EP 412: 5 Kids, $5 Million 2015 Agency Revenue With Joe Apfelbaum of AjaxUnion

Joe Apfelbaum of Ajax Union. Joe has had several successful six-figure businesses, and Ajax Union is no exception. The company did $4 million last year, and they have plans to hit $6 million for revenue this year. Take a few notes from Joe’s playbook and take your own business to six-figure success.

Famous Five:

• Favorite Book? - Think and Grow Rich, Traction, and The Miracle Morning. Getting Things Done
• What CEO do you follow? — Tony Robbins
• Favorite online tool? — Google Docs, Trello and MailChimp

• Do you get 8 hours of sleep? — I sleep when I’m comfortable. Last night I got 9 hours of sleep
• If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? – The importance of reading and studying books. Relationships matter.

Time Stamped Show Notes:

• 01:40 – Nathan introduces Joe
• 02:35 – Joe just had his fifth kid
• 02:55 – Ajax Union was not his first six-figure business
• 03:30 – It started as a side gig
• 04:05 – They did $500000 in revenue in 2009
• 04:25 – 2015 revenue was $4 million
• 04:45 – They shifted to focusing on their bottom line
• 05:00 – Revenue per client is $10000
• • 05:15 – A focus on giving better service, not bringing in more clients
• 05:25 – 20 employees
• 05:55 – Their goal for 2016 is 6 million
• 06:10 – Bottom-line margins were small in 2015
• 06:35 – He wanted to run a smaller business and lose less money
• 07:15 – The underlying cause of a lifestyle business
• • 07:35 – Paying himself well and living a good life
  • 08:00 – Take-home income was over $200k
• 08:50 – First year revenue was $500000
• 09:15 – Paid on a retainer basis
• 10:25 – Unparalleled marketing support
• 10:45 – Churn is irrelevant for this stage of the company
• • 11:20 – They turn down clients.
• 11:35 – A focus on bottom-line growth this year
• 11:55 – Working with Jacobtime
• 12:30 – Joe is a killer marketer!
• 13:00 – Taking stable businesses and helping them take off
• 13:30 – An investor put in $1 million
• • 14:05 – They wanted the partnership
  • 14:45 – Valuation for his company was very good
  • 15:30 – An angel investment
  • 15:45 – Profit sharing
• 16:15 – His podcast, CEO Mojo
• • 16:30 – Doing weekly interviews and figuring out the obstacles of getting to having six-figure businesses
  • 17:10 – A goal to grow a database of content
  • 17:25 – In the process of writing a book based on that content and creating courses
  • 18:30 – The true value of documenting the stories of entrepreneurs
  • 19:00 – He wants people to see that success in your business, life, and family is possible.
• 20:00 – People can follow Joe at Facebook.com/joeapfelbaum and on LinkedIn
• 20:20 – Snapchat and Instagram
• 22:30 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:

• Start your business as a side gig, and make the transition to owning your own business easier.
• Create a lifestyle business that gives you more freedom to live a happy life.
• Focus on the quality of the service you are providing before you start drawing in more customers.   

Resources Mentioned:

• Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible.
• Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts.
• Leadpages  – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+
• Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books.
• Toptal – Great for business people to start building their app
• Think and Grow Rich, Traction, The Miracle Morning and Getting Things Done – Wherever you’re at with your life or your business, one of these books will be right for you!
• Google Docs, Trello, and MailChimp – Joe’s favorite online tools
• CEO Mojo – Follow Joe’s podcast to hear the stories of successful six-figure entrepreneurs
• Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives