Andreas Jones: Absolutely.

John Lee Dumas: Yes – Andreas is the founder of Combat Business Coaching and number one bestselling author of Business Leader Combat. He’s a business coach, consultant and advisor, and army combat veteran. He helps business owners build meaningful businesses so they can have more profit, finance freedom and dominate their space. Andreas, take a minute and fill in some gaps from the intro and give us just a little glimpse of your personal life.

Andreas Jones: Absolutely – thanks for the intro. I think the bio pretty much covered it all. One other important piece that I’m remiss if I don’t mention is my beautiful bride, my wife Ashley. She’s everything to me and outside of that bio she’s just it for me. That’s always great when you’re in the entrepreneurial journey to have a partner, a silent partner that, she’s just amazing and I have to give all praise and give her everything she deserves for the support she has given me and the belief and faith she has placed in me.

John Lee Dumas: The support of a significant other, Fire Nation, is absolutely critical. I mean you hear me talk all the time about you’re the average of the five people you spend the most time with. Well, you’re probably going to spend a lot of time with your significant other, so you’d better make sure that they support you, that they get it, that they want what’s best for both you and for them and for the two of you as you’re a partnership moving forward. So, congratulations on that, Andreas. It is huge that you found that and it’s a really big thing for entrepreneurs to know that that’s going to be a cornerstone in your success going forward.

Now, Andreas let’s go ahead and talk about your business today before we go back into your journey. How are you generating revenue in your business right now?

Andreas Jones: I’m generating revenue in two ways: from my one-on-one engagements and also through my e-learning system that I teach to small business owners. So those are the two primary ways I generate revenue at this point in time.

John Lee Dumas: Now, how did you come up with the fact that you wanted to create those revenue streams? How did that become apparent that that was going to be your initial path?

Andreas Jones: I finished up my military time and went into the corporate world. I made some pretty significant jumps up to the VP level and while in the VP level you get to start seeing the business from a 30,000 foot view and you kind of see different parts of the business. And so, as I was there I got frustrated with the politics of the corporate life and it just didn’t feel right. So when I decided just to start my business I studied a lot and a lot of what any guru will teach is about having more than one income stream to create that financial freedom, that financial padding that you need in order to enjoy your business and not be stressed out all the time.

And so I decided that since I’m only one person I can’t have 500 one-on-one clients. It’s just not feasible and I leveraged a way to conduct my business and so I decided I have a limited amount of one-on-one engagements and everything else through my e-learning system.

John Lee Dumas: Very cool – now let’s go ahead and move into your journey that got you here in a little more depth, because we love stories here at EOFire and Fire Nation just kind of soaks up not just the good moments but the bad, too. There’s so much to be learned from the tough times. So, take us to what you consider your worst entrepreneurial moment to date and tell us that story.

Andreas Jones: Absolutely – and so my worst entrepreneurial moment I would say is when it was nine months after I started my business. Nine months saying I had only serviced just about one client in nine months and I’m sitting home questioning everything, wondering about this mistake I’ve made and the money I’ve invested in the training and the learning, and just totally beating myself up. And I remembered from my military days – I always had a mentor in my life and I was like; well, I’m in this business thing – it might be a good idea to seek out someone to kind of get help.

And so I began to search. I found this pretty successful guy and I reached out to him about eight times before I got a reply. I was like; I really, really need your help. This is what I have. This is my idea, but I really need help with it at this point. And he gave me an assignment to do. He told me to go read Think and Grow Rich for 14 days straight and if I missed one day I had to start over the 14 days. And so I’m like; really, dude? I’m like struggling right now. He told me this that before I can heal I have to do that and so I did that. The funny thing is that I did it for 10 days and I had to start over again since he made it 14 days straight before I could call him.

I called him and we talked, but then the – the relationship didn’t start there so a couple of weeks after there was Thanksgiving. At that time my wife was pregnant and so Thanksgiving we got a call from the hospital saying that my wife needed to go in because there were some complications with the baby. So we spent our Thanksgiving in the hospital and it ended up that she lost the baby. And so it was a pretty tough day on Thanksgiving and came home with my wife trying to be strong for her, trying to help comfort her.

And so the next day, Black Friday, I got the call. He called me and started really working with me. I was like; wow. It was a really tough time and I explained to him the situation. He apologized for everything and was like; so what credit card are you going to use to get started? I’m like; I said to myself is this dude really serious in asking me this right now after I told him what just happened to me? We talked for a couple of more minutes and I just thought to myself. My wife was in the other room. I was in the office and I was like; okay – I have a decision to make.

I could accept that I have a perfect excuse that my wife just lost her baby, which is reality’s fact, but I could use it as a perfect excuse in not taking action. Or I could, as we say in the Army, suck it up and drive on – that kind of deal. And so I decided to suck it up for a minute and kind of take myself out of the situation because at that point in time being down wasn’t serving me. So, against everything that was in me I told him yes, I’m ready to work with him. At that point I didn’t have enough money in one credit card or debit card to pay for it. I used about three different cards to pay him to start working with him.

What he told me after that really shocked me. He was like; I know exactly what you’re going through. I wasn’t trying to be an ass, but I knew that if I allowed you, you would have used your wife losing a baby as a perfect excuse to do anything else. And I needed you to see past that for just a moment. That’s probably the biggest decision I’ve made, seeing past that moment. From being in a tough time, Thanksgiving with family around and going through that situation, and then being able to still say yes to my dream of owning a business.

The second thing he told me is that once you say yes to your dream, you’ve got to say yes about 1,000 more times after that. The initial yes is great, but you’ve got to keep on saying yes to it because there’s going to be stuff that’s going to keep coming at you from every different direction you can think about. You’re going to have to make that decision to still say yes to your dream.
John Lee Dumas: Once you say yes to your dreams you have to say yes 1,000 more times. I mean, Fire Nation, that is such a powerful message and also I want you guys to realize that perspective is everything. I mean the reason why I love bringing these successful entrepreneurs onto EOFire and have them start off by telling a heart-wrenching story is sometimes about a financial disaster; sometimes it’s about a life disaster. You never know what’s going to come out. You just know it’s going to be tough. It’s because I don’t want you, the listener, to use whatever excuse that you have back in your mind right now as a reason not to start.

I mean if Andreas didn’t use that excuse that he had not to start, like what are you going to use? Like hopefully nothing; hopefully that shatters any resistance and all these excuses that we just build up out of nowhere. And of course they seem like great excuses to us, but the reality is that there’s nothing that’s going to be better for you than to take action to more forward for yourself, for your family, for your loved ones. So I loved that story, Andreas. Thank you for sharing, because I know it’s not easy to talk about that stuff.

Andreas Jones: Thank you. Yeah – absolutely.

John Lee Dumas: It’s going to impact a lot of listeners with the fact that you’re so open, honest, and transparent. Now, we can shift to another story. This one’s going to be an ah-ha moment, Andreas. Take us to what you consider one of your greatest ah-ha moments to date and tell us that story.

Andreas Jones: The ah-ha moment comes, ties back to that story I just told and I’ll say the ah-ha moment was the decision I made to say yes to that mentor at that time. Saying yes to that opportunity of working with someone pretty successful and was really willing to invest in me as I said yes to my dream and so the back story leading up to that as I’ve said was I was in business about nine months and only had one client. I was struggling. It was causing a lot of stress and so the realization that I came to was that if this is really your dream why wait one more day to pursue it? Why not go all out today?

That’s the realization that I got when I contacted – I decided to contact this mentor eight times before I got a reply out of him – because I just wasn’t going to wait for it to come to me. And the biggest lesson I’ve learned in life and in my business journey is that you have to be causative to whatever effects are in your life. Me and you having this conversation today is not by mistake; it’s not by chance. It was by me being intentional with every step of the journey, me listening to your show, reaching out to you to say; hey – here’s my story. I’d love to share it with your audience.

It didn’t just happen by chance that we’re here today and I was the cause of the effect of being on the show today with you. And so, that was one of the biggest ah-ha moments to understanding how to be causative to all the effects in your life.

John Lee Dumas: So, knowing that Andreas, what are you going to make sure Fire Nation gets from your story?

Andreas Jones: No matter what situation you find yourself in, if it is your dream why wait one more day to pursue it? Attack – go for it; fight for it if it’s your dream.

John Lee Dumas: That’s a fellow Army veteran talking right there, Fire Nation. You’re getting me kind of pumped up right now. I’m lucky, Andreas. I have this killer run right next to my house called Submarine Hill. It’s two miles up a hill to the top and at the top of this hill, like you’re overlooking all of Palmas Del Mar, Puerto Rico, where I live. It’s gorgeous, but back in World War II the Army had a little post up there where they would fire down on German U-boats during again, whenever they would come into the bay. And it’s such a great run to get up there. You feel like you accomplished so much.

It’s kind of a long way for me to say like; you’re getting me kind of fired up. I’m lucky to have a run so I can go burn off all of this energy after we talk here. So, Fire Nation, I hope you’re getting fired up as well.

So let’s go ahead and move into what you consider your biggest weakness as an entrepreneur.

Andreas Jones: My biggest weakness is that sometimes I spend too much time in the details even though it’s a great plus. But it’s also a big weakness for me because I could get caught up in the details sometimes.

John Lee Dumas: What’s your biggest strength?

Andreas Jones: Taking the initiative. If there’s something I want, I’m going to go get it. I’m going to keep going after it until there’s nothing left in me, and kind of how I developed that muscle was I remembered when I was in boot camp my first PT run, I failed. As a matter of fact I failed the first six. So, you know you get seven tries in boot camp. If you fail the seventh one you have to do the boot camp all over again, and on the seventh run I said; I am not going to stop until my heart falls out of my chest.

John Lee Dumas: Wow.

Andreas Jones: And I ran so hard that day for the seventh and final test my run time was 13.24. I’ll never forget that. That has always been a reference point for me, that if I could get up after six tries and run as fast as I could – one of the fastest times for the PT run at that point – I’m just going to keep coming at you until there’s nothing left in me.

John Lee Dumas: I love that so much. Andreas, what’s the one thing you’re most fired up about today?

Andreas Jones: The one thing I’m most fired up about today would be me launching my combat business Mastermind. It’s an incredible, intimate group of 12 small business owners that I work with twice a month. And I just get in the trenches with them and help them figure out their business; help them get to a place. So for me a small business means a lot to me because my parents, my mom, my dad – my dad had four sisters and a brother – they’re all small business owners, and so them having a small business was a way they provided for me and my brothers and our family.

And so, understanding the meaning behind a small business owner going out there every day in the trenches trying to make it happen – I get great joy; I get fired up about doing that with them, knowing what it means when they close the door at the end of the day to go to their family and to have a good, thriving business going – what that means to them.

John Lee Dumas: Well, Fire Nation we have a thriving lightning round coming up, so I don’t want you going anywhere. But before we get there I want to take a couple of quick minutes to thank your sponsors.

Andreas, are you prepared for the lightning rounds?

Andreas Jones: Yes, sir.

John Lee Dumas: What was holding you back from becoming an entrepreneur?

Andreas Jones: The fear of failure.

John Lee Dumas: What is the best advice you’ve ever received?

Andreas Jones: The best advice is not what going to do; it’s what you’re doing that counts.

John Lee Dumas: Share a personal habit that contributes to your success.

Andreas Jones: Journaling – it’s just building that muscle – a great story I learned about pilots is that they go into the cockpit every flight and they click all those buttons. Every single flight they have to do it, and it might seem minute. It might seem tiring; it might seem boring to some people, but they have to click all those buttons – hundreds of buttons every flight – as a part of their pre-flight checks. And so journaling is part of my pre-flight check in the morning when I get up to start my days.

John Lee Dumas: Can you share an internet resource like Evernotes with Fire Nation?

Andreas Jones: I use the Freedom Journal app.

John Lee Dumas: I love it! We’ll take it, Andreas – the Freedom Journal app – now, if you could recommend one book, what would it be and why?

Andreas Jones: The Compound Effect, by Darren Hardy.

John Lee Dumas: Oh – that’s a past guest of EOFire and if you’ve read The Compound Effect, I hope Andreas that you’ve read The Slight Edge.

Andreas Jones: Yes.

John Lee Dumas: Yes – now, this is the last question of the lightning round, but it is a doozy. Imagine you woke up tomorrow morning in a brand new world, identical to earth, but you knew no one. You still have all the experience and knowledge you currently have. Your food and shelter is taken care of, but all you have is a laptop and $500. What would you do for the next seven days?

Andreas Jones: Assuming that food and shelter is taken care of, then the next seven days I would seek out the top five people in that community, in that neighborhood, in that place. I’ve made a career out of connecting with people and building my network, so with $500 I would invite them out to lunch, treat them and find something that’s meaningful to them to kind of gift them as part of enticing them to go to lunch with me. I would do that for seven days until I connect to the top five people, because if I have those connects I know that I could really push the boundaries and move the needle.

John Lee Dumas: Your network is your net worth, Fire Nation. And Andreas, let’s end today on fire with a parting piece of guidance, the best way that we can connect with you, and then we’ll say good-bye.

Andreas Jones: Oh – the best way to connect with me would be on my website, Combat Business Coaching. All my contact information and social media networks are all there.

John Lee Dumas: And a parting piece of guidance?

Andreas Jones: Take the next step. You don’t have to know exactly what it is. Just take the step at this point, because once you take the step the path becomes clearer with each step that you take.

John Lee Dumas: Fire Nation, you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with and you have been hanging out with A.J. and J.L.D. today, so keep up the heat and head over to EOFire.com. Just type in Andreas in the search bar and his show notes page will pop right up with everything that we’ve talked about today – the best show notes in the biz – time stamps, links galore and of course check him out at Combat Business Coaching.

Andreas, I want to say thank you for sharing your journey with Fire Nation today, brother – my fellow brother in arms.

Andreas Jones: Thank you, thank you.

John Lee Dumas: We salute you, and we’ll catch you on the flip side.

Andreas Jones: Thank you, thank you.