At 33, Eric Walsh is doing well. He is the owner of multiple successful businesses in ecommerce, real estate, the food industry, and cryptocurrency. He owns several properties around the United States, and he is leading clients to their own ecommerce prosperity through his two companies, The Genius Academy and The Genius Academy Automation. With that kind of track record, you might be forgiven for thinking that this businessman rarely has a bad day at the office.
That makes him laugh. “Get real,” he says, shaking his head. “I can’t speak for Bill Gates or Elon Musk, of course, but I can tell you that any business person who attains any degree of success is going to have their share of moments they’d rather put behind them. Every day comes with its landmines, and I have stepped on quite a few. Thankfully I’ve gotten better at avoiding them over the years, but they are a reality in the business world.”
One of the biggest challenges, he says, is that the landscape is constantly changing. “Whether that’s because information moves at the speed of light on social media or because the world is full of a lot of insanely talented people who are always inventing something new, the world you wake up to each day is not the one you faced the day before. If you don’t adapt to that, you will get left behind fast. Actually, I don’t believe in adapting. Instead, I believe in being the person who changes the landscape itself. If you are the innovator, you have more control over what’s happening in your industry and can direct the change.”
Another hurdle is that no matter how much fancy technology you surround yourself with, something always breaks down. “You can have the latest computer, the perfect chair, whatever it is, but that hiccup always comes,” Eric says. “I can’t tell you how many times I would finally get everything running smoothly and synced up, I would feel just amazing – then suddenly, the worst possible thing that could go wrong would hit me. I’m not necessarily talking about anything big, like the stock market crashing. It is often something stupid, something small but that takes just enough of your time to screw up your plans. Pages don’t load, the computer crashes, you constantly have to reset a password, whatever it is. The simplest of things that should work smoothly just doesn’t.”
Eric believes that your attitude will determine how well you fight through the inevitable problems you face as a business person. “I think that God is always testing us. You’ve got to be resilient and not allow these things to knock you down or depress you. You need to fight through it quickly and replace the pain and frustration with action so that you can solve your problems quickly.”
Some of the issues Eric has overcome arose while he was putting together The Genius Academy and The Genius Academy Automation. He did thousands of hours of research to arrive at his formula for selling successfully on Amazon, Shopify, and Walmart Seller Central. “I would love to be able to say that went smoothly, but truthly, there were plenty of times I wanted to pull my hair out,” he says. “I was surrounded by algorithms, contract negotiations with China, and product listings, and it was a lot sometimes. Giving up, however, would have been the easy way out. I know from experience that when you don’t feel like doing something is exactly when you need to be working harder.”
Above all, Eric recommends staying connected to others in the business community. “Don’t let yourself get isolated,” he says. “Sometimes it’s good to reach out to your peers so that you remember that you’re not the only one any of these issues happen to. No matter how well my companies do, I still experience these things all the time. By talking to other leaders, you can maintain your perspective and get some good tips on how to handle what you’re facing.”
