Ramsey - Scaling Your Business with MOD Virtual Professionals

Copyright 2019 Daniel Ramsey

All rights reserved. MyOutDesk, MOD, MOD Virtual Professionals, Scaling Your Business with MOD Virtual Professionals, Scale the Show, and Scale the Series, as well as the MOD logo, are all trademarks of MyOutDesk, LLC. Although the author and publisher have made every effort to ensure that the information in this book was correct at press time, the author and publisher do not assume and hereby disclaim any liability to any party for any loss, damage, or disruption caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident, or any other cause. This book or parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwisewithout prior written permission of the author, except as permitted by the copyright law of United States of America. For permissions, please contact:

MyOutDesk, LLC

2600 Capital Ave. Suite 300

Sacramento, CA 95816

Telephone: 1 (800) 583-9950

Email:

Website: www.MyOutDesk.com

This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information with regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the author and publisher are not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, business, or other professional advice. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of competent professionals should be sought. The opinions expressed, stories, and methodologies by the author in this book are meant to be entertaining and may not be original stories.

Acknowledgments

To my loving wife. Every day I get to walk into my office at 8:00 a.m. and kick ass in business and know, without a doubt, that everything in my personal world is handled because of Whitney Ramsey. Whitney, you are, 100 percent, the rock on which our familys happiness and love stand. Thank you for all that you do for us. Youve tolerated my unrelenting drive to improve and level up every aspect of our lives.

To my lovely, young daughters, Georgia and June, Ill always be your biggest fan and most ardent supporter of your dreams!

To the MyOutDesk virtual professionals: I love you all, truly. I admire your daily dedication to our mission of being indispensable to our clients. Every day, Im reminded of the amazing business you have built and all the positive impact youve made in the world.

To our five thousand clients and the MOD Movement founding members: Wow, what a ride it has been! We have had ten years worth of positivity and love. Thank you for your support and for trusting us to help scale your business. Your monthly subscriptions and charitable contributions have created true impact in a world! Your contributions will provide opportunity and hope that will change the course of thousands of lives.

The MyOutDesk team celebrates at MODCon.

To the readers of this book: Ive spent the last twelve years pouring my heart and soul into the business and clients that we serve. That blood, that sweat, those tears are represented here in a book of best practices for your journey to grow and scale your business. I trust you will find value here!

CONTENTS

Prologue

If I could build a business, what kind would I build? As a child, I spent an inordinate amount of time pondering that question. I didnt like growing up poor, so my fantasy was to travel the world as a businessman.

I had a good work ethic as a kid and even gained some practical business experience early on. When I was in high school, my economics teacher told me that if you are born poor, youll almost certainly be poor as an adult. I was 100 percent confident that I would prove him wrong. After all, Id already started earning money.

Back in 1990, I had a monopoly selling candy on the Sequoia Middle School bus. (See .) I was enjoying an unusual stroke of luck: the Shasta County School Board had banned the sale of soda and candy at all area schools the previous summer. Sugar, they say, is a powerful drug, and I quickly earned a steady supply of customers. (Being the father of a three-year-old and five-year-old today, I have renewed understanding of the power of a good bar of chocolate.)

My motivation was not bucking the system or making new friends. It was money, plain and simple. I grew up in a trailer park without disposable income. I had to find, or make my own, side hustles because my friends had money to go to the movies or out to lunch, and I didnt want to miss out. I can extrapolate this motivation out to my life even today. All the financial and global impact Ive had can be traced to an inner hunger to be more financially successful than my parents, and to make a difference in the world. To simply matter.

But I bring up my candy business on that bus not just because its an example of one of my earliest understandings of meeting demand but because it was my earliest understanding of supply and demand. On that bouncing bus, something happened that forever changed my life.

Summers in Redding, California, are notoriously hot, and the school year was almost over. On that Friday home from school, I had one Snickers left in my backpack. While I generally followed the rule all successful drug dealers abide bynever sample the goodstoday was different. It was the last day of the week, and I had sold more than $100 worth of candy. I was rich! Plus, I hadnt had any expenses. Id bought shoes the month before, and the Snickers bar was being perfectly warmed by that sun. So, I was going to eat that chocolate without one bit, or bite, of guilt.

Figure 1. Before I started college, Id had several jobs, all found or developed by me, and each building on a growing skill set.

I sat sideways with my back to the cool breeze from a window at the back of the bus and was just about to pull the candy from my bag. A kid named John scooted next to me.

Daniel, do you have any more Snickers? he asked.

Now, my parents raised me to be honest, and at that age, I didnt have a poker face. So, I responded the only way I knew how.

Come on, John, I sighed. I havent had any candy all week, and I was saving this last one for myself. Its warm, so the chocolate will melt perfectly in my mouth. Sorry, I cant sell it to you.

John bargained with me, first offering me two dollars, which was twice the usual rate for one candy bar, then five dollars. When I stuck to my guns, he said something that blew my mind.

Ill give you twenty dollars for it! Give it to me right now!

That moment sealed my fate. I knew I was going to sell things for a living. Moreover, I had witnessed in action the primary law of business: supply and demand. In seventh grade, I got a small glimpse into the driver for all levels of business. (And by the way, as soon as I got off the bus, I went to the store and bought another Snickers bar for twenty-five cents!) That day, I became a serial entrepreneur; I was drawn to and had a natural love for business.