Why AI Risk Isn't the Real Risk in This $8M Firm — Transcript

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1. 0:00Hi, my name's Ben.
2. 0:02We sell financial planning to high
3. 0:03income accumulators in Australia.
4. 0:06We're currently around $8 million in
5. 0:08revenue and looking to double that to
6. 0:10$16 million by the end of our next
7. 0:13financial year, which is
8. 0:13>> What do you sell to high income earners?
9. 0:14What was it?
10. 0:15>> Financial planning.
11. 0:16>> Planning, okay, got it. Sorry.
12. 0:17>> And so
13. 0:19my
14. 0:20So my overarching question is about
15. 0:23In the last 12 months we have doubled
16. 0:25our team and that sort of compressed our
17. 0:27margins so the the profitability has not
18. 0:28been great.
19. 0:30I'm looking at all of the disruption
20. 0:32that's coming through with AI and
21. 0:34technology and we're currently very
22. 0:37labor intensive delivery model. Every
23. 0:38financial advisor has two support staff
24. 0:41and that means we got to We got 10
25. 0:42advisors so we got a 30-person team
26. 0:45to do that delivery. We have started
27. 0:47investing in our technology so we
28. 0:48started development team.
29. 0:50We're now We've got two offshore devs
30. 0:52and we've just hired a
31. 0:54like a lead engineer in in Australia.
32. 0:57But the question is how how much do we
33. 1:00invest
34. 1:02in sort of growing out the team and the
35. 1:04business versus trying to take some cash
36. 1:05off the table and stock the war chest
37. 1:07given all of the disruption that's
38. 1:09coming.
39. 1:14>> It's funny cuz the way that you thought
40. 1:16about it, I think about it differently,
41. 1:18which is like
42. 1:20I like the war chest you would spend to
43. 1:24future-proof the business.
44. 1:26So I wouldn't wait to future-proof the
45. 1:27business. I would want to future-proof
46. 1:29it now.
47. 1:30>> I I wouldn't say that we're waiting.
48. 1:31Like I said, we're investing in that
49. 1:33tech but it's like how future-proof is
50. 1:35any business with with, you know, AI and
51. 1:37how quickly it's progressing.
52. 1:38>> I think So I think AI is moving very
53. 1:40quickly. I don't think adoption among
54. 1:42humans is going to change.
55. 1:44Like humans are still humans and so the
56. 1:46adoption rate like people who are really
57. 1:48smart and work really hard will get more
58. 1:50than they did before because the tech is
59. 1:51better.
60. 1:52And so as as since the dawn of time it
61. 1:56has been man plus tools against man plus
62. 1:58tools. So as long as it's men plus tools
63. 2:01versus men plus tools, then that's the
64. 2:02game we've always been playing.
65. 2:04As soon as it's tools versus men, we're
66. 2:05all [ __ ] And so,
67. 2:08but I don't we're not there.
68. 2:10Um and so, I want to solve the problems
69. 2:12that I have today with an eye for
70. 2:13tomorrow, meaning
71. 2:15um
72. 2:16in a future state, let's say 18 months
73. 2:18from now, if you could keep your head
74. 2:19count the same, but then take on two or
75. 2:21three times the customers, that would be
76. 2:22a W, right?
77. 2:23>> 100%.
78. 2:24>> That's achievable today.
79. 2:25>> Yeah. That's what we're working on.
80. 2:27>> Right. And so, I think that the
81. 2:29allocation of resources towards
82. 2:30achieving that feels like the right
83. 2:32idea.
84. 2:33If in the short term you bring on other
85. 2:36advisers because it's going to generate
86. 2:37more revenue for the business, I don't
87. 2:39see that as necessarily detracting. Like
88. 2:40we still need to do business, um but
89. 2:42we're just rapidly trying to
90. 2:45um
91. 2:45build up the infra that basically the
92. 2:47tech infrastructure.
93. 2:49We're doing this, right? Um
94. 2:51we're still hiring people. We're just
95. 2:52being very specific about where we're
96. 2:54hiring. So, like our media team, for
97. 2:55example, has tripled output and the head
98. 2:57and the head count has stayed close to
99. 2:58the same.
100. 3:00Um
101. 3:01in some roles,
102. 3:02uh
103. 3:03like for example, SDRs, we're still
104. 3:06hiring humans because human is still
105. 3:09better than the best AI that that's been
106. 3:11that we've that we and we've been
107. 3:13working on the voice AI for 2 years. Um
108. 3:15we do have an AI text agent
109. 3:18um that sells around 200 units a month.
110. 3:22Just one one agent. Uh and so, like
111. 3:25there's there's things it's in pockets.
112. 3:27And it's just making sure that you're
113. 3:28the first one to get into those pockets
114. 3:30and kind of explore. Um I do think that
115. 3:32there's this I I'm not just talking to
116. 3:34talking to everybody. Um
117. 3:38I would encourage you to not be fearful.
118. 3:40>> Mhm. It's just like that. Uh
119. 3:43yeah, it's like how how much cuz we
120. 3:44could we sort of um
121. 3:46we've got a good reputation in the
122. 3:47marketplace. I see all these
123. 3:49opportunities and like I could go
124. 3:50incredibly hard at this, but then the
125. 3:52same time I'm sort of just a little bit
126. 3:53cautious to go and have, you know, close
127. 3:56to zero margin to
128. 3:57>> Yeah.
129. 3:58>> fully, you know, go hard.
130. 3:59>> So, the question that you ask is one
131. 4:02question that no there is no right
132. 4:04answer to. So, there's a handful of like
133. 4:06those, which is
134. 4:08uh you know, do I push or do I pivot? Do
135. 4:10I invest or do I spend? Like these are
136. 4:12entirely personal questions, and the one
137. 4:13that you're asking is about risk.
138. 4:15Which is how much risk tolerance. If you
139. 4:17ask Elon, he'd be like, "Go all in,
140. 4:18sleep on the [ __ ] couch. I don't give
141. 4:19a shit." Right? I'm just saying. He has
142. 4:22one of He has one of the highest risk
143. 4:23tolerances of all entrepreneurs out
144. 4:24there. Um independent of what you think
145. 4:26about, you know, who he is or whatever.
146. 4:27Uh objectively from an entrepreneurship
147. 4:30entrepreneurship perspective, his risk
148. 4:31tolerance is sky-high. There's other
149. 4:32people who have been in the same
150. 4:33situation and said, "I'm going to take
151. 4:35some chips off the table. I'm going to
152. 4:36take care of my my family, make sure
153. 4:37that they're set up." What's the right
154. 4:39answer?
155. 4:41If you're right, that was the right
156. 4:43answer. If you're wrong, that was the
157. 4:45right answer.
158. 4:46Um and so
159. 4:47>> if I'll be right or wrong then?
160. 4:48>> Right. I mean,
161. 4:50I I'll say that for me personally, I on
162. 4:53the earlier part of my career, I
163. 4:55aggressively saved to put my own oxygen
164. 4:57mask on so that I could take big [ __ ]
165. 5:00swings later.
166. 5:01And so that's basically been That's been
167. 5:03my operating model. So, when I was
168. 5:05making 20,000 a month, I was living on
169. 5:07500.
170. 5:09Um and when I was making a million a
171. 5:10month, we were living on like 10 or 15
172. 5:11grand.
173. 5:12Um and that has basically continued to
174. 5:14scale up um because I always feel like
175. 5:16the future is going to be brighter than
176. 5:18the past, and I want to be there ready
177. 5:19to to crush it and not be able I want to
178. 5:22be able to swing at a fat pitch when it
179. 5:23comes.
180. 5:25>> Okay. Thank you.
181. 5:28>> [applause]
182. 5:32>> What's up, Alex?
183. 5:33>> And I want to pause one thing back to
184. 5:35your point, which is like I think
185. 5:37this may be relatively controversial,
186. 5:38but I believe that most entrepreneurs'
187. 5:39lifestyle is their greatest risk
188. 5:42more than the risk they take in the
189. 5:42business. And because your lifestyle is
190. 5:44basically the outside of business fixed
191. 5:45cost of surviving. And so if if your if
192. 5:49your fixed cost of living like basically
193. 5:52if you're like super optimizing on this
194. 5:54side to pinch every penny, and then over
195. 5:56here you just blow all your money, to
196. 5:57me, it's all
197. 5:59Yeah, it's all one Like for most of us
198. 6:01own the majority of our businesses if
199. 6:03not all of them, in which case it's all
200. 6:05one bank account, you know? It's all
201. 6:07daddy's bank.
202. 6:08>> [laughter]
203. 6:08>> Right? And so, making like I see them as
204. 6:11blended and I think many people take are
205. 6:13so risk averse here because they take so
206. 6:16much risk here and this risk has no ROI.
207. 6:21Go for it. Yeah. If you like this video
208. 6:22and you're business owner who wants to
209. 6:23break through your current revenue
210. 6:24ceiling, I distilled every lesson from
211. 6:26scaling 10 businesses past 10 million
212. 6:28and three businesses past 100 million
213. 6:30into a completely free scaling roadmap
214. 6:32that I've used to go from zero to one,
215. 6:33zero to 10, and zero to 100 plus. And
216. 6:36so, you can click here and you can check
217. 6:37it out. Again, absolutely free and since
218. 6:39you're a business owner, I appreciate
219. 6:40you and enjoy.