October 22, 2024 • 31 mins
What if you could transform your business by escaping the confines of ownership, all while mastering the art of podcasting? Join us as we explore this intriguing possibility with Richard Walsh, a seasoned entrepreneur and best-selling author, who shares his captivating journey from running a gym to becoming a prominent voice in podcasting. With a career spanning over a decade in the podcasting landscape, Richard has engaged with fascinating guests, from NBA coaches to Navy SEALs, and offers a unique perspective on how the medium has evolved. He passionately discusses the technological advancements that have made podcasting more accessible and the exciting opportunities for anyone to create meaningful content and forge connections worldwide.
Richard also opens up about a personal crisis that reshaped his life and business philosophy, leading to the development of his "escaping the owner prison" strategy after the 2008-2009 financial collapse. His experiences underline the importance of achieving a work-life balance while maintaining high-quality output and understanding your Ideal Client Profile (ICP). Through his insights, listeners will discover how to build a business that allows for personal growth and freedom, drawing comparisons between different business models to highlight the significance of knowing your audience. With a nod to Angela Duckworth's "Grit," Richard emphasizes the perseverance needed to achieve excellence, offering invaluable guidance to small business owners and aspiring podcasters alike.
Connect with Richard:
Website:
https://sharpenthespearcoaching.com/
Social Media:
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/richard.walsh.9231
LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-walsh-866ab237/
Got a question about something you heard today? Have a great suggestion for a topic or know someone who should be a guest? Reach out to us:
askcarl@carlspeaks.ca
If you're ready to take the plunge and join the over 3 million people who have joined the podcast space, we'd love to hear your idea and help you get started! Book your Podcast Strategy Session today:
https://podcastsolutionsmadesimple.com/get-started/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Carl Richards (00:04):
Welcome to Communication Connection
Community, the podcaster'spodcast.
This podcast takes a deep diveinto modern day communication
strategies in the podcastingspace.
We chat with interesting peoplewho make the podcasting and
speaking spaces exciting andvibrant.
We also dive into thepodcasting community with news
(00:24):
updates, latest trends andtopics from this ever-evolving
space.
So strap in, it's going to beone amazing ride.
Let's dive into today's episode.
I have to say we have had someamazing conversations lately
with guests from all differentsectors, all of whom have been
embracing podcasting fromdifferent angles, different
perspectives, all kinds ofindustries, all kinds of ethnic
(00:53):
backgrounds, all kinds ofexperiences.
But oh my goodness, we are sothrilled for the opportunity to
be chatting with people, andit's mostly in part due to the
folks at Podmatch who have madeit quite possible for us to get
in touch with some amazingpodcast guests.
And I know that Alex Sanfilippohas been a guest on this
podcast.
He probably needs to be a guestagain to update some of the
things that are new in thepodcast guesting world and the
(01:14):
podcast scheduling world.
But man, oh man, are we ever infor a treat today?
Because we're talking to afellow podcaster who's been
doing podcasting for quite awhile?
And man.
Does he ever have a story toshare with us today?
My guest today is Richard Walsh.
Richard is a 30-year seasonedentrepreneur.
He's the best-selling author ofEscape the Owner Prison, the
(01:37):
contractor's new way to scale,regain control and fast-track
growth while loving life, aspeaker and a podcast host as
well.
He's a husband and father ofsix children, a US Marine
champion, boxer, black belt andan internationally recognized
steel sculptor.
His expertise lies in combiningboth the strategic and the
(01:58):
tactical.
He's able to deliver immediateproblem-solving results tactical
along with the strategic,long-term implementation of
systemization and scalability.
We're going to talk a lot aboutpodcasting.
I'm sure some of these otherelements will come up.
Richard, welcome to the podcast.
Richard Walsh (02:15):
Thanks, carl.
I appreciate you having me here, man, looking forward to the
conversation.
Carl Richards (02:19):
It's always lots of fun.
How did you fall into thisworld of podcasting?
What was the catalyst that gotyou going With my book.
Richard Walsh (02:26):
I'm like, well, I'm talking to people on how do
you reach people, and I had agym.
I owned a gym too and we hadstarted a podcast man back in
2012, maybe Me and one of mytrainers just having fun like
just a couple of goofs, you know, just having a good time.
So that was kind of fun.
Then I kind of had that pauseso I was scaling some other
businesses and then when I getinto podcasting, I'm like, well,
(02:47):
I can do podcasting.
Like what's so hard about it?
I just started doing it andalso I'm interviewing all these
people.
I ended up interviewing guyslike NBA coaches to Navy SEALs,
to bestselling authors.
It was like the funnest thing Iever did.
I love this and there were hourlong interviews and just the
people were just awesome.
Almost all the people were justawesome.
You always get a couple thatyou don't really want to publish
(03:09):
.
That's really how I got into itbecause like, well, I'll share
what I know, I'll bring peopleon in the same the business
realm and stuff like that, andit really it took off and it was
just a lot of fun.
Carl Richards (03:20):
What are some of the changes that you've noticed?
I mean, you mentioned 2012 whenyou got into it.
I got in in 2019.
I've seen changes since then,but since 2012,.
What are some of the topchanges that you've noted in the
podcasting space?
Richard Walsh (03:34):
Well, for one, a big one is platforms to get
guests to get on to be a guest.
Like people are reallydeveloping some awesome stuff.
Because before when you go, youput a post on Facebook who
wants to be on my podcast?
You know it's like I didn'tknow where to go.
You just like put it out there.
Then, oh, I read this book, letme try to contact this guy.
You know like it was a lot ofwork to get quality guests, let
(03:59):
alone guest guests.
You know, just a plain old yes.
So that's a huge shift andthat's really just been the last
couple of years.
And then things like Buzzsprout, right Ways to get out of where
it just goes to everything.
It's just a one push andthey've done stuff like that in
your recording platforms, yourRiverside, your Squadcast, your
Zoom, all this stuff.
So those are the big changesand they've gotten so good with
(04:31):
noise canceling and everythingelse, even like Zoom and stuff
your microphones so inexpensivefor dynamic microphones and
things like that.
It's like, wow, man, you could.
This used to be costprohibitive, right.
Just like video was right.
You never you weren't on thenews.
Like to get someone to listenfor 35 minutes an hour to listen
to you.
You couldn't buy that time.
That was unpurchasable back inthe day, right, and now we can
sit there and have theseconversations and meet these
incredible people like it's andthen who am I?
(04:51):
But it's just awesome.
So that's a bunch of ones thatI've really seen.
Carl Richards (04:55):
Yeah, it certainly is a lot of fun, but
you're right, it's taken thisthing that when 2000 or 2002,
when it was created, and at thattime it was an audio only
platform Well, now it's audio,it's video, but everyone has
those tools.
I mean you.
You pick up this device that wecarry around in our pocket.
Remember in 2012, even how bigthese were, then probably had
(05:17):
the it's it's basically acomputer in your pocket.
Now is is is the point I'mtrying to make.
Richard Walsh (05:26):
Yeah, even in 2012, we were like you still had
to have the mixer, you had toplug in, you had to have.
It was like it is.
It's no effort now it's, it's,it's zero to be able to do
anything.
You know, like really the I'dsay a four-year-old could do it,
but that's they probably do alot more than I can anyways, but
I'm not a 60-year-old couldeven do it.
Now, how about that?
It's something else.
(05:46):
It's impressive, do you?
Carl Richards (05:48):
think it's in your expertise, though do you
think it's watered it down alittle bit?
The quality aspect of it?
Richard Walsh (05:54):
I don't think so.
I truly think blackheads isstill in its infancy stage.
As many as there are right, asbig as it is, I think there's so
much more to come down the pikethat's going to elevate this.
So I don't think it's wateredit down.
What it's done is give.
I like things, because first youhave this high barrier to entry
right.
You've got to have the certaintools and this and video camera.
(06:15):
I go back right.
We used to have to use Super 8cameras.
There was no video right.
Then you had the $3,000 videocamera.
You had to walk around as bigas your torso just to get video.
And now it's in our pocket,right.
But I think what it's doing nowis really giving people an
opportunity to get a platform,create a voice.
There's good ones and bad ones,like anything.
(06:35):
There's good doctors and baddoctors, good teachers and bad
teachers that's all the thing.
So it's really who's going toembrace it and go into it and
make something of it.
Some people do it for fun, Somewant to make a business out of
it, Some people just want toconnect.
So I don't think it's watereddown.
I think what it's going to dois shore up and all things
happen, Carl.
You know what they do they weedout the weak.
(06:57):
So eventually, these people youknow they start a podcast, they
do three episodes and theynever do another one.
Okay, so those guys, eventuallythose would go away.
It doesn't matter, Right?
So the cream will rise to thetop and if you want to be there,
you have an opportunity to bethere.
Carl Richards (07:11):
It's funny that you mentioned that, because I
know people that have been inthat space, where they did three
episodes, said this is too hard, for whatever reason.
They didn't go into thestrategy.
They thought it would be fun orless work or whatever it is,
and I think that eventuallywe'll see those.
I think they're still hangingin I think what they call
podgatory right when allpodcasts go to dock.
(07:33):
I think they're still hangingin there right now, but I think
eventually we'll see them sortof fade into the sunset and then
we'll see some new growth frompodcasters coming in today and
their ideas of what a podcastshould be about.
You must have seen a shift tooin just the content and the
types of content, the value inthe content, all of that too.
Richard Walsh (07:55):
Yeah, because people start realizing, so
you'll get experts who start toembrace it.
A lot of experts in myexperience, tend to be
exclusionary because they're sogood and they know everything
and they're the expert andthey're not big on sharing.
Ok, now some do right becausethey want to, because they they
understand there's a businessinvolved.
Others and I call them more theacademic elite don't really
(08:18):
want to do that because theywant their captive audience and
whatever, and so that can be alittle bit different.
I think what's also going tohappen, carl, is, you know, the
people with the few episodes andall that.
I think they're going to beliterally forced out, like
they'll be deleted because oflike space and it'll become the
new thing.
Well, if you haven't done this,you can't participate, right?
So it's not going to be thatyou can come and take up space
(08:40):
with three episodes and never doanother one.
Take up space for with threeepisodes and never do another
one, they're going to delete you, like you can't be on here,
you're not using the platform.
So I I believe it'll come tothat, because they're going to
have to weed people out somehowwho aren't producing, because
it's like google, right, ifyou're not giving value if
you're not bringing value totheir people.
Searching and everything elseright, guess what.
Carl Richards (08:59):
You don't get found, right you get pushed to
the very last page on google,which no one ever goes to unless
they're really bored on aSunday afternoon and it's
raining.
Richard Walsh (09:09):
You'll be embarrassed to tell someone you
had a podcast, exactly sothat'll just not be a part of
your life anymore.
Carl Richards (09:17):
Yeah, for sure.
One of the things you mentionedis that one of the catalysts
that got you into the podcastingspace was the book.
And let's talk a little aboutwhat you do, because I think
what you do is very important.
So, escaping the owner prison,what made you decide to put pen
to paper?
Richard Walsh (09:34):
For the first 20 years of my business, my water
feature.
I had a custom water featurebusiness did steel sculpture
super successful, best in thecountry at doing what I did.
Quite the artist I don't looklike an artist, but I'm an
artist and that was amazing.
08, 09 hit a financial crunch.
My business like evaporatedovernight, like in one day.
(09:54):
I lost half a million dollars,ok, and it just kept snowballing
from there and it was because,obviously, people didn't have to
have a water feature at thattime.
They could wait it's a luxuryitem and they did and they
weren't wrong to hold on to themoney.
If you were around then youknow.
You know the drill.
But the problem I realized waswell, ok, I can blame it on the
economy, but it really wasthings that I didn't do in my
(10:15):
business.
Making money was never aproblem.
I do tell people making moneyin business is the easiest part
of business.
It's everything else that'sdifficult.
And you take someone like me 20years in.
How can even an economiccollapse, how could it really
take me out?
Okay, and there's a lot offactors to that.
So what happened was I startedto connect.
I lost everything.
I have six kids under fouryears old, my wife lost her
(10:37):
house.
It closed everything down,relocate all this stuff, start
over.
Okay, not a pleasant time, okay, but it's a challenge to me.
It's like it didn't reallyphase me.
I really learned like, okay,I'm going to do things different
.
I don't know what I'm going todo, but I'm going to do things
different.
So when I started getting backinto creating businesses again,
I took it and thought, well, onething I didn't want to do was I
didn't want to get consumed bymy business, where it becomes my
(10:59):
identity.
So if I'm not wearing my shirtand for my company, my work
crowd company, I'm nobody.
Ok, I'm that.
So I stopped that because Irealized my children, as they're
growing up, all they caredabout.
Like I come home at seveno'clock at night, whatever I'm
working, they run and attack meRight, four or three years old,
ok, cool.
Carl Richards (11:17):
When.
Richard Walsh (11:17):
I leave one time time my son is chasing my truck
down the driveway crying andscreaming.
And take a look in the rearview mirror at that sometime and
see if it doesn't affect you,right?
I'm like they don't care what Idrive, they don't care where we
live, they don't care how manytrucks I have in my business,
they don't care.
All they wanted was me to bearound, right?
(11:45):
So I'm like, okay, well, how doI build a business?
Because I love business, I loveit, I love working, I love
scaling, but still be there formy family.
Like, how do we create thebalance, the work-life balance?
I hate that term, but peopleuse it, you know they get it.
But there's a whole differentway to balance.
So that was my mission.
Let me get that figured out.
Let me build a business andstill be around my kids.
And we homeschooled my kids allthe way through high school.
You know all six of them,everything else.
So that's how it started reallyworking and people started
asking me like, how'd you dothat?
I started helping them.
Of course, coaching was kind ofbirthed in for me doing that.
(12:09):
So you know, I should write abook, I should tell the story,
because this is pretty traumatic.
At one time, you know, I did alot of stuff.
I started with a wheelbarrowand a shovel in the back of my
Jeep, you know whatever 30 yearsago.
And here I am today.
So I wrote the book and Irealized the biggest problem
with small businesses.
All the small business owners Iknew were all trapped in their
business.
If they didn't open the door,you say, the business didn't run
(12:31):
.
If they weren't wearing ninehats, things didn't get finished
.
So from a book writingstandpoint, carl, I had 27
working titles for my book.
Okay At 27,.
I'm like okay, I think I'm downto a couple of, and I always
tell people I went with the 28thone, okay, escape the owner
prison Cause.
None of those were working, youknow.
So I figured that one out, likecool.
Then we came, then that was thehardest part of the whole book,
(12:53):
next to the subtitle Okay, thecontracts.
And we had scale, regain,control and fast track growth
while loving life.
I had to figure that one outtoo.
And then the book went and itjust kind of really hit a nerve.
It really resonated with peoplebecause that's where they're
stuck.
If you're a business doing $1to $10 billion a year, most
likely you're stuck in there.
You're in the prison okay,you're not present.
(13:14):
When you're home, the phone'sringing, you're taking calls.
You're at the dinner table oh,you're taking calls.
You know you're at the dinnertable, I can take this call and
you walk away.
Got to get up early, go to bedlast.
You know the whole thing.
So that's what really spurredon the book.
And when I put the book of mystory then the things to do as a
contractor or service or tradebusiness, it was like let's
(13:34):
build value and we'll buildprofit.
And it just started taking themthrough those steps and it was
unbelievably rewarding.
I'm turning these business.
I'm going to say I'm going tocall it turning them around, but
I took them from.
I'll give you one examplethey're doing 12 jobs at a time.
Okay, doing what?
2 million a year, 12 jobs atone time, not making any money
(13:54):
okay.
Came in and said okay let's gothrough the escape donor prison
process.
Let's go through the Sharpenthe Spirit thing.
A year later, a year and a halflater.
Now they're doing $3 million ayear and doing a third of the
work, but they're getting whatthey deserve to be paid.
Right now they get rid of allthat.
He has a life, as a matter offact, the same guy he just
headed off for the beach todaywith his wife and five kids.
(14:15):
Business is humming andeverything's going.
Yeah, we're heading out.
I do a quick estimate of whatI'm going.
We're heading there for theweekend or something you can do.
All that now.
Other ones they hadn't had avacation in eight years and
these people now are takingmultiple.
And there's just.
That's the joy I get for what Ido from being a business coach.
When I can do that for acompany and give someone back
their freedom because no onegets serving the business,
(14:43):
that's totally backwards.
Your business should serve youand that's really what it's all
about.
Carl Richards (14:45):
Wow, phenomenal.
And congratulations on figuringthat out, too, for yourself.
From what I've been told fromvarious coaches, ceo doesn't
stand for chief everythingofficer.
At some point you need todelegate or know that the
business will run, or set it upso it runs when you're not there
.
There's three things.
Richard Walsh (15:05):
Automate, delegate, eliminate, automate,
delegate, eliminate, automate.
Whatever you can, whetherthat's your books or you've got
a virtual assistant or you haveeverything systemized.
Delegate, put people in chargeand give them authority, truly
give them authority, have themdo things, hold them accountable
.
Then eliminate Obviously,eliminate redundancies,
(15:25):
eliminate inefficiencies.
But you know what you reallyneed to eliminate you.
You need to eliminate you fromthe picture here.
You should be working on 5% ofthe business that only you can
do.
Everything else, automate anddelegate.
You're focused on vision,growth, market capture, stuff.
That, like, really gets youjacked.
You know that's why you got inbusiness with it.
You didn't get in the businessto do accounting.
(15:47):
You didn't even get in businessto do sales.
You may have done them for awhile.
Carl Richards (15:51):
You know you didn't get in business to keep
swinging a hammer right, we gotto be part of the elimination
part, even if it's somethingyou'd like to do, because I,
again, I come from a radiobackground world where I used to
edit, you know, interviews andall that stuff every single day.
It was just something that youdid.
You're on air, you're editingon the fly, so to speak, but I
don't edit podcasts anymore.
(16:12):
I have a team that does thatfor me because, to your point, I
should be working on that 5% or8% or whatever it is that I
should be doing, and it's notediting and it's not doing
social posts and it's not.
I still do sales and marketing,so I still do some of that, but
I'm already seeing the not thewriting on the wall, but I'm,
but I'm, I'm forecasting.
(16:32):
Okay, at some point I need tobe focusing on the speaking and
being the face and the voice ofthe business, but somebody else
needs to be doing the salespiece.
Richard Walsh (16:41):
Yeah, absolutely.
You really have to understandtime.
Money is replenishable.
I can lose it all I did andthen I made it all back.
It's replenishable.
I can make more money tomorrow,the next day, the next day.
I can't.
I miss my kid's soccer game.
He scores a goal.
Looks in the stands for thekid's soccer game, he scores a
goal.
Looks in the stands for the andI'm not there to get that.
(17:02):
I never get that back, goneforever.
All of us, as small businessowners, have been in that
situation.
Okay, we've all missed thosetimes and it's you can't get it
back.
That's what the freedom part isabout.
Do what I want when I want.
That's what I want.
I want to have a great business.
I want to scale.
I want it to run itself.
I love it, I love being in it.
(17:22):
But man, I need my family needsme.
I need to have real balance.
I call it the five Fs, so it'sgoing to be faith, family,
finances, fitness andfriendships.
I need to be balancing thosethings.
Do I have all five of thosethings in my life?
(17:43):
You know, outside my business,if I'm just counting dollars,
that's my only scorecard is mygross revenue.
It's miserable at the top andlonely.
You'll be sitting on a big pileof money, but nobody's sharing
it and the dollars and cents isimportant.
Carl Richards (17:51):
I mean, otherwise it's a hobby, right.
But yeah, and it's funny how inbusiness, a lot of especially
solopreneurs they say oh well,I'm self-employed, I have so
much freedom.
Yeah, you've given up a 40-hourwork week to work a 100-hour
work week and you have nofreedom because you're absorbed
with all that extra tasks.
Richard Walsh (18:12):
Exactly Because here's the thing when you create
the business properly automate,delegate, eliminate guess what
it does?
It makes a lot more moneywithout you.
Money is incredibly important.
How are we going to do greatthings without money?
How are we going to help peoplewithout money?
How are we going to make impactwith our business?
If we're broke or we go under,we can't help anybody.
(18:33):
So it's critical.
But it's funny, carl, in mycoaching that's not like the
money focus isn't kind of evenon the radar.
It's systemization, it'sstrategy, it's scalability, it's
performance.
It's like how do we do this sothat you can have the freedom,
the profit begins to rise andyou can make the impact?
I go.
It just happens I don't have tofocus on making money.
(18:54):
If you run it right, you can'thelp it.
It's a byproduct Increasedprofit and real profit.
So I do talk about real netprofit and there's gross revenue
.
There's a great saying I learnedyears ago from a mentor of mine
.
People say, oh, I'm doing 10million a year, I'm doing 20
million a year and I'll ask well, how much are you taking home?
Oh, I did 100,000 last year.
I'm like wait a minute, you'redoing 10 million gross revenue,
(19:15):
you're taking home 100.
There's people working in thegovernment making more than you.
Okay, I said so.
Something's broken here.
So the great saying was grossrevenue feeds the ego, profit
feeds the family.
That is, just put that in yourhead and go oh yeah, that's kind
of important, isn't it?
You know, it's what you keep,it's not what you make, it's
(19:37):
what you keep.
Same reason we have taxstrategy and everything else.
We want to give as little aspossible to those who just want
to take.
Carl Richards (19:41):
I like that because that's very true, and I
think that it's one of the trapsthat entrepreneurs get in when
they're first getting intobusiness.
They go I'm bringing in allthis money.
Great, you might be bringingthat in, but how much are you
keeping?
And it's not because you'reabsconding with it, it's because
, okay, you have to pay yourtaxes, that's a given.
But you're looking at the factthat you yeah, you have to pay
(20:05):
people, and how much are youactually keeping?
Richard Walsh (20:08):
You have a bucket with a lot of holes in it.
That's what you have.
You're running and gunning butyour expenses and you're not
paying attention to what you'reactually paying for materials
and this and this and this.
And all of a sudden it's justwhy am I at a 2% margin?
Only Coca-Cola can work at thatmargin, not the plumber down
the street, you can't do it.
Carl Richards (20:28):
I think some of the other things too that factor
into play are I know for myselfin business it's been I'm
pricing myself too low for myservices, and I think that I'm
pricing myself too low, I'mdoing people a favor, when
really what I'm doing is I'mundervaluing my services, where
if I raise my prices and I'veheard so many people say this
(20:48):
you raise your prices, guesswhat?
And more money will come in,not just because you raised your
prices, but because now you'reattracting different clientele
altogether.
Richard Walsh (20:58):
That's 100% right and it's always about building
value, like people haveperceived value.
If I buy a car and I look at itand it's $30,000, they have the
car and they go oh man, I lovethis car, I'm not buying it
because if it was $30,200,that's too much, I'm not going
to spend that.
It's worth more than $30,000 tome, whether that's image,
(21:21):
function, whatever.
It is right.
I never had air conditioning.
Now I have air conditioningokay, I'll pay whatever for it,
but I'm like people don't buy itfor the price.
If you're going to have thatrace to the bottom and it's a
low bidder, that's the firstthing I attack when I work with
(21:41):
the company.
Where is your pricing?
What do you get for yourpricing?
Like we, we, and that's whythey work a third, they do a
third of the jobs now and makedouble the money.
Because and now and there's acaveat with this, carl you have
to do great work.
You can't be schlock and expecta top dollar.
Okay, like, stay at the bottomand then go with the few, the
bottom feeders, and chase thatstuff.
Go after Walmart Okay, go go,follow Walmart around.
But don't be, you want to chart.
(22:03):
You got to be that person youhave to be.
You have to deliver above andbeyond what they're paying for.
You know it just has to be aprinciple in your business, like
we never cut corners, we alwaysdeliver the highest caliber we
possibly can.
And my clients are like that,and that's why we can change
what they do.
I don't go in.
If someone does really trashywork, I won't take them on as a
(22:24):
client, unless they bought abusiness that does bad work and
they want to do good work, okay,we can work with that.
But if they're going to insiston delivering a subpar product
or service, I'm not going towork with them.
I don't Because my reputationis on the line too.
I don't want to be attached tothat, yeah, 100%.
Carl Richards (22:39):
And it's also knowing who is your client,
Because, let's face it, there isa place in the world for fast
food restaurants.
You need a quick meal.
You're on the go.
It's not necessarily thehealthiest, but it's probably
the quickest.
You can go to any of thosechains and it's there for you.
You want a good steak.
You're probably not going to goto that same restaurant.
(22:59):
You're going to go to a Keensin New York City or something
like that, where it's anexperience and you know what
you're getting is to your point.
It's that quality and it betterbe good quality, otherwise it's
not going to keep you inbusiness very long.
Richard Walsh (23:13):
Consistently good quality.
The word is consistent, right?
If I go to Ruth Chris orMorton's everyone I go to I'm
going to get the same experience.
Okay, they're a franchise, butthey're a high-end franchise.
I took my whole when I gotmarried.
Everyone at the wedding we wentto Ruth Chris, got a room
upstairs and everyone justordered off the menu.
Okay, forget the catering, allthat nonsense.
(23:33):
We're going to a system inChicago.
We're going down to Ruth Chrisand order whatever you want.
We're going to have an amazingtime.
It was awesome.
But yeah, to your point on that, it's really important.
Again, go back to fast food.
Mcdonald's is not good food,it's fast and cheap.
That's what they are.
That's their client.
So we call it ICP, right?
Ideal Client Profile.
So whether you're a podcaster,you know you're a tradesman.
(23:56):
Whatever you're doing, you haveto know who you're going to
serve.
Like you're saying that ICP andI give people multiple page
worksheets on figuring that out.
I mean, you know them betterthan you know.
What's the average house income, right?
Or the median income?
Where do they live?
Where do they live?
Where income?
Where do they live?
What do they live?
What do they drive?
How many cars, how many kids?
What do they do?
(24:16):
What do they do online, offline?
You got to do all that researchon your ideal client Because
when you know that, you knowexactly how to serve them and
then you don't waste time on theothers.
So your marketing is narrowed,you're saving dollars on
marketing but the close rategoes up right In your sales
because you know you're speakingto like equals.
You know what I mean.
You know them so well.
(24:37):
They feel like they're sittingacross their best friend, not
some guy who's carrying 19sample boards and they're going
to show them something.
No, it's not the brush salesmanor something or whatever it is.
I used to tell my roofing guyslike, don't bring samples to the
door ever.
We go in, you have a table, wedo a really cool presentation,
we have satellite imagery.
We do all this stuff when theywant to see it.
After you close the deal, thenwe bring in those samples from
(24:58):
the truck, then I'll show themwhen we pick colors and install
dates and everything else.
But there's always a process,right, you got to know your
clients and know how to servethem.
So anyone like I said, anyone,I don't care if you're a
podcaster, especially right, youhave to know your market.
Who are you talking to?
Yes, I know anybody can listen,right, anyone can click play,
but they're not gonna, or theymight go.
What do I?
(25:19):
Oh wait, I'm on the wrong oneand they'll turn that off and
you're getting nothing right.
Carl Richards (25:23):
So that's a key element.
You hit the nail right on thehead there too.
About in the podcasting spaceand I think there are a lot of
podcasters out there going backto some of our original
discussion who started a showjust for the sake of starting a
show, not knowing who theiraudience is, who they're
speaking to, what the goal isfor their show and the
consistency which is why theyonly did three episodes or five
(25:43):
episodes, or quit after theirfirst season or whatever it is,
because they weren't getting theresults, because there was
inconsistency with what theywere doing.
Richard Walsh (25:50):
Yeah, it's so critical.
There's a great book out I justread.
A friend of mine recommended itto me.
It's called grit.
Have you read it, angelaDuckworth?
No, so I just recommend to.
You want to understand, like,what it really takes to succeed.
I mean, I'm talking research.
This is something with an idea.
This woman has researched andtalked to the best.
(26:10):
You know people you think arejust the greatest in their field
, right?
Well, she finds out what ittook to get there, go read and
go.
Oh, you know people you thinkare just the greatest in their
field, right?
Well, she finds out what ittook to get there, go read and
go.
Oh, you know, they say everyovernight success only took 10
years.
Okay, that's more like 20actually right these guys are
like so my buddy's a bigentrepreneur, you know multiple
business, all super successfully.
He texts me this and he goeshave you read this, because this
(26:31):
is about you?
So I go say I start reading it.
I go, okay, it's like 300 pages.
No one's writing 300 pagesabout me, there's not enough.
He goes but there is, there is,and I read it and you take a
test to see where yourpercentile is for grit.
I'm a 97% grit guy, okay.
So it's like okay, well, I getit now, but I just recommend, if
you want to read it, it reallyhelps.
(26:52):
If you're looking to say you'relaunching your podcast, if you
just call it consistency, that'swhat it's about.
If you're going to do once aweek every Wednesday at six
o'clock, it's got to be everyWednesday at six o'clock.
You can't.
You know.
You got to understand that, beprepared to endure.
We call it discipline,diligence and determination.
(27:12):
You got to have those things.
It's like you got to bedisciplined to do it, diligent
to make sure it happens againand again and again, and you got
to just be determined to get tothe goal right and make it
happen.
So really it's a really goodpoint.
Carl Richards (27:21):
Wow, Richard, this is some phenomenal
conversation we're having.
We can keep this going for therest of the day, but I think we
should probably give you theopportunity to talk about
sharpening the spear and whatyou do with the coaching.
Richard Walsh (27:32):
And so sharpen the spear.
Coaching is it is about workingwith businesses, right.
So what I want to do is createfreedom, profit, impact.
My big movement is to help10,000 business owners create
that freedom, profit and impact.
Right, because when they dothat and here's the cool thing
about it, carl, think of it.
What I do is, when people talkabout it, I go it isn't some
crazy.
Serve yourself as an owner.
(27:53):
It's changing the culture ofyour business.
So you're not just creatingfreedom for yourself, but it's
also for the people who workwith you.
Make them better as people, notjust competent workers.
Once you do that and they'reimproving as people, where do
they go with that?
They go home, right to thefamilies, and that gets shared
with the families.
And where do the families goInto the communities?
Right, and they influence that.
(28:14):
So think about 10 000 business.
You're like, okay, well,there's 32 million in the us,
there's 10 000, but now you'reaffecting families and
communities.
You have the potential ofmillions, right, affecting
millions of people.
Understand there's a differentway to do business, where it's
not all business, nothing else,it's creating real balance.
So that's our drive and I'lltell you I that's our drive and
(28:36):
I'll tell you.
I just kind of our ideal client.
I'll tell you what mine isbriefly, okay.
It's people in business five to15 years.
They have five to 50 employees.
They're doing about a milliongross a year Okay, and probably
between a million and 10 millionis a sweet spot.
And we go in and we just lookat their business.
We spend a year and we get thisperfected, we free them, we
take those chains off of them,get that business operating
(28:58):
itself and it's a beautifulthing.
C (29:00):
Starpeningthespearcoachingcom is the website.
We'll make sure that that linkis in the show notes as well.
As if you want to connect withRichard socially social handles
rather Well socially too, Iguess if you meet him at home
for a beverage of some kind,we'll make sure that that's all
in the show notes as well.
Before I turn you loose Richardto go and help business owners
(29:22):
become better at what they doand more efficient, I'll leave
you with the final thought,since we're talking about grit.
Richard Walsh (29:27):
We're talking about discipline and
determination and diligence.
I'm going to share my favoritequote for the last since, like
95 when I first read it, and itgoes like this it's a dedication
to a goal that never waversResolution.
This is the basic principle inthe life of every truly great
character.
He who resolves upon any greatand good end has, by that very
(29:48):
resolution, clothed himself inpower and has scaled the chief
barrier to it.
Now I'm going to credit that toSteve Ilg.
He wrote a book called OutdoorAthlete, didn't put his name on
it, he didn't put it on known.
I'm just thinking he wrote thatand it was so brilliant I
memorized it right there.
I've been quick, I've headed tomy gym walls.
I just love it.
But that to me is like that'skind of me too.
(30:09):
So you guys can grab ahold ofthat.
You can do whatever you want todo.
You just got to hang in thereand get it done.
Carl Richards (30:15):
Richard, I think we'll leave it right there.
Thank you so much for being myguest today.
Thank you, carl.
Appreciate it, loved it,And thank you for joining us
today.
Special thanks to our producerand production lead, Dom
Carrillo, our music guru, NathanSimon, and the person who works
the arms all of our arms,actually my trusty assistant,
Stephanie Gaffor.
.
If you like what you heard today, leave us a comment and a
(30:36):
review, and be sure to share itwith your friends.
If you don't like what youheard, please share it with your
enemies.
Oh, and if you have asuggestion of someone who you
think would make an amazingguest on the show, let us know
about it.
Drop us an email, askcarl atcarlspeaksca.
Don't forget to follow us onLinkedIn and Twitter as well.
(31:01):
You'll find all those links inthe show notes, and if you're
ready to take the plunge andjoin the over 3 million people
who have said yes to podcasting,let's have a conversation.
We'll show you the simplest wayto get into the podcasting
space because, after all, we'rePodcast Solutions Made Simple.
We'll catch you next time.
Welcome to Communication Connection
Community, the podcaster'spodcast.
This podcast takes a deep diveinto modern day communication
strategies in the podcastingspace.
We chat with interesting peoplewho make the podcasting and
speaking spaces exciting andvibrant.
We also dive into thepodcasting community with news
(00:24):
updates, latest trends andtopics from this ever-evolving
space.
So strap in, it's going to beone amazing ride.
Let's dive into today's episode.
I have to say we have had someamazing conversations lately
with guests from all differentsectors, all of whom have been
embracing podcasting fromdifferent angles, different
perspectives, all kinds ofindustries, all kinds of ethnic
(00:53):
backgrounds, all kinds ofexperiences.
But oh my goodness, we are sothrilled for the opportunity to
be chatting with people, andit's mostly in part due to the
folks at Podmatch who have madeit quite possible for us to get
in touch with some amazingpodcast guests.
And I know that Alex Sanfilippohas been a guest on this
podcast.
He probably needs to be a guestagain to update some of the
things that are new in thepodcast guesting world and the
(01:14):
podcast scheduling world.
But man, oh man, are we ever infor a treat today?
Because we're talking to afellow podcaster who's been
doing podcasting for quite awhile?
And man.
Does he ever have a story toshare with us today?
My guest today is Richard Walsh.
Richard is a 30-year seasonedentrepreneur.
He's the best-selling author ofEscape the Owner Prison, the
(01:37):
contractor's new way to scale,regain control and fast-track
growth while loving life, aspeaker and a podcast host as
well.
He's a husband and father ofsix children, a US Marine
champion, boxer, black belt andan internationally recognized
steel sculptor.
His expertise lies in combiningboth the strategic and the
(01:58):
tactical.
He's able to deliver immediateproblem-solving results tactical
along with the strategic,long-term implementation of
systemization and scalability.
We're going to talk a lot aboutpodcasting.
I'm sure some of these otherelements will come up.
Richard, welcome to the podcast.
Richard Walsh (02:15):
Thanks, carl.
I appreciate you having me here, man, looking forward to the
conversation.
Carl Richards (02:19):
It's always lots of fun.
How did you fall into thisworld of podcasting?
What was the catalyst that gotyou going With my book.
Richard Walsh (02:26):
I'm like, well, I'm talking to people on how do
you reach people, and I had agym.
I owned a gym too and we hadstarted a podcast man back in
2012, maybe Me and one of mytrainers just having fun like
just a couple of goofs, you know, just having a good time.
So that was kind of fun.
Then I kind of had that pauseso I was scaling some other
businesses and then when I getinto podcasting, I'm like, well,
(02:47):
I can do podcasting.
Like what's so hard about it?
I just started doing it andalso I'm interviewing all these
people.
I ended up interviewing guyslike NBA coaches to Navy SEALs,
to bestselling authors.
It was like the funnest thing Iever did.
I love this and there were hourlong interviews and just the
people were just awesome.
Almost all the people were justawesome.
You always get a couple thatyou don't really want to publish
(03:09):
.
That's really how I got into itbecause like, well, I'll share
what I know, I'll bring peopleon in the same the business
realm and stuff like that, andit really it took off and it was
just a lot of fun.
Carl Richards (03:20):
What are some of the changes that you've noticed?
I mean, you mentioned 2012 whenyou got into it.
I got in in 2019.
I've seen changes since then,but since 2012,.
What are some of the topchanges that you've noted in the
podcasting space?
Richard Walsh (03:34):
Well, for one, a big one is platforms to get
guests to get on to be a guest.
Like people are reallydeveloping some awesome stuff.
Because before when you go, youput a post on Facebook who
wants to be on my podcast?
You know it's like I didn'tknow where to go.
You just like put it out there.
Then, oh, I read this book, letme try to contact this guy.
You know like it was a lot ofwork to get quality guests, let
(03:59):
alone guest guests.
You know, just a plain old yes.
So that's a huge shift andthat's really just been the last
couple of years.
And then things like Buzzsprout, right Ways to get out of where
it just goes to everything.
It's just a one push andthey've done stuff like that in
your recording platforms, yourRiverside, your Squadcast, your
Zoom, all this stuff.
So those are the big changesand they've gotten so good with
(04:31):
noise canceling and everythingelse, even like Zoom and stuff
your microphones so inexpensivefor dynamic microphones and
things like that.
It's like, wow, man, you could.
This used to be costprohibitive, right.
Just like video was right.
You never you weren't on thenews.
Like to get someone to listenfor 35 minutes an hour to listen
to you.
You couldn't buy that time.
That was unpurchasable back inthe day, right, and now we can
sit there and have theseconversations and meet these
incredible people like it's andthen who am I?
(04:51):
But it's just awesome.
So that's a bunch of ones thatI've really seen.
Carl Richards (04:55):
Yeah, it certainly is a lot of fun, but
you're right, it's taken thisthing that when 2000 or 2002,
when it was created, and at thattime it was an audio only
platform Well, now it's audio,it's video, but everyone has
those tools.
I mean you.
You pick up this device that wecarry around in our pocket.
Remember in 2012, even how bigthese were, then probably had
(05:17):
the it's it's basically acomputer in your pocket.
Now is is is the point I'mtrying to make.
Richard Walsh (05:26):
Yeah, even in 2012, we were like you still had
to have the mixer, you had toplug in, you had to have.
It was like it is.
It's no effort now it's, it's,it's zero to be able to do
anything.
You know, like really the I'dsay a four-year-old could do it,
but that's they probably do alot more than I can anyways, but
I'm not a 60-year-old couldeven do it.
Now, how about that?
It's something else.
(05:46):
It's impressive, do you?
Carl Richards (05:48):
think it's in your expertise, though do you
think it's watered it down alittle bit?
The quality aspect of it?
Richard Walsh (05:54):
I don't think so.
I truly think blackheads isstill in its infancy stage.
As many as there are right, asbig as it is, I think there's so
much more to come down the pikethat's going to elevate this.
So I don't think it's wateredit down.
What it's done is give.
I like things, because first youhave this high barrier to entry
right.
You've got to have the certaintools and this and video camera.
(06:15):
I go back right.
We used to have to use Super 8cameras.
There was no video right.
Then you had the $3,000 videocamera.
You had to walk around as bigas your torso just to get video.
And now it's in our pocket,right.
But I think what it's doing nowis really giving people an
opportunity to get a platform,create a voice.
There's good ones and bad ones,like anything.
(06:35):
There's good doctors and baddoctors, good teachers and bad
teachers that's all the thing.
So it's really who's going toembrace it and go into it and
make something of it.
Some people do it for fun, Somewant to make a business out of
it, Some people just want toconnect.
So I don't think it's watereddown.
I think what it's going to dois shore up and all things
happen, Carl.
You know what they do they weedout the weak.
(06:57):
So eventually, these people youknow they start a podcast, they
do three episodes and theynever do another one.
Okay, so those guys, eventuallythose would go away.
It doesn't matter, Right?
So the cream will rise to thetop and if you want to be there,
you have an opportunity to bethere.
Carl Richards (07:11):
It's funny that you mentioned that, because I
know people that have been inthat space, where they did three
episodes, said this is too hard, for whatever reason.
They didn't go into thestrategy.
They thought it would be fun orless work or whatever it is,
and I think that eventuallywe'll see those.
I think they're still hangingin I think what they call
podgatory right when allpodcasts go to dock.
(07:33):
I think they're still hangingin there right now, but I think
eventually we'll see them sortof fade into the sunset and then
we'll see some new growth frompodcasters coming in today and
their ideas of what a podcastshould be about.
You must have seen a shift tooin just the content and the
types of content, the value inthe content, all of that too.
Richard Walsh (07:55):
Yeah, because people start realizing, so
you'll get experts who start toembrace it.
A lot of experts in myexperience, tend to be
exclusionary because they're sogood and they know everything
and they're the expert andthey're not big on sharing.
Ok, now some do right becausethey want to, because they they
understand there's a businessinvolved.
Others and I call them more theacademic elite don't really
(08:18):
want to do that because theywant their captive audience and
whatever, and so that can be alittle bit different.
I think what's also going tohappen, carl, is, you know, the
people with the few episodes andall that.
I think they're going to beliterally forced out, like
they'll be deleted because oflike space and it'll become the
new thing.
Well, if you haven't done this,you can't participate, right?
So it's not going to be thatyou can come and take up space
(08:40):
with three episodes and never doanother one.
Take up space for with threeepisodes and never do another
one, they're going to delete you, like you can't be on here,
you're not using the platform.
So I I believe it'll come tothat, because they're going to
have to weed people out somehowwho aren't producing, because
it's like google, right, ifyou're not giving value if
you're not bringing value totheir people.
Searching and everything elseright, guess what.
Carl Richards (08:59):
You don't get found, right you get pushed to
the very last page on google,which no one ever goes to unless
they're really bored on aSunday afternoon and it's
raining.
Richard Walsh (09:09):
You'll be embarrassed to tell someone you
had a podcast, exactly sothat'll just not be a part of
your life anymore.
Carl Richards (09:17):
Yeah, for sure.
One of the things you mentionedis that one of the catalysts
that got you into the podcastingspace was the book.
And let's talk a little aboutwhat you do, because I think
what you do is very important.
So, escaping the owner prison,what made you decide to put pen
to paper?
Richard Walsh (09:34):
For the first 20 years of my business, my water
feature.
I had a custom water featurebusiness did steel sculpture
super successful, best in thecountry at doing what I did.
Quite the artist I don't looklike an artist, but I'm an
artist and that was amazing.
08, 09 hit a financial crunch.
My business like evaporatedovernight, like in one day.
(09:54):
I lost half a million dollars,ok, and it just kept snowballing
from there and it was because,obviously, people didn't have to
have a water feature at thattime.
They could wait it's a luxuryitem and they did and they
weren't wrong to hold on to themoney.
If you were around then youknow.
You know the drill.
But the problem I realized waswell, ok, I can blame it on the
economy, but it really wasthings that I didn't do in my
(10:15):
business.
Making money was never aproblem.
I do tell people making moneyin business is the easiest part
of business.
It's everything else that'sdifficult.
And you take someone like me 20years in.
How can even an economiccollapse, how could it really
take me out?
Okay, and there's a lot offactors to that.
So what happened was I startedto connect.
I lost everything.
I have six kids under fouryears old, my wife lost her
(10:37):
house.
It closed everything down,relocate all this stuff, start
over.
Okay, not a pleasant time, okay, but it's a challenge to me.
It's like it didn't reallyphase me.
I really learned like, okay,I'm going to do things different
.
I don't know what I'm going todo, but I'm going to do things
different.
So when I started getting backinto creating businesses again,
I took it and thought, well, onething I didn't want to do was I
didn't want to get consumed bymy business, where it becomes my
(10:59):
identity.
So if I'm not wearing my shirtand for my company, my work
crowd company, I'm nobody.
Ok, I'm that.
So I stopped that because Irealized my children, as they're
growing up, all they caredabout.
Like I come home at seveno'clock at night, whatever I'm
working, they run and attack meRight, four or three years old,
ok, cool.
Carl Richards (11:17):
When.
Richard Walsh (11:17):
I leave one time time my son is chasing my truck
down the driveway crying andscreaming.
And take a look in the rearview mirror at that sometime and
see if it doesn't affect you,right?
I'm like they don't care what Idrive, they don't care where we
live, they don't care how manytrucks I have in my business,
they don't care.
All they wanted was me to bearound, right?
(11:45):
So I'm like, okay, well, how doI build a business?
Because I love business, I loveit, I love working, I love
scaling, but still be there formy family.
Like, how do we create thebalance, the work-life balance?
I hate that term, but peopleuse it, you know they get it.
But there's a whole differentway to balance.
So that was my mission.
Let me get that figured out.
Let me build a business andstill be around my kids.
And we homeschooled my kids allthe way through high school.
You know all six of them,everything else.
So that's how it started reallyworking and people started
asking me like, how'd you dothat?
I started helping them.
Of course, coaching was kind ofbirthed in for me doing that.
(12:09):
So you know, I should write abook, I should tell the story,
because this is pretty traumatic.
At one time, you know, I did alot of stuff.
I started with a wheelbarrowand a shovel in the back of my
Jeep, you know whatever 30 yearsago.
And here I am today.
So I wrote the book and Irealized the biggest problem
with small businesses.
All the small business owners Iknew were all trapped in their
business.
If they didn't open the door,you say, the business didn't run
(12:31):
.
If they weren't wearing ninehats, things didn't get finished
.
So from a book writingstandpoint, carl, I had 27
working titles for my book.
Okay At 27,.
I'm like okay, I think I'm downto a couple of, and I always
tell people I went with the 28thone, okay, escape the owner
prison Cause.
None of those were working, youknow.
So I figured that one out, likecool.
Then we came, then that was thehardest part of the whole book,
(12:53):
next to the subtitle Okay, thecontracts.
And we had scale, regain,control and fast track growth
while loving life.
I had to figure that one outtoo.
And then the book went and itjust kind of really hit a nerve.
It really resonated with peoplebecause that's where they're
stuck.
If you're a business doing $1to $10 billion a year, most
likely you're stuck in there.
You're in the prison okay,you're not present.
(13:14):
When you're home, the phone'sringing, you're taking calls.
You're at the dinner table oh,you're taking calls.
You know you're at the dinnertable, I can take this call and
you walk away.
Got to get up early, go to bedlast.
You know the whole thing.
So that's what really spurredon the book.
And when I put the book of mystory then the things to do as a
contractor or service or tradebusiness, it was like let's
(13:34):
build value and we'll buildprofit.
And it just started taking themthrough those steps and it was
unbelievably rewarding.
I'm turning these business.
I'm going to say I'm going tocall it turning them around, but
I took them from.
I'll give you one examplethey're doing 12 jobs at a time.
Okay, doing what?
2 million a year, 12 jobs atone time, not making any money
(13:54):
okay.
Came in and said okay let's gothrough the escape donor prison
process.
Let's go through the Sharpenthe Spirit thing.
A year later, a year and a halflater.
Now they're doing $3 million ayear and doing a third of the
work, but they're getting whatthey deserve to be paid.
Right now they get rid of allthat.
He has a life, as a matter offact, the same guy he just
headed off for the beach todaywith his wife and five kids.
(14:15):
Business is humming andeverything's going.
Yeah, we're heading out.
I do a quick estimate of whatI'm going.
We're heading there for theweekend or something you can do.
All that now.
Other ones they hadn't had avacation in eight years and
these people now are takingmultiple.
And there's just.
That's the joy I get for what Ido from being a business coach.
When I can do that for acompany and give someone back
their freedom because no onegets serving the business,
(14:43):
that's totally backwards.
Your business should serve youand that's really what it's all
about.
Carl Richards (14:45):
Wow, phenomenal.
And congratulations on figuringthat out, too, for yourself.
From what I've been told fromvarious coaches, ceo doesn't
stand for chief everythingofficer.
At some point you need todelegate or know that the
business will run, or set it upso it runs when you're not there
.
There's three things.
Richard Walsh (15:05):
Automate, delegate, eliminate, automate,
delegate, eliminate, automate.
Whatever you can, whetherthat's your books or you've got
a virtual assistant or you haveeverything systemized.
Delegate, put people in chargeand give them authority, truly
give them authority, have themdo things, hold them accountable
.
Then eliminate Obviously,eliminate redundancies,
(15:25):
eliminate inefficiencies.
But you know what you reallyneed to eliminate you.
You need to eliminate you fromthe picture here.
You should be working on 5% ofthe business that only you can
do.
Everything else, automate anddelegate.
You're focused on vision,growth, market capture, stuff.
That, like, really gets youjacked.
You know that's why you got inbusiness with it.
You didn't get in the businessto do accounting.
(15:47):
You didn't even get in businessto do sales.
You may have done them for awhile.
Carl Richards (15:51):
You know you didn't get in business to keep
swinging a hammer right, we gotto be part of the elimination
part, even if it's somethingyou'd like to do, because I,
again, I come from a radiobackground world where I used to
edit, you know, interviews andall that stuff every single day.
It was just something that youdid.
You're on air, you're editingon the fly, so to speak, but I
don't edit podcasts anymore.
(16:12):
I have a team that does thatfor me because, to your point, I
should be working on that 5% or8% or whatever it is that I
should be doing, and it's notediting and it's not doing
social posts and it's not.
I still do sales and marketing,so I still do some of that, but
I'm already seeing the not thewriting on the wall, but I'm,
but I'm, I'm forecasting.
(16:32):
Okay, at some point I need tobe focusing on the speaking and
being the face and the voice ofthe business, but somebody else
needs to be doing the salespiece.
Richard Walsh (16:41):
Yeah, absolutely.
You really have to understandtime.
Money is replenishable.
I can lose it all I did andthen I made it all back.
It's replenishable.
I can make more money tomorrow,the next day, the next day.
I can't.
I miss my kid's soccer game.
He scores a goal.
Looks in the stands for thekid's soccer game, he scores a
goal.
Looks in the stands for the andI'm not there to get that.
(17:02):
I never get that back, goneforever.
All of us, as small businessowners, have been in that
situation.
Okay, we've all missed thosetimes and it's you can't get it
back.
That's what the freedom part isabout.
Do what I want when I want.
That's what I want.
I want to have a great business.
I want to scale.
I want it to run itself.
I love it, I love being in it.
(17:22):
But man, I need my family needsme.
I need to have real balance.
I call it the five Fs, so it'sgoing to be faith, family,
finances, fitness andfriendships.
I need to be balancing thosethings.
Do I have all five of thosethings in my life?
(17:43):
You know, outside my business,if I'm just counting dollars,
that's my only scorecard is mygross revenue.
It's miserable at the top andlonely.
You'll be sitting on a big pileof money, but nobody's sharing
it and the dollars and cents isimportant.
Carl Richards (17:51):
I mean, otherwise it's a hobby, right.
But yeah, and it's funny how inbusiness, a lot of especially
solopreneurs they say oh well,I'm self-employed, I have so
much freedom.
Yeah, you've given up a 40-hourwork week to work a 100-hour
work week and you have nofreedom because you're absorbed
with all that extra tasks.
Richard Walsh (18:12):
Exactly Because here's the thing when you create
the business properly automate,delegate, eliminate guess what
it does?
It makes a lot more moneywithout you.
Money is incredibly important.
How are we going to do greatthings without money?
How are we going to help peoplewithout money?
How are we going to make impactwith our business?
If we're broke or we go under,we can't help anybody.
(18:33):
So it's critical.
But it's funny, carl, in mycoaching that's not like the
money focus isn't kind of evenon the radar.
It's systemization, it'sstrategy, it's scalability, it's
performance.
It's like how do we do this sothat you can have the freedom,
the profit begins to rise andyou can make the impact?
I go.
It just happens I don't have tofocus on making money.
(18:54):
If you run it right, you can'thelp it.
It's a byproduct Increasedprofit and real profit.
So I do talk about real netprofit and there's gross revenue
.
There's a great saying I learnedyears ago from a mentor of mine
.
People say, oh, I'm doing 10million a year, I'm doing 20
million a year and I'll ask well, how much are you taking home?
Oh, I did 100,000 last year.
I'm like wait a minute, you'redoing 10 million gross revenue,
(19:15):
you're taking home 100.
There's people working in thegovernment making more than you.
Okay, I said so.
Something's broken here.
So the great saying was grossrevenue feeds the ego, profit
feeds the family.
That is, just put that in yourhead and go oh yeah, that's kind
of important, isn't it?
You know, it's what you keep,it's not what you make, it's
(19:37):
what you keep.
Same reason we have taxstrategy and everything else.
We want to give as little aspossible to those who just want
to take.
Carl Richards (19:41):
I like that because that's very true, and I
think that it's one of the trapsthat entrepreneurs get in when
they're first getting intobusiness.
They go I'm bringing in allthis money.
Great, you might be bringingthat in, but how much are you
keeping?
And it's not because you'reabsconding with it, it's because
, okay, you have to pay yourtaxes, that's a given.
But you're looking at the factthat you yeah, you have to pay
(20:05):
people, and how much are youactually keeping?
Richard Walsh (20:08):
You have a bucket with a lot of holes in it.
That's what you have.
You're running and gunning butyour expenses and you're not
paying attention to what you'reactually paying for materials
and this and this and this.
And all of a sudden it's justwhy am I at a 2% margin?
Only Coca-Cola can work at thatmargin, not the plumber down
the street, you can't do it.
Carl Richards (20:28):
I think some of the other things too that factor
into play are I know for myselfin business it's been I'm
pricing myself too low for myservices, and I think that I'm
pricing myself too low, I'mdoing people a favor, when
really what I'm doing is I'mundervaluing my services, where
if I raise my prices and I'veheard so many people say this
(20:48):
you raise your prices, guesswhat?
And more money will come in,not just because you raised your
prices, but because now you'reattracting different clientele
altogether.
Richard Walsh (20:58):
That's 100% right and it's always about building
value, like people haveperceived value.
If I buy a car and I look at itand it's $30,000, they have the
car and they go oh man, I lovethis car, I'm not buying it
because if it was $30,200,that's too much, I'm not going
to spend that.
It's worth more than $30,000 tome, whether that's image,
(21:21):
function, whatever.
It is right.
I never had air conditioning.
Now I have air conditioningokay, I'll pay whatever for it,
but I'm like people don't buy itfor the price.
If you're going to have thatrace to the bottom and it's a
low bidder, that's the firstthing I attack when I work with
(21:41):
the company.
Where is your pricing?
What do you get for yourpricing?
Like we, we, and that's whythey work a third, they do a
third of the jobs now and makedouble the money.
Because and now and there's acaveat with this, carl you have
to do great work.
You can't be schlock and expecta top dollar.
Okay, like, stay at the bottomand then go with the few, the
bottom feeders, and chase thatstuff.
Go after Walmart Okay, go go,follow Walmart around.
But don't be, you want to chart.
(22:03):
You got to be that person youhave to be.
You have to deliver above andbeyond what they're paying for.
You know it just has to be aprinciple in your business, like
we never cut corners, we alwaysdeliver the highest caliber we
possibly can.
And my clients are like that,and that's why we can change
what they do.
I don't go in.
If someone does really trashywork, I won't take them on as a
(22:24):
client, unless they bought abusiness that does bad work and
they want to do good work, okay,we can work with that.
But if they're going to insiston delivering a subpar product
or service, I'm not going towork with them.
I don't Because my reputationis on the line too.
I don't want to be attached tothat, yeah, 100%.
Carl Richards (22:39):
And it's also knowing who is your client,
Because, let's face it, there isa place in the world for fast
food restaurants.
You need a quick meal.
You're on the go.
It's not necessarily thehealthiest, but it's probably
the quickest.
You can go to any of thosechains and it's there for you.
You want a good steak.
You're probably not going to goto that same restaurant.
(22:59):
You're going to go to a Keensin New York City or something
like that, where it's anexperience and you know what
you're getting is to your point.
It's that quality and it betterbe good quality, otherwise it's
not going to keep you inbusiness very long.
Richard Walsh (23:13):
Consistently good quality.
The word is consistent, right?
If I go to Ruth Chris orMorton's everyone I go to I'm
going to get the same experience.
Okay, they're a franchise, butthey're a high-end franchise.
I took my whole when I gotmarried.
Everyone at the wedding we wentto Ruth Chris, got a room
upstairs and everyone justordered off the menu.
Okay, forget the catering, allthat nonsense.
(23:33):
We're going to a system inChicago.
We're going down to Ruth Chrisand order whatever you want.
We're going to have an amazingtime.
It was awesome.
But yeah, to your point on that, it's really important.
Again, go back to fast food.
Mcdonald's is not good food,it's fast and cheap.
That's what they are.
That's their client.
So we call it ICP, right?
Ideal Client Profile.
So whether you're a podcaster,you know you're a tradesman.
(23:56):
Whatever you're doing, you haveto know who you're going to
serve.
Like you're saying that ICP andI give people multiple page
worksheets on figuring that out.
I mean, you know them betterthan you know.
What's the average house income, right?
Or the median income?
Where do they live?
Where do they live?
Where income?
Where do they live?
What do they live?
What do they drive?
How many cars, how many kids?
What do they do?
(24:16):
What do they do online, offline?
You got to do all that researchon your ideal client Because
when you know that, you knowexactly how to serve them and
then you don't waste time on theothers.
So your marketing is narrowed,you're saving dollars on
marketing but the close rategoes up right In your sales
because you know you're speakingto like equals.
You know what I mean.
You know them so well.
(24:37):
They feel like they're sittingacross their best friend, not
some guy who's carrying 19sample boards and they're going
to show them something.
No, it's not the brush salesmanor something or whatever it is.
I used to tell my roofing guyslike, don't bring samples to the
door ever.
We go in, you have a table, wedo a really cool presentation,
we have satellite imagery.
We do all this stuff when theywant to see it.
After you close the deal, thenwe bring in those samples from
(24:58):
the truck, then I'll show themwhen we pick colors and install
dates and everything else.
But there's always a process,right, you got to know your
clients and know how to servethem.
So anyone like I said, anyone,I don't care if you're a
podcaster, especially right, youhave to know your market.
Who are you talking to?
Yes, I know anybody can listen,right, anyone can click play,
but they're not gonna, or theymight go.
What do I?
(25:19):
Oh wait, I'm on the wrong oneand they'll turn that off and
you're getting nothing right.
Carl Richards (25:23):
So that's a key element.
You hit the nail right on thehead there too.
About in the podcasting spaceand I think there are a lot of
podcasters out there going backto some of our original
discussion who started a showjust for the sake of starting a
show, not knowing who theiraudience is, who they're
speaking to, what the goal isfor their show and the
consistency which is why theyonly did three episodes or five
(25:43):
episodes, or quit after theirfirst season or whatever it is,
because they weren't getting theresults, because there was
inconsistency with what theywere doing.
Richard Walsh (25:50):
Yeah, it's so critical.
There's a great book out I justread.
A friend of mine recommended itto me.
It's called grit.
Have you read it, angelaDuckworth?
No, so I just recommend to.
You want to understand, like,what it really takes to succeed.
I mean, I'm talking research.
This is something with an idea.
This woman has researched andtalked to the best.
(26:10):
You know people you think arejust the greatest in their field
, right?
Well, she finds out what ittook to get there, go read and
go.
Oh, you know people you thinkare just the greatest in their
field, right?
Well, she finds out what ittook to get there, go read and
go.
Oh, you know, they say everyovernight success only took 10
years.
Okay, that's more like 20actually right these guys are
like so my buddy's a bigentrepreneur, you know multiple
business, all super successfully.
He texts me this and he goeshave you read this, because this
(26:31):
is about you?
So I go say I start reading it.
I go, okay, it's like 300 pages.
No one's writing 300 pagesabout me, there's not enough.
He goes but there is, there is,and I read it and you take a
test to see where yourpercentile is for grit.
I'm a 97% grit guy, okay.
So it's like okay, well, I getit now, but I just recommend, if
you want to read it, it reallyhelps.
(26:52):
If you're looking to say you'relaunching your podcast, if you
just call it consistency, that'swhat it's about.
If you're going to do once aweek every Wednesday at six
o'clock, it's got to be everyWednesday at six o'clock.
You can't.
You know.
You got to understand that, beprepared to endure.
We call it discipline,diligence and determination.
(27:12):
You got to have those things.
It's like you got to bedisciplined to do it, diligent
to make sure it happens againand again and again, and you got
to just be determined to get tothe goal right and make it
happen.
So really it's a really goodpoint.
Carl Richards (27:21):
Wow, Richard, this is some phenomenal
conversation we're having.
We can keep this going for therest of the day, but I think we
should probably give you theopportunity to talk about
sharpening the spear and whatyou do with the coaching.
Richard Walsh (27:32):
And so sharpen the spear.
Coaching is it is about workingwith businesses, right.
So what I want to do is createfreedom, profit, impact.
My big movement is to help10,000 business owners create
that freedom, profit and impact.
Right, because when they dothat and here's the cool thing
about it, carl, think of it.
What I do is, when people talkabout it, I go it isn't some
crazy.
Serve yourself as an owner.
(27:53):
It's changing the culture ofyour business.
So you're not just creatingfreedom for yourself, but it's
also for the people who workwith you.
Make them better as people, notjust competent workers.
Once you do that and they'reimproving as people, where do
they go with that?
They go home, right to thefamilies, and that gets shared
with the families.
And where do the families goInto the communities?
Right, and they influence that.
(28:14):
So think about 10 000 business.
You're like, okay, well,there's 32 million in the us,
there's 10 000, but now you'reaffecting families and
communities.
You have the potential ofmillions, right, affecting
millions of people.
Understand there's a differentway to do business, where it's
not all business, nothing else,it's creating real balance.
So that's our drive and I'lltell you I that's our drive and
(28:36):
I'll tell you.
I just kind of our ideal client.
I'll tell you what mine isbriefly, okay.
It's people in business five to15 years.
They have five to 50 employees.
They're doing about a milliongross a year Okay, and probably
between a million and 10 millionis a sweet spot.
And we go in and we just lookat their business.
We spend a year and we get thisperfected, we free them, we
take those chains off of them,get that business operating
(28:58):
itself and it's a beautifulthing.
C (29:00):
Starpeningthespearcoachingcom is the website.
We'll make sure that that linkis in the show notes as well.
As if you want to connect withRichard socially social handles
rather Well socially too, Iguess if you meet him at home
for a beverage of some kind,we'll make sure that that's all
in the show notes as well.
Before I turn you loose Richardto go and help business owners
(29:22):
become better at what they doand more efficient, I'll leave
you with the final thought,since we're talking about grit.
Richard Walsh (29:27):
We're talking about discipline and
determination and diligence.
I'm going to share my favoritequote for the last since, like
95 when I first read it, and itgoes like this it's a dedication
to a goal that never waversResolution.
This is the basic principle inthe life of every truly great
character.
He who resolves upon any greatand good end has, by that very
(29:48):
resolution, clothed himself inpower and has scaled the chief
barrier to it.
Now I'm going to credit that toSteve Ilg.
He wrote a book called OutdoorAthlete, didn't put his name on
it, he didn't put it on known.
I'm just thinking he wrote thatand it was so brilliant I
memorized it right there.
I've been quick, I've headed tomy gym walls.
I just love it.
But that to me is like that'skind of me too.
(30:09):
So you guys can grab ahold ofthat.
You can do whatever you want todo.
You just got to hang in thereand get it done.
Carl Richards (30:15):
Richard, I think we'll leave it right there.
Thank you so much for being myguest today.
Thank you, carl.
Appreciate it, loved it,And thank you for joining us
today.
Special thanks to our producerand production lead, Dom
Carrillo, our music guru, NathanSimon, and the person who works
the arms all of our arms,actually my trusty assistant,
Stephanie Gaffor.
.
If you like what you heard today, leave us a comment and a
(30:36):
review, and be sure to share itwith your friends.
If you don't like what youheard, please share it with your
enemies.
Oh, and if you have asuggestion of someone who you
think would make an amazingguest on the show, let us know
about it.
Drop us an email, askcarl atcarlspeaksca.
Don't forget to follow us onLinkedIn and Twitter as well.
(31:01):
You'll find all those links inthe show notes, and if you're
ready to take the plunge andjoin the over 3 million people
who have said yes to podcasting,let's have a conversation.
We'll show you the simplest wayto get into the podcasting
space because, after all, we'rePodcast Solutions Made Simple.
We'll catch you next time.
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