May 6, 2025 • 26 mins
In this episode, Keaton Turner delves into the pitfalls of pride, initiating a conversation with a new business owner about the challenges of remote communication. Reflecting on personal pride, he emphasizes the importance of embracing new opportunities. The discussion navigates the risks and critical decisions involved in starting a business, highlighting the deceptive comfort of revenue and the necessity for detail-oriented strategies. Keaton underscores the role of credit and the value of seeking advice, stressing the power of mentorship and the importance of building an advisory team. He wraps up with thoughts on seeking advice and moving forward.
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(00:01):
Man, you young studs out there, too proud.
Too proud.
Pride pride's a great thing, but let pride runwild.
It will kill you.
Absolutely kill you.
(00:57):
Welcome back to the Podcast.
I'm Keaton Turner.
Pumped to have you back listening again foranother day.
Hope you're killing it.
Pray you're getting your Podium.
Pray you're out there getting 1% better today.
I I had a conversation just a couple days agowith a guy that's gonna start a business, you
(01:28):
know, for all intents and purposes.
He'd already started a business, won somebusiness, had been working on it for a while,
won some business, some contracts, and and hewanted to you know, just wanted to chat around,
you know, how to grow the business.
And, you know, had some questions.
(01:51):
And I you know, as I as I was chatting withhim, one clear, clear message stuck out the
whole time.
You know, it's hard, especially when you're onthe phone or on a Zoom call, it's hard to get
(02:12):
body language.
It's hard to really feel where someone's at intheir life and their situation.
Know, there can be people going through DeathValley standing right in front of you and
they're all smiles and you can't tell they'regoing through Death Valley.
With this guy, it was clear there was onecommon theme to the conversation.
(02:36):
The guy's smart.
He'll kill it in business.
He's already killed it throughout his career,but he was suffering from being full of pride.
(02:57):
And and it's easy to do.
I've lived this.
When I started my own business, I remembersaying multiple times, you know, Shelby, my
wife, would say, well, why don't you go whydon't you go get dinner with this guy?
You know, local business owner in town.
Or why don't you go ask why don't you go askthis guy for advice and how he did it?
(03:18):
And I would always tell her I I I rememberthese these times vividly because she would
kinda push on this a little bit, and it wasalways with the best of intention.
She wasn't saying, hey.
Look.
You don't know what you're doing.
Go ask for advice.
Although that although that might have beenwhat she was thinking, it's not what it's not
how she it's not how she pitched it.
She was just like, look.
These guys are older.
(03:39):
They've been in business for a long time.
Why don't you go pick their brains on how theygot there, how they grew it, what what problems
they had?
And I remember vividly saying, babe, I'm notgonna ask those guys to dinner.
I don't wanna listen to their advice.
This business is either going to be a successor a failure, and it's all going to be because
(04:02):
of me.
I'm either gonna lead this company in thedirection uh-oh.
Phone call.
I'm gonna ignore that one.
I'm I'm either going to lead this business in adirection.
Hello?
Hey, man.
What's going on?
Not much.
Who is it?
(04:23):
Not much, man.
Just Okay.
I'm back.
Man.
I I thought I was declining that phone call.
I actually accepted that phone call and startedtalking again as if I'm on a podcast.
(04:45):
And the guy's like, hello?
So anyway, I took the call.
I'm glad I took it.
It was a new opportunity.
I texted with the guy last week.
Kind of small world.
He had a relative that I halfway know, and shecalled me and introduced me.
And so anyway, I got a new opportunity, andwe'll see what comes out of it.
(05:11):
Maybe a few million dollar phone call rightthere.
So apologies for the pause, and and I forgot itI forgot where I was because that was like a
half hour phone call.
So I have no idea what I was talking about, butI'll I'll jump into the topic.
Oh, I know what I was talking about.
It was the it was the topic, which is pride isa killer.
So I'm talking to this guy, back to my back tothe podcast story.
(05:36):
I'm talking to this guy and and it's hard toit's hard on a phone call or a Zoom call, it's
hard to feel body language when someone's goingthrough a tough time, the valley of death,
whatever.
It's hard to feel that all the time unlessyou're right there in front of them.
And so, you know, have conversations with thisguy and the one clear thing that jumps out to
(06:00):
me is overwhelming pride.
And pride can be a really good thing inbusiness.
You slap your logo or you slap your last nameon something and you're proud of it.
You're like, I'm gonna go kill it.
Pride can also be a death sentence.
(06:20):
And, you know, I was telling the story of whenI would, you know, tell Shelby, hey.
I'm not gonna listen to anybody when I startedmy business.
I'm gonna I'm gonna will this thing intoexistence.
I'm gonna figure it out myself.
I don't need any help.
I was very prideful.
And that pride, you guys have heard stories ofme through all the other episodes, that pride
(06:43):
got me in so much trouble.
Cost me millions of dollars multiple times,took shots to my ego multiple times, cost me
relationships multiple times.
And so I've learned over the last, you know,several year, eight years, how dangerous being
too prideful can actually be when you're tryingto build a business.
(07:06):
And and so when I see young guys starting abusiness and they're they're prideful to a
fault, it gets me super worried about them,super concerned.
Now, fortunately, this guy was not so pridefulthat he that he wouldn't, you know, talk to me
for a while.
He asked me to chat, and and I did.
(07:29):
And and so we talked for a while, but but thisguy had has never hired a a coach ever in his
career.
He's never hired someone to call out his blindspots.
He doesn't do a ton of continuous education inhis free time.
He has he actually has very little free time.
(07:50):
So he doesn't do a ton of continuous education.
He's not a subject matter expert.
Right?
There's a lot of there's a lot of little areaswhere pride was kinda creeping in, and he and
in his mind, he was just going to will it intoexistence.
He was going to strong-arm this business andfigure it out on his own.
(08:12):
And that's great.
I love that.
I'm I'm you know, it's it's dumb, but I respectit because that's the way I was.
The problem with that when you're a newbusiness and a new business owner, your margin
of error is razor thin on every single decisionthe first couple years.
(08:34):
Razor thin.
And what I mean by that is you can make onewrong decision and put yourself not only out of
business, but you can put yourself in massivepersonal financial risk.
Like, you can make one wrong decision withsomething as simple as insurance coverage and
(08:58):
slit your own throat as a business owner.
Right?
You don't you don't have the right coverage.
Something happens, something unexpected, afire, an employee injury, and so on and so
forth.
You don't have the right coverage and boom,it's over.
Same thing with with a PO with a customer.
You don't have the right language on a PO.
(09:19):
You don't have the right language in acontract.
So, you know, you trust the customer.
It's a great relationship.
Your buddy works there.
He's been helping you for years trying to getthis thing going.
And all of a sudden, one thing goes sideways,and before you know it, boom.
The business is over.
The first couple years after starting abusiness, you have to make almost every single
(09:47):
decision perfectly to have a fighting chance atever being successful.
Like like, the foundational steps you take whenyou're starting your business, how you set up
your articles of incorporation.
Like, are you an LLC?
Are you a limited partnership?
(10:08):
You know, insurance, contract styles, your goto market strategy.
Like, what who are you?
What's your logo look like?
What is your business name?
Does your business name describe your company?
There are so many little bitty steps that ifyou get them just slightly wrong, have lasting
impacts for years and years and years on yourbusiness.
(10:31):
They just do.
The problem is nobody thinks about that whenthey're starting their business.
They're so excited.
They can't wait for the contract to get signed.
They can't wait for the purchase order.
They can't wait to get their new machinesworking.
They can't wait to hire their first person.
They already know who they wanna hire.
They can't wait to run home and tell their wifethat we finally got the contract signed.
(10:54):
They can't wait to tell their parents.
They can't wait to post on Instagram orFacebook.
Hey.
This is my company.
We're open for business.
The problem is you miss the little details thatcould potentially kill your business two,
three, four, five years down the road.
(11:15):
And if you're not open to coaching, if you'renot open to feedback, if you're not seeking out
advice from people who have been there and donethat, you have so much more risk than you even
realize.
So much more risk.
I cannot put it in words.
(11:36):
I can't describe it.
It's why so many people and again, this isgonna I know this is gonna this is gonna slap a
bunch of people.
It's why so many people start a small businessand never actually make any money.
I mean, they they bill customers.
They have revenue.
(11:56):
They they have financial statements that showincome.
They have assets, but it doesn't translate intocash in their bank account that they actually
get to hold on to.
Who's advising you on your tax strategy?
Who's advising you on, like, cash flow, whereyour cash is coming and going?
(12:21):
What banking relationships do you have?
Do you have a line of credit tied to someinventory or tied to some receivables?
Like, little bitty fundamental things that ifyou don't structure your business correctly,
you just you have you you already have such asmall chance of success starting a business
(12:47):
even when you do everything correctly.
If you don't do things correctly, you you arealmost writing your own fate before you get
started.
I and and I I just I can't express this enough.
I I just can't.
Now revenue hides a lot of sins.
(13:07):
Margin makes up for a lot of stupid things thatyou're gonna do.
Right?
You can make a ton of profit, and and thatprofit will help you outrun all your bad
decisions for a while.
But I'm telling you, there there is going tocome a time when you get in a cash flow crunch,
(13:32):
when you have an incident that happens that youweren't prepared for, and you're going to wish
like crazy that you had sought some advice fromsomeone who had already been there and done
that, and they helped you avoid thecatastrophe.
(13:53):
You can't just will it into existence.
You can't count on that.
I mean, some people get lucky.
I I've said multiple, multiple times.
I got so lucky so many times that I survived.
I got so lucky.
And I actually had a guy in my business partnerwho was good at all the things I was not good
(14:18):
at.
You know?
And so I at least had someone to ham and egg itwith.
But we got so lucky so many times.
Things just happened to go our way a lot oftimes.
Even even the bad years or the bad, you know,that even in Death Valley, like, something
would go our way.
We'd print a ton of margin.
The margin would erase some sins.
We had a ton of revenue that erased some sins.
(14:40):
Like, we got we were we were more lucky thangood for a long, long time.
And and so I I speak from a position ofexperience that you just can't count on being
lucky.
If I ever were gonna do another business again,when I do another business again, I'm taking
(15:02):
every single one of those lessons with me, andI'm saying, no.
I'm not gonna make that mistake again.
I'm not going to think I can, you know, run agrowing business without a line of credit in
place.
Because when you need that's the that's thethat's the crazy thing about a line of credit.
When you actually need a line of credit, it'stoo late to go find a line of credit.
(15:26):
You want a line of credit in place when youdon't need a line of credit.
That's when you get the most favorable terms.
That's when you have the leverage, little bitof leverage with a bank.
That's when you can say, hey, you know, I'mhealthy.
I you know, I've got these receivables that aregood.
I've got this inventory that's good.
I've got these assets that are good.
You know, I'm a growing business.
I might need a line of credit someday.
(15:47):
Even when you don't need a line of credit rightnow, it's a perfect time to go get one.
Because if you think about it, the moment thatyou do need a line of credit, you win a big
job, you need a new machine, you hit a tightspot with cash flow, you get a slow paying
customer, some bad receivables, whatever, it'sa lot harder to go to the bank and beg for a
line of credit.
They can smell it on you.
(16:08):
They know when you need it.
The banks know when you when when you needthem.
The whole point of this episode is don't be tooproud to ask for advice.
(16:28):
Don't be too proud to hire a coach.
Don't be too proud to say, I don't know.
I'm not an expert at this.
I need help.
Don't be too proud to not have all the answers.
Because if you are too proud and you don't getthe advice, you don't get the coaching, you
(16:54):
don't go seek answers from other people whohave been there, done that, if you are too
proud, I think your fate is already written foryou.
I just believe it.
I'm a full believer.
And I'm the most egotistical person that Iknow.
And this is coming from me.
(17:14):
Like, this is coming from the guy that neverwanted advice on anything, but you live through
enough of it.
You live through life.
You live through business.
You're like, shoot.
What what else can I go get advice on in mylife?
How else can I go get marriage advice even whenmy marriage is fine?
How do I get marriage advice?
How do I get business advice when my businessis doing great?
How do I go talk to people that have scaled anorganization to 200, 3 hundred, 5 hundred
(17:39):
million dollars when I'm doing just fine atscaling?
How do I you you need to go find the advice,the coaching, the input, the feedback.
Go find it before you actually need it.
Because when you actually need that coaching,that advice, that feedback, a lot of times it's
(18:00):
already too late.
You've waited too long.
Your marriage is in too too rough of a spot tosave.
Your business is in too poor of a situation tosave.
You can't recover.
Like, the beauty of getting that advice, thebeauty of getting that coaching is to avoid the
pitfalls and mistakes that put you in the spotwhere you need the coaching.
(18:24):
It's it's a it's a wild it's a wild concept.
Another phone call.
Can't even do these podcasts anymore.
The phone just rings.
Hold on.
Hello.
How's it going?
I'm alive.
Well, me too.
Back in with a tank full of fuel.
(18:46):
So Did you get fuel back in your truck?
Yeah.
Yeah.
I'm an idiot.
That's okay.
We'll live another day.
Well, you said it, not me.
Sorry about that, folks.
Two phone calls in one episode.
What a what a vibe killer.
That was Patton.
Had to talk through some tactical businessthings with him.
(19:11):
But I'll close us out because we're almosttwenty minutes, and and I don't, you know, I
don't wanna keep beating a dead horse here.
But if you guys believe that seeking advice,especially new business owners, new team
leaders, newly married, if you believe thatseeking advice is a sign of weakness, you
(19:40):
couldn't be more mistaken.
Seeking advice, seeking coaching, seekinginput, critical feedback from others is
actually probably the strongest thing you cando.
It's probably the best sign of intelligence.
It's probably the wisest thing you can do,especially in the early days of business.
In the early days of marriage, go to marriagecounseling.
(20:04):
Our church made Shelby and I, before we evengot married, do some marriage counseling.
You know, when you're a new team leader, go getcoaching on how to be a leader.
Don't don't wait for things to go wrong beforeyou try to implement coaching, feedback.
(20:26):
You know?
Learn from someone else's mistakes who'salready paid the stupid tax.
There's you know, I I've always said, like, inbusiness, you kinda have to learn a lot a lot
of the things you have to learn the hard way,unfortunately.
I call it paying the stupid tax.
When you buy a brand new vehicle and drive itoff the lot, that's fun.
(20:48):
It's cool.
It looks sweet.
Got a brand new truck.
Pay $80 for it.
The second you drive it off the lot, it's worth$72.
You just paid an $8,000 stupid tax.
You could have bought a truck with 10,000 mileson it.
Still basically brand new, but you bought itfor $72 instead of $80.
Same thing's true in business.
(21:11):
Learn the mistakes from someone else.
Let someone else pay the stupid tax.
Let someone else coach you on how to avoidmajor pitfalls, whether it's insurance risk,
whether it's cash flow issues, sales,marketing, how to build an ops team.
(21:35):
Like, let someone else pay the stupid tax.
Because, unfortunately, when you're new inbusiness, you might not be able to pay the
stupid tax and survive.
Sometimes the stupid tax will kill you.
And so my feedback is don't be too proud.
Don't be too egotistical to get feedback.
(21:56):
Don't be you know, if you know someone who'ssuccessful in business, take them to dinner.
Buy them coffee.
Ask them every put put, you know, put your egoaway.
Let down your walls.
Stop being a tough guy, stop pretending youknow it all, stop pretending you have the
(22:16):
answers.
Some of the most successful people I know havean advisory team, team of people that are in
different organizations, different companies,different career paths, different experience
sets, different backgrounds, and they advisethem on how to how to lead the company.
(22:37):
Some of the most successful companies outthere, you know, take it or leave it, but have,
like, really diverse board of directors withwith a whole group of people with diverse
backgrounds, diverse experience sets, and theyget coaching on how to lead their organization.
They get a sounding board.
(22:58):
When I have an issue, who do I talk to?
I I can I can call on the people that have beenthere and done that and then have learned?
I can't tell you now where I'm at in my career,like the second I run into a big obstacle, I'm
making phone calls to other people who havebeen there.
(23:19):
Right?
I'm talking to our legal counsel who's seentons and tons and tons of cases and examples
and contracts and arguments.
Know, I'm talking to my business partner,Gantt, who's been in tons of different other
businesses.
You know, I'm talking to other people in otherindustries that that can give advice.
(23:39):
Like, it's it's very rare for me now.
And I I still find myself falling under thistrap, but it's very rare for me now to approach
a big obstacle in our business and just thinkI'm gonna will it to a win.
I'm just gonna will it.
I'm gonna use my own understanding, my ownexperience, my own intelligence, and I'm gonna
be the one to carry us to victory.
(24:00):
Every once in a while that happens.
Usually, it's on a sales or marketing thing.
But if I'm facing a big challenge in mybusiness, I almost default now to go get advice
first.
Let me get advice first.
Let me get opinions.
Let me get feedback and perspective from otherintelligent people, and then I will chew on all
of that advice.
(24:20):
I'll digest all those opinions, and then I willuse my gut and that that digested opinion to go
make my decision.
It's a superpower.
I mean, it's it using other people who havebeen there and done that to help you avoid some
(24:41):
major mistakes in business is one of thesmartest things you can do in business,
especially especially as a new business owner.
So that's what I got for you guys.
If you're in it if you're in year one or two orthree, even in year five, year ten, you better
have people around you that you can call on foradvice.
(25:01):
You better have people around you that you cantake to dinner and pick their brain.
Even if you don't use any of the information,even if you don't use their opinion, or even if
you disagree with their opinion, A lot oftimes, it will just help you think about the
issue differently.
It'll help you think creatively.
It'll spark some ideas, spark someconversations that you otherwise wouldn't have
had by yourself with your own thoughts.
(25:23):
So so that's what I got.
Hope it's helpful.
Hope it's useful.
Hope you guys are killing it, and always hopeyou're getting your per diem.
We're praying that you get your per diem.
Pray you tune back in one more day.
Thanks for listening to the per diem podcast.
Man, you young studs out there, too proud.
Too proud.
Pride pride's a great thing, but let pride runwild.
It will kill you.
Absolutely kill you.
(00:57):
Welcome back to the Podcast.
I'm Keaton Turner.
Pumped to have you back listening again foranother day.
Hope you're killing it.
Pray you're getting your Podium.
Pray you're out there getting 1% better today.
I I had a conversation just a couple days agowith a guy that's gonna start a business, you
(01:28):
know, for all intents and purposes.
He'd already started a business, won somebusiness, had been working on it for a while,
won some business, some contracts, and and hewanted to you know, just wanted to chat around,
you know, how to grow the business.
And, you know, had some questions.
(01:51):
And I you know, as I as I was chatting withhim, one clear, clear message stuck out the
whole time.
You know, it's hard, especially when you're onthe phone or on a Zoom call, it's hard to get
(02:12):
body language.
It's hard to really feel where someone's at intheir life and their situation.
Know, there can be people going through DeathValley standing right in front of you and
they're all smiles and you can't tell they'regoing through Death Valley.
With this guy, it was clear there was onecommon theme to the conversation.
(02:36):
The guy's smart.
He'll kill it in business.
He's already killed it throughout his career,but he was suffering from being full of pride.
(02:57):
And and it's easy to do.
I've lived this.
When I started my own business, I remembersaying multiple times, you know, Shelby, my
wife, would say, well, why don't you go whydon't you go get dinner with this guy?
You know, local business owner in town.
Or why don't you go ask why don't you go askthis guy for advice and how he did it?
(03:18):
And I would always tell her I I I rememberthese these times vividly because she would
kinda push on this a little bit, and it wasalways with the best of intention.
She wasn't saying, hey.
Look.
You don't know what you're doing.
Go ask for advice.
Although that although that might have beenwhat she was thinking, it's not what it's not
how she it's not how she pitched it.
She was just like, look.
These guys are older.
(03:39):
They've been in business for a long time.
Why don't you go pick their brains on how theygot there, how they grew it, what what problems
they had?
And I remember vividly saying, babe, I'm notgonna ask those guys to dinner.
I don't wanna listen to their advice.
This business is either going to be a successor a failure, and it's all going to be because
(04:02):
of me.
I'm either gonna lead this company in thedirection uh-oh.
Phone call.
I'm gonna ignore that one.
I'm I'm either going to lead this business in adirection.
Hello?
Hey, man.
What's going on?
Not much.
Who is it?
(04:23):
Not much, man.
Just Okay.
I'm back.
Man.
I I thought I was declining that phone call.
I actually accepted that phone call and startedtalking again as if I'm on a podcast.
(04:45):
And the guy's like, hello?
So anyway, I took the call.
I'm glad I took it.
It was a new opportunity.
I texted with the guy last week.
Kind of small world.
He had a relative that I halfway know, and shecalled me and introduced me.
And so anyway, I got a new opportunity, andwe'll see what comes out of it.
(05:11):
Maybe a few million dollar phone call rightthere.
So apologies for the pause, and and I forgot itI forgot where I was because that was like a
half hour phone call.
So I have no idea what I was talking about, butI'll I'll jump into the topic.
Oh, I know what I was talking about.
It was the it was the topic, which is pride isa killer.
So I'm talking to this guy, back to my back tothe podcast story.
(05:36):
I'm talking to this guy and and it's hard toit's hard on a phone call or a Zoom call, it's
hard to feel body language when someone's goingthrough a tough time, the valley of death,
whatever.
It's hard to feel that all the time unlessyou're right there in front of them.
And so, you know, have conversations with thisguy and the one clear thing that jumps out to
(06:00):
me is overwhelming pride.
And pride can be a really good thing inbusiness.
You slap your logo or you slap your last nameon something and you're proud of it.
You're like, I'm gonna go kill it.
Pride can also be a death sentence.
(06:20):
And, you know, I was telling the story of whenI would, you know, tell Shelby, hey.
I'm not gonna listen to anybody when I startedmy business.
I'm gonna I'm gonna will this thing intoexistence.
I'm gonna figure it out myself.
I don't need any help.
I was very prideful.
And that pride, you guys have heard stories ofme through all the other episodes, that pride
(06:43):
got me in so much trouble.
Cost me millions of dollars multiple times,took shots to my ego multiple times, cost me
relationships multiple times.
And so I've learned over the last, you know,several year, eight years, how dangerous being
too prideful can actually be when you're tryingto build a business.
(07:06):
And and so when I see young guys starting abusiness and they're they're prideful to a
fault, it gets me super worried about them,super concerned.
Now, fortunately, this guy was not so pridefulthat he that he wouldn't, you know, talk to me
for a while.
He asked me to chat, and and I did.
(07:29):
And and so we talked for a while, but but thisguy had has never hired a a coach ever in his
career.
He's never hired someone to call out his blindspots.
He doesn't do a ton of continuous education inhis free time.
He has he actually has very little free time.
(07:50):
So he doesn't do a ton of continuous education.
He's not a subject matter expert.
Right?
There's a lot of there's a lot of little areaswhere pride was kinda creeping in, and he and
in his mind, he was just going to will it intoexistence.
He was going to strong-arm this business andfigure it out on his own.
(08:12):
And that's great.
I love that.
I'm I'm you know, it's it's dumb, but I respectit because that's the way I was.
The problem with that when you're a newbusiness and a new business owner, your margin
of error is razor thin on every single decisionthe first couple years.
(08:34):
Razor thin.
And what I mean by that is you can make onewrong decision and put yourself not only out of
business, but you can put yourself in massivepersonal financial risk.
Like, you can make one wrong decision withsomething as simple as insurance coverage and
(08:58):
slit your own throat as a business owner.
Right?
You don't you don't have the right coverage.
Something happens, something unexpected, afire, an employee injury, and so on and so
forth.
You don't have the right coverage and boom,it's over.
Same thing with with a PO with a customer.
You don't have the right language on a PO.
(09:19):
You don't have the right language in acontract.
So, you know, you trust the customer.
It's a great relationship.
Your buddy works there.
He's been helping you for years trying to getthis thing going.
And all of a sudden, one thing goes sideways,and before you know it, boom.
The business is over.
The first couple years after starting abusiness, you have to make almost every single
(09:47):
decision perfectly to have a fighting chance atever being successful.
Like like, the foundational steps you take whenyou're starting your business, how you set up
your articles of incorporation.
Like, are you an LLC?
Are you a limited partnership?
(10:08):
You know, insurance, contract styles, your goto market strategy.
Like, what who are you?
What's your logo look like?
What is your business name?
Does your business name describe your company?
There are so many little bitty steps that ifyou get them just slightly wrong, have lasting
impacts for years and years and years on yourbusiness.
(10:31):
They just do.
The problem is nobody thinks about that whenthey're starting their business.
They're so excited.
They can't wait for the contract to get signed.
They can't wait for the purchase order.
They can't wait to get their new machinesworking.
They can't wait to hire their first person.
They already know who they wanna hire.
They can't wait to run home and tell their wifethat we finally got the contract signed.
(10:54):
They can't wait to tell their parents.
They can't wait to post on Instagram orFacebook.
Hey.
This is my company.
We're open for business.
The problem is you miss the little details thatcould potentially kill your business two,
three, four, five years down the road.
(11:15):
And if you're not open to coaching, if you'renot open to feedback, if you're not seeking out
advice from people who have been there and donethat, you have so much more risk than you even
realize.
So much more risk.
I cannot put it in words.
(11:36):
I can't describe it.
It's why so many people and again, this isgonna I know this is gonna this is gonna slap a
bunch of people.
It's why so many people start a small businessand never actually make any money.
I mean, they they bill customers.
They have revenue.
(11:56):
They they have financial statements that showincome.
They have assets, but it doesn't translate intocash in their bank account that they actually
get to hold on to.
Who's advising you on your tax strategy?
Who's advising you on, like, cash flow, whereyour cash is coming and going?
(12:21):
What banking relationships do you have?
Do you have a line of credit tied to someinventory or tied to some receivables?
Like, little bitty fundamental things that ifyou don't structure your business correctly,
you just you have you you already have such asmall chance of success starting a business
(12:47):
even when you do everything correctly.
If you don't do things correctly, you you arealmost writing your own fate before you get
started.
I and and I I just I can't express this enough.
I I just can't.
Now revenue hides a lot of sins.
(13:07):
Margin makes up for a lot of stupid things thatyou're gonna do.
Right?
You can make a ton of profit, and and thatprofit will help you outrun all your bad
decisions for a while.
But I'm telling you, there there is going tocome a time when you get in a cash flow crunch,
(13:32):
when you have an incident that happens that youweren't prepared for, and you're going to wish
like crazy that you had sought some advice fromsomeone who had already been there and done
that, and they helped you avoid thecatastrophe.
(13:53):
You can't just will it into existence.
You can't count on that.
I mean, some people get lucky.
I I've said multiple, multiple times.
I got so lucky so many times that I survived.
I got so lucky.
And I actually had a guy in my business partnerwho was good at all the things I was not good
(14:18):
at.
You know?
And so I at least had someone to ham and egg itwith.
But we got so lucky so many times.
Things just happened to go our way a lot oftimes.
Even even the bad years or the bad, you know,that even in Death Valley, like, something
would go our way.
We'd print a ton of margin.
The margin would erase some sins.
We had a ton of revenue that erased some sins.
(14:40):
Like, we got we were we were more lucky thangood for a long, long time.
And and so I I speak from a position ofexperience that you just can't count on being
lucky.
If I ever were gonna do another business again,when I do another business again, I'm taking
(15:02):
every single one of those lessons with me, andI'm saying, no.
I'm not gonna make that mistake again.
I'm not going to think I can, you know, run agrowing business without a line of credit in
place.
Because when you need that's the that's thethat's the crazy thing about a line of credit.
When you actually need a line of credit, it'stoo late to go find a line of credit.
(15:26):
You want a line of credit in place when youdon't need a line of credit.
That's when you get the most favorable terms.
That's when you have the leverage, little bitof leverage with a bank.
That's when you can say, hey, you know, I'mhealthy.
I you know, I've got these receivables that aregood.
I've got this inventory that's good.
I've got these assets that are good.
You know, I'm a growing business.
I might need a line of credit someday.
(15:47):
Even when you don't need a line of credit rightnow, it's a perfect time to go get one.
Because if you think about it, the moment thatyou do need a line of credit, you win a big
job, you need a new machine, you hit a tightspot with cash flow, you get a slow paying
customer, some bad receivables, whatever, it'sa lot harder to go to the bank and beg for a
line of credit.
They can smell it on you.
(16:08):
They know when you need it.
The banks know when you when when you needthem.
The whole point of this episode is don't be tooproud to ask for advice.
(16:28):
Don't be too proud to hire a coach.
Don't be too proud to say, I don't know.
I'm not an expert at this.
I need help.
Don't be too proud to not have all the answers.
Because if you are too proud and you don't getthe advice, you don't get the coaching, you
(16:54):
don't go seek answers from other people whohave been there, done that, if you are too
proud, I think your fate is already written foryou.
I just believe it.
I'm a full believer.
And I'm the most egotistical person that Iknow.
And this is coming from me.
(17:14):
Like, this is coming from the guy that neverwanted advice on anything, but you live through
enough of it.
You live through life.
You live through business.
You're like, shoot.
What what else can I go get advice on in mylife?
How else can I go get marriage advice even whenmy marriage is fine?
How do I get marriage advice?
How do I get business advice when my businessis doing great?
How do I go talk to people that have scaled anorganization to 200, 3 hundred, 5 hundred
(17:39):
million dollars when I'm doing just fine atscaling?
How do I you you need to go find the advice,the coaching, the input, the feedback.
Go find it before you actually need it.
Because when you actually need that coaching,that advice, that feedback, a lot of times it's
(18:00):
already too late.
You've waited too long.
Your marriage is in too too rough of a spot tosave.
Your business is in too poor of a situation tosave.
You can't recover.
Like, the beauty of getting that advice, thebeauty of getting that coaching is to avoid the
pitfalls and mistakes that put you in the spotwhere you need the coaching.
(18:24):
It's it's a it's a wild it's a wild concept.
Another phone call.
Can't even do these podcasts anymore.
The phone just rings.
Hold on.
Hello.
How's it going?
I'm alive.
Well, me too.
Back in with a tank full of fuel.
(18:46):
So Did you get fuel back in your truck?
Yeah.
Yeah.
I'm an idiot.
That's okay.
We'll live another day.
Well, you said it, not me.
Sorry about that, folks.
Two phone calls in one episode.
What a what a vibe killer.
That was Patton.
Had to talk through some tactical businessthings with him.
(19:11):
But I'll close us out because we're almosttwenty minutes, and and I don't, you know, I
don't wanna keep beating a dead horse here.
But if you guys believe that seeking advice,especially new business owners, new team
leaders, newly married, if you believe thatseeking advice is a sign of weakness, you
(19:40):
couldn't be more mistaken.
Seeking advice, seeking coaching, seekinginput, critical feedback from others is
actually probably the strongest thing you cando.
It's probably the best sign of intelligence.
It's probably the wisest thing you can do,especially in the early days of business.
In the early days of marriage, go to marriagecounseling.
(20:04):
Our church made Shelby and I, before we evengot married, do some marriage counseling.
You know, when you're a new team leader, go getcoaching on how to be a leader.
Don't don't wait for things to go wrong beforeyou try to implement coaching, feedback.
(20:26):
You know?
Learn from someone else's mistakes who'salready paid the stupid tax.
There's you know, I I've always said, like, inbusiness, you kinda have to learn a lot a lot
of the things you have to learn the hard way,unfortunately.
I call it paying the stupid tax.
When you buy a brand new vehicle and drive itoff the lot, that's fun.
(20:48):
It's cool.
It looks sweet.
Got a brand new truck.
Pay $80 for it.
The second you drive it off the lot, it's worth$72.
You just paid an $8,000 stupid tax.
You could have bought a truck with 10,000 mileson it.
Still basically brand new, but you bought itfor $72 instead of $80.
Same thing's true in business.
(21:11):
Learn the mistakes from someone else.
Let someone else pay the stupid tax.
Let someone else coach you on how to avoidmajor pitfalls, whether it's insurance risk,
whether it's cash flow issues, sales,marketing, how to build an ops team.
(21:35):
Like, let someone else pay the stupid tax.
Because, unfortunately, when you're new inbusiness, you might not be able to pay the
stupid tax and survive.
Sometimes the stupid tax will kill you.
And so my feedback is don't be too proud.
Don't be too egotistical to get feedback.
(21:56):
Don't be you know, if you know someone who'ssuccessful in business, take them to dinner.
Buy them coffee.
Ask them every put put, you know, put your egoaway.
Let down your walls.
Stop being a tough guy, stop pretending youknow it all, stop pretending you have the
(22:16):
answers.
Some of the most successful people I know havean advisory team, team of people that are in
different organizations, different companies,different career paths, different experience
sets, different backgrounds, and they advisethem on how to how to lead the company.
(22:37):
Some of the most successful companies outthere, you know, take it or leave it, but have,
like, really diverse board of directors withwith a whole group of people with diverse
backgrounds, diverse experience sets, and theyget coaching on how to lead their organization.
They get a sounding board.
(22:58):
When I have an issue, who do I talk to?
I I can I can call on the people that have beenthere and done that and then have learned?
I can't tell you now where I'm at in my career,like the second I run into a big obstacle, I'm
making phone calls to other people who havebeen there.
(23:19):
Right?
I'm talking to our legal counsel who's seentons and tons and tons of cases and examples
and contracts and arguments.
Know, I'm talking to my business partner,Gantt, who's been in tons of different other
businesses.
You know, I'm talking to other people in otherindustries that that can give advice.
(23:39):
Like, it's it's very rare for me now.
And I I still find myself falling under thistrap, but it's very rare for me now to approach
a big obstacle in our business and just thinkI'm gonna will it to a win.
I'm just gonna will it.
I'm gonna use my own understanding, my ownexperience, my own intelligence, and I'm gonna
be the one to carry us to victory.
(24:00):
Every once in a while that happens.
Usually, it's on a sales or marketing thing.
But if I'm facing a big challenge in mybusiness, I almost default now to go get advice
first.
Let me get advice first.
Let me get opinions.
Let me get feedback and perspective from otherintelligent people, and then I will chew on all
of that advice.
(24:20):
I'll digest all those opinions, and then I willuse my gut and that that digested opinion to go
make my decision.
It's a superpower.
I mean, it's it using other people who havebeen there and done that to help you avoid some
(24:41):
major mistakes in business is one of thesmartest things you can do in business,
especially especially as a new business owner.
So that's what I got for you guys.
If you're in it if you're in year one or two orthree, even in year five, year ten, you better
have people around you that you can call on foradvice.
(25:01):
You better have people around you that you cantake to dinner and pick their brain.
Even if you don't use any of the information,even if you don't use their opinion, or even if
you disagree with their opinion, A lot oftimes, it will just help you think about the
issue differently.
It'll help you think creatively.
It'll spark some ideas, spark someconversations that you otherwise wouldn't have
had by yourself with your own thoughts.
(25:23):
So so that's what I got.
Hope it's helpful.
Hope it's useful.
Hope you guys are killing it, and always hopeyou're getting your per diem.
We're praying that you get your per diem.
Pray you tune back in one more day.
Thanks for listening to the per diem podcast.
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