Your 2024 Survival Guide

Whats up my friends? Happy Thursday!

I’m on an early morning flight up to Toronto to do some 2025 off-site planning with the Founders Club team. We’ll be staying up at my co-founder Aaron’s lakehouse in Muskoka…which they call the Hamptons of Canada. Not sure if that’s really true or not but all I know is that I’m ready for a crazy year filled with over 100 events we’re planning on throwing.

To stay in the know with everything Founders Club, make sure to check the site out and apply if you’re over $500k in annual revenue.

Before we get into this week’s newsletter I want to give a massive shout out to my friends over at Chargeflow. They have been incredible sponsors of the newsletter and myself overall and I want to give them an extra shout. If you ever deal with chargeback issues or planning to have a backorder issue, then you need to use them. They win more chargebacks than anybody I’ve ever met and automates the entire process.

Last winter we were 4000 units backordered in Australia and had to tell the angry customers to try to be patient and 40 more days. Each day the customers got angrier and angrier. Some even went out of their way to call my mom on Facebook Messenger to tell her that her sons were scammers and going to hell.

That was the last straw for me and Chargeflow took over afterwards.

As we approach the end of the year, this is our last chance to squeeze 2024 for all its worth and set up a solid foundation for 2025. I know it can be hard to stay locked in after the holiday grind, but a few little things will set you up for massive success.

This week I’m putting out my version of a “survival guide” built for those who want to close the year with impact and walk into 2025 already ahead of the game. If that sounds like you, let’s dive in.

1) Double Down on What Works

Q4 is no time to experiment or get distracted by low-impact tasks. I was on a podcast yesterday and the interviewee asked “what was one of my biggest mistakes?”

The answer that immediately came to mind was simply trying to do TOO MUCH. Instead of trying to push forward 30 projects a week, focus 80% of your time on 2-3 that provide major results.

Much smarter marketers than me say it all the time, but there is a real solid argument for just sticking to one marketing channel until you cross $15-20M. If Meta is working keep focusing there. If organic & influencer is crushing, double down on that.

Doubling down on what’s proven will always beat spread-thin effort in Q4.

2) Create Your Non-Negotiables

You’ve got limited time, so define exactly what must be done by year-end and don’t waver. Make these goals specific and measurable and WRITE THEM DOWN.

Everybody has a different time where they can do “deep work” but mark it on the calendar. Put your phone away. Get that shit done.

For me it’s first thing in the morning around 8AM with a matcha in hand. The dogs been walked. The phone is away. I get to grind. Because if I don’t knock off the 1-2 items I need to do I will think about them all day long and feel guilt that they aren’t done yet. The rest of the day is a drag. I can’t enjoy the gym. I can’t fully destress because I feel like a piece of shit for not banging out a simple task. Get it done baby.

Everybody has a different idea of success, whether its a revenue milestone, signing a certain amount of clients, or launching that final product push, know the goal, the timeline, and the measurable steps to get there.

Every decision you make between now and year-end should pass one test: does this action bring you closer to these goals? No gray area here — this is the time to get serious about results.

3) Protect Yourself From Chargebacks

I gave them a big shout before as they have been an incredible sponsor, but I can’t overstate enough that your job as a founder or leader should be trying to affordably outsource as many things that as possible that are outside of your core compentancy or distracts you from your non-negotable goals. Chargeflow does this for us for chargebacks.

Did you know that ecom fraud increases by 35% during Black Friday & Cyber Week? same period. Chargebacks can surge by as much as 60% during the holiday season, as many direct-to-consumer (DTC) companies launch their BFCM campaigns only to face a flood of chargebacks in the following months.

Just this Monday we had a fraud situation where a customer ordered 8 units of the same product only to find out just a few days later that this order was fraudulent. Thank god we did not ship it as we would have been out over $250 in product costs and another $150 in shipping. Stack up a few mistakes like this and watch all your profit disintegrate.

You know I always work to give you guys the best discounts and freebies. Chargeflow is hooking it up with $10,000 in free managed chargebacks until the end of the year.

Last year we had nearly $75,000 in chargebacks that Chargeflow helped win.

If you like the service (which you will), you can keep using it. You'll only pay for chargebacks they successfully recover for you.

If you don't find it useful, you can easily uninstall it with just one click. Legit no risk in trying it out and don’t wait until February to discover all your profits and inventory were stolen through chargebacks.

Get $10,000 worth of Chargebacks managed now, just use code CHRIS10k

4) Own Your Energy (Before It Owns You)

Q4 is a marathon, not a sprint. If you’re burnt out, you’re out of the game, and you’ll enter 2025 in a position to lose. Keep your energy in check with small, intentional breaks. I’m not going to turn this into a self-care rant, but I am going to tell you that it matters.

There’s no point in pushing for hours if the quality of your work is in a slump. You’re better off giving 100% for six hours than a scattered 50% for ten.

Find what keeps you fresh. Maybe it’s a quick workout, a 10-minute walk, or setting your phone on silent and blocking everything out for a while. Make these small investments in yourself so you don’t hit the burnout wall before year-end.

5) Reflect on What Worked (and What Didn’t)

As the year closes, it’s crucial to take stock of Q4’s wins and setbacks. Did any campaigns outperform expectations? Were there challenges that blindsided you? What led to the most productive version of yourself?

Taking the time now to analyze both successes and failures will save you from repeating mistakes in 2024. Think of this as an investment in clarity. You’re laying the groundwork for a smarter start next year by doubling down on what’s effective and dropping what’s not.

6) Get a Handle on Your Financials

Numbers don’t lie. They hurt sometimes. But there’s no running from it. Q4 can be make-or-break for your bottom line, and knowing where you stand financially right now is so important.

Are you overstocked? Understocked? Do you have a massive tax bill coming up? Do you need to hire? Or worse, fire?

This week we are doing a company wide operational expense reflection where we are looking at every charge that hits the statement. Our goal is to chop expenses by 25% across the board without shrinking revenue. Can we do it? I sure hope so.

7) Set Clear, Actionable Goals for 2025

I am blessed to have a co-founder in Aaron Spivak who loves goal setting and workshops. I’ve never been one for manifesting, but its really true that the more you plan and visualize your goals the more they actually comde to life.

If you’re looking for the best goal setting session you’ve ever been apart of then you need to come to our Mind, Body, Business Retreat in Tulum on December 11th-14th.

We have four rooms left before we are sold out.

8) Go on Blind Dates

Its no surprise my best ideas come when I’m away from the computer and on a walk or in the bath. The only other time I unlock similar learnings is when I connect with other founders. Make a small list of people you admire and shoot them a note to connect and chat for a few minutes.

Obviously it will be a little easier to lock in a conversation if you are within the same revenue bracket or have something you can offer them. I know you may stressed and thinking I have no time to network, but I promise one or two 30 minute conversations are not going to kill you and will leave you super enlightened.

I just linked up with the co-founder of Truvani in Miami for lunch the other week and it was the highlight of my week. Such a smart guy and now I have a resource in my corner when I may have a question on scaling our operations (they have 80+ employees) and will sell one day for $500M+.

I hope you guys enjoyed this week’s newsletter and my survival guide. It would mean the world if you forwarded this to a friend or two who would enjoy. The only way this newsletter continues to grow is by dropping value and helping you grow your business.

I’ll be in Toronto until this upcoming Monday. If you’re in town and want to grab lunch or possibly come to our Founders Club Members only event on Sunday let me know!

From there I’m heading to LA until Wednesday to go shoot a video with my good friends over at Walmart. I’ll have a pretty light schedule on Tuesday and I’d love to link up with as many of you as possible. Also if you have good hotel recommendations send them my way!

Talk soon and I hope you have the best week of your life.

Chris