Meet Joel Primus, founder of Kosan Travel
Joel Primus is a serial entrepreneur, author, speaker, and award-winning filmmaker.
I was a long-distance runner all through high school. I was fortunate enough to receive a full ride to a great school down in North Carolina. I’d just qualified for the World Cross Country Champs and then on a training running and then I tore my achilles. Much like my achilles, my running dreams were shattered and to make a long story short, I lost my mind a little, decided to travel around the world.
During my travels, I found a new purpose in creating brands and building companies. In 2008 I started Naked and after 10 years I sold that business. Kosan Travel is my latest start-up and I’ve filmed a documentary about the importance of travel as a way of educating children to become citizens of the world and published my first book, Getting Naked in January 2021, and I also speak publicly.
What inspired you to launch your business and what is the end goal?
My brother and I were in Peru attempting to film a documentary called Project World Citizen. After months of travel, I was in desperate need of some underwear, so we stopped at a night market and I found these really nice boxer briefs. As soon as the fabric slid between my hands, I started to pay more attention. This was something different. It was smooth like silk but stretchy. Soft like cotton, but light. So I picked up a few to wear right away but for whatever reason instinct kicked in and I bought a few that I didn’t touch until I got home. I’d like to say that, from the moment I picked up those boxers in a Peruvian night market I decided to start Naked, but of course, it was still a multi-year exploration before I actually did. At that point the end goal somewhere between thinking I had a million-dollar idea and being curious to see if I could actually start a business at all.
What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learnt so far as an entrepreneur?
There are three really big ones…
You’re an integral part of the factors that will play into your success, but there are many other factors that are completely out of your control. You have to accept that your attitude and effort is all in your control in the process.
Take responsibility for your mistakes and utilise them as lessons you need to learn. Learning the lessons personally and professionally helps you become the entrepreneur capable of achieving the success you seek.
Don’t be myopic about how something ‘has to work’. Trust the timing of your pursuit and be adaptable and open-minded to change.
What are your thoughts on failure?
As I said above, imbedded in failure are the lessons we need to learn. Our own ego often gets in the way, so when I’m absorbed in the self-destructive thoughts of my own failure, I try to take the perspective of a person looking at me, and I try to offer genuine advice as that outsider to my troubled self. Just like we’re able to bring rational judgment and compassion when our friends seek our counsel and comfort for their own problems, we do have the same capacity with ourselves.
If you could be in a room with 4 entrepreneurs, who would they be and why?
I’m already in the room with truly incredible and wise entrepreneurs every day. I think one of the differences between the celebrity entrepreneurs we know about and the ones we don’t is simply that entrepreneurs desire to be seen and heard. I’ve always thought that for every Elon Musk there are 10,0000 amazing entrepreneurs whose names we don’t know!
That said, I’m a big fan of Tim Ferris and I admire his commitment to the inner work and being vulnerable in sharing his personal journey alongside his entrepreneurial wisdom. I think Naval Ravikant just seems so brilliant and I love how Lebron James, Connor McGregor and Dwyane ‘The Rock’ Johnson utilising their platforms to truly create business success. There are a lot of notable athletes, but what these guys have done, I think, is a lot harder to do than one might expect.
What are your top tips for entrepreneurs wanting to get their business out there?
In start-up land, nothing is ever a straight line. It’s critical that you have some guiding principles, personal and professional in place before you start building your business. Things are not going to always go like you planned. If your principles are solid and clear, they can act as a compass as you navigate the inevitable surprises and sudden changes.
In order to overcome the ‘noise’ of distractions and challenges and stick to the blueprint of your business plan, I recommend using below listed four pillars that really helped me focus when I was building companies:
1. Establish your company’s ‘Why’
2. Establish your guiding principles and core values
3. Establish your objectives
4. Establish what is essential—personally and professionally.
Begin with the end in mind and plan backwards. Know what you're trying to accomplish and establish your ‘sacrifice’ appetite going in. What I mean by sacrifice appetite is how much money, hardship and personal time are you willing to invest in this business.
What plans do you have for your business over the next two years?
Now that Covid-19 seems to have turned a cornered and I’m excited for people to begin travelling again. This means I’ll be rebooting Kosan travel, which we’d all but paused during the pandemic. We have a big human rights mission at Kosan and believe travel makes the world a better place, so this is a business I love being in every day.
What’s the most important question entrepreneurs should be asking themselves?
I think the important thing is just always being able to ask yourself questions. When we stop asking questions we think we have all the answers or we just don’t care.
How did you conquer those moments of doubt that so often affect entrepreneurs or stop many with great ideas – what pushes you through?
Well, if I’m being honest, doubt still crushes me from time to time. I have to presently ground myself, so to speak, because the feeling is living in either the past or the future. Comparison is usually the culprit of doubt and so I have to realign myself in the present moment.
Ask yourself: “What’s the worst that could happen if you take a risk or do this thing of which I’m doubting? What’s the worst that could happen if you don’t?”
The most important thing I’ve learned through my own experiences and that of my mentors is well summarised by Mark Twain: “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do.” So, even if I’m feeling doubt, I usually just suck it up and go for it.
Any moments where you thought you’ve bitten off more than you can chew?
Every day, I question why I’m an entrepreneur at all and every day I answer the question to myself. When you’re raising children, trying to be a good partner, trying to run a successful business, inspire team members - when you think about all these things at once it always feels like more than we can chew. But when slowed down, and we take things one step a time, looking back we realise were in fact able to chew it all ...at least to the best of our own ability!
How did you fund the launch of your business and what creative strategies did you use to execute a minimal cash flow?
I’ve funded my businesses through my own money, at least initially, angel investors, banks and even Kickstarter Campaigns. It’s always a slog getting capital in the door, one that feels kind of like very high stakes speed dating with lots of rejections. You’ll have to suck up pride, be consistent and kiss a lot of frogs when raising money. Minimal cash and cash flow are one of the things that drives ambitious entrepreneurs crazy! There is so much they want to do that frustration sets in when we can’t do it all. But in fact, this leads to better decision making as it forces us to re-align with our business why, our who, and our what. And the more focused we are on those things the better chance we have of being successful in our business. I certainly learned that the hard way, spending way too much time and money on shiny objects opportunities that did nothing for my business.
