All right, so today’s question comes from Sterling, from Orlando, Florida.

Sterling says:

I just started running a Turo Management Business. And I have a fleet of about ten cars. I found someone that will manage the cars for me. But should I wait until I’m making more money to do this?

Great question, Sterling. I’ve got several pieces of advice for you.

#1 BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY

There’s ample opportunity for you right now due to supply issues with rental car companies because of COVID. There’s a unique opportunity when there’s a massive change in people’s lives.

It’s very timely for you to introduce Turo to those that have never even thought of Turo or maybe don’t even know what it is. They’re going to learn about Turo for the first time, or they’re going to start using it from you. So massive opportunity for you here. That’s big. There’s no guarantee that remains to be the case, but you have a chance to get people adopting new purchasing habits.

#2 SETTING

I will say I like your location. Being in a tourist destination provides many enormous opportunities for you to run this type of business.

But also keep in mind with Orlando specifically, I would imagine it’s very seasonal.

So you have two factors:

First is the situational aspect. When things go back to normal, and people start renting from their typical Hertz and Enterprise again, you may see around 10%-15% reduction in what you were doing, just due to what’s happening in the world right now.

Second, you’ve got seasonal nature. And my concern is that you bring somebody on in the peak season, basing it on those peak season numbers and basing it on this unique circumstance. When things start to get back to normal on all fronts, you might not afford this person anymore.

#3 SOURCING

You’re new to running this business, and I usually don’t approve of seeing people already sourcing things out that early in the game.

Given the nature of what this person is going to be doing for you, this person will be the face of the company. So it would make more sense for you to go through at least a little bit of time to understand the ups and downs, the ins and outs, and uncertainties that will happen in any business, not just this specific business.

Now, as it relates to this specific business, I think there will be a lot of unknowns. You’re not operating out of a central hub. You’re not in a controlled environment, meaning you have people of all walks of life who speak all different types of languages driving in new places every day that no car of yours has ever been down. That’s the reality of it. So there’s a lot of uncertainty and variables that can come up.

And the nature is that the person you bring on as a manager will be experiencing those things, not you. And there may be a situation in which the manager will think that he knows more about the business than you do. And it might cause some internal strife and internal conflict because you’re not going to be the one to have answers for all those things.

So it would be best if you at least have a protocol yourself so that you have the ability to make quality decisions.

#4 PLATFORM

The last part I’ll tell you is the actual platform.

Businesses like yours run primarily on one thing, that’s the platform you’re on – Turo.

So here’s the deal.

Let’s say the person you hired to manage your business doesn’t do the fantastic job that you’re doing right now. They’re not getting good reviews, not going above and beyond and delivering to the level that you provide, because it’s not their business. It’s your business, so no one’s going to care about it more than you.

So you’re going to either A. have a problem maintaining your status on your platform, Or B. you’re going to have to get so many more reviews to overcome and get out from negative reputation areas that could be seriously detrimental to the growth of your business.

So you’re risking a lot.

Over To You

I get that you’re in no man’s land because you’ve got this vast fleet, you’re just starting, and it may be financially making more sense personally to stay in your job and source this out.

But I think what’s in your best interest right now is for you to roll up your sleeves, do what you need to do, even if you have to make some personal sacrifices to make that work.

I’m not opposed to you bringing in help. What I’m against is getting somebody to an equal level playing field as what you’re at, very early in the game, and potentially committing a salary or a percentage of what you’re making overall to this specific person.

But again, look for solutions. Hire college students or people looking for part-time work to help with some of the mundane tasks. I would also find services online to help with things like updating the website, creating social media graphics, etc.

I wish you the best, and I hope it works out.

Alright!

So this is what we do on StartupU TV. We help people leave jobs and start and run successful businesses.

So if you have business questions or want to present something you want me to answer personally on this show, you can drop your comments below, on my YouTube videos, or on my social media, which are the easiest way.

So I’ll see you guys in the next one.

Today’s question comes from Chris Laracuente

Chris asks:

I just graduated, and I want to start an At-Home Care business. My dad already has a business in this field, but it’s going to cost a lot of money, and there’s going to be a lot of government regulations. What would you advise?

Great question, Chris. I have three pieces of advice for you. But let me give you a precursor to that advice.

This is an opportune time for you to start a business like this. Because we’re on the tail end of a pandemic, and this is a transitory time when people will be potentially opting not to be in those types of facilities around many other people with high exposure and wanting to be in the comfort of their own homes. So that’s something to take into consideration.

But you need to look into the data. And I would do some Phantom calls where you’re calling local institutions, nursing homes, etc., and asking, how much occupancy have you seen go down, if at all, because of the COVID pandemic? You want data to be able to assess how much things change.

Now, here’s my three pieces of advice for you.

#1 GET A JOB IN THE FIELD TO BUILD UP YOUR CONNECTIONS AND RESOURCES

Having a connection, like your father already in the industry, is fantastic. But what I’d like for you to do is look at it like a paid internship.

It would be a phenomenal opportunity for you to learn how things are done, figure out what capital you’re going to need, and understand the business’s nuance. You also need to figure out what you know and what you don’t know. And often you’ll find, there’s a lot that you don’t know.

The other opportunity is that you may find additional collaborative partners through that job, where you’re making new connections, you may find people who want to start a type of business like you, and they have the funding and the resources, but they don’t want to do the hustle work.

And so it is nice synchronicity in terms of that relationship. Collaboration is huge, but at the very least, you’re going to build your resources, and you’re going to find out what needs to be done to get this thing off the ground.

So great opportunity for you to test and see what the opportunity is. You could also find areas of opportunity that you could segment away from and find a niche opportunity in that market. But you only know that by being immersed in working in the industry.

So again, I would look at it as a paid internship for your prospects.

#2 IDENTIFY A MARKET FOR YOUR SERVICES

Now, this is pretty unique to your situation and sometimes is unique to various businesses.

You’ve got a decision to make, you’re a young guy, and you’re catering to a market that’s on the opposite end of the spectrum.

So you want to find an area where your potential people live. Typically they kind of flock together, like certain towns, cities, or even states, where people migrate to retire in warmer climates, etc.

Obviously, being where your clients are matters a lot. But it would be best if you also consider yourself and your lifestyle desires. You may find that that’s not the environment that you want to live in. You may find that you want to live in more of a modern, hip area, being around the life of the party, and that is more appealing to you. But the unfortunate nature of the business will require you to be a little bit closer in the event of an emergency, or if you’re needed.

So you want to understand that there may be some tradeoffs for this particular business, just kind of consider that. It would help if you position yourself accordingly. It may not be a tradeoff, just make sure that you’re analyzing that.

#3 BUILDING YOUR SYSTEMS AND PROCESSES

This is not uncharacteristic or uncommon advice that I normally give for any business. But in this business, when the business scales beyond you, and you’re going to have employees that are face to face with the customer, they are, in effect, representing your business. They’re the face of your company when they’re in that capacity.

And so we’re talking about a situation where not only are your employees alone with your customers, and if we’re going to be candid and frank here, maybe they’ll be in a situation where the customers might be in a situation where they’re a bit more vulnerable and that might be something that your employees, unfortunately, may take advantage of. I’m not trying to be cynical, but stuff like that does happen.

So systems and processes will be massive for you, not only your hiring but also what people do and how they can conduct those operations. You’re talking about substantial potential repercussions if people don’t conduct business the way they’re supposed to.

You’re talking about considerable and possibly really massive lawsuits, litigation that families can come after you if you don’t do things, or your business doesn’t do things in a manner that is deemed healthy and responsible practices. And that ties back into what I said initially about getting a job in the industry; tightening up those systems doesn’t just bear out of nothingness, and you need to have an example. 

Emulate before you innovate.

So hopefully, as you’re working for somebody else, seeing how they run it from a business perspective, not just from an At-Home care perspective, will allow you to understand and start developing systems in your mind.

Be looking for things they do well and looking for some things that you think you would do better. But either way, it’s going to be an excellent opportunity for you to learn, grow and start to model your own business after.

OVER TO YOU

In immersing yourself and doing the various things we’ve talked about here today, what I speculate is going to happen is that over time you will be very clear on what needs to be done, how to execute, how you’re going to get the funding, what resources you’re going to need, and who you are going to be as a business owner. All those things are going to fall into place.

But I think it’s going to start with immersion. I believe that’s going to be the name of the game for you—full immersion in this industry. Investing no matter the time, think long-term, not just short-term gains.

In the grand scheme of your life, three to five years may be the investment that’s necessary for you to build something long-term-sustainable but also highly, highly profitable. And also a well-run airtight business.

So I hope that helps. I wish you nothing but the best. I’ll be in touch to hear about your progress.

And for the rest who are tuning in, if you have questions about your business, I’m going to be doing segments where I answer your questions about your specific business, and literally in the way that I just did now. 

If you want me to include your question and address your specific business, you can drop your question in the comments below or on my YouTube videos, or you can find me on social media @heycmh and tag me on social media and ask your question.

I’ll see you guys in the next one.

As a business-performance coach, biohacking is one of the top things I’m looking to do. I do give my body primed and ready to be at my best on a consistent daily basis. So sleep is number one, and water is number two. 

So we’re going to talk about the Alexapure water filtration system, my experience with it, and why we opted for this one over the Berkey. 

I will be pulling out some statistics that I have related to the famous Berkey and whether you should buy the Berkey or consider the Alexapure.

Alexa Pure Pro Water Filtration System

I’ve had a great experience with Alexapure. I’ll talk about the specifics as it relates to this individual unit. So this is very common, comparable to Big Berkey. It is a 2.25-gallon stainless steel tank.

Now, this is something I wish I had known at a prolonged rate. So it’s probably not like most water filters that you’ve had, where you pour it in there, you wait five minutes, and you’re ready to serve yourself, it’s going to take hours to filter the entire thing is going to take you probably two to three hours. 

So this is a double stack stainless steel unit. You put the water in the top, and there’s a filter in there.

The cool thing about what Alexapure does is that it has multiple tiny holes, where you put various filters in there, and that’ll help the gravity filter aspect part of that will help it expel a little bit.

It also gives you up to 20,000 gallons of water, which you can filter before replacing those individual filters. So each filter is 5000 gallons that you can filter.

So if you do the math alone and figure out how many gallons of water you’d have to buy to equip the equivalent of 5000 gallons filtered, you’re going to spend $5,000. So there’s going to be an immediate ROI on a purchase of any of these devices. But the cool thing is they’re very comparable. 

You cannot go wrong with either Berkey or Alexapure in terms of contaminants removed. Both of them remove over 200 contaminants from your water and test it out among the two best in the world.

Heads Up

There are a couple of things you’re going to have to look out for, though.

First, this will leak. This is a gravity filtration system; if you put too much water in the top tank, and it goes down to the bottom, and it’s going to overflow eventually.

So make sure that every time you add new water, check and look down inside to see how much water needs to be filled up.

I thought to have a fill line. But it’s still impossible because it could be empty at the top, but the bottom is still full of water. You just can’t tell. 

The second immense pain in the butt is that it’s hard to refill it. So we have a little glass jug container to fill up the water top when necessary. Otherwise, taking that top part off every single time, putting it in the sink, and putting water in it is a little bit of a difficulty. 

The next thing is the aesthetic. Stainless steel is excellent for maintenance because you can throw it in your dishwasher and clean it however you want, and it’s not going to rust. But the problem is it’s unattractive. 

Another thing is, the stopper is at the very bottom of the system, so you’ve got to have it on the edge of the counter. So what we had to do is find something to prop it up a few inches. That way, I can fit the bottle up underneath it.

The Significant Edge

Let’s talk about affordability. The slight edge to Alexapure on the unit’s initial cost is you get a filter with the unit, and that’s great. Berkey’s slight edge is on replacement filters, and they have 6000 gallons to Alexapure’s 5000 gallons. 

But a pretty significant edge with the Berkey on the back end with their filters costs roughly about half of what they cost to replace your Alexapure filter. 

So it depends on what you’d instead do, depending on how much water you’re consuming through that. In the long term, it might be more effective for you to spend the extra money upfront but have lesser costs on the tail end. 

But honestly, from everything that I’ve read, these are both ranked number one and number two, everybody that I’ve read gives the slight edge to Berkey overall. Still, in some categories, they provide the edge to Alexapure.

Over To You

I don’t think you can go wrong with either filter. I think you’re going to be doing your body a vast, tremendous benefit in getting those contaminants out of your water and making sure that what you’re consuming and putting your body is clean and pure. 

You can’t go wrong with either. It just comes down to whether, again, you want to have the cost upfront, faster filtration with the Alexapure, or if you’re going to have the tried and true Berkey, which has been for decades the number one go-to source. 

Alright, I hope you guys liked this post. I hope it was tremendously helpful in your decision to decide which one you want to select. 

Until the next one.

Intermittent fasting has made a big impact on my life. My energy levels are high. My workouts are better, and my brain fog is gone. I’m not having crashes in the afternoon. I’m incredibly motivated, and I feel more vibrant and probably better than I thought in years.

These are just a few of the wonders that intermittent fasting has done for me. I’ll share more in this post.

Disclaimer

First of all, I am not a doctor. I am simply sharing my experience.

Make sure that you consult with a healthcare professional and do thorough research before deciding to do intermittent fasting.

One more thing. 

Men typically will do better, and women need to be careful due to cycles and hormones. The book Boundless by Ben Greenfield says that if you’re female, don’t go into the exact extremes that men can have the same effect from ketosis. And it specifically talks about why it’s a little bit more challenging for women and why it may harm what you’re trying to accomplish. 

I understand the nature of what intermittent fasting promises, but to feel it and to be able to live the experience has been such a fantastic experience.

What I’m Doing

I’m doing an 18:6 Intermittent Fasting. 

So I wake up in the morning, I do what I need to do, then do a little bit of aerobic exercise, or some cardio, or take the dogs for a walk, or do some yoga, or whatever it looks like I just kind of slowly get into my day. And then I have a relatively large breakfast, and I make sure I get at least 1000 calories. 

One of the biggest concerns about this plan is my caloric intake would drop well below 2000 calories a day. I also don’t want to get 500 calories a meal and then lose 25 pounds. I want to keep some muscle mass, keep my physique and lose some of the undesired weight. Moreover, it’s more so I want to feel better. 

For me, Intermittent Fasting makes a lot of sense because it does help to manage your blood sugar levels, and you’re having a lot of digestive problems. It helps give your gut a rest. It’s also great for autophagy. 

Autophagy is like food in the refrigerator that’s gone wrong and scraping all that food out. So when you don’t eat for specific periods, you do intermittent time-restricted eating, and so the body goes in and cleans out some of those nasty cells. It’s like nature’s reset button. 

You could try it out for a couple of days, and you may feel great.

Eating Schedule

I do 10 AM and 4 PM eating schedules. I do that Monday through Friday. 

And then at dinner, Friday night, I eat a huge meal, because I then go 24 hours all day Saturday without a meal. 

Sunday, I get back to the regular 10 AM and 4 PM schedule. 

Sunday after two months, what I’ll be doing is still two meals a day, still taking advantage of ketosis and intermittent fasting and letting my body take advantage of autophagy, but having higher carbs. So I’m going to eat over 100 grams of carbs on Sunday and then Monday right back into the regular schedule.

Ketosis Diet

So I’m in ketosis throughout the week, and I eat a high-fat-high protein meal at dinner, which usually carries me. 

Now, I have found that between hours 18 and 24, I’m almost in a euphoric state. I have these beautiful ideas, I have a lot of clarity, and I have this energy. It’s like a high to a large degree, and I haven’t been enjoying and loving the fact that I’m giving my body a rest. 

Saturday is usually my day of rest. And adding a 24 hour fast to that has taken it to the next level. So I feel fantastic. 

Ben from Keto camp said that eventually, after two months, have at least one refeeding day. He said that’s going to be like your cheat day. You can have over 100 grams of carbs on that day. 

Dave Asprey talked about people that are on intermittent fasting and ketosis for too long will experience sleep issues. And there’s a fundamental scientific reason for Gliadin, where you start having sleep issues if you remain too long not feeding that part of the cell with carbs. 

So you may feel better on low carbs. But at some point, you are going to need to have a day of higher carb. Ben calls it Keto flex.

Over To You

Now, I can tell you that it has been a tremendous experience, I feel 10-15 years younger, and it has been unbelievable. 

However, I would recommend that you try it. Work with somebody in functional medicine or a practitioner that you trust who’s more inclined to consider alternative medicine or alternative ways of achieving health and wellness to make sure this is right for you. 

If you have other conditions that may not be conducive to you taking advantage of this or start feeling poorly doing it, you could get off.   

But I want to give you my blueprint because it’s helped me so much. 

I would love to hear how it helps you. Please drop me a comment below.

The number one objection I hear to starting a podcast is, “Editing is going to take forever.” To some extent, it is true, but that doesn’t have to be the case all the time. 

Today, I’m going to show you how you can set it up to edit your podcast in under five minutes.

Let’s jump into it.

Intro Plugins

I’m using Movie Studio Platinum, but any editing tools will be good. Whether it’s Filmora, Premiere Pro, it will work. 

So upload all the files and make sure you put a specific label to have a particular order.

I already know what that’s going to be every single time. I begin with Intro Bumper 1 and then Intro Soundbyte. I have a template file that I use every single time, so I plug it in and rock and roll.

I will then plug the Intro Bumper 2, where I’m saying who will be the guest and what we’re going to talk about today. 

Now I’m going to grab my mid-roll, welcoming listeners to today’s show.

So, all done introducing.

The Episode

Let’s go to the episode, the interview for a particular episode. 

So drag the files. Add your file in the track bar and your guest’s file in another track bar. Ensure that they are stacked one on top of the other, and be sure there’s no overlap and are aligned perfectly.

You could also do this as once one joint file. You don’t have to put two different files for an interview. I split them just in case the audio levels are off. 

Let’s say the intro bumper’s volume is higher. You can adjust the interview volume and make it even. So that’s helpful. And then we’re ready to roll. 

I don’t cut out uhms and ahs because I like it organic. So other than just checking it and making sure we’re good to roll. The full interview is complete.

Outro Wave

Lastly, let’s go to the outro soundbyte. Again, I also have a template I use for every single episode. So we’ll put that down because that’s going to be off the beaten path. 

And then I’ll have my specific outro, saying thanks for listening, see you in the next one, make sure to subscribe, leave me a review, and all that good jazz.

And then that’s it, guys. You can go back and check to make sure there’s no fluff that you missed out there. 

Finally, make a movie, put it in mp3 audio, choose the highest quality, name the file, hit render, and you’re all done! 

I hope this helps. I hope you now feel confident editing your show. Please drop me a comment below. See you in the next one!

What is Bitcoin? Can you still buy and take advantage of it?

I’m going to tell you today what I do, what I think you can do, and whether or not Bitcoin is an opportunity for you to take advantage of.

A lot of people are scared about Bitcoin because it is a volatile source of investment.

The problem is its bottom-up adoption. It will have to take consumers, merchants and forcing companies from the bottom to adopt this form of payment. 

The amount you have on Bitcoin will not be off value, but it would go down sizably quickly. For example, if the government came in tomorrow and say that Bitcoin is illegal and you shouldn’t have any form of cryptocurrency, it can vanish just like that. Thus, Orthodoxy provides a little bit more stability.

The Inflation

Here’s the thing. Right now, the US dollar is more unstable than it’s been in decades. 40% of the current US dollars in circulation were printed in just 2020 alone. 

So if you don’t understand inflation, that means that money doesn’t have a value associated with it. Money will be just a paper that’s printed out. When we start printing money and don’t control the rate at which we’re printing it, we create gross inflation, which makes the dollar’s value weakened to such a degree. 

Inflation maybe 2% or 4%, a quarter. So we’re grossly understating precisely the inflation rate. It’s sizably more. 

We haven’t felt the full effect of COVID19 on the economy near the degree we have yet. In addition to the new administration’s impact and their desire to do a couple of things, we are coming out of such a rough time in our history. The stance on trade with other countries is going to hurt us. 

Such hard assets like Bitcoin, gold, silver, and land will become so valuable in comparison to the increasing weakness of the US dollar.

Bet On Bitcoin

So here’s the deal. Regardless of whatever is going on, what you can take home is when you’re betting on Bitcoin. What you’re betting on is you’re betting against the US market.

So even if you invest something in Bitcoin right now, in what tiny amount that you possibly can, it’s still going to continue to go up. 

Now, is there a possibility that in four years, we hit a little bit of a cap, and it goes down significantly? Sure, that’s entirely possible, but Bitcoin does have 10 to 12 years of proven track record, and you can look at that now. Look at the trends. It consistently has gone up. Even when it goes down, it invariably is still trending upwards. 

So you have a little bit of confidence, knowing there’s at least a decade behind Bitcoin at this point. It is continuing to go up, and it does have a solid, airtight system. As far as the blockchain is concerned, you’re still going to be okay to invest.

What I Do

I’m doing a small percentage of cryptocurrency. The two that I’m investing in are 80% in Bitcoin 20% in Aetherium. The reason for that is I like to see proven track records. I’m not against other coins, and I think those two are probably the most substantial bet. 

So if you have 1% to 5% of your investable assets that you want to put into cryptocurrency, think over the coming years, purely based on what’s going on with the Fed, the current administration, and what their proposed plans are. 

You’re going to see an extremely unstable market, a significant adjustment, even a recession in the economy, which could only drive the value of all cryptocurrencies, primarily Bitcoin and Aetherium. 

Now, I expect one of two things, either I’m going to make good money, or I’m going to lose it all. 

You don’t want to sit and not have something into cryptocurrency and look back and say, “This was 2016 all over again, I had the chance to jump in, and I missed it.” 

It’s a calculated risk. Do a small percentage of the money that you invest, and ride that up.

I’d recommend for you to diversify yourself and make sure that you are prepared. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. And watch what’s going on with the Feds and with the government, because what you’re going to see is, as the weakness of the dollar increases, you’ll see the rise of the value of Bitcoin continues, you’ll hopefully be able to do well on that if you control how much you have invested in it.

What about you? Have you invested in Bitcoin? Let me know your thoughts in the comment section below.