When you start with nothing to starting, building, and selling off multiple businesses to Fortune 500 companies, you’ve got it made, right? That’s not what this week’s guest, Aaron Walker experienced. Before he reached the age of 30 he had already sold his first company to a Fortune 500 competitor. Even though he had no intention of selling, they made him an offer he couldn’t refuse.

Then tragedy struck. This changed everything for Aaron and sent him on the journey of moving from success to significance.

He is now a living example of how you can prioritize the relationships that matter most and still succeed in business. And he’s helping other men do the same thing through his mastermind groups and retreats. Tune in to this week’s episode as we explore how to make those hard choices so you can prioritize your marriage and family. - You only have one pass in life to do it well.

Sound Bites

"We never learned through success. We only learned through failure and we only learn in the valley."

"The reason I'm such a proponent now for leaving it all on the field. Squeeze every drop out, do everything you can, make every moment intentional, live your life proactive, not reactive, to maximize this awesome thing that we get to do every day."

Check out his mastermind groups and retreats https://www.viewfromthetop.com/isi-mastermind

Key Takeaways:

• Sold first business to a Fortune 500 company at 27

• Tragedy struck that changed everything

• Entrepreneurs think there is a moment when “I’ve arrived.” But it’s only temporary

• Happiness is a choice

• His purpose is to turn ordinary men to extraordinary people

• Develop a support team before you need it. Then you’ll never be alone

• Place guardrails around your life so business doesn’t take over

Bio

For over 45 years, Aaron, has been a small business owner, committed husband, devoted father, and community leader. He got his first taste of real accountability in a business Mastermind group where he developed genuine friendships and grew alongside Dave Ramsey, Dan Miller, Ken Abraham, and others. He currently serves as founder and CEO of View from the Top where Iron Sharpens Iron Masterminds, business coaching, and events all coordinate to achieve the mission.

Want to live a better balanced life and win in marriage AND business at the same time? Purchase our book Tandem: The married entrepreneurs’ guide for greater work-life balance. https://www.thetandembook.com/

Need to create more time to dedicate to your marriage? Download this free guide. https://marriedentrepreneur.co/boundaries

Need some insight into how to balance it all? Schedule a free discovery call. https://marriedentrepreneur.co/lets-talk

The reasons why couples fight over money is due to the different attitudes and habits that were formed growing up. Whatever was modeled to us growing up is what we adopt as an adult. As you’re aware, those differences are what causes the conflict.

Savers vs. spenders, investors for going into debt, delayed gratification vs immediate pleasure.

How do you prevent arguments about money? First, have an “us” mentality, not a me or her/him mentality. In this episode, we delve into the common reasons why couples argue about money and how to prevent it from happening and deal with it when it does.

Want to live a better balanced life and win in marriage AND business at the same time? Purchase our book Tandem: The married entrepreneurs’ guide for greater work-life balance. https://www.thetandembook.com/

Need to create more time to dedicate to your marriage? Download this free guide. https://marriedentrepreneur.co/boundaries

Need some insight into how to balance it all? Schedule a free discovery call. https://marriedentrepreneur.co/lets-talk

Key Takeaways:

• Us not me mentality

• Understand each other's pasts

• Value each other's differences

• Vision

• Reward delayed gratification

• Staying in conflict forces you to work against each other and slows down wealth-building

As you go through the daily grind of building your business, does it sometime feel like Groundhog Day? Same thing over and over. If you stop and think, do you feel like you and your spouse are growing together or feeling more like roommates?

Meet this week’s guest, Jerry Dugan. One day as he was building his career, his wife and kids gave him a shot in the arm with one statement and one question. It hit him between the eyes and made him assess what he was doing. He was sacrificing his personal well being and his family health by prioritizing his work.

Whether you’re a W2 employee or a business owner, this episode will cause you to evaluate if you’re living a fulfilled life.

https://beyondtherut.com/

Questions

• How do we know when we’re stuck in the rut?

• Many people feel they don’t have a choice but live the life they’re living. What do you say to them?

• What did you do to get out of it? How do you live a life worth living?

• You’ve recently left your W2 job to do this business thing full time. Any lessons learned?

• One question both his children asked that hit Jerry in the heart

• “I want my Jerry back.”
  

Bio

Jerry Dugan is the CEO and Senior Consultant of BtR Impact, LLC, a consulting and training company focused on helping leaders define success on their terms so they can live fulfilled, meaningful lives with impact and not lose their faith, their families, or their health.

His work experience includes serving in the U.S. Army as a combat medic, corporate training facilitator, and organizational development leader. He has led in combat zones and corporate offices learning the ins and outs for building teams and trust through servant leadership.

Since 2015, Jerry has been the host and producer of Beyond the Rut podcast, a show that shares encouraging stories and practical advice to help pull listeners out of their ruts and into lives worth living. It's not enough to get out of a rut. He wants you to live beyond the rut.

Jerry currently lives in Dallas, Texas, enjoying the empty nester life with his wife Olivia. They have two adult children, three cats, a dog, and no car loans!

Want to live a better balanced life and win in marriage AND business at the same time? Purchase our book Tandem: The married entrepreneurs’ guide for greater work-life balance. https://www.thetandembook.com/

Need to create more time to dedicate to your marriage? Download this free guide. https://marriedentrepreneur.co/boundaries

Need some insight into how to balance it all? Schedule a free discovery call. https://marriedentrepreneur.co/lets-talk

For some groups of married entrepreneurs, working with your spouse is the greatest thing since sliced bread. For others, it’s a disaster. The third group is getting by and the last group doesn’t even want to go there. Regardless of which camp you sit in, this episode is dedicated to you. The married entrepreneur who works with your spouse or is wondering whether it’s a good idea or not.

Working with your spouse has its challenges for sure. But if you avoid these 5 common pitfalls, you will be on the path to building a thriving business in tandem while strengthening your marriage at the same time.

Take a listen.

Want to live a better balanced life and win in marriage AND business at the same time? Purchase our book Tandem: The married entrepreneurs’ guide for greater work-life balance. https://www.thetandembook.com/

Need to create more time to dedicate to your marriage? Download this free guide. https://marriedentrepreneur.co/boundaries

Need some insight into how to balance it all? Schedule a free discovery call. https://marriedentrepreneur.co/lets-talk

Want to learn how to deal with conflict in a healthier way? Listen to episode 142

• Top mistakes married entrepreneurs make

• • Just fill a seat

  • Not listening to your spouse’s feelings

  • Lack of boundaries

  • Taking it personal

  • No regular meetings

One of the reasons for the lack of work-life balance is working a lot of hours and taking on too many responsibilities. Whether it’s business or personal related, we tend to say yes to more things than we realize which steals time away from your spouse and kids.

So how do we keep from taking on too much so we can maintain a healthy relationship with our family? Our spouses can keep us accountable but it can also create conflict. Because the truth can hurt. In this episode, we’ll discuss ways we can hold each other accountable from not working too hard or taking on too much in a way that will be received well.

Key Takeaways:

• Stats on working too much

• Health issues- Stress - Working 40 hrs/week + yields no additional benefit but increases heart attack risk 35%

• Relationship issues- Less time w/spouse will affect your relationship

• Put your ego down and listen to your spouse

• Come up with a code word that doesn’t trigger the other spouse

• Listen to your kids

• Have an accountability buddy…or two

• Rationalizing it doesn’t make it true

• Just because you don’t see it doesn’t mean it’s not happening

• Patience and vetting out all opportunities can uncover hidden land mines

Whenever we face challenges like recessions, COVID-19, business competition, or market crashes, fear tends to rear its ugly head. How we deal with fear determines how well we get through those challenging times.

Kay Lee and I recently went on a ski vacation and I noticed a lot of skiing metaphors that applied to how we deal with life and business challenges. If you’re a skier, you may pick up a pointer or two. If not, you should still understand the application this will have in your life.

Want to live a better balanced life and win in marriage AND business at the same time? Purchase our book Tandem: The married entrepreneurs’ guide for greater work-life balance. https://www.thetandembook.com/

Need to create more time to dedicate to your marriage? Download this free guide. https://marriedentrepreneur.co/boundaries

Need some insight into how to balance it all? Schedule a free discovery call. https://marriedentrepreneur.co/lets-talk

Key Takeaways:

• Dealing with fear in life and business

• Ride the slide - When things get tough, stand tall, ride it out as you look for the turn

• Point downhill and go - It’s so easy to go from one idea to another without doing anything. Just get going then turn. Easier to turn when you’re going downhill. It’s difficult to turn when you’re still.

• Always face forward - We all go through trials but it’s important to always know where you going even if you have to pivot in the midst of the journey. You’ll always come back to center. Pivots and changes are ok as long as it leads to your destination.

• In crisis, stick to the fundamentals - Investing principles are the same during recession. Buy low, sell high. Marketing principles stay the same. COVID. Let people know what you’re selling and how to purchase. Life stays the same. Keys to success are the same whether things are easy or difficult. Fear will puts you in self preservation mode and make the wrong decisions.

• • The tendency when skiing down a steeper slope is to lean back. That is when you lose control.

  • When a difficult circumstance arises in the business, you’ll want to hold and hide.

  • Sliding on ice you’ll want to lean back. If you stand tall and ride the slide, you’ll eventually hit a softer patch of snow to turn on. Ride the slide

• Conserve energy for greater success - The Fundamentals & Proper technique takes less energy and improves your chances for success

• • Running, business profits, marriage, finances, self. In business, poor fundamentals creates less efficiency forcing you to work longer, harder, and spend more money.

The term family legacy gets thrown around a lot. We want it but do we really know what it means, how to build it, and know when you have it? In this episode, we’ll share what we’ve learned, how we’ve built it, and share some stories of others who’ve done it.

NOTE: It doesn’t matter how much or little your assets are worth. Nor does age have anything to do with it. You haeBuilding a family legacy starts with taking the first step. Take a listen.

Want to live a better balanced life and win in marriage AND business at the same time? Purchase our book Tandem: The married entrepreneurs’ guide for greater work-life balance. https://www.thetandembook.com/

Need to create more time to dedicate to your marriage? Download this free guide. https://marriedentrepreneur.co/boundaries

Need some insight into how to balance it all? Schedule a free discovery call. https://marriedentrepreneur.co/lets-talk

Key Takeaways:

• You have more than you think

• Memories are just as important as tangible assets

• Define legacy

• What legacy looks like

• How to build it

• When you should start thinking about it

• What if I don’t have much and I’m too old to build anything?

• How to get your kids involved with the business

• A living trust is an important step to establishing legacy

• You start, someone else finishes

• Our “plan” to build legacy

• • Didn’t want to have the same life

  • Plan for our future

  • Want to make an impact

  • Make a significant investment in 5 year increments

  • Succession

Improving the businesses bottom line is always a nice thing to do. Usually, the strategy to do so is increase sales. But when you’re already working hard and long hours, more sales means more work. More work means more hours and less time at home with your spouse and family. How much more can you handle?

What if we can show you how to find more money within your business without you having to go chase more sales? No, it’s not magic or accounting fraud, it’s just basic practical process many businesses don’t do because it’s not fun.

But the payoff is huge. You’ll find more profits to invest into hiring, upgrading equipment and software to make your business more efficient, give you more time, and have the ability to handle more sales without driving you nuts.

Go through this process and you will find more money to put into the bottom line.

Oh, and you’ll have more freedom to invest with your spouse and family.

Want to live a better balanced life and win in marriage AND business at the same time? Purchase our book Tandem: The married entrepreneurs’ guide for greater work-life balance. https://www.thetandembook.com/

Need to create more time to dedicate to your marriage? Download this free guide. https://marriedentrepreneur.co/boundaries

Need some insight into how to balance it all? Schedule a free discovery call. https://marriedentrepreneur.co/lets-talk

Key Takeaways:

• We’re going to show you how to find more money in the business

• Allows you to invest more into the business. Hire more help, upgrade equipment/software.

• Make the business more efficient and profitable to handle more work

• But will free you up to invest into your relationships

• Why do you work so hard in the business? The mindset is more sales is the answer

• More sales = more work if you don’t have more help and capacity to handle the increase

• Healthy net profit margin = 10-15%

• To find more money, start from the top of the P&L statement and work your way down.

• Price- Raise it, bundle another product or service on the same transaction

• Cost of goods- Finding lower cost alternatives with suppliers, is there volume discounts, terms of payment discounts, efficiency in labor.

• Fixed expenses- What’s the return on investment. Is that subscription serving you well, can you cut down on some of the travel, lower cost provider, are you even using the service?

• We tracked every penny for a month on a personal level and were surprised where the money went

• Increase performance- Increase sales close rates, PPC, speed of service, less mistakes, less returns, open rates