4 simple tips for entrepreneurial success and happiness
Written by Noah Shoaf
There is no perfect formula for success and happiness. When you are an entrepreneur, you add uncertainty and exhaustion to that equation, making it even more challenging to solve.
BYU–Hawaii alumnus Corey Blake, now CO-CEO of MWI, a digital marketing agency, wants you to succeed.
He was in your shoes. He started a business while at BYUH as a student while being a father and a husband. This experience taught him to get in over your head.
“Be willing and ready to put yourself in uncomfortable situations to see growth. I think that is the only way you can grow.”
Blake added that students often let insecurity and fear stop entrepreneurial endeavors because they’re not comfortable with being uncomfortable.
However, Blake’s journey shows that when he was bold, fearless and got in over his head, he found purpose and prosperity. Here are the five lessons he learned that you can apply to your epic entrepreneurial journey.
#1 If you see an opportunity, run with it
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In the Hope Strategy Podcast, a podcast Blake co-hosts, Blake explained how he became a CO-CEO while still being in school at BYUH.
He said he always had an entrepreneurial mindset. At age 10, he would sell Pokemon Cards for 20 dollars when he purchased them for 10.
Blake came to BYUH with sales experience but had plans to be everything from a pilot to a lawyer. Time was ticking, and a year before he graduated, he settled on dentistry and quickly realized it was not his fit.
Everything changed for Blake when he began talking business with his brother-in-law, Josh Steimle. The two knew each other, but they had not connected or collaborated much due to their 10-year age gap.
In 2012, Steimle asked Blake about his experience with sales. After a conversation during a long car ride, Blake offered to help Steimle with his startup, and Steimle accepted.
“I remember feeling excitement, optimism and positivity,” noted Blake during episode 12 of the Hope Strategy Podcast, as he began helping Steimle. “And I felt like I was getting in so deep over my head because [Josh} was this business guy that had been doing it for 10 years and knew stuff. And I didn’t.”
Blake said he helped Steimle’s startup with small deals but realized there was more opportunity to do big deals with Josh’s digital marketing agency, MWI. Blake proposed that he take over more MWI deals.
According to Steimle, on the Hope Strategy Podcast, at that time, MWI was at one of its worst moments. The agency lost all of their clients besides three and was making 10,000 dollars a month. Steimle was more focused on making small deals with the startup.
Blake’s bold proposal eventually led to him becoming CO-CEO. Although Steimle had gone ten years without a partner due to bad experiences in the past, he realized Blake could be the perfect partner because he was young, moldable and straight out of college.
Although Blake was building MWI, he knew nothing about SEO (search engine optimization) until he took Paul Wilson’s, an assistant professor of entrepreneurship, ENTR 390R SEO course.
“His SEO class was really helpful because I was literally going to this class learning, then going home and implementing it. I didn’t do the SEO work, but I was hiring people who did, so I needed to be able to “talk the talk.”
Again, Blake applied what he was learning to MWI with Dr. Jason Earl’s, an professor of entrepreneurship, ENTR 499 Cash Valuation course. For the class, you had to evaluate a business for free. Blake used MWI for this assignment.
Because Blake saw an opportunity and ran with it, he was evaluating a company for college credit while being the company’s CEO.
Blake’s strides show you should never let an opportunity pass by. Not only will you regret it, but you also will never grow and challenge yourself.
#2 The more you sacrifice, the more you will learn
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Blake said it was tricky being a BYUH student and running MWI.
“I was waking up really, really early because Hawaii is three or four hours behind the west coast. I had calls early at 3, 4 or 5 a.m.”
Since Blake was living in TVA with his wife and baby, Blake would go to the HGB and begin his work for MWI.
“I was going in at 4 a.m. and setting up my workstation. Making calls, cold calling all over the place, answering email and just hustling.”
He would work from 4 or 5 a.m. till 8 a.m., and then start class. After class, he would work in the evening, starting it all again the next day.
It was no surprise that Paul Wilson said Blake’s hustle set him apart from other students... “I remember coming in early to my office and finding Blake at the HGB. He had already been there for 2 hours doing sales calls to the mainland.
“Even though he was a full-time student and a new father, he hustled to make it all work. You can see this same work ethic in his company today.”
Before he graduated, he set the goal to have the business forecasted for 12 months to do a million dollars in revenue.
“A few months before I graduated, I had MWI extrapolated to do a million dollars for the coming year. There was a lot of grinding it out. A lot of learning as I went because I didn’t know anything.”
Through this experience, Blake said he learned how detrimental ego can be in progress. Steimle could have easily not taken Blake’s advice and been defensive. Instead, he trusted Blake and was willing to hear different perspectives.
Steimle moved to Hong Kong, and Blake had to decide if he would risk everything on MWI or if he was going to be a dentist and take the safe route.
“My conversations [with Josh] motivated me. And I remember having feelings of excitement that I had never had before as it pertained to work and providing for a family,” said Blake on Episode 12 of the Hope Strategy Podcast.
“When I looked at the other option, it didn’t feel that way. It didn’t feel exciting.”
He chose MWI, saying, “Worst case scenario, I come out of this a way better person. Best case scenario, we build something that helps me make a living and provide for my family.”
Blake could have taken the safe route, as you can too. Starting a business does not have a concrete formula like some career tracks, and you will have to sacrifice.
But your sacrifices will teach you and mold you into the best version of yourself– no matter how much money you make. That is something you can’t buy.
#3 You aren’t wrong just because someone said no
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In Episode 12 of the Hope Strategy Podcast, Blake and Steimle explained how they brought MWI to Hong Kong.
After over seven years with MWI, they realized there was an opportunity to bring MWI to Hong Kong since they were behind using the internet for business.
“It was like we went into a time machine. We knew what was coming digitally, and they hadn’t done it yet. And no one from the west, in their right mind, was like, ‘I am going to go to Hong Kong and start a digital marketing agency.’”
Blake thought it would be fun to expand to Hong Kong because he had studied international cultural studies at BYUH.
They hired salespeople in Hong Kong, but their salespeople failed to deliver.
Blake wasn’t convinced that it was over.
“And I remember like, I’ve got to see this and feel it to know if this is an opportunity. Because everybody we talked to said, ‘Oh, sales are different here...You don’t understand the culture here.’”
Blake told Steimle to get a week scheduled for as many sales meetings as possible, and Blake would visit Hong Kong for the first time.
“I just had this feeling of like, I gotta get out there and see it for myself.”
That week they would get on the ferry at six in the morning, then finish their meetings at 10 p.m. After one of their first meetings, they closed a deal and were ready to hit the ground running in Hong Kong.
Along with not listening to “no,” Paul Wilson said Blake has two important skills. First, he has a keen focus on working on what matters. “He identified what he needed to do to make his company grow, and he did it continuously.”
Second is his ability to overcome challenges. “He had a lot on his plate as a student, but he didn’t let it stop him from working towards achieving his goals,” added Wilson.
Blake did not let “no” stop him. He had goals and knew how to achieve them, which is how he avoided failure and blazed his path.
Don’t let opposition stop any of your entrepreneurial ideas.
# 4 Don’t limit your potential
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They expanded in Hong Kong and had a team of about seven employees. Blake planned another week in Hong Kong, doing as many meetings as possible.
On Episode 12 of the Hope Strategy Podcast, Blake explained how he got a lead on the website and scheduled a meeting with the client like he always does. Quickly, he realized this business was not their average client.
In a boardroom overlooking a bay on the tallest floor of the building, Blake outlined their proposal. It had a budget of 5,000 dollars to help get the company on the map, but Blake did not release that info.
He said anchoring pricing is real. You often do not want to be the first person to say the price because it is hard to move once you lay that anchor down.
Blake also realized a 5,000-dollar website for this massive company was not going to work. So, he asked them what their budget was for this project. They replied with $150,000 dollars.
He responded, “I think we can make that work.” And in the elevator, he told his team to keep their cool.
“Then, we sat in the little red taxi, and as it pulled away, we all just erupted in laughter and high fives.”
Blake said that the company was brutal. He worked all hours of the night to meet the clients’ needs, but it was a significant boost for the company.
Blake did not limit his potential to 5,000 dollars. Instead, he knew what he was worth and got 30 times what he expected.
You never want to limit your potential. Be committed. Be realistic. But don’t restrict yourself.
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