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People want it fast. Everyone wants to make a million dollars tomorrow, have the nice life, private jet, champagne popping lifestyle. The sad truth is- that isn’t a true picture of entrepreneurship or business.
How many people do you know that are willing to sacrifice it to have the lifestyle ? It doesn’t come easy but Arian Beyzaei documents and shows the struggles and rewards of being a business person.
Arian Beyzaei is a rising Canadian born businessperson. Being of Iranian descent, Arian heard the struggles his parents went through to bring the family to Canada for a better life. Ever since then, Arian decided that he was not going to take the opportunity for granted and pave the way to create a better life for himself and his family.
Today he is currently the Vice President and Partner of Enriched Academy– a financial education program that educates people on personal finance and money management.
Arian what’s your story ?
I was born in Canada. My parents immigrated from Iran and I saw the countless struggles we lived through to have a better life. We lived with another family at that time in a small 2 bedroom studio apartment where there were 8 members and 1 washroom.
My parents came to this country with no money and they had a strong influence on the man I am today.My parents owned a Coin Laundry and then a Pizza Shop. Now my dad is a teacher and has a small tutoring business. I knew it was important to not take this opportunity for granted and work hard to provide a better life for them.
I got exposed to business in Grade 9-10 when I discovered Snapbacks were a hot commodity and I noticed an opportunity to earn money. I ordered a few Snapbacks from California and sold them on sites like Kijiji and made a few hundred dollars a month.
In Grade 10, I read “Rich Dad Poor Dad” by Robert Kiyosaki and that sparked a newfound sense and interest in business. At that time, I contemplated dropping out of high school a couple of times but decided to finish it and get an education. Even though it would be a cool headline story to say “Dropped out of high school” I don’t regret finishing high school.
Talk about your decision of not going to University and how did you land a position at Enriched Academy ?
It was a tough one, I remember in one of my classes- I was supposed to deliver a 20 minute presentation on business leadership but I decided to instead discuss “Why The School System Is Broken”.
I strongly believed in what I presented. In Grade 12- I decided to pursue a co-op placement and one lady that worked there-Paula Roberts gave me a package for Enriched Academy and I fell in love with their material. I reviewed it a few times to grasp the understanding of personal finance and money management.
Around the same time, the Founders landed a deal on Dragon’s Den(The Canadian Version of Shark Tank) with Bruce Croxon and Jim Treliving – our investors. I was fascinated by the episode and the mission of the company that I decided to email one of the Founders- Kevin and told him that I’ll work for free. He rejected the email.
I was broken but I didn’t quit. 1 month later, I decided to review the material from Enriched Academy, study the competitive landscape and I did an analysis on it. After, I shot a 20 minute video from my Webcam discussing how I can provide value and grow their business.
It was that 1 video that gave me the opportunity to turn my life around.
How difficult was the learning curve at Enriched Academy ?
It was tough having no skills- I had to learn things the hard way. However, I got a change to rotate and learn different positions from customer service to sales so I got a holistic overview on the operations of a business. I barely made any money in my 1st year in business and a couple of years later, I am now a Partner with the company so I am super grateful. There are ups and downs in business but I realized that if I wanted to be the best, I just had to remember 1 thing:
“Never Give Up”
What was your lowest point in business ?
I vividly remember this. I was delivering a free presentation on Personal Finance to a group of 20-30 people and 1 by 1 people started walking out. The only exit door that was available was the one next to me. So people would walk across me while I was presenting and leave. There was only 4 people left at the end of it.
I was 19 at that time and the drive home- I was thinking.. Is this it ? I am just a young guy. What can I do ?
Also, I got tired of doing mundane tasks- being focused in a Sales role, you are doing repetitive tasks. However, I realized that I wanted things to soon. I wanted to be World Class Speaker, be making millions but I learned that it takes time and it wasn’t going to come easy. I am glad I didn’t give up otherwise I wouldn’t be the person I am today.
What is one quote you live by ?
“People overestimate what they can achieve in 1 year and underestimate what they can do in a decade, 20 or even 30 years”– Tony Robbins
How do you overcome adversity ?
Rejection is like a muscle. The more you get rejected the more desensitized you are to the feeling. It’s like working out, as a beginner you will be sore- but once your body adapts, working out becomes easier. There is no book that will help you overcome rejection or failure.
Want to know the best way ?
Go get rejected.
How do you balance business and having a girlfriend ?
It’s tough. The truth is it’s having open and honest communication with each other. Sometimes my schedule is hectic where I am travelling often and delivering presentations and I won’t see my girlfriend. It’s being able to show through actions that I care about our relationship and willing to put in the effort necessary. Plus, she’s an understanding and self lessly cares about our future- she understands the reason I am working long hours and understands the vision we have.
The toughest things to balance are: health, work, relationship, friendships and family. It’s always a balancing act but I am sure I will figure things out along the way.
You have an engaged following on LinkedIn, what made you decide to use LinkedIn as a platform ?
I saw that everyone was discussing marketing, business and sales but no one was discussing finance or money management. I saw a gap on LinkedIn and realized I could educate the community from my experience, events and so far the feedback has been tremendous so I continue to put out both written and video content from my events.
Also, considering I decided to pursue a different educational path vs my peers- I lacked the friendships and the social circle so LinkedIn has allowed me to create a network- I truly believe in the saying “Your network is your networth”
Manu “Swish” Goswami has also given me LinkedIn advice on how he would approach the platform if he were me and the kind of content that he would share. This allowed me to develop a content strategy to build an engaged following.
Plus, it’s rewarding to get messages from people who say I have helped them make sound financial decisions through my content. Also, many people message me about my experiences that have helped them make financial decisions whether it was the post about how buying a car is a liability, phone bill or buying the iPhone 8 which are some of my popular posts that have received 500,000 views.
What is your best sales tip ?
You have to learn to elegantly create pain. People buy emotionally so if you can figure out their reason for making a purchase it will be easier to close.
Let’s talk cold calls, does it work ?
No doubt ! I have built the business through cold calling. The truth is, people don’t like cold calling because they are scared to do it. Everything in life is the result of a “cold call”. When you cold call someone, you have their undivided attention for the small duration of time and having a script initially is crucial to understand sales.
The 1st 5 seconds are key to any call.
In the beginning I used to book appointments for Kevin(One of the Founders of Enriched Academy) so he could do presentations. He was nice enough to go do them as he understood that I was still learning at that time. One day, Kevin called me and said that I would have to go and make a presentation. I was scared but I got the job done and I moved on from only making sales calls to also making presentations.
In the beginning my closing ratio was 10 % now, it has increased to 60%. I keep track of my metrics in Salesforce to analyze if I am doing well and see my progress and areas of improvement. I videotape myself to see areas where I can improve in my presentation and speaking skills.
3 best pieces of advice you’d give if you were to die tomorrow.
- Be patient
- Have gratitude
- Be adventurous- don’t get stuck in a routine, travel more and gain new experiences
What do you want people to remember you by ?
I don’t know. I still have time, I don’t have a 5 year or 20 year plan but I want people to remember me for helping them with their personal finances and being financially free.
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