The Business Series

Matt & Scott share their business books that have provided them value and insight as business owners themselves.

The E Myth Revisited (Matt)

This book discusses business systems. There are owners, managers, and technicians in every business. If you’re a great technician, you might not be a great manager or owner (e.g. if you’re a great coach, it doesn’t meat you’d be great at running a gym).

Scott’s Initial Recommendations

He recommended reading the Wall Street Journal daily for a few years–stick to the business stuff. The Harvard Business Review is another good source. Lots of new business books are just repackaged old ideas.

Scott got much out of My Years with General Motors.

Poor Charlie’s Almanac (Matt)

There are some great nuggets in this book. Another great resource are the Berkshire Hathaway letters. Both also recommend the Intelligent Investor.

The 4 Steps to the Epiphany (Scott)

This book is about creating a start up.

The Effective Executive (Matt)

This book discusses time management and how to best focus your efforts. It really can apply to anyone who runs anything (a household or family, for example).

Some Newer Options

The Everything Store about Amazon and Jeff Bezos is a good book. Delivering Happiness is the book about Zappos.

Creating a Company Culture & Expertise

This is difficult to do.

Also, you ultimately have to do and get over the expertise hurdle. Keep learning, get after it, and ask questions.

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

This book delivers great productivity, work ethic, and living good life tips.

Crucial Conversations

This book discusses how to have difficult but necessary conversations. This applies to business, but also normal human interactions in any relationship.

The Business of Business

Business is hard. People glamorize it, but it comes with challenges and the probability of failure and failure’s consequences.

Plus some rapidfire book recommendations that didn’t quite make the top cut.

This is the original Dominion Strength Training interview. Blake & Katie join Matt & Scott to discuss the creation of Dominion Strength Training. You can find their website here and follow them on Instagram here.

Blake identified the possibility for creating a belt company when–as a novice lifter–he saw a gap between poorly made, cheap belts that you could get quickly and expensive, high-quality belts that took months to get to you. He realized that lifters needed a high-quality belt they could receive quickly.

They initially sourced from Pakistan, but ran into quality issues and were forced to repair belts with their own hardware before a large pre-Christmas order, which led them to work toward producing the belts themselves.

This led them to create the belts themselves to avoid these problems. This gave them more control of the quality of the belt, and ultimately improved the quality of the belt. They moved from Atlanta to Florida to build their business.

Lots of people have good ideas, some attempt to pursue them, but few persevere through the difficulties and succeed in creating a successful business.

By the way, Dominion sells more products than listed in this episode…stay tuned for episode 6 for an update from them.

Jordan Stanton, owner of Next Level Barbell, joins Matt & Scott to discuss his story of frugality, risk taking, and self-determination.

He went to college to become a nurse, but realized this was not a career he wanted to stick with long term. He began to train lifters and came to a point where he had to decide if he was going to really pursue it or not, and he ultimately did.

He paid off his bad debt with frugality and even though his initial gym was in a garage, he provided a clean space with high-quality lifting equipment and offered excellent coaching.

Although Jordan discusses going All in, he didn’t really go all in. He pushed hard, but he didn’t buy a huge warehouse and hope customers would come. If you want to start a gym, start in your garage and get a rack. Maybe move to a larger garage or get more equipment. You might eventually consider renting a small space. You don’t get an expensive space without knowing there is a customer base for you.

Jordan also realized the importance of the subscription model. He didn’t have clients pay monthly but rather had them pay monthly. This ensured regular pay. He also offered discounts for people who came regularly as opposed to coming in for one session.

Lastly, he found a huge element to creating a successful gym was building the community. The community keeps people coming and makes it harder for them to cancel, because their friends lift at the gym. This is large element to the success of CrossFit, because group classes create a social element.

This is the episode Matt & Mike recorded the day before Thanksgiving 2020 and aired that Black Friday. Matt & Mike discuss MicroGainz and the opportunities and challenges that COVID created for their businesses.

You can follow MicroGainz on Instagram here. MicroGainz offers fractional plates (now up to 10 lbs), dumbbell fractional plates, gym pins for machines, and now Barbell Logic engraved micro plates. The equipment is made in Pennsylvania, USA. You can always use cold “LOGIC” to get 10% off.

2020 has been a hard year for many people, though good professionally and personally for Matt (and he’s thankful for that). MicroGainz benefited from supply issues because he was able to produce plates when others could not.

The great part about his products is that they can be used whether you train at a gym–they fit easily and lightly in your gym bag–or at your house.

This is the NEW interview with Dominion Strength Training. Niki talks to Blake & Katie about their journey as entrepeneurs as their business has grown and they’ve expanded the products they offer. You can follow Dominion Strength Training on Instagram.

Niki actually met Blake & Katie before Dominion Strength Training started, as they came to Atlanta Barbell to receive coaching. They were CrossFitters but learned to love strength training, and as they turned to purchase their belt they realized there was no high-quality belt they could get quickly.

Initially, they received equipment from overseas, but production and quality issues led them to realize that they could offer a better product with less problems if they built the belts themselves, so they began to build the belts themselves.

Because they control everything that goes into the belt, they create the highest quality belt on the market. They can ship the belts to you quickly because they don’t customize but rather have belts in stock that can be yours within days.

They have grown and offer more products now, including straps, different sizes and types of belts, and dip belts.