A good understanding of the core business keeps Steinfeld focused even as he is inundated with offers for new business deals.
“If you can imagine Body by Jake Global as a film company where writers are sending scripts in, we are inundated with fitness product ideas,” he says. “We look at everything because you never know. … I feel I’ve got a pretty good gut. And I go on my gut. Sometimes I’m wrong. I’ll always take a meeting because you never know.
“You can’t forget where I started. I would think, ‘I wish somebody would take a meeting with me so I could pitch that idea.’ I’m a big believer in (the fact that) there is a whole lot in the new generation of fitness talent out there, which is why we’re starting this management company to create the next generation of Jakes. There are no new big names in fitness anymore outside of locally or regionally.”
And while he now has a recognizable name and brand, Steinfeld knows he still has much to learn as an entrepreneur.
“Experience makes a leader,” Steinfeld says. “The company goes as you go. If you’re walking around in a pissy mood all the time, everybody in the office is in a pissy mood. If there are challenges, you’ve got to rise above the challenge. You’ve got to find solutions, and if you can’t find solutions, you’ve got to be smart enough.
“Everyone’s human. Everyone makes mistakes, but I really believe it’s all about you need to understand and have a lot of years under your belt to make a good leader. I’m a whole lot better today than I was at 23 or even five years ago.”
Steinfeld bills himself as a street-smart entrepreneur, and after 24 years of learning on the job and finding a way to make money at most everything he touches, he is sharing his business acumen in a new book, “I’ve Seen a Lot of Famous People Naked, and They’ve Got Nothing on You! Business Secrets from the Ultimate Street-Smart Entrepreneur
Steinfeld is also looking for the next great idea and sponsoring a contest in which he will provide the winner with $200,000 and $50,000 worth of flying time on a Marquis Jet to help someone establish a business. He’ll have no ownership in the new company; he is simply trying to find a way to bring another healthy business into the world.
“The fun thing about being an entrepreneur is waking up in the morning and not knowing what’s going to be happening today but feeling it’s going to be good,” Steinfeld says. “Just waiting for the day, coming into the office and making things happen; that’s what it’s always been for me.”
HOW TO REACH: Body by Jake, www.bodybyjake.com
