1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:01,400 How did it get started? 2 00:00:03,440 --> 00:00:07,600 I took an H&R Block course 55 years ago. 3 00:00:08,100 --> 00:00:08,640 Loved it. 4 00:00:09,400 --> 00:00:13,760 12 years later is running 250 H&R blocks. 5 00:00:13,900 --> 00:00:18,480 And my dad decided we should computerize taxes. 6 00:00:18,480 --> 00:00:23,080 So we both quit our jobs and built the first tax software for an Apple computer. 7 00:00:23,840 --> 00:00:25,680 1981, no one wanted it. 8 00:00:25,680 --> 00:00:30,300 Got lucky and found a company in Virginia Beach called Mel Jackson Tax Service. 9 00:00:31,140 --> 00:00:36,220 We merged the two companies, changed the name to Jackson Hewitt, built it into, 10 00:00:36,240 --> 00:00:40,620 built it and sold it for public company for $483 million. 11 00:00:41,940 --> 00:00:48,300 I had a three year not compete, but it didn't cover Canada and having grown up 12 00:00:48,300 --> 00:00:50,300 in Buffalo, I knew the Canadian tax system. 13 00:00:50,300 --> 00:00:57,180 So it didn't cover Canada because Jackson Hewitt never went to Canada, but H&R 14 00:00:57,180 --> 00:00:58,900 Block's very successful in Canada. 15 00:00:58,900 --> 00:01:04,780 We opened Liberty Tax in Canada and within three years became a top 100 retail chain. 16 00:01:05,780 --> 00:01:08,020 Came back to the United States in 2000. 17 00:01:08,500 --> 00:01:12,820 Now I had to compete against my own name, my own company, my own people. 18 00:01:13,300 --> 00:01:16,340 And yet we grew faster than Jackson Hewitt and Block combined. 19 00:01:16,340 --> 00:01:20,500 Liberty Tax opened 4,000 offices in 12 years. 20 00:01:21,060 --> 00:01:26,300 So my two companies, Jackson Hewitt and Liberty grew to 10,000 locations. 21 00:01:27,180 --> 00:01:31,740 Jackson, or Liberty was also a public company worth, worth $500 million. 22 00:01:32,740 --> 00:01:35,380 Sold that and started loyalty brands. 23 00:01:36,020 --> 00:01:38,260 Why do most businesses fail today? 24 00:01:38,820 --> 00:01:39,700 And you have not. 25 00:01:41,420 --> 00:01:42,340 Well, you're right. 26 00:01:42,340 --> 00:01:49,780 That each year over the last few years, over a million new businesses have started up 27 00:01:50,260 --> 00:01:53,180 and 95% fail within five years. 28 00:01:53,740 --> 00:01:55,500 So only one in 20 make it. 29 00:01:56,260 --> 00:01:57,860 So there are several reasons they fail. 30 00:01:57,860 --> 00:02:04,300 Number one is the most important is that not everyone's meant to be self-employed. 31 00:02:05,060 --> 00:02:10,020 Two thirds of Americans want to be self-employed, but half of them don't have 32 00:02:10,020 --> 00:02:11,220 the skill to do it. 33 00:02:11,540 --> 00:02:19,380 They don't have the risk taking or they don't have the drive or the, the, um, uh, 34 00:02:19,380 --> 00:02:23,660 they get up and go, there's no one to tell you what to do when you're self-employed. 35 00:02:23,900 --> 00:02:24,980 You have to do it all. 36 00:02:25,300 --> 00:02:30,860 And you, and that brings up the 10 most important two letter words. 37 00:02:30,860 --> 00:02:33,660 If it is to be, it is up to me. 38 00:02:33,780 --> 00:02:37,380 And most of them don't, or many of them don't have that. 39 00:02:37,380 --> 00:02:44,660 Um, in addition to that, they don't, they, um, are, they don't have stamina. 40 00:02:44,660 --> 00:02:46,580 They don't have perseverance. 41 00:02:46,780 --> 00:02:53,340 The number one most critical component of success is perseverance. 42 00:02:53,380 --> 00:02:59,300 And everyone, I've never met a person on earth that just skated with the easy life. 43 00:02:59,580 --> 00:03:01,340 Everyone faces adversity. 44 00:03:01,740 --> 00:03:04,180 The winners get up like myself. 45 00:03:04,180 --> 00:03:05,620 They got to kill me to stop me. 46 00:03:06,140 --> 00:03:07,820 Um, I never stayed out. 47 00:03:08,020 --> 00:03:12,900 If you knock me down and I've been knocked down a zillion times, I'm at 48 00:03:12,900 --> 00:03:20,340 God humbles me repeatedly, um, virtually daily or hourly, but I just get up and 49 00:03:20,500 --> 00:03:22,820 keep going I'm unstoppable. 50 00:03:23,300 --> 00:03:28,140 So they don't have, they don't have the perseverance they don't have. 51 00:03:28,460 --> 00:03:33,820 And there, and there's no, there's no, there's no, there's no, there's no, 52 00:03:33,820 --> 00:03:42,460 there's no class in the United States on how to be a CEO and how to, or on how to 53 00:03:42,900 --> 00:03:44,260 build the business from scratch. 54 00:03:44,260 --> 00:03:45,460 There's no class. 55 00:03:45,780 --> 00:03:52,900 So I, I've taken for, I've been self-employed for 42 years this week. 56 00:03:52,980 --> 00:03:54,220 It'll be in two days. 57 00:03:54,220 --> 00:03:56,020 It'll be 42 years. 58 00:03:56,060 --> 00:03:59,100 And I learned from the school of hard knocks. 59 00:03:59,620 --> 00:04:00,860 You get knocked down. 60 00:04:00,860 --> 00:04:01,860 That's how you learn. 61 00:04:01,860 --> 00:04:05,780 You, there's no one that can teach you and MBA doesn't teach you to be a business 62 00:04:05,780 --> 00:04:11,540 owner, doesn't teach you how to get in the arena and fight it. 63 00:04:11,540 --> 00:04:14,100 It just teaches you theories. 64 00:04:14,540 --> 00:04:19,140 So, uh, there's, there's a lot of reasons why people fail and most too. 65 00:04:19,860 --> 00:04:22,500 What tips would you have for an early entrepreneur? 66 00:04:22,500 --> 00:04:24,580 Since you do have so much experience. 67 00:04:24,580 --> 00:04:30,820 The, um, in addition to what I've said before, um, you need to set a goal, a 68 00:04:30,820 --> 00:04:36,820 five-year goal and, and then what, what I, what I did from the day that I started 69 00:04:37,620 --> 00:04:42,900 is when I started, um, I set a five-year goal and then, okay, said if I'm going to 70 00:04:42,900 --> 00:04:45,860 be there in five years, then where am I going to be in three years? 71 00:04:46,500 --> 00:04:49,300 And if I'm going to be there in three years, where am I going to be in one year? 72 00:04:49,300 --> 00:04:54,020 So you have to have goals and then where am I going to be in three months? 73 00:04:54,020 --> 00:05:00,740 So you break your, you, first of all, you set up a vision, a, um, a goal for five 74 00:05:00,740 --> 00:05:06,260 years from now, 10, 10 is to anything more than five is just total, total blue. 75 00:05:06,260 --> 00:05:11,060 Scott, who knows what's going to happen to you or your family or your, or your 76 00:05:11,060 --> 00:05:11,940 success level. 77 00:05:11,940 --> 00:05:14,580 I mean, good things can happen to bad things can happen. 78 00:05:14,580 --> 00:05:17,460 When I, when I budget, I have three budgets. 79 00:05:17,460 --> 00:05:24,260 Worst case, best case, and then in between a little bit on the high side in between. 80 00:05:24,260 --> 00:05:27,780 So I have three budgets, uh, great, great. 81 00:05:27,780 --> 00:05:30,580 I mean, best stuff can happen and good stuff can happen. 82 00:05:30,580 --> 00:05:34,740 You can, um, so, but you have to have a plan. 83 00:05:34,740 --> 00:05:37,300 You have, you know, people don't plan to fail. 84 00:05:37,300 --> 00:05:38,100 They failed to plan. 85 00:05:38,100 --> 00:05:39,620 Thank you for being here today. 86 00:05:39,620 --> 00:05:42,100 I'm really happy that you tuned into vision pros live. 87 00:05:42,100 --> 00:05:45,780 I'm looking forward to seeing your reaction to the vision pros live. 88 00:05:45,780 --> 00:05:50,820 I'm looking forward to seeing your reactions as these episodes continue to move forward. 89 00:05:50,820 --> 00:05:52,420 This is going to get more and more fun. 90 00:05:52,420 --> 00:05:54,260 We'll have more and more engagement as well. 91 00:05:54,260 --> 00:05:58,020 We'll invite people to participate in the show and thank you for giving us your time 92 00:05:58,020 --> 00:05:58,820 and attention. 93 00:05:58,820 --> 00:06:16,100 And time building out your vision and becoming a vision for yourself.