Are you focused on just the transaction or the opportunity? While transactional business is important for immediate revenue, an opportunity maker must have one eye on the future and constantly be expanding revenue streams. In this episode Jim discusses the looking for contrarian opportunities, building relationships and preparing for seasons of famine by building a bigger business structure.

Call to Action:

Register for the Premier Partner Meetup at https://www.addevent.com/event/id6732104

About the Host: 

Jim Padilla is the founder and CEO of Gain The Edge - a done-for-you provider of industry-leading sales systems and unicorn sales professionals which he co-heads with his wife and entrepreneurial partner-in-crime, Cyndi Padilla.

Through their unique blend of laser-targeted selling systems, inspirational team-building expertise, and 60+ years of combined sales experience - Jim and his wife have generated over 1/4 bn in sales for a long line of high-level, visionary entrepreneurs.

Jim’s mission is to help purpose-driven thought-leaders untangle themselves from the day-to-day minutiae of seeking leads and sales for their business so they’re free to amplify their impact.

When Jim’s not making dollars rain down from the sky, you’ll regularly find him at the driving range - hitting a bucket of balls. Jim credits his time on the driving range as the main source of his best ideas.

Recently relocated back to California, Jim & Cyndi are immersing themselves in family time with their three daughters & four (soon to be five) grandchildren.

Connect with Jim at https://jimp360.com

Thanks for listening!

Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page.

Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!

Subscribe to the podcast

If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also subscribe in your favorite podcast app.

Leave us an Apple Podcasts review

Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts. 

Hey, Opportunity Makers. Welcome back to another amazing episode here, as we're getting you further on the journey, I want you to invite you to think about some things a little bit differently. And we're going to touch on some specific points over these next couple of episodes around how do opportunity makers think? What is the difference here? What is the differentiators between an opportunity maker and somebody who is a transactional business owner? Right, transactional business is great, we all need it. And most people need as much of it as they can get. The challenge is, and I'm gonna invite you to a perspective on this. I want to challenge you to not think about the ROI of your time as you can measure it with a stopwatch. But ROI of your time that can be measured with a calendar. See, if you're pouring into opportunities and everything you do is transactionally based, then you're literally living on an on a stopwatch perspective. And it's great. We need that that's called now money now, as my friend Susie Carter would say, who you'll hear from also in the future here on future episodes. But now money now is what happens when you're transactional moving, you're thinking, Okay, I have to survive today, I need to make a sale today. But when we spend all of our time in that perspective, then we never get the opportunity to move beyond the next day, because we're always looking for the next kill. And how do we make that work? And what we want to be looking at is how do we expand revenue streams? How do we expand opportunities, so that we can see beyond the capacity to just put money in the bank today, but start setting wheels in motion that start creating revenue tomorrow, and the next day and the next year? Right?

So we always have to be having one eye on the future business that we're building while we have one eye on the business that we're currently running and operating. And you know, our business model or our core business model we have multiple different divisions when we're epic events division, we deliver sales and scaling events that will deliver you six and seven figure paydays right, we we put all that together from soup to nuts to strategy creation, offer creation, the entire process as well as putting salespeople on the ground and, and making sure that there's this is a revenue generating asset called an event. We also have our done for you sales side of things, which is our fractional sales division when we step in, and we become that sales division for you. And, you know, sometimes it's a bit of a challenge for people because, you know, when you when you think about it, a lot of immediate resistance can be that how can somebody from the outside, right, stepped into my business, right, someone can step into my business, and insert my people I've been I've been making building a relationship with this marketplace for years, or in decades, and you're gonna come in from the outside and know what's going on there. That doesn't even sound real and doesn't sound right. And I understand that. But something that we've been able to do, and I didn't share too much of my story in this last episode, but I'm gonna share a little bit more of a here that, you know, I grew up in a pretty hard upbringing, and I ended up in foster care, as a teenager on the streets and gangs, in in jail. By the time I was 19. And so literally, I spent the first 20 years of my life, learning how to read the room consistently, and figure out how to bend influence in my direction. And it wasn't because I wanted to, you know, have buddies and friends or make money it was because they wanted to stay alive. So literally, it was life and death, if I didn't figure out how to connect with people, and build allies, and assets, instead of being seen, you know, as an adversary, or create that unnecessary friction. And the beauty of this is that I spent, you know, my whole life as an entrepreneur, last 30 years, making millions of dollars, and making hundreds of millions of dollars for our clients, by being able to step into their brand, being an extension of you and who you are and what you do. Being always very conscious of everything you've done to create your image, your reputation, everything that's been that's at stake for you. And knowing that we are here to ensure that your brand is always preserved. And so that we serve people as an extension of you versus showing up selling your products. Right.

Those are two different perspectives, a lot of companies that do what we do in that lane, they're here to sell your products, and many of them are very, you know, very proud and excited about the fact that they will convert as many people as possible. And while yes, that's important. That's why you hire right you want you want sales and you need revenue. We never want to make the mistake of making sales today at the expense of fit sales tomorrow. And so there's we want to make sure that people are served so well today that they're still around to buy tomorrow, because most people don't buy at your first offering right 90% of your marketplace of your total addressable market doesn't buy at the first offering And they need to get to know you better, they get to know more you, they get to build a relationship with you over time. And these are the things that we specialize in. This is a differentiator for us as a company. And as a brand. It's how I think it's in my DNA, I have all about relationship and service and connection, far more than I am about showing up to close deals, and deliver transactional service, right, we deliver outcomes and revenue out of the experience that we provide, versus selling products, and then hoping to deliver the outcome for people. So small distinction with a massive difference. And I hope you can see that. So we'll be we'll be sharing more of that. And I'm always honored to I'm humbled that you give me the time to be able to share my journey and my story with you. And so, I'd love to hear what yours is, you know, if when you get into our show notes, right, you go into the show notes, and there's always ways to contact us. And inside there, and I would love to hear what's going on with you what is how did you become the expert at what you do. And you know, What things have you had to overcome, I really love to hear that. So that it's you know, it's always useful. It's always encouraging to me that know that people are just constantly overcoming and striving. And really an opportunity maker is somebody who has overcome, who's mastered the art of overcoming, because you've had your own roadblocks and hurdles to get over in life. And if you don't get over him, you still stand there back to her at the time, you might be standing in front of that wall trying to figure out how to go over it. And instead of realizing that you don't have to go over it, you can go through it and go around it, you can go under it, you can take it apart brick by brick, there's no limits to the opportunities, the ways that you can navigate a hurdle. The key is that you need to be looking for them consistently. And so I'm going to share just a few different pieces here that we're going to unpack over the next several episodes, about how to about things to be thinking about, as to overcome the news, the doubt, the fear, the anxiety, the hopelessness, that can be created when we living in a contracting economy, which what a lot of people think you could fill in the blank, I'm not going to give it a label, contracting economy, inflation, recession, whatever you want to call it, hey, bottom line is, is perception is reality. And when a lot of people perceive that things aren't working, and that things aren't lining up for them, then they start pulling back and fear and doubt and anxiety and you have to go back in your job is to reach into them and pull them out to where they can be right in front of you and see what the opportunities that exist in front of them, your job is to help overcome the craziness for them. And so here's a few different things to be thinking about, as we're rolling into this.

Okay, number one, you want to be thinking about looking for contrarian opportunities. Now, I'm not one of those people that think just be contrarian for the sake of constraint we don't that's just about attention seeking and grabbing. But really thinking through, you know, the things that cause the problem, right too many times, that is actually where the solution is, right. So as example. So we know, one way to identify opportunities in a struggling economy, is to look for areas or industries that are overlooked or undervalued. And this might include sectors that are out of favor with investors, Hey, you want to look at trends, if everybody's running one direction, then I'm always the guy who's looking at why they're all running from over there, what's happening in there, that that needs to be better, vetted, more smooth out better handled, and finding the opportunity inside of it. And so that way, you you can be the connector, because too many times people run from an opportunity simply because they suck, but too many other people have said it's not working anymore, you know, simple examples and things that we talked about here. People are always saying things like launches, don't work, any more webinars, don't work any more events, you know, whatever you fill in the blank, does not matter what it is, every single piece of marketing strategy, collateral resource, at some point or other, somebody has said, This doesn't work anymore, it's no longer effective. And then it becomes a trend. And then all of a sudden, everybody's moving in another direction. And that's almost never the case, I'll say, I'll go as far as to say it's never the case. Because it just means that there was something that needed to be adapted, overcome or seen in a different way. And the person who can help people see it in a different way. Make it work powerfully and effectively. Right. Just like how we run our businesses like we don't one of the things that we look at all the time, too many people, not too many people, it's very common. And we'll say that people will say, hey, look, I'm I want to hire a team. I want to grow my team. And what they do is they'll grow profit first and then out of profit, hire team. The only problem with that, that I see from a contrarian perspective, is you will only be able to grow you'll be limited by how much you can grow it because you're the one person who's trying to drive this right with I want to drive it further and faster than I'm gonna hire people first, and then fund the operation. Unity. So if if I hire somebody who's going to help me move this thing forward twice as fast as I could by myself, or sometimes even 10 times faster, then I'm going to fund that first, which means I'm going to have no profit first, instead of getting to profit, and then all of a sudden taking from that profit, to hire somebody, I'm going to get to a place of profitability faster, because I'm going to now have people in place who can drive that particular opportunity. So instead of taking a month, a year, whatever that term might be, it might be able to, you might be able to cut down time by 10 2050, sometimes even 100%. Okay, but it's just starting to look for different looking at things differently, taking a new lens, to the opportunity and say, How can I see this in a different way? Right. So we are literally that's how we build our businesses.

Now we we find the opportunity, what's the concept? What's once we prove the concept and the methodology, then we immediately put somebody in place as an operator as a strategist. And then we provide oversight and guidance. Hey, so then from there, we are in the consultant advise perspective in our own business, which then frees us up because we're no longer on the organizational chart. And the company can run without us. Right? It does not not right away perspective, but it's just seeing the concept, I want you to just start thinking this way. And for a lot of you, I know you're already starting to think like this, because you're looking at opportunities to be able to acquire companies, acquire divisions, departments, this is how this works. And I want you all to start thinking that this is possible for you, because it is everybody else out there is doing transactional business and you know what they need, they need somebody to work for and work with, because they're not the ones who are seeing the bigger piece of the pie, the bigger structure and the way this is all designed, right? Maybe you want to be, you know, like like Joseph and Beilein, you're the one who's creating the opportunity to build for seasons of feast, and then being prepared for seasons of famine, because it's seasons of famine, you're going to have the keys of the kingdom, and everybody else is gonna be coming to you, because they're only thinking about transaction. And so they can't get beyond the thing that's right in front of them, and they're going to be needing to see you, you're the one that they count on. Right. So having that person having the ability to look in places where everybody else is running away from, to find the opportunity, right, and then focusing on customer needs is another is a big one, hey, you have to be able to whatever you can do to step into human humanity. Right. One of the things that I'm standing for firmly, is that humanity will never be replaced. Human beings will always be needed in all technology, even at its best, no matter how many iterations of chat GPT, or any AI or anything else has going on, it will only be in service of elevating humanity. And if you know that's the goal, that's the mission, that's the objective than your opportunity is always see, where's the technology line? And how does human humanity intersect and serve it so that you are able to step up and show people that even in a down market, customers still have needs and wants and desires and things that they're willing to pay for. People are always willing to pay, always willing to pay what you do matters, and you deserve to be paid well for it. By focusing on customers needs and delivering value to them, you will be able to identify new opportunities and new revenue streams because as the technology enhances and advances, then where does Where do humans fit in? That's the thing that we look for all the time, where is the where's the need for human touch. And people want that because we were designed for it doesn't matter to me what people say about the technology I know, that has that God created us for connection and relationship together, there's nothing that will ever replace that. So you become the opportunity maker by seeking ways to bring more humanity into the process that your company delivers or that your industry delivers. And then all of a sudden, you're the differentiator, okay, it's going to develop in could involve developing new products or services that meet the changing customer needs, and leveraging existing assets, right, or resources in new and innovative ways. And it doesn't, you don't have to be a pioneer. You just got to be thinking differently. Just ask yourself, How can this be used different? What can I do to serve or to solve differently?

And those the better questions, you're able to ask yourself, the better answers that you're going to come up with, right? And that you'll be able to leverage technology and automation more effectively. And then of course, this you know, the we're in a very shrunken world right now. So the last thought I wanted to share with you today is to be considered global markets, right? So looking at what global markets can do for you. Now, if you're literally connected to the world, by virtue of this podcast, I know we're live being listened to by by many of you in other countries, other countries then the America which is where I am, as well as I know, my other podcast, my sales team ready podcast is with that that's been listened to and 119 countries I think that's mind blowing, and just crazy, especially because just one guy sharing a message out there in the world, that we are a global community from And from social media, to YouTube, to anything that we're doing in the world, we are connected, just like that. And not only are we connected to the people that we can serve, you're connected to other people who can bring you closer to volumes of people that you serve. And so I want you to really be thinking about what other cultures are in alignment and fit for what you do and how you do it. And we're How can you be connected to people who can bring you into these cultures as a solution making opportunity? Right, so stay informed, stay adaptable, right? Make sure that you understand in a down market, there's a lot of negative news in the media and, and high inflation, by keeping abreast of market trends, don't get sucked up, please be careful, don't get sucked up into all the negative, just be aware, keep abreast of the market trends and the economic indicators that you can identify potential risks and opportunities and adjust your strategy accordingly. And then don't be afraid to bring people on the journey. Once you are exploring something, say, hey, come along with me. I'm trying this out. What do you think this is a great example. That is what's happening in in chat GPT right now, right? That's, that's on everybody's lips. And nobody's mastered it by any means we just figuring it out. But there's a whole lot of people who are saying, hey, let's try this. And a lot more people are following, right. So the people who are the payout, the the pioneers and the trailblazers who are trying to figure it out, everybody else is coming along with and we're going to learn we're going to find things that work, find things that don't work, and that's okay. But in the meantime, everybody's working on it together, because somebody had the courage and the confidence to say, I'm going to try this, Hey, you there, no matter what business you're in, what industry you're in, there's always a version of that. What's the thing that you what's the door you can knock down? What's the mountain that you've been climbed? What's the wall that you can destroy it and knock it out of the way and overcome these verticals hurt.

I love that word, hurdles and obstacles that most people that need you aren't quite clear on how to overcome, or they're just flat out afraid of taking the chance. And they need someone like you to step up and say, I've got it come with me, we're gonna go figure this out together. Right? That way, you're not having to solve it all. First, people aren't interested in the solution, they need the confidence that the solution exists, they need to know that there's a path that they can follow, even if they don't know where the fault or the path is going to go. Because they're leaning into your confidence, your clarity in your certainty, right? So remain agile and adaptable, and be willing to pivot or change course, if necessary, and respond to the changing market conditions. When you're that person, people will follow you even if you've made it crystal clear that you don't know where the destination is, you just show up with confidence and certainty that you're moving them further on the path and moving them away from the pain and the struggle and the fear that they're in. They need hope. You got to be the provider of hope. That's what an opportunity Maker does. And that's what opportunity maker is. And we're here to lead you on that journey. So as always, I thank you for being you're taking your time that you could be spending anywhere else on the planet, and you're choosing to spend it here, both with me and spending the time investing in yourself. And we're hoping to shift the way that you think and challenge we're not going to dive into too many tactics. In this podcast and the opportunity makers podcast, much more going to be focused on vision, beliefs, what's possible, what are we doing what what innovation and opportunities exist? And then you know, we've got other places we can send you if you're looking for specifics, more specifics on tactics. But at times, we'll dive into that. But you know, again, always let us know, go to the show notes. We've got some great resources for you to be able to start exploring what opportunities exist for you.