May 1, 2018
Sohail Khan has a lot to be proud of. Like his title as the world’s top joint venture expert or leveraging his expertise — and possibly his accent — to close a $1.5 million joint venture in 30 days. But the opportunity he’s most proud of seizing to date? Seeing the opportunities themselves.
In this episode, Sohail Kahn breaks down the one strategy he’s used again and again to launch and sell 6, 7, and 8-figure businesses. Listen as his journey confirms it’s possible to cultivate a successful business by viewing connections and partnerships through opportunity-colored lenses.
Episode Topics
- How to pitch to a potential partner when you're starting from scratch
- The one book that inspired Sohail’s JV journey
- Case study: How Sohail recently launched a business from scratch and sold it to a competitor for six figures
- Partnering with competitors as a JV strategy
- Building and establishing corporate credibility
- One of the quickest paths to a multi-six figure business
- Scaling an infoproduct from $70K to 7-figures
- How a newsletter 5x'd his info product business
- How important are stats to potential partners?
- Building a monetizable asset from your expertise
- Experts Corner: Sohail’s Successful Expert Essentials
- The 2-part genius exit strategy you’ve never heard of
- Equity consulting for the kids
- Giving back, legacy, impact as core drivers
[3:55] Starting line: From 1998-2000, while Sohail was an internet marketing consultant, he created a one-page website that sold Microsoft tutorial courses to build credibility with his clients.
[5:01] One of those clients was QVC who paid $15K-$30K per project.
[5:25] The crash: During Y2K, the dotcom bubble burst forcing the agency to shut down. Focus shifted to the small computer training website that continued generating consistent revenue.
[5:55] Inspired expert: Sohail credits Jay Abraham's Getting Everything You Can Out of All You've Got with inspiring him to become a JV expert.
[7:17] Attracting JV partnerships: "I showed companies how to make money from the internet and not just content. I think that's what really did it."
[8:40] Establishing expertise: In 2014, he co-wrote the book, Guerrilla Marketing and Joint Ventures which boosted his corporate credibility.
[10:10] Smart scaling: How Sohail scaled a small computer website from $70K to 7-figures using video-based training.
[11:35] Losing everything: "In 2008, I basically went from being a multimillionaire to being broke because the group that owned my computer video training company went bust."
[12:29] True grit: "I've been very successful in business. I could either pack and do something else or I could put my foot back in and try once more to get back on my feet…and that's exactly what I did."
[12:46] Million-dollar challenge: In 2009, Sohail challenged himself to make a million dollars in 12 months. He closed one deal in 30 days that made just over 1.5 million.
[14:19] 1st strategic alliance: In early 2000, he leveraged his training course stats to partner with an IT improvement agency. They’d promote his courses to 150K professionals for a percentage of sales.
[15:15] Lightbulb moment #1: Sales increased from $80K to $400K — pursuing joint venture opportunities was a no-brainer.
[15:42] How important are stats to potential partners? Or is it possible to do is brand new?
[17:41] Seizing opportunity: How Sohail launched a brand-new company in Dubai with zero knowledge of the marketspace or industry— and sold it to a competitor for 6 figures.
[21:28] “Entrepreneurs make it so difficult to monetize, especially in the expert space...You have assets at your fingertips that people will pay you for. If you can figure out how to piece it together, you're gold."
[22:19] Killer exit strategy: Sohail's strategy has always been to partner with potential competitors in the market as well as potential acquirers.
[23:58] How do you build an asset from your expertise you can sell?
[27:20] Impact & legacy: Sohail’s current focus is mentoring high high-level clients, equity consulting for his kids, and establishing his own foundation at the end of 2018 to give back.
[29:38] Mindset pivot: When I went from being worth $50 million to zero, that's when my whole mindset changed. It taught me to be fearless. ‘Give first, ask later,’ ‘what would you do if you knew you would never fail?’…That is the way I do business.
[30:05] Leveraging language: "90% of my work is US based so it's the place where I do really really well and — must be the accent possibly..."
[30:42] Don't collect material possessions. Collect experiences.
[31:42] What is the single biggest opportunity you're most proud of to date? Seeing the opportunity.
[36:11] Experts Corner: Sohail’s Successful Expert Essentials
- Know that you’re in an era where opportunities are everywhere
- Believe in yourself
- Focus on strengthening your core skill first
- If you want to be where someone else is right now, get yourself a mentor
- Build a small network of people you trust
Connect with Sohail
Mentioned resources
Getting Everything You Can Out of All You've Got - Jay Abraham
Guerrilla Marketing and Joint Ventures - Sohail Khan & Jay Conrad Levinson
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