December 18, 2024 • 22 mins
We are thrilled to share this episode with Stephen Richardson, our friend and one of the original creators of this podcast! This episode is filled with stories of Caleb and Stephen's mistakes, and lessons learned while attempting to grow a senior care business.
Stephen is a seasoned entrepreneur who has helped scale multiple small businesses in the past few years. Stephen sheds light on what it takes build a business in the senior care space.
From achieving a remarkable 300% growth milestone at Helperly, Stephen shares his insights on scaling companies with a strategic mindset. If you're eager to understand the impactful nature of work in senior care and the entrepreneurial spirit behind it, this episode is a compelling listen.
Stephen shares that adaptability is the cornerstone of success, and this episode explores its critical role in business growth. We chat about the necessity of setting ambitious goals, the willingness to pivot strategies when faced with new information, and the importance of building scalable systems for future success. The conversation also highlights the relentless hard work and dedication required to achieve long-term business success, emphasizing that it’s the quality of team members and culture that often accelerates progress.
Thank you Stephen and we hope that all of you enjoy this conversation!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hey everyone, welcome to another episode of Senior
Care Academy podcast.
They were joined by StevenRichardson.
Steven's a lifelongentrepreneur.
He has expertise in businessorganization and growth.
Steven worked with us here onthe podcast as well as Helperly,
and helped us oversee a 300%growth sprint in less than a
year.
He's a proud father of fourkids and one on the way, and or
(00:24):
no.
Three kids, three kids and oneon the way.
We put down four because it'sbasically four.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
I'm going to just I don't know what that sentence is
.
He's a proud father of threeand a half.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
He's a proud father of three kids, with one on the
way, and a loving husband.
We are so stoked to have him onthe show.
Steven, thanks for coming in.
Thanks on the show, steven.
Thanks for coming in.
Thanks for having me.
Yes, so I want to start talkingabout because you, when you
originally started at Helperly,you went and got your MBA.
Yeah, I think senior careprobably wasn't on the timeline,
(00:56):
no, so what?
As you came into an industrythat you didn't really like,
know a ton about, what wassomething that kind of caught
your, that was surprising to you, about just the industry of
senior care specifically yeahespecially now.
Um so, since leaving helperlykind of consult not consulting
but helping other businesses ontheir organization.
What, uh, what surprised you inthe senior care space compared
(01:20):
to other business models?
Speaker 2 (01:23):
um, I think that that's a great question.
I think that other, I thinkthat there's a difference for
sure between it, cause, I mean,I think in senior care, there's
a very different motivation tobe running a senior care.
Obviously, there has a lot ofbusiness aspects of it that you
(01:44):
have to be business savvy, but alot of the other businesses,
it's like we just want to grow abusiness, we want to make money
Senior care.
When you come here, it's likewe want to help seniors, and I
think that was something thatsurprised me coming into the
senior care industry is seeinghow many seniors do not have
people to take care of them.
Like that's crazy.
(02:06):
Like the amount of people likejust on Thanksgiving, uh,
thinking about who's not withtheir family, they're by
themselves, don't have anyonethere with them.
I think that's the thing thatreally drives senior care
providers and that's what'sdifferent from like other
businesses.
Other businesses it's like, oh,we just want to make money
senior care.
It's like we got to help thesepeople.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
So yeah, I like that a lot.
It really is, um, you get tosee just a lot of sad stories, a
lot of really meaningful onesas well, but it is hard to like
see a lot of these older adultsthat are just struggling.
Yeah, um, what, as you were inthe senior care space, what, um,
what did you appreciate mostabout working in senior care for
(02:44):
the year that you were here?
Like you said, you have the sadside, where people aren't taken
care of, but on the other side,what did you appreciate?
Speaker 2 (02:54):
I think, just knowing that we're doing something
that's helpful for peoplebecause I think of, I mean,
grandparents right, they aretaken care of and thinking about
, uh, if they weren't, if myparents specifically weren't
taken care of, uh, that is sosad to think about so so,
(03:15):
knowing that that's whatsomething that we're doing is
we're taking care of somebody'sparents and making sure that
they have a ride to the grocerystore.
I mean, that's the thing peopledon't think about because it's's
like, yes, they, they're,they're major needs are taken
care of, like they go to thehospital if they break bone or
whatever, but like they need togo to the grocery store, they
need to have their house cleaned, cause if you go to some of
(03:35):
these people's houses andthey're just not eating healthy
food because they can get whatthey eat, what they can get,
being the person to take them tothe grocery store and take care
of those needs that we don'tthink about was just so
fulfilling.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
Yeah, we had a guest come on.
I was talking about dementiaand like how to avoid it or how
to, I guess, postpone it, andshe mentioned it's like the
basic stuff and like eatinghealthy is one of them.
Like just getting out of thehouse, all these little things
that, like I said, people don'tthink about Because, as we're in
(04:11):
the working years of our life,well, I think you're always in
your working years, but it justisn't front of mind because you
always have something to do.
But when you don't havesomething to do, it's easy to
forget food and moving your bodyand not just sitting there all
day.
It really is very impactful.
I do want to talk a little bitabout your.
This is a little bit of adifferent podcast.
(04:32):
We're talking about senior care, but also your business
expertise and whatnot.
And so what was it at Helperly?
Because you were here during alot of growth and I like
attribute tons of that to you,um.
So, while you're at helperly,what, oh man?
Let me just read that questionwhat was it about your time at
(04:53):
helperly that um showed you howmuch a business could grow, or
what it takes to grow a business?
and what you focus on well firstof all.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
So I like like my journey how it started.
Help, really hit the microphone, but the we're cousins, right.
So so I was, I was looking forjobs and I just came in and I
was like the point where notfinding something, right, that's
where it's like, ah, I'm in themindset where it's like I have
to work for somebody, right,that's where I'm at which my
(05:23):
mindset's totally changed.
Now it's like, oh wait, youcan'm in the mindset where it's
like I have to work for somebody, right, that's where I'm at
which my mindset's totallychanged.
Now it's like, oh wait, you canjust make money by yourself.
You don't have to work forsomebody.
That's cool, yeah, but that'swhere my mindset was.
I applied to hundreds of jobs,the market was rough, and then I
went and I was helping you withyour computer and I was like,
wait, I'd work here for $12 anhour right now, like cause, like
(05:44):
literally, right now I'm just,I want to get some business
experience so I'm moremarketable, like that's where
I'm at.
And so remind me what thequestion is.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
Yeah, no, I'm getting to it as you were growing with
Helperly or what it?
Took to grow and and what youfocused on during your year here
that helped, yeah, accelerate.
And what you focused on duringyour year here that helped
accelerate growth as fast as youcan, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
So I think that I definitely was inspired by you
when I started and just seeing,like your drive because your
business experience has helpedreally right, and learning and
being like and really whatbusiness is is like I'm just not
gonna stop, we're just gonna doit right, we're just gonna get
it done, we're gonna figure outhow to do it.
Like I'm just not going to stop, we're just going to do it,
we're just going to get it done,we're going to figure out how
to do it.
I don't know how to do it,we're going to figure it out.
(06:30):
And so that was something thatinspired me.
So when I saw that and felt thatlike, oh, none of us know what
we're doing, cool, so we justtry a bunch of things, and I
think that's something.
That's what we did.
We did have plans, we made theyear plans and we made the
quarterly plans and weekly evenright.
So, and that's super, superimportant, because if you don't
do that, you're just shooting inrandom directions.
Yeah, but it's also okay toshift and try new things.
(06:53):
Like it's like we're notgrowing right now and then if we
continue on this path, we'renot going to grow.
So let's try something random,like we did some really random
stuff.
Like this podcast is awesome,but before this podcast we did
another podcast and it was sofun it was so fun, but it does
not.
It was not helpful for growing,for what we needed at the time.
(07:13):
So it's like it's okay to gothe wrong direction for a little
bit, but you just got to, likefigure out exactly what we need.
Um, as long as you have thatbig, that big overall, arching
picture of like, hey, this iswhere we want to end up by the
end of the month, here's wherewe want to go at the end of the
year, how are we going to getthere?
Uh, but yeah, so, so really, Ithink it's in the helperly's
(07:35):
vision but just get it done,just get this, get it Like.
We're going to do it, no matterwhat it takes, we're going to
get it done, we're going to haveit, and I think that's that's
the culture of helperly andthat's something that I want to
take into other businesses thatI work with.
It's like, okay, we don't knowhow to do it.
Okay, well, let's do it.
Then.
Let's just do it.
Then.
Let's just do it like.
Let's like we don't need towait for an expert, we don't
(07:56):
need to wait for somebody totell us how to do it.
Like, let's just figure it out,let's get it done this week.
Let's do it like the sky's thelimit there's.
There's nothing we can't do.
Let's get it done.
Yeah, I love that you kind ofhinted at a little bit of it's
like we had on that that firstpodcast we had so much
conviction of like this is justgoing to blow up, actually two
(08:17):
other podcasts, two differentones.
We had Wisdom Well and thenBusiness.
Oh yeah, the business one, thatwas different.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
Yeah, but we had so much conviction and I think
that's part of the thing is,like you said, you set the
target and you have strongbeliefs loosely held, like we
were like this is going to work,and then, as soon as we got new
information right after doinglike 12 or whatever episodes,
like, yeah, it's actually notworking, let's change.
(08:44):
and so I think that's somethingas well, like you need to be so
convicted about what you'redoing in your company, um, but
if new information comes alongright, then you need to be able
to change your belief and belike wait, this is what's what's
going to work.
So that was, I think, somethinga challenge that a lot of
people have, like I said, isjust getting started getting
things done.
But, reflecting on yourexperience in business and as
(09:07):
you start helping otherbusinesses, what would you say
is a challenge that most people,what would you say is a
challenge that people shouldstart embracing to be able to
grow their business, somethingthat they're trying to avoid?
Speaker 2 (09:21):
Well, I think that there's a lot of.
I mean, there's the cliche nogrowth in the comfort zone, Of
course, like where it's like ah,we got to just, we got to just
do it how we're doing it.
I think change, I guess, is athing that that stops people
from growing a ton.
Because with Halperly, when Iwas working with Helperly, so
(09:41):
like we had to change so muchabout the business Because when
I first started we were usingGoogle Sheets.
We were using we found out thatthat's not something we can do
right pretty quick.
So like if we didn't, if wedidn't change helperly at that
point, we would still be at thatpoint.
So I think that's the thing islike where do you want your
(10:03):
business to be at in 10 yearsfrom now?
it's like okay, first of all,double that, because that's
ridiculous like most people arelike, oh, I want to add an extra
million to my business.
And it's like, why?
Like yeah, you could probablydo that, doing the same things
you're doing in 10 years.
Like okay, but like, really, inyour wildest dreams, where do
(10:24):
you want to be in 10 years?
And then it's like, okay,here's where I want to be
Awesome.
And then it's like whatprocesses are not going to be
sustainable in 10 years?
Yeah, like all of them Cool.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
Like we've got 10 years, that's okay.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
Like we can, we can do it.
So then you just start and thenfrom that point it's like oh,
we got this huge thing, we gotto change.
It's like, no, we just do itlike an elephant.
We like we pick little thingsand we do that first, and then
whatever's most pressing, andthen we just slowly change it.
So that's kind of I was doingeverything which I loved.
I was like okay, this isawesome, I'm doing everything
(10:57):
and I'm also at the same timechanging all the processes and
procedures, getting new systems,getting all these things set up
, and then having somebody elsedo one thing for me, and then
having somebody else do onething for me and then slowly
building it up and then, once wegot everything changed,
changing it all again.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
It's like, oh, this is sustainable for the next year
and that's it, crap.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
Well, let's redo everything, and it's like we
were just trying to hit thattarget of 10 years.
It's like, okay, when we getthe new information, we just
change, we don't keep going inthe wrong direction.
Be like oh, in a year we'regoing to change the system.
It's like, no, it doesn't worknow, so let's change it now.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
So, yeah, I think a lot of people they spend like
every day or every week is likechasing their tail a little bit
of.
They're always behind andreacting rather than making the
action first, like being like apreparatory action, right.
It's like, oh crap, thesystem's not working, thinking
(11:53):
you know six, 12, 24 monthsahead.
Let's make something that'lllast long enough to make
meaningful growth.
Because if you're constantly,if there's no systems, there's
no organization, if, like,everything is just made off of a
gut feeling right, it's goingto be so difficult to actually
have meaningful growth so yeah,and that's something that you
are excellent at is, well, thatputting two those things
(12:15):
together, the example of that,too, that I'd give is like we
had to change the system.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
So I spent a long time getting this awesome system
put together, figuring outwhich one to use, putting all of
our clients into the system,getting all of our caregivers to
use the system and trainingthem, making videos to train
them, only to realize that thatsystem would not sustainable.
Like immediately, like this isthe worst system we could have
(12:40):
found.
Great.
So it's like yeah could havejust been like well, we're going
to use it for a year and see,see if fill it out.
It's like no, we got toliterally change it again.
So it's like we're not tryingto last through the year.
We that.
It's like we're gonna see howlong we can survive with this
(13:00):
system.
It's like no, it's like we needto survive with, we need to get
the system that's going to takeus to the next 10 years.
So we immediately changed itagain.
Yeah, and so that's a lot of alot of operational work like
it's a lot, but that's gonnasave us, saved us so much time
in the long run.
Speaker 1 (13:09):
Yeah, and I think it's definitely possible to
survive with like subpar systemsor processes or um, but
eventually it's going to hurt.
Like it's comfortable in themoment to just be like this
works well enough, but then inthe long run it ends up just
shooting you in the foot andyou're stuck for forever, and so
(13:31):
it definitely is worth the liftand the time it takes.
In the beginning.
A quote that I love from amentor of mine is like if you
take the time it takes, it takesless time.
I think a lot of the time and Ithink that's also true in like
the actual providing of servicesto seniors.
Like take the time it takes tolike hear them and be there with
(13:52):
them, it takes less time, right, meaning like you can go about
your day and you won't have abunch of phone calls and
problems and all these thingsarise.
If you just like be there inthe moment and I think that's
also true in business liketotally take all the time up
front, like you're talking about, to get something working,
it'll take way less time thanrunning from just like a garbage
(14:17):
system right, um, and then ayear later you're needing to do
six months of back work to tryto catch up and do something.
Yeah, um, and then get a wholenew system.
Then, yeah, and then do.
Yeah, it just like slows down.
And that's the same, just inlike any aspect of life, like
even when you're sick, you justlike take time to rest.
It'll take less time thantrying to like run yourself
(14:37):
ragged.
But yeah, um, what funnystories do you have in the early
days of help?
Really, you mentioned I thinkthat's kind of a funny story of
like we spent all this timewhich we thought was it was, it
was a EVV system that we wereusing and we thoughtV at all.
It's like wait, wait, a minute.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
Yeah, anyways, that's a funny story.
It's hard because we had somuch fun there.
Like, I mean, a lot of timesit's just me and you, me and you
and one other two other peopleat the office, maybe right and
then we just, first of all itwas fun and that was I think
that culture is still here andthat's super important where
it's like, hey, we're here tofor the betterment of people,
(15:21):
right Of seniors, but we alsoare enjoying ourselves.
I think funny stories are, Imean I I mean like really just
just trying our best, goingnowhere for for some things,
where it's like our visions here.
But like I think the funniestis just the podcast that we did,
which is awesome.
(15:41):
I just remember me and youdriving in our car for
whatever's car for the whole day.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
But also just running around trying to use our phones
to video stuff and like our,the really cheap stuff that we
had.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
And then the phones, realizing how much battery that
takes, and then we didn't havebattery space, we're just like
throwing gigabytes worth ofpodcast video my phone still is
destroyed, like from that.
Like my phone will last.
It's a.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
it's a, it'll last like the newest model Five hours
yeah, and then it dies.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
So I'm not looking for compensation, I just I just
joke.
I just joke.
But yeah, so that that was.
But that that's.
The thing, though, is like, Ithink the drive that we had like
, where we were willing to dothat cause we thought it was
going to be good, yeah, like.
And then we immediately weloved it so much, it was such a
valuable project that I thinksomeday should happen again
(16:32):
really but we realized it wasn'thelping the business and, even
though we loved it so much, wejust cut it Like one day we're
like this is not doing it.
All right, done Like we're notdoing one more episode of this,
yeah, even though it was so fun.
But then we figured out thispodcast and we're like, oh, this
is awesome, like we're meetingso many good, awesome senior
care providers, making such goodconnections, and here it is
(16:53):
still going.
It's gotten better because ofAaron, but, yeah, it wasn't
going to get better with medoing it, but that's why you
know, when you get to that point, when you set up the process
and procedures and you findsomebody to make it even better,
yeah, like that that was thefun thing, cause, cause we, our
experience is not, is not enough, like your experience as a CEO
is not enough to grow Helperly,like you grow it to what you can
(17:15):
, and then you find peoplethat'll take it a step further,
step further, step further.
And it's like, hey, nothing'simpossible.
And I think that's anotherthing.
This is a tangent now.
But I think people are like, ohwell, I can't afford to hire
new people, like they just can'tafford that right now.
And I'm like, well, you canactually, because that's that's
one thing.
When I left helperly to start myown business, I had no money,
(17:36):
no investment or anything likethat.
Yeah, and I just immediatelystarted networking and I found
five people that are willing towork with me without any sort of
pay up front or anything at all.
It's like, hey, if you guyshelp me with these jobs that I
find for you, you'll get paid,and they're like awesome.
And so I have these five peopleon my payroll already, where
(17:57):
it's like they're going to helpme grow my business.
So it's like you don't know howto do something.
You can first of all learn it.
It takes a lot of time, but youcan find somebody that there's.
There's any sort of wall thatyou run into.
You just have to be creativeenough to get through it and
really you just do it.
It's not, it's not hard.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
It's.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
It sounds silly, but like my mindset from a year ago,
where I'm like, oh, I appliedto 150 jobs or 200 jobs and
nobody accepts me.
It's like it doesn't matter whoaccepts you and your job and
your job.
First of all, go find someonework at the bottom, show them
that you can do it and then gofrom there or just do your own
thing, like it's so easy to doit.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
You just have to do it.
It is incredible how, like Isaid it's I think it's simple to
win, hard to execute, like thehard part is just going out and
doing it because but the process, like I said, it's so simple
right, it's like go and findpeople and like chunk up and
keep on chunking up and gettinglike said that next person to
(18:59):
get you a little bit fartherright, and it really is just a
matter of talking to people andasking, and then just like
having confidence in yourself,right, and the hard part is like
executing.
So many people it's.
It's so easy not to execute, Ithink, these days, cause there's
a lot of comfort in just likethat.
My business idea, this didn'twork out because.
(19:20):
And then like insert some sortof outside force, right, and it
makes it so much, it makes yousleep better at night being like
it was totally out of mycontrol, right, yeah, at night,
being like it was totally out ofmy control, right, yeah, well
then, people also they havetheir baby.
Speaker 2 (19:32):
They have a really good business business idea,
right, whatever it may be.
I mean working with senior care.
This model is awesome becauseinsurance pays for a lot of it
yeah, we have private pay, butlike it really is a no-brainer
for people to sign up for theservice.
Yeah, because it's like we'retaking care of your loved one
and they are taking care oftheir, their needs, right.
Yeah, but it's like you can'tjust sit on your butt and be
(19:54):
like people are gonna find outabout it, because it's so good
it's like that's the thing.
It's easy that the secret sauceis grinding, putting in the
effort to get it done.
It's like, yeah, well, we haveall these projects and since
it's such a good business, it'sgonna just happen.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
So we're just gonna hopefully it's like, no, it's
like we have to work our buttsoff every single day, and then
that part of it is what I mean.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
It's like it is hard because you have to work your
butt off to get it done right.
You have to grind every day,but it's like you don't have to
be, you don't have to have thesespecial skills or knowledge,
because all that comes while youdo it.
You just have to do it.
So that's I think that's thepart that that's easy.
Yeah, is that it's just likereally you can make anything
happen, you just yeah it's justa matter.
Speaker 1 (20:33):
The equation that I like to say is it's um, it's
people um times.
Culture divided by strategyequals the outcome, you know,
whatever that might be, and thenand then it just equals, or
equals the time it takes.
Because if you have, like, theextreme on the left side is you
(20:54):
have terrible people with a badculture executing on like a
so-so strategy, but if you givethem 100 years, they're still
going to build a big businessRight Versus if you have
excellent people with, like, aculture of high execution and
work ethic, with following awinning strategy, you know it
might take two, three, fiveyears, yeah, um, and so it
(21:16):
really is just a matter ofshowing up every single day.
And yeah, if you want to take ahundred years, that's okay.
Just get bad people and rightthat don't want to work and then
do a terrible business model,but you'll still make money over
a long enough time horizon.
Speaker 2 (21:28):
So that's another thing too, is that, when we grew
it, because we to begin tobegin with right, just three or
four of us right, and then weall had this culture, but it's
easy to have that culture withjust three or four people yeah,
I think that it's like we needto hire somebody to do this
thing.
I think a lot of people rushinto that and they interview two
people and they get their bestfriend or whatever, like you can
do it, just come do it right,yeah, and and there was some of
(21:51):
that but, um, but the like goingthrough the process of like,
like finding evan right, yeah,where it's like, that was not a
fun process because in themeantime, like um, in the
meantime there was a lot of workthat had to be done by Logan,
(22:11):
like Logan, really like our HRperson was really suffering
because he was doing the HR andthe scheduling Right.
He was suffering for so long.
So for a long time it's like,okay, we can just hire somebody,
let's figure out the rightperson.
So it was like
Hey everyone, welcome to another episode of Senior
Care Academy podcast.
They were joined by StevenRichardson.
Steven's a lifelongentrepreneur.
He has expertise in businessorganization and growth.
Steven worked with us here onthe podcast as well as Helperly,
and helped us oversee a 300%growth sprint in less than a
year.
He's a proud father of fourkids and one on the way, and or
(00:24):
no.
Three kids, three kids and oneon the way.
We put down four because it'sbasically four.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
I'm going to just I don't know what that sentence is
.
He's a proud father of threeand a half.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
He's a proud father of three kids, with one on the
way, and a loving husband.
We are so stoked to have him onthe show.
Steven, thanks for coming in.
Thanks on the show, steven.
Thanks for coming in.
Thanks for having me.
Yes, so I want to start talkingabout because you, when you
originally started at Helperly,you went and got your MBA.
Yeah, I think senior careprobably wasn't on the timeline,
(00:56):
no, so what?
As you came into an industrythat you didn't really like,
know a ton about, what wassomething that kind of caught
your, that was surprising to you, about just the industry of
senior care specifically yeahespecially now.
Um so, since leaving helperlykind of consult not consulting
but helping other businesses ontheir organization.
What, uh, what surprised you inthe senior care space compared
(01:20):
to other business models?
Speaker 2 (01:23):
um, I think that that's a great question.
I think that other, I thinkthat there's a difference for
sure between it, cause, I mean,I think in senior care, there's
a very different motivation tobe running a senior care.
Obviously, there has a lot ofbusiness aspects of it that you
(01:44):
have to be business savvy, but alot of the other businesses,
it's like we just want to grow abusiness, we want to make money
Senior care.
When you come here, it's likewe want to help seniors, and I
think that was something thatsurprised me coming into the
senior care industry is seeinghow many seniors do not have
people to take care of them.
Like that's crazy.
(02:06):
Like the amount of people likejust on Thanksgiving, uh,
thinking about who's not withtheir family, they're by
themselves, don't have anyonethere with them.
I think that's the thing thatreally drives senior care
providers and that's what'sdifferent from like other
businesses.
Other businesses it's like, oh,we just want to make money
senior care.
It's like we got to help thesepeople.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
So yeah, I like that a lot.
It really is, um, you get tosee just a lot of sad stories, a
lot of really meaningful onesas well, but it is hard to like
see a lot of these older adultsthat are just struggling.
Yeah, um, what, as you were inthe senior care space, what, um,
what did you appreciate mostabout working in senior care for
(02:44):
the year that you were here?
Like you said, you have the sadside, where people aren't taken
care of, but on the other side,what did you appreciate?
Speaker 2 (02:54):
I think, just knowing that we're doing something
that's helpful for peoplebecause I think of, I mean,
grandparents right, they aretaken care of and thinking about
, uh, if they weren't, if myparents specifically weren't
taken care of, uh, that is sosad to think about so so,
(03:15):
knowing that that's whatsomething that we're doing is
we're taking care of somebody'sparents and making sure that
they have a ride to the grocerystore.
I mean, that's the thing peopledon't think about because it's's
like, yes, they, they're,they're major needs are taken
care of, like they go to thehospital if they break bone or
whatever, but like they need togo to the grocery store, they
need to have their house cleaned, cause if you go to some of
(03:35):
these people's houses andthey're just not eating healthy
food because they can get whatthey eat, what they can get,
being the person to take them tothe grocery store and take care
of those needs that we don'tthink about was just so
fulfilling.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
Yeah, we had a guest come on.
I was talking about dementiaand like how to avoid it or how
to, I guess, postpone it, andshe mentioned it's like the
basic stuff and like eatinghealthy is one of them.
Like just getting out of thehouse, all these little things
that, like I said, people don'tthink about Because, as we're in
(04:11):
the working years of our life,well, I think you're always in
your working years, but it justisn't front of mind because you
always have something to do.
But when you don't havesomething to do, it's easy to
forget food and moving your bodyand not just sitting there all
day.
It really is very impactful.
I do want to talk a little bitabout your.
This is a little bit of adifferent podcast.
(04:32):
We're talking about senior care, but also your business
expertise and whatnot.
And so what was it at Helperly?
Because you were here during alot of growth and I like
attribute tons of that to you,um.
So, while you're at helperly,what, oh man?
Let me just read that questionwhat was it about your time at
(04:53):
helperly that um showed you howmuch a business could grow, or
what it takes to grow a business?
and what you focus on well firstof all.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
So I like like my journey how it started.
Help, really hit the microphone, but the we're cousins, right.
So so I was, I was looking forjobs and I just came in and I
was like the point where notfinding something, right, that's
where it's like, ah, I'm in themindset where it's like I have
to work for somebody, right,that's where I'm at which my
(05:23):
mindset's totally changed.
Now it's like, oh wait, youcan'm in the mindset where it's
like I have to work for somebody, right, that's where I'm at
which my mindset's totallychanged.
Now it's like, oh wait, you canjust make money by yourself.
You don't have to work forsomebody.
That's cool, yeah, but that'swhere my mindset was.
I applied to hundreds of jobs,the market was rough, and then I
went and I was helping you withyour computer and I was like,
wait, I'd work here for $12 anhour right now, like cause, like
(05:44):
literally, right now I'm just,I want to get some business
experience so I'm moremarketable, like that's where
I'm at.
And so remind me what thequestion is.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
Yeah, no, I'm getting to it as you were growing with
Helperly or what it?
Took to grow and and what youfocused on during your year here
that helped, yeah, accelerate.
And what you focused on duringyour year here that helped
accelerate growth as fast as youcan, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
So I think that I definitely was inspired by you
when I started and just seeing,like your drive because your
business experience has helpedreally right, and learning and
being like and really whatbusiness is is like I'm just not
gonna stop, we're just gonna doit right, we're just gonna get
it done, we're gonna figure outhow to do it.
Like I'm just not going to stop, we're just going to do it,
we're just going to get it done,we're going to figure out how
to do it.
I don't know how to do it,we're going to figure it out.
(06:30):
And so that was something thatinspired me.
So when I saw that and felt thatlike, oh, none of us know what
we're doing, cool, so we justtry a bunch of things, and I
think that's something.
That's what we did.
We did have plans, we made theyear plans and we made the
quarterly plans and weekly evenright.
So, and that's super, superimportant, because if you don't
do that, you're just shooting inrandom directions.
Yeah, but it's also okay toshift and try new things.
(06:53):
Like it's like we're notgrowing right now and then if we
continue on this path, we'renot going to grow.
So let's try something random,like we did some really random
stuff.
Like this podcast is awesome,but before this podcast we did
another podcast and it was sofun it was so fun, but it does
not.
It was not helpful for growing,for what we needed at the time.
(07:13):
So it's like it's okay to gothe wrong direction for a little
bit, but you just got to, likefigure out exactly what we need.
Um, as long as you have thatbig, that big overall, arching
picture of like, hey, this iswhere we want to end up by the
end of the month, here's wherewe want to go at the end of the
year, how are we going to getthere?
Uh, but yeah, so, so really, Ithink it's in the helperly's
(07:35):
vision but just get it done,just get this, get it Like.
We're going to do it, no matterwhat it takes, we're going to
get it done, we're going to haveit, and I think that's that's
the culture of helperly andthat's something that I want to
take into other businesses thatI work with.
It's like, okay, we don't knowhow to do it.
Okay, well, let's do it.
Then.
Let's just do it.
Then.
Let's just do it like.
Let's like we don't need towait for an expert, we don't
(07:56):
need to wait for somebody totell us how to do it.
Like, let's just figure it out,let's get it done this week.
Let's do it like the sky's thelimit there's.
There's nothing we can't do.
Let's get it done.
Yeah, I love that you kind ofhinted at a little bit of it's
like we had on that that firstpodcast we had so much
conviction of like this is justgoing to blow up, actually two
(08:17):
other podcasts, two differentones.
We had Wisdom Well and thenBusiness.
Oh yeah, the business one, thatwas different.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
Yeah, but we had so much conviction and I think
that's part of the thing is,like you said, you set the
target and you have strongbeliefs loosely held, like we
were like this is going to work,and then, as soon as we got new
information right after doinglike 12 or whatever episodes,
like, yeah, it's actually notworking, let's change.
(08:44):
and so I think that's somethingas well, like you need to be so
convicted about what you'redoing in your company, um, but
if new information comes alongright, then you need to be able
to change your belief and belike wait, this is what's what's
going to work.
So that was, I think, somethinga challenge that a lot of
people have, like I said, isjust getting started getting
things done.
But, reflecting on yourexperience in business and as
(09:07):
you start helping otherbusinesses, what would you say
is a challenge that most people,what would you say is a
challenge that people shouldstart embracing to be able to
grow their business, somethingthat they're trying to avoid?
Speaker 2 (09:21):
Well, I think that there's a lot of.
I mean, there's the cliche nogrowth in the comfort zone, Of
course, like where it's like ah,we got to just, we got to just
do it how we're doing it.
I think change, I guess, is athing that that stops people
from growing a ton.
Because with Halperly, when Iwas working with Helperly, so
(09:41):
like we had to change so muchabout the business Because when
I first started we were usingGoogle Sheets.
We were using we found out thatthat's not something we can do
right pretty quick.
So like if we didn't, if wedidn't change helperly at that
point, we would still be at thatpoint.
So I think that's the thing islike where do you want your
(10:03):
business to be at in 10 yearsfrom now?
it's like okay, first of all,double that, because that's
ridiculous like most people arelike, oh, I want to add an extra
million to my business.
And it's like, why?
Like yeah, you could probablydo that, doing the same things
you're doing in 10 years.
Like okay, but like, really, inyour wildest dreams, where do
(10:24):
you want to be in 10 years?
And then it's like, okay,here's where I want to be
Awesome.
And then it's like whatprocesses are not going to be
sustainable in 10 years?
Yeah, like all of them Cool.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
Like we've got 10 years, that's okay.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
Like we can, we can do it.
So then you just start and thenfrom that point it's like oh,
we got this huge thing, we gotto change.
It's like, no, we just do itlike an elephant.
We like we pick little thingsand we do that first, and then
whatever's most pressing, andthen we just slowly change it.
So that's kind of I was doingeverything which I loved.
I was like okay, this isawesome, I'm doing everything
(10:57):
and I'm also at the same timechanging all the processes and
procedures, getting new systems,getting all these things set up
, and then having somebody elsedo one thing for me, and then
having somebody else do onething for me and then slowly
building it up and then, once wegot everything changed,
changing it all again.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
It's like, oh, this is sustainable for the next year
and that's it, crap.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
Well, let's redo everything, and it's like we
were just trying to hit thattarget of 10 years.
It's like, okay, when we getthe new information, we just
change, we don't keep going inthe wrong direction.
Be like oh, in a year we'regoing to change the system.
It's like, no, it doesn't worknow, so let's change it now.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
So, yeah, I think a lot of people they spend like
every day or every week is likechasing their tail a little bit
of.
They're always behind andreacting rather than making the
action first, like being like apreparatory action, right.
It's like, oh crap, thesystem's not working, thinking
(11:53):
you know six, 12, 24 monthsahead.
Let's make something that'lllast long enough to make
meaningful growth.
Because if you're constantly,if there's no systems, there's
no organization, if, like,everything is just made off of a
gut feeling right, it's goingto be so difficult to actually
have meaningful growth so yeah,and that's something that you
are excellent at is, well, thatputting two those things
(12:15):
together, the example of that,too, that I'd give is like we
had to change the system.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
So I spent a long time getting this awesome system
put together, figuring outwhich one to use, putting all of
our clients into the system,getting all of our caregivers to
use the system and trainingthem, making videos to train
them, only to realize that thatsystem would not sustainable.
Like immediately, like this isthe worst system we could have
(12:40):
found.
Great.
So it's like yeah could havejust been like well, we're going
to use it for a year and see,see if fill it out.
It's like no, we got toliterally change it again.
So it's like we're not tryingto last through the year.
We that.
It's like we're gonna see howlong we can survive with this
(13:00):
system.
It's like no, it's like we needto survive with, we need to get
the system that's going to takeus to the next 10 years.
So we immediately changed itagain.
Yeah, and so that's a lot of alot of operational work like
it's a lot, but that's gonnasave us, saved us so much time
in the long run.
Speaker 1 (13:09):
Yeah, and I think it's definitely possible to
survive with like subpar systemsor processes or um, but
eventually it's going to hurt.
Like it's comfortable in themoment to just be like this
works well enough, but then inthe long run it ends up just
shooting you in the foot andyou're stuck for forever, and so
(13:31):
it definitely is worth the liftand the time it takes.
In the beginning.
A quote that I love from amentor of mine is like if you
take the time it takes, it takesless time.
I think a lot of the time and Ithink that's also true in like
the actual providing of servicesto seniors.
Like take the time it takes tolike hear them and be there with
(13:52):
them, it takes less time, right, meaning like you can go about
your day and you won't have abunch of phone calls and
problems and all these thingsarise.
If you just like be there inthe moment and I think that's
also true in business liketotally take all the time up
front, like you're talking about, to get something working,
it'll take way less time thanrunning from just like a garbage
(14:17):
system right, um, and then ayear later you're needing to do
six months of back work to tryto catch up and do something.
Yeah, um, and then get a wholenew system.
Then, yeah, and then do.
Yeah, it just like slows down.
And that's the same, just inlike any aspect of life, like
even when you're sick, you justlike take time to rest.
It'll take less time thantrying to like run yourself
(14:37):
ragged.
But yeah, um, what funnystories do you have in the early
days of help?
Really, you mentioned I thinkthat's kind of a funny story of
like we spent all this timewhich we thought was it was, it
was a EVV system that we wereusing and we thoughtV at all.
It's like wait, wait, a minute.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
Yeah, anyways, that's a funny story.
It's hard because we had somuch fun there.
Like, I mean, a lot of timesit's just me and you, me and you
and one other two other peopleat the office, maybe right and
then we just, first of all itwas fun and that was I think
that culture is still here andthat's super important where
it's like, hey, we're here tofor the betterment of people,
(15:21):
right Of seniors, but we alsoare enjoying ourselves.
I think funny stories are, Imean I I mean like really just
just trying our best, goingnowhere for for some things,
where it's like our visions here.
But like I think the funniestis just the podcast that we did,
which is awesome.
(15:41):
I just remember me and youdriving in our car for
whatever's car for the whole day.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
But also just running around trying to use our phones
to video stuff and like our,the really cheap stuff that we
had.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
And then the phones, realizing how much battery that
takes, and then we didn't havebattery space, we're just like
throwing gigabytes worth ofpodcast video my phone still is
destroyed, like from that.
Like my phone will last.
It's a.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
it's a, it'll last like the newest model Five hours
yeah, and then it dies.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
So I'm not looking for compensation, I just I just
joke.
I just joke.
But yeah, so that that was.
But that that's.
The thing, though, is like, Ithink the drive that we had like
, where we were willing to dothat cause we thought it was
going to be good, yeah, like.
And then we immediately weloved it so much, it was such a
valuable project that I thinksomeday should happen again
(16:32):
really but we realized it wasn'thelping the business and, even
though we loved it so much, wejust cut it Like one day we're
like this is not doing it.
All right, done Like we're notdoing one more episode of this,
yeah, even though it was so fun.
But then we figured out thispodcast and we're like, oh, this
is awesome, like we're meetingso many good, awesome senior
care providers, making such goodconnections, and here it is
(16:53):
still going.
It's gotten better because ofAaron, but, yeah, it wasn't
going to get better with medoing it, but that's why you
know, when you get to that point, when you set up the process
and procedures and you findsomebody to make it even better,
yeah, like that that was thefun thing, cause, cause we, our
experience is not, is not enough, like your experience as a CEO
is not enough to grow Helperly,like you grow it to what you can
(17:15):
, and then you find peoplethat'll take it a step further,
step further, step further.
And it's like, hey, nothing'simpossible.
And I think that's anotherthing.
This is a tangent now.
But I think people are like, ohwell, I can't afford to hire
new people, like they just can'tafford that right now.
And I'm like, well, you canactually, because that's that's
one thing.
When I left helperly to start myown business, I had no money,
(17:36):
no investment or anything likethat.
Yeah, and I just immediatelystarted networking and I found
five people that are willing towork with me without any sort of
pay up front or anything at all.
It's like, hey, if you guyshelp me with these jobs that I
find for you, you'll get paid,and they're like awesome.
And so I have these five peopleon my payroll already, where
(17:57):
it's like they're going to helpme grow my business.
So it's like you don't know howto do something.
You can first of all learn it.
It takes a lot of time, but youcan find somebody that there's.
There's any sort of wall thatyou run into.
You just have to be creativeenough to get through it and
really you just do it.
It's not, it's not hard.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
It's.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
It sounds silly, but like my mindset from a year ago,
where I'm like, oh, I appliedto 150 jobs or 200 jobs and
nobody accepts me.
It's like it doesn't matter whoaccepts you and your job and
your job.
First of all, go find someonework at the bottom, show them
that you can do it and then gofrom there or just do your own
thing, like it's so easy to doit.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
You just have to do it.
It is incredible how, like Isaid it's I think it's simple to
win, hard to execute, like thehard part is just going out and
doing it because but the process, like I said, it's so simple
right, it's like go and findpeople and like chunk up and
keep on chunking up and gettinglike said that next person to
(18:59):
get you a little bit fartherright, and it really is just a
matter of talking to people andasking, and then just like
having confidence in yourself,right, and the hard part is like
executing.
So many people it's.
It's so easy not to execute, Ithink, these days, cause there's
a lot of comfort in just likethat.
My business idea, this didn'twork out because.
(19:20):
And then like insert some sortof outside force, right, and it
makes it so much, it makes yousleep better at night being like
it was totally out of mycontrol, right, yeah, at night,
being like it was totally out ofmy control, right, yeah, well
then, people also they havetheir baby.
Speaker 2 (19:32):
They have a really good business business idea,
right, whatever it may be.
I mean working with senior care.
This model is awesome becauseinsurance pays for a lot of it
yeah, we have private pay, butlike it really is a no-brainer
for people to sign up for theservice.
Yeah, because it's like we'retaking care of your loved one
and they are taking care oftheir, their needs, right.
Yeah, but it's like you can'tjust sit on your butt and be
(19:54):
like people are gonna find outabout it, because it's so good
it's like that's the thing.
It's easy that the secret sauceis grinding, putting in the
effort to get it done.
It's like, yeah, well, we haveall these projects and since
it's such a good business, it'sgonna just happen.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
So we're just gonna hopefully it's like, no, it's
like we have to work our buttsoff every single day, and then
that part of it is what I mean.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
It's like it is hard because you have to work your
butt off to get it done right.
You have to grind every day,but it's like you don't have to
be, you don't have to have thesespecial skills or knowledge,
because all that comes while youdo it.
You just have to do it.
So that's I think that's thepart that that's easy.
Yeah, is that it's just likereally you can make anything
happen, you just yeah it's justa matter.
Speaker 1 (20:33):
The equation that I like to say is it's um, it's
people um times.
Culture divided by strategyequals the outcome, you know,
whatever that might be, and thenand then it just equals, or
equals the time it takes.
Because if you have, like, theextreme on the left side is you
(20:54):
have terrible people with a badculture executing on like a
so-so strategy, but if you givethem 100 years, they're still
going to build a big businessRight Versus if you have
excellent people with, like, aculture of high execution and
work ethic, with following awinning strategy, you know it
might take two, three, fiveyears, yeah, um, and so it
(21:16):
really is just a matter ofshowing up every single day.
And yeah, if you want to take ahundred years, that's okay.
Just get bad people and rightthat don't want to work and then
do a terrible business model,but you'll still make money over
a long enough time horizon.
Speaker 2 (21:28):
So that's another thing too, is that, when we grew
it, because we to begin tobegin with right, just three or
four of us right, and then weall had this culture, but it's
easy to have that culture withjust three or four people yeah,
I think that it's like we needto hire somebody to do this
thing.
I think a lot of people rushinto that and they interview two
people and they get their bestfriend or whatever, like you can
do it, just come do it right,yeah, and and there was some of
(21:51):
that but, um, but the like goingthrough the process of like,
like finding evan right, yeah,where it's like, that was not a
fun process because in themeantime, like um, in the
meantime there was a lot of workthat had to be done by Logan,
(22:11):
like Logan, really like our HRperson was really suffering
because he was doing the HR andthe scheduling Right.
He was suffering for so long.
So for a long time it's like,okay, we can just hire somebody,
let's figure out the rightperson.
So it was like
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