Codie Sanchez Profile picture
Aug 8 19 tweets 5 min read Read on X
I’m 38.

Here are 17 lessons from 17 years in business I wish I knew at 21:
Never Lose Money

There's a reason this is Warren Buffett's #1 rule.

It doesn’t matter if you make $10 or $10M. If you lose money faster than you can make it, you're screwed.

Everything else in business is secondary to not going broke.
99% Of People Don't Move Fast Enough

Believe it or not, you have an actual cost to inaction.

Every time you say "one day," you cost yourself future dollars.

I waited a year to take my Goldman Sachs job. That delay cost me 6-figures.
Go Big

If you're distracted by small things, you'll never get the big things done.

55% of productivity is lost to your phone.

We check it 36 times per hour while working.

Put the phone down. Pick up the money.
Give 10x Before You Ask For 1x

This is the rule of reciprocity.

When you give value first, money always follows.

I probably gave away probably millions worth of free advice before anyone paid me.

Rich people give. Poor people hoard.
Do The Dirty Work

Everyone wants to be an influencer or start the next sexy AI company.

But the cold truth truth is the sexier the business, the less money you make.

87% of actors in Hollywood don't qualify for health insurance.

Remember that the next time you’re tempted to follow your passion.
Sell Things To Rich People

They pay more and negotiate less.

Rich people have bigger problems and bigger budgets.

There’s no number that’s too high as long as you make their lives easier.
Solve Bigger Problems

Bigger problems = bigger paychecks

Don't tackle $5 problems when you can solve $50K ones .

Both require effort but one pays your mortgage and the other pays for coffee.
Build Once, Sell Continuously

You can’t grind forever.

Create flywheels where one business feeds another - like a mini Amazon.

This is how you make more money without working harder.
Humans Are Contagious

Your friend group predicts how much money you'll make.

Studies show having 10% more friends worth over $100K increases in your net worth by 10%.

Success is contagious. So is failure.
Others' Beliefs Become Your Reality

This is called the Pygmalion effect.

If people around you say you'll never grow, you probably never will.

Surround yourself with people who believe in your potential.
It's Never Too Late

I didn't get married until 33.

Didn't start content until 35.

Didn't start a podcast until 37.

At 30, I thought I'd peaked. At 38, I know I'm just getting started.
Sell More And Never Apologize

If you’re a CEO, your job is to be the chief salesperson.

Leave the firefighting to your team.

Your #1 priority should be to bring revenue in, not spend all day on Zoom having quick calls.
Fear Should Never Stop You

The world is run by C students and failed employees who are probably less smart than you.

Instead of getting paralyzed…

Create a risk budget. Know what you can afford to lose. Then put everything else on the line.
People Are Your Most Expensive Investment

If you want to scale to 8-figures, you can't do it alone.

Hire humans who are hyperconnected with big networks.

I follow the "One mil per employee" rule - every person on my team should generate $1M.
Be Likable As A Leader

You make so much more money when people like you.

- Have an open door policy
- Be kind, not nice
- Listen to your employees more than you speak to them

Nail all three and your team will gladly follow you into a warzone.
Avoid The Middle Class Wealth Trap

Compound interest isn't enough to make you wealthy in this economy.

You need: Resources + Labor + Knowledge + Ideas = Money

If you’re not increasing at least one of these daily.
Be An Obsessive Psychopath

In a world that only talks about work-life balance, be obsessed.

It’ll put you light years ahead of your peers.

I’m not saying you have to be crazy to own a business, but it helps.
Probably one of the best decisions I've ever made was become an owner.

It's not easy but working a 9-5 isn't either.

Ready to stop building someone else's empire and start your own?

Join me for 3 days where I'll show you exactly how to make it happen: codiesanchez.com/msm/?utm_sourc…

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More from @Codie_Sanchez

Aug 6
How to stay poor:

1. Never take risk.
2. Take risks you don’t understand.

Here’s how to minimize your risk when buying your first business:
There's no such thing as the right or wrong business.

There's only the business that's right or wrong for you.

The risk is often in buying something you know nothing about.

That's why I created the Contrarian Deal Clarity Framework to help first-time owners find their perfect biz.
You need to define 5 components:

1. Your Ideal Owner Experience
2. Your Zone of Genius
3. Business Size
4. Profit Requirements
5. Industry Focus

Let's break each one down:
Read 13 tweets
Aug 5
Why you never get what you want...

• You don’t ask.
• You don’t make it a win-win.
• You don’t know when to walk away.

Here's how to avoid these negotiation mistakes (& get the deal you deserve):
If you want to fail in negotiating and alway overpay… don’t read this.

Buyers with experience only negotiate on three variables that determine the value of a business.

Most sellers don't even understand these concepts, which gives you a massive advantage if you can educate them on how deals really work:
EBITDA/SDE

Contrary to popular belief, this isn't about the number on their P&L.

It's about the cash flow you’ll actually get when you take over.

Here’s an example: Image
Read 12 tweets
Aug 3
Only 6% of Americans own a business.

And of that, less than 1% ever hit $1,000,000 in revenue.

After investing in businesses for 15 years, here are three reasons why 99% of businesses never scale past 7-figures:
1. Organizational Challenges

There are a ton of sub-catagories here but today we’re going to unpack “Executive Vision.”

Most owners think their problems stem from poor strategy, when it’s typically poor execution.

You can have the best plan in the world, but if your team can’t understand it... you're not going anywhere.
You need to have a clear vision that every person in your business believes in and wants to fight for.

The best CEOs think in years, then translate this vision in plain english to their team.

Make it stupid simple: everybody needs to know where the biz is going, what their contribution is, and why they are important.Image
Read 16 tweets
Aug 2
One failure I wouldn’t trade for a success:

Losing $50,000 buying my first business.

Here are 10 lessons on deal-making that I learned the hard way (so you don’t have to):
Don't Buy An Unprofitable Business

It's tempting, but just don't.

Buying a turnaround means you're buying someone else's problems - cash burn, broken systems, demoralized teams.

Even if you fix it, you'll spend 3x more time and money than if you bought something that already works.
Beware Of Personal Guarantee Loans (Especially On Your First Deal)

PG = your personal assets are on the line if you can't pay back the business's loan.

Only do it if you're very rich or have investors who can cover you.

No heavier weight than debt you can't pay.
Read 13 tweets
Jul 26
Harsh truth on scaling businesses:

Your goal as CEO is to build a team that runs your entire company better than you.

5 other lessons I’ve learned the hard way from 15+ years of being an owner:
Operating Systems Win

The difference between McDonald's and your local burger joint isn't the food.

It's that any 16-year-old can run McDonald's because of their systems.

If your business needs you to be the hero every day, you own a job, not a business.

No systems = Everything breaks when you aren’t there
The most effective systems I’ve seen all had the same four features.

I call it the PEIC framework.

Apply them across your core functions and your business will pretty much run on autopilot: Image
Read 12 tweets
Jul 23
Everyone thinks the paths to wealth are:

Building a startup. Going into finance. Investing in real estate. Inheriting it.

I think there's a better way...

Here’s what it is (and why I’m investing millions into it):
For years, I've been yapping about "boring businesses" - laundromats, car washes, etc.

But one industry fascinated me more than any other: home services. Why?

Because after a bad storm, ChatGPT can't climb on your roof and fix it. Image
My mission has been clear:

• Make ownership possible for everyone willing to do the work
• Build Main Street (not just Wall Street)
• Help others create generational wealth

When I met the ResiBrands team, I knew they were the ones to make it happen.
Read 10 tweets

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