July 30, 2025 • 33 mins
Let me know your thoughts on the show and what topic you would like me to discuss next.
Join host Alain Dumonceaux on the Revolutionary Man Podcast as he interviews Max Emma, CEO of Bookkeeping Corp. Max recounts his inspiring journey from the former Soviet Union to the United States at the age of 18, overcoming bankruptcy during the 2008 financial collapse, and establishing a successful franchise business. The discussion covers the challenges of entrepreneurship, the importance of financial discipline, the role of networking and mentorship, and cultural perspectives on success and leadership. Max shares valuable insights on resilience, adaptation, and finding balance between work and personal life.
00:00 Introduction: The Immigrant's Journey
01:15 The Revolutionary Man Podcast Begins
02:39 Meet Max Emma: From Immigrant to Entrepreneur
07:57 Overcoming Adversity: Bankruptcy and Beyond
15:53 The Importance of Financial Planning
18:52 Navigating Cultural Differences in Business
22:21 The Power of Reflection and Journaling
28:27 Max's Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs
31:03 Conclusion: Building a Life of Purpose and Success
How to reach Max:
Website: http://www.franchisewithmax.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/max.emma.5
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maxemma/
Thanks for listening to the Revolutionary Man Podcast. For more information about our programs, please use the links below to learn more about us. It could be the step that changes your life.
Want to be a guest on The Revolutionary Man Podcast? Send Alain Dumonceaux a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/revolutionarymanpodcast
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
just imagine leaving everything you have and behind
your home, your language, yourcomfort zone, and stepping into
a foreign country with nothingbut ambition and a desire to
succeed.
You're starting from scratch.
There's no safety net, there'sno connections, and every
challenge feels like an uphillbattle for many men dreaming of
building a business, but veryfew truly understand the
(00:25):
resilience, the adaptability andthe financial discipline it
takes to turn that dream intoreality.
What does it take to buildafter failure, to pivot in the
face of economic collapse and tocreate a business that not only
survives but thrives?
And in today's episode, we'regoing to uncover the journey of
a man who did just thatovercoming bankruptcy, adapting
(00:46):
to a new culture and, ultimately, helping others achieve
financial success throughentrepreneurship and franchising
.
Now, if you've ever facedchallenges in business, career
or personal growth, this episodeis going to be for you.
So I want you to take a moment,hit like subscribe and share
this episode with someone whoneeds to hear it.
Your engagement helps us bringmore conversations that inspire
(01:07):
men to take control of theirlives, redefine success and
build lasting legacies.
And so, with that, let's get onwith today's episode.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
The average man today is sleepwalking through life,
many never reaching their truepotential, let alone ever
crossing the finish line toliving a purposeful life.
Yet the hunger still exists,albeit buried amidst his
cluttered mind, misguidedbeliefs and values that no
longer serve him.
It's time to align yourself forgreatness.
(01:40):
It's time to become arevolutionary man.
Stay strong, my brother.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
Welcome everyone to the Revolutionary man Podcast.
I'm the founder of the Awakenedman Movement and your host,
alan DeMonso.
What would you do if you had tostart from nothing?
Think about it there's nonetwork, there's no financial
support, no familiarity with theenvironment that's around you.
And how do different culturesshape the ideas of masculinity,
(02:11):
success and leadership?
And what can we learn bycomparing perspectives, not only
from where we live, but fromabroad?
Mastery in life isn't aboutforcing outcomes.
It's about learning how toalign our life with our natural
rhythm and cultivating a mindsetthat leads to lasting
fulfillment.
And today we're going toexplore how mindfulness, ancient
(02:32):
wisdom and international livingcan transform each and how we
experience success, happinessand relationships.
So allow me to introducetoday's guest.
Max Emma is a successfulentrepreneur, a franchise expert
and the CEO of Bookkeeping Corp, a nationally recognized
bookkeeping service, and hearrived in the US from the
former Soviet Union at only aripe young age of 18 years old,
(02:55):
with no money and no connectionsand no English.
And he built his career fromthe ground up and ultimately he
created a thriving business thatnow operates in all 50 states.
And, after facing bankruptcyduring the 2008 collapse, max
transformed his experience intoa mission to help people and
business owners avoid financialpitfalls through clear, reliable
(03:16):
bookkeeping and franchisingopportunities.
And so, when he's not working,max enjoys traveling, reading
and spending time with his twokids, always embracing the next
great adventure.
Welcome to the show, max.
How are things, my friend?
Speaker 3 (03:30):
Everything is good.
Alan Great to be here.
Thank you for the opportunity.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
I love the idea of having you on the show, and your
journey is so amazing, and so Iwant to start off by asking you
a little bit about your hero'squest, and so tell us about that
time when you had to movecompletely from one country to
another.
How did that moment transformyou into the man you are today
and the work that you're doing?
Speaker 3 (03:54):
It was very interesting.
It happened 32 years ago.
I moved with my parents and twoof my grandmothers and as soon
as we crossed the internationalairspace it almost like I took
over, because back in Russiagrowing up, my parents were
overprotective and that was, theSoviet Union just collapsed and
(04:15):
there was a lot of crime, sothey weren't very happy when I
was coming back home latebecause simply it was dangerous
and they were literallyprotecting me from anything that
could happen because they werescared.
As soon as we crossed into theUnited States I took over
because even though I didn'tspeak English really well, I
spoke at least a little English.
(04:35):
So all the appointments, allthe doctor's appointments,
government appointments, for allfive of us was on me.
My older brother already was inthe country for a few years
before, but he had his family,he had a job, so he helped as
much as he could but really justtook charge, and so for me it's
like literally crossing theborder at the JFK was when I
(04:59):
stopped being a boy and became aman.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
No kidding.
Having to bear the weight ofhelping your family get
themselves settled into a new nokidding.
Having to bear the weight ofhelping your family get
themselves settled into a newcountry and then having to be
the only one who could speak atleast a little bit of English,
and still being only 18 yearsold.
There's so much adversity andso much in front of you, and so
you went from that from theformer Soviet Union now to the
(05:22):
US.
Tell us a little bit about howthat experience of getting the
education and starting yourbusiness and how that has
transformed.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
So before all that, when we came, I knew that I had
to learn English and I had tolearn English fast and there was
a old way of just going toschool learning it.
But it would take time and Idid not have time Even though I
was 18, I'm like I want it tohappen as fast as possible.
So I had to think outside ofthe box and I came up with my
(05:53):
own way to learn English.
It wasn't any planning, it wasjust an idea that worked.
Back at the time, all the backoffices for all the credit cards
were actually in the UnitedStates.
So every day I would go to apay phone because in my house we
obviously had a phone it wasfor adults besides me and it was
just too crazy and peoplespeaking Russian, I'm like I've
(06:14):
had it.
So I would go to pay phone andget a can of Coke and call every
credit card out there askingthem why I can't have a credit
card.
And I knew I couldn't because Ididn't have a credit history,
but I had a 40 to 45 minutes ofspeaking to a native speaker
about that, going back and forth, and because they were getting
(06:34):
paid, they couldn't hang up onme.
Now you probably cannot do itthat much because 90% of the
calls at 999 are beingoutsourced, but back then it was
all in the United States.
So as soon as American Expressfinally was done with me, after
45 minutes I would call Visa, Iwould call MasterCard and I
would call again.
And I kept doing it until Istarted understanding everything
they're talking about and they,strangely enough, started
(06:57):
understanding me.
So that was the first thing andthat helped me to get a great
job at Costco, which not onlypaid through five years of me
going to college but also gaveme a scholarship to go to
college.
So it was a great job.
And then got a corporate jobdoing corporate finance and
accounting, and from that therest was history.
(07:17):
I worked for Qualcomm for fouryears until I realized that I'm
just not designed for acorporate job Not for me.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
Yeah, for sure, and that's pretty typical of many
entrepreneurs, right, theyrealize that they're not a great
employee, but they're great atentrepreneurship.
And what an ingenious way tolearn the English language is
just to dive in and startcalling credit card companies,
and I just think that is sophenomenal to consider doing
that and then being able to thentake that and get into
(07:48):
university in this, thisknowledge, now, at this point,
completing your school.
When did you start thefranchise business and when did
that sort of take off for you?
Speaker 3 (07:57):
oh, it was a long journey.
I didn't even think aboutfranchising.
My first business, afterworking for Qualcomm for four
years, was a small familymaintenance business that I grew
from three employees to 96employees and made it a
construction company andeverything was doing great,
until they stopped buildingtruck homes because there was 08
(08:20):
or 09 recession.
But at the time I had all thetrucks and the cranes and the
equipment.
So a lot of loans and prettymuch no income.
So we didn't have a choice butdeclare bankruptcy and because
you had to personally guaranteemost of the debt, it would be
both business bankruptcy andpersonal bankruptcy.
(08:40):
So with one kid at home and oneon the way, it wasn't that much
fun.
It was actually super scary.
So probably one of the scariestsituations in my life.
Now looking back, at least, itseems at a time but turned out
it was one of the best thingsthat happened.
It didn't happen to me, ithappened for me, but again, I
didn't see it at a time.
(09:00):
At a time I thought this is theend of it.
Maybe I shouldn't be anentrepreneur, maybe I should go
back and work for somebody.
It was a nice try, but, hey,maybe I should just give it up,
but luckily for me, nobody washiring me tonight.
It was a complete recession.
So, like nobody was hiring,everybody was letting people go.
(09:20):
So I didn't have a choice.
I started another business andthat time it was more successful
and we were able to sell itlater on and actually make money
on it.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
It's so interesting that you say about how losing
the first business, and then inthe 2008-2009 recession and how
scary that was and you didn'tuse that word talking about
coming over into the US, and soit's really interesting the
perspective that you had on it.
What do you think was happeningthere?
Is it just that you were tooyoung to understand to be a
(09:51):
subgrade, or was it that therewas so much opportunity that you
were looking at that side of it?
Speaker 3 (10:00):
Maybe because I didn't have that much
responsibility.
When I was coming here, I was18 years old.
I don't have family.
I had family, but I didn't haveany kids that I'm responsible
for.
I'm like okay, I know I'll makeit.
I don't care what kind of job,but I'll get some kind of job.
And I was looking at people whocame before me and they made it
somehow.
So I wasn't scared.
I didn't have a doubt in mymind that I'm going to make it.
(10:24):
I had no idea what I would bedoing.
If you ask me franchising, allI knew that McDonald's was a
franchise.
Life is a very interestingthing.
I did not even guess I'll havean accounting business.
Forget owning a franchise andselling franchises.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
Very true, very true.
Another thing that I found wasinteresting is that you went
from graduating, getting throughuniversity, you're starting
your first business, but you seethat collapse, nothing out of
any fault of your own, and thenyou already were jumping back
and you knew that.
You know, the entrepreneurshipwas the model for you to go
after.
But let's talk a little bitabout what that does to men and
(10:59):
there's a bit of their psycheand they think about that as a
pretty big failure.
What point?
What was a key turning pointfor you?
That you realized that thebankruptcy could be a platform
for you to launch other parts ofother businesses and for
yourself.
Speaker 3 (11:14):
So with my wife at the time, who later became a
co-founder of Bookkeeping, wewere looking at it and I had
bachelor's in finance and yearsof experience in corporate world
and she had master's inaccounting.
So accounting and financewasn't strange things for us.
We understood how it all worked.
But we were so busy growing,and we were growing so fast that
(11:35):
we did not pay attention to ourfinancials.
So we were talking, oh, we wishwe had somebody who would be
looking out for our financials.
And that was the first ideawhen we were thinking about
maybe creating an outsourcedbookkeeping company.
But again, that was just anidea.
Then we opened the secondcompany, which again was more
successful, and at the time wewere looking for a bookkeeper
(11:57):
for this company and we got 20estimates and the estimates
varied from $200 to $2,000 forexactly the same scope of work.
And I knew at the time it's ahuge fork, it's not healthy, you
can't have such a bigdifference.
So that's when we finally saidyou know what we're doing it.
There is an opportunity, let'sgrab it.
And that's how the nameBookkeeping, that's how the
(12:20):
company started.
We were still going back andforth.
Who came up with the namebookkeeping?
It was just we were playingwith words and thinking what can
we do?
So later we can trademark itand bookkeeping came up and we
were told by an attorney don'teven try it, you have zero
chance of trademarking becauseyou only change one letter.
I'm like what do I have to lose?
I went to another attorney andapplied and we got it from the
(12:42):
first try.
Like what do I have to lose?
I went to another attorney andapplied and we got it from the
first try.
If I listened to the guy, itprobably would be called Max's
Bookkeeping, which, if you askme, is not as sexy as
bookskeeping.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
That's correct, but your mom would love it because
it has your name.
Yes, I'm sure she would.
That's amazing.
In order for you to grow thisbusiness, though, even
throughout this time, nownetworking becomes really
important, and mentorship, forsure, I'm sure, had played a
success in helping you achievethe success that you have.
And so what would you say, whatwould you tell us about how to
(13:13):
leverage these relationships ingrowing business?
Speaker 3 (13:18):
If you can always hang out with people who are
more successful than you,because I've read somewhere that
you are an extension of fivepeople you are hanging out with.
So if you're hanging out withfive losers, then you're going
to become one If you hang outwith five people who all they do
is drinking and having a goodtime and don't get me wrong,
alan, if I am partying, this islike there is no tomorrow.
(13:40):
But I always go by the rulework hard, play hard.
So it's not that I'm going tobe sitting here and you have to
work 24 hours a day.
I'll be the first one to tellyou no way, just it's not
healthy.
You have to have a balance andlife should be ahead of your
work.
It's not work-life balance, itshould be life-work balance.
But hang out with people whoare more successful.
(14:04):
Who've been there, done that,ask them questions, ask for
their advice, believe it or not,people want to help and they
actually want you to besuccessful.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
So that's what you need to do.
Yeah, it makes total sense.
And I like how you talked aboutlife, work and balance, Because
I think there's a lot ofmis-ideas here about having this
balance in life and at timesyou're not going to have that
balance.
I always think of it as ateeter-totter, right, there are
times when business tests itneeds most of the time, but it
doesn't mean that the quality ofthe relationship is
deteriorating, as long as you'remindful of that, and vice versa
(14:37):
.
So I like how you position that.
For sure I'm wondering oh sorry, go ahead there, Max, I was
just going to say that I'm sureI'm the same as most
entrepreneurs.
Speaker 3 (14:48):
There is always something to do, like I can stay
by the computer 24 hours andI'll be busy 24 hours, but then
my recovery period will belonger.
I have to get some rest.
So instead of doing that fortwo, three days and then
sleeping for two, three days, Ijust pace myself.
So I start my day early, but Ipurposely schedule my workouts
(15:11):
around 4, 4.30 PM, so I don'thave a choice but shut down the
computer and go to the gym.
Because again, if I don't, if Ijust say I'll get to it when I
get to it, before I know it's 8PM, before I know I just had
dinner and I either don't go orI just worked in our days and
again I can do it for a longtime.
(15:32):
Yeah, that makes complete sense.
I don't want to do it becauseI'm like, really not concerned,
but I value my mental health andmy physical health, so I'm here
for the long haul.
Yeah, absolutely, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
So I'm here for the long haul, yeah, absolutely,
absolutely.
Between your experience ingrowing business and then having
the bookskeeping franchiseopportunity for folks, you're
meeting lots of people who wantto be business owners and so, in
your experience now, where doyou find the biggest financial
mistakes that new businessowners are making?
Speaker 3 (16:02):
One of the mistakes people don't have enough money
when they start the business.
They just jump into that.
But keep in mind, unless it'smagic, I haven't seen businesses
that started making a lot ofmoney from day one.
I mean, if you prepare for itand you've done everything you
could while you were doing otherstuff maybe, but if you just
(16:24):
start a new business, it'llrequire some time to ramp up.
So if you don't have any moneyto support yourself, then you're
going to have problems.
So there is a reason why when wesell bookkeeping franchises,
we're making sure that ourfranchisees have money that they
can support themselves for afew months while the business is
(16:45):
ramping up.
Because what I don't want tohappen then?
Well, I need money to supportmy family, so I'm going to go
get another job.
So you won't be able to besuccessful if you work full-time
and sometimes more than 40hours and then after that you
run your business and then youhave your family on top of it.
So it's not going to be goodfor anybody.
So before they qualified to buya bookkeeping franchise or, for
(17:10):
that matter, any franchisebecause I'm also a broker, I can
help people to buy over 600different franchises if they're
not a good match for abookkeeping.
Pretty much every franchise hasthe minimum value that you have
towards networks.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
That makes total sense, and I see that my career
was spent in the hospitalitybusiness.
And just because you havegrandma's favorite recipe of
yours doesn't mean you're goingto be a successful restaurant
operator.
And most of the time they don'tmake it past the first two
years because they don'trecognize all the incoming costs
there are to run a business.
And so it's so true that beingable to understand that makes a
(17:47):
lot of sense.
Speaker 3 (17:48):
Absolutely.
I see it all the time whenpeople mix hobby and business,
they're like I make the bestpizza you ever tried.
I'm like that's probably thecase and I really going to
believe you.
But it's one thing to do onepizza for your family for dinner
, Another one to do 100 pizzasthat look exactly the same.
They all come out of the ovenin a given point of time.
(18:09):
You know how many pieces ofpepperoni to put on each of them
, how to put it in the box andship it to the clients, Because
if you don't, if you don't havea production, you're not going
to make any money in thisbusiness.
And same goes.
I'm a great painter.
I painted my whole house myself.
That's great.
Speaker 1 (18:26):
But I can argue that you can run a very successful
painting franchise withoutknowing how to paint exactly,
exactly, because it's about thebusiness mind, business mindset
and I want to talk a little bitabout your experience and coming
coming over from from Russiaand here now I'm looking at, you
said 32 years, I'm looking.
So that was a late you in aboutmid-1990s, give or take.
(18:47):
And so, if you recall, what doyou see now, as you've been in
32 plus years now in the US?
The culture differences inbusiness, especially when we're
talking about leadership andmasculinity.
Speaker 3 (19:01):
Yeah, now obviously you have to watch what you can
say, what you cannot say, what'sallowed to discuss, what's not
allowed to discuss.
Obviously, it was different inthe early 90s when we came here.
Now, with social media beingeverywhere, when you say
something, you're always underrisk that somebody is filming
(19:24):
you and you can't really speak.
You speak your mind and look,I'm an immigrant and I have
working for my companies peoplefrom 10 different countries, so
I have employees.
So you can't say that I don'tunderstand.
I definitely understand.
I value and it's multi, multi,multicultural all of my
(19:45):
businesses.
It means that I can't even justsomething, cannot sleep out of
my mouth, because if somebody isfilming at a time, I'm in
trouble.
And now the new iPhones, youcan actually record conversation
, which is again, I'm notdiscussing anything that I'm
going to be ashamed of.
So that's not what I'm saying,but it's a little bit different.
(20:06):
I think the society is changing, and it's not just in the
United States, it's pretty mucheverywhere in the world, and I'm
blaming technology for it.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
Yeah, I would totally agree with that.
I think we're in a time andperiod right now where we're in
that gotcha state where theyhave somebody, does have their
iPhone and it's sitting thereand next thing you know a
recording's happening.
I knew a gentleman that used todo that, and when I found out
that he was doing it, it wasn'tlet's just say that the
conversation him and I had woulddid not end well, because I
(20:38):
think it's really, it's reallyinappropriate when you're doing
that with people and they'reunaware and you think that
you're in a safe space to totalk about things and maybe
things aren't always politicallycorrect, but that's about being
able to share and be in a goodspot, and so I think it's really
true.
What you're saying is that wehave lots of.
We have to be so mindful today,and as a business owner, even
(20:59):
more so, because the stakes areeven higher.
Stakes are higher if you haveemployees.
You might look after out forthem, and I think that's a
really great point.
Speaker 3 (21:08):
And the labor laws that are changing all the time.
And, hey look, we need toprotect employees Absolutely.
I am all for it, but sometimesI just think we are doing a
little bit too much, especiallysome states.
I can tell you that, havingemployees in different states.
There is one state thatemployment handbook is 100 pages
(21:29):
and another state employmenthandbook is 20 pages Same
employee doing exactly the samework.
It just really depends on thestate.
What are they doing in thisother state that they're not
doing in the state?
Speaker 1 (21:40):
A when I live in an environment.
I'm in Canada here and I livein an environment where the
birth of the labor movementstarted and it's a very
labor-friendly event, and so youcan see that the laws around
employment, especially aroundlabor, are much larger than they
are, say, with some of mycounterparts.
(22:01):
Not that they're bad oranything.
It's just that it's been aroundfor so much longer and things
have.
Ultimately, they just progressand right, and so a little bit
more challenging at times towork through it.
But those are the parts ofbeing an entrepreneur.
Right Is that you have to learnhow to navigate and narrow all
the different areas that you'reworking in.
I know I read somewhere, and Ithink it was on your website.
(22:24):
There you talked a little bitabout journaling and the
important practice that was foryou, and so how has that helped
you really make better decisionsand move your business and your
personal life forward?
Speaker 3 (22:37):
So it's just giving me time to reflect.
And I was always laughing like,well, I'm an adult man I mean
me journaling, probably a littlebit older than a 15 year old
and what do you want me to colorit too?
So I was like always laughingin my head until I tried doing
it and it actually gave me sometime to reflect and being
(22:59):
gratitude.
What I'm grateful for.
My journaling is very short, soI'm not spending hours doing it
, but I do it in the morning formaybe five, seven minutes, and
then about the same at night.
So reflecting what's going on,talking to my future self, what
do I want to tell max?
Five, seven, 10 years from now,three years from now.
And another thing that somebodytaught me, which I'm doing it
(23:22):
every night and it changed mylife never go to bed without
asking yourself a question, andit shouldn't be an open-ended
question yes or no.
You just ask how can I sell 15more franchises in the next four
months?
And you're not looking for ananswer.
You turn off the light, you goto sleep, your subconscious is
working on it while you'reasleep and then, more often than
(23:45):
not, you wake up with someideas, sometimes not, and
sometimes I have the ideas and Iknow I had something, but I
sleep through it.
But once in a while I wake upin the morning wow, I had this
idea.
So I write it down and some ofthe things are outside of the
box ideas.
That's how I end every night,unless I'm partying that night.
(24:06):
That's a different story.
Then I'm usually not askingmyself any questions.
Speaker 1 (24:11):
Except where's the headache medication?
Speaker 3 (24:14):
Yes, exactly when is my Advil?
Yes, 100%, but it's always bymy bedside.
Speaker 1 (24:25):
I hear you.
I hear you.
You talked earlier about usingthe phone booth and to learn
English, and that Did you get anopportunity, and then,
obviously, you went touniversity.
So there's reading.
Would you consider reading assomething that's important to
you and, if so, is there anybooks that really stood out over
the course of your life thathas really helped you grow into
who you are?
Speaker 3 (24:39):
Yes, I'm going to plug the book and I'm going to
plug the organization that Ibecame a part of and it actually
changed my life as anentrepreneur.
I'm a CEO of three companiesright now.
They're related, so the name ofthe book is 10X is Easier Than
2X, by Dan Sullivan and BenHardy, and Dan Sullivan is the
(24:59):
founder of Strategic Coach isthe coaching organization for
CEOs.
I became a member about threeyears ago, alan.
This completely changed.
I was a micromanager.
I was not letting anybody doinganything because of course, I
can do it better.
And, come on, I was veryimpatient until they worked with
(25:23):
me and it's group settings andtalking about being with more
successful people.
That's definitely the case.
I hired the executive assistantand then all of a sudden she
took over 80 of my daily tasks.
I'm like first few weeks I'mlike, hey, I have nothing to do.
That filled very fast, don'tyou worry.
(25:46):
But but the first couple ofweeks were like, wow, I was
doing all of that and now she'sdoing it.
She's way better sending theproposal, doing the follow-ups,
because before I would talk to aclient, sell them a bookkeeping
product and then bookkeepingservice, and then at night I
would go watch a movie at homeand do a proposal and just send
the proposal and in my head, butI'm not really working.
(26:07):
I would go watch a movie athome and do a proposal and just
send the proposal and in my head, but I'm not really working.
I'm watching a movie.
If you ask me what the moviewas about, I probably would not
remember.
I would make a mistake doingthe proposal because it would
take me double the amount oftime and I was working long
hours.
Now everything is done by myexecutive assistant.
She's doing all the follow-ups.
She's actually scheduling themeetings.
Speaker 1 (26:31):
All I have to do is just show up.
It's interesting to hear yousaying that.
To think about it, I had amentor years ago.
He talked about working on yourbusiness versus in it, and
that's what I hear you saying,and I think so many times as
young entrepreneurs not talkingabout age, but in terms of just
getting into the starting abusiness that we become skillful
at something and so we spendour time doing that and so we're
in it all the time, all daylong, and we never really get an
(26:54):
opportunity to grow it and ifwe're lucky, we get it to maybe
2X, 3X the business.
But being able to take a stepback and realize the value of
the work that you're doing needsto be on a higher paying role.
So if you were to outsourcethat, what would you be paying
that out?
And why are you doing somethingat remedial wages?
(27:15):
I think that's really a keypoint.
Speaker 3 (27:17):
I agree with you, but I think there is one extra step
.
What will get you to 2x willnot get you to 10x.
You just have to change thestrategy of what you're doing.
You just have to understand.
And there is nothing wrong withgrowing the company.
2x and look, x, 2x, 10x, 5x.
It's not always the dollaramount, it's also the quality of
(27:38):
life.
It's 10x.
Am I 10x in my weekend when Ican go for a walk on the beach
and enjoy and just listen to apodcast and, you know, be with
myself, and then hang out withmy friends and go see a show or
whatever.
Go out, that's one thing.
2x is nothing wrong with that.
Everybody decides forthemselves where they want to be
(28:00):
.
For me, 10x is more fun.
Speaker 1 (28:04):
I think for a lot of us we were to.
When you accomplish somethinglike that, we realized that it
was.
It is a lot more fun and greatpoint 10X isn't always about the
dollars and cents in life.
It's 10X in all aspects of ourlife.
And how can that?
How much better can life bewhen we look at it from that
perspective?
I really appreciate that.
For sure Of that, for sure ofeverything that we spoke about
(28:31):
today, max.
Speaker 3 (28:32):
Maybe there was something we didn't get a chance
to touch on, what would be aone takeaway you'd want our
listeners to have.
Look, I learned the lesson longtime ago and it helps me a lot
growing my businesses andgrowing as the human being, as
the man is.
Actually, I open every doorthat I see on my way.
So if I see a door, I'm goingto take a peek and see what's
inside.
It might not be for me, I mightabsolutely don't like what I
(28:54):
see.
Then I'll close it.
They thank you and move, but Iknow that I will not pass any
door because later I'm not goingto have a regret.
Oh, but there was a door.
Maybe that was something that Ishould have looked in.
So, no, should have in life.
Just I'm looking, I'm notspending a lot of time and I can
tell you it'll be like threemore podcasts the stories where
I did that and it led me to thebiggest contracts, the biggest
(29:19):
connection.
And another thing just listen toyour gut feeling, just like I
always.
It helps me a lot and if I goagainst my gut feeling, trying
to use my brain, like, oh, youcan do it, and gut feeling was
against doing something and Ididn't listen and all this goes
wrong.
So now I'm just slowing downfor a minute and journaling does
(29:41):
help.
Hey, how do I feel about it?
I still do research, not thatmy gut feeling is.
I'm always listening and doingit.
And look, if you are not stableand your gut feeling tells you
to jump from the 23rd floor ofthe building without the
parachute and see if you'regoing to make it or not, I would
not suggest that okay.
Then it's a different problemthat you're having.
(30:02):
But gut feeling, should Ipursue that or not?
When I was studying abookkeeping franchise, people
were telling me why are youdoing it?
You have a successfulbookkeeping company.
Come on, why are you openinganother company?
Just keep doing what you'redoing.
You're going to get greatresults.
You're on your mission.
But my gut feeling was tellingme no, there is more that I want
(30:24):
to do and more that I can do.
And so that was just like,literally, I came up with this
idea.
I woke up in the morning I'mnot kidding you I took a couple
pieces of paper and wrote downthe original business plan for a
bookkeeping franchise within acouple hours, because I came up
with this idea at night.
Nothing unique, but again, thatwas just like boom, I woke up,
(30:49):
let me look into that.
So I wrote it down and afterthat analyzed it.
It was a good idea.
The business plan changed, ofcourse, from these two first
pages, but that was thebeginning.
Speaker 1 (30:59):
What a great way to wrap up our conversation today.
I really appreciate that.
I just want to say again Max,thank you so much for spending
time with me today, sharing yourwisdom on resilience and
entrepreneurship, and thisreally showed us the power of
adaptability of everything thatyou've gone through, and so it's
a testament to what's reallypossible if we're going to
commit to learning, taking a bitof risk, building financial
(31:20):
success with some purpose behindit.
And so if men are interested ingetting a hold of you and
participating in your work.
Speaker 3 (31:30):
What's the best way for them to reach you?
So the best way is to contactme through FranchiseWithMaxcom
Again FranchiseWithMax, and onceyou're on this site, you can
decide if you want my assistancefor buying a bookkeeping
franchise, if you need abookkeeping for your existing
business or if you're lookingfor a business outside of
bookskeeping, because, as I said, I opened the brokerage and now
(31:52):
, if it's not a good match forbookskeeping, then we can help
people to get a franchise oftheir choice.
I have a portfolio of over 600franchise brands that we are
working with, and a lot of themeven are clients with the
bookkeeping for them.
So that gives me the view intowhat's going on, and so I can
(32:12):
speak from the industry.
I just want to say one thing,alan, that I do have teams in
all three businesses.
So it's not me.
So I'm crazy, but I'm not thatcrazy.
So it's not just me runningthree businesses and working 24
seven.
So I have teams in everybusiness.
So it's not just me runningthree businesses and working
24-7.
So I have teams in everybusiness, and then once somebody
chooses why they want to talkto me, they'll talk to my team
(32:33):
first, but eventually everybodyends up talking to me.
Speaker 1 (32:36):
Love that.
That's beautiful.
I'm going to make sure thatinformation's in the show notes
for today's episode and, as welook ready to wrap up today's
episode, I want to leaveeveryone with this thought that
success isn't just about talent.
It's about persistence,adaptation and a willingness to
take calculated risks, and ifyou're ready to build a life and
a business that aligns withyour goals, don't wait for the
perfect moment.
(32:57):
I'd like you to visitmemberstheawakenmannet.
We have a free integritychallenge.
I'd like you to take that today.
It's your first step towardslearning and understanding
financial freedom and personalgrowth, and all it takes is your
decision is to act, and so Iwant you to live with intention,
lead with integrity, and let'sget started now.
And thank you very much forbeing on the show today.
Speaker 3 (33:18):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (33:24):
Alan, thank you for listening to the Revolutionary
man podcast.
Are you ready to own yourdestiny, to become more the man
you are destined to be?
Join the brotherhood that isthe Awakened man at
(33:44):
theawakendmannet and startforging a new destiny today.
just imagine leaving everything you have and behind
your home, your language, yourcomfort zone, and stepping into
a foreign country with nothingbut ambition and a desire to
succeed.
You're starting from scratch.
There's no safety net, there'sno connections, and every
challenge feels like an uphillbattle for many men dreaming of
building a business, but veryfew truly understand the
(00:25):
resilience, the adaptability andthe financial discipline it
takes to turn that dream intoreality.
What does it take to buildafter failure, to pivot in the
face of economic collapse and tocreate a business that not only
survives but thrives?
And in today's episode, we'regoing to uncover the journey of
a man who did just thatovercoming bankruptcy, adapting
(00:46):
to a new culture and, ultimately, helping others achieve
financial success throughentrepreneurship and franchising
.
Now, if you've ever facedchallenges in business, career
or personal growth, this episodeis going to be for you.
So I want you to take a moment,hit like subscribe and share
this episode with someone whoneeds to hear it.
Your engagement helps us bringmore conversations that inspire
(01:07):
men to take control of theirlives, redefine success and
build lasting legacies.
And so, with that, let's get onwith today's episode.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
The average man today is sleepwalking through life,
many never reaching their truepotential, let alone ever
crossing the finish line toliving a purposeful life.
Yet the hunger still exists,albeit buried amidst his
cluttered mind, misguidedbeliefs and values that no
longer serve him.
It's time to align yourself forgreatness.
(01:40):
It's time to become arevolutionary man.
Stay strong, my brother.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
Welcome everyone to the Revolutionary man Podcast.
I'm the founder of the Awakenedman Movement and your host,
alan DeMonso.
What would you do if you had tostart from nothing?
Think about it there's nonetwork, there's no financial
support, no familiarity with theenvironment that's around you.
And how do different culturesshape the ideas of masculinity,
(02:11):
success and leadership?
And what can we learn bycomparing perspectives, not only
from where we live, but fromabroad?
Mastery in life isn't aboutforcing outcomes.
It's about learning how toalign our life with our natural
rhythm and cultivating a mindsetthat leads to lasting
fulfillment.
And today we're going toexplore how mindfulness, ancient
(02:32):
wisdom and international livingcan transform each and how we
experience success, happinessand relationships.
So allow me to introducetoday's guest.
Max Emma is a successfulentrepreneur, a franchise expert
and the CEO of Bookkeeping Corp, a nationally recognized
bookkeeping service, and hearrived in the US from the
former Soviet Union at only aripe young age of 18 years old,
(02:55):
with no money and no connectionsand no English.
And he built his career fromthe ground up and ultimately he
created a thriving business thatnow operates in all 50 states.
And, after facing bankruptcyduring the 2008 collapse, max
transformed his experience intoa mission to help people and
business owners avoid financialpitfalls through clear, reliable
(03:16):
bookkeeping and franchisingopportunities.
And so, when he's not working,max enjoys traveling, reading
and spending time with his twokids, always embracing the next
great adventure.
Welcome to the show, max.
How are things, my friend?
Speaker 3 (03:30):
Everything is good.
Alan Great to be here.
Thank you for the opportunity.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
I love the idea of having you on the show, and your
journey is so amazing, and so Iwant to start off by asking you
a little bit about your hero'squest, and so tell us about that
time when you had to movecompletely from one country to
another.
How did that moment transformyou into the man you are today
and the work that you're doing?
Speaker 3 (03:54):
It was very interesting.
It happened 32 years ago.
I moved with my parents and twoof my grandmothers and as soon
as we crossed the internationalairspace it almost like I took
over, because back in Russiagrowing up, my parents were
overprotective and that was, theSoviet Union just collapsed and
(04:15):
there was a lot of crime, sothey weren't very happy when I
was coming back home latebecause simply it was dangerous
and they were literallyprotecting me from anything that
could happen because they werescared.
As soon as we crossed into theUnited States I took over
because even though I didn'tspeak English really well, I
spoke at least a little English.
(04:35):
So all the appointments, allthe doctor's appointments,
government appointments, for allfive of us was on me.
My older brother already was inthe country for a few years
before, but he had his family,he had a job, so he helped as
much as he could but really justtook charge, and so for me it's
like literally crossing theborder at the JFK was when I
(04:59):
stopped being a boy and became aman.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
No kidding.
Having to bear the weight ofhelping your family get
themselves settled into a new nokidding.
Having to bear the weight ofhelping your family get
themselves settled into a newcountry and then having to be
the only one who could speak atleast a little bit of English,
and still being only 18 yearsold.
There's so much adversity andso much in front of you, and so
you went from that from theformer Soviet Union now to the
(05:22):
US.
Tell us a little bit about howthat experience of getting the
education and starting yourbusiness and how that has
transformed.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
So before all that, when we came, I knew that I had
to learn English and I had tolearn English fast and there was
a old way of just going toschool learning it.
But it would take time and Idid not have time Even though I
was 18, I'm like I want it tohappen as fast as possible.
So I had to think outside ofthe box and I came up with my
(05:53):
own way to learn English.
It wasn't any planning, it wasjust an idea that worked.
Back at the time, all the backoffices for all the credit cards
were actually in the UnitedStates.
So every day I would go to apay phone because in my house we
obviously had a phone it wasfor adults besides me and it was
just too crazy and peoplespeaking Russian, I'm like I've
(06:14):
had it.
So I would go to pay phone andget a can of Coke and call every
credit card out there askingthem why I can't have a credit
card.
And I knew I couldn't because Ididn't have a credit history,
but I had a 40 to 45 minutes ofspeaking to a native speaker
about that, going back and forth, and because they were getting
(06:34):
paid, they couldn't hang up onme.
Now you probably cannot do itthat much because 90% of the
calls at 999 are beingoutsourced, but back then it was
all in the United States.
So as soon as American Expressfinally was done with me, after
45 minutes I would call Visa, Iwould call MasterCard and I
would call again.
And I kept doing it until Istarted understanding everything
they're talking about and they,strangely enough, started
(06:57):
understanding me.
So that was the first thing andthat helped me to get a great
job at Costco, which not onlypaid through five years of me
going to college but also gaveme a scholarship to go to
college.
So it was a great job.
And then got a corporate jobdoing corporate finance and
accounting, and from that therest was history.
(07:17):
I worked for Qualcomm for fouryears until I realized that I'm
just not designed for acorporate job Not for me.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
Yeah, for sure, and that's pretty typical of many
entrepreneurs, right, theyrealize that they're not a great
employee, but they're great atentrepreneurship.
And what an ingenious way tolearn the English language is
just to dive in and startcalling credit card companies,
and I just think that is sophenomenal to consider doing
that and then being able to thentake that and get into
(07:48):
university in this, thisknowledge, now, at this point,
completing your school.
When did you start thefranchise business and when did
that sort of take off for you?
Speaker 3 (07:57):
oh, it was a long journey.
I didn't even think aboutfranchising.
My first business, afterworking for Qualcomm for four
years, was a small familymaintenance business that I grew
from three employees to 96employees and made it a
construction company andeverything was doing great,
until they stopped buildingtruck homes because there was 08
(08:20):
or 09 recession.
But at the time I had all thetrucks and the cranes and the
equipment.
So a lot of loans and prettymuch no income.
So we didn't have a choice butdeclare bankruptcy and because
you had to personally guaranteemost of the debt, it would be
both business bankruptcy andpersonal bankruptcy.
(08:40):
So with one kid at home and oneon the way, it wasn't that much
fun.
It was actually super scary.
So probably one of the scariestsituations in my life.
Now looking back, at least, itseems at a time but turned out
it was one of the best thingsthat happened.
It didn't happen to me, ithappened for me, but again, I
didn't see it at a time.
(09:00):
At a time I thought this is theend of it.
Maybe I shouldn't be anentrepreneur, maybe I should go
back and work for somebody.
It was a nice try, but, hey,maybe I should just give it up,
but luckily for me, nobody washiring me tonight.
It was a complete recession.
So, like nobody was hiring,everybody was letting people go.
(09:20):
So I didn't have a choice.
I started another business andthat time it was more successful
and we were able to sell itlater on and actually make money
on it.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
It's so interesting that you say about how losing
the first business, and then inthe 2008-2009 recession and how
scary that was and you didn'tuse that word talking about
coming over into the US, and soit's really interesting the
perspective that you had on it.
What do you think was happeningthere?
Is it just that you were tooyoung to understand to be a
(09:51):
subgrade, or was it that therewas so much opportunity that you
were looking at that side of it?
Speaker 3 (10:00):
Maybe because I didn't have that much
responsibility.
When I was coming here, I was18 years old.
I don't have family.
I had family, but I didn't haveany kids that I'm responsible
for.
I'm like okay, I know I'll makeit.
I don't care what kind of job,but I'll get some kind of job.
And I was looking at people whocame before me and they made it
somehow.
So I wasn't scared.
I didn't have a doubt in mymind that I'm going to make it.
(10:24):
I had no idea what I would bedoing.
If you ask me franchising, allI knew that McDonald's was a
franchise.
Life is a very interestingthing.
I did not even guess I'll havean accounting business.
Forget owning a franchise andselling franchises.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
Very true, very true.
Another thing that I found wasinteresting is that you went
from graduating, getting throughuniversity, you're starting
your first business, but you seethat collapse, nothing out of
any fault of your own, and thenyou already were jumping back
and you knew that.
You know, the entrepreneurshipwas the model for you to go
after.
But let's talk a little bitabout what that does to men and
(10:59):
there's a bit of their psycheand they think about that as a
pretty big failure.
What point?
What was a key turning pointfor you?
That you realized that thebankruptcy could be a platform
for you to launch other parts ofother businesses and for
yourself.
Speaker 3 (11:14):
So with my wife at the time, who later became a
co-founder of Bookkeeping, wewere looking at it and I had
bachelor's in finance and yearsof experience in corporate world
and she had master's inaccounting.
So accounting and financewasn't strange things for us.
We understood how it all worked.
But we were so busy growing,and we were growing so fast that
(11:35):
we did not pay attention to ourfinancials.
So we were talking, oh, we wishwe had somebody who would be
looking out for our financials.
And that was the first ideawhen we were thinking about
maybe creating an outsourcedbookkeeping company.
But again, that was just anidea.
Then we opened the secondcompany, which again was more
successful, and at the time wewere looking for a bookkeeper
(11:57):
for this company and we got 20estimates and the estimates
varied from $200 to $2,000 forexactly the same scope of work.
And I knew at the time it's ahuge fork, it's not healthy, you
can't have such a bigdifference.
So that's when we finally saidyou know what we're doing it.
There is an opportunity, let'sgrab it.
And that's how the nameBookkeeping, that's how the
(12:20):
company started.
We were still going back andforth.
Who came up with the namebookkeeping?
It was just we were playingwith words and thinking what can
we do?
So later we can trademark itand bookkeeping came up and we
were told by an attorney don'teven try it, you have zero
chance of trademarking becauseyou only change one letter.
I'm like what do I have to lose?
I went to another attorney andapplied and we got it from the
(12:42):
first try.
Like what do I have to lose?
I went to another attorney andapplied and we got it from the
first try.
If I listened to the guy, itprobably would be called Max's
Bookkeeping, which, if you askme, is not as sexy as
bookskeeping.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
That's correct, but your mom would love it because
it has your name.
Yes, I'm sure she would.
That's amazing.
In order for you to grow thisbusiness, though, even
throughout this time, nownetworking becomes really
important, and mentorship, forsure, I'm sure, had played a
success in helping you achievethe success that you have.
And so what would you say, whatwould you tell us about how to
(13:13):
leverage these relationships ingrowing business?
Speaker 3 (13:18):
If you can always hang out with people who are
more successful than you,because I've read somewhere that
you are an extension of fivepeople you are hanging out with.
So if you're hanging out withfive losers, then you're going
to become one If you hang outwith five people who all they do
is drinking and having a goodtime and don't get me wrong,
alan, if I am partying, this islike there is no tomorrow.
(13:40):
But I always go by the rulework hard, play hard.
So it's not that I'm going tobe sitting here and you have to
work 24 hours a day.
I'll be the first one to tellyou no way, just it's not
healthy.
You have to have a balance andlife should be ahead of your
work.
It's not work-life balance, itshould be life-work balance.
But hang out with people whoare more successful.
(14:04):
Who've been there, done that,ask them questions, ask for
their advice, believe it or not,people want to help and they
actually want you to besuccessful.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
So that's what you need to do.
Yeah, it makes total sense.
And I like how you talked aboutlife, work and balance, Because
I think there's a lot ofmis-ideas here about having this
balance in life and at timesyou're not going to have that
balance.
I always think of it as ateeter-totter, right, there are
times when business tests itneeds most of the time, but it
doesn't mean that the quality ofthe relationship is
deteriorating, as long as you'remindful of that, and vice versa
(14:37):
.
So I like how you position that.
For sure I'm wondering oh sorry, go ahead there, Max, I was
just going to say that I'm sureI'm the same as most
entrepreneurs.
Speaker 3 (14:48):
There is always something to do, like I can stay
by the computer 24 hours andI'll be busy 24 hours, but then
my recovery period will belonger.
I have to get some rest.
So instead of doing that fortwo, three days and then
sleeping for two, three days, Ijust pace myself.
So I start my day early, but Ipurposely schedule my workouts
(15:11):
around 4, 4.30 PM, so I don'thave a choice but shut down the
computer and go to the gym.
Because again, if I don't, if Ijust say I'll get to it when I
get to it, before I know it's 8PM, before I know I just had
dinner and I either don't go orI just worked in our days and
again I can do it for a longtime.
(15:32):
Yeah, that makes complete sense.
I don't want to do it becauseI'm like, really not concerned,
but I value my mental health andmy physical health, so I'm here
for the long haul.
Yeah, absolutely, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
So I'm here for the long haul, yeah, absolutely,
absolutely.
Between your experience ingrowing business and then having
the bookskeeping franchiseopportunity for folks, you're
meeting lots of people who wantto be business owners and so, in
your experience now, where doyou find the biggest financial
mistakes that new businessowners are making?
Speaker 3 (16:02):
One of the mistakes people don't have enough money
when they start the business.
They just jump into that.
But keep in mind, unless it'smagic, I haven't seen businesses
that started making a lot ofmoney from day one.
I mean, if you prepare for itand you've done everything you
could while you were doing otherstuff maybe, but if you just
(16:24):
start a new business, it'llrequire some time to ramp up.
So if you don't have any moneyto support yourself, then you're
going to have problems.
So there is a reason why when wesell bookkeeping franchises,
we're making sure that ourfranchisees have money that they
can support themselves for afew months while the business is
(16:45):
ramping up.
Because what I don't want tohappen then?
Well, I need money to supportmy family, so I'm going to go
get another job.
So you won't be able to besuccessful if you work full-time
and sometimes more than 40hours and then after that you
run your business and then youhave your family on top of it.
So it's not going to be goodfor anybody.
So before they qualified to buya bookkeeping franchise or, for
(17:10):
that matter, any franchisebecause I'm also a broker, I can
help people to buy over 600different franchises if they're
not a good match for abookkeeping.
Pretty much every franchise hasthe minimum value that you have
towards networks.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
That makes total sense, and I see that my career
was spent in the hospitalitybusiness.
And just because you havegrandma's favorite recipe of
yours doesn't mean you're goingto be a successful restaurant
operator.
And most of the time they don'tmake it past the first two
years because they don'trecognize all the incoming costs
there are to run a business.
And so it's so true that beingable to understand that makes a
(17:47):
lot of sense.
Speaker 3 (17:48):
Absolutely.
I see it all the time whenpeople mix hobby and business,
they're like I make the bestpizza you ever tried.
I'm like that's probably thecase and I really going to
believe you.
But it's one thing to do onepizza for your family for dinner
, Another one to do 100 pizzasthat look exactly the same.
They all come out of the ovenin a given point of time.
(18:09):
You know how many pieces ofpepperoni to put on each of them
, how to put it in the box andship it to the clients, Because
if you don't, if you don't havea production, you're not going
to make any money in thisbusiness.
And same goes.
I'm a great painter.
I painted my whole house myself.
That's great.
Speaker 1 (18:26):
But I can argue that you can run a very successful
painting franchise withoutknowing how to paint exactly,
exactly, because it's about thebusiness mind, business mindset
and I want to talk a little bitabout your experience and coming
coming over from from Russiaand here now I'm looking at, you
said 32 years, I'm looking.
So that was a late you in aboutmid-1990s, give or take.
(18:47):
And so, if you recall, what doyou see now, as you've been in
32 plus years now in the US?
The culture differences inbusiness, especially when we're
talking about leadership andmasculinity.
Speaker 3 (19:01):
Yeah, now obviously you have to watch what you can
say, what you cannot say, what'sallowed to discuss, what's not
allowed to discuss.
Obviously, it was different inthe early 90s when we came here.
Now, with social media beingeverywhere, when you say
something, you're always underrisk that somebody is filming
(19:24):
you and you can't really speak.
You speak your mind and look,I'm an immigrant and I have
working for my companies peoplefrom 10 different countries, so
I have employees.
So you can't say that I don'tunderstand.
I definitely understand.
I value and it's multi, multi,multicultural all of my
(19:45):
businesses.
It means that I can't even justsomething, cannot sleep out of
my mouth, because if somebody isfilming at a time, I'm in
trouble.
And now the new iPhones, youcan actually record conversation
, which is again, I'm notdiscussing anything that I'm
going to be ashamed of.
So that's not what I'm saying,but it's a little bit different.
(20:06):
I think the society is changing, and it's not just in the
United States, it's pretty mucheverywhere in the world, and I'm
blaming technology for it.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
Yeah, I would totally agree with that.
I think we're in a time andperiod right now where we're in
that gotcha state where theyhave somebody, does have their
iPhone and it's sitting thereand next thing you know a
recording's happening.
I knew a gentleman that used todo that, and when I found out
that he was doing it, it wasn'tlet's just say that the
conversation him and I had woulddid not end well, because I
(20:38):
think it's really, it's reallyinappropriate when you're doing
that with people and they'reunaware and you think that
you're in a safe space to totalk about things and maybe
things aren't always politicallycorrect, but that's about being
able to share and be in a goodspot, and so I think it's really
true.
What you're saying is that wehave lots of.
We have to be so mindful today,and as a business owner, even
(20:59):
more so, because the stakes areeven higher.
Stakes are higher if you haveemployees.
You might look after out forthem, and I think that's a
really great point.
Speaker 3 (21:08):
And the labor laws that are changing all the time.
And, hey look, we need toprotect employees Absolutely.
I am all for it, but sometimesI just think we are doing a
little bit too much, especiallysome states.
I can tell you that, havingemployees in different states.
There is one state thatemployment handbook is 100 pages
(21:29):
and another state employmenthandbook is 20 pages Same
employee doing exactly the samework.
It just really depends on thestate.
What are they doing in thisother state that they're not
doing in the state?
Speaker 1 (21:40):
A when I live in an environment.
I'm in Canada here and I livein an environment where the
birth of the labor movementstarted and it's a very
labor-friendly event, and so youcan see that the laws around
employment, especially aroundlabor, are much larger than they
are, say, with some of mycounterparts.
(22:01):
Not that they're bad oranything.
It's just that it's been aroundfor so much longer and things
have.
Ultimately, they just progressand right, and so a little bit
more challenging at times towork through it.
But those are the parts ofbeing an entrepreneur.
Right Is that you have to learnhow to navigate and narrow all
the different areas that you'reworking in.
I know I read somewhere, and Ithink it was on your website.
(22:24):
There you talked a little bitabout journaling and the
important practice that was foryou, and so how has that helped
you really make better decisionsand move your business and your
personal life forward?
Speaker 3 (22:37):
So it's just giving me time to reflect.
And I was always laughing like,well, I'm an adult man I mean
me journaling, probably a littlebit older than a 15 year old
and what do you want me to colorit too?
So I was like always laughingin my head until I tried doing
it and it actually gave me sometime to reflect and being
(22:59):
gratitude.
What I'm grateful for.
My journaling is very short, soI'm not spending hours doing it
, but I do it in the morning formaybe five, seven minutes, and
then about the same at night.
So reflecting what's going on,talking to my future self, what
do I want to tell max?
Five, seven, 10 years from now,three years from now.
And another thing that somebodytaught me, which I'm doing it
(23:22):
every night and it changed mylife never go to bed without
asking yourself a question, andit shouldn't be an open-ended
question yes or no.
You just ask how can I sell 15more franchises in the next four
months?
And you're not looking for ananswer.
You turn off the light, you goto sleep, your subconscious is
working on it while you'reasleep and then, more often than
(23:45):
not, you wake up with someideas, sometimes not, and
sometimes I have the ideas and Iknow I had something, but I
sleep through it.
But once in a while I wake upin the morning wow, I had this
idea.
So I write it down and some ofthe things are outside of the
box ideas.
That's how I end every night,unless I'm partying that night.
(24:06):
That's a different story.
Then I'm usually not askingmyself any questions.
Speaker 1 (24:11):
Except where's the headache medication?
Speaker 3 (24:14):
Yes, exactly when is my Advil?
Yes, 100%, but it's always bymy bedside.
Speaker 1 (24:25):
I hear you.
I hear you.
You talked earlier about usingthe phone booth and to learn
English, and that Did you get anopportunity, and then,
obviously, you went touniversity.
So there's reading.
Would you consider reading assomething that's important to
you and, if so, is there anybooks that really stood out over
the course of your life thathas really helped you grow into
who you are?
Speaker 3 (24:39):
Yes, I'm going to plug the book and I'm going to
plug the organization that Ibecame a part of and it actually
changed my life as anentrepreneur.
I'm a CEO of three companiesright now.
They're related, so the name ofthe book is 10X is Easier Than
2X, by Dan Sullivan and BenHardy, and Dan Sullivan is the
(24:59):
founder of Strategic Coach isthe coaching organization for
CEOs.
I became a member about threeyears ago, alan.
This completely changed.
I was a micromanager.
I was not letting anybody doinganything because of course, I
can do it better.
And, come on, I was veryimpatient until they worked with
(25:23):
me and it's group settings andtalking about being with more
successful people.
That's definitely the case.
I hired the executive assistantand then all of a sudden she
took over 80 of my daily tasks.
I'm like first few weeks I'mlike, hey, I have nothing to do.
That filled very fast, don'tyou worry.
(25:46):
But but the first couple ofweeks were like, wow, I was
doing all of that and now she'sdoing it.
She's way better sending theproposal, doing the follow-ups,
because before I would talk to aclient, sell them a bookkeeping
product and then bookkeepingservice, and then at night I
would go watch a movie at homeand do a proposal and just send
the proposal and in my head, butI'm not really working.
(26:07):
I would go watch a movie athome and do a proposal and just
send the proposal and in my head, but I'm not really working.
I'm watching a movie.
If you ask me what the moviewas about, I probably would not
remember.
I would make a mistake doingthe proposal because it would
take me double the amount oftime and I was working long
hours.
Now everything is done by myexecutive assistant.
She's doing all the follow-ups.
She's actually scheduling themeetings.
Speaker 1 (26:31):
All I have to do is just show up.
It's interesting to hear yousaying that.
To think about it, I had amentor years ago.
He talked about working on yourbusiness versus in it, and
that's what I hear you saying,and I think so many times as
young entrepreneurs not talkingabout age, but in terms of just
getting into the starting abusiness that we become skillful
at something and so we spendour time doing that and so we're
in it all the time, all daylong, and we never really get an
(26:54):
opportunity to grow it and ifwe're lucky, we get it to maybe
2X, 3X the business.
But being able to take a stepback and realize the value of
the work that you're doing needsto be on a higher paying role.
So if you were to outsourcethat, what would you be paying
that out?
And why are you doing somethingat remedial wages?
(27:15):
I think that's really a keypoint.
Speaker 3 (27:17):
I agree with you, but I think there is one extra step
.
What will get you to 2x willnot get you to 10x.
You just have to change thestrategy of what you're doing.
You just have to understand.
And there is nothing wrong withgrowing the company.
2x and look, x, 2x, 10x, 5x.
It's not always the dollaramount, it's also the quality of
(27:38):
life.
It's 10x.
Am I 10x in my weekend when Ican go for a walk on the beach
and enjoy and just listen to apodcast and, you know, be with
myself, and then hang out withmy friends and go see a show or
whatever.
Go out, that's one thing.
2x is nothing wrong with that.
Everybody decides forthemselves where they want to be
(28:00):
.
For me, 10x is more fun.
Speaker 1 (28:04):
I think for a lot of us we were to.
When you accomplish somethinglike that, we realized that it
was.
It is a lot more fun and greatpoint 10X isn't always about the
dollars and cents in life.
It's 10X in all aspects of ourlife.
And how can that?
How much better can life bewhen we look at it from that
perspective?
I really appreciate that.
For sure Of that, for sure ofeverything that we spoke about
(28:31):
today, max.
Speaker 3 (28:32):
Maybe there was something we didn't get a chance
to touch on, what would be aone takeaway you'd want our
listeners to have.
Look, I learned the lesson longtime ago and it helps me a lot
growing my businesses andgrowing as the human being, as
the man is.
Actually, I open every doorthat I see on my way.
So if I see a door, I'm goingto take a peek and see what's
inside.
It might not be for me, I mightabsolutely don't like what I
(28:54):
see.
Then I'll close it.
They thank you and move, but Iknow that I will not pass any
door because later I'm not goingto have a regret.
Oh, but there was a door.
Maybe that was something that Ishould have looked in.
So, no, should have in life.
Just I'm looking, I'm notspending a lot of time and I can
tell you it'll be like threemore podcasts the stories where
I did that and it led me to thebiggest contracts, the biggest
(29:19):
connection.
And another thing just listen toyour gut feeling, just like I
always.
It helps me a lot and if I goagainst my gut feeling, trying
to use my brain, like, oh, youcan do it, and gut feeling was
against doing something and Ididn't listen and all this goes
wrong.
So now I'm just slowing downfor a minute and journaling does
(29:41):
help.
Hey, how do I feel about it?
I still do research, not thatmy gut feeling is.
I'm always listening and doingit.
And look, if you are not stableand your gut feeling tells you
to jump from the 23rd floor ofthe building without the
parachute and see if you'regoing to make it or not, I would
not suggest that okay.
Then it's a different problemthat you're having.
(30:02):
But gut feeling, should Ipursue that or not?
When I was studying abookkeeping franchise, people
were telling me why are youdoing it?
You have a successfulbookkeeping company.
Come on, why are you openinganother company?
Just keep doing what you'redoing.
You're going to get greatresults.
You're on your mission.
But my gut feeling was tellingme no, there is more that I want
(30:24):
to do and more that I can do.
And so that was just like,literally, I came up with this
idea.
I woke up in the morning I'mnot kidding you I took a couple
pieces of paper and wrote downthe original business plan for a
bookkeeping franchise within acouple hours, because I came up
with this idea at night.
Nothing unique, but again, thatwas just like boom, I woke up,
(30:49):
let me look into that.
So I wrote it down and afterthat analyzed it.
It was a good idea.
The business plan changed, ofcourse, from these two first
pages, but that was thebeginning.
Speaker 1 (30:59):
What a great way to wrap up our conversation today.
I really appreciate that.
I just want to say again Max,thank you so much for spending
time with me today, sharing yourwisdom on resilience and
entrepreneurship, and thisreally showed us the power of
adaptability of everything thatyou've gone through, and so it's
a testament to what's reallypossible if we're going to
commit to learning, taking a bitof risk, building financial
(31:20):
success with some purpose behindit.
And so if men are interested ingetting a hold of you and
participating in your work.
Speaker 3 (31:30):
What's the best way for them to reach you?
So the best way is to contactme through FranchiseWithMaxcom
Again FranchiseWithMax, and onceyou're on this site, you can
decide if you want my assistancefor buying a bookkeeping
franchise, if you need abookkeeping for your existing
business or if you're lookingfor a business outside of
bookskeeping, because, as I said, I opened the brokerage and now
(31:52):
, if it's not a good match forbookskeeping, then we can help
people to get a franchise oftheir choice.
I have a portfolio of over 600franchise brands that we are
working with, and a lot of themeven are clients with the
bookkeeping for them.
So that gives me the view intowhat's going on, and so I can
(32:12):
speak from the industry.
I just want to say one thing,alan, that I do have teams in
all three businesses.
So it's not me.
So I'm crazy, but I'm not thatcrazy.
So it's not just me runningthree businesses and working 24
seven.
So I have teams in everybusiness.
So it's not just me runningthree businesses and working
24-7.
So I have teams in everybusiness, and then once somebody
chooses why they want to talkto me, they'll talk to my team
(32:33):
first, but eventually everybodyends up talking to me.
Speaker 1 (32:36):
Love that.
That's beautiful.
I'm going to make sure thatinformation's in the show notes
for today's episode and, as welook ready to wrap up today's
episode, I want to leaveeveryone with this thought that
success isn't just about talent.
It's about persistence,adaptation and a willingness to
take calculated risks, and ifyou're ready to build a life and
a business that aligns withyour goals, don't wait for the
perfect moment.
(32:57):
I'd like you to visitmemberstheawakenmannet.
We have a free integritychallenge.
I'd like you to take that today.
It's your first step towardslearning and understanding
financial freedom and personalgrowth, and all it takes is your
decision is to act, and so Iwant you to live with intention,
lead with integrity, and let'sget started now.
And thank you very much forbeing on the show today.
Speaker 3 (33:18):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (33:24):
Alan, thank you for listening to the Revolutionary
man podcast.
Are you ready to own yourdestiny, to become more the man
you are destined to be?
Join the brotherhood that isthe Awakened man at
(33:44):
theawakendmannet and startforging a new destiny today.
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