Werner Marksfeld

Make sure you’re consistently ironing out any kinks that you see in your process at what you’re delivering to your clients and customer service.

 

Werner Marksfeld grew up in Ontario, Canada. He received his undergraduate degree from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, before he moved to Portland, OR, where he earned his postgrad from the University of Western States.

Marksfeld opened a practice in Everett, Washington. He later transitioned into functional medicine to work with people who have autoimmune diseases, focusing primarily on the thyroid. Marksfeld then created Spokane Weight Loss, a weight loss clinic, to help his clients lose weight using his system and products specially designed for people with autoimmune diseases.

In his free time, Werner Marksfeld enjoys golfing, cycling and running.

Where did the idea for Spokane Weight Loss come from?

The idea came to me after working with clients struggling to lose weight. I started looking into ways to help these people, and after a lot of research, I came up with my clinic and products. My dad had a thyroid issue, which led to his suicide and I believe that’s where the purpose was born to do something different to help people like him. That’s when I transitioned into functional medicine.

What does your typical day look like and how do you make it productive?

As the owner, I work from home. I don’t work in the business anymore. I have a whole team at my office back in Spokane; I don’t even live in Spokane anymore. What I do is manage the business. I still talk to some clients here and there when my health coaches can’t support them enough to get them where they want to go. I might get involved with those cases. However, it’s primarily overseeing the business, managing the books, and making sure that everything is moving in the right direction.

How do you bring ideas to life?

It’s all about coming up with an idea and then testing it out. I think that’s the most significant difference between successful people and those who aren’t; they think about several ideas that they never test or execute on. We execute, and if we fail, we try something different. I think that’s the key. If you have an idea, just go with it, give it a chance and see how it works.

What’s one trend that excites you?

What excites me right now, in my market specifically, is that we’ve been adding certain additional therapies which are more related to body contouring. We’re a player in our market, and everyone knows who we are, so now we’re bringing in another service. We feel that by doing this, we’ll be able to make a difference and attract more people that usually wouldn’t come to a weight loss clinic because they only have a few pounds to lose. So I think that that trend right now where people are really into body contouring and focusing on specific areas is pretty exciting.

What is one habit of yours that makes you more productive as an entrepreneur?

It’s being disciplined, being consistent in what I do every day. I have a routine, and I stick to it regardless.

What advice would you give your younger self?

I’d tell a younger Werner Marksfeld not to sweat the small stuff and to remember the bigger picture, to focus on that instead of getting caught up with all the nonsense that you get caught up in when you’re starting out. I’d tell him to think things through a little more instead of just acting on it immediately. I think most entrepreneurs are guilty of just wanting to jump on something right away, and sometimes they need to step back and really look at it for a minute.

Tell us something that’s true that almost nobody agrees with you on.

The root cause of most illness and weight loss resistance issues, as a whole, is related to very specific environmental toxicities that nobody’s addressing. Specifically, toxins such as glyphosates and heavy metals. This is certainly something that most doctors don’t agree on or weightless specialists. They think it’s all about calories in calories out, but we’ve proven that it is a factor that drives inflammation in the body like nothing else. Inflammation is the root cause of all disease, including weight loss resistance.

As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?

Consistently, on a daily basis, assess your business. Assess every dollar you’re spending, look at the data, return on investment, and audit our marketing efforts. I borrow this recommendation from someone else, but looking at your people, looking at your process and looking at profitability is essential in making sure that your team is taken care of and that you’re supporting them the best way you can. Make sure you’re consistently ironing out any kinks that you see in your process at what you’re delivering to your clients and customer service.

What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business?

Consistency and market analysis prior to jumping into a market. I think just being with the people, jumping out when you know you need to jump out, and jumping in when you need to jump in, and taking certain calculated risks. I think that’s the key.

What is one failure you had as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?

I’ve had to reinvent myself three times. After my dad’s death, I sold my practice, and I thought I was going to do something different, but that never panned out, and I lost everything. I tried to start over in 2010, did well, but made some bad choices. After I went through a divorce, I had to start over again in 2016. Yet, just knowing that I can do it, being smarter on the second and third round in terms of how I executed it, and getting smarter every time. I went from an insurance-based model to a cash-based model. I learned how to streamline my business in terms of cutting out unnecessary overhead and just being very specific in what we offer. It’s finally given me the chance to be free. I don’t have to be in a building every single day, and I work from home.

What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?

I think, especially here in the U.S., there’s this drawn interest in businesses that have a purpose beyond than them just making money. They either focus on the environment or serving people, or something to that effect. If you’re in a current business venture with an idea or starting a new business, building your business around that interest is showing success. An example would be having a product that you manufacture say in a third world country, and by doing, so it’s supporting that little village with jobs and fair wages. I believe people would receive that really well and would want to support it just because of that initiative. So that’s something to consider.

What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?

The best $100 I spent recently was taking my fiancé out for dinner and loving on her.

What is one piece of software or a web service that helps you be productive?

There are a few I use, but from a productivity standpoint, the one I like the most is ClickFunnels. It’s a cloud-based software that generates various landing pages for marketing purposes. It generates websites or membership sites where our clients have access to the information we put on there. That’s one thing about our system. We not only give them information about how to be successful as weight lost clients but we also include everything else, including how to be preventative. So it’s just a tool that we use to communicate and deliver information to our clients and consumers.

What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?

The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson. It has some really great insight on how you get the slight edge in terms of business and personal. How you can outperform your competitors, how to get that edge so to speak so you can be successful. Everybody’s looking for that, right? We’re in a very competitive world, and everybody’s competing with everyone, and this book has some great insights on how to really stand out.

What is your favorite quote?

“Fall seven times, stand up eight.” – Japanese proverb.

Key Learnings:

● When you have an idea, test it out. You will never know if it will work out if you never try.
● Assess your business every single day. Assess every dollar you’re spending, look at the data, return on investment, and audit making. Looking at your people, looking at your process and looking at profitability is essential in your company’s success.
● Don’t sweat the small stuff and focus on the bigger picture. Don’t be afraid to take a step back and think things through before jumping into something.

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