of where we can go.

And by the way, Deep Wealth Nation, this isn't just me. I'm actually thinking of Doris Vlad, who's been on the Deep Wealth Podcast a number of times. I remember in her very first podcast episode, we were talking about her business before she went to market, and she shared with me something instrumental for her.

She said, Jeffrey, we never lost a bid. We were winning the bids hand over fist. And then I got curious, Doris said, I went to the market. We did a little bit of research to see what my competitors were charging, and she went on to say that it was a humbling moment. They were winning the business, not because they were necessarily the best, but because their pricing was the lowest. And they immediately stop being the lowest price. They increased their prices, and that's where the magic happens.

All of us do this as entrepreneurs. So really look at your business. Have one offer that you can try, a 1%, 2% price increase. Keep on going up that ladder to see where the maximum is. Your business will thank you for it. Your profits will thank you for it. Your future self will thank you for it.

So that said, let's move [00:25:00] on to profit multiplier number two, audit and plug profit leaks.

So what are profit leaks?

These are your hidden costs. Deadweight clients, outdated tools that are on autopay. They're not just annoying, they're bleeding your margins, and I'll share with you the hidden costs, these autopay expenses, when you're doing well, when you're actually profitable. We don't have that inclination to look at these things. We're too busy. We don't have the time, but these things are sucking you dry and you don't even know it.

As I'm sharing this with you, I'm thinking of another Deep Wealth graduate. I'm going to change the name. I'm going to call this Deep Wealth graduate David. And I'll never forget David, because there's this one client that was taking his team support, their time, their effort, their resources, and when he began to look at, hey, how are we going to plug these profit leaks?

Well, this client was the profit leak. They were losing money on this client, and he finally dropped this one longstanding client. That one decision bumped his profits by 15% overnight. And you [00:26:00] want to know what makes a story even more powerful. Later on when he was looking at going to market, he was getting feedback.

When they looked at his financials, him and the team, it showed strength, not sloppiness, because that's the power of Step 4 Due Diligence. It's the action that you're taking today. It's going to make sure that your numbers hold up under a microscope later. So your mission this week, I want you to go through your client list one at a time. Don't rush through it.

I want you to identify one low margin client to either renegotiate or to let go. And as I've said before on the podcast. Who wins the negotiation? It's the one who cares the least. If you walk into the negotiation knowing that, hey, if they don't want to renegotiate on my terms, I'm just going to head out the door. And you're good with that because you're losing money on that client. That mindset will do wonders for you.

And while you're at it, in addition to a low margin client to cut, I want you to find one unnecessary cost. That's right. Just one unnecessary cost. I know you're busy, Jeffrey. I don't have the time.[00:27:00]

Yes, you do. It's worth your while. You're probably going to find more than one unnecessary cost, but find that one expense. Hey, we stopped using that service years ago. It's just been an autopay. Or we thought we needed to do this, but we really don't. Or my team told me that we needed to, but no, we don't need that service or that product.

You the team, you'll feel lighter. You're setting a great leadership moment for your entire team of, hey, it's our resilience that trumps resources. Just because you can write the check doesn't mean that you should. And when you're doing this your profits will show, hey, this was the right thing to do, and everyone is better for it.

Let's talk about profit multiplier number three. This is one of my favorites recurring revenue. Recurring Revenue is not just a favorite for me. Your future buyer and investors love recurring revenue because it gives predictability. And by the way, clients love recurring revenue. It helps them with budgeting and forecasting, and it's completely transparent, and your future self will love you for recurring revenue.[00:28:00]

If you're still relying on a one-time sales or project based work, you're in a constant hamster wheel. Hey, if you want to just survive, that's fine. But here at Deep Wealth, it's about thriving. And thriving. You need to scale because one-time sales, that's terrible for scaling. 'cause a lot of time and effort. You have the unknown, and guess what, Your future buyer, future investor is not going to like it. Your exit value is going to reflect that.

And Deep Wealth Nation nation. I'm going to let you in on something. Step two X-Factors, where did that come from? Step two X-Factors came from our transition from Embanet 1 to Embanet 2, because we saw firsthand the power of recurring revenue, and Embanet 2 was all about recurring revenue.

When we switched to recurring revenue, our enterprise value went through the roof. Buyers loved the business model that we created. It was unique. We were way ahead of the curve. It made all the difference. Our profits reflected that, and that's why Step 2 [00:29:00] X-Factors is such a crucial step in the 9-step Roadmap.

In step 2 X-Factors, this is where you either find existing services or products, or you create new ones that are absolutely perfect for recurring models.

So here's what I want you to do. Your mission is to find one, just one product or service, and put it into a subscription. And even if only 20% of your clients say yes, that's cash you can count on. You can take that to the bank, literally. Just one. But I bet while you're at it and you may find more, and hey, what a great leadership moment for you to show the team, this is how we're doing things.

This is our future. We're going to try and experiment. We'll try it with this one product or service. And by the way, if it doesn't work out with that one product or service, it's just an experiment. We'll find something else until it works. Keep on going until it does.

And that leads us nicely to profit multiplier number four, systematize for scalability.

Let me share the uncomfortable truth. I know you know this.

If your business needs you to survive. It's not a business. My friend you have a [00:30:00] job and buyers will not pay a premium for jobs. They already have one. It's called their company. They don't want your company to become the second full-time job.

They want to buy those ATM machines that put profits out all day, all night. Back in the Embanet days, I made a decision. Every process I touch more than once it needed to get documented. Clients onboarding, delivery, reporting, everything. Those systems became part of our valuation. The buyers loved how everything was documented.

And forget our future buyer to buy the company. Our future clients, When we would show up and say, by the way, here's our documentation for our Standing Operating Procedures, our SOPs. Here are the KPIs. Here's how we know you're going to be successful.

Here's where we have green lights or red lights that give us early warning indicators when things are going on. The future clients love this, and as crazy as it sounds, it's not so crazy. It was our documentation that helped us win the business. It was our documentation that showed our future buyer that yes, [00:31:00] Embanet runs without the business owners, it runs with the team.

So again, Step 4 Due Diligence. This is where you're turning your chaos into clarity. And this is where your brilliance, you're going to put that into repeatable steps.

So this week I want you to choose one process, just one. Document it. Why don't we pick, let me pick something outta the air. Client onboarding, or maybe it's sales calls, or even your delivery.

As you're thinking about which to choose, pick the one that takes the most amount of time or causes the biggest friction because let's make this real. I want you to pause 10 seconds, 30 seconds right now. Seriously, if you're driving, pull over to the side of the road. This is that important. If you're at your desk, take out a pen and paper. I want you to write this down.

This is just your best guess.

You can change it later, but your best guess which one of these profit multipliers is going to make the difference?

Is it going to be raising your price, cutting a cost, creating recurring revenue, systemizing a process?

Pick one.

Which one hits the hardest for you right now, [00:32:00] and what's the one step that you're going to take this week?

Because strategies on paper are nothing. It could be the best strategy in the world, but if you don't have execution, it's nothing. It's a delusion. we are confusing activity, or even lack of activity with progress. But it's when you act, when you take one small step consistently, day over day, that's where things add up big time, and that's where you start building the kind of business that your clients love, and later your future buyer will line up, pay a premium for to buy the business.

So think about that. Just pick the one thing that you're going to do.

Again, is it a price increase?

Is it cutting something?

Is it creating a recurring revenue product or service?

Or even systemizing a process?

You can do it. Just pick one. I'm not asking you to do all four. Pick one. Focus on that for this week.

As you're thinking about that, here's what we're going to do next. We're going to do a thought experiment. I'm going to walk you into the future, but not just any future, your future, because once you've embraced the profit first thinking, [00:33:00] that's where the payoff becomes more than just financial.

It becomes freedom. And Deep Wealth Nation, that's what this is all about. That's why you started your business. So we're going to talk about future pacing your profit first payoff.

Okay, Deep Wealth Nation, let's start this quick thought experiment. We're going to fast forward now. If you're driving seriously, pull off to the side of the road somewhere safe and stop. If you're in an activity, if you're walking, if you're running, please stop. And if you can even get on a piece of paper or your favorite app to record some thoughts here.

I want you to close your eyes when it's safe. Of course, close your eyes, and I want you to picture this. Your margins, your profits, they are incredibly healthy. Your cashflow is predictable. Your net profits are off the charts. Your team is handling the day-to-day without needing you in the loop. In fact, if you wanted to take a six month or a year sabbatical, no problem.

When you came back, you'd show up to a bigger, more profitable business. Your inbox, your workflow, hey, it's calm, everything's good. It's all taken care of. Your calendar. [00:34:00] Lots of time. You can shoot a cannon through it and you wouldn't hit many activities or commitments. And your business, it's running like a well-oiled machine as it always should.

And best of all, you're now in market. You're going through the Deep Wealth process, you've mastered the nine steps, and you have a lineup of buyers who are lining up to pay not just a price, but a premium because they have a premium for you and your enterprise value. No other way around it. Your business is the talk of the town.

Your investment banker was blown away, and they told you they'd never seen anything like this before. Everyone is excited to take a look at your business and figure out how they can make it part of their business.

Now, this is not fantasy. This is what happens when you shift into a profit first thinking. And by the way that scenario I gave, that's exactly how my own liquidity event rolled out. That's what it was like. We had a huge liquidity event. We had future buyers [00:35:00] lined up, clamoring over who's going to be the one that made it to the next step.

As I'm sharing the profit first thinking, I'm actually thinking of another Deep Wealth graduate. I'm going to change the name as I always do. I'm going to call this graduate Max. Max runs a professional services company, and from the outside looking in, everything looked incredible. He had high revenues, but when we went under the covers, when we pulled the curtain back, what we found was net profits were almost non-existent, and he had zero time for anything outside of work.

His family was stressed with him. He was under stress and pressure. His mental health was becoming an issue. He lost friends.

Sadly, this is the narrative for all too many entrepreneurs.

Going through the 90-day Deep Wealth Mastery program was a godsend, literally for him, and he began to go through the 9-step Roadmap.

Here's some of the things that he did when he went through the profit first mindset shift, he found one of his top services and he increased the prices. Not only did he increase the prices, he put it into a [00:36:00] subscription model, and then while he was at it, he identified his unprofitable clients. He cut two of them.

And that's the best thing about preparation. It's the gift that keeps on giving. He wasn't chasing revenue. He didn't hire dozens of people. He focused on his profits, his system, and his leverage over that. And eventually, when it's time for him to go to market, the market will reward him for his time, his effort, and his commitment.

And I get it right now, you feel like you're working harder than ever before and you have very little show for it. I've been there. Most entrepreneurs are there. And you're wondering, well, Jeffrey, are these late nights and all the risks, the stress, is it ever going to pay off?

The short answer is, well, it could and they will.

It's a big if it.

If you stop chasing growth for growth's sake and you start building a business that serves you.

You went into business for a reason. You wanted a lifestyle, you wanted a little way of doing things, you wanted some freedom, both in time and financial freedom, you can do that. We're going to get you back to [00:37:00] basics here, because it's not just about the numbers, it's about freedom. It's about legacy.

It's about waking up one morning and realizing that you built a company that runs without you, and it rewards you long after you're gone. Because the truth is the wealth that you really want. It's already inside your business. Look within. You don't have to go externally. What you're missing, it's the roadmap to unlock it and you have it.

So I want you to take a breath. I'm giving you that roadmap. Take a sigh of relief. This is a done for you system, the 9-step Roadmap, the 90-day Deep Wealth Mastery program. I want you to think about the version of your business and your life that you just imagined.

It's not a dream, it's real. It's doable, and it's waiting for you on the other side of profit first execution. So let me bring this home with you with some simple action steps because you've got momentum. Now let's turn that momentum into results.

Let's bring this home with some simple action steps because you've got momentum. And now we're going to turn that [00:38:00] momentum into action and results as we wrap things up here. And I'm going to give you a challenge. We're going to bring it all together. Today you didn't just hear ideas I gave you, I revealed four powerful profit multipliers, each one a lever that you can pull starting right now, today and this week.

Let me recap them quickly for you.

Profit multiplier number one, precision pricing. Find a service or your product and just a little bit, try and experiment. Raise it just a little, and let every extra dollar flow straight to your bottom line. And once you've done that, try it again. Keep on increasing it until you find, okay, I've gone too much. Let me go back to here. Your profits will thank you. Your future self will thank you.

Profit multiplier number two. Audit and plug profit leaks. Find and cut those hidden costs, renegotiate those low margin clients, or cut them if needed. Reclaim the profit that's slipping through the cracks.

Profit multiplier number three, one of my favorites, recurring revenue. Forget the [00:39:00] one-time services, transform your one-time services into predictable monthly income. Your clients today will love this. Your future self will love it. Your future buyer will love it, and so will your stress levels as they come down because you now have predictability.

And last but certainly not least, profit multiplier. Number four, systematize for scalability. Document your brilliance. You and the team built a machine. Create a business that doesn't need you. Runs without you. And I need to say this because this is where most entrepreneurs drop the ball.

I've said it before, I'm going to say it again. Strategy, even the best strategy in the world, even the Deep Wealth 9-step Roadmap, which is rich in strategies. Strategy, without execution, it's useless. It's a fool's game. You can listen to this episode a hundred times, you can nod along every time, but if you don't act, nothing changes.

So here's my challenge for you. Actually cancel that. Here's my mission for you. Pick [00:40:00] one profit multiplier, just one. And for this week, I want you to implement that. Are you going to raise one price on a service or product? 

Are you going to cut one cost?

Are you going to figure out a subscription model?

Are you going to document one process?

And when you do it, you execute it, and then you rinse and repeat, you do it again, and you do it again. And now you start to build up momentum. You the team, you're going to start having some fun again. You're going to love your business the way that you should, and you're building your future financial freedom and a business that runs without you.

Yes, small steps done day over day consistently. Add up to big results because remember, the business you're building is not just a profit engine. It's your future. It's your freedom and your legacy. And every profitable decision that you make from this point forward, well, it's a brick in the foundation of the life you actually want to live.

So pick your brick right now, lay it down today, and let's build something remarkable together.

And as I wrap this up, I'm going to leave you [00:41:00] with simple ways. Again, not to confuse simple with simplicity to take this episode all the insights that you've had and put it into execution. Again, the best strategies in the world without action aren't enough. Sometimes though, sometimes we look back and say, Jeffrey, yeah, I get it, but I don't know where to start. I feel overwhelmed. There's just so much to do. Where should I start? Where do I begin?

Let me help you with that. If today's episode, it sparks something in you, please from the bottom of my heart, subscribe to the Deep Wealth podcast. That is my favor to ask, subscribe to the Deep Wealth Podcast because every week I'm dropping actionable strategies otherwise known as episodes that help you grow your profits, scale your business, and set you up for when you're ready, a life-changing exit, whether it's two years away or 22 years away. So from the bottom of my heart, please and thank you, subscribe right now to the Deep Wealth Podcast in your favorite podcast channel.

And finally, are you ready to go all in?

Do you want to take your game to the next level?

[00:42:00] Would you like to increase your profits today, Increase the future value of your business tomorrow and beyond?

And whether you never plan to sell the business or you plan to sell it in 2 years or 22 years, you know you have a thriving and profitable business.

If you said yes, and I know you did, if you're serious about having your business taken to the next level, email us. Email success[at]deepwealth[dot]com. S-U-C-C-E-S-S at D-E-E-P-W-E-A-L-T-h [dot] com, success@de.com. And in the subject line, put in Deep Wealth Mastery success at Deep Wealth dot com, the subject line, Deep Wealth Mastery.

We will walk you through our exact Deep Wealth Mastery 90-day system that's helped countless entrepreneurs just like you, find their hidden deep wealth, escape, the growth trap. And whenever they're ready, they can go to market with peace of mind and with clarity, knowing that they'll have the best absolute deal as opposed to any deal or even no deal.

Deep Wealth nation you're not just building a business, you're crafting your [00:43:00] legacy. You're creating your future financial independence and freedom. One decision at a time, one profit shift at a time, and one system at a time. And here's what I know for sure, the Wealth that you're chasing. It's already inside your business, but it's hiding in plain sight.

Your mission, unlock it. And when you do, that's the game changer where everything changes. Not just your financials, but your freedom, your future, and your fulfillment. Because as I always say, success without fulfillment is a complete failure. So take the first steps, start today, because preparation isn't just power.

Preparation is a superpower. It's the gift that keeps on giving.

So there you have it Deep Wealth Nation, it's official. This episode is a wrap, and as we love to say here at Deep Wealth, may you continue to thrive and prosper while you remain healthy and safe. This is Jeffrey Feldberg signing off on the Deep Wealth Podcast and until next time, stay focused, stay intentional, and as always, keep building a business that thrives without [00:44:00] you.

God bless.