Michael Glauser - Main Street Entrepreneur: Build Your Dream Company Doing What You Love Where You Live

Praise for

Main Street Entrepreneur

Michael Glausers Main Street Entrepreneur is filled with real learnings from the trenches of startups and delivers a complete tool box for entrepreneurs to start and build their own businesses. Glausers success as an entrepreneur, along with the insights and learnings of another 100 entrepreneurs, gives the book enormous credibility and gravitas. This is a timely and relevant book that is written in an immediately applicable wayand for that I highly recommend it!

STEPHEN M. R. COVEY, AUTHOR OF THE SPEED OF TRUST, COAUTHOR OF SMART TRUST

Technology is eliminating jobs in nearly every industry at an ever increasing pace. In the near future, more of us will have to become entrepreneurs and create our own jobs. During his 4,000 mile bike ride across America, Michael Glauser, developed a clear road map anyone can follow to build a successful company. His book will help you create the life of your dreams. Its time to get started.

DAVEN MICHAELS, AUTHOR OF OUTSOURCE SMART, FOUNDER AND CEO OF 123 EMPLOYEE

Every year we mentor thousands of people all over the world who are trying to rise out of poverty by starting their own business. The key concepts taught in Main Street Entrepreneur are the exact principles people need to implement to be successful. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to start a business and achieve their dreams.

MARK L. PETERSEN, PRESIDENT AND CEO OF MENTORS INTERNATIONAL

Make no mistake, the American Dream is alive. People are merging their livelihood and lifestyle by doing what they love while living where they want. In Main Street Entrepreneur you will meet remarkable entrepreneurs and discover the key principles for achieving your dream. A must read for anyone seeking more freedom, security, and happiness!

JUDY ROBINETT, STARTUP FUNDING EXPERT, AUTHOR OF HOW TO BE A POWER CONNECTOR

Michael Glauser shares the secrets to success that entrepreneurs across the country have used to enjoy the American Dream. His nine keys will help any ambitious soul achieve and sustain success. Building a successful business, and lifestyle, just became easier with Main Street Entrepreneur.

ROGER CONNORS, COFOUNDER OF PARTNERS IN LEADERSHIP, AUTHOR OF THE OZ PRINCIPLE

Glauser takes us on a literal ride to the near future where the small sole proprietors create the business future that multinational corporations once controlled. An essential read to help you succeed in the post-capitalist economy of the near future.

GEOFFREY COLON, COMMUNICATIONS DESIGNER AT MICROSOFT, AUTHOR OF DISRUPTIVE MARKETING

I love Michael Glausers bike trip across America as an analogy for business development. As a three time Hawaii Ironman finisher and college swimmer I can attest that the purpose and passion necessary to succeed as an athlete are precisely the same disciplines that can produce success in all aspects of ones life, whether its business, health or relationships. There are always going to be bumps and pot holes in the road. Glauser is spot on when he says that keeping your purpose in focus is the most important thing to get you to the finish line.

HOWARD LIEBOWITZ, MD, FACEP, DIRECTOR OF LIEBOWITZ LONGEVITY MEDICINE, FOREMOST ANTI-AGING MEDICINE AND HORMONE SPECIALIST

The people I meet who are not executives all dream of starting their own company. But they dont because they dont know how and cant see themselves in the lore of multi-billion dollar success. Finally, the masses have a roadmap to attain a more Main Street success.

MARK COOK, DIRECTOR OF O.C. TANNER INSTITUTE, AUTHOR OF SALES BLAZERS, ADJUNCT PROFESSOR OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP

I started my first business at age 15 and have run my sixth for almost 30 years now. Oh, what heartache and sleepless nights I could have saved myself if I had only had Michael Glausers insightful book from the beginning! What a fun and easy read to experience his cycling adventure right along with the interesting and wise people he met on his bold journey! I recommend this book big time.

WENDY KELLER, AUTHOR OF SECRETS OF SUCCESSFUL NEGOTIATION FOR WOMEN

Entrepreneur Press, Publisher

Cover Design: Andrew Welyczko

Production and Composition: Eliot House Productions

2016 by Entrepreneur Media, Inc.

All rights reserved.

Reproduction or translation of any part of this work beyond that permitted by Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act without permission of the copyright owner is unlawful. Requests for permission or further information should be addressed to the Business Products Division, Entrepreneur Media Inc.

ebook ISBN: 978-1-61308-340-6

Table of Contents

Contents

I never imagined receiving that callthe one from the CEO of a publicly traded company in Toronto, Canada.

Mike, I want to talk with you about buying your company, he said.

I am flattered, but its not for sale, I replied.

Every company is for sale for the right terms and conditions, he retorted. I think you are going to like what were doing in the industry. So I told him he was welcome to come and visit us.

A week later he showed up with his executive team at our offices in Salt Lake City. They spent two days poring over our financial statements and company documents. At the end of the second day, the CEO came into my office and placed a formal offer on my desk. I glanced at the number and knew it was too low. I also knew my board would never accept this price. I told him this, and he said, Well, write a number you would accept at the bottom of the page. I increased his offer by 30 percent and handed the paper back to him. I watched as his eyes widened in surprise.

Let me think about this tonight, he said, and Ill get back to you tomorrow.

The next morning he came into my office and said, We will pay the full price you are asking, on two conditions. Great, I thought. Here come the deal killers. Since I wasnt trying to sell the company, I didnt want to haggle over his terms.

First, we dont need you in the company. We will move the office to Dallas, where we have our own team. No problem. I had thought about what I would do if I ever sold the company, and had already decided I didnt want to run something I no longer owned.

Second, he said in a very serious tone, you have to take cash. I couldnt believe it. I had discussed the sale with my board members the day before. Everyone was open to an offer at the price I had suggested, but no one wanted to take stock in his company. So I held a look of consternation as long as I could and then said, OK, I think we have a deal.

A few months later the transaction was final, and I left the company. I was now free for my next adventure. After contemplating my passions, values, skills, and experience, I made a strong commitment to spend the rest of my career helping people create their own jobs, build their own organizations, and live their own dreamsjust as I had done.

This book is part of that commitment. It presents nine powerful keys to help you build your own successful business. These keys were gleaned from interviews I conducted with 100 small-town entrepreneurs during a remarkable bicycle ride from the west coast of Oregon to the east coast of Virginia. I rode 4,000 miles in 45 days, spent 246 hours on a bike seat, climbed 155,000 vertical feet, and visited more than 100 cities across the country. Although I weathered hail and snow in Montana, unrelenting head winds in Kansas, a hard crash in Kentucky, and torrential rains in Virginia, my journey was mostly delightful sunny days, nights with stars as bright as diamonds, and a glorious homage to American ingenuity. I can honestly say it was one of the most amazing experiences of my life so far.