• Austin is preparing for a senior management retreat and franchise training in September, coinciding with the birth of his first child

• John and Amer reflected on recent periods of "coasting" in their businesses and recommitting to growth

• The group discussed balancing business growth with personal development and life milestones

• Austin and John will lead workshops at an upcoming event:

  • Austin on coaching/leadership (20-30 minutes)

  • John on small business finance basics (45-60 minutes)

• Austin has a senior management retreat coming up at a golf resort

• Austin is planning franchise training in September, coinciding with the birth of his child

• Austin's company (Rydel) is on track to hit sales targets, but with little margin for error

• They have an ambitious goal of 16 new franchises for 2026, which would grow the business by 50%

• Amer and John discussed recent periods of "coasting" in their businesses

• Both recommitted to growth and pushing themselves out of comfort zones

• Amer is focusing on improving his social media presence and storytelling skills

• John is excited about scaling his business and the conversations/opportunities that will unlock

• Austin emphasized the importance of time and notification management for sales teams

• Discussion on balancing business growth with developing team members and maintaining integrity

• Austin's stepfather has been diagnosed with severe cancer

• John is expecting a son in two months

• Austin to finalize plans for September franchise training, considering his child's birth

• John to assess team performance over next 2-3 weeks to determine event attendance

• Amer to continue developing social media presence and content

• Group to reconvene at upcoming event and continue supporting each other's growth

A conversation between John & Amer.

• Discussed Toronto Maple Leafs' strategy of investing heavily in a few star players ($42M on 4 players out of $82M salary cap)

• Debated merits of this approach vs having more depth throughout the team

• Parallels drawn to business hiring strategies and resource allocation

• Amer's ideal customers are less solution-aware, allowing him to educate and guide them

• John's painting business benefits from more solution-aware customers who understand quality differences

• Discussed challenges of marketing to and converting different customer types

• Amer struggling with creating content that attracts ideal customers vs general popularity

• Discussed idea of showcasing "day in the life" of ideal customers before/after working with Amer

• Importance of focusing on depth with existing customers rather than just width of new customers

• John emphasized importance of cash flow and equity over vanity metrics like revenue or "number of doors" owned

• Discussed pitfalls of overleveraging in real estate and other industries

• Debated merits of new vs used vehicles for service businesses, considering total cost of ownership

• Analyzed pros/cons of different service businesses (painting, landscaping, excavation, etc.)

• Discussed challenges of businesses requiring significant equipment investment

• Explored ways Amer could potentially improve cash flow in his coaching business

• Amer to create a focus group of ideal customers to get feedback on content/marketing

• Amer to explore ways to go "deeper" with existing customers rather than just wider

• John to share relevant Warren Buffett letters on growing an insurance business with Amer

• Both to continue analyzing their businesses for opportunities to improve profitability and cash flow

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