1 – Q) Kindly give our readers an introduction to your business. Please include what your business is all about, in which city you are located and if you have offices in multiple locations/ cities.
A) Our business is precious metals–both for investors who want to diversity and for people who want to use gold as an alternative form of payment. By storing their physical gold and using new technology to keep track of it, consumers can spend a portion without having to ship the gold directly to the vendor.
2 – Q) Kindly give us a brief description about yourself (it should include your brief educational or entrepreneurial background and list some of your major achievements).
A) Scott Carter is a successful executive and sought-after voice in the business world. With over thirty years of experience in scaling start-ups into industry leaders and growing Fortune 500 businesses, Scott knows how to make money, build on it, and protect it. He’s been the CEO of several large private financial companies and has held other senior management positions in publicly held insurance companies. He’s a trusted commentator on national news and financial media outlets, a speaker at large investment conferences, and a writer of articles and blogs that help thousands of people protect their hard-earned savings and retirement in these volatile economic times. Scott was the host of The American Advisor, a daily business radio program, and the host of Money FAQS, a financial insights program and Financial Fastlane, a weekly online communication for people interested in getting the right information for their investing and retirement planning needs. He recently co-authored and published a book You Got This! Your Million Dollar Path to Financial Freedom with Morgan James Publishing in New York. He currently serves on the board of the National Foundation of Women Legislators and has served on a number of other boards including The Woodrow Wilson Center, Trinity International University, Opportunity Inc., and Christ Church Lake Forest. Scott is the founder of PM Capital, a commodities investment company. Prior to founding PM Capital, he was the CEO and part-owner of other large commodities investment companies. He has spent his career in financial services with companies including Unitrin and Allstate. He received his bachelor’s degree from Valparaiso University and his Master’s in Business Administration from Lake Forest Graduate School of Management.
3 – Q) What inspired you to (start a new business venture) or (to make significant changes in an existing business)? How did the idea for your business come about?
A) As one who is knowledgeable about the history of money, the gold markets and the intrinsic value of gold, which is the same all over the world, it became clear to me that we are at another crossroads in history in terms of how we are going to transact business.
4 – Q) What three pieces of advice would you give to budding entrepreneurs?
A) Do your homework. Take Risks. Never give up.
5 – Q) What would you say are the top three skills needed to be a successful entrepreneur?
A) A ruthless attention to the markets and the details of the industry you are embarking in, A strategic and operational mindset, A “take the hill” leadership where others want to join you in your vision.
6 – Q) How many hours do you work a day on average?
A) 18
7 – Q) To what do you most attribute your success?
A) Experience and Persistence
8 – Q) How do you go about marketing your business? What has been your most successful form of marketing?
A) Word of mouth, TV and Radio Advertisements, Selling Agents, Affiliate Marketing. Affiliate Marketing has proven successful.
9 – Q) Where did your organizations funding/capital come from and how did you go about getting it? How did you obtain investors for your venture?
A) Private investors, all of which know me well and understand my expertise and experience.
10- Q) What is the best way to achieve long-term success?
A) Keep at it, every day, with the attitude that hard work and a laser focus pays off.
11 – Q) Where do you see yourself and your business in 5 – 10 years?
A) Running a highly successful operation that spans the globe.
12 – Q) Excluding yours, what company or business do you admire the most?
A) Any business that was started from the ground up by an individual or group of individuals that had a vision to transform an industry, and then did it. While Amazon comes to mind, so too does Apple and Microsoft.
13 – Q) How important have good employees been to your success?
A) Top priority for building a successful business
14 – Q) How long do you stick with an idea before giving up?
A) Years.
15 – Q) What motivates you?
A) Seeing the small (and big wins) along the journey
16 – Q) What are your ideals?
A) Courage, Faith, Persistence, and Hard Work.
17 – Q) How do you generate new ideas?
A) Think about the end result, strategize with teammates on options to get there, brainstorm on radical ideas
18 – Q) How do you define success?
A) Waking up each day with the perspective that you will do your best to accomplish the tasks at hand and the vision for your business, then going to bed each night knowing you have done just that.
19 – Q) How do you build a successful customer base?
A) Know who your target is, understand their needs, use multiple channels to reach them, establish partnerships with other entities to find and grow your customer base, provide exceptional customer service, and make them feel valued by your organization.
20 – Q) What is your favorite aspect of being an entrepreneur?
A) Knowing that building something from the ground up, if successful, can change an industry.
21 – Q) What has been your most satisfying moment in business?
A) Getting a solid group of customers that enabled us to generate consistent revenue
22 – Q) What do you feel is the major difference between entrepreneurs and those who work for someone else?
A) Entrepreneurs are self-driven to achieve greatness. Those who work for others are comfortable riding on the back of someone else.
23 – Q) What kind of culture exists in your organization? How did you establish this tone and why did you institute this particular type of culture?
A) Nothing substitutes for hard, focused work and taking risks, even if it doesn’t pan out, will never be looked down on.
24 – Q) In one word, characterize your life as an entrepreneur.
A) Determined
25 – Q) If you had the chance to start your career over again, what would you do differently?
A) Start my own business sooner and take more risks earlier in life.
26 – Q) How has being an entrepreneur affected your family life?
A) Everyone gets in the game, and everyone understands the risk/reward. You have to be more intentional in “turning off” for short time periods in order to reboot and sometimes reorder priorities. While family will always be my first priority, it takes more effort as an entrepreneur to make them think that!
27 – Q) What is your greatest fear, and how do you manage fear?
A) Not accomplishing the vision I have set out there for the business and my team. Managing fear is all mental. I never dwell in the “what if” mental space. It is an intentional mindset to never let fear of anything, including failure, paralyze the action required.
28 – Q) How did you decide on the location for your business?
A) Thought about where great employees would be located and where a lifestyle that my family appreciates and would come visit us would be. We chose the mountains and skiing!
29 – Q) Do you believe there is some sort of pattern or formula to becoming a successful entrepreneur?
A) There is no one size fits all. Everyone has a different personality. The key is to know yourself well enough to be able to lean into your strengths and get others alongside you that fill in where there are weaknesses–creating an unconquerable team and fully functioning “battalion” to take the hill together and accomplish great things.
30 – Q) If you could talk to one person from history, who would it be and why?
A) Winston Churchill. He persevered and led an entire nation through many trials.
Who has been your greatest inspiration?
31 – Q) What book has inspired you the most? (OR what is your favorite book?)
A) The Bible. It is my go to for great inspiration, wisdom and grounding. And the biblical characters–David, Moses, Joshua, Joseph, Paul–to name a few– were all flawed people yet used greatly to accomplish so much in their lives.
32 – Q) What are some of the biggest mistakes you’ve made?
A) Not starting my own business sooner.
33 – Q) How can you prevent mistakes or do damage control?
A) Get a group of good people alongside that will challenge, test and retest assumptions, poke holes in plans and then be part of any damage control that inevitably happens in a startup.
34 – Q) What are your hobbies? What do you do in your non-work time?
A) Golf and Ski
35 – Q) What makes you happy?
A) When we see wins –big or small–and people are excited that the vision is being implemented and coming to life.
36 – Q) What sacrifices have you had to make to be a successful entrepreneur?
A) The buck stops with me, and that means often a financial sacrifice to enable the team to keep strong and solid. Also, there is no moment of the day (or night) that the business is not on my mind. Retirement is not optional.
37 – Q) If you were conducting this interview, what question would you ask?
A) What keeps you up at night?
