17 Business Cheat Codes I Wish I Knew When I Was 17

About this video

As a 44-year-old entrepreneur, Martell shares 17 business hacks he wishes he’d known at 17. One, pick the right business model — some industries and technologies grow 40% per year, giving a tailwind instead of a headwind. Two, just take the money: a business starts when a stranger pays you, not when you have inventory or a Stripe account figured out. Three, underpromise and overdeliver — solve one clear problem and go the last mile with follow-ups and handwritten thank-you notes. Four, negotiate your needs: no agreement is permanent, from vendor fees to your own calendar commitments. Five, DRY (don’t repeat yourself), borrowed from coding — document and record teachings once and reference them, and talk about the principle, not the activity. Six, simple scales, complex fails — his ‘scaling credo’ is five ones: one product, one offer, one funnel, one ideal customer, one year of focus, which he says will build a $1 million business in 12 months. Seven, raise prices constantly — citing Patrick Campbell’s rule to change something about pricing every 6 months; he coached a software owner who hadn’t raised prices in 11 years despite a better product. Eight, be impeccable with your word — say yes or no, never maybe, and assume everything you say could be published. Nine, talk to your customers — at Clarity he did weekly ‘smile and dial’ calls every Thursday. Ten, manage energy, not time — creative work in the morning, meetings in the afternoon, workouts to reset. Eleven, play to win, not to avoid losing. Twelve, spend money to save time, not time to save money — unlike his dad, who drove 25 to 30 minutes to save 10 cents on a gallon of gas and mowed his own rental lawns. Thirteen, 80% done by somebody else is 100% awesome, via his 10-80-10 rule (ideate 10%, team executes 80%, you polish 10%). Fourteen, build the people — train, don’t tell, with leadership trainings every Monday. Fifteen, be incompetent — hire great people and empower them instead of knowing everything. Sixteen, build your personal brand on reach and reputation. Seventeen, be patient with results but impatient with action — he notes he’s been at it 27 years and reads 10 pages of a book every day.

Key takeaways

• Pick a business model with a tailwind — industries and technologies growing 40% per year — and just take the money: a business starts when a stranger pays you
• Follow the five-ones scaling credo — one product, one offer, one funnel, one ideal customer, one year — which he says builds a $1 million business in 12 months
• Change something about your pricing every 6 months; value rises with demand and price must follow, or margins won’t fund growth
• Delegate with the 10-80-10 rule and accept that 80% done by somebody else is 100% awesome — train people on Mondays instead of telling them answers
• Manage energy instead of time, spend money to buy back time, and be patient with results but impatient with action — he cites 27 years of showing up and reading 10 pages daily

Episode details: published October 25, 2024 · 23:33 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Business results and any income figures mentioned are Dan Martell’s own claims, shared for education — they are not typical or guaranteed.

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