Mitch Morris @mitchellcmorris Twitter profile

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Mitch Morris

2 months

The business me: I started in Tech in 1993 and Ops in 1998. I don't think there is a scenario, issue or major business endeavor I haven't had to work through or deliver. I specialize in growth and scale oriented businesses: experienced from startup to $250m in ARR. Worked for

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

5 months

If you want to make $400k a year as a business owner you'll most likely have to build a multimillion dollar business, somewhere in the $3-8m in revenue range. Of course this varies wildly across business types, but did you know the average small business owner in the US income

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

7 months

Just spent an hour chatting with an owner of an artificial turf company. $1m in revenue, 27% net margin, 0 employees. 30 hours a month worth of work.

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

1 year

@unusual_whales 🤣 who is doing the review and will AI represent the agreement in court?

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

4 months

@ShannonJean Love or hate kia they make a solid product.

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

7 months

@alexforbes__ Guys like that will always circle back to use good vendors. Maybe you can strike a deal to expand your shop, get him to invest, and get 100%. Maybe offer up exclusivity... for a price of course. The cost for him to invest and scale up could mean years for him to recoup and delays

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

5 months

@DennisPaulByrd Sometimes all three in the same month.

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

1 year

@DonMiami3 Appreciate the point of view. Although different today, I believe if you read American sentiment throughout the history of the country the same narrative repeats. Capitalism and democracy are necessary as a pair but a very tough mix. “Remember, democracy never lasts long. It

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

5 months

@RobertMSterling The shades of blue are calming, no red or green to be found to incite "uneasiness."

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

10 months

@shawngorham I think it's better phrased they don't want to live in the trenches. It's a choice.

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

9 months

@ClintFiore 98% of the advisors out: the game plan is to put it into products, evaluate annually and wait. While collecting their 1.5-2%. The get paid regardless of performance, and this is the problem. Due to this, I trade my own, and family, funds today. In about 2 hours every 3 months,

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

1 month

@LeadershipAcad1 If you don't have a policy, nothing. If you want to act, you write a policy and have everyone sign it. Then the next issue you can resolve is according to policy.

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

5 months

@theryanjamesmil My favorite model: solo consulting. 20 hours a week $400k annually.

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

5 months

@realEstateTrent My 2 cents on how to deal with HVAC replace requirements and lease negotiation. Inspect the units prior to lease signature and if you have to replace a unit negotiate a prorated replacement cost based on % of occupancy time vs anticipated life of the unit.

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

1 year

I was hired to assist with a $300m Public Co turnaround, which unexpectedly turned into a winddown and divestiture. In what turned out to be a pretty shitty scenario, I learned a lot and was asked to fire the man who hired me by the CEO and Chairman. Lessons Learned:🧵👇 1/14

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

1 year

@c_gro I am a bit perplexed. Honestly can't believe an applicant would even bother. Are you sure you're looking for a CEO, or is it an entry-level CEO, or an operator maybe? 700 applicants, 6 "all-stars," and you want a solution pitch to make a decision? Experience tells me the

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

5 months

@TRUmav Interesting take. I believe the following outcome will happen: 1. Fast food will become a pure metric-driven business for those who work there. You will be fired if you don't produce (think In & Out; they have paid above-average wages for years to get that benefit specifically).

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

1 month

@SullyBusiness I can confirm, all that plus critical thinking is dead. They all want the answers to the questions before you ask. 🤷

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

5 months

A mentee of mine just received a $10m for 70% of his seed stage company. They have a proof of concept developed, no customers. What would you advise them to do?

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

2 years

@GRDecter Why it's a standardized test, if you could digitally reference materials why you took it you'd pass just as easy.

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

1 year

@mhprvpmvp $158k/12=$13.6k is the monthly income, $19k the expenses. $42k a month income is where the "magic" happens.

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

9 months

@dieworkwear Life goals

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

1 year

@svpino Worst part is that the client doesn't really understand what they have asked for until you show them the finished job. Then they start with well, not exactly what I was thinking... And the estimation process starts over... And over... For every change order... Forever

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

11 months

@mhp_guy I see a little favoritism in this post! But, I disagree. They are currently a hype fad. Sorry to say, but the same playbook as many before them, and all have gone the same way. Margins are mostly good (10-15% average) the product is good (I dig them), imo most local bakeries

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

5 months

If you have started a business from scratch, I mean an idea, excluding incentives (like a friend/college with an opportunity if you start), how long did it take you to get to your first $500k in revenue? I'll start. The four companies that I have started from ground up, it took

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

1 year

@UjwalVelagapudi @c_gro Its short term thinking and will yield short term results. A CEO is your leader and visionary. CxO hiring is based on proven capabilities, track record, cultural fit, and alignment. CEOs build the company, if you need to know how they think you ask them. If you need to test

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

1 year

@seandsweeney Sounds awesome. Same reasons I opened a local thrift shop. Traditional retail is a great way to embed yourself in the community.

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

1 year

@dekidisreddy @unusual_whales And it's still wrong. Lawyers for years have been using templates and generative solutions for docs. Anyone using AI to generate their own docs (They do this without AI today) who doesn't understand, and doesn't have a lawyer review completed, will even more so need a lawyer.

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

11 months

After digesting a bunch of financial news, and having a ton of SMB conversations, over the last 4 months I'm starting to get a lot of '99 and '07 end of upswing vibes. Which means we are early in the cycle. Lots of areas (markets, treasuries, real estate and business valuations

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

1 year

@SMB_Attorney Those dudes are wrong about everything and still make billions.

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

8 months

@NiklausFuller Depends on what you want to use it for. Banks, Google Business listings won't use a PO box and many mailbox places also get the X. They want a "physical address", so you can opt for a shared workspace that host a mailbox for you like Regus or Tailored spaces, or a virtual

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

1 year

@shawngorham Spending more than he makes.

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

3 months

@mhp_guy Electric mowers kind of suck, but I haven't had a e-riding mower. The last riding mower I had was a twin blade John Deere yard tractor and it was virtually maintenance free for 5 years.

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

1 year

I've never bought an SMB. I've built 5, sold one of my own, and been involved in several other large Co sales/divestitures. I've gone through DD and been involved in a few large $20m+ M&A deals through W2 work. Does this give me street cred in the SMB buy-sell Twitter circuit?

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

1 year

@IAmClintMurphy Deepak Chopra's The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success.

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

1 year

Starting a longish term project and need a good business editor. Does anyone have any recommendations? If you are one, please DM me, and include some material links I can review. Thanks.

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

10 months

@DavidSacks In war there are no winners.

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

5 months

@cjhazard Last to get paid many times.

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

1 year

@Codie_Sanchez Starting and running an smb doesn't teach you how to think as much as it does how to act. Entrepreneurship and small biz experience doesn't translate to professional management and big biz. An MBA... Or education is necessary fills those gaps.

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

1 year

@SMB_Attorney Fun fact: In Cali if you made $0 dollars in that scenario you will pay $6400 in state franchise taxes and have to file 8 tax returns!

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

7 months

@SMB_Attorney IMO the answer/model exists in big law. Roll-up by creating partners with fiduciary responsibilities, absorb their business, issue shares in new co. They can retire or leave, or get shoved out when milestones are hit/missed. I don't think there is any creative way to do it

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

10 months

@STLChrisH Chris this is great material for folks thinking about growing past $10m. The org structure and roles are significant infrastructure investments. Can you do the same for quick comparison for tech and governance? Kind of the trifecta imo. Thanks for sharing.

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

1 year

@seasonableclout @ArtemTepler @TRFyeomanfarmer @chutneylife @AustinLinney @KrissBergTweets @drgurner @aymanalabdul @TyronMcDaniel @RestaurantWill @MatznerJon @ClintFiore @CoFoundersNik @byosko @investing_law @SievaKozinsky @myles_cooks @Thefrugalgay11 @NiklausFuller @roblabonne

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

3 months

Learning, doing, and feeling great about it. I think we all need to do more of this 👇

Finance Guy

@GuyTalksFinance

3 months

My car battery died yesterday. The dealership wanted $250 for a new battery + replacement. AutoZone wanted $300 for a new battery + replacement. Instead of paying them — I watched a YouTube video and learned how to replace the battery myself. I went to the dealership and

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

1 year

@Tortoisehead That's actually pretty good compared to a lot of people who have been married only once, have kids, and in the same job 20+ years. Be proud of what you have.

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

7 months

@rohindhar I'm pretty sure it is the inability to manage the jobs they sold and are working on. They default to silence when communication is way more productive. T IMO they simply don't want to make up the excuses and explain themselves for not delivering/being available.

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

1 year

Way too many folks saying go buy a HVAC or Plumbing Cos who have never done either job. Gross margins for these businesses are on average 15-30%. Average pay for a plumbe/HVAC employee is $56k. Folks buying and scaling can't find employees. If trained, go start one!

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

1 year

@DonMiami3 Tough, and understand. I would start looking as that environment sticks with a co for a long time.

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

1 year

@MrJonesSTRs Sounds like they want to work for $500 a day?

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

1 year

@ChelseaNMandel Solid thread. The un-listed work ethic here is also vital, "9-5 is for offense, 5-9 is for defense."

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

11 months

@TrailerParkGuy If you're not willing to walk after an ask, there is no negotiation.

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

1 year

Ok, who is buying into this sh*t? I need to know?

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

1 year

@sweatystartup The process is always clunky due to the design phase. This is the problem for this type of company. Best I've seen is applying Agile and process sprints to the entire process from sale through delivery.

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

1 year

@JoeCassandra These folks "network" and the good ones are usually busy enough. Their pipeline is mostly referral driven.

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

4 months

@ClintFiore There is a gun club out by me that sounds similar, all membership-owned. Turn it into shareholder owned, this idea has serious merit.

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

6 months

@sweatystartup @ sweatyshardup

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

1 year

@MattPaulsonSD Yeah, angel investing isn't for the faint of heart. It appears that the frequent "winners" have 100s of deals and connections to venture networks... "inside baseball". I'm like 2 for 30 and haven't done any return calcs 😅

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

7 months

I was once paid $70k plus 2% equity to write a business plan for a lawyer turned entrepreneur. That plan was used to raise $3m from two investors. The lawyer ran out of funds in two years (typically what happens when you pay someone else to write your plan). I should have

Bryant Suellentrop

@SullyBusiness

7 months

Confession: I’ve never written a business plan for any of my companies.

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

6 months

@jcolesimpson With that feedback I'd be cautious about making changes. Most times new systems add overhead and roi on that overhead can mean years of use. Basically use caution and make sure you're not too early.

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

5 months

Tuesday nights.

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

1 year

Still feeling new to X/Twitter and its SMB crowd, I wanted to share a few accounts I enjoy catching up on daily. It's a mix. Definitely, folks are doing good work and sharing related. I follow just over 400. Here are my top 20 in no particular order.👇

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

8 months

I'm about to start a pro bono engagement with a delightful human on the ropes in his 12-year-old home remodeling contracting Co. Currently fighting to survive or go BK. He has gone all in already. Basically, business was shrinking quickly, he kept investing, and probably the

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

2 years

@GRDecter Is this a 40 hour a week job?

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

1 year

@anothercohen Technically all the top b schools in the nation have the same accreditation, aacsb. So, what's being cited as top 10 are literal brands.

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

5 months

I need to get the same talking heads out of my For You feed, it's exhausting. I follow over 500 and it's the same 30 all the time! My tastes are super eclectic, and I love to learn new things. Please make some recommendations,👇🙏

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

1 year

@SecretCFO I've got a few to share. Once hired to do a turn around, $300m firm, 6 months it turned into a wind down and divestiture. Huge suck! But, the learning was invaluable. I'll post some threads on it. One including being told to terminate the man who hired me by the chairman and

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

2 years

@SMB_Attorney I'm pretty sure this is a fad as buying and operating is no joke, unless they are owner funders and not operators. Even then it's tough and a long road.

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

6 months

What's better on a rainy Saturday morning?

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

2 months

@shawngorham We are about to see so many companies, in all sectors, that have priced themselves too far out. Deflation pressure is now in play. It's going to be tough times for the easy money folks and for the ETA folks paying high multis.

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

10 months

@coookwithchris Put that into some good corn tortillas hold closed with a toothpick and deep fry the tacos. When cooled, add some lettuce, cotija, and a spicy salsa!

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

11 months

@DoubleWideCap I love this type of street intel. So much better then fed reports. He's smart to move to CDs, also he's going to have a problem with inventory soon. Cash preservation is going to be the SMB game here really soon.

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

1 year

@WilsonCompanies Having run some large teams I think you'd find it easier to manage if you remove some middle managers. I'd have 5-8 team leads reporting to a single manager. Also, the cost saving will be significant.

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

1 year

@SecretCFO Solid thread and I was looking for something to disagree on or change but the fundamentals are there! Having lead about 5 in the CIO seat. I think this one slide is the key takeaway. 1 & 4 ARE the failure points. Never met a firm that backfills even though they are advised to

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

5 months

Starting to hear stories about economic indigestion. A more and more common story... "We are continuing to have cash flow issues. The building we bought and put $800k into was a bad mistake. We are currently $700k in debt, project payments coming in slower. Our plan is to bill

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

4 months

I just left an event where an HVAC business owner expressed the idea that the pricing and boom (boom/bust) are cooling in the home service business, and the cooling off is part of a 20-year cycle. I found it interesting. What do you make of it?

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

11 months

Owner: all these managers don't know what they are doing. Me: you mean the ones generating $5m in revenue a year for you? Let them work, we have shit to do, I can't force you out of the weeds.

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

1 year

@KrissBergTweets Been in the board meeting where they make these corp raise allocation decisions. Always sickening.

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

1 year

@creromans Yes, a few do, and most owners resent it. I say pay them as much commission as they can earn 😀

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

5 months

If you have never worked for a $50-100m corporation can you really understand scale?

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

7 months

Spending the day outside, beautiful SoCal day. I think folks forget we are surrounded by mountains. My house is 40 min drive to ski and 40 min to surf. February is the month to do both in the same day with 70 degree days and sunshine.

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

8 months

Heading out to meet a new connection over coffee or lunch today? A couple simple questions and active listening goes a long way. For first time business meetups, here are a couple of my favorite questions. 1. Person's name, can you tell me about your business and your

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

1 year

@girdley SMB systems support. Computer, Network, Cloud.

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

10 months

@girdley EIDL is the probably best loan anyone will probably ever receive in their lifetime. To bk due to it... I can only imagine the rest of it. 😔

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

6 months

@SecretCFO Being likable and sticking around long enough is a powerful mix in the corporate world.

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

10 months

For those business owners out there right now having some issues in your business. Many times, business gurus will tell you to delegate your issues away. I'm here to tell you today that if you have an important issue, let's say a cashflow issue. It's time to roll up your

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

6 months

Rate my Chuck's.

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

1 year

@Seek_No_Further @c_gro I tried... then failed to imagine it.

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

1 month

@BigJohn043 This sounds a bit like spreadsheet and capital theory. When you are the operator doing the work, in the trench, this isn't easy.

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

11 months

@TripleNetInvest War raises debt limits, and therefore should increase interest rates, or am I missing something? High inflation, increases rates and also mitigates national debt. So, I think I just worked myself into disagreeing.

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

11 months

@mhp_guy ❤️ it. Sounds right. I feel bad for those get rich quick folks buying in and absolutely horrible for those who scrapped up everything they had 😢 Some will survive and I hope it's the scrappy ones!

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

1 year

@SpiritofPines Stoned Immaculate

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

5 months

Cheers to a rainy Saturday morning in SoCal! Coffee is made, now to go prep for educating some college students this afternoon. Class in session today, week 11.

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

10 months

Great take. I spend a lot of my time pushing CEOs and owners back into Ops at $500k, $3m, $5m, $10m. They so badly want to get out of it, and so badly want more. Working on the business means you need to define what needs to be done and do it, there is no other way. If you

Chris Hoffmann

@STLChrisH

10 months

CEOs of a $10 million business often misunderstand what the role entails at this scale. And making the transition from $10m CEO to $100m CEO is difficult. At $10m, a CEO... Will be wearing many hats. Hiring + Firing, leading team meetings, project planning, making capex

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

1 year

@CostaKapo The big 4 audit companies are complicit as well!

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

11 months

Food for thought. Most executives making over $200k a year have large teams helping them. As an SMB owner or solopreneur you will, by yourself, perform 3-5 roles to make the same take home money.

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Mitch Morris

@mitchellcmorris

11 months

Seeing folks on here making a big mistake thinking that there is a huge amount of money sitting on the sidelines ready to deploy to save the economy and buy cheap deals. This was kind of true back in March, looking backwards. Truth is, this money has been, and currently is being

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