On this episode of the HyperFast Agent Podcast, host Dan Lesniak speaks with serial entrepreneur and author, Sean Castrina. Sean has started over 20 successful companies, including a multi-million dollar handyman business, and discusses his strategies around finding your niche, partnering with the right people, and focusing on profit margin to ensure your new business is a success.
Episode Highlights:
- Sean was one class away from finishing his Masters degree when he was let go from his dream job.
- Getting let go overnight made Sean realize that he didn’t want anyone else to have that amount of control over his life. So, he began his pursuit into entrepreneurship.
- When he was let go, he began selling insurance, and started an auto-detailing business.
- Sean was making $35k a year in passive income from that detailing business, through branding, attracting customers, and creating a system. That detailing business served as the blueprint for his future entrepreneurial endeavors.
- People may think they have to have sexy, big ideas in order to start a business, and that’s not necessarily true. There’s profit in the basic business ideas.
- Sean discusses a friend’s business based on crime scene cleanup, to prove it isn’t always about the sexy idea.
- Once you have an audience that comes to you, you need to look for the ancillary pieces that you can offer.
- Narrowing in on a niche market can help elevate your business faster than trying to be everything to everybody.
- The basic fundamentals of business are the same regardless of the type of business. First you have to find customers, and attract them. Then the goal is to have customers start seeking you out.
- Sean and Dan discuss whether you should quit your job before starting a new business.
- Sean has 7 business partners, and pairs with people who are the opposite of him, so they can utilize different skill sets and strengths.
- Sean’s skill set is creating startup systems for new businesses. He really shines in the first 18 months of getting a new company off the ground, and then starts to get bored.
- He partners with people who are experts in the field, who want to generate a stake in ownership, and then allows them to run the company.
- Successful and fun don’t always go together. Just because you are passionate about something doesn’t mean the business will become a success.
- Sean discusses the details of some of his companies as examples of margin. He selects the service industries where the margin between what you have to pay somebody to do it, and what customers will pay you, is high.
- Sean wrote a book called “8 Unbreakable Rules for Business Start-up Success”, and provides it for free on his website.
- Sean’s advice to new real estate agents is to outwork everybody.
- Sean’s biggest challenge was a bankruptcy earlier in life.
- When he isn’t working, Sean loves to read, nap, and play sports.
- 5 years from now Sean would like to continue as an entrepreneur, teaching and supporting others to become entrepreneurs, writing books, and making money.
3 Key Points:
- Narrowing in on a niche market can help elevate your business faster than trying to be everything to everybody.
- The basic fundamentals of business are the same regardless of the type of business. First you have to find customers, and attract them. Then the goal is to have customers start seeking you out.
- Passion projects don’t always equate to successful businesses. You need to focus on the business ideas that generate a higher margin of profit.
Tweetable Quotes:
- “I think people think they have to have this wonderfully great idea, like Shark Tank, and that’s not necessarily the case.” - Sean Castrina
- “There’s a lot of profit in the basic stuff.” - Dan Lesniak
- “If you have a target audience, you have a business.” - Sean Castrina
- “Some people try to be everything to everybody, and that rarely works.” - Dan Lesniak
- “You know why most people are living paycheck to paycheck? Because they aren’t willing to do what makes them uncomfortable.” - Sean Castrina
- “Have you earned the right to quit your job?” - Sean Castrina
- “A customer can smell desperation. They can smell broke.” - Sean Castrina
- “Passion is an entrepreneur’s mistress.” - Sean Castrina
- “Not every business owner is an entrepreneur.” - Sean Castrina
Resources Mentioned:
