PART 2: How I Built A $10M Business After Nearly Crashing It To The Ground While Accidentally Creating A Sales Force That Doubled My Company...
Thank you for reading Part One… if you didn’t click here to read it.
I am very excited about what I know you can accomplish in the coming year. I can ABSOLUTELY ASSURE YOU the following will happen for you in the next 12 months:
- Increased Profits
- Regularly Recurring Revenue
- National or International Coverage
- Dozens and Dozens of Local Presentations on YOUR Products EVERY MONTH.
- All Without Advertising, Product Development or STRESS.
Now, let’s get back to the story…
Our Certified Consultant Program was an utter failure and put my business in JEOPARDY.
I was STILL dealing with all the problems I had when I started by rushing out a test to see if people were knowledgeable about our software enough to help others.
Here’s what happened next:
I shut down the Certified Consultant program we had built in haste.
I was shell-shocked by the experience, yet I held on to the idea itself, knowing the true potential of using certification if done correctly.
No one thought it was a good idea anymore.
I spent the next six months completely rebuilding the certified consultant program from scratch:
New tests, new guides, full marketing, and referral systems, Office etiquette guides, dressing for success guides.
Even personal hygiene guidelines, everything. We invested in professional copywriters for all the marketing material; We invested substantially into rebuilding this program into the system that provided the best possible outcome we could deliver.
We had narrowly escaped total ruin, but we lived. Now it was time to try again.
I knew this could work!
I knew in my heart that this business model that I had come up with, as rough as it was the first time, could potentially be the most powerful new program we've ever released.
I also knew that without it, our survival was in jeopardy and my life would continue to be a 16-hour daily struggle, and we would have to ride the credit line up and down between upgrades.
I had to make this work, and I felt like I would die trying.
I knew in my heart that it would work.
Logically it had to work, it's so obvious, but as they say: The devil truly was in the details. I had botched that big time the first time through. I knew that rebuilding the program would save us, but I couldn't be sure if we would survive one more event like the first one.
I knew that to restart this program after it was rebuilt, I would need to open my heart, bare my soul and appeal to my best clients, to give us another chance.
I poured myself into this letter; I explained in detail what had gone wrong.
I admitted that we had rushed the first program; that we really didn’t know what we were doing. I shared that we had run into trouble, REAL trouble, and we had been on the brink of disaster.
I knew that only total honesty would work. I knew I had to disclose the depth of the problems I created by releasing my program with as little preparation as I did, and that’s exactly what I did.
I had to own up and once again take full responsibility for what went wrong. I also had to explain what I did to fix it, how I fixed it and why it would never happen again.
I also described in detail how I called every single customer who had a bad experience and disclosed what I learned.
I bore my SOUL in that letter.
I stood tall, naked to the truth of what I had happened and what I had done to fix it.
Then, I described in great detail exactly how I had spent the last six months developing the new program.
I talked all about the expense of recording those videos, and the professional copywriters and course designers we hired; I also talked a lot about the culture and how it would change.
I made it clear that we would have zero tolerance for poor performance and bad service.
I reread that letter over and over again for several days; I thought maybe it was too much, maybe I should not send it.
A Second Opinion on My Letter.
My business was a partnership with my next-door neighbor, Neil Ayer.
Neil was one of the top programmers in his field; he told me up front when we started the business that he wanted nothing to do with the operation, only the technology, which made us a good match; I wanted all the operational control and none of the tech headaches.
Neil was fully aware of what we've been through, the lawsuit, the rebuilding process, and all the problems we faced, generating new revenue.
Neil was mostly silent the entire time, holding to his promise that I had control of the company's operation.
That morning, after struggling with the letter for days, I asked Neil to read it.
He sat quietly for about 15 minutes. I watched silently as he read.
I thought that he would tell me I was crazy for trying this again.
After all that happened the last time, I figured he would tell me to stop exposing ourselves to more potential legal problems.
I wasn't sure what he would say.
He looked up at me after finishing the letter; misty-eyed he said, "I... am so proud to have you as my partner.”
He came over and hugged me.
Now if you met Neil, he's a big guy; it was like being surrounded by this bearded giant, as we stood there alone in my office.
After about a minute, I started to laugh.
"Imagine how this looks to someone coming into my office?"
We both belly-laughed for a while, relieving the tension he and I felt about doing this again.
He simply said: "Ship it."
That was an inside joke we used when we were about to release a new version of the software.
I understood this was his approval and support of what I was about to do.
I sent the letter.
I went down to the mailroom every hour to see if any applications had shown up.
THREE DAYS went by with no activity.
On day four 21 applications showed up, each with a $900 check.
More came the next day and the next. We were not out of the woods just yet but we didn’t know that. One of our old CCs received the letter and went crazy.
He sent death threats to most of the company executives, and worse, was telling his clients we were criminals.
I was unprepared for the insanity that ensued.
I was amazed at how a seemingly helpful and friendly guy can turn into a raging, hateful monster threatening harm to myself, my staff and the clients he served.
We called the FBI, and we called the JDL (The Jewish Defense League).
His searing anti-Semitic remarks in writing were beyond scary.
Now things were escalating, and the press was starting to sniff around, hearing rumors of our rogue consultant.
This went on for several weeks.
The threats and worse, my employees were getting scared.
I was dealing with the FBI, and they seemed helpful but did almost nothing to intervene.
It was getting worse.
Other Certified Consultants were aware of what was going on, but they were to my surprise, fully supportive of the company and me.
Then the most unexpected thing happened.
My rogue consultant sends a letter begging for my forgiveness!
He explained that the JDL had paid him a visit and helped him to understand the severity of his actions.
From the fear I heard in his communications, it seemed as if the JDL was very clear about their concerns with his letter.
I had held my ground.
I had stayed positive all throughout this ordeal, and I had refrained from speaking ill of this nut job to anyone outside the company.
Once again, I chose to own the situation and do what I could to take the proper action.
The support I received from my staff, from my clients and my NEW and OLD Certified Consultants was so satisfying;
I was almost surprised that I had chosen the right path and it could even turn out to be a blessing of a sort.
But the stress and fear took their toll on my partner and me.
And many of those feeling of being at the crossroads was once again emerging to haunt me, scare me and try to stop me from making the decisions I had to make to continue building and growing my Certification Program and my company.
I knew in my heart that I had to be successful.
I would never ever want to live like my mom had to live: begging for minimum wage work, struggling with finances and feeling guilty and responsible all at the same time.
I knew that when I mailed that letter, the entire fate of the company was on the line.
I knew that if I failed, I would take down almost 100 employees and their families as well.
I wondered if the "safe" thing to do was to not rebuild the program, NOT attract more crazy people, and NOT risk legal action by clients.
All of this haunted me throughout the entire time I continued to build my company.
The letter had been sent; our fate was sealed.
As a kid, I felt like it was my fault for the divorce, something I learned later in life that all kids in a split home feel.
There's a part of me that thinks I will end up the same way again, alone and broke.
Those fears are what drove me and tried to hold me back all my life.
That fear of being broke and alone is what drove me to be successful and take the necessary risks to build a company.
Let's be real; those fears are well-founded.
My house and all my possessions, bank accounts and life savings were all-in on my company's future.
Risk and Reward OR… Risk and Failure?
That conflict made life much harder back then, but it didn't replace what I knew to be true.
I KNEW that I had to survive and build a great company because I had so many people depending on me.
I KNEW we had a great product, maybe the best product ever, and it would help a lot of people.
I KNEW I had it in me to make it happen and I KNEW the values instilled by my step-dad Milton, were true and right.
That's what sustained me as I fought those feelings every step of the way.
That letter I sent became the cornerstone of our entire Certified Consultant program.
I had made the decision to persevere in the face of what looked like total defeat and destruction.
I fought back legal problems, crazy Jew-hating nut jobs, threats of being sued and all of the issued that could have happened... but didn't.
Yes, we had more and more consultants join our program, and yes, it achieved all of my objectives:
- More money,
- National coverage,
- Competitive advantage
And a loving, supportive community that became more than I could have ever hoped for.
The Day Had Arrived
It was time, the day of our National Symposium.
We had been adding Certified Consultants for about a year, and I had invited them all to The Kings Grant Hotel in Beverly, MA for three days of fun and learning. It was to be our first Symposium.
Hundreds of people streamed in from all over the country and Canada.
We welcomed old and new consultants; even those that had just passed their exam joined us.
It was our triumph in every respect.
On that first morning, when I opened those doors and saw almost 200 people all sitting and waiting for me, I became overwhelmed.
I walked into a standing ovation. It lasted a long time.
I teared up as the clapping continued and I stood there like an idiot in front of the group.
When the clapping stopped, I said "Thank you, " and the clapping started again.
I spoke for about 30 minutes about how we had come this far together, what we had achieved, together, what we saw for our future, together and at that moment all my fears, my concerns and my inhibitions about speaking in front of people just vanished.
I think back to that moment, and I realize that finally, after five years in business, I had become the Chief Executive Officer, for real.
Not the scared little boy that hid behind drugs as a way to fend off my feelings, not the coward who backs off when the heat rises, no.
I was now an executive in a company that my partner, and I Neil Ayer had built together.
With all the mistakes, missteps, and chaos that came with being a new business owner, with all the late hours and months without a day off, with all the personal growth that I was forced to endure, I had arrived that moment, in front of my own people.
They saw it in my as clearly as I saw it in myself. And it was about time.
A Timeslips Love Fest
That weekend we had a clambake for 200 people.
We had a live comedian come in and make fun of my staff and me.
We took a group out on a whale watch.
We did a lot of work together to become better as consultants.
As much as we taught them, as many lessons as we covered, as hard as we tried to show them the new technology, nothing was more powerful than the bond I had built with EVERY ONE of those Certified Consultants in that room over the course of those three days together.
I must have hugged all 200 of them by the time the event was over.
I remember going home and telling my wife that this was the peak moment of my life, to feel all that love and appreciation from all those people.
Even new Certified Consultants were overwhelmed with the friendship and camaraderie of the group.
This was the most powerful, most transformative period of my life and I will never forget it or the people in that room who took that journey with me.
After they had left, something unexpected happened:
Sales through my Certified Consultant channel went up 80%- For approximately three months we saw increasing sales consistently month after month.
Yes, we had one sales presentation, but it had been the shortest of our sessions.
I believe that happened because of the bond between the company, my Certified Consultants and me.
I have to admit: I was a little sad after they all left.
Yes, we all worked hard, we all a had fun but draining three days and...
We had generated several hundred thousand in new revenue from the symposium alone.
It taught me to pay as much if not more attention to the relationships between our people as it did our software.
It showed me the value of carefully and deliberately building a culture that can endure the good times and bad. It showcased for me every stinking little mistake I made, so I will never ever make those same mistakes again.
We proved that creating a movement is more important than just having a product.
And that lesson has only been reinforced by the work I do now with my clients.
It's why I call my Certification Building Program, “PowerTribes.”
Because, in essence, that's what we do.
We build a community of people; we develop a culture and set in place the ethical guidelines.
We operate honestly and openly and allow great things to happen.
The following year, as my Certified Consultants streamed in again, the group was even larger than before.
Once again, I greeted my group and almost cried in front of them all.
We had a full training schedule, along with some fun in store for everyone.
But this time, there was one very important difference.
Without anyone's knowledge, my partner and I had negotiated the sale of our company to Sage Plc.
Two years earlier we are struggling to survive, not sure of what would become of us, fearful of our future, and today was the crown jewel of the entrepreneurial life:
I was nominated Entrepreneur of the Year twice by INC Magazine, and awarded Entrepreneur of the Year by the Legal Industry's most coveted publication.
Our software won best product awards on both the Mac side and the PC side.
We had amassed about 250,000 users of our software at this point in time; much of the growth in the past two years came directly as a result of having a Certified Consultant community.
In 1994, we sold the company. I went on to run the U.S. Division of Sage, as the COO for two years, I then moved out of the heat and back to New England.
Today, I apply all of my skills and expertise building Certified Consultant programs for my clients so they can reap the experience of my hard-won wisdom building powerful interactive communities that work for everyone.
That's what I love to do.
That's how I want to spend my time.
I am changing the world in my own small way, by empowering my clients to deliver their own powerful software, coaching programs, and training programs, and to reach much more people than they would have without me.
Do you want to find out how you can build multiple streams of recurring revenue that results in a massive new sales channel?
I recorded this 45-minute blueprint process that will guide you through the entire build cycle.
My suggestion would be to take notes because this is the most comprehensive free certification blueprint that you will ever see.
To Watch, Click HERE: https://mitchrusso.webinarninja.co/my/wnwebinarlist/index?webinar_id=71162
Remember, this is something YOU can do, and I am here to help.
Reach out if you have questions or want to find out if you qualify to have me help you build your own.
Mitch Russo, CEO