¶ Building Value in Entrepreneurship
hey everybody . It's another episode of big talk about small business . Sorry , I was a little late on the punch there . That's all right , man , you can be late if you want . Thanks , mark , the party doesn't start till you get here . Hell yeah , ever . I love that because you're the life of the party , eric .
Thank you , mark . I appreciate that . That's great . Thanks , buddy .
No , it's good to be here with you .
Yeah , we were just sitting here chatting . I wanted to say this for the show . But I mean , like this is my favorite hour of the week , man , it really is . I actually look forward to this .
I know I actually that's funny , you . You say that no , because we have so many things to do . Yeah , like this morning I got up like ah , damn , I got to do the show with eric . But then I that you know what . It's always fun , yeah , we always have , you know , and I come out of this with a million ideas .
Every time I come out of this I'm firing texts and emails off the people . That's beautiful , man . Okay , because it really does get me thinking about things .
Well , I think there's you know like . Hopefully our listeners feel the same way , right ? I mean because we need . You know what I think it is . I need companionship .
I need to actually not feel as much normal , but just feel that there's somebody else that shares the same kind of problems and the crap that I have to go through on a daily in this specific relevant area . Right , because it's like never ending chaos you're right and being .
Nobody wants to be alone in that no that's a bad island , bro . It's like um , I don't know if I what you know , my first wife was an alcoholic and drug addict and also a a licensed psychologist , by the way . No disclaimer , you're really not . Heal thyself , I think , was her quest . Oh , she was , she was Okay . I thought you just claimed that you are .
Oh no , no , she does Okay . Yeah , she does Three degrees . Well , she's a very intelligent woman , but she had some problems .
But anyway , during the time I was trying to get her straightened out , I took my kids to the Al-Anon family group meetings and the best part about that it's the families of the people that have the problems and just getting to find out they're not alone . It's the same thing here .
It's like oh okay , I'm not a freak , I'm not the only person dealing with this stuff .
Yeah , because you can feel like honestly , like a lot of times I've felt that because of all these chaotics , chaos , these problems , this stuff , I'm honestly , I'm like what's wrong with my organization skills , what's wrong with my ability to manage ? I'm like what's wrong with my organization skills , what's wrong with my ability to manage , what's wrong with me ?
Because it looks like Mark Zweig's got his shit all kinds of together .
Yes , I know that feeling extremely well .
I thought that about you . That's good , we broke , but we just broke through some massive , independent , alone psychological shit .
Just right , there you're , you're so right and that , and that's a perfect setup for the some of the things that we need to talk about . Okay , one of them is the fact that , because shit is going wrong all the time , right and opportunities are hitting us that need to be acted on . Okay , now , not later . Right now , later is the enemy .
Yes , you don't have time now . What makes you think you're gonna have it later ?
you're not you'll never have the time . You won't , okay , and you certainly don't want to have the time to sit there and think and dwell . That's bad .
It is bad and usually your decision making doesn't improve over time . It's my experience . It probably gets worse . But no , I was just thinking about some of the bad advice I see on LinkedIn . Okay , from these quote solo printers which I don't thinking about . Some of the bad advice I see on LinkedIn from these quote solo printers which I don't like .
The title Right , because I think it's a bullshit title . Right , because entrepreneurs build value in their business . That's what makes them different from small business owners . And what kind of value are you going to build in a one-person business ? None , none . But anyway , because the value is all with you and what you do , you can have a nice business .
Yeah , don't get me wrong , yeah , you can make a good living , but anyway , I don't want to get to that point , though .
I mean the reason why , like in a thing , that's good , because people , if they're thinking that way about that advisor you know anybody that's wanting to get into entrepreneurship is nervous , and if they're not in it , it's because there's something that's blocking them .
Yeah Right , they don't want to take the risk or they don't want to lose their job or worry about their income . All these reasons a lot of years , yeah . And then they get advice about hey , you can be a solopreneur of where you're just alone and you don't have to worry about all these other big pain points that a company will bring .
And that would make me feel , if I was in that role , fearful about all the other things that come with business . I'll be like well , that sounds like a nice thing to do , yeah , and then you get into it and you start doing it , and then , five years later , you're this solo entrepreneur that has no value to sell anybody and nothing .
And as soon as you don't work your tail off , the whole thing dies . There's no income at all . Boom , okay , that's right . That's the other problem with it . That's okay . It doesn't build up any inertia , you know .
No , and just like her point in the beginning , I would not want to be alone as an entrepreneur . I swear it's one of the reasons I grew my company in the beginning . I would not want to be alone as an entrepreneur .
I swear it's one of the reasons I grew my company in the first place .
¶ The Entrepreneurial Work Ethic
I can remember back in 1988 sitting in my one room office above russ's lunches for so much sales for smoking . Yeah , I was actually , and I had native cap company down below and we throw the bots out the window and they'd yell knock that shit off . You know Austinians , but no , seriously , it's long like that .
You know , I was in a multi-tenant building and there were like six or seven other businesses up there on the second floor and we used to all talk . I even started to write a TV show script about that , but I don't have it anywhere . It was like all in a day's work . There's like been one . All the crazy characters you know that were in that building .
But having when you hire people and they , they come about like that community . Yeah , you're building a culture you're building , I mean , like no one human kind of is not meant to be oscillate a lot . Let's hope the problem with covid ? Absolutely it's been a problem with COVID , in my opinion . Absolutely it's been terrible , really .
Screwed people , right , yes , and then they don't come back to work , they stay at home and work at home , yeah , and you're all by yourself and , yes , it's convenient . Who the hell doesn't want to stay in your gym ? Stay five piss in five minutes , make myself my coffee , sit down , do my thing , and then it's 10 am and I've been alone .
There's some peace to that . That makes you lethargic and worthless and hurt , and you hurt because you're not communing with other people , which is a really important fact of life . It's a human condition , it's a universal law and that you can't break it is .
You're right , it's a need . And the other thing is that you're not as good because nobody's holding you accountable you know what I mean and nobody's giving you new ideas .
Well the thing coming to the office . That's the accountability thing . Yeah , and you need to be held accountable . Just like you said , if I have to go to the office , I at least have to shower . Yeah , and then I have to brush my teeth yes , I at least have to shower .
Yeah , and then I have to brush my teeth . Yes , and if you're there , you have to do something worthwhile .
Right . Yeah , because you're being watched Right and you need to be watched as a human being . There's nothing wrong with that .
And even though you're the boss , you're still being watched .
Oh and we want to get watched more . Okay , in my experience , absolutely Like when people are like it must be nice to be your own boss I'm like dude .
I am the least , the least of the boss around here , because my clients are watching , my employees are watching , my team , my partners are definitely watching , the government is watching , yeah , my vendors are watching , everyone's watching , it's so true .
And so you get held to this accountability level , right , and that's what happens when some people that don't want to be held accountable right , they get in these positions , they have a successful business and they crash Because all they have to do is mess up one time and your entire career is ruined .
Like if you're doing nasty , bad things and you get popped by doing that , well , you only got one reputation , bro , you kill it .
Yeah , I always said you can recover from any amount of loss of money or people or customers or clients , as long as your reputation's intact . Every time you'll recover . You can . At least it's so important . But let me go back , though , to my point about the solopreneurs and advice on LinkedIn . They're telling people it's okay to check out for the weekend .
Don't check your email , go on vacation . Don't check your email , disengage . Look at your email once a day . I'm like who can run their business ? Can you imagine looking at your email one time a day ? What job allows you to do that ? You've got customers . You've got clients . You've got employees . You've got suppliers .
You've got problems , problems , problems , problems . They need to be dealt with .
That's right , and you don't have time , yeah , if you check out , right yes , and you don't do those things , then you're getting further behind . It's just the reality of it , it is .
I mean , I wish I could say look , I don't blame anybody who wants to check out , life was freaking . Truthfully , life was better before we had these damn things . It was yeah , the quality of life was better Before we had a phone . Yeah , business travel you'd leave , you know . You could read books .
You'd call home one time a day yeah , maybe you said hi to your kids or whatever . Yeah , yeah , the rest of the time you're working , and then you were off , okay , yeah , then you were doing your thing , yeah , and it just like it was . Sure , it was nice you could focus , you could do , you know .
But , um , yeah , you could go home on the weekend and , and then , you know , concentrate on stuff .
So let me ask you this , mark you've been an entrepreneur for a long time yes , a long long time right . What ? 30 years long , 40 , 50 ? 50 , 50 plus two plus one years long you've been an entrepreneur . That's a , that's right . So are you have , have you , are things less chaotic or think , are there less problems since you've been doing that ?
I mean , can you disengage ?
No , I can never . Truthfully , I've said I wanted to at times , but you can't Right , because if you want to stay up , you want to stay relevant , you want to be known for exceptional service . Yeah , you want to be able to deal with things in a timely manner so they don't go out of control . You've got to be hooked up out of control .
You've got to be hooked up , you know . There's one thing I can say is that I know that if I text you or I call you , I will get through to you , Like I've always known that about you . Well , I try to be that .
To me it just shows respect . Yeah , you know , it says that somebody's important enough to and I don't feel like I'm bothering you . No , you're not bothering me . I tell my students to like , oh , I was going to text you but it was late . I'm like , dude , text me anytime you want , it doesn't matter .
They don't know that you're a freaking animal , dude , they don't realize that you're a freaking animal . The night before last , corinna Longenbaugh and I , from Janus , were going back and forth between 3 and 4 am and it wasn't even like , hey , you can ride , it was just completely normal . I'm serious , between three and four . I love it . I was in New York .
I can't sleep when I'm out of town , yeah , and so I just work .
So how do you deal with not getting enough sleep ? How do you ?
power through , just power on through , baby , what you know ? I looked at my aura ring report . I got five hours in one minute last night . I've got a 61 out of a hundred . Okay , but damn it , boom . At 6 am I bounced out of bed and started working .
Okay .
¶ Entrepreneurship, Leadership, and Vision
So some folks would be like that's not good for you , you shouldn't do that , you shouldn't work so hard . Blah , blah , blah , blah . I call bull crap on them .
Yeah , are they happier ? No , that's the thing .
They're not happier , they're more useful . Yeah , there is something to be said . I can look back and say I do quite a bit of reflection , right , especially in our old age . Right , you're an introspective guy ? Yeah , I am . Yeah , I look at the deeper things in life , right . Yeah , but I look back and I'm just yesterday .
I was taking some time and I was just reflecting . It just happens , you know , there's times where you just start doing it , yeah , and then you stay in that space for a little bit . But I was thinking about , like , the amount of things that I had done not saying accomplished , but the amount of things that I have done . And I just started looking back .
You know tina's like dude , I work my freaking butt off and I work my butt off . Then I've never not worked my freaking butt right , and you're doing it right now , you jump back in it .
It's not necessarily a requirement , you know that , no , but it's it .
There's , it's natural . The thing that comes from that is a sense of accomplishment , is honor .
It's the only thing You're right and those are the only things that make people actually feel good . Yes , buying stuff , going on fancy vacations , just eating out at the fanciest restaurant , or whatever , it's not that gratified . No , you know . No , it's just not no , it's the accomplishment .
Which goes back to your solopreneur thing . Here's what I would say about that the big warning sign , because when I do look back , what makes me feel even better about what I've done in my life is thinking about those people that I have worked with and helped too .
You've built up a lot of people .
Yes , hel have worked with and help too . You've built up a lot of people . Yes , help grow with . I see these people that are doing much better now .
There are people that were making minimal salary wages when we started working together that are now making four to five X that they would never have ever been able to do without others working together on something bigger , which a solopreneur will never do for anyone else , and they won't be able to look back on that and see and be part of that community that
did that .
And miss one of the most gratifying aspects of business ownership in life that you can have . Yeah , it's always . I always tell my students , you know , we always start out the semester with like why do people want to be in business ? You know , and usually somebody to make a lot of money .
You know , if you look at the surveys , that's always way down on the list . There's a whole lot of other stuff . It's like well , I want to have control over my time . Yeah , but you work more than somebody who has a job . Okay , that's my time . Yeah , but you work more than somebody who has a job . Okay , that's true .
Okay , fine , but you've got some control over when you do whatever it is you have to do . You have that freedom to choose whatever you want to activate into something yeah , and then you do get to help other people and create good jobs for people which help their families and witness their growth over time .
Super rewarding it is and I think the folks like the thing about it is uh , leadership right and witness their growth over time . Super rewarding it is and I think the folks like the thing about it is leadership right , which you know .
I enjoy the conversations and the theories about it , like it's always kind of cool to again introspect and you get into that right . But there's also a raw , animal way of leadership of which I think an entrepreneur has is the responsible one for right ? Is they the silverback , a silverback ? Listen , such a good point . Everyone can relate to the silver .
The silverback . Don't give a shit mark , okay , silverback is who the silverback is . He wakes up , he's ready to fight and then you give a shit Mark , okay , silverback is who the silverback is . He wakes up , he's ready to fight at any given moment notice and he does his thing all day and he is who he is . He's not thinking should I be a silverback ?
He is just a silverback . It's life or death . It's constantly fighting . It's dealing with problems that come around the way , but when there's not problems , he's eating the leaf bro . He's capitalizing on opportunities , but he's not sitting there theorizing any of that kind of stuff .
But there's something about entrepreneur as a leader to where we just you take action . You fight for the opportunity , for the purpose that you're driving , for this goal that very few other people will do yeah they don't believe it's possible .
They can't really visualize it , and we talk a lot about this . You know this whole idea of how do you turn on people to get them to see what the real possibility is . I think if you look at any real entrepreneur , that is something that they're always thinking about or experimenting with .
I had a fellow entrepreneur in the community call me up for lunch and was like hey , man , I want to get your thoughts on some stuff . By the way , he tunes in , he loves our podcast . Great , I love him . Yeah , we too love him . So I showed up , right , but he was just talking about that very thing .
He's like how were you able , as me , to inspire and get other people ? And I'm like , listen , he's like I feel frustrated about this . I'm like , bro , listen , we are all . But I did hit . There was a period of where I did hear a quote that was really helpful for me . It was a few years ago . I did hear a quote that was really helpful for me .
It was a few years ago . By the time you get done , by the time you are tired of saying something , is the time other people are starting to listen .
That's me relieved , this frustration that I've had , like why am I with people Like I would get up and I would say something cheerleading and freaking , cast vision , then I'd walk in and every time people are looking at me like I'm crazy , yeah , and then there's little reaction ?
No , zero reaction . I think they have the meeting after the meeting . They're talking about it , but not with you , and not any public reaction .
Bill , I would even get to the point , I'd be looking at the group , the team going . Are you all not listening to the other thing I'm saying ? You know , and I'll just leave . The problem , though , is this bubble of frustration that you have as an entrepreneur , where you don't believe that people are taking in what you're saying .
But when I heard that message like , it made sense to me because I think it's the to your point . It's how do you get people to corral around a vision ? I think it's frequency , consistency , of just constantly pushing that . All that If people start to Small victories , small victories , yes .
Promote those in the context of the greater vision . That's it . That's it , yeah , absolutely essential
¶ Entrepreneurial Leadership and Motivation
.
And it's not always that Braveheart speech , right , you know , whenever he talks about bolts a lot and coming from his ass and all that kind of stuff , right , like I mean that was a great speech , but there are times that that might happen .
But it's very critical and it's a very urgent matter to rally people up and it's not always a rally , right , but you , as an entrepreneur , hold this rally that you're just constantly driving on and to be able to speak that out . And if he asked , then he's like well , when do you do that ? And I'm like man , speak that out .
And he asked , then he's like well , when do you do that ? And I'm like man , I actually look back in every single meeting that I'm in , even today . You're doing it , I'm doing it . Sure , not because I'm going . There is a need for me to cast vision , right ?
I understand that . That's when it takes on the bullshit . That's right . It starts smelling bad . Yeah , you shit . That's right , our aura it starts smelling bad . Yeah , they don't . You know . You know , you're sincere , you don't need to create .
You need to use superman . Superman doesn't calculate if he should stand up and puff his chest up if somebody's coming to the territory . He doesn't do that , he doesn't think about that , he's just a freaking animal man . It doesn't , it just doesn't , and that's what we gotta do . That's why I think that .
But again to your point how can you be an animal entrepreneur and be genuine about this , like you see something so clearly as an entrepreneur that and it's driving you to fix whatever problem that is or fit that market need ?
That's when you know you're an entrepreneur and you cannot then therefore get sucked into some sort of theoretical solopreneur game , because that's going to quash your soul , squash your spirit of course it is and you're going to lose all the reward that you are feeling it's , in a way , too , you know , what you're saying makes a lot of sense .
I never really thought about it this way , but the the ? If you think you always need more information , that then delays action , okay , yeah , hell , yes , you always need more information , but that's not going to stop you from acting if you're an entrepreneur , and so I think that's another back-to-your-silverback theory .
Okay , you know , because a lot of people , they're afraid to make a decision . They don't have enough information , and so they're afraid to make a decision . I think , as a leader , though , of an entrepreneurial organization , you need to set the example . Of course , that's the most important thing .
You need to get these small victories and show people hey , you're right , okay , and you need to have some big victories . So they're like hey , you know what ? Maybe we ought to listen . Okay , this guy or gal gals knows something . Yep , they're bringing some victories , and I think you've got to make examples out of people who really go for it .
It's true , you can't let your current salary structure and bureaucratic HR-related stuff stand in the way of really rewarding somebody quickly , stand in the way of really rewarding somebody quickly who's buying into the program , doing what they need to do , and being an example for everybody else .
It's funny you say that because literally just last week I rewarded an individual here with our company , just completely random , random . No , the thing was is I ?
I thought of the , I'm like that guy like I , like I , he needs to continue on doing what he's doing because he's actually he doesn't even know it , but he's leading others right , doesn't even know it , right , and I could sit down and have these theoretical long-term leadership conversations and whatever . But you know what I did instead ? I just made the call .
I was like I think this would be a good amount to throw over his way or the fence , I think this might help him . I didn't start thinking about what he felt , right , yeah , exactly . So I was like hey , five-minute conversation ? Hey , listen , I'm sending this to you . I did tell him .
I was like I want you to know this is a reward for what you have done . This isn't about what I need you to do , but you did this and you did a great job and I appreciate that and I'm going to send this to you the next time you're going to get it . And he's like thanks , man , I mean this is going to .
Really , I'm like listen , man , I don't want to talk about this anymore . This doesn't need to go so deep . This is what you did . I want you to know going forward , keep doing more .
Remember your psychology 101 classes that we all had in undergrad school . Intermittent reinforcement Strongest kind If I know . Every time I pick up this can I get paid a dollar . Yeah , at some point I'm going to get bored picking up the can , that's right .
But if , like randomly , I could pick this can up and somebody could give me a dollar , yeah , I don't know when . Yeah , that's actually more of a reinforcement
¶ Corporate Structure vs Entrepreneurship
.
Who do you think started the processed bonus structures ? Right , I think . If we really think about that for a minute I bet that was an accountant's idea yeah , so that they can make it easier to do the entries in the HR teams . So our accountants and HR teams at big corporations , entrepreneurs , hail .
They stifle , they absolutely stifle the growth of the company .
And then they set rules and procedures in place so that , when your organization gets bigger , you can't throw things over the fence Right , exactly .
My big thing is just like pay increases . Yeah , once a year salary review with a . Oh , the really top performers get 6% and the mediocre ones get 3% . I'm like what , where is that ? I don't want to be married to a schedule .
If somebody's doing it and they deserve a raise , I want to be able to gimmick to them and I don't want to always be looking at well , what if the other people make you do that ? Well , this one's better . I mean , we're dealing with that right now with a guy . It's like we hired this guy in this one company I'm involved with .
There's somebody else that was doing the same job . This guy is just a hell of a lot better . His quality is output . His output's much higher and his quality of work is much higher . Okay , the other guy , work is much higher . Okay , the other guy the existing one found out what he's making and now he's all pissed off . Okay , but you know what ?
Nobody's really going to be honest with him . Yeah , and say listen , bob , the reason why you make less than this person is A your quality is not up to snuff . B your quality is not up to snuff . B your output's not up to snuff . If your output and your quality is where is this ? We'll be glad to pay you the same amount of money .
You know that's one issue . Then the other issue is the fact that you know the organization overall has got to be successful . I sometimes there's people , they do a good job . There's only so much we can pay them for that job , because the organization needs to gel , it needs to make a profit . It's holding back everybody At some point .
I don't think it's bad to say that we're being held back right now by our performance as a company . So let's all figure out how the hell to fix our performance as a company and we'll all be doing better . Okay , yeah , nothing wrong with that .
But yeah , the structure of larger organizations stifles your ability to reward people sporadically , yeah , when they deserve it , and it's problem .
I've seen so a lot of folks that have worked in the big corporations , right , and I've been like kudos to them . I couldn't do it Like there's folks at the top in executive level roles like this is nothing against what they do . Oh , they've got to be good . They've got to be freaking fantastic . Yeah .
Like I look at some of these ladies and these guys , I'm like man , they're perfect human beings . I'm like there's no way I could be that way , you're not kidding .
It is very competitive and they have to be extremely capable , smart , work hard , absolutely Perceptive . I understand it's a whole different thing , but it's not an entrepreneur , right ?
No , it's a different game , because I over and started business and they and everything's got a process and procedure and a format and a structure to it and it stifles out the energy because you , when you , when you plant something like , dude , you've got a freaking like .
Sometimes you gotta , you gotta , hurry up and put , put something over top of that little plant or it's gonna get get squashed by the rainstorm . Yeah , you know , you got to seed it right , got ?
to give it some miracle . Grow , yeah , man , yeah , move it over to the sun . It's so awful , that's right , yeah .
And you can't sit there and have some sort of big process . You've got to dig it up and move it . It might kill it .
That's a whole subject . What you just brought up is moving from corporate America into entrepreneurship . Another big problem and I'm sure you've witnessed this is when you're an entrepreneur , you start out , you're doing every job yourself . You're not good at everything . You do it right , there's nobody else , yeah .
And then in corporate America they have so many different resources and people they can't get down in the weeds enough to do all the tasks because there's nobody to say , hey , go do this , go do that , go do this , go do that . They don't have any of that . It's just all on them suddenly and they're not used to it . They're just not .
They're used to a lot more resources . They are .
That's another huge point . I'm seeing Like and they don't . I've talked with someone , because there's actually you know it's funny Like I get asked to chat with some of these folks that are thinking about .
Yeah , they call me . It's like I'm thinking about starting a gym . Been 25 years , I've retired , whatever yeah , get those calls all the time from people . Yeah , and whatever . Yeah , get that call , those calls all the time for people , yeah , and they're
¶ Leadership and Entrepreneurial Challenges
like man .
I mean , you know what's the biggest challenge . I'm like listen . I mean you know , are you ready to bleed out in everything that you need to do ? Are you afraid to scrub the toilet ? You know , I mean like every time I go to the restroom in the business , I'm like I'll look and see how clean is . You know what I do ? I clean it .
If it needs to be cleaned , I get it bro , I'm not afraid , I'm not afraid to do that .
I'm with you . I mean , we got cleaners at our house once a week , like you probably do too . Well , that's rich of you , dude . Oh , come on , man , I still clean the toilet , though you know . I'm not afraid of that . I'm not afraid of getting nasty man .
Me neither . You know what I'm saying . I actually , whenever I do that , I feel really good about myself .
Yeah , it's like I was the one that was willing to do that .
Like a goddamn silver man . You know what I'm saying . Just get a little dirty , a little nasty . I like getting my hands dirty and stuff .
I like it because it sets the example for other people . It shows that you're not asking them to do things that you won't do yourself , which to me is a fundamental tenet of good leadership . Okay , how could you be the military officer ? Charge everybody . I'm going to stay back here where it's safe .
I ask kids to watch the show .
They're not going to like it ? No , okay , they're not going to like it . No , okay , they're not going to like it . They're not going to do as good Sometimes . You've got to get out there and lead the wars you do . You've got to charge it , man .
You've got to charge man . Another good thing about doing those things is that it puts you , because as the company grows , as people are taking on responsibilities , they like to leverage that against you , as if they're so important to the organization that if they leave , everything falls apart .
Oh man , I'm telling you , I know a lot of entrepreneurs who feel like that about people that work for them . You can't feel that and that is not good .
And they've got a dysfunctional employee but I can't do their job if I deal with them Meanwhile that dysfunctional employee is polluting the minds of all these other people because I can't do their job , I don't have the time . That's a dangerous zone , Not acceptable .
It is not . I've learned some hard lessons on that . You cannot do that . I had this conversation , the conversation the day . I have this guy too . He's like also asking about , um , you know , letting snakes in the bar ? Yes , that is the snake in the ball it is . That's .
That is the snake in the bar when folks come in and you entrust too much and you're you let go too much as an entrepreneur and you don't stay focused on it and then you allow this leveraging to start happening . I mean , man , I mean , I've had some really tough experiences with that oh , I've had so many of those .
I mean , you're just like making me my mind is just coming back to a million situations like , and then next thing , you know , you turn around and then there's this , there's clicks starting and there's this doubt against you or things are getting done that need to get done because that person's responsible and they're not doing that one thing that you need them to
do .
Okay , it's a lot of stuff .
There's a lot of stuff . What I meant was , whenever I was talking about that , I really started doing some self-exploration and I was like you know what ? That was all my fault . Why do you allow yourself to get into that situation ? Like you know what ? That was all my fault . Why do you allow yourself to get into that situation ?
Yeah , I'm like that was all my fault . Like number one , I didn't let my business partner at the time be my business partner .
I was advocating for some others because their role was seemingly , you know , they were very important in my eyes at that time and I didn't allow things to be decided upon real early when we had some flags and I should have allowed my partner to do those things . I owned that right , yes .
And then , going forward , I'm like but how do you prevent that to happen ?
Well , you have to be willing I think this is the point At any given moment , to take care of business and let someone go and not be afraid of the consequences Confront and you know , but if you start letting so many things go and you're like man , I'm tired of dealing with that , I don't want to deal with that anymore . It's too big a load .
I'm afraid to lose that person because I'm going to have all this work and I'm going to have to get back involved in the books , or whatever it might be . You have to always be ready as the silverback to freaking . Take the books , baby .
I know the books are a big one . Okay , that's a really big one . That was one I was thinking about . Yeah . But , yeah , there's somebody who needs to hear this podcast right now that I work with and I think it's it's it's beyond essential that action is taken and when you move on and it just is .
well , the thing is is too , if you start believing that you know these other folks are so like . It's not necessarily the fear that , like you , you can't believe that other people have the competency and the ability you know and can do things better than you can Like . Not at all .
It's the fear , it's the self-doubt or the self-resistance , as the entrepreneur should not be willing to jump back in the dirt and clean the toilet .
If the person's cleaning the toilet and that's their job , then you don't want to clean the toilet anymore , and so , therefore , I'm not going to get rid of that person because I don't want , as the entrepreneur , to clean the toilet anymore . You can't ever get that proud , bro .
No , you cannot get that proud . You can't , and well . The other thing is just the time . You just think I'm so busy that I can't do another job . But the odds are , if it's not being done right and well , they're doing more damage than they are contributing to the situation .
Okay , so you've got to free yourself up to fix the problem by clearing that person out of the way .
I think that if you don't behave like that , which I think that you do right . I think that's a big part of the conversation I've watched you't behave like that , which I think that you do right . I think that's a big part of the conversation . I've watched you and you do that . It's a natural thing .
But if you don't , you can be a prisoner of your own business . That's where you become a prisoner . I've felt it before .
I've felt it and I can't stand it . No , it's not a good place to be Now . Thank God , today , with things like quickbooks , it's not that hard to figure it out to you . Get in there , okay you could use us .
I wouldn't miss you just getting a nasty with some stuff like that man you've got to you just absolutely as soon as you take your eye off the money .
That's such a big one that you can get too successful . You know , it's just like I was reading about this electric bike company that just like burned through $70 million worth of capital . Oh , it's okay , and they're bankrupt now . You know , it's like how in the world could they do that ?
I mean , like how asleep at the wheel were they to be able to do that ? But they had so much money that they could afford to make so many bad decisions and not deal with things and let things go . It's not a blessing , it's a curse .
I swear the lack of funds makes you confront these things much faster and make better systems not necessarily bureaucratic ones , but better systems to provide the information you need to run the business than you would have if you had too much money . Yep , it's a curse word and it's a blessing , so true .
Now think of that . You know what that allows you to do is you actually start feeling the stress from something not going right , someone not doing things right , and so you get involved in it and you've got to figure out what the hell's going on . What are you doing , man ?
It's like dramatic . It's like I'm suffering from PTSD . Those were powerful lessons they are . Those are the things that really keep you awake at night .
Like when you don't have enough grasp on what the hell is actually happening and then you have a tendency to be passive about it . Passivity is what kills you man .
A lot of people feel that way about their it efforts too . Oh yeah , okay , you know , like development of it solutions , where they become a black hole and you keep throwing money at it and management's like I don't really understand this stuff . I can trust these people and they're just like give me 300 000 more in another three months .
It just keeps going and going and going and going Becomes very , very frustrating because they don't know enough about it . Yep , they don't want to really get into it to figure out what the hell is really going on . I've been in that situation before , yeah , and I know a lot of people who are at high levels in companies that are frustrated about that .
Yeah , but yeah , anyway .
So let's go back , though , to this whole idea of management .
Do we have time ? We do . We got about 20 more minutes .
Oh good . So everybody wants to talk leadership and management . I need leaders and I need managers . I don't draw the line that clearly I'm managers . I don't draw the line that clearly , I'm sorry . The last thing I want as a manager is not a freaking leader . That's bullshit , isn't it , though ? I mean , think about it .
Sure , well , I'm just a good manager , but I'm not a leader at all . What ? How the heck are you going to really manage people then ?
And on the flip-flop . Is there really even a position on the planet earth where you're a leader and not a manager ? I don't think so . I mean , that's another good point , Unless you're retired .
You can do that . Then Maybe , yeah , maybe you can just inspire people with your writing and speaking . That's called an author , right , yeah , but this whole you know Matt Lewis I've quoted before . I hear him I says don't forget , he tells his managers the word manage is inside manager . It means you got to do it .
You're there to support the people who are making the things happen , and that's either building something or selling something . All the rest of it's just support . Okay , those are the two things that matter . That's good . And you guys , you know you got to be helping those people and you got to manage them . They need somebody to hold their feet to the fire .
They need somebody to remind them that there's certain things they need to do that are going to tend to make them more successful . They need somebody to inspire them .
They need somebody to paint the picture to which is a leadership aspect , to inspire these people and give them a sense of possibility that if they can do certain things and accomplish certain goals , of the good , that's all the job with a manager . Yeah , and the managers have to do it .
They're not just there to fill a seat and not do anything , and it's either up to you to do it all as the entrepreneur or up to the individual . Then it's like why do I need the manager , right ?
okay , so with all your years again as an entrepreneur , like have you let management go ? Are you outside of management ?
no , never entirely at all . I've always had people that report to me , yeah . So of course I'm still a manager . I may be managing managers , yeah , but I gotta do . You have to manage managers . Yeah , they need management , just like everybody else . Everybody needs management . It's a discipline . Yeah , it's a discipline . Okay To you . You see it as a discipline .
I totally see it as a discipline . There's certain things I'm going to do a certain way on a certain schedule that are always get done what ?
So can you give us some insight into that , like , what are some of the tactics that you do ?
Well , the tactics I mean we talked last week about do lists , yeah , yeah , yeah , but just about like relentless scheduling . You know , scheduling of everything it's got to be .
I mean , you've got to set a schedule , you've got to set quality standards , you've got to point out where the quality is failing , you've got to get people to deal with customer or client complaints .
You know , I mean , those are all things and you've got managers in charge of areas that impact those things and , of course , you need to be watching what's going on and you need to be letting them know .
This is unacceptable so how often do you want to just do that today ? How often do you watch
¶ Entrepreneurial Management and Communication Strategies
and how often are you ?
talking to people constantly , constant . I don't necessarily want to have a schedule for that , but I I'm going to just do it continuously yeah .
So what are some tell us about some of the other little tips and tricks , like you do like say , okay , you , you get philosophically and universally that you are always a manager . You always will be a manager as an entrepreneur , right Okay .
But then let's say you're managing a group of folks Like are you setting a schedule of when you have one-on-ones with them and when you're talking about certain things ?
I may I'll set a schedule . If it doesn't happen , naturally , okay , if it happens , naturally , I won't set a schedule . Does that make sense ? Either ? Words , like some people you have a relationship with where you're continuously communicating okay , I don't need to have a schedule to talk to that person . Got you , it's things , got you .
But if it's somebody who I don't have as much interaction with and but yet I'm still responsible for , um , and we all have those yeah , by the way , they're there . We can't put everybody in the same box or have the same relationship with everybody who works for us , those people I will schedule a regular talk .
Got you those people I will schedule a regular talk . Got you that you're just not inter interacting with on a regular , like a good person would be an it person head of it , right , like you need , like you don't need to talk to them every day , all day . Right , exactly , but your operations person you probably do .
Yes , absolutely yeah , yeah , I mean I .
So yeah , the role and the individual might dictate that so whenever you manage and again let's say that something's not going right or you get a sense about something First of all do a lot of things come up to be a sense to you , like something's not clicking , before it becomes a problem . Are you always looking to manage something and improve it before ?
but I can't say I always succeed at that . But there are . I will always have the gauges on the machine that tells me how the machine's performing . Okay . If I can have ones that give me predictive metrics , that's even better yet okay . So I am going to have gauges that tell me .
So I could say this is not going right and the manager would go oh no , it's going great . I'm like no , it's not . Here's the information that shows it's not .
Yeah , what are the gauges that let you know how the machine's going ?
Oh , every business is different . There's always different gauges . I mean , I could talk about a manufacturing company . You know one that we're both involved with to a certain extent . If you're not tracking things like the amount of warranty work , how are you going to be able to talk specifically about quality issues ? Okay , that's .
I mean you could say to somebody look our quality , you know , in this area it's not up to par . They could say , no , our quality is great , but if you'd like , okay , we're spending $5,000 a month fixing this problem over and over and over again . It's not great . Okay , I mean , that's just one example .
So that's kind of an example of a predictive .
Okay , that's just one example . So that's kind of an example of a predictive . Oh that's not necessarily predictive , oh it is , yeah , because eventually you're going to be suffering .
You're looking what you're doing , so in your brain , like when you're because , okay , I think this is important as an entrepreneur , you have all these things going on and you're living this animal life and you're ultimately responsible for stuff , and you're just down in the weeds cleaning toilets , doing whatever it takes right to make this happen .
And then you've got people around you that you've brought on to help take care of specific tasks , because you can't do it all yourself . Right , Because you're an entrepreneur and you're trying to grow something . Right , that's not a celebratory life .
Yeah , because you're trying to build something that has value , right , Et cetera . So it's overextending yourself . Yes , it does . Okay , it's just what it means , so don't unhook constantly . People Go on Right , right you can't take off .
Yeah , yeah , right , but you're constantly watching these gauges and so you're not really there's not like a set type of data points that you're looking for . You're just always kind of just digging , just digging here , then you fix that , and then you run over here and dig there .
There are some that are set , of course . I mean you can look at , like , incoming leads , you can look at web hits and how long people spend . I mean you'd have this better than I do .
Some of those things are predictive in nature , you have to admit , right , like if you notice , you know web traffic's declining sales are probably going to decline at some point . Right , I mean , it's just inevitable . But there are other things , yes , that you are sporadically looking at or responding to .
But again , to me it's like that's why I've got to be hooked up to social media , because I see what people are saying about the products and services and businesses I'm associated with . I hate social media , really , and most of the time I get on there it just pisses me off to see how stupid people are .
It's like I can't believe you're that ignorant , but you know . But nevertheless , you've got to be tuned in to all the places that this information's getting you from , so more you know , to know what's going on .
It sounds like to me that you use a ping pong method . Okay , like you don't have on Mondays at 8.30 am , you spend an hour and a half of social media for the week . No I do not do that and you don't go hey , at this time I'm going to look at financials , or at this I'm going to be looking at wealth .
You're not organizing your calendar like that , not like that .
You are just on a daily basis digging Yep and staying tuned up Like you jump on social media when you got 10 minutes between this and that , because I care I want to know what the hell's going on .
Right , I care , it's like important , I'm thinking about it , but I'm just trying to articulate like that's right now you are able , as marge wog , to get as much done as you can in a day .
yeah , it's because you're you're living in the business . You're working in the business .
You're working in the business Right , working at the business at the same time and on the business right and I got my do list that I'm working on , so I know what I got to get done . Okay , I'm constantly on my do list and that's on your phone . It's on my phone and it's updated , and you know I'm going to update it instantly too .
I'm not gonna wait till the end of the day , like okay , now what ? Did I get done on my do list . Yada , yada , yada it's so , do you .
It's done , it's off bang what do you use on your phone as your app or whatever to like write ?
down or to do first . Well , I mean I use my calendar to schedule and I use notes for my do list and I share notes too . I use a lot of shared notes With your team . Yes .
And what program is that ? Is that like just the Apple notes ?
It's just right there , apple notes . You ever do shared notes , do you do that , not with Apple notes ? No , yeah , well , I guess it's Apple notes . You don't even know it's right here . It's on my computer , okay , I mean mean it's on my phone so you can take a look like that list right there .
Yeah , that is a shared list . And you , just how do you share with folks and text email no ?
you hit , you hit the send and then it says collaborate and you name the person there . Then every time you change the list , or they change the list , it updates it in the same place , did you not ?
oh , you could do that . That was not with that program . Well , I mean , I used Google , I used the Google Suite to kind of do the same thing . But I mean , I'm just it's because I think , if folks are like me , right , there's this problem of there's all these softwares and things , that kind of it gets overwhelming , it's really overwhelming .
It does to me and you're always . Then it kind of goes back to our earlier conversation where I feel like I'm not keeping up and doing a good job of organization . That's why everything's going crazy . But it's not the case .
It's like you have a system and you're not also scheduling time to check emails , you're not scheduling time to review what you did this day . Yeah , it is just a constant , it's a natural thing .
It's a natural thing when you're driving . Do you like , every 15 seconds , look over your right-hand mirror ?
Thank you , Okay , you're driving , thank you . That's where I'm trying to get to right , because I think it's important for people to understand , because they're being bombarded with systematized rules of engagement proper way to balance life probably it goes back to your balance versus integration .
There's all this pressure in the solopreneur discussions that there's some right way to do everything and to have this cush life to where you have this perfect dream state of where you're really not working that hard but you're making a shit ton of money .
Because you read an article that New York Times did about freaking Elon Musk or somebody else and it appears to you that they're just living this super fantasy way and they're not Right . If you really looked at any entrepreneur that is successful in doing it well , they are freaking animals . Highly engaged buddy .
Highly engaged entrepreneur that is successful in doing it well , they are freaking animals , highly engaged buddy , highly engaged ?
yeah , we're . You know , we're not even just a driver , we're a freaking race car driver . Okay , we're going 180 miles on this track an hour , all right , we don't have time to make mistakes . We don't have time to schedule . I , we don't have time to schedule . I'll think about putting my brakes on later .
Okay , I want to mention something that's I'm sorry
¶ Entrepreneurial Pressure and Communication Struggles
, go ahead . No , there's something that just hit me that where a lot of this , as an entrepreneur we live on this island .
There's not many people like us , right , because they don't see what we see right , and then blah blah , but there's this pressure that's coming from everywhere else , whether you're reading a book , whether you're watching a tv show , whether you you're looking on social media or reading whatever , but then there's there's a big pressure that comes that I just kind of
realized that I'm going to call bullshit on . It's pressure from the people within the organization . They might be coming from a job with a big corporation where it's really organized all this , or they might have read about that job , or their parents told them about a job .
Yeah , and their parents never were entrepreneurs . No , they parents told them about a job . Their parents never were entrepreneurs .
No , they worked at the USPS forever . You locked the door at 459 . Ha .
They don't even do that .
No , I get it . So there's this pressure from your team that you feel as an entrepreneur to make the money . Right , there's a better way to do it . There's a better software , there's a better process from your team that you feel as an entrepreneur you're an entrepreneur . Right , there's a better way to do it . There's a better software . There's a better process .
There's better meetings . There's better , better , better , better . But the reality is that , as an animal , you stay an animal .
As a race car driver . You're right . You're absolutely right . I mean , I can't tell you how many times I've said like we all need slack or whatever life . Oh , dude , I do not . Let's talk to you . Slack , I don't want another channel to check . It's unnecessary .
Thank you , okay , we have email , we can text each other , we can have group text , we can have shared notes , we can collaborate on google docs . No , I , no , I'm not going to learn it . I don't want to install it .
You are hitting the biggest pressure point .
Okay , that's a perfect example . And then , please , yeah , slack I hate Slack .
I have a reputation back in the flywheel area of where Eric doesn't check Slack . They even created a Slack channel where they talked about me on jokes and communicated with me , but they knew I never checked it . That's hysterical . And then they send me an email hey , have you like ? I'm like . And I ask them like hey , where's this at ?
I asked for this to get done . I told you on Slack yes .
And I'm like I don't freaking . Check Slack Right . Don't force me onto that platform . Exactly , I don't want it .
And if I go talk to any employee , they will admit , when they get down to it , that they hate Slack too . Yeah , because it's like they're like I hate Slack , it's just constant , it's just one more freaking yeah , and then I get it set up .
so it emails me that someone set something on Slack . That , yeah . And then I get it set up . So it emails me that someone said something on Slack . That even makes it worse .
It's the worst program ever . Like we should change our podcast name to WeHateSlackcom . Like it's so bad . It's like you already have text messages . You already have phone calls Like call me too . Call me , don't text me , don't email me , just call me .
I've said that so many times to people . Well , you know , young people don't want to pick up the phone . They will keep texting people . I'm like this problem could be solved in two minutes if you just dial . Don't forget this is a phone too . You can talk on it and listen .
It's like they can't listen . Why don't ? Why ? Okay , let's break this out . Like the reason why you don't want to call is because you don't want to get into a conversation , you just want to have a to-do list and get your to-do list done .
That's one reason . Yeah , I think the other reason is maybe they fear that they're going to hear something negative or they won't be able to deal with a question or whatever , or they might get another task that they need to do ?
Yeah , any of those are possible . Self-protection is what's killing everything , man .
¶ Entrepreneurial Opportunities and Innovation
But you know , the good news is , out of all this thinking as an entrepreneur , I kind of like it in a way , because it gives me all these opportunities .
Exactly Because these other people aren't doing it . That's what's so great about business and entrepreneurship right there . You just said it . It's not that hard to improve on what anybody else is doing . It's really not . That's why my and I know you've invented something new and you did very well doing that .
Okay , but you know , my prejudice has always been I'm not going to invent anything new , I'm just going to do a better job . It's a lower risk , not ? Yeah , you can hit the pros as a football player and it pays off big . All right , I'll just be the accountant or whatever who gets this degree . Yeah , but you know it's .
It's a lot lower risk because there's all these businesses , like you say , that are run by people that just don't care enough and I don't know about you man , everywhere I go , with everything that I do , every business I go in and this is not a calculated thing , but I'm always like that could be better , that could be better .
My ex-wife had to like that could be better , that could my ex-wife , that could be better . And I'm like new business idea , new idea , new idea .
there's so much I do it everywhere I go , I do it too . It drove , it drove my last bus crazy .
There's a huge business opportunity out there right now for somebody to provide technological advancement in the construction industry using GPS and you can come in as a tech person and solve it . For this small business guy Like there's a million dollar , $20 million idea right there that you could go out and say , okay , you're young , you know how to use technology .
A lot of the folks don't , but go out there and provide a service with a product-based business and build a team to where you can go to all these subs , contractors and go and help them and they pay you a fee to go in and just put in the GPS coordinates and all the plans and give them back the plan and you can make them successful along with making
yourself successful .
There's a lot of technology out there in construction that doesn't get used because new technology is risky to them . This is the way we've always done it . Well , you're doing it wrong , but I've been doing it for 30 years like that . That's the problem . They're so risk averse . Anything new , yeah , is very risky to them and they resist it .
But yeah , there's , there's huge opportunity , you know I guess a thing on that .
Until that , like it's like . But if you are , like they're the smaller construction folks need somebody to help them because the big ones have the tech . Sure , you know they're going to keep gobbling up business because the companies have tech and they're going to be able to communicate via tech , right .
But if somebody doesn't help the small ones and they're resistant to change and the part of their resistance to change is because this stuff is so foreign to them , like they can drive a freaking skid steer like a freaking . I was watching a dude on video yesterday driving a skid steer doing wheelies and like was moving dirt like nobody .
I was like dude , that is freaking cool . That dude knows how to drive that guy's skid steer . I mean like he's a pro . But he can promise he doesn't know . The new technology is coming out with ai that's got gps coordinates that can map up to the architectural plan and the civil plans and freaking hit the head .
But it's so simple that there can be somebody that can do that . They do the intermediary between the plans and using the tech and they give it to the guy with the skid steer that can drive it like a freaking pro and that dude is now better than the big guys .
Well , we could save that for another day .
Sorry , I mean I'm sorry I was wicked it's just one , it don't be sorry .
I understand that excitement about finding problems that need to be solved . That's . That's a big part of the entrepreneurship thing . You know that , I know it's just . Which ones do you want to work on ?
you or me so many . This is one of my favorite episodes because I'm leaving right now , we're leaving this episode and I am proud to be an animal and I can go be an animal . Well , that's what I need to be doing .
I noticed one of your corporate entities names is new man ventures . So I take it that you're the new man behind new man ventures ? Is that right , yeah ? All right , that's , it's part of being your new man baby . You know we'll be fresh , bro .
Yeah , do what you do , just be who you are , see your vision and just work it .
Yeah .
Just like you said , don't structure everything .
Don't plan everything , take action . Yes , absolutely . Some things we structure and plan and other things we don't at all . Yeah , and that's okay , and don't feel guilty about it . And if you hate slack , stop our team baselinecom we'll build a subscription that we're out of time , buddy . So , uh , this has been another episode of big talk about small business .
Tune in to wwwbigtalkaboutsmallbusinesscom to see all of our episodes which are on all major streaming platforms . Streaming them , baby . And again , if you like our content , please share it with your friends . And if you want to sponsor us , we'd love to have you .
Sooner or later , we're going to have to figure out why we're doing this , based on the money we make on it . You know what that's true .
Well , okay , that's true , but we don't . It is a lot and it's opening up .
We do it because we do it . Let's just do it . Because of that , we're going to keep doing it .
But if you want to send some money our way and make sure other people see it , yeah , and get your product or service out in front of other entrepreneurs and small business owners , we'd be glad to talk with you , hell , if you're sponsored , maybe we might end up buying your product because you're sponsored . Maybe they might help us with something that's right .
So if you've got products that help us with our problems , we might buy from you Right , unless you're Slack .
Don't send us any sponsorship .
All right , Well , thanks everybody .
Well , actually that might be a good way for Slack to convert us if they sponsored a show Big Talk about Small Business sponsored by Slack .
Yeah , that was an idea . I don't like the name . It has a negative connotation . You're slacking off . Why would you name your business a productivity builder after something that has a negative connotation ? Call it spring . Yeah , I mean , that'd be better . I would buy it some slack With a spring yeah Slack . I don't want my people slacking off .
Okay , I'm going to spring it off though . Yeah , spring forward . Okay , we're done today . See you all later .
Thanks everybody over to our website wwwbigtalkaboutsmallbusinesscom and click on the ask the host button for the chance to have your questions answered on the show . Stay connected with us on LinkedIn at Big Talk About Small Business and be sure to head over to our website to read articles , browse episodes and ask questions about upcoming shows .