In this episode of *Business Is Good*, I explore the concept of self-leadership and why it’s the foundation of all other types of leadership. I share that while a business's efficiency helps it survive tough times, it’s the strength of its leadership that determines its success in the good times. Often, the biggest limitation to growth is the founder or CEO—their personal knowledge gaps, emotional control, or mindset can be what holds the business back.

I walk through different forms of leadership, including team, brand, and niche leadership, but emphasize that self-leadership is the one we must master first. Drawing from my own experiences, I talk about the importance of financial literacy, staying emotionally disciplined, and confronting uncomfortable realities in business. For example, I share how I navigate challenging employee situations and manage my own emotional responses when faced with overwhelm.

Many gym owners, like those I work with, struggle with distractions and the excitement of novelty, which can pull them away from proven growth strategies. To counter this, I talk about the power of building focus-driven habits, such as setting aside a dedicated hour each day for high-priority work, to create lasting momentum.

To help you practice self-leadership, I’m introducing a 30-day challenge with daily prompts for self-reflection and actionable growth. I’ll provide questions and exercises to encourage honest self-assessment. Whether you’re writing in a journal or just taking a few moments to reflect, this is your opportunity to improve your self-leadership skills and build the discipline and focus that lead to lasting success.

This November, join me for a 30-day GOLDEN HOUR Challenge to grow your business!

To participate:

Commit to participating in our Facebook group (join here)

Post "done!" under each daily GOLDEN HOUR CHALLENGE post when you've completed the work for the day!

Connect with Chris Cooper:

Website - https://businessisgood.com/

Chris Cooper discusses the motivations and challenges of gym owners, who often sacrifice higher-paying careers to pursue their passion despite low earnings. He argues that wealth creation is essential for personal and societal progress, emphasizing that wealth enables freedom, problem-solving, and opportunities for others. Cooper highlights the importance of entrepreneurship in driving economic growth and democracy, noting that wealth creation is necessary for job creation and tax generation. He advocates for building wealth to solve personal financial issues, compound wealth, create opportunities for others, and ultimately, to give back through philanthropy.

https://otter.ai/u/gI_vGIJuGHfXY77z5D1AzbS4MD0?view=transcript

• [ ] Develop the skill of making money.
• [ ] Aim to have a personal net worth of $20 million to be able to give away $1 million per year.

• Chris Cooper discusses the low earnings in the fitness industry, with average wages for trainers at $28,000 and gym owners at $42,000, unchanged in recent years.
• Despite the low pay, gym owners often leave lucrative careers in banking, teaching, or firefighting to pursue their mission-driven work.
• Gym owners are willing to sacrifice personal financial stability to help others improve their lives, even going hungry to keep their gyms running.
• Chris Cooper emphasizes that gym owners are less interested in becoming millionaires due to their mission-driven mindset and the challenges of their profession.

• Chris Cooper argues that wealth creation is essential for prosperity and peace, driving our way of life and democracy.
• He explains that entrepreneurship, not government or unions, creates jobs and wealth, which in turn support the economy and democratic processes.
• Cooper highlights the historical context of wealth creation, noting that even 100 years ago, many Americans were still struggling with poverty and poor working conditions.
• He stresses that wealth creation is a fundamental driver of human progress, allowing for improvements in healthcare, education, and other essential services.

• Chris Cooper defines wealth as the freedom of resources and time, not just money, and explains that true wealth involves balancing both.
• He shares that solving money problems is crucial for entrepreneurs, as financial struggles can follow them home and impact their personal lives.
• Cooper provides a personal example of how solving money problems allowed him and his wife to afford Christmas presents and other necessities.
• He emphasizes that wealth solves many problems in Western society, such as access to clean water and child brides, though some issues like boredom and addiction are more complex.

• Chris Cooper explains how wealth compounds over time, using his own experience of paying off a mortgage in seven years instead of 25.
• He describes the snowball effect of eliminating debt, where extra money saved from debt repayment is applied to other debts, creating more financial freedom.
• Cooper shares a story of buying a car with cash, highlighting the long-term benefits of wealth compounding.
• He discusses the importance of setting up opportunities for others, such as creating jobs and investing in the future.

• Chris Cooper argues that wealth creates opportunities for others, contrasting bureaucratic jobs with entrepreneurial jobs that add

why you want the hard times

Dave tate: business is a battle of attrition

what determines who lasts and who doesn't? the hard stuff

nobody wanted covid lockdowns, but when they reopened there was far less competition

Tadej Pogacar - I want the steepest, hardest climbs becuase they're the separator

when you ahve stafff quit - so do they

when your rent goes up - so does theirs

maybe not the same day, but over the 3-year span, everything that happens to you will happen to your competition

They might not survive it

You also don't have to create hardship by attacking them or running them down. They have enough. eVen if they don't show it, they're facing the same stuff you are. and many won't survive

also, you need the reps

you want to practice the hard stuff when the stakes are low

there are reasons things tget hard. one is they're new. one is they're personal. one is the stakes are high.

Break them apart. If the hardship you're going through is because you've never faced that problem before, get a mentor. Don't take advice from someone else who's never done it before.

If it's hard because it's personal, get an objective perspective. don't ask your mom or your bff or your husband. ask a mentor.

if it's hard because the stakes are high, you might need a different kind of mentor to help with perspective, but you still need a mentor

After the trouble is over, you have two jobs:

one - never repeat it

two - learn what you can from it. You've heard the term 'if I win, I win, if I lose, I learn' - or some variation. But most people don't actually learn becaues they don't pick apart the elsson. They keep repeating the same mistakes. so here's how you do an AAR

Connect with Chris Cooper:

Website - https://businessisgood.com/

Episode Summary:

In this episode, we’re talking about how business owners—especially gym owners—often make the mistake of overcomplicating their businesses. It’s easy to add unnecessary options, details, and management layers, but that can slow down growth, create confusion, and reduce profit. Many of us became entrepreneurs to flex our creative muscles, but there’s a point where experimentation becomes a barrier to success. We’ll dive into why simplifying back to a minimum viable product (MVP) is essential for increasing profitability and reducing stress.

Key Takeaways:

• How business owners complicate their businesses by adding unnecessary features.
• The importance of going back to a minimum viable product (MVP).
• Why every product you sell should be easy to explain and fulfill with minimal resources.
• How complexity takes you further away from product-market fit.
• Practical steps to simplify your business.

Episode Outline:

1. Introduction

• Today’s topic: How overcomplicating your business is costing you time, money, and stress.
• Entrepreneurs often treat their business as a creative outlet, adding options or details that hurt growth.
• We’ll talk about how to get back to your core product and maximize profit by simplifying.

1. Story 1: Back to Basics – Creating a Minimum Viable Product (MVP)

• A gym owner struggled with offering too many services, confusing clients.
• Solution: They stripped the business down to focus on 1:1 personal training, which was the highest-margin service.
• Result: Simplifying increased their revenue per client and reduced operational headaches.

1. Problem: Complexity Hurts Product-Market Fit

• Adding more services, features, or options may feel creative, but it confuses buyers and slows purchasing decisions.
• Imagine you’re starting from scratch—what is the one product that solves a clear problem?
• Your core offer should be easy to sell, easy to explain, and require minimal resources to deliver.

1. Story 2: Unnecessary Features

• Example of a business owner who kept adding services and packages, hoping to appeal to more clients.
• The result: More complexity, slower sales, and clients were unsure of what to choose.
• Lesson: Simplifying the offering brought more clarity and increased client retention.

1. Avoiding Unnecessary Management Layers

• Many owners add managerial staff too early because they think it’s a sign of growth.
• This adds extra work for the owner (training, managing) and cuts into profit.
• Story 3: A gym owner added a layer of middle management that created bottlenecks and made decisions slower, instead of solving problems.
• The result: They ended up with more tasks on their plate and less profitability. Once they scaled back, their business ran smoother and profits increased.

1. Practical Exercise: Designing Your MVP

• Take a step back and imagine you’re building your business from scratch.
• Ask yourself: What would the minimum viable product look like?
• It should solve one clear problem, be easy to explain, and maximize profitability without adding complexity.
• Tips on how to focus on the core offering, eliminate unnecessary layers, and create a more streamlined operation.

1. Closing Thoughts

• Complexity kills growth. Simplify your business down to what really matters: solving your clients’ problems.
• Reminder: The goal is to focus on what drives the most profit with...

This week, we're going to build entrepreneurial resilience: the ability to just keep going when things go wrong.

Listen to this episode, and then visit the Daily Directives section at BusinessIsGood.com to complete daily exercises for resilience all week.

I'm Chris Cooper, and today I'm discussing strategies for overcoming adversity in business. Setbacks are inevitable, but they can be managed by spreading them out over time and making them less impactful. I've found that taking a long-term view, recognizing small wins, and maintaining a practice mindset can prepare us for future challenges. It's also crucial to evolve and improve with clients, staff, or products, and to view departures as opportunities for growth. Every challenge is a stepping stone to greater opportunities, so it's essential to stay resilient and see setbacks as part of the journey.

Understanding Adversity in Entrepreneurship

I kick off the podcast by emphasizing the importance of learning from mistakes and sharing those lessons with other entrepreneurs. I introduce the concept of "$13 days," those times when progress feels like a step backward. This is a normal part of the entrepreneurial journey. The goal is to spread out these backward steps over time, making them smaller and less catastrophic. I share a personal anecdote about my mentor asking me about the last significant setback, which highlights the importance of perspective.

The Long View and Bright Spots

I advise taking a long-term view. Look back at past rough weeks, and you'll see that they happen less frequently and with less impact over time. I introduce "Bright Spots Fridays," where we reflect on our achievements to train our minds to focus on positive outcomes. Recognizing and celebrating small wins helps us stay resilient and better handle adversity. The purpose of Bright Spots Fridays isn't to brag; it's to acknowledge and learn from our successes.

Practice and Preparation for Future Challenges

Every challenge is practice for a bigger but similar challenge in the future. Each setback is a learning opportunity. I use the example of a staff member quitting as a rehearsal for handling more significant departures down the line. By preparing processes to prevent similar issues, we become better equipped to handle adversity with less impact. This cycle of audit and improvement is crucial for continuous growth and resilience.

Client Relationships and Successful Exits

I talk about the natural end date for client relationships and how important it is to view client departures as a success rather than a failure. I share my criteria for a successful client exit, like the client continuing their fitness habit or achieving significant life changes. By focusing on the positive outcomes of client departures, we can feel more confident and prepared for future changes. This concept extends to our staff, products, and services, underscoring the importance of continuous improvement and evolution.

Creating Opportunities Through Adversity

I suggest seeing every challenge as an opportunity to create a seat at the table for something better. I share Emerson's quote, "Heartily no, when demigods go, the gods arrive," to illustrate how removing one challenge opens up space for a greater opportunity. Examples include replacing a damaged company car with a better one or using a staff departure to attract a more suitable candidate. I emphasize the importance of a linear approach to growth, where overcoming one challenge paves the way for the next opportunity.

Top Tips for Working Through Adversity

To sum up, here are my top tips for working through adversity: take the long-term view, maintain a practice mindset, recognize that nothing lasts forever, and see challenges as opportunities. Count your wins, prepare for future...

Why founders don’t make money

They are product oriented -inventors not investors

They quit too soon - in the product crew successful, they have done its job

They failed to scale - They are irreplaceable in their business.

Connect with Chris Cooper:

Website - https://businessisgood.com/

I'm a product guy.

I want to believe that if I keep making my product better, I'll make it more profitable.

Unfortunately, that almost never works - we get caught in the Technician's Curse and never stop iterating on our product, tweaking it, improving it...and never having time to market it.

But there are SOME ways that improving your product CAN make it more profitable:

Being the best in class creates a huge advantage, because the best clients will ascend to your service (if they know about it.)

Tactically, you can also try:

• Outcome-based pricing
• Pursuing greatness as a marketing strategy.
• Improving client retention by improving client outcomes.

I walk through all of this on today's episode!

Connect with Chris Cooper:

Website - https://businessisgood.com/