You think you made a big mistake because you lost $200k because you moved just before something happened that *no one* had any way of predicting? That's not a mistake, it's bad luck. 10:15 "I didn't want to risk being overwhelmed at my old location" - that was absolutely the right call. Don't beat yourself up over hindsight, move forward.
@@robertpage2023 no one thought a global pandemic was a possibility before it hit so this is one of those rare cases where it really is bad luck and not his fault.
@@robertpage2023 with the casino you have guaranteed odds on each bet, and none of them would be in your favor (save having a massive jackpot and few participants). The odds for each game are registered in the state (for pretty much any regulated gambling business). That's math. Making decision, given the available information, can be judged - having circumstances down the line out of your powers can be called 'luck'.
yea very true, he did the move to give his business a chance to grow at a time where everything seemed like growth is gonna happen. Nobody could have seen any of this coming except for the corrupt GOP that was briefed on this months in advance hence them selling all their stock right on time. With the information available Louis did everything right but reality can be harsh sometimes.
Any man that pays his employees during a lockdown, whether they come to work or not, can NOT call himself anything other than kind, generous, and a good man. Hold your head high.
This is a lesson for all kinds of trades. Even trading. You follow all the rules, do the right things and still lose. Though you could also win big just be sheer luck if you do all the wrong things - this does not last too long so no sense pushing your luck.
Louis, you're a man of integrity. Paying your employees throughout a lockdown regardless of your bottom line exemplifies this. You may have made some decisions you regret in life, but you should still be proud of yourself. I wish more politicians had your character and work ethic.
A correction, at least on my account, but I bet many people share: We don't look up to you because we think you are super successful, rich, or a flawless business man, we look up to you because you are honest, you have integrity and principles that you actually follow, because you fight to make things better. Nobody should and probably very few do think less of you because you took a risk that was punished by unpredictable force majeure that also screwed over like half of the planet in one way or another.
YES. Louis did not make a mistake. Life isn’t fair - in both directions. Bad things happen to good people, and good things happen to bad (or badly-behaved) people. INTEGRITY MATTERS. It tends to be rewarded along with intellect, skill and hard work. With hiccups, but sometimes devastatingly bad things happen that were not predictable like natural disaster, or criminal acts by others that cause true harm. Rossmann can live with himself - Louis I think you meet your own standard. And the best (aka perfect) is the enemy of the good.” I.e.: perfectionism gets you nowhere but burnt out. You are decent and you will have an interesting and good life. Even if. It always easy bc you do NOT seek the easy road. That’s why we admire you. That and so much more.
In 2008, I watched as my father slowly went into a spiral of depression, after he expanded his business prior to the financial crisis. In the space of a year, he went from a well off businessman, to a bankrupt alcoholic, all because he chose to expand at just the wrong time. I even looked over the financials of this period years later, and its astounding how quickly it sunk, as the companies revenue had fallen 60% in a year. Sometimes, even the best laid plans can end in disaster. And while my father has never really recovered from this, and seems like a husk of the man he previously was, Louis seems to have the fight left in him, and ultimately, as long as you still believe in yourself, you still have a chance to succeed.
@@damienholland8103 everyone has there start weather your go too culinary school and open a bake shop or you are a apprentice and open your own electrician business. Knowledge is passed down through generation to generation. It's just how it goes
I think being regretful is your biggest mistake, and something that clearly eats away at you over the years, despite having actually made a pretty good set of decisions to lead you to where you are now. Sure, you didn't make the absolutely most perfect set of decisions, but very few of us do. We just do the best that we can at that time. If you had stayed in your old store, or not gotten the "perfectionism" itch, your desire for something bigger and better wouldn't have just gone away. You'd still be sitting there wishing you were in the location you're in now. Imagine the regret you would instead feel if you had seen this space, and intentionally let it go. We make the decisions that we make for a reason. Don't be so hard on yourself.
Well said, Ant. I also think he is being too hard on himself. Like way too hard. Failure is part of the journey, and yes sometimes we repeat mistakes, but they aren't true repetitions when you are faced with different circumstances and difficult choices. It's just life. You live, you learn and you try to make the best of your new vehicle which will lead you in the new path that you have developed. Give yourself credit, do it often, and take time to smell the roses for a short bit. The level of responsibility you must feel is something that probably none of us can even imagine, so taking care of yourself and your business is most important.
Not "a useless video"! An honest, inspirational video the way I see it. Self-reflection and a genuine effort to overcome adversity. Unusually insightful and motivational. Good luck man.
Bro don’t forget that seeing all the new places “it’s not lying it’s commercial real estate” caused your channel to blow up and now gives you a bigger audience to bring awareness to right to repair
I made a similar mistake, but I'll up your 200k. I rented a smaller satellite office for two years because I wanted more space and a window and a balcony. $40k down the hole. Then I rented a double sized space for 2 years and moved the lab, about 70k more down the hole. I could have instead put that money into buying the office next door to my lab for $330k which is now worth about $700k. I turned that place down because I thought it was too much capital in the one building, and instead ended up havign to rent those dead end spaces. So all up on those decisions I could have been probably $400k ahead of where I am now AND have more than double the space.
“Deserves got nothing to do with it.” He’s alive and not broke, got a functioning business, and most importantly he’s got a TH-cam channel that makes tens of thousands a month. $200k is chump change in lifetime earnings. Could be a lot f-in’ worse!
@@xiaoka you overestimate how much a youtuber get. Most of the income of a youtuber is not youtube videos, it's stuff like merchandise and amazon affiliate links and patreon and advertisement arrangements and shoutouts and such. Louis Rossman does none of that afaik. I think what he gets from youtube videos is chump compares to other even smaller channels who do that.
@@AyuNeko Louis currently gets about 12M views a month. His TH-cam income would be *at least* $12k per month ($1/CPM) which pays for his rent. It's probably double that in practice, maybe even more because he has inline ads enabled.
For sure. This whole video wouldn't exist if not for Covid. A lot of choices made in the past year will look either bad or good when examined in the present. I feel Louis is being too hard on himself. Granted I can imagine the situation being stressful but still
except, not being able to accept that you are a flawed person, and thinking giving your employees a better environment to work in and working toward expansion are mistakes, is a bunch of self-centered bullshit. all he does is equate money with success in this video. until now, i thought he was an upstanding guy, but he's lost a lot of respect from me by wallowing in regret over something he couldn't control: COVID. If i knew my boss could afford more, and kept me in a cramped, hard to work in environment to be 200k richer, i'd leave as soon as i logically could. and i've made a couple moves like that. this video, and the way he talks, literally makes me cringe and sick. "maybe someone else should have the chance and not me". like fuck off. 14 people depend on you for a job. and he has created that for them. go sit down and work and get over yourself.
What you call a "fuckup" was , IMO, really taking a chance and a risk in the hopes of doing the right thing. Risk. Hope. It could've all worked out, especially with no Covid. Sharing this was gold because risk and hope sometimes work out for the better.
The funny thing for me here Louis is 2 years ago I asked your advice about how my boss didn't trust my abilities and skills. You told me to up and quit and THAT was the best advice I've ever been given. I owe my small corner of the world to your advice Louis. I know it's no consolation but you're helping in ways you can't even imagine. I for one sincerely hope you get out of this rut you're in. I feel for you, you're a great guy and the repair world wouldn't be where it is without you
I'm glad to see you're doing well, I hope more people in Europe send you stuff to fix! More people need that encouragement to start their own thing if the person they currently work for doesn't respect them or their work.
@@rossmanngroup thank you Louis. Agreed, as technicians we need to be trusted whether that's by the customer or our colleagues, without that we're nothing. I honestly don't think I could ever thank you enough though because that advice changed my life as I'm sure many others too, given you've probably given them similar useful advice. My business isn't huge, but it's enough to feed my family and keep them happy so for that I thank you
We came very close to moving STS back into a retail space just before Covid happened. I can’t say how glad I am that we didn’t. I have many, many regrets about moving the business home and making it a virtual existence on TH-cam but eliminating 95% of our overhead is not one of them. I appreciate the amount of balls it took for you to post this. FYI - I too am a complete entire f#%^ up and should learn to take my own advice. I’m working on that.
Best of luck to you and your business. You treat your customers right and try to educate people in the process. The industry is better off for the continued success of people like you.
@@rossmanngroup and you as well - I don’t believe I would be doing this today if it was not for the videos you put on TH-cam. I very much hope to see you get through this! Thank you🙏
Louis...My friend you are doing just fine cause you get up each day and work to provide for others....as a fellow business owner you have done nothing wrong and you will be ok...
Louis, my business, DIAL Electronics, has really taken a hit during this pandemic. We lost techs, customers closed their business, accts slowed. But we keep going. We keep being honest, trying to provide the best service. Going further to get the work. And that is what will keep us alive. AND.... I got a lot of that attitude from your videos. I use them a lot. NEVER, NEVER give up. Be hard on yourself, forgive yourself, and fix it. Move forward. Always forward. Good video man.
Taking risk is part of business and taking your business to another level is risky. $200k is cheep relatively. You have your health and people you care about, keep pushing forward Louis.
Everybody gets imposter syndrome from time to time. The opportunities didn't just 'come along' YOU made them happen. You made this whole channel, inspired a LOT of people, generated employment, shared your knowledge. In the words of Rocky, "It ain't about how hard you can hit, it is about how hard you can GET hit and keep moving forward". You will be fine.
I get imposter syndrome quite a lot because there are people out there who know things about my business that I don't. But a person's skills are the whole package, not just any small subject field. Louis comes with a huge skill set and shouldn't be beating himself up about something that went a bit wrong.
Nothing teaches us more than our mistakes. Louis being humble enough to share his are one of the reasons I subbed in the first place. Hopefully we can all learn from it
@@HighestRank Problem with that example is we can't compare its teaching value to spelling it correctly, hopefully for obvious reasons. We generally learn the most from mistakes, that doesn't necessarily mean we always learn from them.
Moving to the new location wasn't a mistake, it was necessary as the old place was suffocating your business. No one could have predicted Covid and what it's done to businesses, and yours is not the only one to suffer because of it. What WOULD be a mistake is not recognizing that and trying to stay put. Cutting losses and moving to somewhere cheaper is the right choice; staying PUT is the mistake.
Yeah, Louis is using results oriented decision analysis. He made the right move when he made it, but it hasn't worked out due to unforeseeable circumstances. That doesn't mean it was a bad decision.
Agreed. Although as we saw from the Rossman Real Estate videos, finding somewhere cheaper that's still suitable in NYC is next to impossible. That's why I think that having more than a cheap storefront in NYC is the real mistake. The cost of floorspace is so high that if a downturn occurs for ANY reason, it's going to absolutely cripple your business.
Moving to a new place wasn’t the mistake he is talking about. It is that he based the choices on appearances that didn’t affect the bottom line of the business. And I love that he is talking about it. It’s an easy trap to fall into. I’m a music producer, and I’ve chosen to work in a small place where rent is heap and I get the work done. There have been several times where I have almost made the decision he has made, where I want a bigger, more impressive place that ultimately wouldn’t help my bottom line. All I can say is, thanks Louis, this kind of content is amazing. I’m not interested in repairs. I’m not interested in NYC real estate (though I did have a studio in Manhattan in the 2000s) I like watching you because you have great insights into entrepreneurship.
Exactly, it was a smart thing thing to do. Even if you didnt think so personally, your last place was not presentable enough let you develop as an icon. Your new place has improved a lot of things like your video production quality, employee mental health had enough space to have multiple employees be present and work safely even in covid.
Wow. This is so depressing and yet motivational at the same time. Your level of self-assessment is on another level. There was no reason for you to open up like this. I respect that.
Louis, ‘IF’ is a word that can destroy businesses, lives and aspirations. You clearly are an inspirational person with a BIG conscience. It would be interesting to hear what your staff think about this video. Done. Joe
As someone who goes through the same dialogue, the only thing I can say is this: 1. You made the decisions you made with the best information you had at the time. You cannot anticipate everything, nor can you anticipate the ups/downs of the market or others taking advantage of you. Hindsight gives us all sorts of additional information that we can use to see whether our choices have panned out. 2. The fact that you are self-aware enough to own your decisions and what's happened as a result of them, and the fact that you are still trying to do right by people, you deserve as many chances as you need or want.
Louis Rossmann to me is the most human, the most honest youtubers out there and it will take a lot more to sink a man of this caliber. I appreciate the lessons in this even though he sees it as a self critique, even if he's not some successful millionaire businessman I think he makes up with honor and respect even when that doesn't pay the bills. Thanks Louis for all the years of good advice and thank you for not giving up, I appreciate that more than anything right now.
As a business owner I've "been there, done that, got the T-shirt!" I really appreciate your honesty and you're insight into the fact that you've got to always do the best for your customer and if you do, the money will follow! I disagree with your basic premise that you screwed up. I think you did the right thing but timing was against you. But headwinds can turn around and become tailwinds pushing you forward. You've got it all right now and keep doing the right things and the business will be there and more... Good luck!
“It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness-that is life.” -”Peak Performance” (S02 Ep. 21) - Star Trek : The Next Generation.
COVID fits the definition of the Black Swan quite well, it's hard not to beat yourself in the hindsight. I watched your channel quite regularly as you were searching for the new store and subsequently moving. The reasons for the move were completely valid and I was happy that you were able to pull it off.
Louis, whenever you’re feeling down about your business, try to remember this: no matter how successful or unsuccessful your business is, your contributions to humanity have made more of a positive impact on the world than the vast majority of people will ever be able to do. Your contributions to the right to repair movement wouldn’t have been possible without the experience you’ve gained running your business, regardless of its success. You’re not a fuck up. You’re a better person than most out there, and no matter what happens to your business, try to remember that not all successes can be measured financially. I wish all you the best, and I’m sure more successes will come your way in the future in some form.
The problem I have with this line of thinking is not "I didn't take my advice". Louis explained his reasons, and they are absolutely valid reasons. Things happen and you cannot say I made a mistake because hindsight showed this was wrong or didn't need to be made. Ask yourself, with all the information you had at the time, with all the things you were doing, and the goals you were setting yourself, how could you have made a better decision? What if the company had taken off? Hindsight saying "if I didn't move then I would have saved on rent because of covid!" This isn't a mistake, this isn't even valid reasoning. The answer was that you needed a new place. You could see that there were problems with your workspace and how the company was run. You, therefore, looked for a solution to improve it before something went wrong and it hurt the company. So how could you have made a better decision with what you knew a the time? What is the best way forward now? Covid has created new challenges and problems but also opened up possibilities that weren't there when you made your original decision.
I think videos like this are the very reason so many people look up to Louis because it does honestly take a lot to look at things and go "I have made mistakes" and then not only do that but catalog them in a fairly objective way and think Louis is a great role model for people because even ignoring things like his pretty good knowledge on stuff, and helpful view points [i.e videos like the one where he talks about how once you're eighteen you are fully free to go to the park and just sit there or a lot of his explanations of teaching and such] he really helps give motivation to improve yourself because these videos help remind you he in the end is a normal person like you and in the end you can totally reach his level if you put your mind to it and I think that is something a lot of TH-camrs and other popular people don't do and also maybe I'm wrong but that concept of being able to get as good as him is a pretty core part of this channel in my opinion.
Are you trying to make me cry? The humility and honesty are stunning. Your authenticity is such a breath of fresh air in our social media age. Learning lessons is good and it sounds like that's exactly what you're doing. Great job and stay the course.
Sounds a lot like imposter síndrome. No one could have predicted Covid man. Apart from getting the screw up with the floor you did pretty well. But like you said is all about taking action and keep going
A few of us predicted the coof and reasonably expected it to be another nothing like the whole swine flu and SARS outbreaks many years ago. It's just as likely there will be another panic a bit later, probably in the form of SPARS or something equally stupid. These predictions weren't the issue. The problem was the complete failure of guys smart enough to predict these problems AND the cult like acceptance of allowing governments everywhere to trample your rights and alternate between treating you like an animal or doormat. So yeah, Rossmann...Definitely doing way better than average despite all of....Whatever you want to call this. It's pretty easy to gauge the competence and direction of a man but when you start trying to read extremely large groups of scared mediocre people that suddenly refuse to think for themselves, well that's how and why we're here now. This ~20min cry is just the sound of the every day perfectionist getting frustrated by everything around him. That part will get better very quickly. The rest? I'm not so sure. :/
Wow. Nice pep talk man. Honestly after starting a business with no money, dragging 20 people into teaching themselves coding, running a fairly successful agency, into covid, into losing half my staff to banks and big tech companies, into losing 60% of our customers because of covid, into launching our first product, then this not selling well because one of our 14 years around competitors has adjusted their offer to better ours WHILE we were preparing our launch… i feel in the same place you felt 1 year ago… frustrated and demotivated. Tough place. A baby on the way as well :) this video really really helps me A LOT. :) you deserve happines. Anything you do brings real value to society. Don’t beat yourself up too much. Everyone makes mistakes, learn from them and move on. 99.9999% of people couldnt get in your position to start with, had they had the exact same start in life as you. :)
You are right, Louis, You didn't *deserve* another opportunity after your fuck ups. You *earned* each and every single one. You've said so yourself. Not everyone has the ability or stamina to do that, for years. That's not something you should ignore.
Adding my upvote to this comment, because every word of it us true. Louis, you earned every chance you have ever had. You will likely earn more chances in the future. The amount of dollars in your account has no bearing on your value as a human. The fact that can admit mistakes (even when it's NOT a mistake that you made - nobody could have seen what was to come in the last few years) and then try again just proves that you are determined to survive despite the worst attacks that this hellscape universe can throw at you. Take another swing, if you don't even try then there's no chance of a home run - or even a base hit.
Hopefully Louis still has his digital tape measure and fresh batteries on hand, because we're about to see some inflated square footage floor plans again. LOL! 😅
@@rossmanngroup as someone who hopes to have my own business one day i love these kind of videos about the reality of everything so keep your head up and keep improving man.
Two things: 1) Guilt, shame, and jealousy are perfectly normal human emotions. To completely cut them off would be like telling yourself you can fly and jumping off a bridge. However, allowing these thoughts to dominate our headspace is very unproductive. When we can openly and honestly admit, to both ourself and others, that we are feeling this way the emotions dwindle down into something that we can take action on instead of being held back by. Which leads me into 2) Myself, and everyone watching, is absolutely privileged to see you be open and honest to the masses. Being vulnerable and showing your flaws is very scary, but those who do it are better off. Thank you for another video which empowers me to do the same in my life!
I really want to give you a hug. Everything is going to be OK. You've done the best you could and made sensible decisions based on your current position in time. Things have gone a bit to shit now but that's not your fault. You can do this! You WILL be looking back in 5 years and laughing!
He definitely like will. He came this far, just a roadblock that most never would have expected, as all businesses was affected. If it wasn’t for COVID likely would have gone as planned. Plus he taught so many others and setup others for success which is a huge accomplishment in itself and the whole right to repair movement and actually showing up and doing something about it, when most won’t have. The real accomplishments is not about the money, it the difference you make in life to improve and help others that the real accomplishments.
As a man who thinks he sees most of the angles who watches a man who actually is able to see 99% of them. I can assure you that nobody saw this coming. Also, thanks for posting those old vids about parenting advice. Your perspective has helped me to become a better father.
Keep your head up, homie. "Stop the bleeding" is such great advice and is so often missing from advice from friends and self-help videos. I am going to "get out of the chair" and stop the bleeding in my own life.
Hey Louis, i just wanted to say that you're by far the most influential person i've ever looked up to. i have a hard time pushing myself forward sometimes, but your videos keep me motivated to try to be the best i can be. Thank you for existing sir
“You never know who’s swimming naked until the tide goes out”. -Warren Buffet You are so much farther along than most people because you can see your mistakes and you are trying to fix them. Keep up the fight, and keep up the good work brother! Take care of your customers always and good things will happen. 💪. 🤜💥🤛
I’ll keep my unsolicited advice to myself so instead I’ll say this: Louis, you’re a total idiot for thinking you don’t deserve opportunities. I love you. Keep it up. ♥️
feels like depression to me. the negative self talk, the doubt, guilt... I want you to know that you inspire a lot of us even when you can't see it. We all look up to you.
Thank you so much for this video. I can totally relate to this. My husband always says to me "A door closes another one opens." He's right, one always does.
You shouldn’t beat yourself over the mistakes you’ve made. I’ve screwed up so many times that if I hadn’t made these screwups I’d be a billionaire no question. But now I have more experience than any newb to do what I do better than them.
Louis: "You're probably not going to fuck up as often as I am..." Me: *Says nothing. Continues watching from 4-year-old laptop on portable fold-up table in their early 30s.*
I still have one of those portable fold-up tables set up in my kitchen. I bought it at Walmart when I moved out on my own and it's been perfectly adequate for over a decade (along with the 4 chairs it came with).
im watching this from a computer that i had to pay by selling my yugioh card collection, while living at home with my parents working a meaningless job at now 28 years old (my birthday was yesterday).
Hindsight is 20/20. You’re not a ‘huge f*ck up”. There are countless people in similar situations because of Covid. You DO deserve the next great opportunity and you’ll be fine.
Louis, There are many reasons why I love watching your videos. This one *nails* every *single* reason. Your honesty and candour is refreshing. Thank you.
9M views each month over the past 2 months - I don't think you're a failure. Your self-reflection videos are so underrated, it's my favorite thing about your channel.
As a depressive and a guy with ptsd.. Everybody has at anytime the right to catch a new chance/opportunity . And you're great influence for a lot of people who are thankfull for listen to you and appreciate your work. God bless you. Wish you all the best and good luck for your future.
Honestly Louis, the people we hear who are successful and are documented endlessly... we only ever get the highlights reel. Everyone is a colossal fuck up. By the time we see the infotainment on them, the failures are romanticized as turning points towards success. This is your turning point my friend. Congratulations on your heroic rise towards your legacy.
Thank you, Louis, for sharing. This was a wonderfully refreshing video. It's important, I think, in our society with the dependence/ addiction to social media where the norm is to maintain a veneer of continuous success to have these honest and transparent videos. Truly a must watch. In my opinion, the most impactful takeaway is the line, "get up out of the chair" -- an important metaphor that can, at some point, apply to us all and we should continually remind ourselves (especially during the hard times.) Side-note: I've literally never commented on a video before; however, I happened to stumble upon this video yesterday while in a mildly depressive state; and, this video actually gave me the energy to act more assertively on something personal which ultimately led to fantastic outcomes. Sometimes you just need a random, algorithm based video starring a MacBook repairman turned TH-camr to inspire you.
This video should be added to that book: "What they don't teach you in a Business (MBA) school". It truly is a wealth of knowledge for everyone who operates or plans to operate a business. As always, LOUIS, THANK YOU.
There is still a shop, kept the employees, a supported repair movement, equipment and time for videos... How many empty shops did you feature that don't have any of that left?
I have been watching your vids for a long time now, and I can tell you this: You didn't screw up in search of perfection. Trying to better your surroundings and work environment for your employees is not a mistake or a bad move. You got shafted by circumstance. That doesn't absolve you of other mistakes you might have made, but wallowing in hindsight and "if only I'd - then" is selling yourself short. A mistake is only a mistake if you should have known better. Otherwise it's just unfortunate. Taking a chance and expanding and bettering your business is always scary, because you don't know what's going to happen tomorrow. Cheer up, get back to work, and keep fighting the good fight. "it can't rain all the time".
I must admit as someone who has lived in the midwest all his life, hearing "I pay 13,000 / month for space" ... you could rent an entire office building for that price where I live. If your business is able to be mostly remote, come to Iowa. I was mentally pricing your space and was like "Oh, that's worth maybe 2,000 / month" then you said 13,000 and I felt like I got punched.
He said he considered moving to another city once, but it's hard to find good people and he would have to leave all his employees behind, at least anyone who doesn't want to move to the new city. He didn't like that trade
I've visited Iowa and if I paid $13,000/year even for the best luxury office there, it would feel like being hit by a freight train. It's the most dullest, flattest and lifeless place I've ever been to. It's a cultural wasteland and the people, while very nice, are as worldly as a bunch if cannibals living in the Pacific. I can see why so many young folks sell the family farm and move to the big city.
The amount of humility you show and feel is felt on this end. You also express a gratitude and gratefulness for where you are today. From a fellow mess up I truly appreciate the way you express your thoughts. I am grateful for finding your channel. your TH-cam friend，Art
I'll spare everyone my life story, but simply put, I've destoryed my life through methamphetamine addiction the past year. This video was incredibly insightful, and a wonderful reminder to 'get out of the chair' Over the course of my life the chair has been my greatest weakness, and where I've spent most of my time. Louis, I doubt you'll read this. But thank you for your story in this video, and all the advice you give here on the internet. You're very down to earth and deserve great things. You've gained another dedicated fan. I'm going to get out of my chair, and rebuild all I've destoryed. Thank you again, I've only felt this deep, natural motivation to be better 3 times in my short 22 years. I plan to make the most of it.
Good call lad, 22 is nothing, many folks rebuild amazing lives well in their thirties still and usually don't even consider doing it before being that old. Just get out of that mental hole, sure accept your failings that is important too but don't ever stay wallowing in despair and misery, regardless of the kind of misery it is.
You say you ignored your own advice by being perfectionist. Well, you're doing it again here. Expecting to make the ideal decisions every time, during one of the most unpredictable events of recent history, is the most perfectionism you could get. You made reasonable decisions *given the information available*. If you had waited until you were certain that it was right to move, that you could survive any event on the scale of covid, you'd have been paralysed with indecision forever and eventually you'd be regretting that you hadn't moved.
This video isn't just business advice, it's legitimate life advice. I love that you said "Stop the Bleeding, Look Elsewhere, and Rebuild" it's literally what I've had to do in my personal life and this video just reassured me that I'm not alone in that journey. Thanks, Louis. Followed for repairs years ago, and am staying for the positivity AND the repairs! Much love 👍
"Deserve" an opportunity. You are making a value judgement that does not make sense. You have built what you have through hard work; you have made more impactful good decisions than bad decisions. Yes there is an element of chance from the things outside our control, some get good rolls of the dice, others get bad rolls of the dice, this results in large variance in outcomes. You seem to be mixing the value of the outcomes with the value of the efforts. You took a risk, and the outcome did not pay off. But did you stop working hard? I doubt it. Did you stop trying to do good by your employees and customers? No. Did you stop railing against those who are screwing us over? No. Good. Don't tell me you don't deserve what you have because this time it was a bad dice roll. You have worked hard for what you have and seem to be doing good with it. Get back up, and get back to it, correct the things you know to be wrong.
And even without those reasons, a lot of life is luck. If you have the placement to try again, try again. No point wasting your opportunity because you don't deserve it. So what? Very few people deserve what they get. We don't go around figuring out some method to allocate resources based on deserving. I'd only ask that those lucky enough to get up help the rest of us. Aka: Don't be a billionaire.
@Tangent Really in business we don't look for luck it should always be measured on risk vs gain. The worse mistake successful businesses have made that make them go bust is over gearing. Never over-commit always make sure you have an emergency fund that can support your expansion plans for 2 years if everything goes south. If not, don't do it, it is not worth the risk.
As someone who has/been trying to start a small biz, I really appreciate you taking the time to share your true thoughts and emotions. It really makes me feel better about my position knowing that I'm not the only person with those thoughts/feelings and that even someone at your level can still have these struggles.
Just imagine what covid in that very small lease space would have been like. You think you screwed up, but you did exactly what you had to do at the time! And I would have agreed that you screwed up had you listened to that woman who basically said you wouldn't find a better deal. The fact that your business survived when literally tons of businesses have failed (due to covid) should show you that you didn't screw up! You survived and you have a very nice place still. Please consider this a HUGE victory!
These videos should be called how to live a life worth living. Your honesty is inspirational .When I listen to you I feel like you are a wise older brother giving me advice about life Thank you
Damn dude. You are super hard on yourself. Your business brings livelihood to you, your employees, and your community. There are no successful people who have not failed....multiple times. Wisdom comes from failure....and success. There is room for anyone who wants to try, and me, and you. I really enjoy your videos. This one worked through a situation I am in right now; worried about getting overwhelmed, and not being able to keep up. Its a scary place to be.
Your not a f-up Louis, everyone makes colossal mistakes on a daily basis. The difference is you learn from them and are able to pick yourself up, move on, and rebuild. Don't underestimate the value of that.
Your humbleness is inspiring. While the pain of these decisions hurt the fact that your a sharing it publicly is a great service and provides a great example for your fans that nothing is insurmountable.
Louis what you don't realize is that your hunt for a space, then finding it, renovating it including all the headaches with your contractors made awesome content for your channel. So much so that many who have no interest in right to repair or repairing Apple products in general still tuned in because of the other content you created. Sucks with covid and you can't blame yourself for that. Be thankful what you have created and having an audience of 1.65mil people now more knowledgeable about right to repair.
As a former head technician for 8 years, I too have found myself sitting in this metaphorical chair for the last two, but as an employee. I ended up leaving, and it was by far one of the hardest decisions I've ever had to make. I loved my job and my normal customers, but when you're not getting paid for weeks or months on end, it took me two years to finally get up and leave.
Life is a series of twists and turns you never see coming that takes you somewhere you never expected to be. I bet anyone else on your journey would have taken just as many, if not more wrong turns along the way. You're awesome Louis!
Advice I received when I was young: Your success in life is largely based on the decisions you make. When you make a bad decision, follow that up with some good ones. Keep up the good work!
As I’m looking around my woodshop wishing for a “real” place with top notch workstations and equipment, I saw this very honest video. Thanks man. Thanks for being real and honest and vulnerable. It helps us walking behind you in the minefield.
I applaud you for admitting being in the chair for such a long time. People need to understand how some people cope with non optimal life choices. Understanding that you are addressing your mistake, and admitting it, means a lot. Thank you.
Thanks, good discussion. I have been there, sat in my chair at 2am, thinking what have I done. £1million overdrawn, 100 employees, 15% interest rates, and no way could we earn enough just to pay the interest,and next staff payday due. We got through it, the tide turned and we paid off the overdraft and became profitable again, but yes running a business is very stressful.
And in an alternative timeline staying in the old place would've led to more problems and you would've kicked yourself for not moving. People mistakenly believe that _they_ are the ones responsible for their successes _and_ their failures. Bottom line is, they're only partly responsible. Luck has a lot more to do with it than we all want to believe.
Luck plays a miniscule part in any success or failure. It's there, but it's ridiculously tiny. However, BELIEVING that luck plays any part at all in your success or failure is the absolute fastest possible way to fail. Luck exists, but once you start thinking it is responsible for your wins and losses, you will just lose, every time.
@@Mezekaldon That's... naive. Of course, any proper mindset won't think that anything will come by luck, which is usually a ver good trait, and will certainly try everything within control to reach an objective, but it's also a quite lacking mindset to believe that everything you achieved, once already achieved, could in any way be thanks to yourself and only to yourself with no external input or luck associated. No, being in the right place and time and, especially, being born in the right environment plays a huge role, always. As that's not something anyone can determine, it indeed happens just by chance. That influence has been established statistically and qualitatively in several studies about income, social status, professional achievement and some other parameters the average person tends to associate with success. So luck is indeed a huge thing... but we should indeed never act as it was going to favour our side.
Also:::perfectionism is a fine line sometimes, in many ways you NEED to be a projectionist to succeed, *integrity* , quality of service, quick accurate assessment, value, mutual respect and motivation with employees.... Superficial details, say, might be on the other end of spectrum.
Luis you did way better than most people. Most businesses fail within 5 years, it's tough and Darwinian. You are more sucsessfull than most buiness owners. You also had no way to know that covid would happen.
I just started watching your videos despite having no knowledge or interest in fixing electronics. It's your drive, attitude, sense of humor, etc that brings these videos alive. You know you arent a failure. you know that.
Respect to you for what you have accomplished, your humility, and your ability to hold yourself accountable for your mistakes. This self-reflection is what makes you who you are. appreciate it
It's always hard to face up to a repeated mistake, well done Louis. The best advice I ever got is "the only way out is through" When facing an unpleasant issue it'll never go away until you just grit your teeth and do your best to work through it.
I'm excited to see your journey of fuck ups Louis. As a newish business owner in tech repair, I appreciate your knowledge and real life experience. The value you provide is worth way more than money. I appreciate you Louis keep it going!
2 years on. I have seen the most messy looking businesses with genius producing amazing stuff. You can make mistakes, and do the same thing again with a different result. Life is not like a computer. You sound like an honest hard working guy. Keep up your good work.
You're not alone, man. Everyone makes those mistakes. I've made those mistakes numerous times. It's just human nature. Best take away is that I've always learned from those mistakes. Don't beat yourself over them, learn from them.
Step 1: Stop the bleeding Step 2: Look elsewhere Step 3: Rebuild This is more than a how-to for fixing a business... Vulnerability leads to progress. Great shares of information. Wisdom. I wish you well, Louis.
Absolutely respect the kind of man who can allow himself and his thoughts to show in a video and tell an inspirational story while doing so. This is great, hope you're cats are doing well. Thanks man.
Found this video as I am searching for retail space. Great reminder to listen to what will always be important when taking risk. Focus on the business, treat people right, and get out of the chair. Thanks, as you may have saved me as a business owner from making at least one stupid mistake and living with regret. Cheers.
You think you made a big mistake because you lost $200k because you moved just before something happened that *no one* had any way of predicting? That's not a mistake, it's bad luck.
10:15 "I didn't want to risk being overwhelmed at my old location" - that was absolutely the right call. Don't beat yourself up over hindsight, move forward.
Agreed it was a good decision at the time and should always take a look at the circumstances at the time the decision was made
@@robertpage2023 no one thought a global pandemic was a possibility before it hit so this is one of those rare cases where it really is bad luck and not his fault.
@@robertpage2023 with the casino you have guaranteed odds on each bet, and none of them would be in your favor (save having a massive jackpot and few participants). The odds for each game are registered in the state (for pretty much any regulated gambling business). That's math. Making decision, given the available information, can be judged - having circumstances down the line out of your powers can be called 'luck'.
@@robertpage2023 It's just a turn of phrase, don't take it so literally.
yea very true, he did the move to give his business a chance to grow at a time where everything seemed like growth is gonna happen.
Nobody could have seen any of this coming except for the corrupt GOP that was briefed on this months in advance hence them selling all their stock right on time.
With the information available Louis did everything right but reality can be harsh sometimes.
Any man that pays his employees during a lockdown, whether they come to work or not, can NOT call himself anything other than kind, generous, and a good man. Hold your head high.
Yup, Louis is good people.
Solid individual!
He would make a good politician if he wasn't so honest.
@@Vaultboy101 Never use "politician" and "honest" in the same sentence again. Damn it, I just did.
@@WideAwakeHuman thats the truth
"It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness. That is life." - Picard
It is amazing how Star Trek is still relevant with its lessons today as it was back then.
Unfortunately Patrick Stewart is the epitome of weakness.
@@nonoyorbusness There is no use being a sesquipedalian if you proof yourself the epitome of dense, that is a big "Nono"
@@alltheusernameswastaken8936
You say as you gaze in the mirror.
This is a lesson for all kinds of trades. Even trading. You follow all the rules, do the right things and still lose. Though you could also win big just be sheer luck if you do all the wrong things - this does not last too long so no sense pushing your luck.
Louis, you're a man of integrity. Paying your employees throughout a lockdown regardless of your bottom line exemplifies this. You may have made some decisions you regret in life, but you should still be proud of yourself. I wish more politicians had your character and work ethic.
Just needed a ppp loan
A correction, at least on my account, but I bet many people share: We don't look up to you because we think you are super successful, rich, or a flawless business man, we look up to you because you are honest, you have integrity and principles that you actually follow, because you fight to make things better. Nobody should and probably very few do think less of you because you took a risk that was punished by unpredictable force majeure that also screwed over like half of the planet in one way or another.
YES. Louis did not make a mistake. Life isn’t fair - in both directions. Bad things happen to good people, and good things happen to bad (or badly-behaved) people. INTEGRITY MATTERS. It tends to be rewarded along with intellect, skill and hard work. With hiccups, but sometimes devastatingly bad things happen that were not predictable like natural disaster, or criminal acts by others that cause true harm. Rossmann can live with himself - Louis I think you meet your own standard. And the best (aka perfect) is the enemy of the good.” I.e.: perfectionism gets you nowhere but burnt out. You are decent and you will have an interesting and good life. Even if. It always easy bc you do NOT seek the easy road. That’s why we admire you. That and so much more.
Edit: “Even if it’s not always easy... “ (doh).
That, plus his failings or mistakes are relatable.
Yup. What he said. 100% in agreement.
Ditto
In 2008, I watched as my father slowly went into a spiral of depression, after he expanded his business prior to the financial crisis. In the space of a year, he went from a well off businessman, to a bankrupt alcoholic, all because he chose to expand at just the wrong time. I even looked over the financials of this period years later, and its astounding how quickly it sunk, as the companies revenue had fallen 60% in a year.
Sometimes, even the best laid plans can end in disaster. And while my father has never really recovered from this, and seems like a husk of the man he previously was, Louis seems to have the fight left in him, and ultimately, as long as you still believe in yourself, you still have a chance to succeed.
😪💙 peace
Reverse is also true. Many successful people due to just blind luck.
FUCK 2008
@@TheBooban I think most 'success' in America is because someone knows someone else already in the industry.
@@damienholland8103 everyone has there start weather your go too culinary school and open a bake shop or you are a apprentice and open your own electrician business. Knowledge is passed down through generation to generation. It's just how it goes
I think being regretful is your biggest mistake, and something that clearly eats away at you over the years, despite having actually made a pretty good set of decisions to lead you to where you are now. Sure, you didn't make the absolutely most perfect set of decisions, but very few of us do. We just do the best that we can at that time. If you had stayed in your old store, or not gotten the "perfectionism" itch, your desire for something bigger and better wouldn't have just gone away. You'd still be sitting there wishing you were in the location you're in now. Imagine the regret you would instead feel if you had seen this space, and intentionally let it go. We make the decisions that we make for a reason.
Don't be so hard on yourself.
Ok
Oksokrry
Imsorryyyehehyy😅😅😅😅😃😃🤣😖😢😕🙁😖😩😭🥵😨😶🤔
👌👌🏻👌🏼👌🏽👌🏾👌🏿
Well said, Ant. I also think he is being too hard on himself. Like way too hard. Failure is part of the journey, and yes sometimes we repeat mistakes, but they aren't true repetitions when you are faced with different circumstances and difficult choices. It's just life. You live, you learn and you try to make the best of your new vehicle which will lead you in the new path that you have developed. Give yourself credit, do it often, and take time to smell the roses for a short bit. The level of responsibility you must feel is something that probably none of us can even imagine, so taking care of yourself and your business is most important.
Not "a useless video"!
An honest, inspirational video the way I see it. Self-reflection and a genuine effort to overcome adversity. Unusually insightful and motivational.
Good luck man.
Bro don’t forget that seeing all the new places “it’s not lying it’s commercial real estate” caused your channel to blow up and now gives you a bigger audience to bring awareness to right to repair
As much as I wish I could say I am happy with that trade, if I had the choice between that, and less stress/better finances, I'd choose the latter.
@@rossmanngroup You didn't hear it from me but you can just not pay rent lol.
@@Extmajor That's how you become not be able to pay rent at a new place even if you wanted to lol.
More to life than money, but sadly that is how most see the game of Life.
@@Extmajor but they fixed the damn door!
I made a similar mistake, but I'll up your 200k.
I rented a smaller satellite office for two years because I wanted more space and a window and a balcony. $40k down the hole. Then I rented a double sized space for 2 years and moved the lab, about 70k more down the hole.
I could have instead put that money into buying the office next door to my lab for $330k which is now worth about $700k. I turned that place down because I thought it was too much capital in the one building, and instead ended up havign to rent those dead end spaces. So all up on those decisions I could have been probably $400k ahead of where I am now AND have more than double the space.
It's a shame that nobody has an affiliate program for crystal balls eh?
“Deserves got nothing to do with it.”
He’s alive and not broke, got a functioning business, and most importantly he’s got a TH-cam channel that makes tens of thousands a month. $200k is chump change in lifetime earnings.
Could be a lot f-in’ worse!
@@xiaoka you overestimate how much a youtuber get. Most of the income of a youtuber is not youtube videos, it's stuff like merchandise and amazon affiliate links and patreon and advertisement arrangements and shoutouts and such. Louis Rossman does none of that afaik. I think what he gets from youtube videos is chump compares to other even smaller channels who do that.
@@AyuNeko Louis currently gets about 12M views a month. His TH-cam income would be *at least* $12k per month ($1/CPM) which pays for his rent. It's probably double that in practice, maybe even more because he has inline ads enabled.
If I had only invested 20k in dogecoin at the start of the year, I would've been a millionaire. Hindsight, it knows all the right decisions.
Not being able to see into the future is not a mistake, it’s life.
You rock, Louis! Keep up the good work!
For sure. This whole video wouldn't exist if not for Covid. A lot of choices made in the past year will look either bad or good when examined in the present.
I feel Louis is being too hard on himself. Granted I can imagine the situation being stressful but still
THIS. It wasn't necessarily a bad decision - it was bad timing.
except, not being able to accept that you are a flawed person, and thinking giving your employees a better environment to work in and working toward expansion are mistakes, is a bunch of self-centered bullshit. all he does is equate money with success in this video. until now, i thought he was an upstanding guy, but he's lost a lot of respect from me by wallowing in regret over something he couldn't control: COVID. If i knew my boss could afford more, and kept me in a cramped, hard to work in environment to be 200k richer, i'd leave as soon as i logically could. and i've made a couple moves like that. this video, and the way he talks, literally makes me cringe and sick. "maybe someone else should have the chance and not me". like fuck off. 14 people depend on you for a job. and he has created that for them. go sit down and work and get over yourself.
I appreciate your candour so much. Makes me feel normal as my mind goes in the same circles
His openness helps reassure me that I'm not alone being so critical of my business growth, or career in general, for that matter.
What you call a "fuckup" was , IMO, really taking a chance and a risk in the hopes of doing the right thing. Risk. Hope. It could've all worked out, especially with no Covid. Sharing this was gold because risk and hope sometimes work out for the better.
The funny thing for me here Louis is 2 years ago I asked your advice about how my boss didn't trust my abilities and skills. You told me to up and quit and THAT was the best advice I've ever been given. I owe my small corner of the world to your advice Louis. I know it's no consolation but you're helping in ways you can't even imagine. I for one sincerely hope you get out of this rut you're in. I feel for you, you're a great guy and the repair world wouldn't be where it is without you
I'm glad to see you're doing well, I hope more people in Europe send you stuff to fix! More people need that encouragement to start their own thing if the person they currently work for doesn't respect them or their work.
@@rossmanngroup thank you Louis. Agreed, as technicians we need to be trusted whether that's by the customer or our colleagues, without that we're nothing. I honestly don't think I could ever thank you enough though because that advice changed my life as I'm sure many others too, given you've probably given them similar useful advice. My business isn't huge, but it's enough to feed my family and keep them happy so for that I thank you
We came very close to moving STS back into a retail space just before Covid happened. I can’t say how glad I am that we didn’t. I have many, many regrets about moving the business home and making it a virtual existence on TH-cam but eliminating 95% of our overhead is not one of them. I appreciate the amount of balls it took for you to post this. FYI - I too am a complete entire f#%^ up and should learn to take my own advice. I’m working on that.
Best of luck to you and your business. You treat your customers right and try to educate people in the process. The industry is better off for the continued success of people like you.
Good to see you’re still at it. It’s been an interesting 18 months.
@@rossmanngroup and you as well - I don’t believe I would be doing this today if it was not for the videos you put on TH-cam. I very much hope to see you get through this! Thank you🙏
Louis...My friend you are doing just fine cause you get up each day and work to provide for others....as a fellow business owner you have done nothing wrong and you will be ok...
It seems like most people learn humility over time, whereas I just learn to stop second guessing myself so damn often. Not sure why that is.
Louis Rossman IS A SUCCESS. You've taught me so much! Never forget that the journey is what matters.
Louis, my business, DIAL Electronics, has really taken a hit during this pandemic. We lost techs, customers closed their business, accts slowed. But we keep going. We keep being honest, trying to provide the best service. Going further to get the work. And that is what will keep us alive. AND.... I got a lot of that attitude from your videos. I use them a lot. NEVER, NEVER give up. Be hard on yourself, forgive yourself, and fix it. Move forward. Always forward. Good video man.
Taking risk is part of business and taking your business to another level is risky. $200k is cheep relatively. You have your health and people you care about, keep pushing forward Louis.
yeah most people you say 200k to will lose their shit but I also feel it's different when you consider it as gambled capital
It's only a risk if you're poor. Have you seen all the bailouts the rich get
Everybody gets imposter syndrome from time to time. The opportunities didn't just 'come along' YOU made them happen. You made this whole channel, inspired a LOT of people, generated employment, shared your knowledge. In the words of Rocky, "It ain't about how hard you can hit, it is about how hard you can GET hit and keep moving forward". You will be fine.
Beautiful saying
I get imposter syndrome quite a lot because there are people out there who know things about my business that I don't. But a person's skills are the whole package, not just any small subject field. Louis comes with a huge skill set and shouldn't be beating himself up about something that went a bit wrong.
HOLY COW!!! An employer that actually cares about his employees. AMAZING! Good on you Louis.
Nothing teaches us more than our mistakes. Louis being humble enough to share his are one of the reasons I subbed in the first place. Hopefully we can all learn from it
No, you can make the same spelling mistake a thousand times and forget /learn nothing, even after seeing a correction.
@@HighestRank Problem with that example is we can't compare its teaching value to spelling it correctly, hopefully for obvious reasons. We generally learn the most from mistakes, that doesn't necessarily mean we always learn from them.
Moving to the new location wasn't a mistake, it was necessary as the old place was suffocating your business. No one could have predicted Covid and what it's done to businesses, and yours is not the only one to suffer because of it. What WOULD be a mistake is not recognizing that and trying to stay put. Cutting losses and moving to somewhere cheaper is the right choice; staying PUT is the mistake.
Yeah, Louis is using results oriented decision analysis. He made the right move when he made it, but it hasn't worked out due to unforeseeable circumstances. That doesn't mean it was a bad decision.
Agreed. Although as we saw from the Rossman Real Estate videos, finding somewhere cheaper that's still suitable in NYC is next to impossible. That's why I think that having more than a cheap storefront in NYC is the real mistake. The cost of floorspace is so high that if a downturn occurs for ANY reason, it's going to absolutely cripple your business.
If nothing else, having strong comparable options that are cheaper makes your negotiating stance stronger with the coop.
Moving to a new place wasn’t the mistake he is talking about. It is that he based the choices on appearances that didn’t affect the bottom line of the business. And I love that he is talking about it. It’s an easy trap to fall into. I’m a music producer, and I’ve chosen to work in a small place where rent is heap and I get the work done. There have been several times where I have almost made the decision he has made, where I want a bigger, more impressive place that ultimately wouldn’t help my bottom line. All I can say is, thanks Louis, this kind of content is amazing. I’m not interested in repairs. I’m not interested in NYC real estate (though I did have a studio in Manhattan in the 2000s) I like watching you because you have great insights into entrepreneurship.
Exactly, it was a smart thing thing to do. Even if you didnt think so personally, your last place was not presentable enough let you develop as an icon. Your new place has improved a lot of things like your video production quality, employee mental health had enough space to have multiple employees be present and work safely even in covid.
Wow. This is so depressing and yet motivational at the same time. Your level of self-assessment is on another level.
There was no reason for you to open up like this. I respect that.
Louis, ‘IF’ is a word that can destroy businesses, lives and aspirations. You clearly are an inspirational person with a BIG conscience. It would be interesting to hear what your staff think about this video. Done. Joe
Good reply that is what I thought while watching it as well
Totally !
As someone who goes through the same dialogue, the only thing I can say is this:
1. You made the decisions you made with the best information you had at the time. You cannot anticipate everything, nor can you anticipate the ups/downs of the market or others taking advantage of you. Hindsight gives us all sorts of additional information that we can use to see whether our choices have panned out.
2. The fact that you are self-aware enough to own your decisions and what's happened as a result of them, and the fact that you are still trying to do right by people, you deserve as many chances as you need or want.
Louis Rossmann to me is the most human, the most honest youtubers out there and it will take a lot more to sink a man of this caliber. I appreciate the lessons in this even though he sees it as a self critique, even if he's not some successful millionaire businessman I think he makes up with honor and respect even when that doesn't pay the bills. Thanks Louis for all the years of good advice and thank you for not giving up, I appreciate that more than anything right now.
Ok
Honest but 2nd most negative guy I semi regularly watch on here.
Louis, always appreciate your honesty and take on things. Wish you the best of luck.
As a business owner I've "been there, done that, got the T-shirt!" I really appreciate your honesty and you're insight into the fact that you've got to always do the best for your customer and if you do, the money will follow! I disagree with your basic premise that you screwed up. I think you did the right thing but timing was against you. But headwinds can turn around and become tailwinds pushing you forward. You've got it all right now and keep doing the right things and the business will be there and more... Good luck!
“It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness-that is life.” -”Peak Performance” (S02 Ep. 21) - Star Trek : The Next Generation.
That's funny, I just watched that episode the other night.
Sheesh
Kobayashi Maru. The mistake is not cheating.
I love that Obi-wan Kenobi quote!
"Achilles is sulking in his tent"
"It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness; that is life." Captain Jean-Luc Picard
Star Trek has a mountain of qoutes
I hope Louis sees this
COVID fits the definition of the Black Swan quite well, it's hard not to beat yourself in the hindsight. I watched your channel quite regularly as you were searching for the new store and subsequently moving. The reasons for the move were completely valid and I was happy that you were able to pull it off.
Your honesty and openness is a gift to all us without mentors.
Louis, whenever you’re feeling down about your business, try to remember this: no matter how successful or unsuccessful your business is, your contributions to humanity have made more of a positive impact on the world than the vast majority of people will ever be able to do. Your contributions to the right to repair movement wouldn’t have been possible without the experience you’ve gained running your business, regardless of its success. You’re not a fuck up. You’re a better person than most out there, and no matter what happens to your business, try to remember that not all successes can be measured financially. I wish all you the best, and I’m sure more successes will come your way in the future in some form.
Yeah failing to follow one's own advice sucks. It's often easy to look outward and not inward. Lets see what this video brings us
"If the rule you followed brought you to this, of what use was the rule?"
My video for anyone who was interested th-cam.com/video/iHuRTpUqCro/w-d-xo.html
Did you ask the Rabbi?
The problem I have with this line of thinking is not "I didn't take my advice". Louis explained his reasons, and they are absolutely valid reasons. Things happen and you cannot say I made a mistake because hindsight showed this was wrong or didn't need to be made.
Ask yourself, with all the information you had at the time, with all the things you were doing, and the goals you were setting yourself, how could you have made a better decision? What if the company had taken off?
Hindsight saying "if I didn't move then I would have saved on rent because of covid!" This isn't a mistake, this isn't even valid reasoning.
The answer was that you needed a new place. You could see that there were problems with your workspace and how the company was run. You, therefore, looked for a solution to improve it before something went wrong and it hurt the company.
So how could you have made a better decision with what you knew a the time? What is the best way forward now? Covid has created new challenges and problems but also opened up possibilities that weren't there when you made your original decision.
@@danielskinner1796 exactly what I was thinking well said!
I think videos like this are the very reason so many people look up to Louis because it does honestly take a lot to look at things and go "I have made mistakes" and then not only do that but catalog them in a fairly objective way and think Louis is a great role model for people because even ignoring things like his pretty good knowledge on stuff, and helpful view points [i.e videos like the one where he talks about how once you're eighteen you are fully free to go to the park and just sit there or a lot of his explanations of teaching and such] he really helps give motivation to improve yourself because these videos help remind you he in the end is a normal person like you and in the end you can totally reach his level if you put your mind to it and I think that is something a lot of TH-camrs and other popular people don't do and also maybe I'm wrong but that concept of being able to get as good as him is a pretty core part of this channel in my opinion.
Are you trying to make me cry? The humility and honesty are stunning. Your authenticity is such a breath of fresh air in our social media age. Learning lessons is good and it sounds like that's exactly what you're doing. Great job and stay the course.
Seconded.
@@Horseluvver What lol???? Oh....it's your name. I thought it was your comment LOL
Sounds a lot like imposter síndrome. No one could have predicted Covid man.
Apart from getting the screw up with the floor you did pretty well.
But like you said is all about taking action and keep going
this!
A few of us predicted the coof and reasonably expected it to be another nothing like the whole swine flu and SARS outbreaks many years ago. It's just as likely there will be another panic a bit later, probably in the form of SPARS or something equally stupid. These predictions weren't the issue. The problem was the complete failure of guys smart enough to predict these problems AND the cult like acceptance of allowing governments everywhere to trample your rights and alternate between treating you like an animal or doormat. So yeah, Rossmann...Definitely doing way better than average despite all of....Whatever you want to call this. It's pretty easy to gauge the competence and direction of a man but when you start trying to read extremely large groups of scared mediocre people that suddenly refuse to think for themselves, well that's how and why we're here now. This ~20min cry is just the sound of the every day perfectionist getting frustrated by everything around him. That part will get better very quickly. The rest? I'm not so sure. :/
Hindsight is 20/20 Thank you for showing your humanity Louis. Admitting your mistakes is something that a lot of people cant do.
Wow. Nice pep talk man. Honestly after starting a business with no money, dragging 20 people into teaching themselves coding, running a fairly successful agency, into covid, into losing half my staff to banks and big tech companies, into losing 60% of our customers because of covid, into launching our first product, then this not selling well because one of our 14 years around competitors has adjusted their offer to better ours WHILE we were preparing our launch… i feel in the same place you felt 1 year ago… frustrated and demotivated. Tough place. A baby on the way as well :) this video really really helps me A LOT. :) you deserve happines. Anything you do brings real value to society. Don’t beat yourself up too much. Everyone makes mistakes, learn from them and move on. 99.9999% of people couldnt get in your position to start with, had they had the exact same start in life as you. :)
You are right, Louis,
You didn't *deserve* another opportunity after your fuck ups.
You *earned* each and every single one. You've said so yourself.
Not everyone has the ability or stamina to do that, for years. That's not something you should ignore.
Adding my upvote to this comment, because every word of it us true.
Louis, you earned every chance you have ever had. You will likely earn more chances in the future. The amount of dollars in your account has no bearing on your value as a human. The fact that can admit mistakes (even when it's NOT a mistake that you made - nobody could have seen what was to come in the last few years) and then try again just proves that you are determined to survive despite the worst attacks that this hellscape universe can throw at you.
Take another swing, if you don't even try then there's no chance of a home run - or even a base hit.
Hopefully Louis still has his digital tape measure and fresh batteries on hand, because we're about to see some inflated square footage floor plans again. LOL! 😅
Bro you already know.
@@rossmanngroup as someone who hopes to have my own business one day i love these kind of videos about the reality of everything so keep your head up and keep improving man.
Two things:
1) Guilt, shame, and jealousy are perfectly normal human emotions. To completely cut them off would be like telling yourself you can fly and jumping off a bridge. However, allowing these thoughts to dominate our headspace is very unproductive. When we can openly and honestly admit, to both ourself and others, that we are feeling this way the emotions dwindle down into something that we can take action on instead of being held back by. Which leads me into
2) Myself, and everyone watching, is absolutely privileged to see you be open and honest to the masses. Being vulnerable and showing your flaws is very scary, but those who do it are better off. Thank you for another video which empowers me to do the same in my life!
This.
I agree with 90% of what you say -- - self abuse is too much..!
I really want to give you a hug. Everything is going to be OK. You've done the best you could and made sensible decisions based on your current position in time. Things have gone a bit to shit now but that's not your fault. You can do this! You WILL be looking back in 5 years and laughing!
You can’t be blamed for the timing. I’m sorry you’re going through this, but I’m hopeful that you’ll come out better off. This was a powerful video.
He definitely like will. He came this far, just a roadblock that most never would have expected, as all businesses was affected. If it wasn’t for COVID likely would have gone as planned. Plus he taught so many others and setup others for success which is a huge accomplishment in itself and the whole right to repair movement and actually showing up and doing something about it, when most won’t have.
The real accomplishments is not about the money, it the difference you make in life to improve and help others that the real accomplishments.
As a man who thinks he sees most of the angles who watches a man who actually is able to see 99% of them. I can assure you that nobody saw this coming. Also, thanks for posting those old vids about parenting advice. Your perspective has helped me to become a better father.
Keep your head up, homie. "Stop the bleeding" is such great advice and is so often missing from advice from friends and self-help videos. I am going to "get out of the chair" and stop the bleeding in my own life.
Hey Louis, i just wanted to say that you're by far the most influential person i've ever looked up to. i have a hard time pushing myself forward sometimes, but your videos keep me motivated to try to be the best i can be. Thank you for existing sir
“You never know who’s swimming naked until the tide goes out”. -Warren Buffet
You are so much farther along than most people because you can see your mistakes and you are trying to fix them. Keep up the fight, and keep up the good work brother! Take care of your customers always and good things will happen. 💪. 🤜💥🤛
I’ll keep my unsolicited advice to myself so instead I’ll say this:
Louis, you’re a total idiot for thinking you don’t deserve opportunities. I love you. Keep it up. ♥️
feels like depression to me.
the negative self talk, the doubt, guilt...
I want you to know that you inspire a lot of us even when you can't see it. We all look up to you.
totally inspiring human being! even kings(in life) get depressed.
Thank you so much for this video. I can totally relate to this. My husband always says to me "A door closes another one opens." He's right, one always does.
You shouldn’t beat yourself over the mistakes you’ve made. I’ve screwed up so many times that if I hadn’t made these screwups I’d be a billionaire no question. But now I have more experience than any newb to do what I do better than them.
COPIUM
@@randomname7128 unnecessarily dark but ok
@@randomname7128 you still not coping
You're a billionaire... >XD
Louis: "You're probably not going to fuck up as often as I am..."
Me: *Says nothing. Continues watching from 4-year-old laptop on portable fold-up table in their early 30s.*
I still have one of those portable fold-up tables set up in my kitchen. I bought it at Walmart when I moved out on my own and it's been perfectly adequate for over a decade (along with the 4 chairs it came with).
Everybody fails, the most successful people especially. But you gotta get out there and try, and also do some self-compassion meditation.
If you're not failing, you're not trying hard enough...
im watching this from a computer that i had to pay by selling my yugioh card collection, while living at home with my parents working a meaningless job at now 28 years old (my birthday was yesterday).
I feel this comment with all of my heart!
Hindsight is 20/20. You’re not a ‘huge f*ck up”. There are countless people in similar situations because of Covid. You DO deserve the next great opportunity and you’ll be fine.
Replace the word "Covid" with "tyrannical governments"
Louis,
There are many reasons why I love watching your videos.
This one *nails* every *single* reason.
Your honesty and candour is refreshing.
Thank you.
9M views each month over the past 2 months - I don't think you're a failure. Your self-reflection videos are so underrated, it's my favorite thing about your channel.
As a depressive and a guy with ptsd.. Everybody has at anytime the right to catch a new chance/opportunity . And you're great influence for a lot of people who are thankfull for listen to you and appreciate your work. God bless you. Wish you all the best and good luck for your future.
Honestly Louis, the people we hear who are successful and are documented endlessly... we only ever get the highlights reel. Everyone is a colossal fuck up.
By the time we see the infotainment on them, the failures are romanticized as turning points towards success.
This is your turning point my friend. Congratulations on your heroic rise towards your legacy.
thats an atomically awesome comment
@@CHASSYification thanks man! We are here all week
Thank you, Louis, for sharing. This was a wonderfully refreshing video. It's important, I think, in our society with the dependence/ addiction to social media where the norm is to maintain a veneer of continuous success to have these honest and transparent videos. Truly a must watch. In my opinion, the most impactful takeaway is the line, "get up out of the chair" -- an important metaphor that can, at some point, apply to us all and we should continually remind ourselves (especially during the hard times.)
Side-note: I've literally never commented on a video before; however, I happened to stumble upon this video yesterday while in a mildly depressive state; and, this video actually gave me the energy to act more assertively on something personal which ultimately led to fantastic outcomes. Sometimes you just need a random, algorithm based video starring a MacBook repairman turned TH-camr to inspire you.
This video should be added to that book: "What they don't teach you in a Business (MBA) school". It truly is a wealth of knowledge for everyone who operates or plans to operate a business. As always, LOUIS, THANK YOU.
There is still a shop, kept the employees, a supported repair movement, equipment and time for videos...
How many empty shops did you feature that don't have any of that left?
Saw a quote recently went something like: The master has failed more times than the beginner has tried.
The master holds the umbrella and gets wet while beginner is sheilded from the rain?
I have been watching your vids for a long time now, and I can tell you this: You didn't screw up in search of perfection. Trying to better your surroundings and work environment for your employees is not a mistake or a bad move. You got shafted by circumstance. That doesn't absolve you of other mistakes you might have made, but wallowing in hindsight and "if only I'd - then" is selling yourself short. A mistake is only a mistake if you should have known better. Otherwise it's just unfortunate. Taking a chance and expanding and bettering your business is always scary, because you don't know what's going to happen tomorrow. Cheer up, get back to work, and keep fighting the good fight. "it can't rain all the time".
The timing of this video couldn’t be better for me. You’ve just done me a big favour. Thanks Louis.
I must admit as someone who has lived in the midwest all his life, hearing "I pay 13,000 / month for space" ... you could rent an entire office building for that price where I live. If your business is able to be mostly remote, come to Iowa. I was mentally pricing your space and was like "Oh, that's worth maybe 2,000 / month" then you said 13,000 and I felt like I got punched.
He said he considered moving to another city once, but it's hard to find good people and he would have to leave all his employees behind, at least anyone who doesn't want to move to the new city. He didn't like that trade
Yep, NYC is crazy high prices before Covid, and even now it isn't that much better but you have a better chance of getting a lower value.
I've visited Iowa and if I paid $13,000/year even for the best luxury office there, it would feel like being hit by a freight train. It's the most dullest, flattest and lifeless place I've ever been to. It's a cultural wasteland and the people, while very nice, are as worldly as a bunch if cannibals living in the Pacific. I can see why so many young folks sell the family farm and move to the big city.
Is iowa good for business growth.
@@HarshJain-it2bg If he builds it they will come.
The amount of humility you show and feel is felt on this end. You also express a gratitude and gratefulness for where you are today. From a fellow mess up I truly appreciate the way you express your thoughts. I am grateful for finding your channel. your TH-cam friend，Art
I'll spare everyone my life story, but simply put, I've destoryed my life through methamphetamine addiction the past year.
This video was incredibly insightful, and a wonderful reminder to 'get out of the chair'
Over the course of my life the chair has been my greatest weakness, and where I've spent most of my time.
Louis, I doubt you'll read this. But thank you for your story in this video, and all the advice you give here on the internet. You're very down to earth and deserve great things. You've gained another dedicated fan.
I'm going to get out of my chair, and rebuild all I've destoryed. Thank you again, I've only felt this deep, natural motivation to be better 3 times in my short 22 years. I plan to make the most of it.
Good call lad, 22 is nothing, many folks rebuild amazing lives well in their thirties still and usually don't even consider doing it before being that old. Just get out of that mental hole, sure accept your failings that is important too but don't ever stay wallowing in despair and misery, regardless of the kind of misery it is.
You say you ignored your own advice by being perfectionist. Well, you're doing it again here. Expecting to make the ideal decisions every time, during one of the most unpredictable events of recent history, is the most perfectionism you could get. You made reasonable decisions *given the information available*. If you had waited until you were certain that it was right to move, that you could survive any event on the scale of covid, you'd have been paralysed with indecision forever and eventually you'd be regretting that you hadn't moved.
Yes
This video isn't just business advice, it's legitimate life advice. I love that you said "Stop the Bleeding, Look Elsewhere, and Rebuild" it's literally what I've had to do in my personal life and this video just reassured me that I'm not alone in that journey. Thanks, Louis. Followed for repairs years ago, and am staying for the positivity AND the repairs! Much love 👍
"Deserve" an opportunity. You are making a value judgement that does not make sense.
You have built what you have through hard work; you have made more impactful good decisions than bad decisions. Yes there is an element of chance from the things outside our control, some get good rolls of the dice, others get bad rolls of the dice, this results in large variance in outcomes.
You seem to be mixing the value of the outcomes with the value of the efforts.
You took a risk, and the outcome did not pay off. But
did you stop working hard? I doubt it. Did you stop trying to do good by your employees and customers? No. Did you stop railing against those who are screwing us over? No. Good.
Don't tell me you don't deserve what you have because this time it was a bad dice roll. You have worked hard for what you have and seem to be doing good with it.
Get back up, and get back to it, correct the things you know to be wrong.
And even without those reasons, a lot of life is luck. If you have the placement to try again, try again. No point wasting your opportunity because you don't deserve it. So what? Very few people deserve what they get. We don't go around figuring out some method to allocate resources based on deserving.
I'd only ask that those lucky enough to get up help the rest of us. Aka: Don't be a billionaire.
Agreed
@Tangent Really in business we don't look for luck it should always be measured on risk vs gain. The worse mistake successful businesses have made that make them go bust is over gearing. Never over-commit always make sure you have an emergency fund that can support your expansion plans for 2 years if everything goes south. If not, don't do it, it is not worth the risk.
Yeehaw!
As someone who has/been trying to start a small biz, I really appreciate you taking the time to share your true thoughts and emotions. It really makes me feel better about my position knowing that I'm not the only person with those thoughts/feelings and that even someone at your level can still have these struggles.
Just imagine what covid in that very small lease space would have been like. You think you screwed up, but you did exactly what you had to do at the time! And I would have agreed that you screwed up had you listened to that woman who basically said you wouldn't find a better deal.
The fact that your business survived when literally tons of businesses have failed (due to covid) should show you that you didn't screw up! You survived and you have a very nice place still. Please consider this a HUGE victory!
These videos should be called how to live a life worth living. Your honesty is inspirational .When I listen to you I feel like you are a wise older brother giving me advice about life Thank you
So now Apple can legally have Louis’ quote on their website: “Buying a MacBook was the best business decision of my life !”.
Louis: *sigh
It would be a nice token of appreciation in a way or another
And when people look up who this louis guy is, they'll find out how bad apple has been screwing them.
Oof that would suck 🤣
Damn dude. You are super hard on yourself. Your business brings livelihood to you, your employees, and your community. There are no successful people who have not failed....multiple times. Wisdom comes from failure....and success. There is room for anyone who wants to try, and me, and you. I really enjoy your videos. This one worked through a situation I am in right now; worried about getting overwhelmed, and not being able to keep up. Its a scary place to be.
Your not a f-up Louis, everyone makes colossal mistakes on a daily basis. The difference is you learn from them and are able to pick yourself up, move on, and rebuild. Don't underestimate the value of that.
Your humbleness is inspiring. While the pain of these decisions hurt the fact that your a sharing it publicly is a great service and provides a great example for your fans that nothing is insurmountable.
Louis what you don't realize is that your hunt for a space, then finding it, renovating it including all the headaches with your contractors made awesome content for your channel. So much so that many who have no interest in right to repair or repairing Apple products in general still tuned in because of the other content you created. Sucks with covid and you can't blame yourself for that. Be thankful what you have created and having an audience of 1.65mil people now more knowledgeable about right to repair.
Hey Louis, It's okay..
Thank you for everything you are doing..
Teaching,
Inspiring,
Motivating...
Thank you.
As a former head technician for 8 years, I too have found myself sitting in this metaphorical chair for the last two, but as an employee. I ended up leaving, and it was by far one of the hardest decisions I've ever had to make. I loved my job and my normal customers, but when you're not getting paid for weeks or months on end, it took me two years to finally get up and leave.
Life is a series of twists and turns you never see coming that takes you somewhere you never expected to be.
I bet anyone else on your journey would have taken just as many, if not more wrong turns along the way.
You're awesome Louis!
There is no shame in admitting one’s mistakes. Glad you’re in a better headspace now.
Advice I received when I was young: Your success in life is largely based on the decisions you make. When you make a bad decision, follow that up with some good ones. Keep up the good work!
I was feeling down today and hearing your honesty and candidness is inspiring and helps me to get out of my own chair.
As I’m looking around my woodshop wishing for a “real” place with top notch workstations and equipment, I saw this very honest video.
Thanks man. Thanks for being real and honest and vulnerable. It helps us walking behind you in the minefield.
I applaud you for admitting being in the chair for such a long time. People need to understand how some people cope with non optimal life choices. Understanding that you are addressing your mistake, and admitting it, means a lot. Thank you.
Thanks, good discussion.
I have been there, sat in my chair at 2am, thinking what have I done. £1million overdrawn, 100 employees, 15% interest rates, and no way could we earn enough just to pay the interest,and next staff payday due.
We got through it, the tide turned and we paid off the overdraft and became profitable again, but yes running a business is very stressful.
And in an alternative timeline staying in the old place would've led to more problems and you would've kicked yourself for not moving. People mistakenly believe that _they_ are the ones responsible for their successes _and_ their failures. Bottom line is, they're only partly responsible. Luck has a lot more to do with it than we all want to believe.
Indeed.
Luck plays a miniscule part in any success or failure. It's there, but it's ridiculously tiny. However, BELIEVING that luck plays any part at all in your success or failure is the absolute fastest possible way to fail. Luck exists, but once you start thinking it is responsible for your wins and losses, you will just lose, every time.
@@Mezekaldon That's... naive. Of course, any proper mindset won't think that anything will come by luck, which is usually a ver good trait, and will certainly try everything within control to reach an objective, but it's also a quite lacking mindset to believe that everything you achieved, once already achieved, could in any way be thanks to yourself and only to yourself with no external input or luck associated.
No, being in the right place and time and, especially, being born in the right environment plays a huge role, always. As that's not something anyone can determine, it indeed happens just by chance. That influence has been established statistically and qualitatively in several studies about income, social status, professional achievement and some other parameters the average person tends to associate with success.
So luck is indeed a huge thing... but we should indeed never act as it was going to favour our side.
@@Mezekaldon I'm not failing. I also know there are people equally talented and hardworking who just weren't so lucky. That's just life.
Louis, we all make bad decisions along the way. You are a man of intellect, drive and integrity. You will always find success.
Biggest mistake most make is failing to take chances which, by definition, entail mistakes.
Also:::perfectionism is a fine line sometimes, in many ways you NEED to be a projectionist to succeed, *integrity* , quality of service, quick accurate assessment, value, mutual respect and motivation with employees.... Superficial details, say, might be on the other end of spectrum.
Luis you did way better than most people. Most businesses fail within 5 years, it's tough and Darwinian. You are more sucsessfull than most buiness owners. You also had no way to know that covid would happen.
I just started watching your videos despite having no knowledge or interest in fixing electronics. It's your drive, attitude, sense of humor, etc that brings these videos alive. You know you arent a failure. you know that.
Respect to you for what you have accomplished, your humility, and your ability to hold yourself accountable for your mistakes. This self-reflection is what makes you who you are. appreciate it
It's always hard to face up to a repeated mistake, well done Louis. The best advice I ever got is "the only way out is through" When facing an unpleasant issue it'll never go away until you just grit your teeth and do your best to work through it.
I'm excited to see your journey of fuck ups Louis. As a newish business owner in tech repair, I appreciate your knowledge and real life experience. The value you provide is worth way more than money. I appreciate you Louis keep it going!
2 years on. I have seen the most messy looking businesses with genius producing amazing stuff.
You can make mistakes, and do the same thing again with a different result. Life is not like a computer.
You sound like an honest hard working guy. Keep up your good work.
You're not alone, man. Everyone makes those mistakes. I've made those mistakes numerous times. It's just human nature. Best take away is that I've always learned from those mistakes. Don't beat yourself over them, learn from them.
Step 1: Stop the bleeding
Step 2: Look elsewhere
Step 3: Rebuild
This is more than a how-to for fixing a business... Vulnerability leads to progress. Great shares of information. Wisdom. I wish you well, Louis.
Absolutely respect the kind of man who can allow himself and his thoughts to show in a video and tell an inspirational story while doing so. This is great, hope you're cats are doing well. Thanks man.
Found this video as I am searching for retail space. Great reminder to listen to what will always be important when taking risk. Focus on the business, treat people right, and get out of the chair. Thanks, as you may have saved me as a business owner from making at least one stupid mistake and living with regret. Cheers.