An exclusive interview with Austin Netzley with 2X. Austin shares how 2X has helped clients generate over $200 Million and counting while in the 2X one-on-one coaching programs.
Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here. Another episode of Coach the Coach Radio. And this is going to be a fun one. Today, we have with us Austin Netzley with 2X. Welcome, Austin.
Austin Netzley: Hello, Lee. Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to give some big value today. So, let's get started.
Lee Kantor: All right. Well, before we get too far into things, tell us about 2X. How are you serving folks?
Austin Netzley: Yeah. What we do is one-on-one business coaching for six and seven-figure entrepreneurs. So, it's all one-on-one, in-the-trenches coaching to help people get free from the weeds, turn their business into a machine, and start growing faster than ever. So, we focus a lot on systems, operations, team, and mindset and some of the things not directly related to growth, but at the end of the day, that mean everything for growth. So, if we can help people, like I said, get free from the weeds and turn their business to be a machine with their team running the show, then growth starts to become easy. So, we help people scale one on one.
Lee Kantor: So, what's your backstory? How'd you get into this line of work?
Austin Netzley: This is technically my fifth business. So, I've been through a couple of different iterations to figure out some things that work, some things that don't work, and one thing led to the next. I was in the oil industry originally as an engineer, and I was like, "You know what? I'm not really jealous of any of my mentors at the time or any of the executives." So, I was like, "There's got to be another way." And I learned about this thing called entrepreneurship, started my first business, my second business, my third business. The one led to the next that led to a marketing agency, that led to doing some more hands-on coaching, that led to what we do now.
Austin Netzley: So, it's been a whole evolution, but through these businesses that were all, really, I knew at the time, I wasn't going to do those things for the rest of my life, but they were beautiful stepping stones to the next opportunity that led me to this opportunity where I was in a partnership. And it was kind of a toxic partnership. I wanted to go and change the world. He wanted to be an Instagram influencer. So, we decided to part ways. So, I had this clean slate to say, "Okay, I've been doing these business things every two to three years. What do I want to do for the next 20 to 30 years? What do I want to do for the rest of my life and really sink my teeth into?" And that's where I designed 2X in the way that we have it now.
Lee Kantor: So, now, what was the methodology based on just kind of the scar tissue of all your previous endeavors?
Austin Netzley: At this point in time -- by my fourth business, we were teaching millennial entrepreneurs how to start and build their online business. And I saw that after working with hundreds of people there in our group programs, I saw that there was a formula for things. I saw that there were some major gaps that a lot of people had. There was a reason why some were getting ahead and some weren't. And what we started to do or what I started to do is put together what that formula is. And something I've learned, again, is that there's not only what elements that you focus on matter, but the order matters so much.
Austin Netzley: For instance, so many people think that they are starting out or six-figure entrepreneurs think, "I just need more leads.". They come to us and say, "Hey, I just need more leads, and you help me grow." And we ask them, "Hey, how is your sales conversion?" or "How is your LTV?" or "Do you even have time to be focusing on growth? You do these other things." So, what we realized very quickly is, Hey, yes, you probably do need more leads and we can help you get a lot more leads, but there's other things that we've got to focus on first. For instance, if we really, really nail your strategy and model to be set up to scale, if we have it much more differentiated and focused, if we have it be targeted for the perfect ideal target audience, you're going to triple your conversions and have much less moving pieces just by doing that. Let's do that first. And then, let's work on the next thing and next thing."
Austin Netzley: So, long story short, through working with so many businesses, we started to realize there were certain puzzle pieces and most importantly, the order of those pieces made such a big difference. So, that's what we started to put together. And then, we've optimized it over the past few years. We've now been in business for over three years. And clients, while in our programs, have generated over $211 million dollars. So, it's proven, and it works over and over again with our clients all across the globe.
Lee Kantor: Now, when you're working with a client, the framing is six figures to seven figures. That's kind of your tagline?
Austin Netzley: So, we have two audiences. We have some half of our audience between $250,000 and about $750,000 in revenue when they start with us. And their goal is to get to that magic million-dollar mark. They want to be a seven-figure business owner. So, we take people from six to seven-figures. I've got a book called From 6 to 7 Figures that we can give away and definitely recommend checking that out. But half of our audience that comes to us is already at that seven-figure mark, and they're looking to get free more from the weeds or grow to the next level. Some of them have goals of getting to eight figures. We've helped several clients get to eight figures. So, we work with people that are six and seven-figure business owners.
Lee Kantor: But the important component there is they've already have a semi-proven model, and that they are selling something to somebody already.
Austin Netzley: Exactly, exactly. We work with people that have already had traction because what we found is in my previous business, we worked with people starting out; and with that, there were just a lot more people that weren't going to succeed necessarily. Like they just weren't willing to go through what it took to become like a true business owner. And the second thing is, we can just make a much faster impact. So, sometimes, the journey of getting to that first couple of hundred thousand can take a long time because you have to get product market fit, and you have to validate who we're serving, and to like what we're selling and stuff. So, we like to come in with businesses that already have traction and optimize what they're doing because we can make a really immediate impact.
Lee Kantor: So, that was probably one of the key learnings to get to this point in your evolution, right? By focusing on folks that already have something, then you're eliminating a lot of those aspirational people, the people that are just not going to really do the work it takes to move the needle for themselves. You know that anybody you're dealing with nowadays is somebody who has a business that has some level of success. They just might be frustrated, or plateaued, or whatever other thing, but it isn't that their thing is marketable.
Austin Netzley: Yeah, yeah. Exactly, exactly. And the thing is whether they're at $250,000 in revenue per year or $5 million in revenue per year, all the businesses are broken, right? Like there's so much opportunity and so many areas of improvement. Even with our own business internally at 2X, like there's always so much opportunity. And I think that's the beautiful thing about business is like we can know so much, and do so much, and get so much better, but there's always so much more that we can do. So, if you can validate yourself, and validate that you have a market, and get to, at least, again, a couple of hundred thousand, that shows us that you probably very likely have the potential to get to whatever your goals are, whether that's a million dollars revenue, $5 million, $10 million, $20 million, whatever, there's a big opportunity out there if you can do it right.
Lee Kantor: So, now the folks that kind of they're grinding, and they're battling every day, and they're scratching and clawing their way up, and they got this to six figures, you can come in and implement some systematization, maybe some automation, and leverage some of the tools that you've already kind of gotten good at leveraging to help them just accelerate the growth. In your mind, they've reached some level of escape velocity. They just don't know how to go to the next level.
Austin Netzley: Yeah, exactly. And that's what I started my book with, is what got you here won't get you there. So, what gets you to $250,000 dollars in revenue, for example, in fact, a lot of those things will hold you back from getting to $2 million in revenue. For instance, to get to $250,000 dollars in revenue, you can drive a lot of things yourself. You can still be the center of the business. You can be pulled in a hundred different directions.
Austin Netzley: But what we then do is we come in, and we're like, "Hey, that worked to get you here. To get to the next level, we need you free from the weeds. We need to make this business and model scalable without you in the day-to-day grind. So, let's get you free. Let's put in the proper systems. Let's put in the operations. Let's put in a couple of the key team members, so that they're running the day-to-day, and you can focus on your zone of genius and the things that you want to. And if we do that, (A), we have a healthier business; (B), we've got a more sustainable business; (C), you have much more time; and (D), not only are you having more fun, you're actually focused on growth. And that leads us very quickly to, for instance, that seven-figure mark."
Lee Kantor: Now, when you're working with folks, what does the process look like? Like, say, I raise my hand and go, "You know what? You got me. This sounds fantastic, Austin. I'm in," what is my first step? What's going to happen once I kind of buy into this?
Austin Netzley: First step. So, yes, there's a formula for business, but every business is so different that we have to customize a blueprint for you. So, what we'd have you do is go in and fill in a deep-dive survey. We want to understand inside and out what your business is, because to give you the best guidance, we need to really, again, understand your business in an intricate way. So, it starts with a deep-dive survey.
Austin Netzley: From that, we're doing a full behind-the-scenes evaluation. We hop on a 90-minute call to ask all these different questions to, again, really understand the pieces at hand. From there, we can get together behind the scenes and say, "Hey, these are the big levers, these are the big changes, this is what we really need to know," and we put that together in a presentation to share with you the roadmap.
Austin Netzley: All this happens in about a five-day period. So, you fill in the survey, have a 90-minute call, and then we have a 60-minute call to lay out, "Here's the roadmap for the next 90 days." We also talk about some of the key levers for more than 90 days. Like it's really a 12-month roadmap, but, specifically, "Hey, here's the 90 days. Here's the order of things. Here's the leverage that we're going to pull. Here's how we're going to lead to some really, really, really big changes."
Austin Netzley: And the thing is to really get to where you want to go in business, sometimes, you have to focus on growth not being first. So, again, a lot of people are working really hard, and they're too stuck in the business that in the first 60 days, they may not grow. And that's okay as long as people have a long-term perspective, right? But so many people who just want to, "I want to grow. Like I want leads instantly. I want leads right now." And we're like, "No, there's an important process. If we can put in the operations and team, and get you free, and free up 20 hours a week in 60 days, but not necessarily grow your revenue by very much," like , in my case, that's a win because like the next 60 days are going to be where we're going to really start to see and feel that growth.
Austin Netzley: So, one by one from that initial roadmap, then we're implementing and executing that every single week. Now, a lot of the systems we have, so people can plug and play them, but if we can solve one important problem with you every single week and do so with the proper system or strategy that you can use for years to come, in the 30-day period, your business in time is in a whole new spot, let alone after 60, 90 days, that six months, 12 months. It's one week at a time.
Lee Kantor: Now, are you just giving me a to-do list like, "Here, do these 15 things," or is this somebody on your team helping me do these things? Because, like, sometimes in life, you need help. But sometimes, you need a helper.
Austin Netzley: Great question. We don't do the work, but we guide you and support you to make it as easy as possible. So, every single week, it's a one-hour call, where in that week, we are problem solving and helping you come up with solutions. We are giving you custom answers, feedback, and guidance. And we're giving you a specific system. So, for instance, let's say that after we work through a couple of things, we inject some revenue, we get you free, we clean up your strategy and model a little bit, let's say it's like, "All right, I now have the cash flow that I want to hire an assistant," boom. All right, we've got all of the systems and templates that we can say, "Hey, here's how you hire an assistant. This is what you need to do. This is where you go. Use this, like copy and paste this. Have them do these couple of test tasks."
Austin Netzley: So, instead of trying to go and just say, "Hey, this is what you need to do, go do it," we give you the tools to make it easy to do, right? So, it's like, again, if we can do that one at a time, now, you have the system in place that you can go not only hire an assistant, you can hire other similar roles in the future. And in the next week, it's like, "Okay, we're ready to really, really take this referral or these referrals to the next level. Here's the referral system. Let's work on this. This is what you're going to do. Let's talk through that together." So, we have a lot of the things started through proper systems, training and templates. And then, from there, it's a matter of working with you to help customize that, but it's only the one-hour coaching, in addition to the systems and templates that we have.
Lee Kantor: So, a lot of it is kind of an accountability partner?
Austin Netzley: A lot of it is that. But the big thing that we can do first is if we can help with the strategy, that is something that is going to make a monumental impact across the board. For instance, if we can help just get your business set up to be much more specific, targeted, and differentiated, we're going to see just by working with you through that, that your conversions of your marketing and your sales are going to double. So, what we're trying to do is to pull these different levers and work you through these different methodologies, and systems, and strategies that we've proven over and over again that are going to lead to exponential impact that, again, after three, six months, they start to stack on top of each other.
Austin Netzley: So, yes, you do a lot of the work, but again, we're going to guide you and help solve problems together. And then, from there, there's going to be some actions, and then there's going to be some accountability. And so, we all need that accountability. And that's one of the challenges of being one of our business owners. Like oftentimes, we don't have others hold us accountable. It's easy for us to hold people accountable but not necessarily ourselves. So, that value in and of itself is huge for us all to have.
Lee Kantor: So, see if I got this at this point. You have a portfolio of systems and operations that you kind of customize to the needs and desires of your clients. You have regular meetings or cadence of meetings and calls to help them implement the appropriate one at the appropriate time. And then, during those calls, you're holding them accountable. Ultimately, it's up to them to do the work, to implement them, and to roll them out and deploy them. But you're there to make sure that all of that goes well, because you're there to help counsel them throughout the whole process.
Austin Netzley: That's exactly right. That's exactly right. And one of the first things that we do leave before we start to give people task, because we don't want to give somebody fifteen tasks, like they don't have time for 15 tasks, right, so one of the first things that we do is we look at, "Hey, how can we free up 10 to 20 hours per week?" So, before we give much of any tasks after the initial survey, it's like, "All right, how can we create capacity, and then give you a couple of things that are working on the business?" Like all these things that would be a task would be to drive the business forward. So, it's not like it's homework. It's not like this outside thing. It's literally working on your business in a much more strategic way, but we've got to create that time first.
Austin Netzley: So, that's such an important differentiator because I've worked with coaches before in the past, and they're just like, "Oh, go do all these things. (A), You have to figure it out yourself. (B, they're not creating any more capacity in time. And (C), usually, they're telling me to spend a lot of money. Like we don't tell anybody to run ads or even hire people until we are producing cash from the improvements that we make first. So, it's really about creating capacity, not only from a time standpoint but from a financial standpoint before we start to add.
Lee Kantor: And then, that's what you mean when you say the order of things. You're aiming at the things that are going to generate revenue as fast as possible, so they get some quick wins. And then, they can use that revenue to fund these future things.
Austin Netzley: Exactly, exactly. So, if we can get ahead from a time standpoint and get back control of our calendar and time. If we can get ahead financially and take the concerns of money out of the way, then we can work on the right things and be patient with the process of like, "Okay, we need to work on our strategy stuff. Okay, we need to work on fulfillment. Okay, need to work on the sales," and whatever. And then, when we really start to focus on the growth levers in a bigger way, that we have capacity, and we're ready to handle those. But so many people are working out of order, so they're just spinning them wheels or spinning their wheels and we call it staying on the hamster wheel.
Lee Kantor: Now, can you share a story - don't name any names - but somebody that maybe was struggling or explain what their plateau or their challenge was, and they connected with you and your team, and then how you helped them get to a new level?
Austin Netzley: Oh, yeah, we've got hundreds of them. So, one is a guy named John. And John started with us at 110 hours per week. 110 hours per week. So, he was stuck in the business as much as you could say. And he was a red light. He was obviously stressed out as can be. He didn't know how burnt out he really was at the time, but his growth was limited, and he had done really well from the outside eye, but it just flatlined. He was at $67,000 per month in revenue. So, he was in the high six figures.
Austin Netzley: And he came to us and he said, "All right, I'm ready for a change." And within three months, he went from 110 hours a week down to 30 hours per week. So, not only did he get his life back, he was able to start to shift some of that time towards working on the business. And then, within a couple of months after that, he was at $503,000 per month. So, over a 7x increase while cutting his time in basically a third. Actually, less than a third.
Austin Netzley: So, that's the power of working on the right things in the right order. That's the power of getting free. That's the power of turning your business into a machine and building up your team, so that you're out of the day-to-day. And then, starting to focus on growth. Like if you follow that exact process, you're going to be in a beautiful spot to grow exponentially.
Lee Kantor: So, now, at this stage of your career, what brings you more joy? Is it seeing somebody like that kind of blow up their business and make it exceed their expectations? Or is it for you to sell one more client on the program?
Austin Netzley: Oh, man. I mean, everybody on our team is very mission-driven. We have so many people from around the world that are super successful business owners themselves as coaches or could be doing 50 other things on our team that everybody has to be mission-focused. And what we're trying to do is be the best in the world at scaling six and seven-figure businesses. Like we want to double the number of businesses that get to that magic seven-figure mark.
Austin Netzley: So, seeing people not only do that, but seeing people like the impact that that makes. We talk about the ripple effect internally at 2X every single day. So, if we can help people get their life back and grow their revenue, that's amazing. Like the revenue piece, that's always exciting, but like seeing the ripple effect of what that means for them to get their time back and to start making more money, how it impacts their family, how it impacts their team, how it impacts their mindset, their audience, like that ripple effect, that's what fires us up all day.
Lee Kantor: Now, is there any part of your roadmap and growth plan that includes helping maybe some entrepreneurs in these underserved markets help them get the escape velocity they need?
Austin Netzley: Absolutely. Right now, we have one program, and we like to keep things really simple. We will be adding a second program that will, actually, probably be on the higher end. And then, after that, we will go to the lower end as well, because there's a formula for that, just like there is a formula for people to scale from six to seven figures that, again, I think is super important for us to get to, and tap into, and again, to make the impact that we want. It's a huge market that we want to serve in a big way. So, that is on the radar, just not in the next six months.
Lee Kantor: Now, if somebody wants to learn more and get a hold of that book that you mentioned or get a hold of you or somebody on your team to have more substantive conversation, what's the website?
Austin Netzley: Yeah, go to 2x.co. That's 2x.co, very simple. Again, we like to keep things nice, and clear and simple, so we help people double their business, double their freedom. So, check out. We've got a ton of great resources. We've got the book that you mentioned From 6 to 7 Figures that right now, we're giving that away for at 6to7book.com. It's also available on Audible and Amazon and everywhere. So, definitely check those out.
Austin Netzley: We've got a lot of great resources out there to talk about the important order to things, because it's my belief that if you can start to approach business in the right order, then you just really get way more traction. And it all begins with the mindset. And then, we get into some of the strategy stuff. And then, we get into some of the other elements. So many people want to go straight to marketing, and keep doing more, and more, and more, and more, and more. No. Let's take a step back, let's really get clear, let's really get strategic, be a true business owner. And I think with a couple tweaks, you can make a big impact. So, if we can guide people on that, that makes me pretty happy.
Lee Kantor: And that's the number 2x.co for more information.
Austin Netzley: Yeah.
Lee Kantor: Well, Austin, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You're doing such important work, and we appreciate you.
Austin Netzley: Thank you, Lee. Love what you're doing as well. Keep it going, man.
Lee Kantor: All right. This is Lee Kantor. We'll see you all next time on Coach the Coach Radio.
