The People Who Succeed Are Delusional Optimists

0:00Yeah, I recently moved here, um, from the Boston area and I decided to diversify my portfolio and open a health restaurant and lifestyle brand here, so >> Are you in Madrid? >> I am in Valencia. >> Valencia, okay. >> Yeah, so there's definitely a gap for the health market here, so that's something I definitely jumped on. I saw the location of the space and then kind of created the business plan after that. >> Okay.

0:25>> So it's like Sweetgreen meets Erewhon, but with a huge Spanish terrace, so >> Okay. >> really good. We've had collabs with Porsche, Hyrox, all the wellness brands in the area. But we're getting all of the things that restaurants have to happen in one month. So we've had a kitchen fire, I've had managers punch my employees in the face, I've had employees say that this is their culture and they don't like to work hard and that I'm American, I have too high of expectations.

0:50Um, the dishwasher can break on the weekend and it's a Saturday, so they don't work on the weekend, so your dishwasher can't get fixed until Monday. >> Mhm. >> Um, the list honestly is keeps going on, every day it's something. I feel like with my American work ethic is super difficult to feel supported in this country and the shock, I definitely have a high pain tolerance, um, and I feel like I wish I had your saying to my head every day about you can suffer, suffering is normal, it's part of the process,

1:18>> [laughter] >> but I feel like I'm at my end's wit with this, so my question for you is going to be, given how you talk about how failure and suffering are mandatory for success, where do you draw the line between differentiating that suffering of failure and the suffering that you need to push through to get to that success? >> Great question. Um, it's whether you push or you pivot, which is an eternal question for entrepreneurs, which is, um, somewhat personal, but I would say from an objective perspective, you is there a fundamental assumption of the original business model that has been disproven?

1:51If there's no fundamental assumption that underpins how demand and the monetization works, then I would say that things are hard. If it's the wrong kind of hard, which is that like no one's buying the thing, no one like I thought doggie skateboards was going to be a a big business and it doesn't turn out to be, that's not one where I push it. So, like I do not try to push where there is no demand. If there is demand and then things suck, that's where we have to just like take it one step at a time and just like breathe and just solve one problem at a time. I'm sorry about the the kitchen fires, that sucks. In terms of the employee punching the other employee, I don't know what they said. We got to you've got to hear both sides, you know?

2:25What did what did you know? What did she say? I don't know, right? >> They walked out, so you know, it's just another day in the restaurant. >> Yeah. Um, I 100% uh recognize the issue with the work ethic piece. I think the way that you should see it is that you're going to have to kiss a lot more toads to find someone who's willing to work. Um, it's not that the work ethic there is uh not present, it's just that it's rarer. Uh, because it is you're right, it is absolutely cultural norm. When I lived in France, which I did, um, I I I mean, I can appreciate the country, but I [ __ ] love America. Um, and I was like this is insane. I get off at work at 5:00 and all stores close at 5:00. How the [ __ ] do you buy anything here? Like

3:06>> How do you eat on a Sunday? You can't. >> Yeah, it was ridiculous. I I hated it. I hated everything and I just wanted to go home. Um, and so I 100% understand. I was like, all you'd have to do if you wanted to compete in this country is just be open. That's all you'd have to do, just be open. Like, >> [laughter] >> right? Um, and so I think you're encountering that. I think what you should look for is that you should be very aggressive in terms of how you're advertising to get employees and then state very clearly um that this is the working environment.

3:31This is an American culture. And one of the nice things with American cultures is that we also quit. And I think there's going to be a certain percentage and it's and to be fair, and this is really important, winning isn't for everyone. It's the nature of winning that is it it it is exclusionary by definition. And so it means that you'll have to talk to more people in order to find people with winning characteristics and who who are attracted to winning behaviors.

3:55And so I agree with you that mediocre people in a country that has a mediocre economy, just measured by GDP, um you're going to have a higher prevalence of mediocre work work ethic. But I do not think by any means that that represents every person in the country. It just means that you'll have to do more of them. Because what is your alternative right now? >> Me working and working my consulting job to fund it and yeah, doing it all. So that's not possible.

4:24>> Right. So you can't really leave right now. Right? So I mean like let let's actually walk through the actual doors. Door one is that you could lose your savings, shut it down, right? And then have bankruptcy in Spain. I don't even know how that works, right? But there's some version of that in Spain. That's option one. Um option two is you you have make it work. All right? Option three is that you sell it at a loss, which is similar to number one, but just probably recoup something.

4:53Um is there like what would you do if you didn't do this? Do you still like the business? Like the idea of the business? >> Yeah. I think playing into like the health factor definitely makes this feel like just a space for me to have like grow my community being a foreigner and having a place where everybody comes and cares about their health, meets for workouts and stuff. So I do find the passion when I'm able to shift my focus into that, but I feel like my focus is completely on catching up on the next fire of the day that I'm really losing that.

5:23>> Yeah. Um what do you want to do? >> Good question. I don't have a brain today. I think that I want to push through, um but I'm being told by a lot of people that I've endured enough, but >> Well, okay, hold on. >> to you and I really I know what my answer is, so I just need some validation. >> Well, let let's this is this is really good. I'm glad you said that. Um the people who told you that you have suffered enough, have those people accomplished the goals that you have want to accomplish?

5:57>> One is my business partner, unfortunately. >> Well, that's That person is The question was, have the people that are telling you that accomplished the goals that you want? >> No, the answer is no. But yeah, it's hard to be in that environment every day and have that in your ear. >> I totally understand. I think that it would be worthwhile for you. So, you have two options there. Either you can not talk about work with those people because they're going to piss on it. Um or you just don't see them in general because they're not helping you.

6:24>> Um they're my partner in the project. >> So, it's just this one partner. Well, I mean, the question I mean, this is real, right? This is real. Um I think you have to have a conversation. Like, I think you need a real conversation. And so, what's your partner's name? >> Philip. >> Was it? >> Philip. >> Philip. All right, got it. Um One of the things that makes So, this is partially addressed to Philip, but also partially addressed to all the other business, you know, partners out there.

6:52Um the people who succeed in life are delusional optimists. And part of being a delusional optimist is that you have to ignore reality to some degree, which means that you have to through a fire see that things are going to be pure afterwards and we're going to be able to start fresh and we're going to make it exactly the way we want it, right? Uh through an altercation, you're going to be able to, you know, clean house and reset the cultural standards. Like, whenever, you know, things don't go your way, there's always a narrative that makes it work for you. And so, there's the classic story of the, you know, the the Buddhist, uh you know, the wise man and and and the and the child where, uh you know, hey, uh a baby is born, uh you know, he's going to have a blessed life. The wise man says, "We'll see." And then they, uh you know, buy the kid a horse and they said, uh you know, "We'll see." Uh whether it's good or bad. Then the kid falls from the horse and they say, "Oh, everything's [ __ ] now." He says, "We'll see." And then the army comes and recruits is going to go recruit the kid but he can't because he has a a bad leg and he says, "We'll see." And so the issue is that like there's a framing for every single situation that is both positive and negative and I think the people who are entrepreneurs are able to always frame something that would appear negative to most people as something that is positive or an opportunity.

8:03Right? And so you never want to waste a crisis is one of the one of the first rules of marketing. And so you have a lot of crises and the thing is that at the end of the day, what story do you want to tell when you're older? Like that you persevered or that you you quit when it got hard? And if you really do believe in the business, like the thing that I ask up front is like is there demand? Do people actually like this? Are you making money? And these are one-time expenses and they're just emotional inconveniences. Like would the business be making money if you didn't have these call it one-off whatevers?

8:32>> Yeah, I definitely feel that I've created community here. I have some like wallet and I mean cards in your wallet so I have about like 100 to 200 regulars that come about three or four times a week so it's definitely and we're hitting we're on track for about 1.5 million this first year. >> Are you going to make money? Like outside of the the kitchen fire whatever but like will the business make money? >> After year one, yeah, we should be netting about 20k a month. >> Okay. Was that something like was making that like a goal that you had?

9:00>> This is kind of just like my passion project. I have properties and I have my retirement funds completed so yeah, this is my fun thing. >> Well, if it's a passion project then you never did it for the money to begin with and so >> Right. >> I mean like beautiful things come from chaos. Like and I don't even think you'd care for it as much if you if it came easy. >> I agree. >> Right? And so like that's what makes things worth doing worth doing is that no one else does them which is why they're worth doing.

9:30>> Amen. >> Right. So I think that there's probably conversation that has to happen with Philip which is like listen, And is my viewpoint on the world. Um and in order for this project to be successful, we both need to be delusionally optim- optimistic. You've already obviously cracked something cuz, you know, you're you're you're you're pacing 1.5 and you're in your first year for a restaurant, really good. Um so like that's first year. Like next year you might do three or might do two and a half. And if it does that, like you'll be really making money, right? Um and so it's just like I like I would give him instructions on how you would like him to behave. Meaning when bad things happen, I would prefer if you did this instead of this.

10:07Like when I like and also it's on you, too, which is that you need to reward him for not being negative. And also you can't start it. Meaning if you complain, you are starting the cycle. So just stop complaining to him because on some level, you might say those things and then he reinforced that loop with you and then you feel bad afterwards. >> Right. Yeah, no, I'm definitely totally fine with the suffering that I don't feel. I'm not complaining. I think it's like an outside view of looking at me and being like, "How does someone do this? Like I'm Spanish. We take naps.

10:42Why are you not napping today?" And we must persevere. >> Well, yeah, and I think there's probably a conversation there where it's like, "Hey, if you want, like why don't you just go down to being a 25% partner? I'll be 75%. You don't have to worry about it." Like I think you I think you do need to have a partnership conversation because it's going to become an issue, especially if you have differences. Like part of the issue you have with the employees is that one of the owners is not modeling what good looks like. Right? So if they look at the hard working one and the not hard working one, they're going to pick the one the pick the view of the world that they prefer, which is going to be the not hard hard working one.

11:13>> Right, true. >> Right? So I do think you need to like I actually don't think you have a business problem. I think you have a partner problem. >> Yeah, definitely. >> Like did you did you expect this to be fast, easy, and risk-free? >> Not at all. I know that I am exactly where I'm supposed to be right now. >> Right. >> this is what hard feels like. And so, it is exactly what you expected. It's just this is what it feels like and it always feels different for every person. Um and so, I think that you just need to have that conversation with Philip. And then you need to look at what next steps look like, which is either like you behave in this way and that is like what we need in order to succeed. And if you don't want to do that, I understand that and let's come up with an exit plan for you.

11:54>> Okay. >> Which might mean that like if you put cash into it, that you payment plan him back out almost as like a bank note fundamentally and then you just pay him over 5 years or 3 years or whatever. And then he doesn't have to participate in the downside and you're like, "Listen, I'll take all the risk back over, but I get all the upside." And that's the trade. Cool? >> Yep. >> All right. >> Perfect. >> Appreciate you. >> Cool. Thank you so much, Alex. >> If you like this video and you're a business owner who wants to break through your current revenue ceiling, I distilled every lesson from scaling 10 businesses past 10 million and three businesses past 100 million into a completely free scaling roadmap that I've used to go from zero to one, zero to 10, and zero to 100 plus. And so, you can click here and you can check it out.

12:31Again, absolutely free. And since you're a business owner, appreciate you and uh enjoy.