Matt Frey left a career in corporate sales to open Bub’s Burgers & Ice Cream with his wife, Rachel. Both had worked in restaurants, but had never owned one or even managed one. Seven years later, Bub’s was featured on the hit Food Channel show, “Man v. Food.”

During his interview for Restaurant Owners Uncorked, Matt had many inspiring and educational things to say about everything from keeping a concept simple, to having a catch to draw people in, to hiring sales people for every position at Bub’s. But as a fellow entrepreneur, my favorite exchange we had was…

Wil: “How did you finance your first location?”

Matt: “The first bank I went to said no about three times, and I wouldn’t take that. The guy eventually said yes, and then I had a five-year loan, which I paid back in two years. That about knocked them out of their boots because it’s just one of those things – you have to have that attitude of saying that failure is not even close to being an option. It’s amazing how your body and your mind will respond if you think that way.”

I couldn’t agree more Matt. Thinking that way doesn’t guarantee success. But thinking any other way dramatically increases your chances for failure.

Call it karma. The power of positive thinking. “The Secret.” There’s lots of names for this philosophy.

At the end of the day, it’s simple, excellent advice that I’d give to any aspiring business owner in any industry.

Wil