Hood2Hooded Podcast
The Hood2Hooded Podcast delves into the challenging journey of overcoming poverty and breaking the cycle of generational limitations. Through insightful discussions and practical strategies, we aim to empower listeners with the knowledge and tools necessary to rise above adversity. From exploring entrepreneurship and business savvy to unlocking the mental barriers that perpetuate defeat, our goal is to guide you on a transformative journey towards achieving generational wealth. Join us as we navigate the path from hood to hooded, embracing hustle, passion, and growth along the way. It's time to break free from the shackles of poverty and embrace a future filled with success and prosperity.
Hood2Hooded Podcast
Conquering the First Year: Transforming Dreams into Entrepreneurial Reality
Ever faced the daunting challenge of turning your dream into reality, only to find the path littered with unexpected hurdles? Join me, Dr. Shon, the Motivational Dentist, as I recount my personal journey through the first year of entrepreneurship in the post-COVID world. From leaving behind a secure corporate job to launching Motivational Dentistry, I share raw experiences of battling rising costs and managing cash flow, all while striving to build a practice that truly reflects my identity. Discover the strategies that have kept me afloat, despite sleepless nights and relentless economic pressures.
In this episode, we unravel the complex layers of entrepreneurship, moving beyond financial motivation to explore the essence of building a business with longevity. Ever wondered how entrepreneurs survive a decade in business? I disclose the secrets, from self-funding to navigating through the financial minefield of business loans. We’ll tackle head-on the challenges of managing overhead costs and the importance of establishing a robust financial strategy in your first year.
But what about the relentless resilience needed to thrive? We'll touch on this too, highlighting the power of identifying your ideal customer and the benefits of reducing reliance on insurance. Through personal anecdotes, I underscore the necessity of strategic planning, market research, and defining a unique selling proposition. And, as we round up, I share the stories of entrepreneurs like Pinky from Slutty Vegan, who have turned adversity into success. Let my journey inspire you to stay fearless, support your community, and remain committed to your vision.
Thanks for listening, I pray this episode inspires you to kick start your journey towards the ultimate level of success.
Let's connect. Visit this link drshon.com
What's going on? Hood to Hooded mentees, ings and queens and chosen ones and, of course, generational curse breakers. Welcome back to episode nine of the Hood to Hooded podcast with your host, dr Sean, the Motivational Dentist. In this podcast we will be talking about how I survived my first year as a business owner and tips for new entrepreneurs. If this is your first time listening to this podcast, welcome and thank you so much for being here Today. We are going to have a pretty lengthy subject and it's mostly related to entrepreneurship, the ins and outs and how to survive and beat the odds, because the odds sometimes are in your favor. You don't realize how much they are not in your favor when you actually have that big idea. You don't know all the stats, but once knowledge is power, so that way you are equipped to make sure your business is successful. So welcome back. Like I said, we're going to be diving into entrepreneurship and at first.
Speaker 1:I personally have gone through a lot as a new dental practice owner and, trust me, it has not. It just really has not been a walk in the park. So I'm here today and I'm still standing as an entrepreneur. So I just wanted to give my insight so far and see if there's any tips that you can give me. Send me a message whether that's social media, email and let me know how your journey is going. But, like I said, I'm still here and we want to know how to beat the odds. Stay strong and set yourself up for success. So let's dive in.
Speaker 1:The first thing I want to talk about is my first year experience, so let me start by sharing my story. Owning a dental practice has been one of the most rewarding, yet one of the most stressful, toughest times I've ever experienced in my life. Of course, there has been some highs, but there also have been moments where I just wanted to throw in the towel. There's always a steep learning curve, and I definitely experienced the learning curve that most entrepreneurs experience, in that you have those sleepless nights where you don't even know if you're doing the right thing or if you should do more, or you just question everything. So it just takes time to develop that confidence and you're going to have a lot of people around you who are going to doubt what you're doing. You have to keep your idea and your gift to yourself until you're ready to share it, because you will get met with some criticism and people wondering why you don't want to go to work Like what. You want to start a business that ain't going to work. So, first of all, let's not listen to those negative people and if you have a business that you know exactly what I'm talking about and if this is your first year, you just want to handle it like a little baby. This is your baby and you want to make sure it survives. So that's exactly how I felt with first year entrepreneurship.
Speaker 1:One of the biggest challenges for me is managing cash flow and overhead costs. This is from paying salaries for the staff, the equipment, supplies, labor, inventory. It really adds up and I really feel like since COVID I hate saying that word Since the C word, you'll know what I'm talking about Entrepreneurship has increased, but also the supplies and the things. Especially in the dental industry, things have skyrocketed. Just think about it. Before COVID I almost said the word, before the c-word came you know masks, gloves, all these different things dentists use. It was really cheap. Since the c-word, everyone's wearing masks and gloves. So the prices for a lot of things have pretty much skyrocketed.
Speaker 1:And if you are living in this day and age that groceries are higher, that car insurance is higher, rent is higher, housing is higher. Everything is so much more expensive in 2024. And I know I'm not the only one. So entrepreneurship is a way for you to get out of that box and try to make more than what you're making per hour. I always say, like, how much are you willing to take to give up your dream? If you have a dream to start a business and just have unlimited income potential, then do it. Otherwise, you're going to be working per hour and there is no income, no real difference in the amount you're going to make. You will be having that same baseline for a long time. Okay, and a lot of people just stay on those jobs. I've been in that situation where I stayed on a job. You can't really stay there if you're not happy. It's easy to feel like you're drowning when the expenses seem to outweigh the income, especially in those earlier months, I just know. So we opened up. Let's just give you a little background. We opened up Motivational Dentistry June the 1st 2023.
Speaker 1:And before we opened, I kind of part-time worked at another office and I eased my way into this. But the whole time I was working at another office we were self my fiance and I. We were self-funding this business, just pouring everything we can and investing into getting this thing off the ground. Now I had a lot of opposition. People were like, how are you going to find a patient? Where are they going to come from? Because you're starting from zero. In every business you will be starting from zero. But do not let that make you get that sense of fear to the point where you can't do it. In my head the whole time because I wanted it so bad. I really didn't want to go to work again because the office that I was working at they sold to corporate and I never wanted to be in corporate with dentistry because they work you like an animal. And once they did that I said I can't just continue to go to different offices. None of them are going to be me, none of them will represent Dr Sean. So it was time for me to embark on my own.
Speaker 1:I have been an associate for, I would say, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, for almost five years and I felt like that was enough. The offices that I was in they were leaving me alone. I was basically running their office. Mine is the business part of it, and I say that because I really underestimated the business part of it. Let what makes or breaks the business. The dentistry I can do. You know I can do the dentistry In my sleeve. I can do the dentistry because this is what I've been trained to do at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, tennessee. This is what I've been trained to do at the Brooklyn Hospital Center at my dental residency. It was a general practice residency and working in various offices. Seeing the owner's style, it just I felt like I could do it.
Speaker 1:But let me just be clear it was a lot harder than it looked, but I had a lot of faith and that's what you need to keep you going. When you first start in the business, there's a lot of faith. You of faith. You're going to really need to do some research and figure out how can I make my business successful and not fail within the first year. That's the thing that I worry about constantly. Okay, we're getting patience, we open up, we started to get a schedule, we're hiring. It's just a lot that goes into that first year to the point where you can either give up just because it's too much or you give up because it's not working the way you anticipated. So I would just highly recommend, as far as cash flow and overhead when you're opening up a business is to really just budget and just watch your finances because it's going to be tight. A lot of people think that when you go into business for the first year, even with dentistry, that is super, super profitable. And some people are unicorns. They can come out and be super profitable in any business, but that's not always the case. So instead of just thinking that you're going to be this unicorn, you really want to prepare yourself mentally, physically, to take on the difficult task of everything being on you, because you're going to essentially have to pay yourself, essentially have to pay other people and essentially have to keep your business afloat, like literally.
Speaker 1:The marketing and the branding was very key to Motivational Dentistry. I've been wearing the motivational dentistry shirt since dental school. My fiance and I came up with the logo and the idea in dental school, but not because it was headed towards a practice. It was just because I was motivational, kind of speaking, talking about dentistry, and it was just the perfect mix. So I was wearing the shirt, had no idea what would come of it. But that's how bringing things into fruition works it starts with just an idea a, c and now that logo is outside on our building, like that's crazy, just to see the progress and that was branding starting all the way in dental school in 2015. There was no business for it, there was no building for it, but it was just a branding getting the word out there. And even my classmates, people on the internet when my story went viral for graduating, I was known, as I'm known, as the motivational dentist, so that's really cool.
Speaker 1:So branding is so important. Don't ever feel like you don't need to brand your business. You don't need that logo. You don't have to push your business because you will be one of the ones who fail because you don't realize the importance of these different parts of your business. Okay, marketing, learning how to market yourself or market myself as a new practice owner was a huge hurdle, but I knew that it was so important to the type of business I'm in. It takes time to build your brand, to build your marketing, and that first year can be super brutal if you don't have enough visibility in the community or socially online. Understanding the right channels for your business, such as social media, billboards, local marketing, newspapers, doing postcards, just the word of mouth, having events, is going to be critical to building your customer base. If you think you're going to sit back and people are just going to come, you're going to be eaten alive by the people who understand marketing and branding, and I know for me, one of the key sources of branding was Google, because with a dental office, google can do search engine optimization and kind of get customers in your area Because it's an office. We want people to come in for services and find us through that way. We also had a strong social media presence. It's still growing to this day.
Speaker 1:I don't really do too much with it like I should, like I was in the beginning, because entrepreneurship is a whole animal here. It's a whole animal, guys, and I just want to warn everybody that it is an animal that you must take serious, because if you hopping in the entrepreneur lane, if you hopping in the entrepreneur lane, if you hopping in the entrepreneur lane, I need you to be entrepreneur minded. Okay, I need you to be business minded, success minded, growth minded. I need you to have personal development, business development, be thinking about all of that because you are going to need it, and I'm just so grateful that I did do a lot of research. I read a lot of books, but even all of that could not prepare me for what was to come. Okay, I'm still standing and I don't look like what I've been through. How many entrepreneurs that don't look like what they've been through? That's me. I don't look like what I've been through, but I've been through it. I've been through it. Like I said, some nights you just have sleepless nights, like I don't know if I'm doing the right thing. Is God really calling me to do this? Is this where I'm supposed to be? Like I don't know.
Speaker 1:So much happens when you're dealing with that first year, especially if you have a staff. Oh my God. When you add other people into it trying to train people and hiring it's just a whole nother beast. When I was a clinical dentist, I didn't have to worry about any of that. I could just come into work, sit at my desk, they come get me when they need me to do a procedure or check a patient and I go back and do my notes and the day is over. I don't have to worry about who's paying the light bill or the phone bill or the internet or the software or what's broken or what needs to be fixed and what needs to be clean, and scheduling meetings, it's just so. Dealing with customer complaints, it's just so much that goes into entrepreneurship and I want you guys to have a head start and be prepared, even if you are just a little knee deep in.
Speaker 1:I feel like there is some insight that you can get from this conversation to help you stay motivated and know your risk, because there is so much risk involved when you're playing the game of money. All right, so let's just now pivot and talk about the stats of entrepreneurship. So I have my notes here and let's put things into perspective with these numbers. Did you know that there are over 582 million entrepreneurs globally? That's almost, that's a little bit over half a billion entrepreneurs globally. Now, in the US alone, there's approximately 31 million entrepreneurs in the US. But here's the kicker Only 35% of those businesses, of those 31 million, are still in business after 10 years.
Speaker 1:So if you've been in business for 10 years, pat yourself on the back because you are rare. You are a rarity. Only 35% of entrepreneurs make it to the 10-year mark. So I feel like 10 years is a celebration in itself, because you overcame a lot of things that most entrepreneurs couldn't figure out. They couldn't stay committed or they didn't have the business that people wanted. Think about Blockbuster. They were in business. They were a video store. You can go in and get your movies back in the day. I don't know. They probably made it well past the 10 years. But when they did not pivot, the business kind of fell because everything went to the internet, right. How sobering is that? To know that only 35% of businesses make it to 10 years.
Speaker 1:That's scary to me, but at the same time it allows me to be prepared and know that in the beginning I'm really going to have to work super duper hard and be committed to this dream. If this is what I want now, if it's not what you want, just throw in a towel because it's not worth putting yourself through all this. If you really don't want it, money can't be the motivation. Money is motivation, but you have to have a lot more than that to stay committed. On those nights, like I said, when there's sleepless nights, when you don't know what you should do next because everything is on you. You're the creator of this business. So let's talk about the funding struggles, because I definitely dealt with that opening up and not because I couldn't get funding.
Speaker 1:I feel like I rushed out. If I can be frankly honest with you, I was in a situation like I said the company that I was working for sold. I was miserable, guys, I was miserable. So I said, hey, let me go try to find a building. And I saw a dentist on the internet. She just had one room and one patient. That was just her and that was so inspiring to me. I felt, dang, I just need one room. If I could just find one room to do the same thing I'm doing in other people's office, I can do this. Otherwise I'm gonna hate what I do because they make you see four or five people an hour and that was overkill for me. That's how you get burnt out as a dentist.
Speaker 1:But regardless of that fact, once I found the building, I asked God for a room. He gave me a building with nine operatories and that comes with a lot of responsibility. So once I got the building, I just rushed out and self-funded the whole operation. Like I said, my fiance and I, we self-funded the whole operation. Like I said, my fiance and I, we self-funded it. But I feel like it's better if you get into credit and get loan and funding when you're having a dental practice. We were just miraculously able to do this for a whole year without having a loan, but I'm not opposed to getting one in the future once we build our business credit. And, you know, go a little further, but that is one way to have capital so that you don't go bankrupt while you're in business. So a huge, a huge part of being prepared is knowing how you're going to fund your business.
Speaker 1:Almost 66.3% of entrepreneurs fund their business ventures with personal savings. That's a lot of people. So I'm in that category of self-funding with personal savings. Another 27.6% rely on income from another job. I'm also in that category because I use my job for like almost a year to invest in this venture and my fiance I guess you could say he's family and friends. Others borrow from family and friends. That's about 11.3%, and the other 11.2% take out the loan. So about 10% of people are able to take out a business loan to start their business. But that goes into having credit, just having a history, some collateral.
Speaker 1:There's a lot involved when you do the funding through a bank and I attempted to go that route but I didn't quite make it to the loan route for a couple of reasons and I just couldn't wait to make it perfect. I just wanted to go. I didn't want that to be something that held me back, and I didn't know that most people did it the way I do it. Is it the best way? I don't know. I'm not in debt for having a business loan, so I guess it's okay. But, depending on your business, it's going to make a difference into how you open up. But this is one critical area that you want to consider how am I going to pay for this business that I'm starting? Who's going to help me, or am I going to be able to save and invest in it? Because one thing is important you must invest. There is an investment of time and money Maybe your money, maybe someone else's money.
Speaker 1:So now let's talk about some keys to surviving year one. These are survival tactics and some key strategies that help me stay afloat, and they may help you as well, excuse me During your first year. The first thing is budgeting and cash flow management. You want to have a clear understanding of your overhead, track your expenses meticulously and create a budget that works for your business. Cash is king and poor financial management is one of the top reasons businesses fail. Did y'all hear that Poor financial management is one of the top reasons businesses fail?
Speaker 1:And I can say in the first year of being a dental practice owner, one of the weaknesses that we had in the beginning was trying to get in network with all insurances Medicaid, medicare, ppo, hmo, everybody. Okay, because there was, like I said, that fear that we wouldn't have a patient and I really was warned about taking an insurance. But the part of me was listening to other people how are you going to have a patient? I think you should start with something. And I got in the bed with the insurance networks and let me tell you that has been the biggest nightmare for me, as a dentist is dealing with insurance. I really feel like that makes the financial management very poor, because there's so much you have to put into dealing with insurance. You need somebody to check the eligibility, you need somebody to file the claim, you need somebody to follow up with the claim CY is rejected, then you need someone to close the claim and then send the statement. So there's so many parts when you go into bed with dealing with a dental insurance.
Speaker 1:That's one of the things that I feel like as time went on, we reduced our reliance on insurance because it's too much management, it's too many people that you have that you need to run this practice that's insurance-based. So that's the one biggest mistake I can say that I made. And when you're in business, whatever industry you're in, you're going to find what is your price point, what price should you be charging, and with insurance, a lot of the times they wouldn't pay. I got a $10,000 denial from one of the insurance carriers and it's just a lot of headache. It just that's what truly makes my entrepreneurship journey a lot more tedious and it makes me almost hate it a little bit. But since I know that fact, I had to slow my way out of the insurance networks and I'm still doing that year two and a lot of the patients don't understand. But you must do what's best for your business or you'll be out of business. To tell them I gotta do what's best or we won't have a business. If this is not working and I'm end up, if I end up, paying for procedures that the insurance company should be paying for. That's not a good business model. It doesn't help anybody but just makes people go out of business. So you want to pay attention to your cashflow management, see what things you need to drop, see what product isn't working, how can you get more profit margins on your products or your services? And that's what we're dealing with now.
Speaker 1:The second thing that is going to be key to surviving year one is your research and your planning. We already talked about this a little bit before, but you want to do research before launching your business. So do extensive research to understand the market, to understand your competition and your ideal customer. You always want to have a plan in place to prevent headaches down the road. So understanding your marketing and your market is understanding what area you are in. Are they going to be able to buy it? Is there a need for this? Understanding just the competition? What other businesses are doing what you're doing? What makes your business stand out and unique to the point where people want to choose your company versus another company that maybe has been in business for 10 years and they have that credibility?
Speaker 1:If you're new on the market, you want to have a unique selling proposition. You want to have something that makes you stand out. It can't just be I got a business I need y'all to buy because I need some money. It can't be that it has to be well thought out plan. What is your branding? What is your idea? How do you make it come to life? What are your brand colors? It's just, it goes really deep. How much are you investing into that process? Because it will save you a lot of headache down the road when you market and plan properly, knowing who your ideal customer is.
Speaker 1:And for me, the first year I thought that my ideal customer would be cash only. But then once I started listening to other people and they put that fear, I signed up for the insurance scam and then everybody was my customer. And now, a year later, I'm like everybody isn't my customer because I can't save everyone. I have to figure out what is my ideal customer. And my ideal customer for me is somebody who just wants to invest in motivational dentistry the way that I can. Because for a while I just did everything like okay, I'll do this, discount, that discount. For a while I just did everything like okay, I'll do this, discount, that discount and I ended up, you know, decreasing the profit margins and the business really struggled by doing that. So you can't really always have that sympathy. It's business. You got to take your feelings out of it and in the first year, the biggest thing you can do is take your feelings out of it. Now, as a disclaimer me as a provider I feel like I should be able to say okay, I want to do some charity or do these procedures at a discount, but you can't do that until you actually start making a profit, and that is a big thing. When you're starting, you can't do that type of thing.
Speaker 1:Number three is your marketing and your branding. Again, this is a key to surviving. Consistency is key, guys. I don't care what they tell you, I don't care how you feel, I don't care if you get zero likes on the internet or on Facebook or on the social media platforms. Promote your business. Somebody will see it.
Speaker 1:As a small business owner, you need to market your services effectively. It doesn't cost a fortune and, in fact, over 55% of businesses do their marketing on social media for free, so there is no excuse. Social media is free. It can have a massive impact on your business. You could just show up every day and drop posts and grow your followers, and once you do more research and learn the importance of marketing, then you can start doing ads Google ads, hulu ads, billboards the marketing can go so, so, so deep and I think we'll save that topic to go deeper in another podcast.
Speaker 1:But just know that marketing and branding will be key if you want to develop that customer base, knowing who your ideal customer is, and you cannot ignore this fact. So, for example, us now we are having to shift to more marketing ourselves versus relying on insurance, because the insurance they give their sales 80% discount and it's not worth it. It's not worth me having a procedure that's say, for example, $2,600. And the insurance company says, oh, we're only going to give you $400. And then I have a lab bill for $400. It's a negative thing. So just make sure you're paying attention to the numbers and I know in the beginning I slack with paying attention to the numbers Only because it happens so fast, like we were getting so many numbers only because it happens so fast, like we were getting so many numbers, so many patients so fast, that you can lose track. So there's two things that can happen you can grow really fast and get lose contract, lose control of the numbers, or you can have slow growth where you'll be able to manage it better. One key thing is getting an accountant and somebody to do your bookkeeping, because that can be tedious. But, like I said in the first year, you need to watch your budget and not hire too many people or do too many things. Quality customer service is the next key to surviving year one.
Speaker 1:Customer service is like a lost art nowadays. A lot of people do not have good customer service and you get in the big corporate chains. You go to the drive-thru, they don't even say hello. What's up? They're just 55. It's dang. You don't even greet me, no more. What's going on? I don't get a hello. You're giving your money to this business and they don't even care about customer service. And a lot of businesses are like that and we still support them. But when you're a small business you're not Burger King, mcdonald's, Ross or Neiman Marcus, you're not any of Whole Foods, you're not these big chain corporate companies you really need to have customer service. Be your best friend. This can foot the bill. This can make your business stand out, because a lot of businesses slack when it comes to customer service. So if you can do customer service, the customers will flow to you. Guess why? Because of word of mouth. Word of mouth, people will remember how you make them feel.
Speaker 1:An exceptional customer service is essential to building a loyal customer base. Happy clients are the best form of marketing. Could you guys say this with me? Happy clients are the best form of marketing. There is nothing better than having somebody give you five stars on Google because you make them feel good when they came into your business. You greeted them, you make them feel like, hey, this is exactly where I need to be, and we like to do that at Motivational Dentistry. We like to really make customer service our top priority, and during this first year, you will learn you can't please everybody. You will learn that some people aren't they just. Some people are bad because you know they're going to complain everywhere. I'm not talking about those people, but if you give it your all and you pour all you can into your customers, they will reward you. So you just have to put the proper channels into place to make sure that the communication is there, to make sure you have prompts and just different things that you do to make your business stand out.
Speaker 1:Now I think that should be actually number one on my list is the customer service, because that can grow your business so big. Just think about the people who are online marketing their brand or their personality, or they make themselves the business and when they go viral they have a lot of customers that they can pull from. Now they have so many people that are interested in their services and products. So now that part of the business isn't a problem. But if you never put yourself out there, you're scared to get on social media. You don't want to do it. You just stay local and you don't care about that. It's going to take you a long time to grow. You have to market if you want to increase your chances of not failing and being in that percentage of people who fail during the first year. You don't want to be on the 20% of businesses fail in the first year. You want to be on the 80% because you are doing everything you can to make your business successful. Okay, now hiring the right team Now that's a biggie.
Speaker 1:Hiring during your first year of entrepreneurship is very I don't know life learning. You will learn a lot about hiring, just from setting up the hiring into the payment system like ADP, from all of the different things you have to have Workers comp it's a lot. The training involved Just having staff, other people too. You make sure their family eats. It's a lot. When you're hiring your staff can either make or break your business. Now I've had people who actually help, but I also had staff who didn't help.
Speaker 1:You want to make sure you hire slow and fire fast. If you don't take anything else from the hiring the right person, just hire very slow. Make sure you know who you're hiring. Do extensive research. Don't just pull the first person off the block because they may not be committed and they may not be loyal to your brand's mission, or they just may be a bad apple, and a bad apple can spoil a bunch. I learned the hard way that you can't just hire anybody. You really need people who are aligned with you and who are going to make your business grow and understand the importance of customer service. A lot of these corporate chains they get so big and they have so many micromanagers and by the time it gets to the person who is actually interacting with the customer, that person really don't give a damn. They really don't give a damn, they really don't care. So that can hurt your business. So just make sure you have those templates and models in place so people can train and if they're not doing what they're supposed to do get them gone.
Speaker 1:If you haven't seen the McDonald's movie, I really think that is a great movie to watch, just to see how their business grew from nothing to what it is today. I think you would really be shocked if you haven't seen it. And if you are a new entrepreneur, that is your homework. Go and watch the McDonald's movie. I really think you should see that Next is going to be loving what you do. So, entrepreneurs, please listen up.
Speaker 1:Don't do something that you don't love, because you will always be working. You already know what I'm going to say. If you do something you love, you will never work a day in your life. All right, and I think that's one fact that kept me going during my first year, even during the times when I couldn't pay myself which is a lot Even the times when I felt like I had a sleepless night or I was stressed out about the business. One thing that keeps me going is when the patients show up and I'm able to help them and make them smile and give them new teeth or fix their cavity or get them out of pain. That brings me so much joy, and just that fact alone, even if I don't get paid from the insurance. At the end of the day, I'm able to help someone and do a service, and that just keeps me going. So if you're doing something you love and you are helping people, just be grateful for that and use that as fuel to make sure that you are doing the right thing, setting your business up for success and just trying to stay in the part of the statistics that don't fail. All right. So number number.
Speaker 1:The next thing we're going to talk about is failure. It's no secret, like I said earlier, that 20 of entrepreneurs fail in their first year. That number jumps to 50 by year. Five, okay, and the two reasons that it jumps to 50% by the fifth year is due to a lack of demand for the product or service. The second reason is a lack of funding. Now, we've already talked about how you should position your product to be sold, and also we talked about customer service, but let's go back to the lack of demand for your product or service. Do not's go back to the lack of demand for your product or service. Do not start a business that is not in demand.
Speaker 1:You may have a great idea, but it may fail if nobody wants to buy it. So make sure you are doing things that people want to buy. People are always going to eat, they always need clothes, they always need shelter right. So along in health is also another one. But you want to make sure you're doing something that people actually want and that they need and that you're not wasting your time, because if you don't have customers, you don't have a business, no matter how great you think your idea is all right now. I know that was a lot talking about businesses that fail and then also by the 10th year, by the 10th year, there's only 35% of entrepreneurs still standing at year 10. So just think about that.
Speaker 1:But on a brighter note, let's look on the bright side of entrepreneurship. I've already told you all the things that could go wrong, but what can go right when you become an entrepreneur? If you hang in there, you're prepared, you're doing your research, you've found your industry, you know that your product is quality, you got your customer service stuff together, you know how to budget and market and, like I said, when you start you're not going to know every little detail, but once you know what you're looking for, it's easier to avoid making mistakes. So let's not forget that 65% of businesses that survive in their first year become profitable with time and commitment. So if you make it past that first year, you're likely headed towards a profit. That first year you're likely headed towards a profit.
Speaker 1:Entrepreneurship really teaches you resilience, adaptability and the power of innovation. Okay, some of the most successful people around the world, including 75, I meant 70% of self-made American billionaires, built their fortunes through entrepreneurship, and a funny thing is 7% of those entrepreneurs that we're talking about they came from poverty or they came from some type of adversity. So in this podcast, we talk about poverty, adversity and overcoming the odds, and I want you guys to know that, even though the odds are small for people who come from backgrounds like mine, for starting a business or just making it out, there's still a chance. It's a seven percent chance, but there is still a chance for you to start something great, and I feel like that number is lower because we're not taught financial literacy.
Speaker 1:You don't really have a lot of people in your business your family who have businesses, and if they don't really have a lot of people in your business your family who have businesses, and if they don't really talk about how they did it, what they're doing, what their prop, they don't really talk about this. It's like a secret. Oh oh, my auntie got a business. Oh, my uncle got a business. Oh, my cousin got a business. But you don't talk about it. Nobody talks about it. It's closed mouths.
Speaker 1:So in this podcast I wanted to just really open up and just talk about what is required and just inspire more people who come from underserved backgrounds and disadvantaged communities and who are generational curse breakers to take that leap of faith. Just be prepared. But take that leap of faith because it can change your life. But it all starts with a thought If you're not, if this is, you probably haven't even made it this far. If you're not a gold digger, if you're not, like, really serious about entrepreneurship, then this won't even apply to you. But for the ones who are and who come from poverty and who come from that background, take that leap of faith to just prepare and even if you do fail, that's really not a failure. You're gonna learn something in that first year or that first try.
Speaker 1:Think about Pinky from Slutty Vegan. Before she was so successful in a multimillionaire and in stadiums and in different cities across the country, her business in New York fell. Her business got burnt down. She didn't have insurance business insurance so she had to start over from scratch and I can just imagine that her having to do that was disheartening. It probably broke her heart, made her want to quit. Even though she didn't quit, she said you know what? I'm going to go back and try this again. So I need y'all to have that pinky coal type of vibe If something don't work, I'm going to try it again, and this time I'll use what I learned the first time to make this business more successful.
Speaker 1:Okay, now let's talk about some future trends and opportunities for future entrepreneurs out there. If you're looking forward to getting into the entrepreneur lane, some industries that are expected to grow by a whopping 900% is home health and personal care. So if you're doing something in these lanes, then this is where you want to be, because a lot of the population is aging faster than the youth. So that means we're going to have a lot of people in their 60s, 70s, 80s who will need that home health care and personal services. And, of course, dentistry will always be in that number. Dentistry, medicine, things like that will be in the number, because health is important. Health is wealth. Taking care of your teeth as you get older is important, and we won't go into that, because I can start preaching about teeth, but make sure you brush and floss your teeth until you're old and gray. But yeah, that's where entrepreneurship is heading and those are the industries that are going to be coming up Now I will leave you guys with some final and strong opinions To all my current entrepreneurs listening out there.
Speaker 1:I want you to remember this the road to success is never a straight line. There will be bumps, detours, setbacks, tornadoes, hurricanes, floods. There'll be so much that tries to stop you from doing what you're doing. But my message for you is to keep going. If you're prepared, passionate and persistent, you can survive anything. Okay, and you can thrive through any situation. My journey as a first year dental practice owner has had its challenges, but it's been incredibly fulfilling, and the key is to keep learning, adapting and never give up on your vision, okay. So, yeah, never give up on your vision. Use these strategies and this information to make you a stronger entrepreneur. Know what weaknesses you have and if you've been in the game for one year, five years, 10 years, 20 years, make sure you go back and pour into other entrepreneurs, or at least in your family, because there's a lack of information when it comes to this subject, and I just want to change the narrative and give hope out there to any of us who are just ready to break outside of the box. We're ready to get out of the matrix.
Speaker 1:The pay per hour just isn't adding up and if you're in this society right now, you know how serious it is. Things are so high. For instance, I went into the grocery store and there was a $45 bottle of olive oil that I used to get for $17. Toothpaste is now $10, $7. Deodorant, even personal care items, are super high. Food is high. Everything is super high. So you definitely want to have that extra source of income and multiple streams of income if you really want to live comfortable and not work your whole entire life for money and get to the end and you're old and you can't even Whoa, I need a little water, I need a little water, ooh guys. So you don't want to get to that age when you're in your 50s and 60s and not have anything set up. You want to make sure you're prepared and ready for the challenge. Entrepreneurship, having multiple streams of income, is the way, and I think we'll touch on that in another podcast about the importance of multiple screens of income, how to set yourself up for success.
Speaker 1:Okay, and just know that if you don't take anything else had a little cough there, clear my throat for a second. Had a little cough there, clear my throat for a second. So just know that if you don't take anything else from this podcast is to be consistent. Show up for yourself. Remove all the fear. Don't let the haters and the naysayers and the doubters talk you out of your vision. Know that there will be risk, but that is not an indication for you to not start.
Speaker 1:I knew that going into dental school. There was a less than 1% chance. I talk about this a lot and I can imagine if I had a thought oh my God, that chance is so low, I'm not going to get in. I'm not going to even try and count myself out. You don't want to count yourself out on something that you could be great for and that the world actually needs. Even though 85% of entrepreneurs are men and about 25% are women. Even though majority of entrepreneurs are white yeah, majority of them are white. I think 80, probably 85% again are white, and the other percent is split between Black, asian and Latino only 4%. So if you're African-American, like me, there is 4% of entrepreneurs who look like us. So this is important for us to increase the diversity in entrepreneurship. Don't hold back, don't have a fear. Know that you are, you're chosen and you just have to do it to change that percentage. We need more enlightening, more financial literacy, that percentage. We need more enlightening, more financial literacy.
Speaker 1:Follow podcasts, read books, whatever you can to make sure that your mind is prepared and that you're ready to take this leap of faith. All right, one book that I'm going to recommend for my hooded mentees, kings and queens chosen ones, generational curse breakers is this book by Arlene Hamilton. She's also on YouTube and she is a self-made millionaire. She started with nothing, she used investors and now she invests in other businesses. So this book is called your First Million Entrepreneur's Guide. All right, your First Million Entrepreneur's Guide. All right. As we go on, I will recommend books for us to read and just discuss, and this is one that I really think you should read, all right. So this has been another Hitsolated Podcast. I hope you guys learned something today and until the next podcast, I hope that you are successful and remove all the doubt and just keep fighting for your dreams, guys.
Speaker 1:Like I said, this first year, it really threw me for a loop. I didn't think we were going to survive, but we're still standing. The patients still show up and we're still hanging in there. I still have so much more to learn. The patients still show up and we're still hanging in there. I still have so much more to learn, knowing that 50% of businesses fail by year five, I have four years left to go and I'm just cheering for myself, I'm cheering for the company and just cheering for you all as well. So keep your head. I'm entrepreneurs and I will see you guys in the next video. This is Dr. Shon, the Motivational Dentist, and I am Peace.
