Speaker 1: 0:30

Sharif Saeed. Motivate Consulting is what I'm here talking about today. Motivate Consulting is actually a business consulting company that helps support new entrepreneurs, veteran entrepreneurs, people that are trying to get into the business world, that maybe are coming from different industries like sports or media or anything like that trying to make a change. We leverage our network of people to try to get them motivated to start their businesses and kind of make sure we keep them on the right path.

Speaker 2: 0:58

Wow, I love that. What a perfect guest to have, because our podcast is all about insight and helping entrepreneurs who are listening and provide them with some tips and insights, so that is perfect, right up your alley. Before we begin with the questions, can you tell me a little bit about, like your background, how it led you to where you are today? All that good stuff.

Speaker 1: 1:17

Absolutely so. Growing up, I always thought I was gonna be an athlete. You know, that was just my dream. I was always gonna be an athlete. I had all the heart, all the determination, lacked a little bit of the skills right. And like anything, if you don't practice your craft, you're not going to get better right, and I lacked in that. And so I held on to that and remembered that through life.

Speaker 1: 1:38

I went on and played semi-pro after college football for two years. Tore my labrum stopped working. Then I went into the IT field. One of my family members helped me get into the IT world and they were like, hey, you should come work for this company, oracle. So I went and started working at Oracle and immediately I caught on. I was like, hey, you should come work for this company, oracle.

Speaker 1: 1:58

So I went and started working at Oracle and immediately I caught on. I was like, hey, there's a niche here, right, there's something that can be done. And so I created this five-year plan, and this five-year plan has stuck with me ever since. It's been since 2009 that I've been updating my five-year plan every year as it goes on, and so what I did was specifically here in the DMV area, a lot of these manufacturers can't sell directly to the government. They have to go through other third parties to sell to the government. I was like, hey, I'm going to be that third party Right. And so I partnered up with this company called Bias Corporation. They were doing a lot of commercial work and you know, part of my five-year plan was at Oracle learn how to sell, learn what's selling, figure out you know everything that I need to learn within Oracle from that perspective and then go on and start a partner practice. But then when I got to that partner practice, it was like, okay, cool, now I know the resale piece, now let me start the consulting piece.

Speaker 1: 2:47

And that's when I started my second company, esalytics, and started the consulting piece and it was Oracle technology. Then I did the resale with a little bit of consulting and then I did the consulting Bias, ended up selling to Deloitte and then Esolitics. When I started that, we ended up selling in five years to another company, strategic Innovation Group. That's when I knew we had something. You know what I mean when you sell two times in a row. That's when you kind of know you have that niche and things are going well. The road. That's when you kind of know you have that niche and things are going well. And so that's when me and my network and my friends and my business partner, jeff and Suraj, we go like, hey, motivate consulting, that's a great idea. We've done it, we've proven it.

Speaker 1: 3:28

One of my buddies he owns a sneaker store out in Jersey City with the number one sneaker store out there. Jeff Granger owns a financial, granger Financial which is really big on the financial side with helping athletes and helping other people and also supporting on the insurance side of the house. Uh, and then I've also, we've done the business side of the house. Um, so Jeff and I actually got together and we actually helped buy out rebel taco in Brambleton. Uh, so we're we're co-owners in that as well. Um, with another partner, mike, and a few other partners. But that was, you know, something that we started together and we've been successful. We've reshaped it, we've remolded it, because it was, it was a failing restaurant. It was going to fail big time. Um, so we've literally came in within the past six months and just tried to like, turn it over. Um, and that's when we said, hey, we can prove this successful.

Speaker 1: 4:07

So that's when we said, all right, let's do motivate consulting, let's help other people in the community as well, not to mention, as I was selling the company, I started getting involved really heavily in the Chamber of Commerce. So there's a program that's called Young Entrepreneurs Academy, which is kids that are getting that are in high school, I think, from six to eighth, six to senior no, I'm sorry, ninth grade to seniors, ok and you're able to help them with their business ideas and kind of coach them and mentor them Wow, wow.

Speaker 1: 4:34

At such a young age I love that At such a young age and it's awesome because at the end of the year, what they do, so you help them for this period of time where they start, I believe, in the beginning of the school year. It goes on until about April timeframe and then they have to present it in front of a panel of local CEOs and business owners.

Speaker 2: 4:54

Oh my God, that is brilliant.

Speaker 1: 4:57

So we've had a lot of successful kids come out of that program. Business is still running and flourishing, but that was really eye-opening. It was cool that I got to be a part of that Absolutely, and so these kids are smarter than I was ever at their age.

Speaker 2: 5:09

Everyone wants their own race, yeah they're awesome.

Speaker 1: 5:13

So that was kind of part of it as well when I started seeing how we can help and impact the community. I also coach young youth basketball and football here in the community.

Speaker 2: 5:24

Yeah, so that's it's all played into like, like you know, through switching paths and through IT and consulting and you're like wait a minute, I can help other entrepreneurs. It's like always giving back and doing what you love the most. So, it really shows through in the passion and when you talk about it and when you kind of mesh the things that you love all in one with what you're doing.

Speaker 1: 5:50

Right.

Speaker 2: 5:51

So I think, that is just great, thank you.

Speaker 1: 5:53

Thank you. There's a there's a lot of what you learn in sports, not just teamwork, camaraderie, but determination. Keep going, things like that. You learn all of that young age when you're in sports and so it helps. Actually, I think, a lot of people in the business world once they're older.

Speaker 2: 6:07

I never knew that. I thought sports was just like yeah, go team. Like, oh, yeah, we made that. I'm just like okay, but you're right, yeah, I had somebody else come in and talk about that too, and how sports has just helped them as well with like guiding others and teamwork and motivational stuff, and I'm just like I never thought of it like that. So when you guys bring up the sports with business, I'm like that makes sense.

Speaker 1: 6:28

Yeah, I mean you're down by 10 if you just give up it's over again, yeah you lose the game.

Speaker 1: 6:32

But same in business, right, you could down, you could lose a contract, and you'd be like, oh, the business is over, right. We had a situation when I was at Esolitics, right during COVID, 70% of our business contracts ended and my partner and I were like, oh, what are we going to do? Do we shut the business down? And at that point in time, that was the point where we said, no, we're going to keep going. Right, we're a drive. And we got that from the sports background. Really right. And what ended up happening was because we held on to that determination. We held everyone on the bench, we continued paying them right.

Speaker 1: 7:02

Without even making a single dime coming in. We didn't even take salaries ourselves for four months. It took us four months to get another contract, just to be able to kind of get back to neutral. And then you know, lo and behold, three years later we were so profitable we were able to sell the company.

Speaker 2: 7:17

That is impressive because during those times it was scary and people were like what the heck man I'm going to have to like lay some people off? Like what's going to happen? People didn't know, like, what was going on.

Speaker 1: 7:26

So good for you for that, for making that happen.

Speaker 2: 7:28

That's not easy during those times.

Speaker 1: 7:31

No, no, we were knock on wood. We were lucky. We had a hundred percent attrition. And then, not only that, we also got to keep everyone. When we sold the company too, everyone stayed on board.

Speaker 2: 7:40

I love that Everybody wins.

Speaker 1: 7:41

You take care of your people, they'll take care of you.

Speaker 2: 7:43

Absolutely, I agree with that. And what are some problems? Maybe that people, when they're consulting you for entrepreneurial skill sets, what are some things that people are having trouble with in their business that you're able to help them with, or something that you're seeing a lot happen like a trend or something, and then you come in. What do you offer for them?

Speaker 1: 8:05

Often, when people are starting their businesses, they don't think long term. Everyone honestly has to have an exit strategy, believe it or not. That's something I learned very early on. So if you create that five-year, where's your?

Speaker 1: 8:21

point in time that you say, hey, it's time for me to exit, right. And if you start from there and work backwards, you actually have a good idea of what that plan is going to look like for trajectory-wise and what needs to be done, and then making sure that you're staying focused to that plan right, Because if you're doing something that's not going to help you with that plan, well, guess what? You're probably pushing out this end line another 10, 15 years, then is it worth it.

Speaker 1: 8:39

Right and that's something every person has to decide differently right. There's always shifts, there's always pivots in businesses and things like that. You have to be willing to pivot right, Especially in the industry we're in. But it's not always clear. When people start their businesses, they have this great idea. Oh my God, I'm so excited about this idea. Okay, great. Well, what are you gonna do with that idea? Right? What's the plan? What's the business? Do you have a?

Speaker 2: 8:58

business plan.

Speaker 1: 8:58

Do you even create a business plan, right? No, okay. Well, do you have your five-year projections? Well, no, you know these are all things that that you, they don't really teach you unless you go get your, and they're like, well, no, how are you helping do it? And then we sit back down with them and actually look at it again. You know, if there's registrations that need to be done, we actually sit down with them and help them do that as well.

Speaker 2: 9:41

Oh, that's great.

Speaker 1: 9:42

So we try to make sure that we're able to help them all around.

Speaker 2: 9:44

I love that, so you're like a little hub for them with any questions. Obviously, you can help them with that even after you've helped them with like your networking and constantly giving them tips. So I think that's really great, like building that relationship and checking up on them and just making sure that you know they're taken care of.

Speaker 1: 10:04

Absolutely. Running a business is hard to have a safe space to say, hey, I need help, right, can you? What do you think about this? We may not have all the answers, but I promise you our network does Right and so. So that's really what it comes down to is having a safe space for business owners and people that want to get into business, to come to.

Speaker 2: 10:21

Perfect. And for marketing, um, when you're marketing your services and your business and everything that you're doing, how are you doing that? Like, are you on social media a lot, Are you not? Are you more word of mouth? Talk to me about that.

Speaker 1: 10:33

So it's twofold. We are on social media but we are more heavily word of mouth because right now we're kind of staying local, we're kind of promoting through podcasts like this. You know we're Alamob, so we're doing it through natural growth.

Speaker 1: 10:47

Right and I feel like that's more sustained Right. You actually get more genuine growth Right. When you do it that way, we can go and promote and push and we get some people you know on the West Coast that have this idea and we get quick sales from them, things like that. That's not the idea. We want to be around to help people that really want to be around and stay around.

Speaker 2: 11:06

Yeah, and that's what we're here for. Ok, and you mentioned West Coast. Does that mean you help and work with people outside of Virginia? Oh yeah.

Speaker 1: 11:13

I mean we help all around. Like I said, one of our partners actually lives out in Jersey City, Okay Right, and he actually sits on the board of the Jersey City Medical Center. He helped actually build the Children's Center. Arm funded that.

Speaker 2: 11:25

Okay, that's some big projects there.

Speaker 1: 11:26

Exactly, exactly so. We are well-versed in several fields and all around the United States.

Speaker 2: 11:32

Perfect. Any plans to expand, like do you feel like you need to have a building, maybe in other locations, or do you find that it's okay just from Virginia and working like you can do zoom or how?

Speaker 1: 11:43

We hop on planes all the time. Okay, we will go anywhere. Yeah, we don't really need an office space. Okay, we'll just kind of go and wherever the someone needs us we'll be there, that's impressive, like just get on a plane and go.

Speaker 2: 11:54

Yeah, that's the dream. That's really cool. I love that. When you're not doing all this consulting, what do you like to do, like, what is something that you like to just take time away from and just relax and enjoy?

Speaker 1: 12:06

Family time. So we do a lot of family time, family trips. You know, my wife and I go on several just couple trips, just her and I. So we travel a lot. We love traveling. Our kids are all in sports. My daughter does cheerleading year-round, so that takes up a lot of time, but we love it. You know, that's kind of what keeps us going.

Speaker 2: 12:25

Love that, so it does sound like you're busy. How do you balance everything like family, running a business, helping other people? What are some tips that you could give to entrepreneurs on making sure that you're giving time not only for your family but for yourself too, because that is also important?

Speaker 1: 12:39

Integrating and involving them right. So, for example, at the restaurant when we were getting the restaurant up and running Rebel Taco. So my kids and wife would always come right and my son would be like yeah, kim let's go to Rebel and he kind of loves just going there because Jeff would also bring his kids and they would all hang out. It became like a family spot for us and for us it's kind of making sure that the family's involved, making sure that we're family oriented.

Speaker 2: 13:03

Bringing it together, making sure that they also get maybe like, some tips on how to handle their life too. Like, since they play sports, they are in school watching you balance that with family. I'm sure they'll have good memories as well, like my dad always brought me here and I can do that too with my life as well, like I can also work hard, but I can also have family time Like, why not bring them together right?

Speaker 2: 13:25

Um, what kind of advice would you like to give to any entrepreneurs who are listening in on, maybe, how to key in if they're like I don't know what's going on, I don't know what I'm doing, like what could it be? How can they assess those problems? What are some notes that they should take or be looking out for?

Speaker 1: 13:38

So I strongly, strongly, strongly believe in going to networking events. Right, some people are like, no, I'm not going to get business there, it's just other businesses trying to sell their businesses. But I don't think that's necessarily the point of those things. I think they're missing the mark with that. I think the point of those networking events like I sit on the board of the GovCon Loudoun Chamber of Commerce and we hold events for what's industry trends, what's going on with the government, what are they looking for in IT or in finance or any of that stuff, and so when we sit down and do that, the biggest thing that we're doing is you get a nugget, you hear something that you capture onto and you say, oh, I can implement that in my business. Right, it's not really always about selling your business. It's about what can you learn to help do something better on your end.

Speaker 1: 14:22

And then you may meet someone that helps get you to that next person or that next person. It's all about building your network right, Because your network is your net worth, right we?

Speaker 2: 14:29

hear that all the time right.

Speaker 1: 14:31

And so, going to those things, I think it's worth investing into, and that's where they also pick up on industry trends, that's where they pick up on all those things, but it's worth getting up moving and going to it. Take time away from the business to help build the business.

Speaker 2: 14:43

What are some networking groups or events that you would recommend for any entrepreneurs?

Speaker 1: 14:52

So it really depends on what industry you're in, right, I mean again, we're in, we're in these DMV. There's a lot of govcon stuff. I mean you can there's, you can't go five miles without seeing a govcon thing. Right, so that there's always the big ones at, there's always FCA there's, there's all of those. Chamber of Commerce is actually really good to help diversify what you're doing, because then local businesses are also there. There's also what is it? The DC Chamber of Commerce is also a really, really good one, because a lot of people actually come from outside of DC to the DC Chamber of Commerce events, believe it or not.

Speaker 2: 15:24

It must be that good then. It is People are like let me get in on that, yeah, yeah, exactly Love that.

Speaker 2: 15:28

Have you ever had any challenges with certain people who maybe I know you talked about pivoting, but maybe they have a hard time with that. How do you help them with change where they're like man, I don't know if I can do that, like I'm kind of scared, like how do you? Are just like, okay, maybe we can just take baby steps? Or how do you work with people who have a hard time but they want to better themselves?

Speaker 1: 15:47

So they have to reach out to motivateconsultingcom, have a consultation right and we kind of help coach them through it, because that's the biggest thing right. You're always emotionally attached to your business or to your baby right essentially and it's really hard to change.

Speaker 1: 16:01

Like you know, your idea is the best idea, right? So having a third party that has no vested interest at all kind of help talk you through that may help you start understanding. Okay, yeah, you're right, that's probably a better direction to take this. You know, there's a lot of people that are in the fashion industry that we work with as well, right, and so when they're looking at you know, well, I keep making these hoodies and these shirts and these pants I'm like, well, maybe you should pivot and start doing other things differently, right? Maybe you should start looking at, you know, socks, or maybe you should start looking at hats. That's not going to make any money.

Speaker 1: 16:34

Lo and behold, hat and socks make way more money because they churn like that and they're cheaper and they're more affordable than shirts, hoodies and pants right, and some people just don't think about it, until you actually sit there and put numbers in front of them, yeah, okay.

Speaker 2: 16:46

And then what do you think makes you stand out out of other? Maybe consulting companies? Why should people come to you?

Speaker 1: 16:53

So we're not hard sellers, right, we're, hey, we're here if you need us. That's really our approach, you know, if you don't need us, no problem, there's no pressure. Our consultations are free, right. So you sit down, you talk with us. If you like us, you like us. If you don't, you don't Not everyone's going to like us, right, but also we've done it. We have a proven track record right. I mean, two companies that I've started have sold, right. You know I've started. Several other companies you know have proven track records right. Jeff is running a very successful you know insurance and financial industry. Siraj is running a very successful sneaker industry. And we sit on multiple boards. We donate a lot of our time. So I feel like we're genuine right.

Speaker 2: 17:31

That's really what matters, absolutely, yeah, and I think that a lot of people would relate with the genuine personalities that you guys have, because oftentimes people can come off a little bit too salesy and that can kind of push people away and sometimes it makes it ends up kind of backfiring on you, where people are just like I don't know if they have my best interest, maybe they just want my dollar. So I think what you're doing is great and that you guys really just try to be honest and giving back to the community, for sure, always important. Are there any insights or facts, tips, misconceptions that you would like to share with our listeners, maybe that they're not aware of?

Speaker 1: 18:09

You know, I mentioned it at the very beginning the biggest thing is the five-year plan. It's so important, right? I think that once you have a plan right, it's easy to stick to it, like I do quarterly check-ins on my plan, on my five-year plan, where I check in, I'm like, oh, did I meet the goal? And I keep it on my phone.

Speaker 1: 18:25

It's literally on my notepad. Yeah, so that's just a tip that I think if you create these five-year plans and you stick to them and you keep checking them and you can update five-year plans, right Something may happen that changes or alters the rest of the downstream. It's okay, right? No one's holding you to it, but you hold yourself accountable.

Speaker 2: 18:39

That's right and that's the biggest thing. Okay, I love that. And if you could go back in time and give yourself any piece of advice that maybe you've learned along the way, what piece of advice would you give that you wish you had learned sooner?

Speaker 1: 18:55

Hmm, invest in crypto.

Speaker 2: 18:58

No, I'm just kidding. Dogecoin or dog or whatever.

Speaker 1: 19:00

Exactly, no, honestly. From that perspective, I would have created the five-year plan earlier. Okay, yeah, you're really implementing that five-year I am, and I tell you what I also would have you know like, if I can go back to my high school self. If I would have implemented that, I probably would have become a professional athlete, right? But you know, I think that it's something, that everything happens for a reason, yes, Right, and so I'm happy with where I'm at now in life.

Speaker 1: 19:25

And so I don't necessarily know if I would change anything but implementing that maybe sooner on the business side, Okay, and speaking of five-year plans, do you currently have one right now? I absolutely do, and what is something that?

Speaker 2: 19:34

you're looking forward to, or any other business ideas that you've got going on cooking up.

Speaker 1: 19:41

The biggest thing on my five-year plan is getting a beach condo or home. That's one of the big five-year but from a business perspective, to be honest. But that's going to help drive the business. That's also going to help me with my business decisions when it comes down to it, because that's a goal I have. I know I need to meet X amount of dollar threshold to do that and so it's going to help kind of drive me into that. And so right now the biggest thing is I have a dollar goal that we need to meet from a business perspective a growth percentage getting back on the Inc 5000, because when we were Esolitics we were Esalytics, we were on it, you know, two years consecutive and that's what helped kind of springboard our business right. Whether people know that or not, those are big things that people start reaching out to you get you publicity those kinds of things.

Speaker 2: 20:17

So I think that getting motivated, consulting to that next level and then going nationwide, Okay, and have you thought about your legacy, what you would like to be remembered for as a person and maybe with your business? Yeah.

Speaker 1: 20:28

I think being genuine and then giving back right that's my biggest thing is. I want to feel like I have the biggest heart. I want to. I want to give back as much as possible. You know I've been lucky and been graced with all the things that I have been, so I want to give it back. But, most importantly, I want to make sure my kids remember me now for that as well, and then I was the best dad I could be.

Speaker 2: 20:46

Oh, that's so cute. Thank you, I love that. Why is giving back to the community so important to you? Did something happen where you were like man? This happened to me and I wish there was like resources that we could have had. Or is it just like coming from, maybe instilled values from your family? We grew up in a different time.

Speaker 1: 21:05

No, we grew up in a different time, right, where we didn't have access to a lot of the things that we do have access to today. I think that's the biggest thing is access, but the problem is there's too much access. There's too much false information out there. There's too much people just trying to get dollars out of these young kids that are trying to start these businesses. I had a kid, for example, call me up and say hey, question, this company's charging me $300 just to register on this website. It's like dude, it takes 10 10 minutes, I'll do it for you for free. It's things like that that drive me absolutely crazy that people are capitalizing on, on people that haven't had the education or been pointed in the right direction, and it drives them crazy okay.

Speaker 2: 21:40

So, yeah, that makes sense. I didn't even know that. So I think that's great, and you're also helping the future. Again, that goes back with legacy, the way you're helping them out. So that way, maybe they can also help other people and give away that resourceful information. Maybe they can also be like, hey, I'll do it to you for free, like giving it back. So I think that is amazing. And then is there anything that you would like to share with us that maybe I have not touched on? Since I have you here and I know your time is valuable, I want to make sure that we are making sure we're getting everything out there and that our listeners are getting something amazing out of this podcast.

Speaker 1: 22:17

I think the biggest thing is, if you don't have a plan to give back to the community or back to where you came from, or back to what you're doing, find a purpose. I think. Find a purpose, find a reason to why you're doing what you're doing and make sure it's not selfish.

Speaker 2: 22:32

Yes, that's the biggest thing. Okay, and then, as far as your business goes with consulting, is there a particular type of business or it's all business that you want to help like for your clientele? Like you go from fashion you go from like big corporations, or is it anybody? Is it for small business owners? Big business owners, they want to be big business owners.

Speaker 1: 22:52

We're completely agnostic when it comes to that. We want to be again the safe haven that any type of business can come to. Okay. So any business can come to us. And again, if we do not have the answer, we'll be honest. We'll say hey, you know what? That's bigger than me.

Speaker 2: 23:07

Yes, let me find someone bigger than me. Yes, let me find someone bigger than me to help you with that. Okay, now my final question is do you have a mantra that you live?

Speaker 1: 23:18

your life with that. You maybe you tell yourself over and over Would you share that? If you do, yeah, so that's actually where motivate consulting came from. But also, is what I'm doing today helping me for tomorrow, right?

Speaker 2: 23:26

That's one of the biggest things I love that you should get that tattooed, like on your back.

Speaker 1: 23:29

I'm just kidding You're like no Love, that you should get that tattooed like on your back.

Speaker 2: 23:31

I'm just kidding, no, I'm kidding, no, but thank you so much for being here.

Speaker 1: 23:34

Thank you for sharing your advice.

Speaker 2: 23:35

We really appreciate it, and if anybody is out there that's listening, that's an entrepreneur and finding like they need some help, please reach out to Sharif at Motivate Consulting. Thank, you.