A serial entrepreneur, Jeffrey Wachman is a night-life entrepreneur, an author, and an innovator in performing arts, digital marketing, and business development.
Open about his humble beginnings and past, he used a personal tragedy as a catalyst to clean up his life, further develop his sales acumen, and reapply it, which resulted in significant business growth for his several companies.
Jeffrey Wachman is a partner and co-owner of several companies such as Hunkomania Male Revue, Diva Royale Drag Queen Show, Booze N’ Brush Sip N’ Paint, and Red Velvet Burlesque entertainment franchises, just to name a few. He is also the co-owner and Chief Marketing Officer for My Eye Read Iridology, My Estate to Liquidate Estate Sales, Credit Roadrunner Credit Repair, Merit Laser Services Medical Laser Repair, and Next Destination Moving. A champion of growth-mindset thinking, Jeffrey learned from his life experiences and sought to inspire others to pursue their ambitions, goals, and dreams. Global Millionaire magazine recently sat down and talked entrepreneurship with Jeffrey, and here’s what he had to say:
When did your entrepreneurial flair first reveal itself?
Ever since I was a teenager, I’ve always had the spirit of an entrepreneur; I used to buy candy, sell it at school, and enjoy the experience of commerce and the joy it gave to my schoolmates. Always looking for the next angle, I soon learned to purchase sneakers and clothing and resell it at a profit. These lessons taught me the power of being in business for yourself and gave me an early insight into the expression, “profits are better than wages.”
What did your life look like before being an entrepreneur?
Before becoming an entrepreneur, I worked different jobs. I worked as hard as possible, always excelled at them, and made good money. But my hunger for success and constant growth fueled me to keep growing and moving forward to my career as an entrepreneur.
As an entrepreneur, what is it that motivates and drives you?
In addition to delighting the customer, making money is important, but even more importantly, seeing how big I can grow a company gets me up in the morning. Setting goals, applying focus and effort, and eventually achieving them is gratifying. However, I get even more enjoyment from setting stretch goals that challenge me to grow further in my understanding and capabilities.
In a word, describe your life as an entrepreneur and explain why you enjoy it.
Exciting. My life as an entrepreneur has been exhilarating and will continue to be so because continuous learning and growth are never dull. From the start of a company or my jumping on board, it’s exciting to see where it can go and how my role will evolve, no matter how hard.
What were your top three motivations for starting your business?
My top three motivators for starting my business included not having a boss, being in full control of a company’s success, and seeing how much I could expand an enterprise without anyone or anything holding me back. These were and will continue to drive me forward every single day.
To what do you attribute your success?
My success comes from pure, good old-fashioned hard work, dedication, and sacrifice.
What are the key elements for starting and running a successful business?
I believe the three key elements for starting a business are:
1. Research: know your market, competitors, customers, and costs.
Always be prepared to spend more than originally budgeted.
2. Be prepared to work harder than anyone and harder than you ever have.
What you put into your business is what you will get from it.
3. Know every aspect of your business.
You want to understand each aspect in-depth to either be able to execute directly or delegate and oversee.
What are the three biggest challenges you have faced growing the business, and how did you overcome them?
Some of the biggest challenges I have faced in growing my businesses include finding the right employees and not having enough time in the day. Staying vigilant in finding and hiring the right staff and learning from past experiences have helped me grow the businesses to where they are today and will continue to grow. Time management will always be challenging, but prioritizing and letting go of things that do not bring value to your success can get more important things done! Setting the right priorities and focusing your time on them is a fundamental key to success.
Does loneliness always accompany entrepreneurship?
I believe there is some truth to that, but it’s also an important part of becoming successful and a catalyst for personal growth. I stayed in many nights working until the wee hours while my friends and family were out socializing or at functions. I’ve often sacrificed relationships to get to where I am today; however, I believe it’s possible to have fun, but only after reaching a certain point of success that permits it. Let’s face it, no one likes to be broke, and I’m not the type of guy that would settle for less than being successful and financially well-off, so those sacrifices are important.
As you grew the business, what have been some of the most important leadership lessons you have learned?
1. Respect, always be kind to people you encounter, and treat them how you want to be treated.
2. Honesty, whether it hurts or helps, I’ll always be honest, and that’s an important part of being a leader.
3. Be willing to do what you’re asking those under you to do. I heard a saying once, and it stuck with me, “I’ll never send my troops to fight a battle I would not fight myself.” Whether it’s my nightlife company, the restaurant I owned, or the iridology company, from cleaning the bathrooms to updating websites, your employees must see how far you’ll go to ensure the job gets done. Your motivation motivates them. It also allows you to say and genuinely mean when necessary, “No Excuses.”
What do you hope to happen in the near future for small businesses worldwide?
I would love to see small businesses worldwide become more successful by utilizing the ever-evolving marketing tools available today. While I love and support the mom-and-pop businesses of the world, I see more and more of them disappearing, partly due to them not evolving with the times, and failing to define and execute digital marketing strategies, for example.
