The first business advice my dad gave me: spend more on marketing than on product

Ira Zlotowitz

Ep 55Jul 19, 2023

The Thing All Successful Businessmen Do Well

with Ira Zlotowitz

The value is not doing the work. (on taking accountability, or ol, for a result)
Ira Zlotowitz

More moments · 7

One line in your partnership agreement that ends every fight before it starts

Nobody is a 10. The only way to get perfect is to partner

There's one Yiddish word with no English translation, and it's why your boss makes more than you

You can do it faster yourself. Here's why you should still delegate

My employee said she couldn't work any harder. So I gave her a raise by hiring someone else

My father started ArtScroll. On our third date I gave my wife a choice

Why the kid refused every candy until the owner grabbed a handful

Try this · top 3

Quotes

“The best investment in the world is in yourself. You're not going to screw yourself.”

Ira Zlotowitz

“A janitor gives a lot of excuses. CEO gives none.”

Ira Zlotowitz

“Your job is to do inputs, God takes care of the outputs.”

Ira Zlotowitz

“A person is worth a blend of what it will cost the company to replace them and what they could earn somewhere else.”

Ira Zlotowitz

“Have the breakage first. (set the exit terms before starting a partnership)”

Ira Zlotowitz

“Live for today without sacrificing tomorrow.”

Ira Zlotowitz

Takeaways

1 Delegation fails mostly because of fear of being replaced. The truth: whoever reliably takes the burden and says 'I've got it covered' is the one who earns more, like a general contractor.
2 Turn delegation into math. At $100 an hour, handing a task to a $35-an-hour helper and spending 20 minutes reviewing still costs less, and the freed time can earn more.
3 Hire high caliber: if freeing four hours a day adds $200,000 a year, paying $150,000 is a strong return. An executive assistant who takes stress off you can be worth far more than secretary pay.
4 The wrong hire usually just lowers your return. It rarely breaks the business. Communication is the real risk, so align the meaning of words and repeat tasks back.
5 He uses EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System): one accountable person per project, shared terms, and hiring people who get the job, want it and have the capacity to do it.
6 Raises aren't a set percentage. Pay market value, meaning somewhere between replacement cost and the person's outside offer. Once a year, the employee raises it.
7 Starting a business to replace a salary is a healthy goal. If you can't afford a strong hire, take a partner who complements you and respects your role.
8 Second-generation family business fights often come from children who share one parent's strengths and don't value the other partner's role.
9 A story of two companies, one spending mostly on marketing and one mostly on product, illustrates his advice to spend more on marketing once the product is as good as it can be.
10 Data changed his mortgage business: conversion ran from 2% to 41% by broker. Hiring a numbers expert and a bank-relationship person lifted company conversion above 30%.
11 Employees who ask why a report is needed turn data into insight and make themselves worth more.

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