Why 99% of Your Industry Might Be Wrong
Why 99% of Your Industry Might Be Wrong
What mindset shifts help business owners balance profit and impact?
Personally, from my experience and knowing many entrepreneur friends, I think when it comes down to it, yes, it’s about the money, but it’s also about something bigger. That bigger part is about what you’re trying to change.
In our industry, which represents close to $20 billion annually in the U.S., when I started, a lot of colleagues and mentors—some VPs and CEOs—told me that my idea was the stupidest they had heard. They didn’t believe anyone would buy the product online. It hurt to hear that, but it pushed me to have thick skin. I think anyone trying to bring disruption or improvement to an industry needs that resilience.
Ultimately, we are employed by our customers. Without them, we don’t exist. Today, with thousands of customers coming to us daily, we’ve proven that the need is there, and customers do want what we offer.
What qualities do you look for when choosing partners or team members to support your business vision?
A really good decision that stands out, despite many bad ones, is related to building a strong team, or tribe. I worked with a gentleman at a small company where we started, and after some buyouts, he moved to a different company. He was older and on the logistics side, a great leader. I approached him with my vision, which no one in our industry was doing at the time, though it was happening outside our industry. I told him I needed help.
Being open to hearing "no" or "yes" and having someone believe in your vision is crucial. It was a good decision for me to ask for help, and it has paid off for our company. Whether you're seeking help from a potential team member, partner, spouse, or another entrepreneur, there are many ways to ask for help. Sometimes it’s tactical, sometimes it’s about mindset or even borrowed confidence, but it’s always valuable to pass ideas and support back and forth.
What tasks should business owners delegate to maximize time and growth?
In the construction field, I’ve seen large-scale projects—multi-hundred-million-dollar ventures, corporate offices, hotels, and schools—where different specialists handle various tasks. For example, masons work on the brick and stone, plumbers handle plumbing, electricians run wiring, and the general contractor manages it all with their team.
For entrepreneurs, especially those just starting, it's important to understand that you don’t have to do everything yourself. If you’re building something and you’ve never done electrical work, you wouldn’t handle it yourself—you’d sub it out. Trying to do something you're not qualified for can delay your project and lead to poor results. The same applies in business: sub out tasks that don’t directly drive revenue as soon as you can.
I remember a conversation we had with a contractor recently about time management. He said he was wasting hours driving to stores to get samples for clients, which hurt his productivity. By using an online platform, he could order samples or send estimates to clients from his phone, saving himself four hours in a single day. Those four hours were better spent growing the business.
For entrepreneurs, it’s essential to ask, "What is my time worth, and how can I maximize it?" You may want to run your business at 100%, but sometimes, delegating to a team member who can do the job 80% as well as you allows you to focus on more critical tasks like sales or building partnerships.
How can business owners overcome fear and trust their instincts?
Trust your gut and take the step. I wish I had started sooner. You learn your skill over time, and I could have started much earlier than I did, but I was scared. I didn’t want to be vulnerable or ask for help. I just went to work, became a top performer, but if I could go back, I’d tell myself to trust my instincts and take action.
It’s hard to do that because we tend to hold back, thinking, "What if this goes wrong?" But the reality is, most of the time, it’s not as bad as we imagine. There’s often way more upside than downside if we just take the step. So that’s what I would tell my younger self: trust yourself, trust your gut, and just go for it.
Why should business owners build a supportive network?
If you don’t have a group, you’re missing out. We call it our "tribe." I have a workout tribe—my wife and our CrossFit crew. I also have an entrepreneur tribe, with friends who own factoring companies, logistics businesses, restaurants, and more. Some of them are in industries I barely understand, like my friend who extracts THC from hemp. But even though we’re in different fields, we’re all going through similar challenges.
I’d encourage anyone to find a group. I have a friend, Mark Baker, who’s an entrepreneur and has sold two businesses. He texted me today asking to meet for lunch, but I was too busy. He replied, “I miss us,” and it made me laugh, but it’s true. These are the people you turn to on both your best and worst days.
As we built and grew Zen Builds, we had those tough days. You need people who are like-minded, who can tell you, “It’s going to be okay,” or offer advice, like, “Have you thought about this?” It’s so important to have that group because sometimes we’re too close to the problem to see the solution.
*This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.*
