Why I'm Building A Personal Holdings Company (and the future of TimStodz.com)
The best way to learn is to mimic others.
I've spent my entire entrepreneurial career copying what other people do and slowly morphing it into a skill or a strategy that is uniquely my own.
Out of all the heroes I have copied and have written about, none have had a bigger impact on my financial success than Warren Buffet.
Brian Clark taught me how to grow an audience.
Ramit Sethi taught me how to manage my personal finances.
Robert Kiyosaki taught me how to use cash flow.
But Warren Buffet taught me how to invest. More importantly, he taught me about the power of compounding.
When it comes to putting cash money dollar bills into my bank account, the skills I learned from Warren Buffet have been more valuable than everything else combined.
Okay great, but why am I telling you about Warren Buffet?
Keep reading.
Becoming Warren Buffet
In 2017, I was on a flight to Nashville heading back home from Los Angeles. Jules and I had recently moved to Nashville and I was in a period in life where I was unsure about my future as an entrepreneur.
The short version of the story is that Stodzy Internet Marketing was going through a turbulent time and it was uncertain as to whether the company would continue on. Bryan and I had many serious talks about what we wanted to do and we even contemplated selling the company.
I'm a person who has a clear vision. I always know what it is I am working towards, and so this period of uncertainty was very uncomfortable for me. I remember the period well and I can still remember how it felt to have that lack of clarity. I would go for long walks and Bryan and I would talk for hours about what we wanted to do.
This is where Warren Buffet comes in.
Thankfully, on the flight back from L.A., I watched a documentary called "Becoming Warren Buffet." After watching that documentary, it was like my future was laid out in front of me. Suddenly, I knew exactly what I wanted to do.
In the doc, I learned the principles behind Warren's investing philosophy.
Warren doesn't buy businesses or make investments depending on how much money he thinks he can make. Rather, he buys businesses because he thinks they are good businesses.
He's not especially interested in trends or even the current status of stocks or markets in general. Whether the stock market is high or low is irrelevant. Warren is most interested in the health and the potential longevity of a company.
It's such a simple concept, but it's profound in today's faced pace "buy low / sell high" investing environment.
Warren likes cash flow. Warren likes businesses that offer great products to happy customers. Most importantly, Warren likes businesses that are profitable.
Crazy ... I know.
When I got off the flight, I looked up a Warren Buffet meme and made it the background on my lap top. It's been there ever since and I read it every day.
From that moment on, I put all my focus on cash flow. If a business was generating good cash (regardless of hype, trends or circumstances), then it was worth looking into.
After watching the documentary, I knew that Stodzy Internet Marketing was going to be the foundation of everything going forward. Stodzy Internet Marketing wasn't the sexiest business and it wasn't going to generate a 10 billion X return. But it had (has) amazing cash flow and higher than average returns.
Everything became so clear.
A Mini Berkshire Hathaway
From that moment on, I started copying Warren Buffet's philosophy.
Since then, I've never chased trends (except for that one time where I lost $12,000 like an idiot) and I've never looked at any metrics other than the
demand of the product
the competition
a companies unique advantage
and the potential cash flow of the company
I've never tried to be the biggest company in a space and instead have tried to focus on being the most profitable by building a company that could generate monthly returns over the course of years and even decades.
Then, I build a group of talented people around the company so that the company manages itself. Then I repeat the process.
The idea is to own equity in dozens or even hundreds of companies, find partners to manage them, and use my influence and personal brand to help generate exposure to the companies I have partnered in.
Since Stodzy Internet Marketing is so profitable, the cash flow generated from this company provides the cash that allows me to take advantage of other opportunities I find.
I can provide capital, resources, and exposure. In return, the partners (mostly the CEO's) can focus all of their attention into building the best products and services possible.
"I've never seen a business fail that has millions of delighted customers."
Warren Buffet
This has been my personal business strategy since 2017. Everything I have done is based around this principle, but I never shared these ideas with my followers before because I'm still a beginner.
I am not Warren Buffet. I don't have an entire team of accountants, financial analysts, and negotiators. In terms of my investments, it's just me. I'm a one person investment and growth firm. I've been figuring it out as I go.
I've gotten better at analyzing businesses and I think I have a knack for attracting talent. With all that said, it's hard for me to become a huge investment firm because it's only me. I'm a one person army.
Over time, I've come to see this as a feature and not a bug. In fact, it's the entire advantage I have and the focal point of what I'm building.
It's called "A Personal Holdings Company."
I am a one man investment firm and my personal brand is gasoline on the fire.
I think I'm onto something.
The New TimStodz.com
For the last few weeks, you've heard me talk about how I am separating TimStodz and Copyblogger. I've written about it ad nauseum and I don't feel the need to talk about it anymore.
Note* - If you haven't read those pieces, you can get caught up by reading the announcement I made on my super secret personal blog.
So what does that mean for TimStodz? What will I do with my personal newsletter?
Recently, I'm starting to realize that the best way for me to serve my audience is simply to document my journey of building my personal holdings company.
I don't want to be a guru. As much as I admire people like Justin Welsh and Codie Sanchez, I have no interest in becoming a business influencer. I have enough money and I don't want my personal brand to be aligned with selling courses or coaching.
Rather, I want my personal brand to provide real business education. I think I have a lot to give and I think my experience is the most valuable asset I have.
So, I am going back to my guiding principle of content marketing.
"I have no advice to give, only experience to share."
Figuring out my content strategy for TimStodz has been a lot of work. I've spent a lot of time thinking about how I can continue to create content while providing the most value to my readers. I've known all along that I wanted to keep writing my newsletter each week, but I didn't know exactly what it would look like.
Now I know.
I'm going to share weekly lessons and behind the scenes access on my journey of building a personal holdings company.
Wish me luck.
LFG. 🔥