Join host Matt Edmundson as he chats with serial entrepreneur Chris George, who has launched seven businesses, including Gentleman’s Box and SubSummit. In this episode, Chris shares insights on the importance of focus in entrepreneurship and how his faith journey over the past year has impacted his life. Discover how Chris balances his entrepreneurial spirit with a deepening relationship with God.

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Timestamps:

0:00 Intro

2:09 The Importance of Focus in Business

6:12 The Impact of Environment on Focus

15:43 Strategic Business Planning with a Top-Down Approach

18:26 Understanding Lead and Lag Measures

25:31 A Return to Faith

28:28 Chris George's Faith Journey

37:23 Faith is the Hope of Things Unseen

50:37 Bringing Faith into Business

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Key Takeaways:

1. The Importance of Focus: Chris emphasises the significance of maintaining focus, especially for entrepreneurs. He advises against falling into the "shiny object syndrome" trap, where one might be tempted to pursue multiple ventures simultaneously. Instead, he suggests dedicating the majority of one's time and energy to a primary goal or business, as this focus is crucial for achieving success.

2. Understanding and Leveraging Environment: Chris discusses how the environment plays a critical role in shaping one's life and work habits. He shares personal insights about how his work environment affects his productivity and efficiency. By identifying where and how one works best, individuals can enhance their focus and output. He also touches on the broader impact of one's upbringing and surroundings on personal development and success.

3. Consistency in Faith and Routine: Chris talks about the transformative power of faith in his life, particularly over the past year. He highlights the importance of consistency in building a relationship with God, comparing it to maintaining a daily routine like brushing teeth. By integrating faith practices into daily life, such as reading the Bible and praying, one can find peace and guidance, which also positively influences business decisions and personal growth.

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Matt Edmundson [0:14 - 0:45]: Well, hello and welcome to this very special recording with my friend Chris George, who is a serial entrepreneur who has launched seven businesses. Because, you know, why would you not, including gentleman's box and SubSummit, which is where I know. Chris. Chris, I've been looking forward to this conversation, man, and looking forward to getting into it. It's fair to say we've recorded a fair few podcasts together, so. And they've all been good, so there's no difference. Going to be tonight, I would have thought.

Chris George [0:45 - 0:53]: Yeah, no, I appreciate it. Thanks so much. And always chatting with you is. We always have great conversation. I feel like we could talk for hours, so.

Matt Edmundson [0:53 - 1:02]: Yeah, yeah, we do. Across the pond as well. It's always fun. Whereabouts are you at the moment? Because it's looking very sunny where you are.

Chris George [1:02 - 1:11]: Behind you. Right. We got a nice day today. You know, it's like, sunny. You never know what the Michigan weather.

Matt Edmundson [1:12 - 1:30]: I live in England. It's the same thing. Right. You just never know what's going to happen. But just love the fact we've got technology that enables us to chat like this. And, yeah, it's good. We said in the intro that you've started seven businesses. Have you stopped now or you're just going to keep going?

Chris George [1:30 - 1:54]: It's funny when you said that, like, there's a few more I'm involved in, but, you know, realistically, like, I'm a, like, 95% of my time is on SubSummit. Right. And I'm like a mentor to some other businesses. I've got some equity shares and some. I invested in some businesses. Right. And so. But majority of my time is on the conference. It's the most important thing. You know, we just had it a few months back. You were there.

Matt Edmundson [1:54 - 1:54]: Yeah.

Chris George [1:54 - 2:03]: This is growing tremendously. So my focus is mainly on that. Well, you know, having a little bit of my hands on a few other things here and there.

Matt Edmundson [2:03 - 2:09]: Yeah, yeah. Just like every entrepreneur, you know, we just. We can't sit still. We've got to have a. Got to have our fingers in a few pies.

Chris George [2:09 - 2:45]: I will say, though, focus is so important. Like, one of the things I tell anybody that's doing that, I tell them, you really have to focus. And that's why I brought up the 95%, because, yeah, SubSummit really is my number one focus and it would. It would take priority over everything else. Right. And I think sometimes entrepreneurs fall into that shiny object syndrome trap, like, oh, so and so is doing this. Like, I got to get part of it. Well, you know, you try to do too much, nothing gets done. And I think laser, like being laser focused, especially when you have a goal, is something that you have to do.

Matt Edmundson [2:45 - 2:49]: Is that something you found out from experience or is that something that you read in a book once?

Chris George [2:50 - 3:22]: For sure. Experience heard it from other successful entrepreneurs and then like, probably did read it in a somewhere. Right. You know, I don't think Mark Zuckerberg did very much besides Facebook or meta. Right. And Peter Thiel didn't do much, much more, much else than PayPal. Right. They were very focused. And so I really do believe in that. I think if I was to like turn back time, I would have, like leading up to building sub and then starting subsequent, I would have done nothing else. I would have stayed the course there.

Matt Edmundson [3:22 - 3:36]: Just done it just on that. So what does focus look like to you then? Because I think it's one of those words that I hear a lot in the sort of business arena especially. So I'm curious, what does it mean to you?

Chris George [3:37 - 6:11]: So focus is making a specific goal, business, whatever, priority, like a priority, right. And so it's, this is what we need to achieve. It's, you built a plan and we need to focus on getting there. Right. And it's easy to lose focus, especially in this world that we live in. And again, all the distractions, you have to be laser focused. I think that comes with like consistency. Really good time management. Right. I was given an example to somebody, one of my team members. I have a beautiful office in my home, but I never work that well when I'm there. And so I come to the office every single day. I have a very strict regimen and routine. And when I'm at the office, I'm probably like twice as efficient. And someone will be like, why? I mean, I'm a single guy. I don't have any family, don't have any kids. I don't even have any dogs anymore. So it's just me in the home. Like, why aren't you, why aren't you efficient at home? And I think that I've been conditioned to believe that when you're home, I'm resting okay? Right. So when I'm in that environment, my brain is more in like a resting environment. Let's say I can't get some work done. But if I were to spend 6 hours at home or 6 hours here at the office, office is pure work. There's no descriptions, there's no couch that looks, well, we have a couch here, but there's no, like that couch. It's like your spot. You sit and it's very comfortable or an excuse to go up and take a nap or run into the kitchen and grab some snacks. Like, it's beautiful outside. So you go for a walk. Like, it's just like you're at work, you're focused. That's what works for me, right. And so I think in some cases, focus is identifying those things, right? Knowing, like, where are you most efficient, you know? And I was just telling somebody else that I mentor, I was like, you need two monitors. And she was like, no, I don't want to have two monitors. Like, you need two monitors. I was like, you love chat. GPT. Why don't you ask GPT how more, how much more efficient you are? And it was like 42% more efficient with two monitors. Let me put that in perspective for you. Like, you work 10 hours, you're really getting 14 hours with a work done, right? So, like, you can't argue with me that this is not better, right? And so, but again, that's like, that's part of being focused too, right? Identifying what works with you. Well, are you, are you thinking about ways to be more efficient? You know, how do you go about your day? How consistent is your day? How time manages your day? Are you leaving? Are you taking hour and a half lunches? Just to take hour and a half lunches? That's not very focused. You know, things like that. I think that's what focus means. It's like you're dedicated, you're all in.

Matt Edmundson [6:12 - 7:02]: Yeah, it's a really interesting idea, isn't it? You know, in terms of focus and what it means for various people. But I like that you're all in. And I liked, I'm a big fan that environment matters, you know, where you work matters. What that. What that's like, matters. And not because I'm trying to keep up with Google or because I need a pinball machine in the corner of the office or anything like that, you know, from a creative spark. If I do, great, you know, whatever works. But I think I understanding that environment matters is a really important tool. And actually, some of them, I was like you, I had an office at home. Couldn't work in it at all until I built the office separate from the house. So it's at home, it's in the garden, in what I affectionately call the man shed, but it's separate. And so I guess there's that mental line that I have to cross whenever I come to it. Right.

Chris George [7:02 - 7:05]: That's nice. You don't hit much traffic then on the way home from work.

Matt Edmundson [7:07 - 7:13]: That's very true to avoid rush hour, but apart from that, I'm okay.

Chris George [7:13 - 8:06]: You know, I'd say the interesting thing about environment is, like, it's actually how it affects your whole life. Right. The environment you grow up in will, like, will dictate how your life might turn out. And it goes along with your work environment, goes on with everything. Right? Like, you know, sometimes you might see somebody do something that you might not think is right. Right. You might be like, why did that person just say that? Or, why did that person do that? And then you realize in some cases, people don't know what they don't know, but the environment that they grew up in was the reason why they might act the way they act. And so that goes along with, like, the environment that you work in could affect how you work. The environment you grow up in will affect what you do in the future. Environment is so critical. I think it's probably the number one indicator of how somebody might turn out.

Matt Edmundson [8:07 - 8:57]: Yeah, it's a really interesting point, isn't it, this whole nature nurture debate. And we know, for example, that if a boy especially, it does affect girls as well, but boys especially are affected by growing up in a. In a fatherless home, you know, where there's an absent dad. And, you know, you just have to survey the people that are in the prisons. Most of them come from fatherless homes. So there is definitely a correlation. And you do see that environment does matter, you know, across a whole great deal of things. Where have you seen that then? You. You. Obviously, you live in Detroit. Yeah, I live in the UK. I mean, in some respects were similar. In some respects, they're very different, you know, parts of the world. But what was the environment like then that you sort of grew up in?

Chris George [8:58 - 9:23]: So my environment, you know, which is interesting because I think that I was blessed with this environment, but an outsider looking in might be like, well, that wasn't so fun. You know, my family, I was working at a young age, so we actually. So I grew up in Bloomfield Hills, which is an affluent neighborhood, and Michigan, maybe top two or three.

Matt Edmundson [9:23 - 9:24]: Okay.

Chris George [9:24 - 9:44]: Now part of that, though, was my family was very wealthy when I was pre born and when I was very young, but then things started to not go well. My businesses didn't do well. My dad's actually not very. Not a very good entrepreneur. He's like a really good employee, soft spoken, nicest guy you'll ever meet in your entire life.

Matt Edmundson [9:44 - 9:45]: Yeah.