21: Master The Art of Entrepreneurship with Darrel Frater

Chad:               Welcome back to connect up. In today’s episode, you’re gonna. Learn how to be a successful entrepreneur, but before I get into introducing today’s guest, I want to just mention that on at arrowlight.tv/workshops, I now have a free class that I’m releasing on demand. From this point forward. I had a class called The Solopreneur Journey that was live once a week on Wednesdays, but now I decided to package together the best parts of the recordings of that live class into a three hour video masterclass, which is still called The Solopreneur Journey. To get that class, just go to arrowlight.tv and scroll down to the bottom. Click on the Solopreneur Journey button, and you’ll be able to enter your name and email and then that class will be delivered to you and as a three part series and you’ll get one video in your email over the course of three days.

Chad:               And so you’ll have three videos total delivered to your email, which will teach you all about the foundations of finding success as a soloprenuer. And that class is going to give you some really great tips on how to get your foundations in order. And what those foundations are to having success as a freelancer, having success, having success as a solopreneur, and so that leads us into today’s conversation, which is takes a step beyond soloprenuership into entrepreneurship. Today I get to speak with a Darrel Frater who is a serial social entrepreneur. We’re going to discuss the difference between a serial entrepreneur and somebody who’s not a serial entrepreneur. He’s a serial entrepreneur. I’m not, and so we’re going to have a little bit of a discussion on what the differences are because if you’re somebody who is considering entrepreneurship, even whether you’re young or you’re older, this episode is for you because it’s going to give you some tips on the mindset and the skillset need to succeed as an entrepreneur and we’re also going to discuss how to prioritize or focus on what is the most important thing on how to succeed with entrepreneurship and with this show being connected up.

Chad:               Of course it has to do with connection with other people. Darrel is also going to talk about optimism and positivity and how you can be optimistic yet not be naive. How you can be positive, yet still do all the work necessary to achieve your goals is an ambitious young man with a strong desire to serve and he is a purebred entrepreneur. He comes from a family of entrepreneurs. He’s always had a passion for problem solving and from a young age he was heavily involved in his father’s business and through his father’s mentorship, he was able to learn entrepreneurship firsthand by helping them problem solve within his own within his company. So his passion for problem solving and mentorship and entrepreneurship led him to officially began his entrepreneurial journey only this past June when he left his fulltime, previous job. And so in five months he’s already running four businesses.

Chad:               You want to know the reason for his success, connecting with people. He made connection with people his top priority and you’re gonna. Learn in this episode more about that and more how he connected with people and how that influenced his success, which will give you some ideas on what you can do. Because I wish I had prioritized networking when I first started my business and I didn’t. So it took a lot longer. So Darrel believes that entrepreneurship is the key to fix all problems that exist in the world and he wants to be on the front line of preparing the next generation of leaders to fix them. And so he works a lot with youth and I wanted to bring them on this show because I know that what we discussed today, anyone of any age will be able to benefit from this, whether they are an adult, whether they’re a child or a teenager, and they think they might have that entrepreneurial bug in them. This episode is for you. The key to fixing any problem in this world is entrepreneurship. And Darrel is a great example of that. So with that said, I welcomed Darrel Frater to the show.

Darrel:              Hey Thanks.

Chad:               So I’m, I’m really, I’m really looking forward to our conversation today. Uh, I know that you are making a massive impact on a lot of different ways and you’re really passionate about a lot of things and you know, we, you’re somebody who is looking ahead and making a massive impact on the next generation. Um, is, is a part of what you do. And sometimes we get so consumed with the problems of today that we don’t look ahead to try to develop solutions that will save tomorrow, you know, we’re just trying to catch up. Um, and so tell us a little bit about your story and why you’re doing what you’re doing today.

Darrel:              It definitely, man, I really have a passion for serving the next generation, especially the next generation of entrepreneurs. I’m branding myself as a serial social entrepreneur. So the businesses I start all have the greater social impact. Um, so I’m a little bit about myself. I currently a parade for businesses. One is a family business called Geo filters and associates where we’re doing home improvement and the social impact in that it’s going to be able to scale up into a one stop shop home improvement company is going to buy out. I’m abandoned homes in urban cities and refurbish them and allow them to be invested by community members. And that’s going to be opportunity for people in the community to beautify the city and also earn an income through, um, owning partially of the properties we renovate. I own a two youth mentoring programs. One is called sharp shooters global, which is a youth entrepreneur consultant come from where we help young entrepreneurs take bins, ideas from your mind and bring it to the marketplace.

Darrel:              And the other one is called the urban entrepreneur centers of America where it’s physical location that will be built, that would be the hub for youth entrepreneurs to take courses and to be able to, you know, meet up and interact with other youth entrepreneurs that are looking to have different within their businesses. Um, though there are two organizations that are focused on developing entrepreneur mindsets within youth and really trying to bridge the gap between youth in urban cities and bringing them to opportunities to be able to build businesses. And then my isn’t business, it’s called SF Tech Llc to tech startup where we’re revolutionizing the way that data is transferred between nodes on a network or partnering with the Air Force Research lab or taking a technology that they developed and we’re integrating with our a form that’s going to allow the wide scale adoption of blockchain technology by speeding up some of the latency issue.

Darrel:              Then allow and blockchain technology to be utilized across many different industries. So those are the four different businesses I’m working with and um, I always try to add a social component to them so it was important that we start businesses and we, you know, we try to make money, try to make them profitable, but what ways are the initiative that you’re focusing on helping a greater good to the, you know, to, to humanity and um, I really stand by that and it’s the forefront of, you know, what I do and I’m just gonna keep on doing it, keep on growing these businesses and just be excited about entrepreneurship and helping other people.

Chad:               That’s awesome. You’re, you’re involved in a lot of different pursuits right now and uh, you seem like the kind of person who just naturally an entrepreneur. Have you always known you had been an entrepreneur? What were some of your ambitions growing up and did that change at all?

Darrel:              Yeah, I always knew I was going to be an entrepreneur. My Dad at he came to this country, he worked for like six months on an apple farm and then after that he, he, uh, he came Jamaica and he started his cabinetry business. Um, then he went into construction and that’s where he started at gfl design associates and with that growing up and helping him, you know, we, we used to go to the homes we were working on and the properties he invested in and we help them build walls and do everything. So he always told us never worked for anyone else. So it’s in our DNA to, and all my siblings got the same bug. We all have entrepreneurial endeavor than entrepreneur mindset is something that we really, really hope close to us and our data really implanted that into like when I went to school and graduated from the College in New Jersey in 2015, um, initially I, you know, I got a job just like anyone else that, you know, usually they go to college and I worked for about three years and then it finally hit me up.

Darrel:              Like, I think I’m feeling a lack of fulfillment or I’m not able to, you know, be embrace my entrepreneur spirit and have a greater impact to helping society or helping a community of individuals that I care about. And that’s when I decided that the timing was right and I had to jump into partnership full time. That was about five months ago. Um, so, um, while I was in school I was actively working with my dad in his business, but five months ago I took a leap and full time into his business and then I began starting my own endeavors as well. And I’m building simultaneously as I grow and scale his.

Chad:               Wow, that’s amazing. It’s only five months ago. So you’ve really hit the ground running with a lot of different ideas and that just goes to show how, uh, when you click into what you want, the motivation can cause you to do some amazing things.

Darrel:              For me. Opportunities came my way and they come my way because I put myself in a position where these opportunities, you kind of attracted me. Um, it was like putting out content and you know, getting your voice out there and really connecting with a lot of different people in different industries. You become well diverse in terms of who you know and what you know and when you’re well connected, you know, things come your way because people are looking for like minded individuals to work with and when you very diverse, we have a very diverse mindset and skill sets that you possess, be able to connect with those individuals and add value to the project that they are thinking about or they are looking to work on. Or opportunities were like from a tech company. I was accepted to a program called Fed tech where they paired me with a, the air force research lab and investors to get our startup up and running.

Darrel:              So it was an idea that I had, but it was many where they saw value in what I could bring to the table as the entrepreneur and put me on a team that I can grow this business. The Oh, you know, there’s opportunities come your way when you put yourself out there for it to come. So I, I’m so passionate about telling people to really don’t be afraid to put out content. I’ll be afraid to, you know, speaking out and get to know other people. Networking is key in so many different areas. It’s very important that you take that seriously.

Chad:               I’m glad you brought that up because one of the core things we talk about on this show is connecting with people and, and communication and the importance of connection and how when we don’t have that piece, we don’t achieve our goals. We don’t build our visions, we don’t get to where we want to be. Um, and the reason for that being kind of the core element of the show is because for myself, that was the one piece I had missing. I as well went into a, a typical corporate job after college and um, I’ve always wanted to be entrepreneurial but then I kinda just bailed on it because I was scared that I couldn’t do it. And I’m like, okay, well I have a degree. Let me just go get a job. Um, but then I realized pretty quickly that I needed to, needed to be on my own.

Chad:               And so when I took that leap, I took it, well, I took the leap a first time, gave up on it after nine months because I wasn’t getting anywhere and I had a family to support and then it went back to the corporate world and then quit after a year realizing that I have to do this. I have so many ideas that I need to manifest and I can’t. When I’m in this full time job for another company, I have this vision I need to build. And it was the best thing that decision I ever made. And for me, I was only a year and a half ago that I decided to quit that full time job and go into entrepreneurship full time. And um, but even then, one of the biggest things that held me back was I was not willing to go out and connect with people. Um, I was always very shy growing up and I had, I had struggles with connecting with people and I was hoping that I could somehow build my business without having maybe maybe I was the one that was exempt from having to network and a and clearly that didn’t work.

Chad:               Yeah, it doesn’t work at all. And, and it seems like you’re somebody that more naturally just realized upfront, I gotta go out there and network and I got to talk to people and that’s why things are coming together for you so quickly. Whereas for me it took so long for certain pieces to start to come together because I wasn’t talking to anyone and I wasn’t. And then when I finally realized I needed to do that, you know, and I had mentors and other people that helped me to develop various skills with networking and communication and I was able to find my voice and my confidence. And um, it is huge. It’s huge. And I’m glad you brought that up and gave us a little bit of your story and how the connections you’ve made have been key to you being able to create stuff that they give you, ideas you didn’t even have, something you could do and you’re all just working together to achieve things.

Darrel:              Oh yeah. And then before you go on, once they actually get Kudos to you for, you know, going out there one time going at failing and then going back into a year later, that takes a lot of courage. And I honor you for that because not a lot of people are bold enough to do that. So that, that’s something that you’ve got the chops for entrepreneurship. If you’re able to go through it, fail, go back out. And that’s sort of takes, you know, you have to have resilience because entrepreneurship is not an easy thing. But if you have the right mindset, you can turn it into something very beautiful and very great for the longevity of your future. So, um, Kudos to you on that man. Very, very excited to see, um, everything that you accomplished and going back to just, you know, opportunities coming your way once you network.

Darrel:              One thing that I’m the urban entrepreneur centers that wasn’t my idea as well. Uh, my idea was sharp shooters where I was going to mentor youth and help them start businesses and consult, but I in my network and I met a guy, his name was dot Martin and he lives in Ohio. I’m in New Jersey and we connected via linkedin through the content I was putting out and what we spoke about, the synergies between what we both were interested in doing. That’s when he brought me on board to the urban entrepreneur centers and now we’re business partners. And, and doing that venture together where we’re gonna be opening these physical sensation. Now, one thing that’s funny, he always says to me, he says, you have to go out there, you’ve got to make a friend shake a hand and connect and collect the check. So it’s a simple concept that is, it makes sense. You just really have to go out there and meet people and collect the check. And do business, you know, and it’s so important that you have that networking piece and that willingness to go out there and meet people and connect and make friends. Um, is, is the number one thing in business. If you’re not networking, you’re not working. And that’s plain and simple.

Chad:               Okay, well I’m going to put that quote on my wall because anything related to networking and reminded me of the importance of it is a key if you’re not networking or not working. I used to think that I didn’t have to network to work and that work just led me to dead ends and, and not. Yeah, no results. It was work. I was doing work. But uh, what I was avoiding, the one thing that I really needed to do to make things happen. And um, so what, what with uh, you’ve worked, you’ve been working with some, some youth and just overall you’ve had entrepreneurship and your family for a long time. What does success mean to you? Because we all defined a little bit differently, but as we’re talking about key tips for becoming a successful entrepreneur, and this applies to the youth that applies to adults, um, what are some key tips you have with regarding entrepreneurship and, and see if you can tie that into how you define success?

Darrel:              Yeah, that’s a great question. The key to that question at the fact that you’re asking me what’s my definition? And that’s the key, you know, understanding that everyone has their own vision of what success looked like. And for me that vision is one happiness to family and fulfillment, you know, as long as I’m happy in life, that’s what success means to me. Um, and that’s gonna come from, you know, me, you know, having a family, like the family I grew with and you know, I’m recently engaged so me and my fiance eventually, you know, having a family and you know, having fulfillment, being able to do what I love and impacting other people and helping humanity to business and entrepreneurship. So that’s how I define success. Money is going to be a byproduct. It’s not really the definition of what I want for my vision of success.

Darrel:              Um, so a lot of people get confused whereas like, Oh, you’re a millionaire or you have a lot of money, you make six figures or whatever, now you’re successful. But it’s really not that directly tied to it. It’s only tied to it. If that is your personal definition. And a lot of times those people that only included money in terms of their definition of success are the people that one thing get it. They lose the success because they’re not happy. So it’s very important that you really define your vision of success and it’s something that you’re going to be able to live with and really thrive for and be able to guide you and help you motivate yourself to achieve that goal.

Chad:               Yeah. I like how you define that because it really becomes a vicious cycle that if you’re defining success based on money and then once you get money, then you’re still not. You don’t still don’t feel happier, successful. So then you’re like, well maybe I just need more money, or maybe I just didn’t. And then it just never ends and you’re never fulfilled, you’re never happy. Um, and that it’s important for us to figure out how to. Because that’s on that I needed to do was I was a part of my journey, has been being able to reframe how I define success because I, I defined it as, oh, I have a certain amount of money or I’ve continual, you know, employment or something and, and realize that it, I always defining money as the source of my security. Um, and although it provides a roof over our heads and food, I was defining it as my security on every level like, and uh, and then I realized that it was my relationships that provided my security, my relationship with my wife, my family, and seeing that right now I just have one son and you know, we kid especially as more kids come and it’s just, it’s my relationship here within my home is what gives me security whether I have money or not.

Chad:               And when I was able to reframe that even before money showed up, I felt successful. You can feel successful in the inside, even without money. It’s just a choice. It’s just a state of being. And so thanks for sharing your perspective on that.

Darrel:              That’s one reason why entrepreneurs have such a keen mindset that you know, helps them thrive and really allows them to have that genuine happiness is that mindset and understanding that in control of success and we’re in control of our own happiness and you could do whatever you want to do to get it and if you have a drive, you have that motivation. When you have the right mindset, you’re going to be original. Chivas. You just gotTa believe

Chad:               definitely with, with, with belief and having belief in ourselves. Um, we have to have a sense of optimism and positivity. Can you, is optimism the same thing as positivity for you? And, and, and, and, and talk a little bit about, can you comment just a little bit about optimism being positive yet a realistic or is there such thing as realistic? Does it even exist? I want your opinion on, on, on that.

Darrel:              I love optimism, positivity there. My left and my right hand and I, I really believe that all entrepreneurs and just people in general should always live with the optimistic mindset and a positive mindset. They’re hand in hand. They are similar, but they’re different. What? Optimism. I believe it’s simply believing that everything is gonna work. Go for the better. I’m in positivity is just thinking everything in terms of um, a reassurance that things are gonna be, you know, in your favor. It’s kind of similar. It’s hard to, to, to define the differences, but I see a slightly different but the same at the same time. And um, it’s important to have that practicality as well where you believe that everything’s gonna work out, but you also are aware of the possible things that might stop you from getting there. So you have to have that balance.

Darrel:              And I called, you know, the ying and the Yang. Um, at the same time, you have to believe that, hey, I’m going to be a millionaire, but at the same time be like, oh, as easily I, I might not be a millionaire and got to be okay with both alternatives, but just play your role and do what you need to do to get the desired results that you want. Um, and that really comes with, you know, having that positive attitude and positive mindset because if you believe you’re going to be able to do it, that’s the first step in actually achieving anything you want in life. You have to put it in your head. That is going to happen. Then through action, you’re going to manifest that thought into real life. And through that you’re going to be able to do much more than if you already tell yourself that is not going to happen. So, uh, I, I really believe that once you have that optimism and you have that positive mindset, going to be able to do it along as the work ethic and the ability to put in, you know, all their quiet work and the things that needed to happen. Um, are, are put in there so that way you can achieve those goals.

Chad:               Awesome. It sounds like that’s a, that’s probably where the realistic part comes in, comes in, is the fact that you still have to do the work and you got to figure out what do I need to do, how do I need to act and um, where it’s not so much putting limits on yourself because you’re, you’re putting yourself in a box of what’s realistic defined by somebody else, but you’re remaining optimistic but you’re not naive because you’re like, okay, well, um, I believe I can do this and I’m positive about everything going on, but here’s what I have to do. Let’s make a plan. Here’s what, here’s the strategy so that I can have that. I can make this happen. Is that, is that correct?

Darrel:              100 percent man.

Chad:               Well, because something that, uh, I’ve found is that we always make ourselves, right? So if we, if we’re, if we’re optimistic about something turning out for the better than it will. If we’re pessimistic about it, then it also will turn out for the worse. And we tend to make ourselves right a lot of the time that we, if we believe something, if we’re telling ourselves certain stories, we’re going to reorganize our reality to make us right. And um, and, and do you want to comment on that a little bit?

Darrel:              Interesting that you mentioned that. And I think that’s actually a huge issue for people to constantly try to be. Right. You know, when you focus on being right all the time, you actually are missing out on reality because you’re warping reality to try and make it fit what you believe is right as opposed to just seeing what’s going on into the world and you know, responding to it and being proactive about the things that are going on around you. So it’s important. It comes to a defensiveness and people trying to protect yourself because they think that, oh, I want to be right. I gotta protect my idea. I got to protect what I believe. I got to protect x, Y, and Z as opposed to having an open mind and just really trying to find out the best solutions to problem solve and come out with the best desired results.

Chad:               Well, find you. Thanks for mentioning that. That’s completely true. We, we, uh, it does put you in kind of a defensive place that then makes it hard for you to connect with people when you’re coming from a place of just having to be right all the time and not being afraid to be well, I was wrong. Okay. Moving on. And so, yeah. Thanks. Thanks for commenting on that. I’m going back to when you were a, you told us a little bit about where you’re at now and you have the different businesses going on. Um, I’ve found that there’s, there’s, there’s a couple of different types of entrepreneurs. There’s the entrepreneur is that, uh, have a lot of different ideas and they’re constantly creating new businesses and then maybe selling them or then going into something different or a serial entrepreneur and those entrepreneurs that just have like one thing where they build one business and it’s their business.

Chad:               They have throughout their entire life and you know, it’s, it’s generated on a very specific passion and it’s kind of within that one, one field in one box. Um, who do you consider yourself as and um, what is, what, what is, what to you is the differences between both because I’m sure as you’re working with youth and people in the next generation, those are the things for them to consider for themselves is what kind of entrepreneur and mind my son and that just has one thing that I’m going to build this business around. That becomes my entire life. I’m going to remind just going to keep solving different problems in the world with new businesses. If you want to say a little bit about that.

Darrel:              Yeah. For me, I brand myself as a serial social entrepreneur, so my plan is starting multiple businesses, but making sure that I’m growing and scaling at a manageable rate where it’s not a point where I’m running multiple businesses but none of them are successful. I believe in balance and you gotta be able to understand yourself. For me, I know for a fact that I need to start and run multiple businesses because I like to be constantly on the move. I don’t like sitting there and waiting on one thing. I like to constantly have, you know, multiple things I’m working on and I’m the most optimal and at my peak when I’m dealing with multiple projects at the same time, I noticed that I’m not as productive when I’m just focused on one thing or when I have multiple things. Things I can kind of like do a lot of things and, and be hyperactive at all points because it’s going to be multiple highs and in each business and same time.

Darrel:              And there’s never gonna be a dip in that motivation because you can always pivot and do other things within the other businesses and the momentum you get. One business is youth. That momentum is there any other business and you know, things just keep working and keep going and it just keeps you motivated, keeps you pumped and energize. And if you’re a serial entrepreneur like myself and you love entrepreneurship, we just loved the game. And the game is constantly growing and constantly changing and moving and if you love it, you’re just going to be in it and enjoying it the whole time. And like, I consider myself weird because I just really, really love entrepreneurship in business. Like I don’t even watch as much TV anymore. I don’t play as much video games, I, I, I really just love entrepreneurship, networking, business, helping the youth, talking about entrepreneurship and it’s my passion. And when you love it, it’s fun. You don’t feel like you’re working, you don’t feel like you’re doing something that’s, you know, I’m only doing it because I want to make money. Like you really just love what you do and you love the process. So that’s where I stand on that. And I believe you have to have a great understanding of yourself. You’re very self aware to understand what kind of entrepreneur you are because there’s no right or wrong direction. You’ve got to know what works for you.

Chad:               That’s perfect. Thanks for bringing that up because that’s a, that’s uh, I’m glad that we’re talking because you are, are the perfect definition of a serial entrepreneur who is passionate about entrepreneurship overall and you’re constantly having new ideas that are going to fix this problem and that problem that’s going to help this group of people and then that group of people and we need entrepreneurs like you that are willing to just manage a couple of different projects at once and, and, and have that kind of approach. Um, I’m not an entrepreneur and a serial entrepreneur and so the, so it’s great that we’re kind of connecting because for me, I didn’t just decide first that I want it to be an entrepreneur. I first decided that I wanted to do a specific thing and teach people about a specific subject, um, which has to do with career building and communication and time management and focus and connection.

Chad:               And then from that I realized, Oh, I guess I’m an entrepreneur because I. In other words, it was almost like the, I wanted to achieve something or create something and, and solve a specific problem. And, and, and, and do a specific thing and then I realized that entrepreneurship is the path by which I could do that. And so it kind of came second opposed to I want to be an entrepreneur, let’s figure out what I can, what I can create in order to be an entrepreneur. And so I’m sure for, for those who are considering entrepreneurship, uh, what do you suggest review regarding some of the first few steps because somebody who, who is young, whether they’re youth or whether they’re an adult but they’re there, they’re considering entrepreneurship. What do you, what do you suggest they do first to decide like, do you suggest that they do decide up front that, okay, am I going to be a serial entrepreneur? Am I going to focus on just one thing or, or, or what is it that I want to create? And then does that mean that I have to be. Not that. Does that mean I will be an entrepreneur for that? Like what do you suggest are the first few steps to take and analyzing what kind of entrepreneur you are, if that makes sense.

Darrel:              Yeah, it makes perfect sense. I definitely would start with self awareness. You’ve got to understand yourself and understand who you are. Um, I would highly recommend you figure out your strengths, like what are you good at? Also identify what you like and then understand, you know, what do you want to achieve? Because if you’re looking to have high impact in the community, are you looking to make a lot of money? Are we looking to have the freedom to travel? What do you want to achieve and what are the kind of end goals that you’re looking for? And then between those three things, you know, what you’re good at, what you like to do and what you want to achieve. You able to kind of pick into choose, marry those three things to see what the best route. I definitely agree that you should probably start with one because you don’t want to spread yourself too thin.

Darrel:              I’m in the very beginning. You want to kind of start with one and kind of test. You want to test different things out and not be married to one track in the very beginning because you want to be able to see what’s the best fit for you and once you test a few things that you’re able to see which ones you have in the most fun in which ones are bringing the most results, which on you having the most success in which ones are helping you reach your goals and then you can kind of dive deep into that one. You nail it, then you’re able to scale it, and then you’re able to, you know, if you want to add more businesses to your portfolio, you want to do more in terms of other industries or other businesses you can add that, you know later on. I do think it’s important to have that focus so that way before you even understand how businesses work, you’re trying to start four businesses. You know, you want to make sure that you understand the process, um, and, and, and, and do what you can manage to have successful one business or successful businesses.

Chad:               I totally agree because yeah, for me I started with, it’s always just been one business, but I’ve made many pivots, you know, Kinda had this approach and then I pivoted this direction and pivoted this audience, this art of the audience versus this target audience, um, and I’ve Kinda just been able to finesse my way into what’s now working for me. Um, but it’s, and, and so in my journey it was more so because I’m glad you brought it up again because uh, as far as understanding, being self aware of your own personality and nature because for me I like just focusing on just one thing, 100 percent and you know, one business and not trying to do separate different things. Whereas for you it really works for you to have a couple of different things we’re working on at once. And so it’s important for anyone listening to just decide who are you, like, what category do you fit in? Don’t get too attached to one thing upfront, test it, test this, and then eventually you’ll find your find your voice in it and you’re as an entrepreneur.

Darrel:              Definitely man, that is so important because testing play to reduce risk because you don’t want to go all in on something and then a year later figured out that you’ve been wasting your entire time, so you’ve got to reduce the risk by testing out things and seeing what the best fit and that’s how you know you, you reduced the ability to go in the wrong direction. You want to maximize your opportunities and be able to see what works best for who you are. So I highly recommend testing is not a bad thing. And, and making pivot like you and you know, working within the business that you’re in and see how you could tweak things to make it a best fit for you.

Chad:               What do you suggest for somebody who currently has a full time job, they’re working for one company and they decide they want to pursue some entrepreneurship and they’re in this like beginning testing phase. Do you suggest them full on? Is there, is there a lot that they can do while retaining their job in order to pay the bills before they go and quit? Like what do you suggest regarding that transition?

Darrel:              I always believe in practicality on that sense. You don’t want to leave when you don’t have a secure way to make sure that you’re going to pay your bills or take care of yourself. You want to have a exit strategy. You don’t want to just go in cold. So I would always recommend figuring out ways that you can build your business while you’re still working. I’m a highly recommend building a personal brand, um, possibly through content athlete through a lot of networking, going to meet ups and networking events online. Um, there’s a lot of things that you can do to start the groundwork of your business while you’re still working. And then, you know, if the, the, the ideal way is to have your business making money before you leave your job. Uh, for me, um, with my dad, he was already doing real estate and he was working with his company and it was an easy leap because I was already invested in some properties that he was working, so I was getting rental property money from some of the properties we own, so it was like, okay, I’m working and I’m making this money on the side through the rental properties, but I had the security to jump whenever the timing was, right.

Darrel:              So for me, I had that security that, that made it much easier now that not everyone has those opportunities, but you have to see what works best for you. It’s going to reduce the risk because the worst thing you can do is put yourself in that position where you’re stressed out because you took the leap and you don’t know what you’re going to do next.

Chad:               Because yeah, I mean, once the number one reason why entrepreneurs give up, they run out of money. Right. And, uh, and I’m glad you said that because that definitely validates the approach that I took because I’ve been very conflicted over that. A lot of my journey in the last year and a half of building my business is for me. Um, I, I quit my full time salary job, but then I freelanced. So I’m a video editor by trade. I did videography, video editing and I worked as, as a salary employee as a video editor and that’s something you can easily do freelancing as well. And so what I did was after I quit my full time job, I freelanced to doing the video editing and I found a few clients and then had that and so I was putting in. And the great thing about that was that I was in a flexible position where I was still working at home, um, and I could drop a client if I wanted to or I could take on a new client so I could keep, I, I had enough money to pay the bills and support my family.

Chad:               But if I wanted to, I only had to put in maybe four or five hours a day doing the video editing while I was building up my new business. Or, you know, maybe spending two to three hours a day and then I have to keep fluctuating like maybe some week I might have to put extra time into the video editing and then this week put extra time into my business and it’s been this battle, uh, throughout this whole time because I’ve always had moments where I’m like, should I just go all in? Should I just stopped doing my video editing and just completely pursue this new business? But then I had a family to support and I’m like, that’s crazy because I, I’m freelancing, I have such flat. I had such, I had such flexibility with that, that it just sounded crazy to me and going up and quit that when I could easily just. It wasn’t like I had a full time job where I’m either all in or I have to quit. I could easily just scaled down my prep, my freelance business as I’m building up my new one. And uh, and so that’s how I kind of approach it where I was able to do that. But yeah. So yeah,

Darrel:              there’s no one way to do anything. So just as I’m going out cold and just taking the leap with no plan of action of how you’re going to get there, it might work out or you can do what you do did you did and just go right back to work. You know, the jobs are usually always going to be there you go, go back and get a job. Um, so, you know, there’s no one way to do anything. You just got to see what’s gonna work best for you. What is your risk tolerance and your opportunities that, you know, as long as you just think it through and see ways that you can allow that to happen. You can make a plan for anything long as you properly executing and do the required work it takes and the required research and knowledge base that you need to make it successful. That’s all that really matters and just have that confidence in yourself that you’re going to make it work and you’re going to be able to, you know, work hard to make it happen.

Chad:               Definitely. And uh, yeah, it’s, I think sometimes too when we have that situation where we’re starting to test a new business but we’re still have another job, there was the restriction that we have on our time can be a good thing for me. I had to reframe that. I was bitter about it at first that I only had a couple hours a day. I’m like, Oh, I could build my business so much faster if I had more time. And the truth is I probably wouldn’t have been able to build it faster. But having that limited time almost forced me to get super focused and prioritize what’s the most important activities I could be doing right now to build my business. And at one point I finally realized that the only thing I should be doing right now is networking because I built up a structure for my business was going to be and I started releasing content and everything.

Chad:               But then I wasn’t. I kept, I kept trying to find the next project that didn’t involve me networking. And I’m like, no, I need to stop creating new stuff. I have things to sell. I have a service, I have, I have content, I need to just spend all my time now networking and that and and because of the time restriction I was forced to make a decision to only focus on one thing and be like, okay, the two to three hours a day that I have, I’m just going to be networking every single day until I start selling this until I start forming the right partnerships and so it can be a blessing in disguise. Having those restrictions

Darrel:              and one of the beautiful things that you can do, and that she did do is by marrying the two, you know, because you were looking for those new projects and it felt like was stopping you from networking. You were able to marry the two networking and podcast. This is networking right through the podcast and the people that you’re interviewing. You’re able to network and build relationships. So it’s a new project, but you were able to marry the two and now it has dual use. Some that you want the end of the project to what you’re doing and satisfying that networking piece. So any case, wherever, wherever you can, you know, Marry things together and allow it to still be efficient. That’s always a win win.

Chad:               Yeah, definitely. And that’s exactly the reason why I did it on my account. If I do a podcast, I can networking and building relationships, but at the same time produce content. And so, uh, yeah, yeah, definitely we talked about entrepreneurship or talks about the importance of networking and, and if you can just leave us with some, any last tips regarding how to make it as an entrepreneur and maybe something about how, how do you build trust with people as you’re out there networking, what are just a couple of tips for how to network

Darrel:              from being an entrepreneur and being successful at it goes back to self awareness. Really understand who you are and that’s one of the most important things. And my favorite thing that I always say is that relationships are the single most important thing in the world. I truly believe if you focus all of your energy on strengthening relationships, um, and they come in different forms, it can be a relationship with friends, family members, could be with a coworker or a customer, um, but most importantly, that relationship with yourself, which goes back to the self awareness. I’m focused on strengthening relationships and um, you can’t go wrong. So, um, another thing in terms of the entrepreneurial mindset and positivity and optimism, you need that at, to stay motivated so you can go every single day and give it your all because when de motivation hits you, it’s kind of hard to be productive. So in order to be efficient and to really make strides within your goals, you want to have that mindset where nothing can penetrate you too, stop you from reaching those goals. So it was important to be prepared mentally and to really have that energy to go out there and work hard every day to do what you want to do and achieve those goals.

Chad:               Well, thank you. That’s, uh, that’s definitely important and that’s really helpful. And so thanks for sharing your insight on that. What’s one or two things we can do is route they’re networking with people to build trust with people in, in, in, because you’ve obviously had some experience where it’s really worked for you.

Darrel:              Yeah, you just gotta be yourself, you know, a lot of people try to fake it and try to pose as other people or poses what they’re not and it doesn’t work. You really just have to be genuine, be yourself, be, you know, direct, straightforward. And one thing that people don’t realize once they figured out that, okay, I have a network. Another component they have to figure out is how do I add value to the other person? Because now you’re going to people you’re trying to network, but you have no value that you bring to the table and then pardoned, looked at you like, okay, you have to come with some type of value. Whether that just be a interesting way to engage in the conversation. Whether that be you’re offering something that provides value, helps them in some way, shape or form, um, or solving a problem that someone else is dealing with it.

Darrel:              That’s one the best ways to add value, you know, if they’re having an issue with something, how do you soothe that issue, how do you see what that pain point and that’s how you really provide value to other people and when you keep that in mind and not worry about so much about what you’re going to get out of the deal, that’s when you really build strong relationships because you’re putting them in terms of what they get into the value over what you get and a lot of times it’s going to come right back around and you’re going to win double times 10 and it’s so important just to keep that in mind. We’re providing value at every corner of the web.

Chad:               Yes, we value serve care about people. Uh, that’s, that’s really what it comes down to. The shift me was when I finally stopped, like you said, I, I finally stopped trying to be like other people and I was, I stopped being so concerned with what I was saying and I just started listening and I was like, oh, like talking isn’t so difficult because to be a good talker, all you have to do is just listen. And I had it wrong the whole time. I thought to be a good communicator, you have to know how to talk really well and uh, and by listening I was able to just kind of finally feel comfortable talking to people and networking in that way. And so thanks for sharing those, those tips for us. Darryl, where can we learn more from you and where can we connect with you and your companies and what you’re doing?

Darrel:              I just launched my newest website, darrelfrater.com, has my portfolios while my businesses that operate, I mean my social media links at the top of the website. I’m big on Linkedin so you can find me on linkedin and just go to the website and check out my social media profiles and see what I’m doing with my companies and connect. I, I love helping other people, so if you’re interested, shoot me a message and whatever way I can provide value to you, I’ll be glad to answer any way, shape, or form. Don’t be afraid or hesitate to reach out to me.

Chad:               Alright, well thank you so much Darrel, and thanks for coming on our show today.

Darrel:              Thank you for having me, man. I’m really excited to see what you do next, man. You’re really inspiring me.