Black Entrepreneur Blueprint 629 - Jay Jones - The 7 Lies That Keep Entrepreneurs Stuck

[00:00:00] Bad Credit can literally cost you thousands of dollars. You'll have higher interest rates, denied approvals, even missed job and housing opportunities. And fixing it the old way by paying expensive credit repair companies hundreds every month, writing your own dispute letters by hand, and waiting forever with no guarantees, that ends today.

[00:00:20] Introducing 1234MyNewCreditScore.com, the AI powered DIY credit repair platform that helps you identify, dispute and track inaccurate negative items yourself. Now here's how simple it is. Step 1, securely connect your credit profile. Step 2, our AI instantly scans your report for questionable negative items and matches them with legally backed dispute reasons. Step 3, generate customized dispute letters in seconds.

[00:00:50] Then simply print, mail and track your progress. But here's the game changer. Step 4 lets you share your referral link and earn recurring passive income when others sign up. That means your membership could literally pay for itself. No expensive law firms, no confusing process, no long term contracts. Just powerful AI technology designed to help you take control of your credit. Start improving your credit today for just $29 a month. This is cancelable at any time. And then you'll have a free credit card.

[00:01:20] And there are no long term contracts. Go to 1234MyNewCreditScore.com. That's the numbers 1234MyNewCreditScore.com. And enroll today. The only thing you have to lose is your bad credit.

[00:01:49] Welcome to Black Entrepreneur Blueprint, the number one podcast and resource for black entrepreneurs. I'm your host Jay Jones and Black Entrepreneur Blueprint was created specifically to educate and inspire black entrepreneurs to launch, build and grow successful, sustainable businesses. Join us as we help build an economic power base in the worldwide black community by building and supporting black owned businesses.

[00:02:17] If you're currently an entrepreneur or want to be an entrepreneur, you're invited to join us each and every week here at Black Entrepreneur Blueprint. Welcome to the BEB family and get ready to elevate your entrepreneur IQ. Welcome to the Black Entrepreneur Blueprint episode number 629.

[00:02:44] I'm your host Jay Jones and today we have another outstanding and informative show in store for you. Today's show topic is the 7 Lies That Keep Entrepreneurs Stuck. The 7 Lies That Keep Entrepreneurs Stuck. Now, have you ever felt like you're just one step away from starting your dream business but something always seems to hold you back? The truth is guys, most entrepreneurs aren't stopped by lack of talent or opportunity. They're stopped by the stories that they tell themselves.

[00:03:14] And today we're going to dive into 7 of these lies that may keep you stuck in your business. Now, before we get to today's show content, let me just share a few things with the Black Entrepreneur Blueprint family. First and foremost, I want to welcome all first-time listeners to Black Entrepreneur Blueprint. Welcome to the BEB family.

[00:03:34] Please stick around until the end of today's broadcast and I'm going to share all my social media contacts and resource links such as the link to 1234mynewcreditscore.com. That's the numbers. 1234mynewcreditscore.com. So if you're having issues with your credit, you want to buy a home, you need to buy a car, you just want to get your financial situation in shape, go to 1234mynewcreditscore.com.

[00:04:03] Now, let's get ready for today's show content. So today we're going to talk about the 7 lies that keep entrepreneurs stuck. And so have you ever noticed that two people can have the exact same opportunity but one succeeds and the other one fails, right? And usually it's not because one is smarter than the other. It's actually because of what they believe and what they don't believe. So belief is crucial, guys, in terms of being successful.

[00:04:30] So you don't want to believe untruths. And when you don't know, guess what? You just don't know. So I want to share with you guys 7 lies that keep entrepreneurs from being stuck. All right? And we're going to go through these and I'm going to give you a little personal insight also. All right, let's talk number one. I need more money. All right? Money, guys, isn't usually the first problem. You know, lack of creativity is usually often the real issue. Okay?

[00:05:01] So many successful entrepreneurs or businesses started with little capital and service businesses can often be launched with almost no money. And I'll talk about that in a minute. And AI technology, guys, have dramatically reduced startup costs. So I need more money. Yes, money is crucial for the foundational things that you need for your business. But one of the simplest ways if you have a service business is you can launch that almost

[00:05:28] with no money by putting out an offer, basically sending it out, do social media posts or whatever. You can put out an offer. And when somebody accepts that offer, then you provide that service. So say you're a business coach or a counselor, something of that nature. You are providing the service. So you don't really need a whole lot of money. Okay? So whatever you do in terms of getting in touch with prospective customers, you put that messaging out.

[00:05:57] And then hopefully somebody takes you up on it. So say, for example, you do websites. You go and you start marketing that you, you know, you're a professional website designer, ba-bop, ba-bop, ba-bop. You're doing social media posts. You're getting out there. You're reaching out with cold email or direct mail or whatever you want to do to reach customers or prospective customers. And then once they sign the contract, guess what? Now you have to go to work.

[00:06:24] So the thing is, guys, I need more money is lie number one. And it's all about creativity too. Okay? It's all about creativity. And this can actually work in a physical products business also, not just a service business. So for example, if you have a physical products business and you want to see if this is a real business, you get people to pre-order. Okay? You may not even have the product yet. It's just like people that pre-order a book, you know, coming soon. The book is coming soon and they'll pre-order.

[00:06:55] And if you've listened to this podcast for any period of time, you may have heard me tell a story about a new Tropic that I sold and I didn't even have the product. And a new Tropic is a supplement that helps you think better and concentrate more. So what I did was I found a manufacturer for this new Tropic. I started using it myself and I gave it to a couple other people to see how it worked. You want to make sure whatever you're selling works. And I thought it worked pretty well.

[00:07:23] So what I did was I got my pricing from the manufacturer. I had somebody mock up the bottles because it was a 30, 30 capsules for 30 days. It cost me about $4 per bottle. I was selling for $29.95 on a recurring monthly payment plan. So the first bottle, the only thing they had to pay for was the shipping, which was $5.99, which I broke. I pretty much broke even. Actually, I didn't break even. I was at a loss for a little bit.

[00:07:52] So what I did was I went on social media. I put up a landing page. I had sales copy. I had images of the product there. I hadn't even bought the product in bulk yet because I wanted to see if I could sell it. And then I started launching my ads and I ran a few ads, ran social media posts. And I said to myself, if I get 25 people to give me that $5.99, which was the actual shipping fee,

[00:08:19] then I would go and order the product and then start fulfilling. Now, if I didn't get 25 people in a set period of time to order that product, I would just refund the money. So you don't need lie. Number one, I need more money. If you are creative guys, guess what? You can figure out a way to get stuff out there. Money helps. But resourcefulness is what changes lives. Okay. So money helps, obviously, if you have the money. Now, I will tell you this.

[00:08:49] Sometimes money hurts you because if you have too much money, you're going to start wasting money and throwing money away as opposed to being more diligent with your money. So that's lie number one. And we're talking about the seven lies that keep entrepreneurs stuck. Lie number two, if I build it, they will come. Man, I don't know how many times I've heard this. Yeah, I'm about to get on this website, do this, that and the other thing. If I build it, they will come. That is a lie.

[00:09:19] Great products fail every day. Marketing guys is just as important as the product itself. So you have to understand that there are tons of great products out there that fail all the time. Visibility guys is what creates the opportunity. You have to be visible. So understand that people can't buy what they don't know exists. All right. You can't buy what you don't know exists.

[00:09:45] And so marketing isn't optional, guys, that it's part of the product. So here's what many people do. They start focusing on their product or service first and then they're focusing so hard on that. All right. Let me make sure I got my product right. You know, it has to be perfect. Bah, bah, bah. They get the product right. Then all of a sudden they turn around and scratch their head and like, okay, now who am I going to sell it to? Let me give you a surefire answer to this.

[00:10:14] While you are working on your product or service, you need to start building up a waiting list or database. So as soon as that product or service is ready to launch, guess what? You have an audience that you can launch it to. So if you're building a physical product and it's not done yet, create a waiting list. Hey, be the first to be alerted, you know, when when the product is ready. Okay. Okay. So if I build it, they will come. That is a fallacy, guys.

[00:10:43] That is not true. I'm working with a client and he was talking about putting his product on Amazon. And I'm like, dude, you're going to get lost in the shuffle on Amazon. Number one, your brand doesn't have a brand name. Number two, the cost of your product is so low that you really don't have the money to advertise and market with Amazon pay-per-click.

[00:11:07] And so when you're selling a product, like be it T-shirts or whatever it is, golf tees that people buy a dime or dozen. If you don't have any brand recognition or following, it's going to be super hard for you to make traction or get traction.

[00:11:23] And just because you put a product on Amazon or if you put it up on your own website does not mean that people will come and knock the door down unless you're strategic and you have a mechanism to build up a database. So when you launch, you're ready to get out there and your product or service will move. So marketing, the lesson is guys, marketing is not optional. It's actually part of the product process. Let's talk about lie number three.

[00:11:53] The market is saturated. I don't know how many times I've heard this. Oh, it is. There's always is 10 other products like it. Guess what that means? That means that the market is open and viable. The market is saturated. Every proper profitable market guys looks crowded. All right. Saturation proves that people are buying. Now it can get to a point where it's oversaturated, but that's usually not the case.

[00:12:19] The other thing you have to understand is nobody has your unique personality, your story, your perspective or your experience. So even though you may sell the similar or same product to somebody else, you can wrap it differently and make it look different. So people buy from people they know, like and trust. All right. So for example, there's a saturated market. Restaurants. There's a restaurant damn near on every corner, right? Real estate agents, mortgage brokers, fitness coaches, podcasters.

[00:12:48] There are new restaurants opening up every day that are successful. There are new real estate agents that get in the business and are killing it. Same with mortgage brokers, fitness coaches, podcasters. You know, and here's some of the lessons, guys, in terms of the market is saturated. You don't compete by being the cheapest. You compete, guys, by being different. If you want to go to the bottom real quick, then, you know, you try to be the cheapest.

[00:13:16] And the only way that works is if you're Walmart. All right. So here's the thing that you want to look at, too. The market. If you think the market is saturated, you want to dice and slice that market up, right? So say if you sell insoles and I used to sell insoles, you can sell insoles to a specific target market within the insole marketplace.

[00:13:39] So, for example, your conversation with a runner that needs insoles is totally different than your conversation with a waiter or waitress that needs insoles because they're on their feet all day. So what I call it is micro messaging. So you can have a saturated market, but your goal or target could be only a specific piece of that market. OK, you sell insoles. You may not compete with Dr. Scholes. All right. Or whoever the big insole people are.

[00:14:08] But for the track market, for the running market or for the waiter or waitress market, you're that person. You're that that brand. So once again, the market is saturated. And that is lie number three. Every profitable market, guys, looks crowded and you have to understand that. OK, number four. I can make money selling to the masses. I can make money selling to the masses.

[00:14:38] And here's what I'm going to tell you guys. That is true. It's possible. But the the riches are often found in the niches. I know they say riches and niches, but it's actually niches. So riches are actually found in niches. Specialist command premium prices. So when you have a problem with your foot, right? Then you want to go to a podiatrist. You don't want to go just to a regular doctor. You want to go to a podiatrist. All right.

[00:15:08] Generalists compete on pricing. So if you're selling of your generalist and you sell to the masses, most times it's going to be a price game unless you have a great brand brand identity. OK, so the more specific that your audience is, the easier it is to become. It becomes to market. All right. So I just gave you an example of somebody selling insoles, but they're selling insoles to the running crowd. They're selling insoles to the waiters and waitresses.

[00:15:37] All right. So I can make more money selling to the masses. For example, Black Entrepreneur Blueprint. For those of you who don't know, I actually started out on an AM radio station in Philadelphia many moons ago, and the show was actually called The Entrepreneur Advantage. And I did that for about six weeks. The actual first station I was on was a predominantly white radio station, 860 AM in Philadelphia.

[00:16:07] I don't even know if it's still alive or still working. But it was called The Entrepreneur Advantage. And I was speaking to everybody. And then I thought to myself, hey, you know, I'm black. I'm an entrepreneur. My people need to hear this and understand my journey. And hopefully my experiences, good, bad, positive and negative, can help guide them. So I stopped doing terrestrial radio.

[00:16:32] And at the time they were calling a podcast and internet radio. And I told the station, I'm like, look, I'm changing my direction and I'm going to do internet radio. And they laughed at me. 14 or how many years later with 600 plus episodes, I'm still rocking. So what I decided to do was I started trying to focus specifically on us. Entrepreneurs, that's everybody.

[00:17:00] Black entrepreneurs, we have intrinsic things and differences that we deal with than other entrepreneurs. So that's the way that basically I stopped selling to the masses and I created a niche. And after I created the niche, not that I was the first one, but I will tell you this podcast is one of the first ones that was out there rocking, talking about black entrepreneurs. I don't know if I was number one or not, but it was one of the first ones out there.

[00:17:29] And I'm still rocking, you know, what, four to what is a 12, 14 years later, whatever it is still rocking, still doing what I do because I love what I do. So lie number four, I can make more money selling to the masses. All right. And today what we're talking about is the seven lies that keep entrepreneurs stuck. So you can sell to the masses guys, but if you want to really go deep, you want to create

[00:17:56] or find a vertical or subset within whatever you're selling. Okay. Number five, and this is one of my pet peeves, man. I can't stand this. I'll start when everything is perfect. I'll start when everything is perfect. And here's the thing, guys, it's never going to be perfect. You won't be waiting for eternity because nothing is going to be perfect in terms of starting your business. Okay.

[00:18:24] Perfectionism guys is procrastination pretty much in disguise. All right. I'm going to repeat that. Perfectionism is procrastination in disguise. That's all it is. All right. You're never going to have all the answers. You know, your customers will actually help you shape your product or service. So you need to get out there so you can get feedback. Okay. And progress is going to be perfection every time because there's no such thing as perfect.

[00:18:51] So in terms of launching, just like Black Entrepreneur Blueprint. So I didn't start monetizing Black Entrepreneur Blueprint for close to two or two and a half years. And people were coming up to me. Yeah, man, you need to do this, that, and the other thing. But I said, look, I want the customers. I want the BEB family to tell me what they want. So as I'm talking about entrepreneurship, I'm sharing some of my journey or whatever. People started reaching out to me. Yo, man, I know you're big in e-commerce.

[00:19:22] Can you help me, you know, start an e-commerce business? Can you help me do that? And that's how my first course came out, Educated e-commerce. That came out because I listened to my audience. So many times, you know, you're not going to have the perfect, not many times, 99.9% of the time, you're not going to have the perfect setup. Okay. So you're going to have to get out there, mix around a little bit, and then you'll find out what people want.

[00:19:50] You're going to see if your product is good, if there need to be some changes. If a product is doo-doo, if it's no good and you have to scrap it, go back to the drawing board. So it's never perfect. And one thing I will tell you that if you want to start a business, the best time to start a business is when you have a job. I'm going to repeat that. The best time to start a business is when you have a job.

[00:20:18] And I know that may be counterintuitive to some people, but here's what it gives you. It gives you stability. Okay. Until you can ramp up and get your business going. You don't have to worry about how you're going to eat. Now, it does take a maximum effort and a true commitment because you can work your regular nine to five and then you come home and you work your six to 11. That's your business until you get it to a point where it can replace your current income.

[00:20:46] The problem is most people don't do that because they're comfortable with their current employment. And the only time they really make a move is when they have to. They lose their job. They're not getting enough hours. Something else comes up. But the best time guys to start that business is while you are employed. That can actually fund your business. So number five, I'll start when everything is perfect. It's never going to be perfect.

[00:21:15] You want to start now. The faster you start, the faster you can move to the next stages of your business. The faster you're going to get feedback from your audience, from your customers or prospective customers. That's what you have to do. That's lie number five. Lie number six, I don't know enough. Here's the key guys. You don't know what you don't know, right? You don't have to know everything. That is the key.

[00:21:42] So you do not have to know everything and it's impossible to know everything. Here's what I'm going to tell you. You're not going to know half of the stuff that you think you need to know. All right. Once you start getting in it and mixing around, then you'll understand and find out exactly what you need to know. All right. So learn one step ahead of your customer. As long as you're ahead of your customers, guess what? You're in good shape. I talk about this with mentorship.

[00:22:10] You don't have to be a super guru. As long as you're two steps, five steps, 10 steps ahead of somebody else. Guess what? You can be a mentor. So you don't need to know everything because it's impossible to know everything until you get into the mix and understand what's required of you. All right. And experience, guys, is built through action. Experience is built through action. I always tell the story about knowledge versus know-how. Okay. I don't know enough. Right.

[00:22:40] You never will. So here's the difference between knowledge and know-how. Knowledge can be acquired by watching somebody do something, by reading something, by having a conversation, by observation. That's knowledge. So you can acquire knowledge all the time. Know-how comes from doing. And here's the example I always use. So if they say, hey, Jay, I want you to study up how to fly this F-16 fighter jet.

[00:23:10] All right. So I can go look at the manual. I can go. I can read the manual back and forth. I can be in the cockpit with somebody else while they're flying. And I could be listening to all types of different information and getting knowledge on how to fly that F-16. So that's knowledge. Now, if they put Jay Jones in the cockpit of the F-16 and said, do you know how to fly that F-16? Guess what the answer is? No.

[00:23:37] So there's a big difference between knowledge and know-how. So number six, I don't know enough. You're going to learn more by getting the know-how versus the knowledge. You're never going to have enough knowledge. But that doesn't matter because you really want the know-how. You want to know how to build this business. You want to know how to run your business. Okay. That comes from doing. Okay. All we say is six letters and three words.

[00:24:07] To be, do. If you want to be something, you have to do it. Okay. It's not about knowledge. It's about know-how. Do you know how to run this business? All right. So experience is built on action and confidence comes guys after you take action, not before. So anytime you start something new, you know, it's going to be a learning curve.

[00:24:31] So now I literally can get up and in two minutes I can create a podcast episode off the top of my head, off the dome, freestyling if I want to. And many times I actually do it. Okay. But number six, I don't know enough. That's a big lie. Knowledge without execution guys has no value whatsoever. All right. Knowledge without execution has no value whatsoever. Now let's talk about lie number seven.

[00:25:00] It's too hard to become a successful entrepreneur. Yes. Entrepreneurship is difficult. Being a successful entrepreneur takes commitment. It takes learning. It takes time. But staying stuck in a job you hate is also difficult. All right. So you have to understand what do you really want out of life? What did God put in your heart? Okay. So financial stress is difficult. Regret is difficult. Every worthwhile goal guys requires effort.

[00:25:29] Everything that you do that's worthwhile, it takes an effort. And you need to recognize and understand it. Knowing is half the battle. And so I always talk about expectations, right? Expectations will make or break any relationship. And that includes a partner, wife, husband, relationship, a business relationship, or even your relationship with your business. Expectations. Expectations.

[00:25:59] If they're met or exceeded, then everything is good. But if your expectations are not met or not exceeded, that's bad. So your expectation should be when you go in as an entrepreneur that this is going to be one of the toughest things that you're ever going to encounter. If it was that easy, guess what? But everybody would do it. So yes, it's hard to be an entrepreneur, but it's not too hard to be a successful entrepreneur. Okay? You have to have resilience.

[00:26:28] You have to have perseverance, persistence, and you play the long game. Many times in today's society, all we're thinking about is, you know, that quick fix. I need to get that dopamine. I need to get that money real quick. It's a long game. Entrepreneurship is not supposed to be easy, but it's supposed to be worthy. When you set yourself up and your family up for generations to come, if that's one of your goals, it's a beautiful thing.

[00:26:57] Even worst case scenario, you get out of a job that you hate and now you're building something that you own, that you have equity in. Okay? So it's too hard to become a successful entrepreneur is not the truth. You're going to hear that a lot from what I call civilians. People that don't have that dream of becoming an entrepreneur. You have to watch who you hang around with. You have to watch what comes in. Right?

[00:27:25] You know, the old saying, garbage in equals garbage out. So you have to be cognizant of your surroundings. Okay? So don't let the negativity come in and focus on your goals. So it's too hard to become a successful entrepreneur is absolutely incorrect. It is difficult, but it is doable if you have the commitment and you have the drive and perseverance and you understand that it's a long game. All right?

[00:27:54] It's not going to happen overnight. Now, before we get to the last segment of the show, guys, let me share all my social media contact information and resource links. So I mentioned at the top of the show, guys, if you have credit challenges, there's a DIY platform called 1234mynewcreditscore.com. That's the numbers. 1234mynewcreditscore.com. $29 a month. No long-term contracts.

[00:28:20] They do exactly what all the other credit repair agencies do for you, but they don't charge you. This is a DIY. Do it yourself. It walks you through the whole process to cleaning up your credit. All right? So also another resource. Make sure you go to the website, blackentrepreneurblueprint.com. We have all types of free resources to help you elevate your entrepreneur IQ. Hit the learn tab. There's a drop down.

[00:28:47] We have content on scaling your business, marketing, e-commerce, everything you need to move your business from point A to point B. Now, if you want to get in contact with me, guys, anything long, hit me on my email, jjones at blackentrepreneurblueprint.com. That's J-A-Y-J-O-N-E-S at blackentrepreneurblueprint.com. Facebook, blackentrepreneurblueprint. Instagram, I have two IG accounts. The first one is jjonesforreal.

[00:29:14] J-A-Y-J-O-N-E-S, the number four, R-E-A-L. Second one is blackentrepreneurblueprint. LinkedIn, make sure you connect with me there. Type in jjonesblackentrepreneurblueprint. You'll connect with me on LinkedIn, X, or Twitter. I'm at jjones001, J-A-Y-J-O-N-E-S-001. And YouTube, make sure you guys subscribe to the YouTube channel because we have additional content on YouTube that is not on the show.

[00:29:44] So go to YouTube, type in blackentrepreneurblueprint, hit that subscribe button. And if you are a first-time listener, please make sure you hit the subscribe button anywhere you're watching this or listening to this so you'll be alerted when our new episodes drop, which is every Monday morning, 5 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on all your major podcast platforms and YouTube. Now, let's get back to the last segment of the show.

[00:30:11] Guys, today we're talking about the seven lies that keep entrepreneurs stuck. All right. And the biggest obstacle, guys, standing between where you are today and where you want to be isn't the economy. It's not your competition. It isn't your education. It's not your bank account. It's the stories that you believe. If you believe you can do something, you can. If you don't believe it, you're correct also.

[00:30:36] So today, guys, I want you to identify which one of these seven lies has been holding you back and replace that lie with a small action. All right. Replace that lie with a small action. All right. Remember, take action despite what it appears to be because these lies are going to hold you back. These lies may have actually held you back from starting a business. All right. So if you haven't started a business, don't listen to people that haven't started a business. All right.

[00:31:04] You talk to people that are successful entrepreneurs and get that wisdom and mentorship and guidance from them. All right. So if this episode, guys, if it challenged any of your thinking, if it made sense to you guys, please share it with other entrepreneurs and other people that you think it makes sense for. But let me go through these real quick for you just so we can recap it. All right. Lie number one. I need more money. That's not true. Lie number two.

[00:31:33] If I build it, they will come. You need to be able to drive people to wherever you're selling your product or service. Lie number three. The market is saturated. Any competitive market has a lot of players in it. That doesn't mean it's saturated. Lie number four. I can make money selling to the masses. You can, but it's very unlikely you want to niche down. Lie number five. I'll start when everything is perfect. Nothing is going to be perfect. So you might as well just start now. All right. Lie number six. I don't know enough. That isn't true.

[00:32:03] As long as you know more than your customers, guess what? You're in good shape. Lie number seven. It's too hard to become a successful entrepreneur. And that is also not true. So guys, mindset is the key to becoming a successful entrepreneur. Surround yourself with successful people. Successful entrepreneurs. Positive people. Get that negative thoughts. Those negative thoughts out of your head. And go put your head down and keep moving and become successful as an entrepreneur.

[00:32:32] Now I say this each and every week because it is true. We get more and more downloads because of you, the BEB family. I appreciate you guys so much. Please continue to spread the word about the podcast, the blog, the online courses, the books, the ecosystem. Everything designed to help you elevate your entrepreneur IQ. Remember, it's not about me. It's not about you. It's about us. It's about building an economic power base in the worldwide black community by building and supporting black owned businesses.

[00:33:02] Love you guys. See you same time next week. Peace. Peace. Peace.