Family, Friends, and Financial Freedom: Navigating Personal Relationships in Business (Episode 40)

Get your copy of Lewis’ new book - The Home-Turf Advantage ➡️ http://htabook.com?el=podcast-40-navigating-personal-relationships-in-business  

🗣 ​​In this episode of the Dropship Unlocked Podcast, hosts Lewis Smith and James Eardley delve into the intricate balance between personal relationships and the pursuit of financial freedom in the world of e-commerce. 

They share their insights and experiences on maintaining strong connections with family and friends while navigating the entrepreneurial journey.

👉 Prefer to watch this on Youtube? Check it out here  ➡️ https://youtu.be/RlVJ6Q-Z-DU

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Topics Discussed:

★ Managing Expectations: Communicating Your Business Journey to Loved Ones

★ Involving Your Spouse or Partner in Business Decisions

★ Maintaining Personal Friendships Amid Business Success

★ Prioritising Personal Relationships While Pursuing Financial Freedom

★ The Power of Transparent Aspirations in Balancing Business and Personal Life

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Links and Resources Mentioned:

For Aspiring Business Owners or Side Hustle Seekers Based In the UK…

New Book Reveals How To Launch A Low-Maintenance High-Profit E-Commerce Business Using The UK "Home-Turf Advantage”…

While also enjoying more time with your family, being free to travel, and setting the hours you work.

Click here to get your copy >>> http://htabook.com?el=podcast-40-navigating-personal-relationships-in-business

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Links and Resources Mentioned:

Get Shopify for £1 a month for 3 months: https://www.dropshipunlocked.com/shopify 

Get a free trial with a professional phone line: https://www.dropshipunlocked.com/circle 

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Key Takeaways:

★ Clear Communication: Openly communicate your entrepreneurial journey with family and friends to manage their expectations effectively.

★ Healthy Boundaries: Setting clear boundaries between personal life and business commitments helps maintain relationships without strain.

★ Inclusive Decisions: Involving your spouse or partner in business decisions can provide valuable insights and strengthen your connection.

★ Shared Milestones: Celebrating business achievements together with loved ones fosters a sense of shared success and support.

★ Prioritise Supportive Relationships: Prioritise relationships with individuals who support your goals and aspirations.

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FOLLOW:

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• Twitter: https://twitter.com/DropshipUnlockd
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• Website: https://www.dropshipunlocked.com/

🌏Watch Our Free Training ➽ https://www.dropshipunlocked.com/training?el=podcast-40-navigating-personal-relationships-in-business

Transcript

Lewis Smith: 0:00

I want to be able to work from a laptop and I'm gonna move to Thailand, then I'm gonna go to Bali and Mexico. And then I want to work from anywhere I can choose. And then you just kind of hear out on the other side of the phone like, oh, okay,

James Eardley: 0:11

we hear so many people before they start a business, that they struggle to know how to speak to their close family members, their close friends about the dreams that they have. The

Lewis Smith: 0:21

time I struggled to understand why my parents didn't just grasp it immediately and be like, good for you go for it, you know, throw in the head notice and head off to Thailand,

James Eardley: 0:31

show them success, or you have to show them that you're taking it seriously before they will come around to that. So there is a bit of a difficult conversation. I think that happens when you first approach this subject with your close, close family and friends. Personally,

Lewis Smith: 0:43

should I not and having a sounding board there, having a partner who's there with you really helps in those early days,

James Eardley: 0:50

and it became one of my biggest strengths actually having somebody in my corner that I knew I could always rely on.

Lewis Smith: 0:56

Like they say don't tell people your plans, just show them your result. Welcome to the dropship unlocked podcast your key to unlocking the secrets of high ticket dropshipping. I'm Louis Smith, founder of dropship unlocked and with me is our Client Success Coach James Early. Now when we're not recording podcast episodes, we're running our own e commerce businesses and helping aspiring entrepreneurs launch their own high ticket drop shipping businesses. So if you're ready to learn how to build your own six, or even seven figure business, pick up a copy of my book, The Home term advantage, whether you're looking to replace your income or launch a side hustle. I wrote this book as a roadmap to help you launch a low maintenance, high profit e commerce business that gives you the freedom to spend more time with your family, travel the world and work on your own terms. Ready to join us. Visit H T A book.com To get your copy today. Now sit back, relax and let's unlock your potential with a dropship unlocked podcast.

James Eardley: 2:03

Have you ever felt like your entrepreneurial dreams might be putting you on an island while your friends and family wave you goodbye from the shore? Well, today we're talking about how we can maintain our close personal relations while pursuing financial freedom. So I'm joined with Luis again today. And he's always made it is absolute priority to look after his family close relationships while pursuing his dreams and building his business. So Louis, are you ready to dive into this episode today?

Lewis Smith: 2:33

Yeah, absolutely. James, looking forward to this one, balancing the scales between the old personal life and business growth is a adults that I've learned step by step over the years. So it's a topic that I like talking about. And yes, it's definitely possible with a business model like high ticket dropshipping. And in fact, it was one of the main reasons why I chose to build an E commerce business in the first place. But we'll come into that. And the whole journey that led to me selecting that as a business model, I'm sure, exactly.

James Eardley: 2:59

It's one of the main reasons why I started a business in the first place is for your family, for your close relations to improve. So that's the reason why we do it. And we hear so many people before they start a business, that they struggle to know how to speak to their close family members, their close friends about the dreams that they have. So we're hoping in today's episode that we're going to talk about how we managed to maintain those really close relationships, while we built big businesses, and without having the usual constraints of time and being pulled away from family. So it's a very intriguing conversation, Louis, I'll kick it off with the first question for you. So when you started your business, how did you manage expectations with your family about what your business journey will entail?

Lewis Smith: 3:40

Yeah, it's a tough one. Because initially, I think I was a bit naive to the psychological journey that somebody needs to go through to make that jump into entrepreneurship. You know, I tried explaining it initially and just set like, I'd have a catch up with my mom on the phone, I was out for a walk. And I just read The Four Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss great book. And it opened my eyes to this world of digital nomadism online entrepreneurship, location independence. And I was like, this is really interesting. I want to do this, like this. This sounds amazing, to the point where I could see this being my future, I want to leave my job. And you know, all the seven years of work in the corporate world and the university degree and all the hard work, I'd put it up to this point, I was like, I feel like I've been on the wrong path here. And now I'd been on a journey to get to that point. So when you then pick up the phone to your parents, or your friends or whatever, and you say, I think I'm going to change a few things in my life. You know, I'm going to start a business and eventually, I want to leave my corporate job or whatever job I'm working in at the moment. And I want to be able to work from a laptop and I'm going to move to Thailand. Then I'm gonna go to Bali and Mexico, and then I'm gonna work from anywhere I can choose. And then you just kind of hear oh, on the other side of the phone like Oh, okay. And they're like, there's this weird mix of emotions happening deep down for them because if they love you and you trust that they are, you know, someone who has your best interest at heart, then deep down they do But in order to have your best interest at heart, what they believe the best thing to do is to minimize what they perceive as your risk, right? So they're looking at your, all of these great, amazing ideas that you've gotten thinking, Are you potentially a bit delusional and like, we don't want to see you give up all of this stability, the gold standard pension hand back the company car, like all of the nice house, the mortgage you've got, and then just suddenly fall flat on your face in a few months when it doesn't work. Because of it, especially from the people of previous generation, our parents generation, it was very common for people to join a company and then work for 40 years in that company and stay there for the whole career, right? I think, in this day and age that that just doesn't really happen anywhere near as often. But actually, I think that's where the disconnect was for me, because at the time, I struggled to understand why my parents didn't just grasp it immediately and be like, good for you go for it, you know, throw in the head notice and head off to Thailand, of course, now being a dad, and, you know, imagining my children are only small, but like, when they're old. If they said that to me, I'd probably be a bit like, okay, yep, this is the, you know, the rite of passage that you have to go through, and I went through it, and I'm going to support you. But there would probably still be a slight tinge of me that's like, come on, like, I want to see you succeed here. But I know that the risk tolerance kind of pulls you towards the back to the comfort zone is I don't leave you know, don't leave because you've got it nice here. What if when you go and aim for great is actually it doesn't work out. So the I struggle to understand why they didn't get it immediately. But I think this is the key realization I've come to now, they hadn't been on the same journey as me up to that point. They hadn't discovered it for themselves, they were just being told the end results, the outcome, the thing that I was, this is really excited, hyperactive, like, I'm going to go and do this, and be really excited about it. But they have to discover the path in their own way if you really want them to believe. And that the best way I can liken this is to you know, at school, if you're anything like me back at school, and you were forced to read books, I remember like, I still feel a bit of a pit in my stomach now where you get given this like long novel when they're like, right, you got to read it by Monday or something. And like, I'm like, the whole weekend, I just want to be out of the park and like ride my bike, and I was friends and stuff. And I've got to sit and read this huge book. And I'm not even interested in that I've known. And so I associated books, with homework, and like things I didn't want to do. But years later, I probably didn't read for a few years in my life, you know, in terms of like after school. But years later now, I love books I've discovered. I've like rediscovered books again, I read every day. And it's because I've discovered them in a way that I went on the journey, I found books that I really enjoy. And so I'm back there now. And I read them because I love them. But if I hadn't been on that journey, like I wasn't the first time when I was at school, and they were just forced to me and it was like, right, you got to read these books at school. That's your homework. Of course, I didn't like it because it was like, change to my routine change to my hobbies change to this, it was just forced on me, right? So that's the thing you have to consider. Let them discover it for themselves. And you can guide them, you can provide them materials and say, Would you do me a favor? Just listen to this podcast? Tell me what you think. Let them go on the journey a little bit as well. Yeah, it's

James Eardley: 8:03

interesting, there has to be a journey that you go on, like with that perfect story where you didn't like books. But now, five years later, he's completely unrecognizable from where you used to be, perhaps or back further than that when you're at school. And it's a similar journey that your parents and close friends have to go to, you almost expect them to get it immediately. I know I did. When I was telling my family and close friends about this new business I was going to start and how I'd completely transformed the direction that I wanted to go with my life. That took a process for me to go through to get to that stage. But then you propose that to your family partners, friends, and you expect them to get it immediately as well. But there has to be a journey for them to go through. And often you have to show them success or you have to show them that you're taking it seriously before they will come round to that. So there is a bit of a difficult conversation. I think that happens when you first approach this subject with your close family and friends. Yeah,

Lewis Smith: 8:55

definitely. It's a tough one to navigate. And I think you to an extent they you can give them the opportunity to go on the journey, but some might not want to. And that's okay, right? Because they're not you. They're not living your life. They're not in control of your life. So it'll be dependent on your own family and relationship dynamics. For me, I knew that showing my parents evidence of success was going to be the only way for them to really understand it. That's when it would hit home when I was like okay, now I'm paying the mortgage with this. Now I've replaced my income with this, you know, now I'm taking you out and buying you dinner with this. And then they understand that, Oh, this isn't just some like idea that you heard about some thing on the internet like this is actually now creating the kind of money that back in the day used to have to go to the city and like work a full day's job in order to achieve right. And even then the day that I said I've replaced my income now for the last three to four months from my corporate job. You know, my wife and I are going to hand it on notices today and we are moving to Thailand. I think even then they were still struck, but even then when they saw the evidence of it, they were struck with this deep fear of panic of like, wow, it's my turn. out potentially wasting their opportunities that they've worked so hard. So you need it like they're given up the gold standard pension, all the things that we, as the parents were taught in our generation were like, the things to really strive for, and stick to that stability, that job for life that you know. So you can't blame them. It's like they're not, there's not an evil, like the world is conspiring against you to stopping you to be an entrepreneur, people just sometimes think that the lowest risk option is to stay in your comfort zone. And actually, in a sense, I guess it is because you're never going to strive for greatness, you're never going to be incredibly wealthy or incredibly happy. But maybe you might be stable, you know, until you suddenly you get let go from your job one day, and then you find out actually, there was no such thing as stability in the first place. But up to that point, I'd been on a journey, I'd spent seven years working in the corporate world. And I knew that one day, if I wanted to, I could always go back to that world, you know, maybe not to back to the same job or the same company. But I knew that there were jobs there. I'd been approached by recruiters in the past, and I just thought he'd go back there. If I needed to, you know, I might just have to those people worry about, like, how do you explain that gap on your CV? And I think Tim Ferriss puts it really well in his book, where it's like, well, if you said, I moved to Thailand, I started a business I, you know, learned a new language, I moved to Mexico, I learned to surf we did cookery classes, we learned, you know, these things that makes for an extremely interesting dynamic interview, conversation and topic because it shows that you're a go getter. And so so even that, like, if you're thinking about the safety net, you could go back. But yeah, I think if I didn't choose to act on the opportunity to start a business, I would have definitely looked back on that and regretted it. And I think that was the realization for me, that made up my mind, I remember the meeting room that I was sitting in at the time that I realized, hang on a second, in 10 years time, if I don't do this, now, I'm going to seriously regret it. Because my, the course of my life will completely change, I'm not going to be able to live anywhere in the planet, or spend all my time with my kids or work from my laptop, or, you know, just be available in the day, if I want to go and do something and hang out with friends, I'm going to meet a friend for lunch today probably couldn't do that if I had a job. So the fact that I knew I would regret it, if I didn't do it in the future, to me is like my barometer of should I do this or not? Yeah.

James Eardley: 12:16

And there's that moment of realization that I had as well. The reason I'm sure our listeners have as well, because they realized that they want more from life. But it did take a realization for us to get there. And when we expect our family to also have that realization, but the vast majority of people close to you, in society, in the UK or US today, they will also have the same beliefs that the least risky option is to go to uni, get that corporate job, stay in the nine to five, and just work in it and be stable, get a mortgage and keep your head down. And that's what they expect of you because it's stable, and it comes from a place of love with your family. They just want to see you the best for you. But what they believe is the best view is stable. And actually, I don't think it's realistically the best for you because I realized that that was never going to be the best path for me. I knew if I'd stayed in that I was gonna just be unfulfilled. And I'd never reached the goals that I had. So I've made that realization. But that is difficult because a lot of people don't see that as well. Certainly in my life. You You hear a lot of naysayers. When you first bring up that conversation. Other people couldn't get it straight away. Were there some people in your life that understood straight away the the decision that you've made?

Lewis Smith: 13:29

Yeah, I mean, my my wife, Becky, has been on the journey with me the whole time. I've tried to involve her as much as I can in the journey and not just the here's the thing. It's, uh, here's how I got to the thing. You know, maybe there's a podcast episode, maybe there's a book, I'd say, you know, and she'll begrudgingly sometimes be like, Okay, here's another idea. Like, I'll read it, you know, the, the struggle of being married to an entrepreneur, right? But it's just I view Becky's involvement in my business as another layer of insight is like getting a second opinion from a very trusted adviser. And Becky's helped me in everything from like, those early, you know, dealing with customer emails and customer complaints, where for the first time ever, as an entrepreneur, you're suddenly exposed to like, the direct public complaints, and you're like, oh, wow, like the buck stops with me, like there's on my shoulders. And psychologically, that can be quite weird, like, is something that I'll be out, I actually have to deal with it. So should I take it personally, should I not I'm having a sounding board. They're having a partner who's there with you really helps in those early days. And the other thing is, right through to now, making big strategic decisions. You know, I'll sit down with Becky who knows my businesses inside out. And I'll kind of talk about the ideas that I'm having and think about, like, what do you think is the best move for the long term, knowing the vision that we have and where we want to get to, and she'll help with those things. She'll help with hiring decisions. You know, she's got an incredible attention to detail where, you know, if we're launching a new page or something on the site, I'll always run it as Becky because you'll always pick up on these tiny little like grammatical errors or things that tiny little do details that I just missed, were just very different skill sets very different people. And so it actually still helps to this day with certain projects writing, copy editing, sense checking. And I think that the fact that she feels or felt and continues to feel part of it helped build that belief that it could actually go somewhere and that it was worth doing because she could kind of see the, the maturation of it, you know, it was growing, it was it was evolving. And she was like, oh, okay, this started out as just that idea. But now it's here. And now Okay, now it's paying the bills. And, and so something we do is we sit and write out shared goals. So like, well, we'll write the one individual sheets of paper, often without even showing each other, but then we'll kind of like, collaborate on them afterwards. But we'll do it on New Year's Eve. It's like a tradition. So we'll write down like one year, three year and five year goals that we have for not just business, but like our family as well. And those are not just goals, but visions. So it's not like in a year, I want to have this. But it's, for example, it might be like, we live in our dream family home, we have happy, healthy, kind, caring children who are fulfilled with a field through the businesses that we run, we also have time to spend with each other as a family, you know, we can teach them lessons, and we just get time spare to enjoy the things we love, we're not stressed. And we really enjoy that. You can get very granular and specific with that vision. And I think that that's really exciting. It brings it to life. So that's if you have a very understanding partner who's like open to it and, you know, not closed off to it or just in fairness to some people not too busy, you know, because luckily, but Becky didn't work in a job where she just had no time, but some partners do. And it might be that they don't have time to listen to all of these podcasts or watch these videos and things. So if you don't have that, or your partner's too busy, just like they say, don't tell people your plans, just show them your results. So I don't mean do this in complete secrecy. But you could just say, I'm working on a project, I want you to trust me, it's going to be awesome. But let me let me prove to you. And then when you're making sales, go and buy them an amazing gift, buy him a car or something. And then they'll be like, Oh, it did work, like and now I believe you, you know, or not that they didn't believe you. But now they understand because it's there. And so, yeah, that's cool. I mean, from your side, James, perhaps you could share a time where setting clear expectations to those around you made a big difference to your day, if you've got any examples of that.

James Eardley: 17:20

Yeah, for me sharing and being open about what I wanted to achieve, and the reasons why I wanted to achieve it made a huge difference. So particularly for my my girlfriend, Rihanna, I made it very clear to her the reasons why I had to leave my nine to five. In my head, it was clear, I had to leave my nine to five job, I had to set up a successful business that I could run from anywhere. For me, it was I'd already made up that mind. A bit. She got it straightaway. I was very fortunate that she understood. I think the reason that she understood straightaway, was because I went into the detail about the real feelings I was having. I didn't just give the surface level answer, you know, I want to leave my job and start an E commerce business. Because that no one's going to understand that close to you. But I went deeper, I went into the reasons that they're my feelings that are having my nine to five job, how I'd feel if I stayed in it for five or 10 years. And then the opportunities that lie on the other side of growing a business and making the family life so much better for us and our future being so much more exciting. And once you really open up about your feelings and the plans and the goals you've got, they get it, they get it so much more. And I think that was would be a big My advice to other people would be to really share the feelings that you've got, don't give them the surface level answer. When I was really give the true reasons the feelings that I was having the thoughts, I was having much quicker to understand the reasons why I really wanted to get started. And just like you, Louis, I was very, very fortunate that she was on board. And then I had that huge advantage, where I had somebody else to share my experiences with share my obstacles with and grow with and learn with. And that was a real advantage to get people on board around you, helping you pushing in the right direction and growing with you. And it became one of my biggest strengths, actually having somebody in my corner that I knew I could always rely on. So what are some of your strategies in getting your spouse or your family involved with the decisions that you're making? Yeah,

Lewis Smith: 19:15

there are a few things you can you can do. So consider making business decisions. Like imagine if you were booking a holiday, right? You're booking a holiday destination. I don't know about you listening, but I, I probably wouldn't just book the destination and then tell my spouse afterwards and say, you know, here's where we're going. Here's where we're going. I didn't check the diaries like this happening. You know, you weren't part of the fun of the holidays, like having shared input and deciding that it's a journey that you both want to go on. And the destination you both want to visit right is that shared ownership of the outcome, the goal and the journey that makes it fun. It's a collaborative experience. So that's something to consider as well like, like we've both attested to our other hubs giving great input into our business actually makes them feel more more involved and it makes it Much easier for us to kind of explain and justify what we're doing to them as well. And then I think the other thing is just acknowledging every win along the way, you know, it's like, right now we're raising our two sons. And every time there's like a milestone is that one of them that their first steps are amazing that you can celebrate those things together, it's like a shared success, and it kind of keeps your spirit uplifted. So just making sure that even if your business is not, so your partner is not like your active business partner, and they're not running the business with you, when you hit your first 50k, take them out for dinner, when you hit your first 100k, go on holiday, like Mark these occasions and celebrate the milestones because they don't know about them unless you tell them right, because they might not have insights into the financial reports of your business. So celebrate things when you can, because that's one of the parts of entrepreneurship that I think people get wrong is like they just hustle, hustle, hustle, work down, head down, and they suddenly look up. And it's like, no one really knew what they were doing. And sometimes you'd like disconnect from family and friends, if you don't like bring them in on the journey along the way, and let them feel part of it. But

James Eardley: 21:01

that's often the reason why people site they start an E commerce business in the first place is to improve their lives, with their family, with their partners, and give them freedom and spend time with their families with their partners and do things that they've always wanted to do. So when we get there, take them along with the journey, celebrate the success that you're achieving, as you go through that business journey. And that really hammers home the reason why you started in the first place. And then everyone understands, then once you've got the tangible success, things that you can show, like buying a car going on holiday, at certain milestones, people can understand a lot more easily why you made that decision in the first place. So we've talked about how we manage a relationship with close partners. How about close friendships in your life, Louis, how did you navigate those when you took a completely different direction in your life? Yeah,

Lewis Smith: 21:49

this is something that I'm not I'm not great at. So I'm probably not the best person to even advise on this. Because I'm not very good at like and proactively checking in with friends, like with my friends, they're the kind of friends where, you know, you could pick up the phone to them having not spoken to them in two years. And we'd still get on exactly the same as we did two years ago. So I think that's a sign of a great friend. Right? That, yeah, I'm trying to be more proactive with this. I'm trying to schedule time in to catch up with friends regularly, even if it's just a brief catch up just to text, how's it going, you know, WhatsApp voice note on WhatsApp or something. But you do, I think you do find yourself growing apart from certain friends, when you level up. And you kind of realize that actually, there might be some friends that were potentially holding you back or had some limiting beliefs that didn't serve you. And maybe it's a bit of like, they're the kind of reason why you haven't leveled up previously, it's because those views from them are kind of infusing into you, as well. And it's just part of growth. As an entrepreneur, as you reach new heights, you're going to want to surround yourself with people who are either where you're at or further ahead to the new ideally, so that you can start to normalize to their level, and you look and think I'm the odd one out here, because I'm not doing, you know, 200 300,000 per month with my business. So I need to be an arrow doing it. So there's no excuse, like, let's get to work. And so when you tell someone who was a friend from back then what you're doing now, and you kind of like not in a boastful way. But you just say like, Yeah, this is what I'm working on this, what I'm doing is what allows me to do, it's really cool. And so I've made the mistake of like almost trying to impose it on other people and saying like, You should do it too, because it would be amazing. Like you'd really get it. Remember what I said at the beginning, you're, you're forcing the book on them at school, they haven't been on the journey, they haven't discovered reading for themselves yet in that analogy. So when they roll their eyes at you, or it's i Okay, here he goes again, you know, or there's like that. And now it's alright, for some, you know, that kind of like little subtle, passive aggressive tone that you hear from some people and they are even though they just glaze over, and they're like, oh, I don't know what you're talking about, you realize that are okay, perhaps that we don't actually have that much in common anymore. And if they're not supportive of you, then you've got two choices, you can either just stop talking about it altogether. And say, I'm a friend with this person, because you know, for deeper reasons than just this. And I'm going to retain a friend because they are someone that I want to keep in my life, or maybe not. And that's okay, you know, you can fly the nest, they will find other friends. But I think running a business might mean that you've got a bit less time for those nights out at the club or the pub or whatever, or the bar. And actually one of the I think I didn't realize this until quite far into my entrepreneurial journey. But one of the best things you can do to increase your focus and ensure success with your business is just to cut back on that stuff. And might sound weird because you're like, Well, I really enjoy that stuff. But then you find enjoyment in other things once your business is thriving and allows you to do things that allow you to operate at a higher level. It's difficult to explain to them I was talking to the former me now he liked to go out to bars and clubs and stuff all the time. Like one of the best ways to make more money is just stop drinking alcohol. And it's like, it sounds crazy. But the secondary effects that come from that are incredible. It's not just about like, Oh, you don't you wake up without a hangover, it's about you wake up without a hangover. Therefore, you get 10 times more work done the next day, which means you make way more money, which means you can then go on nice holidays and enjoy it, and you're healthier. And like, there's so many secondary tertiary benefits that come from it. So, you know, that's just my view. But that's probably for another whole episode, isn't it? But I think the thing to remember is, if your friends aren't on board with your goals, sometimes we've just got to make the sacrifices like that to become the person that we want to be you got to ask you to do, is it more important to me to remain in this friendship group, with these people whose maybe limiting beliefs are holding me back? Is that more important? Or is it more important for me to level up and create a life for my family, that means we'll never look back and regret the move that we made, you know, and I know which one it was for me. And there are certain certain friends that I still keep in touch with and that, you know, are also very ambitious and would level up with me. But if you need to find new friends that you're aligned with, that's okay, you'll find people who are on the same path as you. And you can normalize that result by getting around that joining a tribe of people like that. I completely

James Eardley: 26:09

agree. I think you learn who your friends are you learning who's got your best interests at heart, when you first tell people about your goals and the different direction that you've you've gone into. So it's important to have those conversations. And it's important to get yourself surrounded by the people that you want to emulate the people that you want to be like, now they say, if you're in a room with five millionaires, then you will become the sick. Or if you're in a room with five, alcoholics, that again, you will become the set is whoever you surround yourself with, that's the direction that you'll go. And with close friendships. And when we manage our close friendships, obviously, we don't want to cut people away that we've been friends with for years now. But at the same time, there is a time and a place where you need to realize who's got your best interests at heart, and who's going to allow you to get to the levels that you want to get to in life. And that's especially important when we first get started. And that's when you'll hear the most queries and the quibbles from those people around you that are friends. And actually, while we're talking about getting started a good episode that I can recommend for you, if you want to know how to get started and you've got zero experience would be episode 27 of the podcast, where we talk exactly about how to launch a drop shipping business without having any prior experience. So if you don't have people around you that have built a drop shipping business before, and you didn't have any experience yourself. And I definitely recommend listening to that episode number 27. For those insights for beginning your journey, so Louis, how do you personally balance the pursuit of financial freedom, while maintaining genuine personal relationships? What I've always prioritized

Lewis Smith: 27:45

the people who are closest to me, and I think I've always been very transparent about my business goals. Like I said, I try to bring them along the journey with me, I let my family see not just what I've done, but what I'm doing as well, what I'm working towards, and sometimes they won't buy into it. And that's okay. You know, they'll say like, I don't really understand that. But you know, I think now I've proven it with enough results and enough evidence for them to trust that even if they don't get it, what I'm working on strategically makes sense, you know, for the direction that we're going in. But for me, it's always been about integrating my business goals with my personal life. You know, some people talk about that work life balance. But for me, it's not so much about choosing one over the other because one of the things that I like talking about most with friends, believe it or not, is business. It just is something that is a topic that lights me up because I love it, especially online business, digital marketing, entrepreneurship, like that kind of stuff. I love it. If we're out on a night out and talking about that might sound weird to some people, because they'd be like a stop talking shop all the time, you know, but if you actually enjoy that stuff, and there's friends that you have surrounded yourself with, too, and it energizes you and you're like, Yeah, I mean, of course, we're talking about other stuff as well. But it's not like we walk into a room. And it's a forbidden topic. You know, because it's a social occasion. And in social occasions, we don't talk about work, I think the boundaries are a bit more gray than that, I don't think that there's anything wrong with that. I do try to set clear boundaries with my time if possible. So like time with family and friends. Sometimes I'll find that like work, it creeps into those not because it has to, but because I love what I do. And I find myself being lured into doing things and checking on the business and checking on how things are going on what's going on new projects we're working on whilst with the family sometimes, and so it does start to steal a bit of time. So I'm trying to get more strict with that now, and set those clear time boundaries. So I'm like no, right now and with the children or with my wife, and this is what you know, we're going to go out and do do this for a day. And it's not going to be anything to do with business. And one of the benefits of doing that as you can do that on like weekdays when you have young kids and you're an entrepreneur where things are a lot less busy and so you can go and enjoy things without having to to do it at the weekends like everybody else does. But yeah, I try and make clear why I'm doing what I'm doing to all of them so that I can explain how it will improve all of our lives together and It's not just a selfish pursuit that, okay is off doing this business thing again, for selfish reasons. I'm like, No, I'm bringing you all up with me like, this is the point of the whole thing that you guys are my wires. So what I'm telling this.

James Eardley: 30:12

And that's how you get people on board with you, you want to have some close people around you on board. But at the same time, if if there are people around you that just don't understand what you are doing, then you might need to just cut ties with certain people, or just have a timeout from certain people. If you're hearing the sort of things that I heard when I first started, you hear a lot people saying, Oh, well, if it doesn't work, at least you'll have your job to go back to. And it was, it was like indirect assumption that it would work. And for those people around me that were saying that, I didn't want to hear it, I knew in my mind that I was going to succeed. And I didn't want anyone trying to get into me and penetrate my mind being so clear on the success I was going to achieve. It was dangerous for me to do that too much. So I was very critical of people with those sorts of attitudes around me because I needed to have the right mindset going into those goals. And oftentimes, when you try and tell people around you that you want to start an entrepreneurial pursuit, what I certainly had a lot of the time was I was speaking to people that had never done an entrepreneur project before, they'd never started their own business. They didn't know what ecommerce was. And so for them, the advice that they were giving me about, don't worry, if it doesn't work was coming from a position of lack of experience, they hadn't done that themselves, and they would never do it themselves. And that's no problem on their part at all. It's just when you take advice from people who have never done the journey that you want to do before, you always have to take that with a pinch of salt, I was always trying to only really take the advice that I would listen to, from people that were in a position that I genuinely wanted to be in, in five years time in 10 years time. So sometimes, those difficult conversations we have with close people, we need to realize the position that they're coming from, oftentimes, more often than not, they've got your best interests at heart. But they don't have the same aspirations, they haven't achieved the goals that you want to achieve. So it's difficult for them to give you the advice that you need to hear when you're first getting started. So Louis, if some of our listeners today are right on the cusp of starting a drop shipping business, what would you say would be their first steps?

Lewis Smith: 32:20

Well, the first step is to at least help your loved ones understand the journey like we talked about. So remember, if you just tell them the destination where you're going, or you tell them the decision that you've made, then it's going to be difficult for them to buy into it, they'll want to keep you where you are, if you do that, they will want that they'll want you to not leave your comfort zone, because if you think about it, then change equals risk and risk equals bat in her mind. So there's no surprise that they want to keep you where you are. They're think they're acting in your best interest. But in reality, it's that if you're not financially free right now, and you're not truly fulfilled every day with what you do right now, then the risk is staying where you are, because the risk is not taking the leap and trying for a better life. The risk is that in 10 years time you look back, and you face that regret of not having done anything about it. And that was the thing that to me was the tipping point that I realized, a while every day that I wait, now I'm just wasting time, because I'll just regret it. But there is the alternative scenario where they just might be completely closed off to it. And you know, we've heard of people like my family just don't support it, my partner doesn't support it at all that I think, remember that they may be doing that from a place of love. So just remember that deep down, they're not being against you, or evil deep down, they may have your best interest in mind. But they've just got some very strong personal limiting beliefs risk around money, that mean that they think that the best thing for you to do is stay in your comfort zone and speak. But if they are completely closed off, then just remember that they may be doing it from a place of love, they may just have some real deep seated limiting beliefs that mean that they think the best thing for you is to just stay in your comfort zone and seek stability. It may also be a bit of tall poppy syndrome as well or the you know, the crabs in the bucket when one tries to escape the others try and claw, claw it back in. Some friends might actually actively want to pull you back down a peg or two, you might see this starting to happen in social occasions. And in that case, you got to ask yourself a difficult question. Are they really your friends, if they don't have your best interest at heart deep down, maybe it's time to even behind it fly the nest. But usually those same people telling you why it can't be done when you discover something like ecommerce drop shipping in digital nomadism and you think I want to do this and those same people saying I saturated our that was so 2017 or whatever are what like how are you ever going to succeed in it? In six months, once you've replaced your income and you're traveling the world and you're running your business from a laptop and they're still at their job. They're usually the same ones asking you how you did it. And if you can show them how to do it too. That sometimes happens other times they will won't be, which is even more interesting, because they'll have too much pride. So instead of asking you how you did it, they'll just continue trudging away in a job that they hate. And it's all because of a limiting belief that they were too closed off to break through. And now they've seen you do it, they're too proud to admit that they were wrong. And so if you're looking for the exact route to guide you through the path ahead, then head over to h t a book.com. And pick up a copy of my book. The home turf advantage is your step by step guide to getting up and running with dropshipping. Just a quick heads up if you'd like to share your questions, stories, successes or challenges, you can email us directly at podcast at dropship unlocked.com. And you never know we might even feature you on the next podcast episode.

James Eardley: 35:45

Also, if you want access to today's show notes or any of the resources we've mentioned in the episode today, then head over to dropship unlocked.com forward slash podcast. We also have a small favor to ask if you if you enjoyed the show so far, you could take a minute to leave us a rating and review on your podcast platform of choice.

Lewis Smith: 36:01

You won't believe how much your reviews help us grow the podcast. We'll even read out some of our favorites on the next episode. So if you want to be featured on the show, please do go ahead and leave us a review today. Thanks so much for your support. We really couldn't do it without you. And we absolutely love hearing what you think of the podcast. Okay,

James Eardley: 36:15

now let's answer a question that we've had in from a listener. So thank you very much, Claire, for getting your question in Claire's got a question in by email. Yes, it's podcast at dropship unlock.com. So thank you for your question. I'll read it out for you now, Louis. So Claire has asked, Hi, can I ask please? How competent do I have to be with computers? I'm not very tech savvy. So I'm a little worried that this will hold me back when I start. PS, I've just watched a video about the five steps. And now I know I need to save some money. I'd like a mentor. Many thanks, Claire. Excellent. Well, thank

Lewis Smith: 36:49

you very much for your question. Colette looking forward to having you join us at dropship unlocked. So yeah, technical expertise is definitely not a must for the success of a drop shipping business that I mean, the platform that we use Shopify, in this example, is it's so intuitive, it's so easy to use. It's built with the user in mind. So us as the business owners, and it just simplifies the whole online business building experiences really drag and drop, very simple. But I think the thing that people get confused about sometimes about Shopify is they'll say, won't customers prefer to buy from a website, but but the people often won't know that Shopify is the website platform on which your website is built, said to them, it'll just look like a professional website, like stores like GymShark, for example, predominately if it still is, but it was built on Shopify originally. And so that's you wouldn't go there knowing Oh, this is a Shopify site, maybe you would if you've got some technical experience behind you, but just to kind of clarify that, your site will look just as good as the top big brands in the industry as well. And it's very easy to do. As a business owner, you also don't have to do everything yourself, remember. So for the more technical aspects, you can outsource those to people with the right skills. So what that does is allows you to then focus on other areas of the business that you enjoy that you want to learn. And yeah, if you're not that confident with technology, then I mean, just literally following the videos in the dropship unlocked masterclass is going to be such a valuable resource for you because we've got 30 plus hours of content, and it's over the shoulder tutorial. So it's like you're sitting at the desk next to me watching my screen, and I'm clicking through every single step of the process from I don't know what to sell, I don't know how to approach suppliers, I don't know how to build a store, I don't know how to register a company, I don't know how to get a bank account or start a business, right through to, I'm making 10 sales per day now, I've got a VA hired, I've got an accounting firm doing the bookkeeping, like right through the full process every click of the way. So if you're not confident with technology, then those videos are designed to take you through every step of the process. And it just makes those big, seemingly complex tasks. Very, very manageable, because you don't have to learn the path or reinvent the wheel in the dark. You know, you're you are just following the steps. So joining our community offers you the support of many individuals who started with little knowledge. And being part of this group provides you with access to shared knowledge and experiences that can help you overcome any technical related challenges you might face. So yeah, definitely don't worry about that. If you're not a tech enthusiast, you'll still be absolutely fine. Perfect.

James Eardley: 39:23

Thank you, Louis completely agree as well. And now let's highlight a recent review that we've had for the podcast. And this review has come in, in Apple podcasts. This is from Nick. So Nick has said fantastic listening to Lewis and James talking about their personal stories and how they built their businesses. Very inspiring. Thank you very much, Nick, for your review.

Lewis Smith: 39:45

Thank you so much for your review. Nick. We're really glad to hear that you've been enjoying the podcast and yet please keep listening. If our conversation today has resonated with you, then we'd love to hear about that. One of the simplest ways you can make your voice heard is by leaving us a review Put on your preferred podcast platform. Or if you're on YouTube, why not leave us a comment below this video. And if there's a family member or a friend that you're hoping to bring along on your business journey, one of the best ways to do that might be bring them along on this podcast journey, share the podcast with them, maybe share this episode with them. It could just be the perfect conversation starter for aligning your business goals with those closest to you. Because sometimes, the first step to achieving financial freedom is simply getting those you love to understand the path that you are embarking on to pass this podcast along.

James Eardley: 40:33

Let's start building those bridges together. Thanks for joining us on this episode of the dropship unlocks podcast. We hope you found the discussion both inspiring and entertaining if you're

Lewis Smith: 40:43

ready to begin your own high ticket dropshipping journey and here's what to do next. I've taken all of the years of my own experience both of running my E commerce businesses and teaching hundreds of others how to do the same and I've condensed it all into my book, the home turf advantage. It's your comprehensive guide designed to help you create your own ecommerce business and you can grab your copy today at H T A book.com.

James Eardley: 41:07

Stay connected by subscribing to the podcast. This way you'll never miss an episode packed with valuable insights. And if you enjoyed what you heard today, please leave us a review. Your feedback motivates us and we love sharing our favorite reviews on future episodes. And thank you for deciding

Lewis Smith: 41:21

to spend your time with us today. We really appreciate you and we look forward to sharing more high ticket dropshipping insights with you on our next episode of the dropship unlocked podcast.