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How to Narrow Your Focus to Your Single Biggest Opportunity

Guest: Daniel Shemtob, a chef, restauranteur, and entrepreneur who has started multiple successful companies, including Snibbs work shoes.

Overview: There’s an old saying about entrepreneurs: They’ve never met an idea they didn’t like. But an openness to what’s exciting and new can also get between you and BIG.

On today’s show, serial entrepreneur Daniel Shemtob discusses the thought process that led him to pare down from five businesses to one so that he could focus on his most promising opportunity, grow as a leader, and Make BIG Happen.

Daniel Shemtob on moving beyond materialism:
“At 24, I had five cars, including two Porsches. And I realized, there wasn’t much that came out of that. The flash goes away. Instead, I’m obsessed with the fact that 250 people were living lives because of the opportunity that I created. And that was a really big deal and had a lot of meaning to me. That superseded everything. And my desire for the business to create scale and create a larger impression in the world, that became the motivating factor. How do I enrich people’s lives who are using the product? How do I get this as big as possible? Materialistic items come and go and they just really don’t hold as much value. I still love my Porsche, but it doesn’t fuel me the same way that the creation of the business can.”

Daniel Shemtob on the power of focus:
“I’m operating food trucks. I’m operating restaurants. I’m operating catering. And I see this opportunity with Snibbs. And I realize that I can’t be as effective as I want to be because my energy is pulled in so many different directions. I don’t see a light at the end of the tunnel. I just see myself doing more of what I’ve done throughout the pandemic, which is just spinning my wheels without traction. And so I said, January 1st, 2022, I’ll only operate one business. I think as operators, as entrepreneurs, if you’re not receiving energy from your business, you’re going to burn the candle at both ends. And so, I put a date on a calendar and 17 days after the date I had completed my targets and I had scaled out or closed some of the businesses and focused solely on Snibbs.”

Daniel Shemtob on making the leap as an entrepreneur:
“For those of you who want to go into the entrepreneurship world, I think it’s one of those things where you have to dive in. Yes, you can plan for plan B and plan C and plan D, but dive in, learn, and sharpen your trade. If your job is to become the best chef, you need to read a cookbook every day. If your job is to become the best entrepreneur, you need a coach, you need mentors, you need to read books, you need to think about your business and honestly become as sharp as you can as a CEO. Dive in and sharpen your blade and sharpen your skillset. It took me about 10 years to really feel like I’ve become a better entrepreneur. And in the next 10 years, I’m sure I’m going to feel the same way. And I’m just grateful that I get to be on this journey. I hope to inspire others to do the same.”

Top CEO Shares 3 Ways to Focus and Become a Work/Life Master CEO Coaching International’s Bruce Bowser shares the key steps entrepreneurs and CEOs can take to take back their time and develop personal and work mastery.

5 Things Every CEO Should Focus On CEO Coaching International client Rich Balot discusses how his coach, Mark Moses, helped him learn to act like a CEO.

About CEO Coaching International

CEO Coaching International works with CEOs and their leadership teams to achieve extraordinary results quarter after quarter, year after year. Known globally for its success in coaching growth-focused entrepreneurs to meaningful exits, CEO Coaching International has coached more than 1,000 CEOs and entrepreneurs in more than 60 countries and 45 industries. The coaches at CEO Coaching International are former CEOs, presidents, or executives who have made BIG happen. The firm’s coaches have led double-digit sales and profit growth in businesses ranging in size from startups to over $10 billion, and many are founders that have led their companies through successful eight, nine, and ten-figure exits. Companies working with CEO Coaching International for two years or more have experienced an average revenue CAGR of 31% (2.6X the U.S. average) and an average EBITDA CAGR of 52.3% (more than 5X the U.S. average).

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