September 3, 2024 • 30 mins
Have you ever wondered why some businesses flourish while others fade into obscurity? In our latest episode of The Business Guide, I, Jonathan Wagoner, unravel the secrets of innovation that keep companies thriving in a fast-paced market. Drawing from my own experiences transitioning from traditional print advertising to digital marketing in my restoration business, I offer real-world insights into the power of technology and adaptation. Listen as we dissect cautionary tales like Blockbuster's missed chance to acquire Netflix, showing that innovation isn’t just an option—it’s a necessity for survival.
Imagine the transformative potential of integrating even the simplest technological tools, like Google Forms for managing time-off requests, into your business operations. In this episode, we talk about the importance of leveraging technology—not just the advanced AI robots, but also the easy-to-implement solutions that can streamline your workflow and enhance productivity. By continually thinking outside the box and taking cues from innovative giants like Tesla, we explore how to foster a culture of constant improvement and employee engagement within your organization.
To wrap up, we delve into the practical steps you can take to embrace new technology, even when it involves an upfront investment of time and resources. Sharing my own journey with implementing a CRM system and a 3D camera in my emergency restoration business, I reveal how these innovations improved our documentation, billing accuracy, and client relations, ultimately leading to greater efficiency and profitability, especially during the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Tune in to gain actionable insights and start thinking about the changes you need to make to keep your business ahead of the competition. Your feedback is crucial, and I can’t wait to hear the strategies that have worked for you. Let's continue to grow and innovate together!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hey everyone, it's Jonathan Wagner and I want to
welcome you back to anotherepisode of the Business Guide.
Today we are going to explore asuper crucial element of
business, and that is innovation.
In a rapidly changing world,staying ahead means continuously
embracing new ideas andtechnology.
(00:24):
So if you're looking tofuture-proof your business, or
at least start thinking aboutfuture-proofing your business,
then this episode is for you.
Guys, are you finding itchallenging to keep up with the
fast-paced business world?
What if I told you thatinnovation does not have to be
overwhelming, but it canactually be your greatest ally.
(00:47):
Stay tuned into this episode aswe dive into different
innovations that we've had toembrace in my businesses and
really get your juices flowingin your brain about some things
that maybe you might need toadapt into your business.
So stay tuned.
That maybe you might need toadapt into your business.
So stay tuned.
(01:08):
You know, when I first startedmy restoration business, I
quickly realized that stickingto the old way of doing business
was not gonna cut it in acompetitive market.
Here's what I mean by that.
In my quick amount of time Iquickly, or the short amount of
time I was in business it wasprobably about a year into
business, I could already tellthat there was something I had
(01:32):
done in advertising.
It was some print advertisingand I quickly realized that the
digital world was really takingthat over by storm.
So I had to shift my marketingbudgets over to digital.
I think that you know that is asmall example in you know,
obviously, the advertising side,but as I've had my business, I
(01:56):
have continually adapted tochange and I'll go over that
with you.
I just I can tell you I knowfirsthand what it's like to be a
small business owner and thenhaving to embrace some new
technology.
But it's really amazing thedoors that it opens up and this
episode we'll probably talk alittle bit more in depth about
(02:17):
the restoration business,because this is where a lot of
people are kind of doing the oldsame thing over and over again
and how we as a technology, as acompany, embrace technology to
grow our business and howactually it completely is
awesome and has helped us growour business.
So you know, that's what.
That's what you're going toexpect.
(02:38):
Today is talking aboutinnovation, just essentials for
staying ahead of the competition.
Right, if you don't embrace it,somebody else will and they are
going to capture your marketshare.
We've talked about adapting toyour market in the past.
Technology is no different.
You need to adapt to yourtechnology, but with these steps
(02:59):
, or at least things that I'llgo over, hopefully it, you know,
again gets your brain thinkingabout what you need to do in
your business.
So, jumping right into it,let's talk about innovation.
Where to start?
Yeah, I think about one of thebiggest things I think about no
(03:23):
matter how big you are as acompany no-transcript Take
Blockbuster, for exampleBlockbuster was everywhere,
right?
I remember going as a kidgetting movies High school.
(03:45):
My friends would come over,we'd watch TV or movies, we'd
rent some movies, eat somepopcorn, hang out.
Blockbuster was a staple.
And to think that Netflix, thishuge giant technology company
that we know of today, companythat we know of today, was once
(04:12):
going to be, or had theopportunity to be, purchased by
Blockbuster and essentially justcompletely be wiped out, it's
unreal and incredible.
I mean, if you looked up the,I'm just curious, I'm going to
look this up what was the marketshare?
I'm going to look this up.
What was the market share?
I'm just curious at what I mean.
(04:34):
Video rental market wasexpected to increase to almost
$2 billion at the same period.
They had plenty of room to grow.
At the time of this Netflix.
I mean, they had over 9,000stores worldwide.
So crazy Looks like in 2012,.
(04:57):
Maybe a market share of $55million.
I mean, when you think ofNetflix in the billions now.
So incredible that Blockbusterhad this huge opportunity to
purchase Netflix when they werenobody right and they didn't.
And look who is still around inbusiness and look who is not,
and look who's made more moneywith technology Again Netflix.
(05:22):
And I'm just going to real quick, look up something, let's see.
I'm just confirming this onebecause I think this is another
one that had an opportunity.
Yeah, I can't find it, butanother one that I think of is
(05:52):
Amazon.
Amazon is a technology companyand they were trying to be
direct competitors with BarnesNoble.
I think Jeff Bezos took Amazonto Barnes Noble and correct me
if I'm wrong in the commentssection, but I think that they
were kind of know, kind ofsimilar situation with, you know
, blockbuster and Netflix.
They could have taken thatbusiness on very early on.
(06:13):
For any of you that don't know,amazon started as a bookstore,
an online bookstore.
So anyways, but going back tothe Blockbuster, the Blockbuster
one is the one that stays in mymind right, you had over 9,000
stores huge, my mind right, youhad over 9,000 stores huge.
I mean, this was a huge staplethat so many Americans and so
(06:33):
many people would go to to gettheir movies.
And how this little tinycompany that started sending out
the movies via mail, completelydominated, completely adapted
right.
They didn't stay to thatbusiness model, they moved to
the streaming model.
They really set the industrythere with Hulu, disney+, all of
these different streamingservices, really kind of copying
Netflix at that point.
(06:55):
So this is where innovationcomes in and this is where I
think us as business owners,while we're not dealing with the
billions and billions ofdollars that these you know
hundreds of millions of dollarsthat these people are dealing
with, we're dealing witheveryday struggles that maybe
it's as simple as no longerhaving a pen and paper and maybe
(07:17):
having an iPad.
These are things that canreally help you and help drive
productivity to your business,drive new sales to your business
, and I'll go over that, howthat helped my business.
But I think that an opportunityto kind of think about
Blockbuster, think about Netflix, do some research on it.
It's pretty interesting.
I know there's some YouTubevideos out there.
Search that because it kind ofhits home.
(07:40):
But I use that in my smallbusiness mindset of how I always
need to be adapting and alwaysgrowing and technology is always
ever-changing and you reallyneed to move with the times.
So how do you, as a smallbusiness owner, how do you
(08:00):
embrace the culture ofinnovation?
Right, and I think you know,like everybody has dealt with
change.
You could be a restaurant ownerthat used to take.
I mean you know like, right,everybody has dealt with with
change.
You could be a restaurant ownerthat used to take.
I mean you remember going outand they'd take your credit card
and they'd carbon copy thecredit card and they write it.
You know, write down your total, you'd sign it.
(08:20):
Now we have these credit cardprocessing right, technology has
hit everybody.
We can all agree there, andembracing it in your business is
so crucial there and embracingit in your business is so
crucial.
But how do you in your companycreate that culture?
Right?
Not just okay, maybe checks areno longer being accepted, I
need to move on to credit card.
But you, as a business owner,being ahead of the market, right
(08:45):
?
You always, I think it.
Right, you always, I think.
For me at least, I'm alwayslooking at different
technologies and how it can helpmy business.
No matter what it is right Ifit's.
You know AI is a huge thingright now.
I know a lot of large companiesare using it in you know their
(09:05):
algorithms and differentlanguage models.
You know there's talks later,that's talks later, that it can
make videos and things like that.
I think what's going to happenis the movie industry, the TV
industry, is going to have toembrace somewhat of an AI change
.
It's not necessarily going totake your job away, but I think
when people put up a guard rightfrom the start and say, look,
(09:27):
we're not going to embrace that,that leaves for a lot of
competitors to step in in thatfield.
And so, no matter what it is,if it's you know, if it's just I
mean I'm sure everybody isfamiliar with chat GPT.
If you're not, as a businessowner, you should definitely
familiarize yourself.
I know plenty of businessowners that don't use it.
(09:48):
It's a great tool to use.
It's not replacing anybody, butit definitely helps out.
Think about maybe you wantingto create a content schedule for
your Instagram channel or yourFacebook.
Chatgpt can help you with that.
It can help create some of thecontent ideas for you.
Ultimately, you can go in andcustomize things and make it
(10:10):
your own voice.
But these are where we reallyneed to embrace the technology
as business owners.
I think, on a bigger scale,there's going to be some AI
things that come into theindustry.
I am, you know, primarily inthe construction industry, so
I've seen that.
You know, maybe at some pointthere will be, you know, these
(10:30):
robots that come around andthey're able to scan walls and
maybe do some painting for youor hang drywall.
We'll see how practical that is.
You know, let's check back in15 years on this episode.
But I think that us businessowners being willing to adopt
the technology and how we use it, I don't think that it's really
an opportunity of look, it'snot replacing people.
(10:50):
I think if you use let's justuse this AI robot as an example
that can paint a room, well, ifmy business can handle five
times more your business becauseI've invested in that
technology, then who's winningthere?
Now, ultimately, at the end ofthe day, we do want to employ
humans, right?
They're ultimately going to bepeople that have to take and
(11:10):
maintain these things.
They're going to break down orwhatever it is and this is a
super hypothetical, but creatingyour mindset to think like I
did okay, this could be anopportunity where maybe someday
there's some sort of paintingrobot.
I don't know what that lookslike.
Who knows?
We're so far away from it.
But with the technology and theway that it's come up in 20
(11:31):
years, what's going to happen inan additional 20 years?
And I think that, as businessowners right now, especially
that are relatively young I'm 35, I don't plan on retiring
anytime soon there are going tobe some really big changes in
the market at some point and I'mgoing to need to be able to
embrace that if I want mybusiness to survive and I don't
want to become a blockbuster.
(11:51):
So I would say that's thedifference between me and my
competitors.
Let that be a differencebetween you and your competitors
.
You don't necessarily need toadvertise it and flaunt it, but
you need to know that there'stechnology out there to help you
and be productive.
So I think it's justconsistently thinking out of the
box.
That's what's gonna help youcreate that culture.
(12:14):
If you've got employeesconsistently ask them like, hey,
what would make this easier foryou, I know something that was
super.
You know we deal with thisoften, right, as we have
employees, we need people totake time off, and we knew that
our process was.
They would come in, they'd talkto our office manager, our
office manager would wrap thatup in an email to my operations
(12:34):
guy and then they would gettheir time either approved or
denied or whatever it is, andsometimes there was a three or
four-day delay on it, justbecause maybe they didn't catch
him and they wanted to talkabout it or whatever.
It was sitting in the emailsnothing super crazy.
It actually wasn't even emails.
It the emails nothing supercrazy.
It actually wasn't even emails.
It was sitting on the desk, solet's just say he wasn't in
(12:55):
there.
I know that there was thatdelay, so I saw that as an
opportunity.
Right, that's.
That goes back to the, the, thelast episode that we did of, you
know, cultivating a mindset forfor growth.
I saw a small problem and Iknow that there's technology out
there, so I went to GoogleForms.
I created a quick Google Forms,grabbed that link, made that a
QR code and put it right up onour essentially our break room
(13:18):
post-it board or little boardthat we've got there and said,
hey, if you need time off,request it here.
Well, that immediately sendsout an email to the office
manager and the operations andthey're able to approve that
same day and the office managerthen schedules that downtime.
So one is, it's betterproductive for your employees
and your overall operation.
(13:40):
Right, my employees are happierthat they can have their time
off requested approved sooner.
So you as a business owner needto be embracing that.
Go to your employees.
Think, hey, what could makethis easier?
And hey, we've got something.
These really cool things righthere.
I've got one of them right here.
It's called a computer.
Hey, if you're dealing with achallenge, go in and type that
(14:03):
in.
Go on a Reddit form or a site,look it up.
Listen to a podcast.
Hey, I'm having issues withemployees clocking in and out.
There's a ton of differentthings you can do for that.
So take your challenges.
Start thinking how you can adaptyour business to technology.
It's not, hey, I've got tocompletely be all digital and I
(14:27):
can't even think about it.
I'll make-believe stuffovernight.
No, you know, I can't eventhink about it.
I'll make believe stuffovernight.
No, you slowly adapt into this.
Here's an example.
It's it's one of my favorites,but it's Tesla.
I mean, tesla was a failingbusiness, right?
You look at where, go back andlook at where Elon Musk spent
(14:51):
some money on this, like failingautomotive business, and was
able to completely reinvent thewheel, if you would, with these
electrical vehicles.
And now look at their marketshare Nobody thought that they
could do what they did and theydid it.
Share Nobody thought that theycould do what they did and they
(15:12):
did it.
So you, as a small business, Iremember I'm using these large
businesses Blockbuster, netflix,all of these businesses.
I can tell you right now,though, if, if, let's, let's go
to the Blockbuster example youthink of a huge business right
now.
Huge business, that was well,guess what?
You're making more money thanBlockbuster's making right now.
So think about that.
You are in business right nowmaking more money than
(15:34):
Blockbuster is making and, hey,they made millions and millions
of dollars, right, but they areno longer in existence because
they did not embrace certainthings.
I think, as you, you know youjump into it and you want to
start looking into technology inyour business.
It really starts by talking toif you have friendly competition
(15:57):
.
Hey, what are?
What are some struggles you'redealing with?
What have you done to toembrace that?
I know it's funny because in inin my industry.
One of the things that I wantedso bad when I was first in
business, starting my carpetcleaning business, is I wanted
my clients to be able to goonline and book my availability
(16:19):
online.
At the time, for me to find awebsite company at a reasonable
cost to link the calendar that Ihad to my booking system to my
online website, like ridiculousright.
Well, now it's all in one appthat I use and it's second
(16:42):
nature.
It's not even anything that wethink about now.
So this is where slowtechnology starts to come up and
you've just got to be willingto embrace it.
And, of course, there's alearning curve.
Once they dropped, hey, we canbook you online.
And I was, oh cool, this iswhat I've been looking for.
And they finally dropped it.
Well, there was a couple ofdays of inputting everything,
kind of coming up to speed, andI mean, that's been up for years
(17:06):
now and I maybe barely go inand ever tweak it.
I can't even remember the lasttime I tweaked it.
So this is where, yes, there isa little bit of a hurdle up
front, because you've got to putsome time into it.
Right, we're busy.
We're all of a sudden.
Now we need to be right.
We're the business owner, we'rethe CFO, we're the IT guy and
all of a sudden now we're thetechnology guy we have.
(17:30):
We're the IT guy and all of asudden now we're the technology
guy that we have to embrace thenew technology.
But being able to set down thattime is really going to help
you grow your business right.
Leads come in from our website.
We don't have to schedule.
We don't have to have the laborto schedule it, although we
still have the labor but it doesfree up.
It runs 24 hours.
I don't have an employeerunning 24 hours for that.
As you know, I'm in theemergency restoration field, so
(17:51):
getting those are super crucialif somebody has something at two
in the morning.
So this is where this embracesthe technology.
So I think a practical step tostart your thinking is what
would you like to see in yourbusiness better?
What could better optimize yourbusiness?
And I'll tell you right now inthe technology world that we
(18:12):
live in nine times out of 10,they already have it.
There's already an app, there'salready software, there is
already something out there tohelp you with your problem.
Again, it takes time.
I remember we had to for mymedia company, we needed to
onboard with a CRM Reallychallenging.
(18:33):
I had never used a CRM before.
I never used it to.
A lot of my clients were allservice-based clients before,
where it was in a local area.
This is now follow-up leads,things like that just online.
Like that, just online.
Getting on board with that CRMtook probably about three weeks
(18:54):
for us to really familiarize andfor me to familiarize myself,
right, I like to know everything, be able to interact and do
things.
So now getting that up, gettingit online, is one of the best
tools I have in my arsenal.
But it took me three weeks.
Right, there's my complaint.
So you have to be willing to gothrough the steps and the
(19:15):
motions to bring your businessup to speed.
I'm gonna give you a coupleexamples.
You know, four years ago wedealt with this.
This thing called ooh, let meget a drink of water before I
start with this thing.
This thing called ooh, let meget a drink of water before I
start with this thing.
Four years ago we had thislittle thing called COVID come
(19:40):
and shut down practically everybusiness and you know, I think
that in COVID it really openedup a lot of business owners'
eyes on.
Look, I have to survive, mybusiness needs to survive and I
need to thrive.
And if that was a restaurantthat had indoor seating, they
quickly got outdoor seating Ifit was embracing DoorDash and
(20:00):
Uber Eats, and now, hey, that isembraced, and now they still
use it to this day.
These are things that help youwith your business, and we were
really forced in with COVID,right, but my business is still
no exception to that.
(20:20):
So we were one of the first inmy area and even to this day,
it's still like the only onesthat use it practically on every
single project.
But we have a 3D camera that wesend in to every project.
We're working on multiple stepsof the way, so from the first
time we get the project to maybeus working on the project or
the project's about to be done,and then one when the project's
(20:43):
done, we get these differentrenderings and we have
essentially a 3D model of ourjob.
And so how we were able to dothat is or, excuse me, how we
were able to use that in ourbusiness is one is it helped
with documentation?
So now, things that my guyswere missing because they were
(21:04):
writing it down on their phoneor a pen and paper, and then
they were submitting it to us.
They were missing a ton ofstuff.
Well, now we're no longermissing those items, therefore
allowing us to bill for thoseitems I mentioned.
We do insurance, so now we cansend it to these insurance
adjusters.
That also see it as a benefit,because now they don't have to
(21:25):
do all of these measurements.
Right?
So documentation is so key.
But getting this little camerashooting it, you know, and
you'll see them as you look,maybe through houses.
Go do a 3D tour, you can seethem.
But how can this work for mybusiness?
That's what I asked myself.
So now we have a tool.
(21:45):
It makes us more money andhelps justify our money.
So now we have it as a tool.
It makes us more money andhelps justify our money.
It makes us look good, becauseif we have there's a couple
adjusters in particular thatreally like when we use the
technology, so it really helpsus out and makes getting paid
from those adjusters just alittle easier.
Yeah, and then, on an employeestandpoint, we have been able to
(22:10):
hire employees that not onlywork locally but can also work,
and that do work remotely.
Specifically, we have twoemployees that one shares the
state that we're in, which isCalifornia, with another state.
And then we have anotheremployee that's just completely
in another state and is able todo the work like he is at the
job because we have thistechnology.
(22:32):
So that's where you know, Ididn't think at the time like,
hey, grabbing this 3D camera fora couple thousand dollars is
going to help me in so manydifferent areas.
This camera cost me like Idon't know, maybe it was like
three or four grand, and Iremember writing a post-it note
down for one of our claimsmanagers and I said, hey, let me
know when you exceed thisamount in the differences you'll
(22:55):
be able to pick up on the lackof documentation.
We made that back in two jobs,so one I'm more profitable as a
company, I look better,customers absolutely love it, so
it does wonders for my businessimage.
And this is just.
And now I have employees thatcan literally work remote and
you know we get a jumpstartbecause they're ahead, so we
(23:18):
could have an estimate thatcomes in at, you know, four or
five o'clock the night before.
They start earlier than we do,and we have that out by eight
o'clock or nine o'clock our time.
So it makes us look great forour clients and our close rate
is huge because we can havenumbers back to people before
our competitors can.
So I know I'm like practicallythe only one.
(23:39):
I know there's a couple ofpeople that use them, but maybe
not as religiously as we do, sothat gives me a competitive
advantage.
Like I mentioned, I try toautomize.
I'm saying that wrong, but Itry to make a lot of things auto
in my business, rightAutomation.
So I know before when we weredocumenting the jobs, we had
(24:02):
everything done on these littleSD cards.
We would save those SD cards.
That was costly.
We slowly started putting thoseinto a Google Drive, slowly
keeping all of our documents ina Google Drive, and then I found
some technology about two yearsago.
It was a new app that holdseverything all together and
(24:22):
everybody can use it at once andthat is primarily what they use
to do all of theirdocumentation now and I can pull
it open like an Instagram feedShouts out again to CompanyCam.
I've mentioned I mentioned thembefore on this podcast, but
these are the things as businessowners that it's.
It's not huge right therethere's a small learning curve
(24:42):
that we need to learn as as werun the business.
Right, our employees aren'tgoing to learn it for us.
We have to learn it, or ourmanagers have to learn it, and
then it gets implemented.
But how much productivity ourpeople can get out of it.
Right, I'm not dealing with alost SD card.
I'm not dealing with somebodytaking their time uploading it
(25:03):
from their phone into GoogleDrive.
Now, I've got it all in one appthat goes out the moment they
take the picture.
Everybody can access it.
So this is the progression oftechnology, I'll tell you with
that 3D camera.
One thing that I am completelysurprised is I'm not surprised,
but I'd like to see is one day,I think it's going to be able to
(25:23):
integrate into our estimatingsoftware, because, with the AI
technology that we have, it isable to recognize things like
cabinets, floors, things likethat.
So I do think there is a worldwhere it's scanning and putting
it in together as an estimate.
And again, remember, there aregoing to be some job losses,
right, I would think that maybesome adjusters might lose some
(25:43):
jobs, but at the end of the day,we still need a human behind
approving things, workingthrough real human issues the
day.
We still need a human behindapproving things, working
through real human issues.
So it's going to be the peoplethat are innovative, and
creating that culture in yourbusiness is so crucial because
if you don't do it, you're goingto be the blockbuster, you're
(26:04):
going to be the Barnes and Noble.
I mean I would think Barnes andNoble is still in business,
still successful.
I mean I would think BarnesNoble is still in business,
still successful Would haveprobably taken a different spin
if it wasn't Amazon.
Right, I don't think they wouldhave gone the business model of
Amazon.
(26:27):
But this is where you have anopportunity to really excel and
grow your business through small, tiny improvements and stand
out from your competition.
I know that some of mycompetitors will they get a new
job and they text it hey, got anew job, go here.
We have a scheduling softwareLike these are little easy
things that you can do and adaptinto your business.
That makes you stand out and oh, by the way, your employees
enjoy it.
Right, it makes them moreproductive.
(26:49):
Therefore, they feel morerewarded, not like the business
owner is too busy to hear myconcerns and deal with this and
I've got all this paperworkright.
We're working smarter, notharder, and that's what
technology and embracing it isall about.
So I know you know, I know weunpacked a lot on this episode,
(27:11):
but again, this is to get youryou know, your brain flowing, no
matter what you're in.
Small changes, small changes.
Figure out a small issue thatyou have in your business and
see if technology can help youwith it.
If it does, move on to anotheritem and slowly adapt that and,
(27:33):
fair warning, it's going to takeyou time.
Like I've said, I've investedsignificant time in a CRM.
I've invested so much time inmy dispatching system, my
scheduling system, all of thisstuff, right.
But these are things that areso crucial to my business
operation that I don't know howI would be in business without
(27:55):
them now, even though we did itbefore.
Therefore, making me more money, making me productive, making
my employees more productive.
So figure out something you needto work on and get it
implemented and create atimeline for you, right?
If you say, hey, I'm going to,I'm going to work through this
this time clock issue and youput it on your desk, you're
(28:18):
probably going to look at that,post a note for six months,
thinking about it every othermonth.
But if you put a post it noteright on your computer and you
say, hey, I need to startlooking into this by the end of
the week.
You get some free time.
You start looking into it.
You find a problem.
You jot that down.
Update your Post-it note.
Hey, found four companies thatcan help me with this.
Need to schedule appointments.
(28:40):
Give yourself three weeks trial, something right.
This doesn't need to beovernight, but right now you
need to embrace it, because ifyou don't, there is going to be
a competitor that is going toembrace it, or somebody that is
not a competitor right now thatsomeday will be your competitor,
that is going to come in with adifferent outlook on your
business and they're going totake your market share.
(29:00):
So take the time to investyourself in the proper
technology and the properinnovation, and it all starts
with just working through simpleproblems.
Now Curious to see what happenswith AI.
I think the cool thing aboutthese podcasts you get me on a
(29:22):
2024, and maybe this issomething that I can look back
at 2034 and say, hey, this isinteresting.
What's changed?
It's exciting, I look forwardto it.
And I think that if you're abusiness owner and you don't
look forward to it, you'reprobably going to be into some
trouble here if you don't keepmoving, keep moving, keep
(29:44):
generating that money, keepadapting your business.
That's all I have for today onthe business guide.
You know, thanks for joining in.
I really appreciate it.
If you found this episodehelpful, drop me a comment, drop
me a like.
I wanna know what you're doingin your business.
You know, what are things thatyou've done to improve your
(30:05):
overall operation andproductivity.
I'd love to hear the feedbackthat you have on what you've
been able to do for yourbusiness.
As always, guys, I'm JonathanWagner.
This is the Business Guide.
Really appreciate the timeyou've taken to listen to this
episode and I'll catch you onthe next one.
Hey everyone, it's Jonathan Wagner and I want to
welcome you back to anotherepisode of the Business Guide.
Today we are going to explore asuper crucial element of
business, and that is innovation.
In a rapidly changing world,staying ahead means continuously
embracing new ideas andtechnology.
(00:24):
So if you're looking tofuture-proof your business, or
at least start thinking aboutfuture-proofing your business,
then this episode is for you.
Guys, are you finding itchallenging to keep up with the
fast-paced business world?
What if I told you thatinnovation does not have to be
overwhelming, but it canactually be your greatest ally.
(00:47):
Stay tuned into this episode aswe dive into different
innovations that we've had toembrace in my businesses and
really get your juices flowingin your brain about some things
that maybe you might need toadapt into your business.
So stay tuned.
That maybe you might need toadapt into your business.
So stay tuned.
(01:08):
You know, when I first startedmy restoration business, I
quickly realized that stickingto the old way of doing business
was not gonna cut it in acompetitive market.
Here's what I mean by that.
In my quick amount of time Iquickly, or the short amount of
time I was in business it wasprobably about a year into
business, I could already tellthat there was something I had
(01:32):
done in advertising.
It was some print advertisingand I quickly realized that the
digital world was really takingthat over by storm.
So I had to shift my marketingbudgets over to digital.
I think that you know that is asmall example in you know,
obviously, the advertising side,but as I've had my business, I
(01:56):
have continually adapted tochange and I'll go over that
with you.
I just I can tell you I knowfirsthand what it's like to be a
small business owner and thenhaving to embrace some new
technology.
But it's really amazing thedoors that it opens up and this
episode we'll probably talk alittle bit more in depth about
(02:17):
the restoration business,because this is where a lot of
people are kind of doing the oldsame thing over and over again
and how we as a technology, as acompany, embrace technology to
grow our business and howactually it completely is
awesome and has helped us growour business.
So you know, that's what.
That's what you're going toexpect.
(02:38):
Today is talking aboutinnovation, just essentials for
staying ahead of the competition.
Right, if you don't embrace it,somebody else will and they are
going to capture your marketshare.
We've talked about adapting toyour market in the past.
Technology is no different.
You need to adapt to yourtechnology, but with these steps
(02:59):
, or at least things that I'llgo over, hopefully it, you know,
again gets your brain thinkingabout what you need to do in
your business.
So, jumping right into it,let's talk about innovation.
Where to start?
Yeah, I think about one of thebiggest things I think about no
(03:23):
matter how big you are as acompany no-transcript Take
Blockbuster, for exampleBlockbuster was everywhere,
right?
I remember going as a kidgetting movies High school.
(03:45):
My friends would come over,we'd watch TV or movies, we'd
rent some movies, eat somepopcorn, hang out.
Blockbuster was a staple.
And to think that Netflix, thishuge giant technology company
that we know of today, companythat we know of today, was once
(04:12):
going to be, or had theopportunity to be, purchased by
Blockbuster and essentially justcompletely be wiped out, it's
unreal and incredible.
I mean, if you looked up the,I'm just curious, I'm going to
look this up what was the marketshare?
I'm going to look this up.
What was the market share?
I'm just curious at what I mean.
(04:34):
Video rental market wasexpected to increase to almost
$2 billion at the same period.
They had plenty of room to grow.
At the time of this Netflix.
I mean, they had over 9,000stores worldwide.
So crazy Looks like in 2012,.
(04:57):
Maybe a market share of $55million.
I mean, when you think ofNetflix in the billions now.
So incredible that Blockbusterhad this huge opportunity to
purchase Netflix when they werenobody right and they didn't.
And look who is still around inbusiness and look who is not,
and look who's made more moneywith technology Again Netflix.
(05:22):
And I'm just going to real quick, look up something, let's see.
I'm just confirming this onebecause I think this is another
one that had an opportunity.
Yeah, I can't find it, butanother one that I think of is
(05:52):
Amazon.
Amazon is a technology companyand they were trying to be
direct competitors with BarnesNoble.
I think Jeff Bezos took Amazonto Barnes Noble and correct me
if I'm wrong in the commentssection, but I think that they
were kind of know, kind ofsimilar situation with, you know
, blockbuster and Netflix.
They could have taken thatbusiness on very early on.
(06:13):
For any of you that don't know,amazon started as a bookstore,
an online bookstore.
So anyways, but going back tothe Blockbuster, the Blockbuster
one is the one that stays in mymind right, you had over 9,000
stores huge, my mind right, youhad over 9,000 stores huge.
I mean, this was a huge staplethat so many Americans and so
(06:33):
many people would go to to gettheir movies.
And how this little tinycompany that started sending out
the movies via mail, completelydominated, completely adapted
right.
They didn't stay to thatbusiness model, they moved to
the streaming model.
They really set the industrythere with Hulu, disney+, all of
these different streamingservices, really kind of copying
Netflix at that point.
(06:55):
So this is where innovationcomes in and this is where I
think us as business owners,while we're not dealing with the
billions and billions ofdollars that these you know
hundreds of millions of dollarsthat these people are dealing
with, we're dealing witheveryday struggles that maybe
it's as simple as no longerhaving a pen and paper and maybe
(07:17):
having an iPad.
These are things that canreally help you and help drive
productivity to your business,drive new sales to your business
, and I'll go over that, howthat helped my business.
But I think that an opportunityto kind of think about
Blockbuster, think about Netflix, do some research on it.
It's pretty interesting.
I know there's some YouTubevideos out there.
Search that because it kind ofhits home.
(07:40):
But I use that in my smallbusiness mindset of how I always
need to be adapting and alwaysgrowing and technology is always
ever-changing and you reallyneed to move with the times.
So how do you, as a smallbusiness owner, how do you
(08:00):
embrace the culture ofinnovation?
Right, and I think you know,like everybody has dealt with
change.
You could be a restaurant ownerthat used to take.
I mean you know like, right,everybody has dealt with with
change.
You could be a restaurant ownerthat used to take.
I mean you remember going outand they'd take your credit card
and they'd carbon copy thecredit card and they write it.
You know, write down your total, you'd sign it.
(08:20):
Now we have these credit cardprocessing right, technology has
hit everybody.
We can all agree there, andembracing it in your business is
so crucial there and embracingit in your business is so
crucial.
But how do you in your companycreate that culture?
Right?
Not just okay, maybe checks areno longer being accepted, I
need to move on to credit card.
But you, as a business owner,being ahead of the market, right
(08:45):
?
You always, I think it.
Right, you always, I think.
For me at least, I'm alwayslooking at different
technologies and how it can helpmy business.
No matter what it is right Ifit's.
You know AI is a huge thingright now.
I know a lot of large companiesare using it in you know their
(09:05):
algorithms and differentlanguage models.
You know there's talks later,that's talks later, that it can
make videos and things like that.
I think what's going to happenis the movie industry, the TV
industry, is going to have toembrace somewhat of an AI change
.
It's not necessarily going totake your job away, but I think
when people put up a guard rightfrom the start and say, look,
(09:27):
we're not going to embrace that,that leaves for a lot of
competitors to step in in thatfield.
And so, no matter what it is,if it's you know, if it's just I
mean I'm sure everybody isfamiliar with chat GPT.
If you're not, as a businessowner, you should definitely
familiarize yourself.
I know plenty of businessowners that don't use it.
(09:48):
It's a great tool to use.
It's not replacing anybody, butit definitely helps out.
Think about maybe you wantingto create a content schedule for
your Instagram channel or yourFacebook.
Chatgpt can help you with that.
It can help create some of thecontent ideas for you.
Ultimately, you can go in andcustomize things and make it
(10:10):
your own voice.
But these are where we reallyneed to embrace the technology
as business owners.
I think, on a bigger scale,there's going to be some AI
things that come into theindustry.
I am, you know, primarily inthe construction industry, so
I've seen that.
You know, maybe at some pointthere will be, you know, these
(10:30):
robots that come around andthey're able to scan walls and
maybe do some painting for youor hang drywall.
We'll see how practical that is.
You know, let's check back in15 years on this episode.
But I think that us businessowners being willing to adopt
the technology and how we use it, I don't think that it's really
an opportunity of look, it'snot replacing people.
(10:50):
I think if you use let's justuse this AI robot as an example
that can paint a room, well, ifmy business can handle five
times more your business becauseI've invested in that
technology, then who's winningthere?
Now, ultimately, at the end ofthe day, we do want to employ
humans, right?
They're ultimately going to bepeople that have to take and
(11:10):
maintain these things.
They're going to break down orwhatever it is and this is a
super hypothetical, but creatingyour mindset to think like I
did okay, this could be anopportunity where maybe someday
there's some sort of paintingrobot.
I don't know what that lookslike.
Who knows?
We're so far away from it.
But with the technology and theway that it's come up in 20
(11:31):
years, what's going to happen inan additional 20 years?
And I think that, as businessowners right now, especially
that are relatively young I'm 35, I don't plan on retiring
anytime soon there are going tobe some really big changes in
the market at some point and I'mgoing to need to be able to
embrace that if I want mybusiness to survive and I don't
want to become a blockbuster.
(11:51):
So I would say that's thedifference between me and my
competitors.
Let that be a differencebetween you and your competitors
.
You don't necessarily need toadvertise it and flaunt it, but
you need to know that there'stechnology out there to help you
and be productive.
So I think it's justconsistently thinking out of the
box.
That's what's gonna help youcreate that culture.
(12:14):
If you've got employeesconsistently ask them like, hey,
what would make this easier foryou, I know something that was
super.
You know we deal with thisoften, right, as we have
employees, we need people totake time off, and we knew that
our process was.
They would come in, they'd talkto our office manager, our
office manager would wrap thatup in an email to my operations
(12:34):
guy and then they would gettheir time either approved or
denied or whatever it is, andsometimes there was a three or
four-day delay on it, justbecause maybe they didn't catch
him and they wanted to talkabout it or whatever.
It was sitting in the emailsnothing super crazy.
It actually wasn't even emails.
It the emails nothing supercrazy.
It actually wasn't even emails.
It was sitting on the desk, solet's just say he wasn't in
(12:55):
there.
I know that there was thatdelay, so I saw that as an
opportunity.
Right, that's.
That goes back to the, the, thelast episode that we did of, you
know, cultivating a mindset forfor growth.
I saw a small problem and Iknow that there's technology out
there, so I went to GoogleForms.
I created a quick Google Forms,grabbed that link, made that a
QR code and put it right up onour essentially our break room
(13:18):
post-it board or little boardthat we've got there and said,
hey, if you need time off,request it here.
Well, that immediately sendsout an email to the office
manager and the operations andthey're able to approve that
same day and the office managerthen schedules that downtime.
So one is, it's betterproductive for your employees
and your overall operation.
(13:40):
Right, my employees are happierthat they can have their time
off requested approved sooner.
So you as a business owner needto be embracing that.
Go to your employees.
Think, hey, what could makethis easier?
And hey, we've got something.
These really cool things righthere.
I've got one of them right here.
It's called a computer.
Hey, if you're dealing with achallenge, go in and type that
(14:03):
in.
Go on a Reddit form or a site,look it up.
Listen to a podcast.
Hey, I'm having issues withemployees clocking in and out.
There's a ton of differentthings you can do for that.
So take your challenges.
Start thinking how you can adaptyour business to technology.
It's not, hey, I've got tocompletely be all digital and I
(14:27):
can't even think about it.
I'll make-believe stuffovernight.
No, you know, I can't eventhink about it.
I'll make believe stuffovernight.
No, you slowly adapt into this.
Here's an example.
It's it's one of my favorites,but it's Tesla.
I mean, tesla was a failingbusiness, right?
You look at where, go back andlook at where Elon Musk spent
(14:51):
some money on this, like failingautomotive business, and was
able to completely reinvent thewheel, if you would, with these
electrical vehicles.
And now look at their marketshare Nobody thought that they
could do what they did and theydid it.
Share Nobody thought that theycould do what they did and they
(15:12):
did it.
So you, as a small business, Iremember I'm using these large
businesses Blockbuster, netflix,all of these businesses.
I can tell you right now,though, if, if, let's, let's go
to the Blockbuster example youthink of a huge business right
now.
Huge business, that was well,guess what?
You're making more money thanBlockbuster's making right now.
So think about that.
You are in business right nowmaking more money than
(15:34):
Blockbuster is making and, hey,they made millions and millions
of dollars, right, but they areno longer in existence because
they did not embrace certainthings.
I think, as you, you know youjump into it and you want to
start looking into technology inyour business.
It really starts by talking toif you have friendly competition
(15:57):
.
Hey, what are?
What are some struggles you'redealing with?
What have you done to toembrace that?
I know it's funny because in inin my industry.
One of the things that I wantedso bad when I was first in
business, starting my carpetcleaning business, is I wanted
my clients to be able to goonline and book my availability
(16:19):
online.
At the time, for me to find awebsite company at a reasonable
cost to link the calendar that Ihad to my booking system to my
online website, like ridiculousright.
Well, now it's all in one appthat I use and it's second
(16:42):
nature.
It's not even anything that wethink about now.
So this is where slowtechnology starts to come up and
you've just got to be willingto embrace it.
And, of course, there's alearning curve.
Once they dropped, hey, we canbook you online.
And I was, oh cool, this iswhat I've been looking for.
And they finally dropped it.
Well, there was a couple ofdays of inputting everything,
kind of coming up to speed, andI mean, that's been up for years
(17:06):
now and I maybe barely go inand ever tweak it.
I can't even remember the lasttime I tweaked it.
So this is where, yes, there isa little bit of a hurdle up
front, because you've got to putsome time into it.
Right, we're busy.
We're all of a sudden.
Now we need to be right.
We're the business owner, we'rethe CFO, we're the IT guy and
all of a sudden now we're thetechnology guy we have.
(17:30):
We're the IT guy and all of asudden now we're the technology
guy that we have to embrace thenew technology.
But being able to set down thattime is really going to help
you grow your business right.
Leads come in from our website.
We don't have to schedule.
We don't have to have the laborto schedule it, although we
still have the labor but it doesfree up.
It runs 24 hours.
I don't have an employeerunning 24 hours for that.
As you know, I'm in theemergency restoration field, so
(17:51):
getting those are super crucialif somebody has something at two
in the morning.
So this is where this embracesthe technology.
So I think a practical step tostart your thinking is what
would you like to see in yourbusiness better?
What could better optimize yourbusiness?
And I'll tell you right now inthe technology world that we
(18:12):
live in nine times out of 10,they already have it.
There's already an app, there'salready software, there is
already something out there tohelp you with your problem.
Again, it takes time.
I remember we had to for mymedia company, we needed to
onboard with a CRM Reallychallenging.
(18:33):
I had never used a CRM before.
I never used it to.
A lot of my clients were allservice-based clients before,
where it was in a local area.
This is now follow-up leads,things like that just online.
Like that, just online.
Getting on board with that CRMtook probably about three weeks
(18:54):
for us to really familiarize andfor me to familiarize myself,
right, I like to know everything, be able to interact and do
things.
So now getting that up, gettingit online, is one of the best
tools I have in my arsenal.
But it took me three weeks.
Right, there's my complaint.
So you have to be willing to gothrough the steps and the
(19:15):
motions to bring your businessup to speed.
I'm gonna give you a coupleexamples.
You know, four years ago wedealt with this.
This thing called ooh, let meget a drink of water before I
start with this thing.
This thing called ooh, let meget a drink of water before I
start with this thing.
Four years ago we had thislittle thing called COVID come
(19:40):
and shut down practically everybusiness and you know, I think
that in COVID it really openedup a lot of business owners'
eyes on.
Look, I have to survive, mybusiness needs to survive and I
need to thrive.
And if that was a restaurantthat had indoor seating, they
quickly got outdoor seating Ifit was embracing DoorDash and
(20:00):
Uber Eats, and now, hey, that isembraced, and now they still
use it to this day.
These are things that help youwith your business, and we were
really forced in with COVID,right, but my business is still
no exception to that.
(20:20):
So we were one of the first inmy area and even to this day,
it's still like the only onesthat use it practically on every
single project.
But we have a 3D camera that wesend in to every project.
We're working on multiple stepsof the way, so from the first
time we get the project to maybeus working on the project or
the project's about to be done,and then one when the project's
(20:43):
done, we get these differentrenderings and we have
essentially a 3D model of ourjob.
And so how we were able to dothat is or, excuse me, how we
were able to use that in ourbusiness is one is it helped
with documentation?
So now, things that my guyswere missing because they were
(21:04):
writing it down on their phoneor a pen and paper, and then
they were submitting it to us.
They were missing a ton ofstuff.
Well, now we're no longermissing those items, therefore
allowing us to bill for thoseitems I mentioned.
We do insurance, so now we cansend it to these insurance
adjusters.
That also see it as a benefit,because now they don't have to
(21:25):
do all of these measurements.
Right?
So documentation is so key.
But getting this little camerashooting it, you know, and
you'll see them as you look,maybe through houses.
Go do a 3D tour, you can seethem.
But how can this work for mybusiness?
That's what I asked myself.
So now we have a tool.
(21:45):
It makes us more money andhelps justify our money.
So now we have it as a tool.
It makes us more money andhelps justify our money.
It makes us look good, becauseif we have there's a couple
adjusters in particular thatreally like when we use the
technology, so it really helpsus out and makes getting paid
from those adjusters just alittle easier.
Yeah, and then, on an employeestandpoint, we have been able to
(22:10):
hire employees that not onlywork locally but can also work,
and that do work remotely.
Specifically, we have twoemployees that one shares the
state that we're in, which isCalifornia, with another state.
And then we have anotheremployee that's just completely
in another state and is able todo the work like he is at the
job because we have thistechnology.
(22:32):
So that's where you know, Ididn't think at the time like,
hey, grabbing this 3D camera fora couple thousand dollars is
going to help me in so manydifferent areas.
This camera cost me like Idon't know, maybe it was like
three or four grand, and Iremember writing a post-it note
down for one of our claimsmanagers and I said, hey, let me
know when you exceed thisamount in the differences you'll
(22:55):
be able to pick up on the lackof documentation.
We made that back in two jobs,so one I'm more profitable as a
company, I look better,customers absolutely love it, so
it does wonders for my businessimage.
And this is just.
And now I have employees thatcan literally work remote and
you know we get a jumpstartbecause they're ahead, so we
(23:18):
could have an estimate thatcomes in at, you know, four or
five o'clock the night before.
They start earlier than we do,and we have that out by eight
o'clock or nine o'clock our time.
So it makes us look great forour clients and our close rate
is huge because we can havenumbers back to people before
our competitors can.
So I know I'm like practicallythe only one.
(23:39):
I know there's a couple ofpeople that use them, but maybe
not as religiously as we do, sothat gives me a competitive
advantage.
Like I mentioned, I try toautomize.
I'm saying that wrong, but Itry to make a lot of things auto
in my business, rightAutomation.
So I know before when we weredocumenting the jobs, we had
(24:02):
everything done on these littleSD cards.
We would save those SD cards.
That was costly.
We slowly started putting thoseinto a Google Drive, slowly
keeping all of our documents ina Google Drive, and then I found
some technology about two yearsago.
It was a new app that holdseverything all together and
(24:22):
everybody can use it at once andthat is primarily what they use
to do all of theirdocumentation now and I can pull
it open like an Instagram feedShouts out again to CompanyCam.
I've mentioned I mentioned thembefore on this podcast, but
these are the things as businessowners that it's.
It's not huge right therethere's a small learning curve
(24:42):
that we need to learn as as werun the business.
Right, our employees aren'tgoing to learn it for us.
We have to learn it, or ourmanagers have to learn it, and
then it gets implemented.
But how much productivity ourpeople can get out of it.
Right, I'm not dealing with alost SD card.
I'm not dealing with somebodytaking their time uploading it
(25:03):
from their phone into GoogleDrive.
Now, I've got it all in one appthat goes out the moment they
take the picture.
Everybody can access it.
So this is the progression oftechnology, I'll tell you with
that 3D camera.
One thing that I am completelysurprised is I'm not surprised,
but I'd like to see is one day,I think it's going to be able to
(25:23):
integrate into our estimatingsoftware, because, with the AI
technology that we have, it isable to recognize things like
cabinets, floors, things likethat.
So I do think there is a worldwhere it's scanning and putting
it in together as an estimate.
And again, remember, there aregoing to be some job losses,
right, I would think that maybesome adjusters might lose some
(25:43):
jobs, but at the end of the day,we still need a human behind
approving things, workingthrough real human issues the
day.
We still need a human behindapproving things, working
through real human issues.
So it's going to be the peoplethat are innovative, and
creating that culture in yourbusiness is so crucial because
if you don't do it, you're goingto be the blockbuster, you're
(26:04):
going to be the Barnes and Noble.
I mean I would think Barnes andNoble is still in business,
still successful.
I mean I would think BarnesNoble is still in business,
still successful Would haveprobably taken a different spin
if it wasn't Amazon.
Right, I don't think they wouldhave gone the business model of
Amazon.
(26:27):
But this is where you have anopportunity to really excel and
grow your business through small, tiny improvements and stand
out from your competition.
I know that some of mycompetitors will they get a new
job and they text it hey, got anew job, go here.
We have a scheduling softwareLike these are little easy
things that you can do and adaptinto your business.
That makes you stand out and oh, by the way, your employees
enjoy it.
Right, it makes them moreproductive.
(26:49):
Therefore, they feel morerewarded, not like the business
owner is too busy to hear myconcerns and deal with this and
I've got all this paperworkright.
We're working smarter, notharder, and that's what
technology and embracing it isall about.
So I know you know, I know weunpacked a lot on this episode,
(27:11):
but again, this is to get youryou know, your brain flowing, no
matter what you're in.
Small changes, small changes.
Figure out a small issue thatyou have in your business and
see if technology can help youwith it.
If it does, move on to anotheritem and slowly adapt that and,
(27:33):
fair warning, it's going to takeyou time.
Like I've said, I've investedsignificant time in a CRM.
I've invested so much time inmy dispatching system, my
scheduling system, all of thisstuff, right.
But these are things that areso crucial to my business
operation that I don't know howI would be in business without
(27:55):
them now, even though we did itbefore.
Therefore, making me more money, making me productive, making
my employees more productive.
So figure out something you needto work on and get it
implemented and create atimeline for you, right?
If you say, hey, I'm going to,I'm going to work through this
this time clock issue and youput it on your desk, you're
(28:18):
probably going to look at that,post a note for six months,
thinking about it every othermonth.
But if you put a post it noteright on your computer and you
say, hey, I need to startlooking into this by the end of
the week.
You get some free time.
You start looking into it.
You find a problem.
You jot that down.
Update your Post-it note.
Hey, found four companies thatcan help me with this.
Need to schedule appointments.
(28:40):
Give yourself three weeks trial, something right.
This doesn't need to beovernight, but right now you
need to embrace it, because ifyou don't, there is going to be
a competitor that is going toembrace it, or somebody that is
not a competitor right now thatsomeday will be your competitor,
that is going to come in with adifferent outlook on your
business and they're going totake your market share.
(29:00):
So take the time to investyourself in the proper
technology and the properinnovation, and it all starts
with just working through simpleproblems.
Now Curious to see what happenswith AI.
I think the cool thing aboutthese podcasts you get me on a
(29:22):
2024, and maybe this issomething that I can look back
at 2034 and say, hey, this isinteresting.
What's changed?
It's exciting, I look forwardto it.
And I think that if you're abusiness owner and you don't
look forward to it, you'reprobably going to be into some
trouble here if you don't keepmoving, keep moving, keep
(29:44):
generating that money, keepadapting your business.
That's all I have for today onthe business guide.
You know, thanks for joining in.
I really appreciate it.
If you found this episodehelpful, drop me a comment, drop
me a like.
I wanna know what you're doingin your business.
You know, what are things thatyou've done to improve your
(30:05):
overall operation andproductivity.
I'd love to hear the feedbackthat you have on what you've
been able to do for yourbusiness.
As always, guys, I'm JonathanWagner.
This is the Business Guide.
Really appreciate the timeyou've taken to listen to this
episode and I'll catch you onthe next one.
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