On today's episode of Gathering the Kings. Awareness is everything. And if you can at least be aware to the fact that people think differently from you and that you need to figure out how to communicate to them. Yep. Dude, you are so many steps ahead of most people that don't even realize that. You are listening to Gathering the Kings with Chaz Wolfe.
Featuring fellow 78 and even 9 figure business owners who have real battle scars from business and life, but have prevailed as the king that they are designed to be. We welcome high performing entrepreneurs to the stage in order to reveal the reel of the reel. On what it takes to build a successful business today. We dissect the good and bad decisions they've made along the way Chaz give a true and accurate picture of the journey of success and how you too can get there.
Through this dialogue, you will learn the value of growing your network and surrounding yourself with power players and keys like today's guest. Grab your pen and notebook because we're about to dive in. What's up, gathering the king's nation Chaz? I'm coming to you this week. My guest, Aaron Handell dives into his story of coming from nothing.
And and even going to a place that he calls a potential rock bottom and how he built, a soon to be eight figure company from the bottom all the way to where he is today. I just I love this guy's story. I love his grit. I love his passion for life and helping and and just, like, having a genuine approach to building his business. I think that you're gonna get a ton from this one. Grab that pen paper. Here it comes. Alright, everybody. I'm Chaz Wolf. I'm your host, gathering the Kings.
I've got Aaron Handel on the stage today. What's Chaz, brother? What's up, guys? How's everybody doing? Dude, I'm so glad that you're here and, just getting to know you a little bit off camera, off air, and just hearing your story. Just so inspiring. Honestly, I think that I bring on good guests every week, but, this one I think is gonna be especially, unique for a lot of listeners who are in the 6 figure mark because, man, you came from nothing, and I love it. Yeah. Yeah. I love it.
So let's let's jump in, dude. What kind of business do you have? So I own Morris, Air And Electric in Southern California. So, obviously, we do air conditioning, heating, and electrical. In September, we're starting our plumbing, part of the business. So at that point, we'll be, full mechanical. I'm super excited about it. Dude, that's awesome. I love it. We'll have to we'll have to hear some of your plans on that. I'm curious.
Before we dive into your story, kinda how you got to where you're going or where you where you have been, At this level in the games, my first question, every single show, why do you still push? Like, why are you still here? Why in later this year, are you opening up a brand new division? Man, I'm scared of my wife. No. Well, she's listening. No. For real. Honestly, dude, I just I can't turn it off.
I have a few of people ask me this all the time, and don't know if you've ever heard of the story of her name Cortez, the burn the ships. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It was Spanish, you know, conquistador. And when they got to Mexico, we had 600 men and he ordered them to burn the ships because he wanted them to know that there was no turning back. And that's kinda how I am, man. I don't have a choice. I have a family to feed, and more than that, I have families that depend on this business.
You know, my guys need to get paid every week. Or every 2 weeks. They need to provide good lives for their families, and it's really important for me to continue growing so that not only my life, but everybody else's life that works here continues to grow. And I think that you can really base your own success by the success of those around you.
Yeah. So, like, when I, like, for example, last night, one of my guys bought a brand new car for his Wolfe, And I was just, like, so pumped for that because that's what we're doing. Like, we're a company for everybody here is is gonna prosper.
You know, it's it's not just about me and and my kids, you know, the kingly aspect that you're carrying right now and and I'm not even sure how much you recognize it, but every person that answers that question answers, like, you know, one of maybe 3 or 4 answers. But what you just gave is so incredibly valuable for how you're gonna go to 8 and 9 figures.
Like, you're just gonna continue to push because you've literally put the responsibility of your entire team and then their families on your shoulders. Absolutely. You said, look. I got it. Don't worry about it. I got big shoulders. But then you could excited about their success, man. I just love that. Like, that moves me also personally, but, man, just hearing you say that gives me freaking jacked.
Dude, you know, it's one of those things that I didn't even think about when I first started my business. I didn't think about how other people's lives were going to be affected in a positive way. Right. And as a business owner now, one of the brightest moments for me is when I see Chaz, when I see them buy a house or buy a car or whatever, you know, go on a nice vacation.
Dude, that's like the biggest blessing that you didn't even know you would get to experience when you first get into business. I love it. That's the best. Yeah. When you reverse engineer that, like, selfishly a little bit. For the listener, I if you've never done this, what Aaron's talking about is huge because if you can reverse engineer that vacation that he just gave as an example or the car that his guy just bought. Right? Like, it's not because of Aaron that he was able to do Chaz.
Specifically. The guy made choices. He comes to work. He works hard. He makes his own money. Like, he he's the captain of his own ship. Right? However, If Aaron hadn't stuck his neck out, if Aaron hadn't taken the risk, if Aaron hadn't borrowed money or, you know, lived without because all entrepreneurs we've lived without for a period of time so that we could grow the business. If he hadn't done any of that, the opportunity that then his guy was able to step into wouldn't have existed.
And so, selfishly, it's like, yeah, man. It's like, it's a it's a pat on my back Yeah. To know how good you're doing on my team You know? Yeah. I love it. It's for everybody, man. It really is. When I started my company, it was, part of it was because I I hated Being is a you you almost felt like a number working at other companies, and I wanted to have a company where everybody felt like they had an equal voice. And and that's kind of the culture that we have on here.
Yeah. I mean, I love that, that you've done that. Not only just that that's just such such a lofty goal, but you've done it inside of heating and air. You know, like, what what seems to be like a no big deal, not super sexy business. And you've done this this thing inside of a business where people like, no. I wanna be there. I wanna be part of that team. You know? Absolutely. Because you get the best employees when you attract them Chaz way. Look. Okay. You're talking about the experience.
Right? We talk about the the experience for the clients all day long. We can talk about you know, attracting new business. Of course, we gotta do Chaz, but, man, when you can hold on to your to your folks, and not hold on to them, like, hold them back. But, like, empower them inside the team. You know? That's the ticket. I just think that it's obviously a topic that's super hot right now anyway.
So maybe that's where we'll go with this conversation a lot, but you know, with the great resignation happening, every single month, you know, guys guys have choices right now. And, and so we Chaz entrepreneurs gotta make sure that the choice that we're providing them is, is an exciting one. Absolutely. So let's go back into your journey a little bit. And, I wanna know kind of where the business or just maybe business in general started for you.
And then we'll get into some of the the decisions stuff that you made, but You've got a gnarly story, man. Share share share with us what you what you're willing to because where it started for you is probably gonna resonate with some folks out there who are in the midst of the grind and struggling. And so tell us where it started for you. I considered myself a hustler.
You know, I've always gone out and gotten it And, you know, when I was a kid, for example, I had my whole neighborhood on a, like, 15 to $20 every house was on a 15 to $20 membership. And I would go and I would clean up the dog poop, take out their trash, and mow the lawn every week. And, you know, I had income you know, I was the kid in school that was able to get fresh shoes or new skateboard or whatever. Yeah. I also don't know if you remember Pick n Save, but it's what Big Lots used to be.
Okay. Okay. I used to go and buy all the discount candy for, like, super Chaz, and then I'd sell it at school. I remember you telling me this in our in our our first call, and I'm just like, dude, why didn't I think of that? You know, that's a great idea. I've always I mean, people say they like money. I love money. I mean, I really and it's not because money makes me happy. It enables me to do things that make me happy. And enables me to witness my family.
And like I said, my employees do things to make them happy, and that's that's where I really love it. So, you know, a little bit later, you know, obviously, getting into high school and stuff, I ended up getting into a lot of trouble, man. I was really not a great student, not because, I mean, I I consider myself a pretty smart guy. It's more so that I wasn't challenged, and I have a problem with authority. I just couldn't do it. Wait. And An entrepreneur, a problem with authority.
Yeah. I I you know, once I got my driver's license, I was I was done with school. I mean, that was that was out. I got my GED. Anyways, I, I had some pretty serious injuries in sports. And, through all the surgery process and all that good stuff, you know, they threw just a ton of pain killers my way. And as a young kid, you don't really know what you're doing. I got pretty badly addicted to pain killers, and then that turned into some heavier drugs. And it got pretty bad.
I mean, I was homeless at one point living under, you know, the the pier in, Huntington Beach, and it just I I really hit rock bottom, not only from a external standpoint, but also internally, spiritually, I mean, I was just dead. You know? If Chaz you looked at me, you would have just been like, this guy's never not gonna make it. You know? No pulse. So luckily, I have an awesome family. And they had tried helping me a a bunch of times, and I would always mess it up. I'd always burn bridges.
The last time around, I I wanted help, and I begged for one last shot. I ended up going to Texas and grace of god. You know, I got on my knees, and I asked god to help me. And it wasn't like a, boom, you're helped, you know, but it was pretty sudden that my I started living a righteous path, being honest and caring about others and doing things for others.
Yeah. You know, and pretty soon I was looking at, you know, I had 6 months and then I had a year and, you know, and, and through that process, when I got out of the where I was where I was at, I had I had to go to sober living. And one of the rules there was that you had to get a job right away within, you know, I think it was, like, 1 or 2 weeks, something like that. Yeah. And, dude, I've never, I mean, like I said, I've always done my own hustle.
I've never Yeah. Never worked a day in your life at this point. Right? No. No. Pretty no. I remember. I had it. And so, like, I'm sitting in this over house. I've got $20 to my name that my dad gave me. I don't have a phone. I don't have a car. I gotta take the bus. I mean, I was, like, literally had nothing, but you know, I had that power that I had found in god. I'm I'm gonna talk about god a lot because I'm I'm no big on that. And, god was leading the way for me.
Basically, one of my friends got a job at an air conditioning company. And he had gotten out, like, a week before me, something like that. And so I went to him, and I was like, hey, man. Like, there any way that I could get a job, you know, where you're at? He got me an interview when I went and got the job. The first interview I did, it's not like I was doing a crazy process, right, Sure.
Yeah. Yeah. So I got a a job as a as basically an apprentice helper at air conditioning company, and and I was just doing like, the the real bitch work, sorry for my language, but, like, you know, changing filters, sealing ducts, crawling around dirty attics. I mean, it was, like, bottom of the barrel. Had to start somewhere. I fell into it, man. It wasn't something that I had ever thought of. It wasn't, you know, a plan. I didn't go to school for it.
I just it was the first job that I could get. Yeah. And then, I I saw pretty quick that, you know, man, there's a lot of money in this industry. So I stayed in it. That's when I was 21. And, so I worked there. I worked my way up, got into sales and I made a lot of money really quickly when I got into sales. I read a lot of books and I just committed myself towards being the best of the best of the best. And I learned everything I could about air conditioning, and I would go to every extra class.
I'd go to whatever event that there was going on. If I could find the time to do it. At some point, I decided I wanted to move back to California. I was You know, I missed my family. I was healthy. And I was happy. You know? Yeah. So I moved back here. I got a job, doing commercial air conditioning. And, like, the super high end stuff. Like, we worked on SoFi Stadium, like, in the initial plans of it. And, you know, we've worked on just a ton of the higher end stuff.
Worked there for a while, and it just got to a point, man, where I was like, I was making, like, wanna say, like, $80,000 a year or something like that. And I I was living paycheck to paycheck. If you, as you guys know, California is There is 80 grams nothing here. Chaz that that go very far. Or at least it's not a lot. And especially for my spending Sure. But, anyway, so I worked there and, dude, I just I I started doing my own thing, kind of getting back to what I did as a kid.
I was just, like, figuring out ways to get customers to to install air conditioning and and do stuff. So the way my schedule worked was, like, I'd get up at 3 AM to go to work. I'd get off around 11 or 12, usually. And then, then I'd work my own company until whenever I was done. And most of the time, that was 9 or 10 o'clock at night. I did that for 2 years working for that company, and I was making more money in one day than a whole month at at the job. At the job.
Yeah. Yeah. And so what I did was I just saved everything. Mean, I I've spent as little as possible, and I saved everything. And, in December of 2019, I quit the job. It gave my 2 weeks and, and started my company. And, it it it had gotten to a point where my company was starting to have an effect on my production for my job, and I didn't feel right about that. Yeah. So I came to my boss at the time. I said, hey. Look. This is the deal, you know, whatever, whatever.
And he told me because I had known him for a long time. He's like, dude, I figured you were running in 3 different businesses while you're working here. Like, he knew me. You know what I mean? And, Yeah. So I started my company and then COVID happened. Yeah. Welcome to the business world. You know, when you have a wife, a kid, and a mortgage to pay. That was pretty that was pretty scary. And her hustler, was was pulled out once more. It was. So what I did was alright.
It was only 2 weeks we I got slow for it. And at the time, I had one employee. And so I just, dude, I picked up the phone, and I literally called every property management, every company that I could find, and I just offered my services. I I wrote out like a little script. Yeah. And, it was insane how much business I got from that. And we just grew, man. I mean, that summer, we just exploded. And I really I I put a lot of the money that I made back into the company. Of course.
I continue to do Chaz. And, man, it's just been obviously. It's a roller coaster, it sounds like. Yeah. It's a roller coaster, but it's been good. You know, I'm grateful for it. Okay. Let me let me dissect some of this because you've you've given us some incredible insight already. But number 1, the the hustle factor, I mean, I said it was drawn out again, bro. You were hustle whole time. Like, I love that about your story. I relate to that personally.
You know, the many, many years, 5 o'clock came and everybody, quote, unquote, go home and then It was just only halftime for me. Yeah. And I think that that is a valuable perspective to have at least for a period of time. But what I also heard you say was that when things got a little shaky, aka those 2 weeks during COVID, when the whole world shut down, you went into action mode. You didn't go into atrophied. Right? You didn't go to retreat mode. You didn't go to, oh, no. What do I do now mode?
You went to, okay. Ownership. Right? I gotta get in here and I gotta make it happen. And so you went you put your sales hat on. You made some phone calls, and you just thrusted yourself into the marketplace forcibly, but you even said right after that, you got so much business from that, which then probably catapulted referrals. And then the rest of the the what you just said, the the the summer that happened that year Oh. Was probably because of those 2 weeks. If you go and How do I do this?
You know, we I remember we made it was that June. I think we made, like, $400,450,001 month. And I was like, holy shit. This is for real. Right. And, but what happened kinda getting to your point was that, yeah, that making those calls, it number 1, it was I didn't have the money to advertise. So it was free advertisement. I'm actually picking the phone, calling people. And most people nowadays don't do that. They're scared to do it for whatever reason. I am like, Dude, I don't care, man.
I will do anything to make my I'll still pick up dog poop. I don't care. I Yeah. To make money, I'll do it. So You know, it was free advertisement. And then what happened was every time I talked to a customer, like, Andy for sellers, as I always say, please just tell a friend. You know, give us a review, tell a friend. And, dude, they did, and other property managements were comping or, companies were calling me.
And by the way, for the listeners, if you're in the world of heating air, property managements are not the customers to go after because they pay pennies on the dollar of what your normal homeowner does. However, when you're starting a business, you're trying to get whatever you can get. Any dollar is an okay dollar. Yeah. So at this point, you know, we've kinda let go some of property management companies that we initially did business with in a good way.
You know, we still refer them to other people that we know, but we still have some that that we do business with. And, in any case, dude, it was just, like, it it was kind of like a, like a treadmill just started going and going and going and just kept moving. And and as long as what I found was we always did the right thing. We always treated people fairly. We always treated customers like our family.
We truly believe that in order to feed our families, we need to treat our customers like family. And that's kind of the motto that we went with. And, dude, it was just up and up, man. It was It was awesome. That summer. So I'm I'm hearing I'm hearing several things here. Number 1, you put your sales hat on and you weren't afraid. You didn't care what people think.
Coming from, like, a natural just perspective of hustle, I think there's a lot of entrepreneurs who are at the 6 figure mark, whether they're either still there or they've just gotten there and they're on their way to 7. Whatever the deal is is that you have to get good at sales where you have to get you gotta get leads, marketing, you gotta figure out what that is if that's the list like you had or if that's ads or whatever. It doesn't really matter.
You need people to call people to talk to homes to go to, period. You have to get good at the sales process, which it sounds like you did in a previous experience. And so you were able to translate that over and you based in. And then on the backside, what I'm hearing you say is the experience is everything for the client, especially when you break down a service business, like heating and air, because there's a stigma. There's a stigma that homeowners have of just this rough and guff.
Like, they don't care about me blah blah blah. Like, Who knows if he's even in there doing anything? Like, I don't understand the HVAC system. Did he even do anything and he's just and he's charging me? Like, there's a there's a stigma of not honesty, I guess. Dishonesty and and and all the other things that come along with it. So you treating them like your family, what does that look like practically in side of, like, an actual service call or inside of an interaction with your customers?
Well, so through trial and error, by the way, everything has been learned through experience in in in my regard. It wasn't it that I read it. A k a, like, you failed, and then you went back in. Well, I'm not sure failing my well, failing at certain things. You know? And so, internally, everything is a system for us. The our client process is a 7 step process.
And from the time that they call in to the time that they pay their bill and we're walking out the door, I train my staff on every step as a way to assure that the customer doesn't get, you know, a really great experience on the phone and then a really great sales guy and a crappy installer. You know, everything is a process for us. So, I I always tell people that are, you know, trying to get up in business.
A lot of times when you're instill in the six figures, you're kinda just figuring it out, and I would recommend to anybody that you outline exactly how every single step in your business needs to go because once you get that, all the systems in place, what happens, you don't have to be at work all time because everybody knows what they're supposed to do. And that's my goal. You know, I'm still at work a lot, but I I don't necessarily have to be here.
For everything to be ran the way that it would be if I was, and that's because of the systems that we put in that we have in place, basically. From a customer standpoint, we just treat them honestly. We treat them fairly. If they ever have an issue, no matter what, the customer is always right, especially nowadays with reviews there's never been a more accountable time for contractors or really any business. Yeah. I understand.
If you do something wrong, even if you don't think it's wrong, they're gonna tell the world about they're gonna tell a lot of people in the whole world's gonna read that when they go check you out on Google. Everybody checks you out on Google. So no matter what, dude, I'll refund somebody. I don't even care Chaz long as Yeah. They at the end of the day, they're happy. That's all I care about. Yeah. I love that. That that's what you would do for your family.
And and that's tough It's a tough pill to swallow sometimes as a business owner, especially when when your heart and soul has gone into that specific job or even just maybe you weren't on the job site that time, but it's just tough to let go. But I think that perspective that you just gave is a very freeing action, actually, where it's like, Reese, I don't care. You do care actually so much Oh, yeah. That you're willing to let it go. The money is what you don't care about.
Yeah. Exactly. Because Right? Chaz that if you wanna hold on that money and just have some customer that's pissed off at you, the amount of money that you're gonna lose, Yeah. Chaz a result of that is much bigger than the little, you know, 10, 15 grand, you're gonna lose with that one customer, which, by the way, that's never happened, but you know, it's I would be willing to give it up if I needed to. You know? 100%. Yep. Exactly. Okay. Well, I love I love where we're going with this.
Let's talk about a a good and bad decision inside the business along the way to 7 figures. Okay? So give us a good decision that you've made that sticks out as, like, just something so clear as day that this was a right thing that you think that the listener can can write it down and they can take it away, put in their business today. Again, I gotta say systems, dude. Systems are everything. I mean, if you don't have an organized way of attack, you're flying blind. And I always say Yeah.
You know, if you don't plan to win, you plan to fail. I mean, that's just the reality. Yeah, you you you have to have a plan place. And by the way, I'm, like, the I'm the most. If you ask my wife, dude, I am, like, my head is everywhere. Like, I I've looked this way, and then I choose to do something else. I mean, you never know what I'm gonna do, and nobody knows what I'm doing ever. As far as my company goes, it's very organized. And it's and and, you know, we're still working on things.
I'm not trying to, like, where the perfect. We're not. You know? Yeah. But we're working on everything. The other thing too, I think leadership is huge. You have to learn how to be a good leader. And, there's some other questions that people ask me you have to realize that not everybody thinks like you do. So if you ever took, like, a personality test, people are they're different. The way that they see the world, the way that they understand the world, the way that they get motivated.
And if you can be aware that Well, number 1, I would I would I would encourage people to have their employees take a personality test because then you know how to communicate to them. It's a huge thing, actually, right there. I do that with all my guys. Okay. So you you've said you've said three things, and I wanna make sure that the listener caught him. Number 1 is you gotta get organized. So there's many ways where you can do this, but most entrepreneurs have an issue with authority.
They don't necessarily wanna follow along. And so they've just been doing their own thing. Right. But what you're saying is that you you can still do your own thing, but you need to do it in a systemized way if you're planning on getting to 7 figures because there's other people involved, really. There there can't not be other people involved in 7 figures. So you have to have systems so that other people can be plugged into the equation. Absolutely.
Yeah. So for you on systems, Was there a a method? Was there, like, did you did you hire somebody that came in? It was just super organized. Was there a coach? Was there like, what was the what was the the moment for you where it's like, this was it. So I realized this is kind of a couple answers to this. So number 1, I realized how disorganized we were. Sure. You know, and it happens. You know, there's Everybody feels it. We all feel it. Yeah. There's still days where you're like, Chaz, man.
It's freaking everything's all over the place, but it got to a point where we just, like, I was like, dude, there's no way that we're gonna grow if we continue with this dis or organization. Right? Yep. So simultaneously, when I realized that, thankfully, there's I don't understand how there's people making 1,000,000 of dollars that haven't figured that out yet that are disorganized. I don't know how you get there like that, but I was pretty early on. That was first year of business for me.
Wow. So I didn't have being that it was a 1st year business, I didn't have the money to go hire somebody to write manuals for me. I didn't have enough money to do any of it. So I read books, and I wrote out the processes myself, to be honest. Like, that's what I did. Hello? Obviously, since then, obviously, I've perfected that with a little bit of help, But, yeah, initially, dude, anything is better than nothing. You know?
So pretty early on, I was, like, from how the guys came in to how they got their equipment to how the job was done. Like, I always refer to this example I want my business to be, like, in and out or McDonald's or whatever. Like, when you no matter what in and out or McDonald's you go to, if you order something, you know it's going to be a certain way every time. You're not gonna get, like, a cold hamburger or it's not gonna taste different.
Like, it's always going to be exactly the same and that's because of a system. That was why McDonald's was so successful is because everything from the way that the customer came in to the way that they left and every touch point that the customer had was already pre thought about, and it was already a system. And and it's the same way for us. You know, I I want customers to know that with us, they are going to get the very best of the best every single time.
No questions asked it doesn't matter who shows up there because the person showing up is going to be trained here in house instead of in their house. That's a really big, key factor too is we train here. We don't have guys training on your house. By the time they go to your house, they're already, like, they're trained. They know exactly what they gotta do and they get it done. Yeah. Yeah. I love that.
So one one thing you just heard, I heard you say, is that a system in essence is the ability to prethink every step of the way Yep. As opposed to being reactionary. And and that's what you felt back even if it was just the 1st year, Every entrepreneur listening right now knows what that feeling feels like to be reactionary or to be chasing their tail head all over the place, like you said. Yeah. And really the systems you know, it doesn't sweep that away forever and ever.
It just means that there are pre thought. Like, you thought about it ahead of time every touch point for the client, for your guys, for your staff and the team, for for you, what your executive team, whatever it comes down to, that there it's just you got to think about it ahead of time. So that way, it's pro action as opposed to reaction. Absolutely. It's so important. It's so important. Good. Okay. So lots of other things that we discussed in that.
Hopefully, the listener was paying attention right in notes Let's put the coin over to Sure. The bad decision. What was something that you did Chaz you just totally regret that you've learned from, obviously, but we wanna know what it is so that we don't do it too. Man, that's a lot. I've made a lot of mistakes I would say, the reach around. My dad always taught me about the reach around, and it's okay.
What that means is when you do something half ass the first time or you or you don't pay attention to it, Yep. Because you're lazier, because you are too busy or whatever, it reaches around to bite you in the ass. I would say, number 1, do everything right the first time. Like, the, like, the, like, the systems and the processes and the way that you do things. Right. Make sure that you put some thought into that. And I would say another one is surrounding myself with the right people.
Look, I can go into any environment you see me. I'm covered in tattoos. I can go in the worst of the worst environment, or I can go into the most classy environment, and I'll get along with anybody. Yeah. But I think that when you're trying to become successful, like, I had a lot of friends that kinda were like hanging arounders when I was you know, coming up, I guess.
Yeah. And and, you know, they're still friends, but when you surround yourself with the right people, there's different subjects being brought up, and I'll give you an example. I've made a lot of money in crypto. Alright? And the only reason I've made a lot of crip a lot of money in cryptos, not because I know about it. I don't know shit about crypto. What I have is a really good friend, that's really successful in crypto, and he's my friend.
So he just helps me make all those decisions, and all of a sudden, I've made a lot of money. You know, so when you surround yourself with the right people, different it's a different level of conversation. It's a different level of of just growth that you get because you start to network, and it's getting and then I'm getting to the the networking things. You start meeting people that you usually wouldn't have met. It doesn't mean that you can't be friends with your other people. Right.
I have friends from high school that I do. I see them all the time. I love them. They're great, but we don't talk business. Right. I have friends that are in business that I love hanging around because we bring each other up. I give them ideas. They give me ideas. And then the surrounding yourself with the right people also goes back to in my business.
You know, I've, I've had guys that, you know, and, and this is kind of another reach around thing that's trying to hire guys for a lesser amount of money per hour and then they do a crappy job, and you end up losing money on them, or they'd quit and end up suing you. I've had both happen. And by the way, the lawsuit was just complete BS. It was stuff. But, you know, those are the things that you go through.
Yeah. So you gotta surround yourself whether it's from an, like, the employees that you hire, If you gotta pay them a little bit more, pay them a little bit more. You gotta make sure everybody's happy. You gotta surround yourself with the right people, and If you're anything like me, like, I don't just do what other people are doing, but when I see other people that are successful around me, I am competitive. Yeah. So I wanna beat you out no matter how much I love you.
Like, don't fuck with my shit. So I'm, I'm, I, I, you know, I get competitive. And, and so, yeah, man, it's just I'd say the people that you surround yourself with and, and your employees, man, you're you're only as good as your employees. Seriously. Yeah. That's good. You've dropped so many nuggets there. Doing things halfway. That's stem. That was, like, the basis of everything you just shared.
And I think that that's a good lesson that your dad taught you that you know, I I didn't have a dad to teach me that, but I think that once you learn that lesson of, like, if you just do things in quality, now quality doesn't mean perfect because you said earlier, having those systems done is better than having them perfect.
And so you have to have this balance of done versus perfect, but then you continue to work on them so that you can be the best so that you can hire the best so that you can service the best clients. Absolutely. There's this there's this progression. I love what you've said. Okay. So real quick, before we kinda move on to speed round here, I wanna know, is there a formula that you follow since your systems guy around making decisions or like, just keeping certain disciplines in your life? APIs.
I'd say key performance indicators. Basically, you're paying attention to I have, like, Excel spreadsheets on everything from what areas make the most money, how high the ticket is in an in a certain area, what employee does best and whatever. Like, for example, I'll give you an example. I have some employees that do really good on a Yelp call. And not so good on a Google call. And I have employees that do really good on a Google call and not good on a Yelp call.
So, basically, what you wanna do is, I'd say to start Find out what, like, let's say you're investing $5 on Google, $5 on Yelp, and $5 on on Facebook. Pay attention to what your ROI is, your return on investment on each one of those investments and then go even way harder into the one that you're getting the most return on. And, and then if that that's the first thing that you gotta do.
And then from there, then you can start building out other systems, like, like I was saying, like average ticket for tech, what what calls they do best in, and we use something called ServiceTitan. I know this isn't for this podcast isn't for contractors. So I No. It's good. There's plenty plenty listeners. So, yeah, I gotta be a little bit more generic, but No. No. Good. It's good. It's good stuff. Find find where you get the most money back and capitalize on it.
Every go double down every time into the one that gives you the most money, I would say. Don't expect it to be perfect. You're never gonna be perfect, and don't shoot for 7 figures. Like, dude, when I found out that I made a $1,000,000 in a year, I didn't even dude, you know why I was checking how much money I made that year? Why? It was because I felt like I was making less money. Like, legit. That's so true. Like, aim for, you know, freaking 10 figures, dude. That's right.
Like, this year, we're on track to make eight figures. So we hopefully, this year, we'll make 10. There's no reason why we shouldn't. Yeah. And don't pay attention to, like, you wanna get to just a 1,000,000. No, dude. Like, when you get to a 1,000,000, you're gonna feel like you're making less money. Honestly, that's how I felt. I don't know. Not anybody else. So, you know, aim for the sky and don't expect yourself to be perfect. Also learn to turn the page.
Like, if something but you ever heard that song by Bob Seger, turn the page. It's like, you just something goes bad or a mistake gets made or you get sued or whatever. Just, you know, it it already happened. Turn the page on to the next day. Could continue moving forward because Yeah. There's plenty of people out there that'll beat you out if you stop. If you take your your hands off the throttle, you just gotta keep on keep on pushing.
Man, the last, like, 5 minutes could've just been chopped up in a video and and done the whole show. Wow. Really good stuff. Okay. So the turn the page, I mean, huge. I'm just I'm just in my mind here, just doing a quick recap, like, turn the page. Like, just unbelievable mindset. Like, so simple. Love the word picture, the making less money at a 1,000,000, a 100% true, 100% true, and everybody who's ever hit some figures knows it because it's a transition point.
Yep. In fact, I talk about this transition point where at 6 figures, you're a warrior and at 7 figures, it's not the exact, but you become a king. And it's not even like, all of a sudden, this this this now oh, now I'm a king. It's there's this transition from warrior to king, but you you're still warrior king. Yep. And and that's really in that 1,000,002,000,000, even 3,000,000 sometimes where you're still you're still wearing too many hats. You're still involved in too much of the business.
You're you're you're not thinking big enough. You but you feel like you are, because, man, you made it, like, a 1,000,000 or 2 or whatever. Right? But to your point, you you usually, you've invested in the business in a in a good enough way to get there, which means that you probably didn't make a whole bunch. Which means you gotta continue to press in. You gotta continue to get more, which brings me back to the very first point that you made is, look, your team's counting on you.
The families of your team, you know, your family, of course, like, the entire system has to get bigger. It has to.
Well, the other thing too the other thing too Chaz a lot of people don't think about this, but when you hit 7 figures, right before you hit 7 figures, there needs to be a review over everything, how you're paying people, how much money you're investing into marketing, And most importantly, how much money you're charging because you're gonna have to completely change the way that you live because during in your time of making 6 figures, I don't know about
you, I don't know about you, but for me, I was balling out. You know, I thought I was mister, you know, millionaire. I got to I got to a 1,000,000, and I was like, holy shit, dude. I gotta change everything up. I gotta become way more responsible. Your overhead is so much, like, your your margin for profit is less. And, at least in my business, 100%. And you have to adjust your prices. You have to adjust and pay more attention to the money that you're market you're marketing with.
You have to also decide, you know, who you have that's actually worth keeping, who's not worth keeping, who needs a raise, who doesn't, and then you gotta start thinking about, you know, how you're going to treat your employees. I mean, you always gotta think about that, but the those are big things that come kinda at that level, at least in my experience, Yeah. That you really have to pay attention to.
I think that if if everybody knew that there was a rule at once you see a $1,000,000, If you made a $1,000,000 in a year, you need to review everything and including, most importantly, the way that you're living your life. Oh, totally. I I love how you even mentioned the the was your first and last comment about, like, how you live your life because what I have found is that usually it's during that time.
Like you said, you realize you make less money, but your attention now has come to going back to this word of warrior and king is that I now am responsible as a king for not just me and my little piece here. Right? It's now I've got a team. I've got families of those team. I've got my community, the church I go to, the the whatever I'm a part of. Like, all of this is now part of my responsibility, and so I have to think bigger, which usually means you need to be wiser.
And and you're balling out of control with the car that you couldn't afford first. But now you're like, wait a second. If I put that money to work, whether it be in my business or in a purchasing over here in an asset Yeah. Of real estate or or crypto to your point, then I can see how that money goes to work for me, which like, so far away from the brain when you're in the 6 figure mark. Like, you're just you're just trying to get yours. You're trying to get up. Yep. 100%.
I totally understand too. I trust me guys. I lived it, and I made every mistake you can make. I spent you know, go to Vegas, spend way too much money because you have it. Right? Yep. And then you get a little bit more and you're just like, alright, dude. I need to start making some better decisions. And then your accountant gets on you. He's like, hey, bro. You better start making buying some assets before your tax liability is out of control. That's right. Exactly. Exactly.
Okay. Let's go with the speed round here. This has been so good, man. You talked about KPIs earlier, so I'm super curious about what you would what you would track here. But the question is this. If there was only one metric in your business to pick only 1, what would it be? What KPI would you pick? Nowadays, I would say the first thing that I told people that they need to do is which digital marketplace is your most successful one.
Yeah. Biggest squeeze for the biggest biggest juice for the squeeze. Yeah. I was trying to think of the right words to say it with, but, like, Like, for us, it's Google. Dude, Google is huge. I mean, I could go on and on about Google. Shit that I've learned about their algorithm and reviews and all kinds of stuff. But Right. Right. Yeah. Where where you're, yeah, what digital marketplace is is giving you the best return on investment. Love that. Okay. Very good.
What book would you recommend that a 6 figure owner read who's trying to get to that 7 figure mark? Okay. So number 1, the Bible will teach you everything you ever wanna learn about anything in life. It'll teach you heart. It'll teach you how to manage people. It'll teach you everything. I love the Bible. So I had to say that, but also how to win friends and influence people. Another great one. Dale Carnegie.
And the reason why is because, again, getting back to what saying before, awareness is everything. And if you can at least be aware to the fact that people think differently from you and that you need to figure out how to communicate to them. Yep. Dude, you are so many steps ahead of most people that don't even realize that. And that book will teach you that. When you pull back the veil and you can understand that it's just it's just a gap there.
And if you can just tweak your words or your actions in a specific way and it just lands on their side so much harder. Boom. Exactly. Lights out. Okay. Next question is, do you intentionally net mastermind, you kinda mentioned getting to know some people, but do you intentionally do that now as an entrepreneur at your level? Yes. So BNI groups, part of BNI. It's been cool. You know, I can't say I made a ton of money in BNI, but it's just nice.
Again, I like to surround myself with people that are like minded, and obviously, BNI is just a bunch of entrepreneurs. So that's been cool. I am a part of a zillion Facebook groups. I think that's how you found me. Yeah. Maybe I can't remember. And then we do, we do a lot of charity work. You'd be surprised what'll happen. I mean, number 1, charity is important. You need to reach out to your community and help them because, you know, you don't wanna be, like, the Black Sea.
I always use this example. The Black Sea, everything comes into it, but it doesn't have an outlet. You need to. As a money comes in, you need to go out and help other people. You need to be charitable, and you'll be surprised as to other additional positives that come as a result of that. And then the other thing too in terms of marketing is, and I really had an issue with this. I was really too cool, right?
Like, I was scared to, like, post myself talking on Instagram and, like, scared that people would judge me and whatever. Put yourself out there. If you got something to say say it. Like, that's kinda something that I've been more honestly this year. 2022, one of my five goals I five goals that I write every year.
One of my five goals was to put myself out there and actually, like, go help people from a entrepreneurial standpoint and and share who I am with the world on Instagram and Facebook and all that good stuff. Dude, check the box you've done it today, man. I know that you're not done, and you're not gonna let this be the only thing you do this this year, but, man, you you've been a fulfillment, literally, of that today. It's been Absolutely incredible. So thank you. Appreciate it. Last question.
You ready? Yep. If you lost it all, what would you do, Aaron? Dude, I'd be back to where I am in half the time. Honestly, dude, I I am in love with the process. I fell in love with it so quick. I I think that it would be cheating if I lost it all right now, and I could do it all over again because I Wolfe, dude, I'd be back like that. You know, and I think that the experience is is what's important.
I think that you have to experience the the the trials and tribulations that you're gonna go through in growing a business, which I still am, guys, but I don't think I'm keying or god or whatever. I'm still learning. We're all still learning. We're all just trying to be better every day. But, but, yeah, dude, I'd be back where I am so much faster. I I wouldn't I honestly, I'm not scared of it. Like, I'm cool with it. I I Yeah. I don't wanna lose at all, but if I did, I know I'd be fine.
Exactly. And that's what I was gonna point out to listener. They can't they can't obviously see you here right now, but not only can I see you, but just hearing your tone, the confidence of, oh, it it would be unfair to take it all from me? Yeah. Like, for you to be able to say Chaz, because at the 6 figure mark, like, they're they're they're terrified. Right? Like, because, like, if if they if they lost it all, they don't know what to do necessarily.
And they might go do the same thing like you and I. They may be they're crazy like we are, but it seems as if you would lose so much more, but your attitude is, I'm, like, if you if you took it from me, I'm gonna gain, actually, not only am I gonna gain it back in half a time, like you said, but just the process of having to do it again, I'm gonna gain that much more than I don't have now. So, yeah, you know what? Let's go ahead. Just take it from me. You know?
Yeah. It's like a game on personally. I know that it sounds conceded or big head or whatever, but I know not you particularly. I know you don't got it. Like, if I have a guy that goes to try to start his own company, I wish him luck because you know what, dude, the reality is is that 99% of people, they don't have it. They can't, like, dude, it takes a lot. I mean, you gotta be obsessed with it. You gotta be soon. You gotta be falling asleep thing about dreaming about it.
But instead of listening to the radio in the car, you gotta listen to podcasts or audiobooks, I mean, you gotta be obsessed, and that's still sometimes not enough. I heard there's a good podcast, gathering the Kings with the guy named Aaron on it. I don't know yet. Yeah, dude. I'm excited about it. Thank you. So much for having me on. I'm I this was a goal for this year. So I just checked the box. There you go. I love it, dude. Okay. So, you've obviously given us so much value here today.
How does someone connect with you if they wanted to reach out and and get to know you a little bit better? That type of thing. How do they find you? You can call me. I I've given my phone out to everybody. 714-747-2892. I don't even care. Call me. I'm willing to help anybody. You can find me on Instagram, Aaron Handell, literally at erinhandel, aar0nhandel. You can email me at ahandel atcallmorrisnow.com. Either way, whatever, call me, text me, message me. I'm willing No signal.
Yeah, I'm I'm I'm cool with helping anybody. And if you ask any of my friends or family, they'll they'll tell you, like, I I like to help people. So you're not burdening me. Trust me. That's awesome, man. I appreciate just the, the openness there. And then on then also the the pitch of not burdening because of most people, most people won't, unfortunately. Most people won't reach out.
When I was making, you know, under 7 figures, it was like, I wanted somebody to help me and so many people were, like, too good for me. And so I, I have pledged to not be that to other people. I will help you, and I'll give you all the knowledge I have. And, hopefully, you can give me some of your knowledge too.
Yeah. I think that runs deep, you know, in in a a successful entrepreneur just to kinda kick this off, at the end here, which is perspective, because I don't know of any successful entrepreneur that I've seen. And especially even in my own my own life, you know, I I I gave sales training away. I gave time away. I gave advice away. I literally for years years years would friends be like, dude, you should charge for this. Like, this was, like, you really helped me today.
Yeah. And you don't, like, the the the servant mind that you're talking about doesn't even think about that. Until, eventually, you know, for me, at least it Chaz, it's become a business. And maybe it will be for 1 1 day for you too, but that doesn't mean that for years years years years years years, you don't just out of the place of servitude do what feels good because that's where that's where I was at you know, many, many years ago before I was entrepreneur, I was looking for help. Right?
And and there were people who sometimes you could get around them, sometimes you couldn't, and Man, I just love I love your openness and your willingness to serve. It's just, it's a breath of fresh air, honestly. Thanks, man. You too. Alright, dude. Well, thank you for being on the show. We wish you absolutely nothing but success in, in going to eight figures and your new division coming up, dude. So much exciting things happening for you. We're gonna be cleaning some drains out.
Chick goes downhill. That's right. That's right. Make sure you're not in the way. Dude. Thanks for being on the show. We really appreciate it. Alright, brother. You have a great day. Thanks for listening to gathering the Kings. We hope you got a ton of value today and learned a thing or 2 about taking your business to 7 figures and beyond. If you desire more and want a community around you to help you get there, I want you to go to gathering the king's dot com.
That's gathering the kings.com, and I want you to apply for our next becoming a king 90 day intensive. We are extremely exclusive by nature as a group. What that means that we're really wanting only the entrepreneurs who take their business and targets super serious to apply. So if that's you, you think you got what it takes to level up your business. Want you to go to gatheringthekings.com and apply. And we will see you on the other side.