girdley.bsky.social
I share 25 years of direct business knowledge and life advice. $100M (and counting) HoldCo owner. Fireworks, software, school + 9 others.
Writing weekly playbooks for small business owners → https://bit.ly/small-business-MBA
297 posts
1,015 followers
72 following
Regular Contributor
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In 12 days, he learned more about business than an entire year of college.
If you want to learn business… don’t overthink it.
Just start something.
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When my son turned 18, he wanted to take a crack at it.
I didn’t give him any special treatment.
He hired his own staff, managed his expenses, and even slept on site to guard the product.
And he walked away with between $4000 - $6000 in profit.
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Here’s how it works:
We have 250+ stands and stores run by independent contractors.
We supply them with fireworks and the location.
They deal with hiring, sales, inventory — the works.
Then we take back whatever they don’t sell.
So if you sell a ton, you can make good money in a short period.
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Our family business is a Texas fireworks business called Alamo Fireworks.
It’s a crazy business model. By state law, we’re only allowed to operate 24 days a year: the lead-up to New Year's and the lead-up to July 4th.
So we basically have two Super Bowls a year.
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Read my full article here:
girdley.beehiiv.com/p/non-monet...
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Thanks for reading!
If you enjoyed this, likes, comments, and reposts help more people see it.
Let’s make this platform helpful!
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And based on the number of McDonald’s owners I’ve seen roll up in $150,000 Range Rovers…
I see the appeal.
By the way: my next free online educational lecture will be about franchising with Connor Groce on Thursday — sign up!
lu.ma/dxjc70m0
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Not everybody has an appetite for swashbuckling and growth hacking.
So when friends ask me, “Hey, I want to invest in a business — what should I do?”
I’m telling them to at least consider franchising.
Because some people just want to execute, grind it out, and make a lot of money.
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I’m an ideas guy, so I’m comfortable with that.
But more and more, I’m seeing the appeal of a business with proven demand.
So your time and effort is spent on operating it well (and scaling up), instead of struggling to find product-market fit.
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Reason number two:
Starting businesses can be incredibly frustrating.
I’ve spent years butting my head against the wall testing ideas.
My team and I tested 5 or 6 ideas alone last year — none succeeded.
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But as I built and ran more businesses, I saw that success isn’t about the idea.
It’s about the operational stuff.
Mental toughness, determination, focus.
And those challenges don’t change whether you’re running an AI startup, a law firm, or a Wendy’s.
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Reason number one:
A great business isn’t about the idea.
In my early days, I thought entrepreneurship involved finding brilliant, groundbreaking ideas and developing them into businesses.
By comparison, franchises felt boring.
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What questions do you have? Reply to the first tweet here!
And if you liked this, please share it with others by retweeting/liking:
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Some people are going to call me an elitist for this thread.
(Yolo, I guess.)
But, the numbers can’t lie about the ROI of doing this move.
We save money on food compared to other options.
And the health and time back are priceless.
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Now he comes by one day a week, for about 6 hours.
Cooks at our place then cleans.
Meals in tupperware, ready for us to do our thing.
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How did we do it?
• Advertised (craigslist/thumbtack worked best)
• Looked at 10 candidates
• Phone screened 4
• Checked references on 2. Ran a background check.
• Did one paid trial day
• Hired him
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Health:
This was the reason we looked into a chef in the first place.
And this guy has delivered.
Tastier and fresher than what we’d make ourselves.
And way healthier than a restaurant.
He makes everything taste great – our teens actually eat vegetables now!
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Time:
Before, we (well, my wife) spent 20+ hours a week on shopping and cooking.
Now we spend 3 hours solely on menu planning.
17 hours of crappy time turned into quality time.
And even valuing our time at $10/hour, that’s another $170 in value back.
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The ROI is huge:
16 dinners + 10 lunches + 16 breakfasts = 42 meals.
That’s under $10/meal.
Even if you take out ALL the breakfasts. That’s still just $15.38 / meal.
And that still doesn’t touch two big factors: health and time.
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Here’s the money breakdown:
$150 for food, $250 for ~6 hours of labor.
For that, we get:
• 4 complete dinners for 4 (2 adults + 2 teens)
• 16 snacks and breakfasts (muffins, egg bites)
• Enough leftovers for 10 lunches/meals
These are San Antonio prices but still…
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Why not hire someone to come in and cook meals at our house?
One day a week.
I thought a private chef would be expensive.
But I was shocked:
It turned out to be something everyone should consider.
3 reasons: money, health, and time.
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Context: my son has a chronic health problem.
So we needed breathing room.
I looked at our time and frustration each week.
Food was a big pain.
We ate poorly, rushed meals and spent hours in prep/planning.
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What questions do you have?
Hit me up!
Thanks for reading.
And if you’re looking for amazing LatAm staffing — drop them a line! hirewithnear.com
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So Franco, Hayden (another associate), and I started Near together.
The two of them are machines.
The best part?
It’s riding a colossal tailwind — work is going global.
And companies are seeing their offshore team as equal partners, not disposable labor.
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The best business ideas seem like no-brainers:
Every business needs excellent talent.
Every business had to be online now.
Plus, you could get someone way more senior and experienced from Argentina than from Texas for the same salary.
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So, I had a new associate/apprentice in Buenos Aires.
Franco was the absolute man. Seriously.
Now, we needed a business to start.
It didn’t take long to spot the obvious — help people like me find people like him.
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However, one of the applicants was a young banking analyst from Buenos Aires.
Intelligent, driven, insightful.
We clicked right away.
And I realized my “business community” wasn’t geographic — it was a mindset.
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I didn’t know if it would work. I vaguely imagined “global talent” as call centers or overseas programmers.
But I wasn’t just looking for an employee.
I wanted a cofounder.
It was jumping in the deep end.
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Once COVID kicked off, I soon realized I could be as effective online.
So I thought I’d go all-in on remote.
Instead of hiring from Austin or New York, why not go international?
I put out a call on Twitter.
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Five years ago, my “work world” was mainly San Antonio.
I was experimenting with taking on paid apprentices to start businesses together.
They build it. I provided capital, expertise, and help.
But I made them move here…
Which was a turn-off for a lot of young people.
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But seriously:
My cofounders Franco and Hayden are crushing at placing LatAm talent.
500+ customers, 2500+ placements, saved businesses $50M+ in salaries.
All thanks to finding a great cofounder and a "no-brainer" niche.
Here's the story.