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Ep 68The Hasidic Man Who Created Millions Out of Nothing
1:15

Business · 1:15

I made my son's wedding for $10,000, and nobody went home hungry

Rabbi Yonasan Schwartz

Ep 68Feb 28, 2024

The Hasidic Man Who Created Millions Out of Nothing

with Rabbi Yonasan Schwartz

Those who don't try work for those who do.

Rabbi Yonasan Schwartz

More moments · 7

1:22
He blamed his education, so his classmate called him and went down the list
1:32
A Chassidish mashgiach started a sushi business, then dropped the kosher market
1:22
The owner of B&H Photo has never sent a text message
0:53
People spend money they don't have to impress people they don't care about
1:18
We could have played the victim card for hundreds of years. We didn't.
1:10
For two years we made 50-person weddings, and nobody complained
0:47
Amazon canceled its top-seller retreat because it fell on Shabbos

Try this · top 3

Quotes

“Be smart, don't be stupid. Don't jump in and grow slowly.”

Rabbi Yonasan Schwartz

“These people are so poor that the only thing that they have in life is money.”

Rabbi Yonasan Schwartz

“The victim card never works.”

Rabbi Yonasan Schwartz

“Be smart, don't be right.”

Rabbi Yonasan Schwartz

“People spend money they don't have to buy things they don't need to impress people they don't care [about]. (a well-known saying he quotes)”

Rabbi Yonasan Schwartz

Takeaways

  1. 1 Reb Yonasan Schwartz came to America as an orphan with no English. He paid his own rent from the first month, starting as a butcher and then as a popular wedding entertainer.
  2. 2 When he saw himself slipping from number one to three or four as younger entertainers came up, he changed course instead of complaining. His wife chose toys. He bought a small Boro Park store and built Toys to Discover: five stores, about 50+ employees and wholesale to local shops and supermarkets.
  3. 3 Any product can be a big business, like Chinese factories that make only paper clips or keychain rings. He once sold about $20 million a year on Amazon but sold that account as the platform became very hard to compete on.
  4. 4 Slow growth is safer and happier. Borrowing and repaying builds the credit line that lets you order more.
  5. 5 In his view, lack of secular schooling is no excuse: one yeshiva class of 28 went on to careers earning hundreds of thousands. The difference is mindset and self-belief.
  6. 6 A friend's sushi business took off once he stopped marketing only as 'kosher' and sold to law firms, doctors' offices and corporate clients.
  7. 7 Close-knit networks, interest-free loan funds and WhatsApp status audiences drive referrals and business in the Hasidic world.
  8. 8 Weddings are out of hand: $120,000-130,000 is common, which can break a family with many children. His son's wedding night cost about $10,000 total, done on purpose to show it can be done.
  9. 9 Ideas to cut simcha costs: low-cost halls and wedding 'malls' funded by wealthy donors, a savings-and-loan pool families pay into years ahead, and each couple buying their own furniture.
  10. 10 Don't live to impress others. Showy spending sets a standard that neighbors living on the same block feel pressure to meet.

Full episode

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