[00:00:00] Hey, badass. So not to brag, but apparently 90 percent of businesses fail, right? That's what the stats say.
[00:00:09] And yet I have a 100 percent success rate, and I want to break down why I think that is because I have launched and built and scaled three successful businesses.
[00:00:25] I had my YouTube channel, which was about French language and culture and my views on France as a New Zealander living in France. I have, of course, Badass Careers and now Badass Empire. My YouTube channel didn't have a great business model behind it. I was stuck doing brand sponsorships and that kind of thing.
[00:00:46] However, it's still, in its lifetime, made over 200, 000. Badass Careers, obviously, a multi million dollar company. And then Badass Empires. is just about to crack over [00:01:00] half a million in revenue already. And it's just running at super speed. Like it's already surpassed its first 100k month. Something that took much longer over at Badass Careers.
[00:01:12] So I think it's safe to say that I am building a second seven figure.
Understanding Business Failure Rates
[00:01:17] Company right now with badass empires and I want to talk to you a little bit about this because a lot of people will say That business is risky business Rarely works like it's something that's very exceptional if it does work if you're looking at the stats alone It can look a little grim But I want you to also remember that a lot of those stats Involve either brick and mortar have to keep the lights on big rents big electricity bills just a lot of outgoings You Or very slim profit margins, right?
[00:01:48] Hospitality, restaurants, cafes, that kind of thing where they're literally running at like 8 percent profit or something like that. So if they, I don't know, the oven blows up, they're completely screwed. Or they are [00:02:00] talking about the online world and tech and digital. But it's maybe it's an app that can completely flop or, it's an app and you've had to generate all of this upfront investment and get these angel investors so that you can hire these big engineering teams and developers and all this kind of stuff.
[00:02:16] It's very difficult finding stats reflective of the creative economy of my business model, which is essentially you create content, you build an audience and you sell that audience things that they want to buy. And I think that this business model is at the core of why my businesses are successful over and over again.
[00:02:37] And I'm going to break down some components of that success and some of the reasons why it works so that you can apply it to your own business and have a think about the kind of business that you want to create for yourself.
Advantages of Online Businesses
[00:02:50] So the first huge advantage is that they're online. Physical or product based businesses require either a [00:03:00] lot of money to start up, a lot of stock, a lot of inventory, a lot of bills to keep the lights on, especially if you're renting a premises or you need, somewhere that your team can work.
[00:03:13] And so not only is that incredibly stressful, but it slashes the profit margins down to a measly, what, 5 to 20%? Whereas online businesses generally, and I mean my type of business, dropshipping, whatever, but online businesses are generally free to start. With some of the highest profit margins possible because we're hacking the business world by leveraging the sheer number of people that exist on the internet.
[00:03:45] Now, this business model in particular is extremely profitable because if you think about it, what am I selling? I'm selling knowledge. Knowledge doesn't require me to order a hundred blank t-shirts and use my printer [00:04:00] to press my designs onto them. Knowledge is in my mind and if I can get it out of my mind into audio files, video files, slide decks, whatever it is, I can sell that.
[00:04:13] So the profit margins are incredible, which eliminates a lot of the out front risk from the get go.
The Power of Purpose in Business
[00:04:20] The second thing to keep in mind is that all of my businesses are very purposeful. So I firmly believe that for a business to succeed in the long haul, it needs to be tied to your purpose. And everyone's purpose will look different and it doesn't have to be the big one purpose, right?
[00:04:37] It has to feel purposeful. It has to feel meaningful. And that's usually linked to helping people. That's usually linked to contributing to the world in some way and helping people to, take several steps further towards their goals or transform their lives in some way. But it usually comes back to making a positive impact on people.
[00:04:59] And [00:05:00] when you Create businesses around helping people like even not even French helping expatriates who come to France, right? They could be feeling confused overwhelmed Lonely feeling like they don't fit in feeling like they don't understand even if I'm just making some funny cute videos about Oh my gosh, this is what it's like dating French guys.
[00:05:21] It helps people. It really does. It helps them to feel less alone and helps them to understand cultural codes. Like it genuinely is very purposeful because I'm taking people who have recently done something that I've been through and I know how scary it can feel. I know how embarrassing it can feel not speaking French.
[00:05:41] I know how I know all of those feelings and I help that to feel better. So even something like that is incredibly purposeful. And why that's incredibly important is that.
Building a Personal Brand
[00:05:53] This business model for all of its pros, I guess the one con is that because you're an [00:06:00] online personal brand, it takes time for people to get to know you, get to like you and get to trust you.
[00:06:05] You need to show up, you need to put the work in and do it for free before you start getting paid. And that purpose also keeps you going because it's so important to you that you will create free content on this because it's linked to your mission and you do care and you do want to see people win in this area.
[00:06:25] So you will show up, you will do that for them, and you know that Over time, once you've built up that personal brand capital and that trust with people, they will start asking you, how can I work with you? How can I learn from you? I want to take it to the next level. So that purpose as well helps. You keep going even when that dopamine's not coming in of those sales and those payment notifications And all of those things that you know I get to have today get to wake up in the morning and be like, oh wow Cool three grand of sales overnight easy.
Simplicity and Focus in Business
[00:06:58] Awesome [00:07:00] When that's not your reality yet, the purpose is everything and it does pay off. The other reason I think this business model really works well is that they're incredibly simple. I didn't need to design some never seen before app. I didn't need to develop a brand new ice cream flavour. I didn't need to innovate to an extreme level and think of something incredibly new or design something particularly complex.
[00:07:25] I took something I knew about, which was how to write a resume, and I got started. Simple skill. People don't know what you do. And you know what? There are thousands of existing blogs, videos, online tools available to help you write a resume. ChatGPT can help you. OnlineResumeBuilders can help you.
[00:07:46] YouTubers can help you. There are a lot of things out there that can help you. And yet, people still want to pay me 300 to do my self study course to learn how. It is not the hardest skill in the world, writing a resume. But some [00:08:00] people are sick of trying to figure it out by themselves. They're frustrated, they're overwhelmed, and they just want to be told how to do it.
[00:08:07] And they trust me because I'm the obvious go-to expert on that one area of focus. And they want to learn from me. They want to learn the rosy way, the badass way. So it gets to be so simple. It can be the simplest skill. It could be the simplest offer. It can be the simplest message in your content. If you focus and keep it simple, you will grow and scale faster than trying to over orchestrate it or make it particularly complex just to feel like you are worthy of making money online.
Leveraging Personal Brand Capital
[00:08:42] Another major reason that this has worked three times now for me is that these business models are personal brand based. So when you create a personal brand around, yes, what you know, but also who you are and your way and your unique convictions and values and methodology, [00:09:00] People start to trust you.
[00:09:01] They see you as their leader. They see you as the authority and that connection, that human touch that allows people to really feel like you're for real, you're not just the scammy faceless brand account who's anonymous that they get to know you. People want to learn from people. People want to connect, especially in this information age where they could get information on how to write a resume on chat GPT or how to prepare for the interview on another AI software that helps them to, prepare for the interview, whatever it is.
[00:09:38] But it can't beat feeling seen, feeling heard, and learning from a human being. And the coolest thing about building up this personal brand is that because people connect with you, and they like you, and they like your way, and they resonate with you, or they see themselves in you, or whatever it is, they follow you.
[00:09:58] When I launched Badass [00:10:00] Careers, I think my Not Even French followers were sitting around maybe the 120k mark, so 120, 000 YouTube subscribers, let's say. I remember announcing it on YouTube, mentioning it in videos, like doing some, how to write your CV for the French market, by the way, I'm starting Badass Careers, et cetera, et cetera.
[00:10:19] Long story short, I had 500 people come over. Now that's a, that's great, that's a great start, but they were 500. Hardcore people. For the rest of that year, there were always at least a handful of Francophiles in my client group. I knew that they had come from Not Even French. They were either living in France, passionate about France, spoke French, or they'd just tell me, hey, I found you originally on Not Even French.
[00:10:46] And the small, tiny, minuscule percentage, okay, 500 people out of 120, 000, but they did feed into my community and they were my early adopters and they were my first supporters and some of them even became clients. [00:11:00] Same thing for Badass Empires. A lot of people signed up to the Empire saying, Rosie, I did the career glow up. You changed my life. I love what you do. Now I want to learn business the badass way. Time, trust, personal brand capital. So I've been able to evolve and switch and I wouldn't necessarily recommend that by the way. I definitely think it's a really good idea to double down on something and see it through.
[00:11:24] I'm just a bit ADHD over here. But people will follow you even as you evolve because they start to care about you and not just what you know and not just what you can do for them. And so when you have different applications, they'll always be a part of that community that follows you. And so what I found is that.
[00:11:44] My financial success has really catapulted and I've been able to condense the time to which it takes to achieve that success with every new business I've launched, thanks to the personal brand capital I have backing me.
Personal Motivation and Business Success
[00:11:59] And [00:12:00] then if we just zoom out for a second and get a little bit meta, I think underneath all of this, a big reason That these businesses have worked is because I didn't really give myself any other option because it was so important to me.
[00:12:17] It was so personally meaningful to me that I would do anything. I would learn anything. I would invest in big mentors. I would do whatever it took to make it happen. And when I say personally meaningful, really personal and meaningful as in I'm a New Zealander married to a French guy. And so my business Could literally facilitate and save our marriage from one perspective, because we come from opposite sides of the planet.
[00:12:44] And so if resentment started to build. Frenchie started to feel upset, homesick, stuck, claustrophobic, living in New Zealand so far from his friends and family. Or vice versa. That could be a major [00:13:00] problem in our lives. Whereas my businesses now give us so much financial freedom and so many options that if we wanted to retire early at 40 and live 6 months in each country, that Yeah, we could do it.
[00:13:13] We could probably pull it off now. If he was working as a contractor or a freelancer or just whatever, he could work for me. Who knows? He could be my personal photographer. But what I'm trying to say, like he doesn't want that, but what I'm trying to say is that it's about those options.
[00:13:26] And so it means that we have a backup plan for our marriage. It's also incredibly important for my mental wellbeing, just little things like my ADHD brain. Or the fact that my energy peaks in the afternoons and evenings. I remember the simplest thing, the simplest task of getting to work on time. Used to be a massive drama for me.
[00:13:50] Time blindness, ADHD, it's just a whole ass thing. But also if you layer that with my chronotype and the fact that I am a night owl, [00:14:00] mornings, like every day. Would start negatively for me No matter when I set my alarm for no matter when I left for work I would set the goals. I would do everything that I needed to do.
[00:14:13] I would always end up running late. I could not get to that office by 8 30 a. m And it was stressful like I would rock up to the office literally full of shame doubting myself looking around feeling guilty It would affect my life My engagement, it would affect my quality of work like it would take me an hour mentally to recover from the stress of rushing to the office, especially because I would have, been cutting it fine.
[00:14:37] I'd be in the Metro in Paris and I, there'd always be a problem. And I used to beat myself up so badly. Like, why can't I just make this work? Everyone else can. Why can I be so smart, but just not? Get here on time in the morning. This is just one little example of the corporate structure, not working for me on my brain, but it did have a huge effect on my self confidence on my wellbeing, like [00:15:00] every single day, starting your day feeling like shit, it adds up.
[00:15:03] So four things that are very important to me, like my ability to be location independent, my marriage, my mental wellbeing, all of these things, like it was just so important to me that this worked, that I. Didn't know how long it would take. I didn't know what exactly it would look like, but I just knew it would work because I knew that I would do anything until it did.
Conclusion: Your Purpose-Driven Business Journey
[00:15:26] And when you can crack that balance between how much this business allows you to give to the world and then how much you can get back from it, you've already done a lot of the most challenging work in terms of setting your business vision. So if you're listening to this, I imagine that you are currently working on your wildly successful purpose driven profitable business on your terms. I am absolutely rooting for you and I would love to hear from you.
[00:15:53] Tell me All about it. Tell me what you're doing, but follow it up with why you're doing that [00:16:00] Send me a message over on instagram At badass empires underscore and we can have a chat. I look forward to getting to know you and your biz But until then Keep bingeing the podcast. I'll see you next week. If you have any questions, you know where to find me and rain on bad ass because we've got an empire to build.
[00:16:18] See you.
