July 21, 2024 • 30 mins
What keeps you going when times get tough? Discover the power of defining your 'why' in business with me, Jonathan Wagoner, on the latest episode of the Business Guide Podcast. I recount my own journey from the corporate world at Walgreens to the unpredictable life of entrepreneurship. Learn how understanding your deeper purpose can be the key to surviving and thriving through difficult times. With insights from successful entrepreneurs like Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, and Jeff Bezos, we'll explore how their clear visions propelled them to monumental success and how you can find and refine your own 'why.'
Keeping your momentum in business is essential, and I share practical strategies to help you stay energized and focused. Using the analogy of a train, I explain the importance of keeping the momentum going rather than starting and stopping. My personal mission statement was a lifeline during challenging periods, and it can be for you too. Hear how a well-crafted mission statement can be a living document that guides you and your team, keeping everyone aligned and motivated. We'll also dive into setting purpose-driven goals and the significance of surrounding yourself with like-minded individuals.
Finally, we'll touch on the value of quality audience engagement. It's not about the number of listeners but the depth of their connection to your content. I encourage you to interact, leave comments, and share your experiences or questions, which could inspire future episodes. This episode is packed with actionable advice and inspiring stories to reinforce your business purpose and celebrate achievements along the way. Tune in and get ready to align your entrepreneurial journey with your core values.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, what's going on everybody?
It's Jonathan Wagner and thisis the Business Guide Podcast.
I'm really excited you're here.
Thank you for joining us ontoday's episode of Defining your
why, the Importance of Having aClear Purpose Really excited to
go over so many differenttopics in this episode with you.
And again, thank you forjoining us.
(00:21):
As a reminder, my name again isJonathan Wagner.
I have been in business a littleover 12 years in beautiful
California.
I have had so many ups anddowns being a business owner and
I have created this podcast toreally show the struggles that
you may be going through onbusiness and really work through
those.
My hope is that maybe there's astruggle that I have gone
(00:45):
through and maybe I can shedsome light onto that struggle
and maybe it's something thatyou, as a business owner or
inspiring entrepreneur, doesn'thave to go at alone or even have
to go through it.
So that is really my goal ofwhy I am here creating these
podcasts.
Again, as a reminder as well, Iam not a professional pod,
(01:07):
excuse me.
I am not a professionalpodcaster, so I'm going to have
mess ups.
I'm going to have just all youknow being tongue tied and all
of that good stuff.
Please bear with me as I get mybearings.
These episodes are relativelynewer and I definitely want a
raw, unedited podcast for you.
So I want you to get the realstuff, as I would like to be the
(01:30):
real deal and get you qualityinformation.
So, that being said, there'sgoing to be probably some mess
ups in the episode, forgive menow.
So I think some key topics we'regoing to talk about as far as
defining your why and havingthat clear purpose is, you know,
we really need to define yourwhy.
We need to make sure that youunderstand the benefits of
(01:54):
having a clear purpose, and I'mgoing to give you some examples
of maybe some entrepreneurs thathave a strong why, and I've got
some tips.
So let's go ahead and jump intothis episode.
So what does it mean to have awhy?
And let's define that so youmay get into business and maybe
(02:18):
you're tired of working at thatcorporate job, or maybe you just
want to be an entrepreneur andyou don't want to have to work
for anybody.
Having that why or that purpose, I mean, I think, as you really
dive deep into it, it's got tobe in business, or why you are
(02:38):
in business, because I can tellyou that the thing I'll talk to
friends about.
They'll say, well, I don't havea boss.
Well, in my situation, I haveclients that I have to answer to
every single day.
So, yeah, I have a boss.
Maybe I want to be paid more.
(02:59):
Well, sometimes if you breakdown what an entrepreneur is
making, break it down we couldbe getting paid less than
minimum wage on some weeksbecause maybe we've had a slow
week and we have to still getgrinding.
So, I mean, being your own boss, yeah, that's great.
Making you know, good money Imean that's great too.
(03:24):
Financial freedom what isfinancial freedom?
Well, I want to buy a house.
I want to have a nice car Okay,okay, great, let's dive into
that.
Because I've had those goalsand I've I've crossed that.
That.
That box, or check that box inmy business career and it left
(03:46):
me left me unsatisfied.
So I think really clearlydefining and understanding what
your why is is so important, isso important.
I can't stress that you got todig deep for this.
This is not something that youknow.
As you're listening to thispodcast, you're going to be like
, oh, yes, yeah, that's why I'min business.
This is going to be somethingthat you're really going to have
(04:08):
to think about and reallycreate and dive into.
But you've got to define it,because as you run your business
you're going to have to remindyourself exactly why you're
doing it.
Exactly why you're doing it.
Because those long weeks wheremaybe you want to make more
(04:28):
money being in business ifmoney's tied to that, then what
about when business is a littlebit slower and you're really
grinding all you can and you'renot really getting paid that
week, and maybe your employee'sgot to get paid a little bit
more that week than you?
Is that going to un-incentivizeyou to be a business owner?
If you want to be your own bossbut you've got clients
screaming down your throat thatyou're not doing a good job or
(04:50):
whatever it may be well, are yougoing to be unmotivated to be a
business owner?
So for me in business, I haveto figure out why I enjoy being
in business, and I've been ableto kind of figure it out right.
So I've been able to define mywhy up to a certain point and I
(05:11):
feel like my why consistentlychanges.
When I started my business, Iknew that I didn't want to work
at Walgreens anymore.
So that was my why I didn'twant to work at Walgreens.
I then started to hireemployees and I kind of remember
my business plan that I that Iput together in the stock room
(05:33):
of that company years before,and it was I wanted to create
something that could give otherpeople the opportunity to
provide for their families, andso that really resonated with me
.
And you know employees that Ihave come into, you know my
(05:55):
business.
I mean employees come and go.
I've got some really good onesthat have been with me a very
long time and I've got some thatyou know don't last past a
couple days, a couple weeks or acouple months.
But knowing that thoseemployees are and what they're
able to do for their familiesare the reason why I'm in
(06:16):
business, is a humble reminderof why I stay up late at night
and do the things I do or why Igo through the things that I do.
So my why evolves.
(06:37):
I know that.
You know, right after COVID Ihad inspired to give back to my
community in so many differenttimes and different ways
throughout my business career.
And you know you get busy.
You get busy with doingsomething.
You know a customer coming in,a job coming in, maybe a
marketing expense, whatever itmay be and maybe you'll push off
a donation or you won't go tothat event or whatever it may be
.
And right after COVID, wheneverything kind of opened back
(06:59):
up, I really made it a goal ofmine of I really want to be a
staple in my community for alocal business that gives back
to the community, and I reallyresearched what I was going to
do.
I researched differentorganizations and I put together
a donation schedule, if youwill, and connected with these
(07:24):
different organizations that Ifound important to me and so
that came into my business aswhy we're doing what we're doing
right now.
It kind of altered thedirection.
And you know, when I firststarted carpet cleaning and then
merging into water damage, Ireally found that the insurance
(07:49):
industry could be super crazy,super unethical to policyholders
and things like that.
So my why started being becauseI really want to help
homeowners that just don't knowa difference, and so that why
can merge so many differenttimes for you in business?
But making sure that you havethat in check.
(08:11):
That way late at night whenyou're dealing with burnout or
it's been a really tough monthor a tough quarter or a tough
year, you can really have asolid reminder of why you get up
in the morning and why you dowhat you need to do.
And I mean, look at your family.
If you have children, look atyour kids.
(08:32):
Are you trying to buildsomething for their future?
Are you trying to send them tocollege?
Are you trying to give them abetter life than what you had?
Really?
Figure out exactly what yourwhy is.
Define it out exactly what yourwhy is.
(08:54):
Define it.
Having that clear purpose ofwhy you're in business,
switching gears and having thereare benefits to having this why
in a way that you can use it toyou know, drive you so, um,
funny, when I started mybusiness, um, and and like most,
I'm sure, entrepreneurs willput, put a goal, and if it's the
(09:16):
house or the car or the fancy,whatever it is, uh, you know,
you print a picture off ofGoogle, you stick it on your
wall and you look at it everysingle day.
I can definitely say I would belying to you if I didn't say I
didn't do it.
I absolutely did it.
I can tell you that one of thefirst things I put up there was
an airplane.
I wanted a Gulfstream jet andthat was why I was doing this as
(09:41):
a carpet cleaner, I wanted thisairplane.
I think it's funny.
I was doing this as a carpetcleaner, I wanted this airplane.
I think it's funny as you meetcertain goals and, by the way, I
have not met an airplane goaland that has completely changed
and it is no longer a goal ofmine.
I am completely satisfied withbeing able to fly commercial and
not have a private jet.
I mean, it's just something Idon't need and it's funny how
(10:05):
different directions change inbusiness.
So you know, sticking that fancycar or that watch or that
airplane up on the wall, youWould I change that.
Yeah, I thought it was nice, Ithought I could check in.
I thought it was a cool littlegoal that I had the fancy little
car I was able to get.
(10:25):
And when I got the car, did itsatisfy me?
Was it rewarding?
Yeah, it felt cool for a minute, but it definitely didn't check
the box of being rewarded andstarted to cross the line of
could I do something better withmy money or could I invest this
somewhere else or could I helpmore people?
Again, my goal and my why alwayscomes back to helping people.
(10:47):
It's something that, deep downinside, I really enjoy, and I
mean it just came to me rightnow.
Think about this podcast.
I really enjoy the ins and outsof business and I love sharing
my story with different peopleand I love giving insight on
stuff that I've been throughwith friends, family and other
business owners.
So this is why I've put apodcast together is I want to
(11:10):
help other entrepreneurs andbusiness owners, so you can
clearly see with my why it isreally helping people, that when
you get down to the bottom ofit.
So a couple years ago, what Idid once I really figured out I
really like helping people.
That is something that I reallylike doing.
You know, that fancy little jetcame off the wall and, more
(11:35):
importantly, what went up was mymission statement.
I thought a mission statementat first was kind of silly.
Right, these things don'tgenerate income.
You know, you see corporationsor whatever it may be.
They've got certain thingsdialed in and you always see a
mission statement and it's youknow I mean kind of bland
sometimes or whatever.
(11:55):
It is kind of boring and for me, the mission statement actually
helps me and gives me claritywhen I'm feeling a little bummed
out or I'm feeling that maybeI'm not moving in the right
direction or maybe I'm losingfocus.
The mission statement reallyhelps me go back and reflect to
(12:16):
a time that I said, hey, I findvalue in what I'm putting
together here and I trulybelieve what I'm crafting and I
need to read it and remindmyself regularly.
So it's funny how I think inbusiness, as you have different
goals and different aspirations,certain things change and I
don't like looking at thatpicture of a jet anymore, but I
(12:39):
really do like looking at mymission statement when I'm
feeling bummed out.
So making sure you have a clearpurpose in why you're doing
what you're doing is going tohelp you put yourself in check
when you're feeling that burnoutor you're feeling that struggle
or you're feeling successful,whatever it is, and this is
(12:59):
really going to help you and Ithink that it's important to do
it.
I tell people often that, sorry,my phone is just going off.
So I really find it importantto.
I'm sorry that completelymessed up my train of thought.
(13:22):
I will make sure I silence itin the future.
So let me try to rewind for asecond Choo-choo-choo-choo-choo.
I tell people often that I feellike I work harder when things
(13:42):
aren't always going my way.
I feel like I almost get lazyand complacent when you know
phones are ringing off the hook,everything's great, employees
are happy, customers are happy,businesses are running great.
I really feel like I'm in agood, just a good spot, and I
feel like I let go of the gassometimes.
(14:04):
And a good analogy that I liketo explain to my guys through
marketing efforts, and I'm sureyou'll hear me, you know, maybe
say this later, but I like tothink of my businesses like a
train and think about how muchenergy it takes to get that
train going.
And when the train is runningit doesn't take a lot to
(14:28):
maintain that energy.
But when you completely stopthe train, it takes the same
amount of energy to restart it.
So it's better to keep theenergy going and maintaining the
speed of the train than to stopand restart it.
So I find that when I start toslow down I tend to work harder.
(14:49):
And going back to the missionstatement, I remember when I
crafted my mission statement.
It was when I was feeling down.
I'll admit I was probablyfeeling a little depressed that
something didn't go my way.
Business wasn't really running.
I'll admit I was probablyfeeling a little depressed that
something didn't go my way.
Business wasn't really running.
I just felt like I was probablyat the end of the road of my
business at the time and justdidn't know.
You know how to look at it, youknow otherwise.
(15:10):
So I found it was important toput a mission statement together
of why I do what I'm doing, soI can remind myself, and it is
super crucial for me and mybusiness to have that.
So I would encourage you to tryto figure out and discover why
(15:33):
you're in business and why youdo what you're doing and really
look deep.
It's not for the money.
I mean it could be.
I mean you've got to reallyfigure out what gets you going
to do what you need to do.
So I plugged into Google.
(15:54):
I wanted to find out a coupleentrepreneurs that maybe I
wanted to find out a coupleentrepreneurs that maybe had a
clear direction, or an uncleardirection, of where they were
going at the time.
And, of course, I came acrossthree big names.
I mean you know them Steve Jobs, elon Musk, jeff Bezos.
These are huge people that arewithin this time that you know
(16:16):
have created you know hugebusinesses, time that you know
have created you know hugebusinesses.
But I really wanted to diveinto why they started their
company.
And when you look at Steve JobsI mean this guy, steve Jobs,
and Steve Wozniak, were in agarage, right, they dropped out
(16:37):
of college they switcheddirections of what they thought
their goals were going to be andthey had a vision of changing
the way people viewed and usedcomputers.
I mean, what a direction there.
And I think, as you know AppleI mean you would think, as
they've been able to changetheir technology throughout the
(16:59):
years and grow as a business andbecome extremely successful
you've got to think that thatvision of originally changing
the way people viewed and usedcomputers is one of the main
drivers in their.
Why Elon Musk?
Why did he start PayPal?
Elon Musk, why did he startPayPal?
(17:22):
He had a vision and this isgoing to be right off of Google
Musk vision for an easy andsecure online payment system
that reshaped the wayindividuals conduct business
online.
And if you think about itexcuse me, think about it before
we had all of the onlinecheckouts and payments and all
of that good stuff Elon Musk hada vision to be able to craft a
(17:43):
secure and easy way to take andprocess payments online.
I mean, you've got to reallyfigure out why you're in
business and what you're doingand jot that down.
Don't lose focus of it.
I mean, if Elon Musk was tolose focus on PayPal, would the
internet payment processingsystem be the way it is today?
(18:05):
Who would have shaped it?
What would it have looked like?
Why did Jeff Bezos start Amazon?
He just seized an opportunity.
It sparked his entrepreneurimagination and that could be
you as the inspiringentrepreneur or you've just
started it.
Maybe you were working at thatcar wash and you really you
(18:31):
dived into the businesslogistics of the car wash and
you've figured out like I can dothis.
I can do it better, but you gotto figure out why you're doing
it and now you can change thecar wash industry.
So this applies to smallbusiness owners.
It applies to these big CEOs.
(18:52):
I mean, I know that we seethese names often and they get
brought up often, but I thinkit's important to remember that
they were all where we were atone point and to get inside
their mindset.
I mean, and look them up, looksome videos up on and look, you
know, figure out who you like asa you know an entrepreneur that
has become extremely successful, and figure out why they were
(19:14):
in business so you can helpcraft and define your why.
Okay, going back to my notes,so I've got some tips.
I'm going to read them off ofhere.
I did jot them down, so this isgoing to be slightly scripted,
but I thought that it wasimportant for you guys to have a
couple of tips of one oncrafting the whys, but different
(19:38):
examples of how to create themand maintain your focus on why.
So, as mentioned, my favorite iscreate a mission statement and
again, when I started business,I kind of thought it was silly.
I didn't think it was important.
My mission statement is kind oflike a living document as well.
It is something that everyNovember which is right around
(19:59):
my birthday I like to go in andtweak my mission statement.
Sometimes it stays the same.
I mean, I've got, like, mywebsite, it's up and I've got a
mission statement, but the waythat I conduct my mission
statement in my office isdefinitely a living document.
It is a living statement thatis updated yearly.
(20:21):
So I would encourage you toform a mission statement and get
it up on the wall and startlooking at it, put it on your
background in your computer,whatever you need to do, put it
on a screenshot of your phoneand put it in your background.
Watch how that drives you.
Next, another tip is setpurpose-driven goals.
Next, another tip is setpurpose-driven goals.
(20:42):
So for me, when, like Imentioned, I had wanted to get
going into giving back to ourcommunity, this was something
that committed me.
So I went and met with theseorganizations, I talked it over
with these organizations and, ofcourse, the donations started
to flow.
So what's funny is you getinvited to certain things.
(21:04):
You know events and things likethat that you know maybe the
organizations that you'redonating to have and those
little things are not justshowing face, but when I go to
those events, it reminds me whyI'm doing what I'm doing and why
I've chose that organization ororganizations to do business
with.
So set purpose-driven goalsthat remind you why you're doing
(21:28):
what you're doing.
Incorporate why into your dailyoperations.
That's another tip.
So, my guys, at my water damageside of the business, we can get
burned out and they definitelyget burned out.
Sometimes we'll have a, let'ssay, a really, really busy week
(21:49):
or a really slow week.
I mean, both of thosedirections are, you know, in
their own, but maybe we've gotadjusters or customers that are
being super difficult and myguys are feeling the burnout.
I like to consistently haveteam meetings with those guys
(22:10):
and we talk about why we'redoing what we're doing.
Maybe it's we're helping thatsingle mom that is dealing with
a water damage or fire damage intheir house.
Maybe they're dealing with aloved one that accidentally lost
their life in a fire.
These things define the why ofwhat they're doing and it really
resonates with my guys.
(22:30):
I mean, how do you motivateyour employees?
Right, and you've got to reallyfind somebody that enjoys what
they're doing.
I mean, if it's you've got adental office and you've got
somebody that maybe I thinkthey're called a hygienist right
, and they go in and they cleanyour teeth, why are they doing
what they do?
Is it to just clean teeth andcollect a paycheck or is there
(22:53):
something deeper there?
So us as business owners, it isreally our goal to motivate, or
it's our job too to motivateour employees and remind them
why they're doing it, but whywe're in business as well.
So incorporate why into yourdaily operations.
Next and you've heard me talkabout this before and I will
(23:13):
definitely talk about it in thefuture, but it is surround
yourself with like-mindedindividuals.
I have a circle of really closefriends of mine that are all
business owners.
They pretty much all think theway I think we share information
to each other.
We really surround ourselvesaround good people.
We always want to grow.
(23:34):
We continue learning.
We go through maybe the samestruggles different times,
things like that.
So surround yourself withlike-minded individuals.
Their why may be different thanyours, but that's going to help
you in those times that youknow maybe you're down and
you're not maybe understandingwhy.
(23:54):
You know why you're in business.
These like-minded individualshave been there, done that, and
maybe you can help them get outof it, as they can help you get
out of it.
Another tip is share your story.
So I know with my water damagerestoration business, we share
our story to our customers ofwhy we give back to these
(24:18):
different organizations on whywe do what we do help people,
things like that.
This serves as another reminderfor us to not get complacent.
So we will have customers thatwill routinely ask us oh hey, I
saw this article on your websiteor I saw this being shared at
this organization's event orwhatever it is, and we have to
(24:40):
continuously come back and say,hey, yeah, this is why we're
doing it, this is the purposeand you know we really look
forward to doing it in thefuture.
So I encourage you to shareyour story with others, so
people are on the same boat asyou and they know exactly what
you're dealing with and whatyou're going through.
And that's going to helpcontinuously check and remind
you of your why, going to helpcontinuously check and remind
(25:12):
you of your why.
Let me see I've got two morethat I wouldn't necessarily are.
They're really helping youdefine your why, but this one is
going to be track progress andthen I'll merge it celebrate
achievements.
So I think it's important totrack the progress that you're
making with the different thingsthat you're doing.
And you know I really can'thelp you with your why.
(25:34):
I can't define your why.
I don't know what it is, butthis is really customized for me
and the way that I feel in mybusiness and being able to track
the progress of you know in myorganizations and being able to
help the community of how muchmoney we as a business have been
able to give back to thecommunity, helps motivate me and
encourage me.
So being able to track thatprogress for me really shows
(25:57):
like, hey, this is why I'm inbusiness and this is why I enjoy
doing it and then celebratingachievements.
I mean, I'm a firm believer.
When you celebrate your firstyear in business, celebrate that
you have been and survived yourfirst year in business.
Celebrate your second year,celebrate your fifth year,
celebrate your 10, 15, 20th year.
(26:18):
These celebrations not onlyhelp you with your why of why
you're in business and you'vedone what you've done, but it
also acts as a scorecard.
I know every holiday season Ilike to do a bunch of things for
my guys and it helps me remindmyself, as they invite their
(26:39):
friends and they invite theirfamilies, of this is one of the
huge whys I was in business andto be able to see everybody's
face helps me track that I'mdoing what I'm doing and maybe I
had a banger year and maybe Ididn't have a banger year, but
my why is still gettingfulfilled.
I can't stress enough that.
(26:59):
I can't stress enough thatbeing in business is great and I
do enjoy making money and I dolike it.
It's a challenge.
I do enjoy helping customers, Ilove it, but at the end of the
day it's not about money and Ihave kind of taken a mindset of
I could almost care less aboutthe actual money coming in.
(27:21):
I could almost care less aboutthe actual money coming in.
It's more of am I being able tofill myself with the rewards of
?
Am I crossing or am I checkingoff my goals in what I'm doing
in business?
So one of the goals isdefinitely to make money and be
financially free and be secure.
So that is definitely always inthe forefront, but I can say
(27:45):
that it is not the main driverof why I do what I'm doing.
So, in a nutshell, guys, I hopethis episode has helped you.
I hope that you can define whyyou're in business and what you
are doing.
I'm really excited that youknow you've made it this far in
the episode and you've taken thetime.
(28:06):
I am extremely grateful thatyou have also taken the time to.
You know, listen to this allthe way through Moving forward.
I know that.
You know.
I know everybody wants feedbackand you know, kind of like you,
probably you like to have yourcustomers lead feedback.
Hey, can you leave me afive-star review?
I definitely like my reviews.
(28:28):
Hey, can you please leave me areview?
My goal of this podcast and I'vementioned this before and will
continue to mention it is tomake sure that I am crafting
these episodes to better helpyou as a business owner or you
as an inspiring entrepreneur.
With that being said, if youcould please drop me a line
(28:49):
either an email or a comment, orwhatever it may be on what you
found valuable on this episodeand what you would like to see
in the future?
Now I promise I am not doingthis for the algorithms.
I'm not trying to blow up, I'mnot trying to be an overnight
sensation.
I just want to make sure that Iam truly providing the best
(29:11):
content out there for you.
It would be great to have100,000 listeners or a million
listeners, but if I had 10listeners or 10 people that
really found quality informationout of my episodes, then I
would be just as satisfied ashaving 100,000 or a million
listeners, whatever it is.
So the amount of peoplelistening to this does not
(29:33):
matter to me.
It really matters to havepeople that are digesting this
and really finding benefit.
So, that being said, please,please, please, drop me a
comment.
Let me know what you're goingthrough or if you've got any
questions.
I would love to create anepisode off of it.
If I don't have the experiencein it, I would love to invite
(29:53):
one of my other business ownerfriends, if they've got some
experience in it, to elaborateand talk about it Again.
Guys, thank you for joining me.
It's Jonathan Wagner at theBusiness Guide Podcast and I
will see you next time.
Thank you.
Hey, what's going on everybody?
It's Jonathan Wagner and thisis the Business Guide Podcast.
I'm really excited you're here.
Thank you for joining us ontoday's episode of Defining your
why, the Importance of Having aClear Purpose Really excited to
go over so many differenttopics in this episode with you.
And again, thank you forjoining us.
(00:21):
As a reminder, my name again isJonathan Wagner.
I have been in business a littleover 12 years in beautiful
California.
I have had so many ups anddowns being a business owner and
I have created this podcast toreally show the struggles that
you may be going through onbusiness and really work through
those.
My hope is that maybe there's astruggle that I have gone
(00:45):
through and maybe I can shedsome light onto that struggle
and maybe it's something thatyou, as a business owner or
inspiring entrepreneur, doesn'thave to go at alone or even have
to go through it.
So that is really my goal ofwhy I am here creating these
podcasts.
Again, as a reminder as well, Iam not a professional pod,
(01:07):
excuse me.
I am not a professionalpodcaster, so I'm going to have
mess ups.
I'm going to have just all youknow being tongue tied and all
of that good stuff.
Please bear with me as I get mybearings.
These episodes are relativelynewer and I definitely want a
raw, unedited podcast for you.
So I want you to get the realstuff, as I would like to be the
(01:30):
real deal and get you qualityinformation.
So, that being said, there'sgoing to be probably some mess
ups in the episode, forgive menow.
So I think some key topics we'regoing to talk about as far as
defining your why and havingthat clear purpose is, you know,
we really need to define yourwhy.
We need to make sure that youunderstand the benefits of
(01:54):
having a clear purpose, and I'mgoing to give you some examples
of maybe some entrepreneurs thathave a strong why, and I've got
some tips.
So let's go ahead and jump intothis episode.
So what does it mean to have awhy?
And let's define that so youmay get into business and maybe
(02:18):
you're tired of working at thatcorporate job, or maybe you just
want to be an entrepreneur andyou don't want to have to work
for anybody.
Having that why or that purpose, I mean, I think, as you really
dive deep into it, it's got tobe in business, or why you are
(02:38):
in business, because I can tellyou that the thing I'll talk to
friends about.
They'll say, well, I don't havea boss.
Well, in my situation, I haveclients that I have to answer to
every single day.
So, yeah, I have a boss.
Maybe I want to be paid more.
(02:59):
Well, sometimes if you breakdown what an entrepreneur is
making, break it down we couldbe getting paid less than
minimum wage on some weeksbecause maybe we've had a slow
week and we have to still getgrinding.
So, I mean, being your own boss, yeah, that's great.
Making you know, good money Imean that's great too.
(03:24):
Financial freedom what isfinancial freedom?
Well, I want to buy a house.
I want to have a nice car Okay,okay, great, let's dive into
that.
Because I've had those goalsand I've I've crossed that.
That.
That box, or check that box inmy business career and it left
(03:46):
me left me unsatisfied.
So I think really clearlydefining and understanding what
your why is is so important, isso important.
I can't stress that you got todig deep for this.
This is not something that youknow.
As you're listening to thispodcast, you're going to be like
, oh, yes, yeah, that's why I'min business.
This is going to be somethingthat you're really going to have
(04:08):
to think about and reallycreate and dive into.
But you've got to define it,because as you run your business
you're going to have to remindyourself exactly why you're
doing it.
Exactly why you're doing it.
Because those long weeks wheremaybe you want to make more
(04:28):
money being in business ifmoney's tied to that, then what
about when business is a littlebit slower and you're really
grinding all you can and you'renot really getting paid that
week, and maybe your employee'sgot to get paid a little bit
more that week than you?
Is that going to un-incentivizeyou to be a business owner?
If you want to be your own bossbut you've got clients
screaming down your throat thatyou're not doing a good job or
(04:50):
whatever it may be well, are yougoing to be unmotivated to be a
business owner?
So for me in business, I haveto figure out why I enjoy being
in business, and I've been ableto kind of figure it out right.
So I've been able to define mywhy up to a certain point and I
(05:11):
feel like my why consistentlychanges.
When I started my business, Iknew that I didn't want to work
at Walgreens anymore.
So that was my why I didn'twant to work at Walgreens.
I then started to hireemployees and I kind of remember
my business plan that I that Iput together in the stock room
(05:33):
of that company years before,and it was I wanted to create
something that could give otherpeople the opportunity to
provide for their families, andso that really resonated with me
.
And you know employees that Ihave come into, you know my
(05:55):
business.
I mean employees come and go.
I've got some really good onesthat have been with me a very
long time and I've got some thatyou know don't last past a
couple days, a couple weeks or acouple months.
But knowing that thoseemployees are and what they're
able to do for their familiesare the reason why I'm in
(06:16):
business, is a humble reminderof why I stay up late at night
and do the things I do or why Igo through the things that I do.
So my why evolves.
(06:37):
I know that.
You know, right after COVID Ihad inspired to give back to my
community in so many differenttimes and different ways
throughout my business career.
And you know you get busy.
You get busy with doingsomething.
You know a customer coming in,a job coming in, maybe a
marketing expense, whatever itmay be and maybe you'll push off
a donation or you won't go tothat event or whatever it may be
.
And right after COVID, wheneverything kind of opened back
(06:59):
up, I really made it a goal ofmine of I really want to be a
staple in my community for alocal business that gives back
to the community, and I reallyresearched what I was going to
do.
I researched differentorganizations and I put together
a donation schedule, if youwill, and connected with these
(07:24):
different organizations that Ifound important to me and so
that came into my business aswhy we're doing what we're doing
right now.
It kind of altered thedirection.
And you know, when I firststarted carpet cleaning and then
merging into water damage, Ireally found that the insurance
(07:49):
industry could be super crazy,super unethical to policyholders
and things like that.
So my why started being becauseI really want to help
homeowners that just don't knowa difference, and so that why
can merge so many differenttimes for you in business?
But making sure that you havethat in check.
(08:11):
That way late at night whenyou're dealing with burnout or
it's been a really tough monthor a tough quarter or a tough
year, you can really have asolid reminder of why you get up
in the morning and why you dowhat you need to do.
And I mean, look at your family.
If you have children, look atyour kids.
(08:32):
Are you trying to buildsomething for their future?
Are you trying to send them tocollege?
Are you trying to give them abetter life than what you had?
Really?
Figure out exactly what yourwhy is.
Define it out exactly what yourwhy is.
(08:54):
Define it.
Having that clear purpose ofwhy you're in business,
switching gears and having thereare benefits to having this why
in a way that you can use it toyou know, drive you so, um,
funny, when I started mybusiness, um, and and like most,
I'm sure, entrepreneurs willput, put a goal, and if it's the
(09:16):
house or the car or the fancy,whatever it is, uh, you know,
you print a picture off ofGoogle, you stick it on your
wall and you look at it everysingle day.
I can definitely say I would belying to you if I didn't say I
didn't do it.
I absolutely did it.
I can tell you that one of thefirst things I put up there was
an airplane.
I wanted a Gulfstream jet andthat was why I was doing this as
(09:41):
a carpet cleaner, I wanted thisairplane.
I think it's funny.
I was doing this as a carpetcleaner, I wanted this airplane.
I think it's funny as you meetcertain goals and, by the way, I
have not met an airplane goaland that has completely changed
and it is no longer a goal ofmine.
I am completely satisfied withbeing able to fly commercial and
not have a private jet.
I mean, it's just something Idon't need and it's funny how
(10:05):
different directions change inbusiness.
So you know, sticking that fancycar or that watch or that
airplane up on the wall, youWould I change that.
Yeah, I thought it was nice, Ithought I could check in.
I thought it was a cool littlegoal that I had the fancy little
car I was able to get.
(10:25):
And when I got the car, did itsatisfy me?
Was it rewarding?
Yeah, it felt cool for a minute, but it definitely didn't check
the box of being rewarded andstarted to cross the line of
could I do something better withmy money or could I invest this
somewhere else or could I helpmore people?
Again, my goal and my why alwayscomes back to helping people.
(10:47):
It's something that, deep downinside, I really enjoy, and I
mean it just came to me rightnow.
Think about this podcast.
I really enjoy the ins and outsof business and I love sharing
my story with different peopleand I love giving insight on
stuff that I've been throughwith friends, family and other
business owners.
So this is why I've put apodcast together is I want to
(11:10):
help other entrepreneurs andbusiness owners, so you can
clearly see with my why it isreally helping people, that when
you get down to the bottom ofit.
So a couple years ago, what Idid once I really figured out I
really like helping people.
That is something that I reallylike doing.
You know, that fancy little jetcame off the wall and, more
(11:35):
importantly, what went up was mymission statement.
I thought a mission statementat first was kind of silly.
Right, these things don'tgenerate income.
You know, you see corporationsor whatever it may be.
They've got certain thingsdialed in and you always see a
mission statement and it's youknow I mean kind of bland
sometimes or whatever.
(11:55):
It is kind of boring and for me, the mission statement actually
helps me and gives me claritywhen I'm feeling a little bummed
out or I'm feeling that maybeI'm not moving in the right
direction or maybe I'm losingfocus.
The mission statement reallyhelps me go back and reflect to
(12:16):
a time that I said, hey, I findvalue in what I'm putting
together here and I trulybelieve what I'm crafting and I
need to read it and remindmyself regularly.
So it's funny how I think inbusiness, as you have different
goals and different aspirations,certain things change and I
don't like looking at thatpicture of a jet anymore, but I
(12:39):
really do like looking at mymission statement when I'm
feeling bummed out.
So making sure you have a clearpurpose in why you're doing
what you're doing is going tohelp you put yourself in check
when you're feeling that burnoutor you're feeling that struggle
or you're feeling successful,whatever it is, and this is
(12:59):
really going to help you and Ithink that it's important to do
it.
I tell people often that, sorry,my phone is just going off.
So I really find it importantto.
I'm sorry that completelymessed up my train of thought.
(13:22):
I will make sure I silence itin the future.
So let me try to rewind for asecond Choo-choo-choo-choo-choo.
I tell people often that I feellike I work harder when things
(13:42):
aren't always going my way.
I feel like I almost get lazyand complacent when you know
phones are ringing off the hook,everything's great, employees
are happy, customers are happy,businesses are running great.
I really feel like I'm in agood, just a good spot, and I
feel like I let go of the gassometimes.
(14:04):
And a good analogy that I liketo explain to my guys through
marketing efforts, and I'm sureyou'll hear me, you know, maybe
say this later, but I like tothink of my businesses like a
train and think about how muchenergy it takes to get that
train going.
And when the train is runningit doesn't take a lot to
(14:28):
maintain that energy.
But when you completely stopthe train, it takes the same
amount of energy to restart it.
So it's better to keep theenergy going and maintaining the
speed of the train than to stopand restart it.
So I find that when I start toslow down I tend to work harder.
(14:49):
And going back to the missionstatement, I remember when I
crafted my mission statement.
It was when I was feeling down.
I'll admit I was probablyfeeling a little depressed that
something didn't go my way.
Business wasn't really running.
I'll admit I was probablyfeeling a little depressed that
something didn't go my way.
Business wasn't really running.
I just felt like I was probablyat the end of the road of my
business at the time and justdidn't know.
You know how to look at it, youknow otherwise.
(15:10):
So I found it was important toput a mission statement together
of why I do what I'm doing, soI can remind myself, and it is
super crucial for me and mybusiness to have that.
So I would encourage you to tryto figure out and discover why
(15:33):
you're in business and why youdo what you're doing and really
look deep.
It's not for the money.
I mean it could be.
I mean you've got to reallyfigure out what gets you going
to do what you need to do.
So I plugged into Google.
(15:54):
I wanted to find out a coupleentrepreneurs that maybe I
wanted to find out a coupleentrepreneurs that maybe had a
clear direction, or an uncleardirection, of where they were
going at the time.
And, of course, I came acrossthree big names.
I mean you know them Steve Jobs, elon Musk, jeff Bezos.
These are huge people that arewithin this time that you know
(16:16):
have created you know hugebusinesses, time that you know
have created you know hugebusinesses.
But I really wanted to diveinto why they started their
company.
And when you look at Steve JobsI mean this guy, steve Jobs,
and Steve Wozniak, were in agarage, right, they dropped out
(16:37):
of college they switcheddirections of what they thought
their goals were going to be andthey had a vision of changing
the way people viewed and usedcomputers.
I mean, what a direction there.
And I think, as you know AppleI mean you would think, as
they've been able to changetheir technology throughout the
(16:59):
years and grow as a business andbecome extremely successful
you've got to think that thatvision of originally changing
the way people viewed and usedcomputers is one of the main
drivers in their.
Why Elon Musk?
Why did he start PayPal?
Elon Musk, why did he startPayPal?
(17:22):
He had a vision and this isgoing to be right off of Google
Musk vision for an easy andsecure online payment system
that reshaped the wayindividuals conduct business
online.
And if you think about itexcuse me, think about it before
we had all of the onlinecheckouts and payments and all
of that good stuff Elon Musk hada vision to be able to craft a
(17:43):
secure and easy way to take andprocess payments online.
I mean, you've got to reallyfigure out why you're in
business and what you're doingand jot that down.
Don't lose focus of it.
I mean, if Elon Musk was tolose focus on PayPal, would the
internet payment processingsystem be the way it is today?
(18:05):
Who would have shaped it?
What would it have looked like?
Why did Jeff Bezos start Amazon?
He just seized an opportunity.
It sparked his entrepreneurimagination and that could be
you as the inspiringentrepreneur or you've just
started it.
Maybe you were working at thatcar wash and you really you
(18:31):
dived into the businesslogistics of the car wash and
you've figured out like I can dothis.
I can do it better, but you gotto figure out why you're doing
it and now you can change thecar wash industry.
So this applies to smallbusiness owners.
It applies to these big CEOs.
(18:52):
I mean, I know that we seethese names often and they get
brought up often, but I thinkit's important to remember that
they were all where we were atone point and to get inside
their mindset.
I mean, and look them up, looksome videos up on and look, you
know, figure out who you like asa you know an entrepreneur that
has become extremely successful, and figure out why they were
(19:14):
in business so you can helpcraft and define your why.
Okay, going back to my notes,so I've got some tips.
I'm going to read them off ofhere.
I did jot them down, so this isgoing to be slightly scripted,
but I thought that it wasimportant for you guys to have a
couple of tips of one oncrafting the whys, but different
(19:38):
examples of how to create themand maintain your focus on why.
So, as mentioned, my favorite iscreate a mission statement and
again, when I started business,I kind of thought it was silly.
I didn't think it was important.
My mission statement is kind oflike a living document as well.
It is something that everyNovember which is right around
(19:59):
my birthday I like to go in andtweak my mission statement.
Sometimes it stays the same.
I mean, I've got, like, mywebsite, it's up and I've got a
mission statement, but the waythat I conduct my mission
statement in my office isdefinitely a living document.
It is a living statement thatis updated yearly.
(20:21):
So I would encourage you toform a mission statement and get
it up on the wall and startlooking at it, put it on your
background in your computer,whatever you need to do, put it
on a screenshot of your phoneand put it in your background.
Watch how that drives you.
Next, another tip is setpurpose-driven goals.
Next, another tip is setpurpose-driven goals.
(20:42):
So for me, when, like Imentioned, I had wanted to get
going into giving back to ourcommunity, this was something
that committed me.
So I went and met with theseorganizations, I talked it over
with these organizations and, ofcourse, the donations started
to flow.
So what's funny is you getinvited to certain things.
(21:04):
You know events and things likethat that you know maybe the
organizations that you'redonating to have and those
little things are not justshowing face, but when I go to
those events, it reminds me whyI'm doing what I'm doing and why
I've chose that organization ororganizations to do business
with.
So set purpose-driven goalsthat remind you why you're doing
(21:28):
what you're doing.
Incorporate why into your dailyoperations.
That's another tip.
So, my guys, at my water damageside of the business, we can get
burned out and they definitelyget burned out.
Sometimes we'll have a, let'ssay, a really, really busy week
(21:49):
or a really slow week.
I mean, both of thosedirections are, you know, in
their own, but maybe we've gotadjusters or customers that are
being super difficult and myguys are feeling the burnout.
I like to consistently haveteam meetings with those guys
(22:10):
and we talk about why we'redoing what we're doing.
Maybe it's we're helping thatsingle mom that is dealing with
a water damage or fire damage intheir house.
Maybe they're dealing with aloved one that accidentally lost
their life in a fire.
These things define the why ofwhat they're doing and it really
resonates with my guys.
(22:30):
I mean, how do you motivateyour employees?
Right, and you've got to reallyfind somebody that enjoys what
they're doing.
I mean, if it's you've got adental office and you've got
somebody that maybe I thinkthey're called a hygienist right
, and they go in and they cleanyour teeth, why are they doing
what they do?
Is it to just clean teeth andcollect a paycheck or is there
(22:53):
something deeper there?
So us as business owners, it isreally our goal to motivate, or
it's our job too to motivateour employees and remind them
why they're doing it, but whywe're in business as well.
So incorporate why into yourdaily operations.
Next and you've heard me talkabout this before and I will
(23:13):
definitely talk about it in thefuture, but it is surround
yourself with like-mindedindividuals.
I have a circle of really closefriends of mine that are all
business owners.
They pretty much all think theway I think we share information
to each other.
We really surround ourselvesaround good people.
We always want to grow.
(23:34):
We continue learning.
We go through maybe the samestruggles different times,
things like that.
So surround yourself withlike-minded individuals.
Their why may be different thanyours, but that's going to help
you in those times that youknow maybe you're down and
you're not maybe understandingwhy.
(23:54):
You know why you're in business.
These like-minded individualshave been there, done that, and
maybe you can help them get outof it, as they can help you get
out of it.
Another tip is share your story.
So I know with my water damagerestoration business, we share
our story to our customers ofwhy we give back to these
(24:18):
different organizations on whywe do what we do help people,
things like that.
This serves as another reminderfor us to not get complacent.
So we will have customers thatwill routinely ask us oh hey, I
saw this article on your websiteor I saw this being shared at
this organization's event orwhatever it is, and we have to
(24:40):
continuously come back and say,hey, yeah, this is why we're
doing it, this is the purposeand you know we really look
forward to doing it in thefuture.
So I encourage you to shareyour story with others, so
people are on the same boat asyou and they know exactly what
you're dealing with and whatyou're going through.
And that's going to helpcontinuously check and remind
you of your why, going to helpcontinuously check and remind
(25:12):
you of your why.
Let me see I've got two morethat I wouldn't necessarily are.
They're really helping youdefine your why, but this one is
going to be track progress andthen I'll merge it celebrate
achievements.
So I think it's important totrack the progress that you're
making with the different thingsthat you're doing.
And you know I really can'thelp you with your why.
(25:34):
I can't define your why.
I don't know what it is, butthis is really customized for me
and the way that I feel in mybusiness and being able to track
the progress of you know in myorganizations and being able to
help the community of how muchmoney we as a business have been
able to give back to thecommunity, helps motivate me and
encourage me.
So being able to track thatprogress for me really shows
(25:57):
like, hey, this is why I'm inbusiness and this is why I enjoy
doing it and then celebratingachievements.
I mean, I'm a firm believer.
When you celebrate your firstyear in business, celebrate that
you have been and survived yourfirst year in business.
Celebrate your second year,celebrate your fifth year,
celebrate your 10, 15, 20th year.
(26:18):
These celebrations not onlyhelp you with your why of why
you're in business and you'vedone what you've done, but it
also acts as a scorecard.
I know every holiday season Ilike to do a bunch of things for
my guys and it helps me remindmyself, as they invite their
(26:39):
friends and they invite theirfamilies, of this is one of the
huge whys I was in business andto be able to see everybody's
face helps me track that I'mdoing what I'm doing and maybe I
had a banger year and maybe Ididn't have a banger year, but
my why is still gettingfulfilled.
I can't stress enough that.
(26:59):
I can't stress enough thatbeing in business is great and I
do enjoy making money and I dolike it.
It's a challenge.
I do enjoy helping customers, Ilove it, but at the end of the
day it's not about money and Ihave kind of taken a mindset of
I could almost care less aboutthe actual money coming in.
(27:21):
I could almost care less aboutthe actual money coming in.
It's more of am I being able tofill myself with the rewards of
?
Am I crossing or am I checkingoff my goals in what I'm doing
in business?
So one of the goals isdefinitely to make money and be
financially free and be secure.
So that is definitely always inthe forefront, but I can say
(27:45):
that it is not the main driverof why I do what I'm doing.
So, in a nutshell, guys, I hopethis episode has helped you.
I hope that you can define whyyou're in business and what you
are doing.
I'm really excited that youknow you've made it this far in
the episode and you've taken thetime.
(28:06):
I am extremely grateful thatyou have also taken the time to.
You know, listen to this allthe way through Moving forward.
I know that.
You know.
I know everybody wants feedbackand you know, kind of like you,
probably you like to have yourcustomers lead feedback.
Hey, can you leave me afive-star review?
I definitely like my reviews.
(28:28):
Hey, can you please leave me areview?
My goal of this podcast and I'vementioned this before and will
continue to mention it is tomake sure that I am crafting
these episodes to better helpyou as a business owner or you
as an inspiring entrepreneur.
With that being said, if youcould please drop me a line
(28:49):
either an email or a comment, orwhatever it may be on what you
found valuable on this episodeand what you would like to see
in the future?
Now I promise I am not doingthis for the algorithms.
I'm not trying to blow up, I'mnot trying to be an overnight
sensation.
I just want to make sure that Iam truly providing the best
(29:11):
content out there for you.
It would be great to have100,000 listeners or a million
listeners, but if I had 10listeners or 10 people that
really found quality informationout of my episodes, then I
would be just as satisfied ashaving 100,000 or a million
listeners, whatever it is.
So the amount of peoplelistening to this does not
(29:33):
matter to me.
It really matters to havepeople that are digesting this
and really finding benefit.
So, that being said, please,please, please, drop me a
comment.
Let me know what you're goingthrough or if you've got any
questions.
I would love to create anepisode off of it.
If I don't have the experiencein it, I would love to invite
(29:53):
one of my other business ownerfriends, if they've got some
experience in it, to elaborateand talk about it Again.
Guys, thank you for joining me.
It's Jonathan Wagner at theBusiness Guide Podcast and I
will see you next time.
Thank you.
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