July 19, 2024 • 26 mins
Ready to transform your entrepreneurial journey? Join me, Jonathan Wagoner, as I share my own experiences of starting small and thinking big in the latest episode of our podcast. Discover the benefits of testing services on a smaller scale before committing to hefty marketing investments, and how this method can lead to sustainable growth and smart business pivots. From taking those first steps to managing your expectations, this episode is packed with actionable insights for both budding and seasoned entrepreneurs.
Ever wondered how to maintain momentum in your business journey? Tune in as I recount the grind of building a business from scratch and the power of keeping a big picture mindset. Hear about my intense networking efforts and how quarterly check-ins with trusted peers have been crucial for goal-setting and accountability. This episode also encourages you to share your thoughts and feedback, as your input is key to shaping future content. Let's build a supportive and engaging community together—subscribe now and don't miss out on this invaluable conversation!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey everyone, it's Jonathan Wagner and this is the
Business Guide Podcast.
Really excited to have youtuning in today and thank you
for joining us on our secondepisode, small Beginnings, where
you need to start small andthink big.
Again, jonathan Wagner, superexcited to have you a part of
(00:22):
this today and really want todive into some really some deep
issues on what it's like tostart a business and you know
sometimes your aspirations wheremaybe you've got some bigger
goals than you can actuallyexecute at the time, and what I
(00:43):
mean by that is, as I've startedmy business, I have to
continuously remind myself, as Iget into maybe a new business
venture, that I've really got totone it down and I've got to
start small.
But I also have that clearpicture of thinking big and
sometimes when you forget thatyou need to start small and you
(01:04):
start going big, that's wheremaybe you'll have some issues.
So this episode is forentrepreneurs out there that are
maybe aspiring to be a businessowner or start their first
business and, on the flip sideof that, also talking to the
(01:25):
entrepreneurs and businessowners out there that are
currently in the trenches rightnow and just encouraging you as
you go through different pointsin your business you've got to
always remember to start offsmall.
If that's a marketing campaignor maybe a new workforce or
whatever it may be, you reallyshould start small and always
have that aspiration and thinkbig.
(01:45):
So just a recap of who I amAgain, as mentioned, I'm
Jonathan Wagoner.
I am a small business owner inbeautiful California, southern
California Excuse me, I alwaysslip that up.
It is beautiful SouthernCalifornia, specifically Ventura
County.
I have a few differentbusinesses, but my main business
(02:07):
is a water damage restorationbusiness.
I've been in business a littlebit over 12 years and my goal of
these podcasts are really toconnect with entrepreneurs, get
them maybe some answers to maybea struggle that they're going
through or maybe they haven'tyet been through that struggle.
But I can tell you my time inbusiness.
I have seen my fair shares ofups and downs and if I can help
(02:30):
you navigate through that then Iwould consider this podcast a
success.
And again, a reminder I am nota professional podcaster.
I might have a camera pointedat me and a microphone, but yeah
, I get a little tongue tiedtied, so excuse me on it.
I don't want any edits on thispodcast.
I want it to be as raw and realas possible.
(02:51):
So thanks for joining us.
I'm really excited today ontoday's episode.
So, as mentioned, I want tomake sure that you really
understand where I'm coming atwith this episode on being able
to start small and thinking big.
This is something, and the wayI've crafted this in our second
(03:14):
episode like this is this is astrategic part of what we need
to do, and this podcast is anexample too.
Of course I need to start smallto do, and this podcast is an
example too.
Of course I need to start small.
It's myself in a little studio,but I do have some goals of
this podcast that I would like,and I'd like to go a little bit
bigger and make sure thateverybody that maybe needs to
(03:37):
listen to this is listening in.
But we've really got to startsmall.
Maybe I don't have fancyequipment or fancy training on
podcast, but this is a goodreminder that, no matter what
we're doing, we need to thinksmall, we need to dip our toes
into it, and I'm going to goover personal experiences of
where I've had to start smalland, of course, think big and
(03:59):
also grow.
With that picture, I will sharethat story, or stories, with
you, and you know times wheremaybe I've lost track of
thinking small and just goingstraight for going big and how
that's failed for me.
So really excited to you know.
Dive on into this, into thisepisode.
So first I want to talk to youabout the power of starting
(04:23):
small.
If you're an inspiringentrepreneur or obviously
already in business and you'relistening to this podcast, let's
think about this why it'simportant to start small and how
it can be beneficial to you andyour business.
You're going to have, obviously, starting in business.
(04:46):
You're going to have some lowerrisk.
Think about and this reminds meof when I started again.
I started in the carpet cleaningindustry and cleaned carpets.
So instead of going out rightaway and securing a facility to
house my equipment and my office, I ran it out of my home.
(05:07):
Therefore, I had a lowerfinancial obligation every
single month and it also helpedme put more money into my pocket
and grow my business.
It allowed me the flexibility.
So sometimes I was, you know,working late at night or had a
long day and instead of, youknow, maybe taking my vehicle,
(05:30):
you know, home and then havingto, you know, drive back from
the office to home, I was ableto just go right to my house and
as you start smaller as well,it's really easy to pivot your
business where you need it to go.
So when I was in the carpetcleaning business and I started
(05:50):
my business, I knew that I had akind of a wide range of
services that I knew were a corepart of my business that I
wanted to offer.
And there were some stuff thatI wanted to kind of test my toes
in and see if it would work.
So in my industry, in carpetcleaning, that was the primary
(06:11):
business.
Some businesses add that tilecleaning, upholstery cleaning,
air duct cleaning, dryer ventcleaning, things like that.
So these are the core servicesthat I wanted.
Now I also wanted to get intohouse cleaning.
I wanted to get into janitorialservices.
I wanted to get into strippingand waxing of floors, things
like that.
And so when I was small and Iwas there myself executing the
(06:35):
service or advertising theservice, you know it was like a
word of mouth thing that as Iwas going to business networking
events and things like that, Istarted dropping the services
that I was offering and so itwas easier for me to pivot into
that industry but on the flipside, I didn't dump a ton of
marketing material into it towhere, when I needed to pivot
(06:56):
out and I found that a housecleaning wasn't going to work
for my business model orjanitorial services wasn't going
to work for my model, I wasable to pivot out of that.
That really didn't cost me aloss of money.
If you will, I can tell you inmy water damage restoration
business, when I was able topivot there, I did take the same
mindset of thinking small there.
(07:18):
I brought that into expandingmy business.
It allowed me to safely expandmy business but I was able to
pivot into that market verycarefully with a relatively
low-risk financial positionthere.
So very important when you'restarting your business or you're
starting out a venture toremember it is okay to start
(07:41):
small.
Matter of fact, it's actuallygoing to help you grow your
business faster.
You're going to intimately knowthe details of your business,
the things that work and thethings that don't work, and
you're going to be able toimplement those changes
immediately.
If you were to just go bigright away, you might get into a
service or have a product thatis unprofitable for you, but it
(08:05):
takes you a minute to digestthat and realize, hey, this is
not viable for my business andtherefore maybe you've lost some
money.
So, starting small extremelybeneficial, low risk.
You've got the flexibility andit's very easy to pivot when you
are small.
Again, to recap, you're alsolearning how to grow your
(08:30):
business with thinking small,and I know that sounds mangled.
I got a little off a topicthere, so I apologize.
I got a little off a topicthere, so I apologize.
You know, I think when you'redealing with your day-to-day
service and being small, it canalso be very frustrating.
(08:52):
So I knew this gentleman, reallyreally, really good guy, and he
had been doing what you knowwhat I was, the business that I
had got into and I had talked tohim so many times and you know
he really opened up to meintimately on his business.
And this is a guy that I lookedup to for a while, really great
(09:12):
guy, and one of the issues thathe had with growing his
business was he had alwaysmaintained a goal or a big
picture mindset of wanting toexpand his business, but he was
never able to get out of thesmall business mindset on the
(09:33):
flip side.
So, as mentioned in our firstepisode, he had some fears, you
know, fears that he was not ableto overcome.
Now fast forward 15 years.
He is still in the exact samespot, but he's got the big
picture mindset.
And so for us entrepreneurs, Ithink that it's important for us
to keep that big picturemindset, but also don't get
(09:57):
comfortable in being in thatsmall realm if that's not
something that you want.
I know that a lot ofentrepreneurs and business
owners out there are completelycontent with maybe an operation
where it's just themselves orit's a couple of their employees
(10:17):
and they are completely okaywith that.
That is great.
As long as you're profitableand in business and you're happy
with what you're doing, thenI'm not gonna be one to tell you
to do anything different.
That's what works for you.
But for me, I knew that Ineeded to start small and I
always consistently thought big,and sometimes my bank account
(10:39):
didn't always line up with mygoals and the things that I
wanted to do.
I remember, specifically,cleaning carpets.
Probably maybe about a year inA year is really where I really
started to push myself of.
I really want to get out ofthis role and I really want to
grow my business to the nextlevel and obviously, as you can
(11:01):
imagine, it's just myself atthat point.
I remember having a really,really long day and we've got a.
You'll see it in a bunch of carcommercials.
But I live, as mentioned, inVentura County.
There's this rock in PointMagoo and it goes from my city
to Malibu and I remember I had along day that day and why I
(11:26):
mentioned you might see those isthey film a lot of car
commercials on that kind of thatstretch.
But that is on the one.
And I remember going to one ofmy projects.
I mean, I was working all dayand I was working like a dog
that day.
I was so tired, it was late andI had a customer call in and
they kind of needed like anemergency carpet cleaning, if
you would, and I was like gosh,I really need to go to this, I
(11:49):
really want to make the extramoney and I want to make this
customer happy.
I don't want them to callanybody else.
So I shot out there, did what Ineeded to do and I remember
just being so drained on the wayback.
I was hungry, I was practicallylike dehydrated and I remember
kind of watching the sunset,thinking is this going to be a
business that fast forward?
(12:10):
10 years from now, 20 yearsfrom now, I am still sitting in
this driver's seat doing theexact same thing, answering the
same calls, and I just knew thata year was my limit.
I was like I've got to reallylight a fire under my butt.
I knew I had the big picturegoal of growing the business,
(12:33):
but I was comfortable in thesmall scale.
So I knew I needed to startmoving in the right direction.
And that's been the story for alot of friends that I talked to
that are in business is they arein that small boat or have been
in that small boat and thereare things and fears that
they've had to overcome to startgrowing their business.
(12:56):
And really the first big thingthat I think a lot of
entrepreneurs kind of get stuckin is that first employee hire
and I'll go into that more indepth into another episode.
But I think that once you areable to justify a workforce and
you're able to slowly startbringing people on safely, I
(13:19):
think it's one of the bestdecisions you can make in
business.
And that really resonates withme because when I was able to
find that person that I knew wasgoing to be gold for my
business, that's when mybusiness started to take off.
So you know again, it's okay tobe small, work small, think
(13:42):
small, but continuously thinkabout the bigger picture and
don't, you know, don't getcomfortable there.
If that's not where you want tobe, don't think that day one
you can, you know, immediatelyopen your doors and you can, you
know, spend the money of, youknow, facebook or Google.
I mean, while we would like tothink that we, our businesses,
can be successful which they canbe you've really got to put
(14:05):
your own blood, sweat and tearsinto that business so it can
thrive and be successful.
I think that I've mentioned oror not, excuse me not have
mentioned, but I would like tomention is as I have gotten into
different business ventures.
Now my business is successfuland thriving and I feel like
I've got I mean, I know I've gota great management team and now
(14:26):
I can start doing other things.
I've gotten into other businessventures.
Some are successful and somehave failed, and you know the
failures I could really dive inand I feel like in future
episodes I will dive in intothose failures, but I feel like
a lot of those failures have todo with right off the bat.
(14:47):
It took me time and it took mebeing small to actually grow
into being a successful business, into being a successful
business and in the businessmodels that are successful and
(15:08):
do work, they have started small.
I've been able to really grindthose businesses, put my blood,
sweat and tears into thosebusinesses and then they're able
to thrive.
So remember it's a part of thestrategy when you start small.
I'm going to take a quicksecond to just review my notes
because I want to make sure I'mnot getting off topic.
(15:31):
Okay, so, moving on, maintaininga big picture mindset, um,
maintaining a big picturemindset, um, obviously, as
you're going through your day today, um, you know, as I was
going through my day to day as a, you know, a carpet cleaner, I
think you get you.
You can slightly get distractedwhen, when you are a smaller
(15:53):
company, um, I remember the daysof, you know, waking up, going
to a networking event, breakfastmorning networking event at my
local chamber, going and doingmy regular jobs that day, maybe
a full day of three or fourcarpet cleaning jobs all by
myself, and then going back andmaybe doing an evening
(16:15):
networking.
And that example of my schedulewas practically every Tuesday
for the first two years inbusiness was just this long
drawn out day of me doing a tonof customer jobs and then going
and doing different networkingevents.
I really grinded that.
But as you're in the trenchesand you're dealing with this
(16:42):
everyday grind or hustle, youcan really be love being in
business and I'm super excitedto be in business.
But I mean I was just kind of ahigh-paid employee at that
(17:12):
point that could lose everythingon a moment's notice if the
phone stopped ringing,everything on a moment's notice
if the phone stopped ringing.
So really maintaining that bigpicture in your mind, or
whatever your version of yourbusiness is, is so important
that you don't lose focus onthat.
One thing that helps me in mylife is I have a good friend
(17:37):
that I like to meet up withevery quarter and we just go
over our goals for that quarter,we go over our success stories
and we go over our failures andwhat we're going to do to get
over them and move on.
And that is done every quarter.
For me as a business owner andentrepreneur, there can be a lot
(18:01):
of people around you, but itcan also be very lonely and
especially when you haveemployees and they need you know
, they need your brain and theyneed you to.
You know, work with them andconsult them and and be there
for them all these differentthings.
But to be able to have a settime where I can kind of check
out and I can go through mygoals and I can go through my
(18:23):
failures and I can talk tosomebody about that has been
super important in my life andmy business venture.
So if you've got a friend outthere excuse me, if you've got a
friend or you know somebody inan industry or another business
owner, I would encourage you tomeet up with them, set once a
(18:47):
month, once a quarter, onceevery six months, once a year I
mean I probably wouldn't go outonce a year, but I think six
months at the furthest.
But go out and check in withthem and check in with their
business, put them on notice.
Like I mentioned, this can be alonely time, right?
(19:11):
You're the entrepreneur, you'rethe one that's sitting behind
the computer late at nightthinking about gosh, what's my
next marketing idea or what's mynext move in business, and the
kids are asleep and your wife orhusband is asleep and you just
don't know what to do and peoplelook for you for direction.
It can be very lonely at times.
So having somebody that's inthose shoes with you that you
(19:34):
can get real with.
I highly encourage that.
But it helps you focus onexactly what you want in
business.
And if you're in that smallbusiness right now or you're in
that small business mindset andyou want to grow your business,
(19:56):
this is one of the level upsthat you need to do to do that
business.
This is one of the level upsthat you need to do to do that.
Meet up with somebody, havethem check in and get real.
Share things that you normallywouldn't share to people.
If you're not comfortablesharing your financials, find
somebody you can share yourfinancials with.
If you're not comfortablesharing employee success stories
and horror stories, then findsomebody you can do that with.
(20:18):
But you need to really findsomeone or people that you can
set quarterly check-ins to keepyour mindset right.
All right, again, just checkingin on my notes to make sure I
haven't gotten off topic.
(20:39):
Now for those of you listening,I'm kind of a wild card.
I'll have some stuff jotteddown and I do this during
meetings with my buddies orother business owners and I
completely go off topic and Ireally feel that the off topic
stuff can really hit home.
So that's why I like this.
It's not scripted, but thispodcast is unedited.
(21:02):
So this is why you're going tohear these pauses, because I'm
kind of thinking where I need tobe on this.
So you're getting kind of therealness of it.
So I want to share a failurewith you.
(21:23):
Everything was going good for me.
Everything was going good.
My business was growing.
I was super stoked.
I felt like gosh, like I turnedthis into.
You know, I went in from carpetcleaning.
I turned it into a banger,water damage restoration company
.
I'm making real good money.
And now I'm going to get intodifferent business ventures and
(21:48):
I immediately opened twodifferent businesses with two
different partners and threwmoney at it and was like, yeah,
we're going to make this right,Hit it with the same advertising
I would kind of do before withmy other stuff.
And I just really went all inon these two businesses and
those businesses quickly failed.
I want to say they were bothpretty much out of business
within like four or five months.
And that's where you know, whenyou sit back and you think about
(22:12):
you know why did?
Why did I fail?
Why did this happen?
You know what?
What?
As I dived into it and reallythought about it.
It was that I did not startsmall.
I immediately thought I couldbe this bigger company, I could
immediately have more employees,more expenses, all of this just
(22:33):
kind of garbage mindset that Ihad and I didn't pour the blood,
sweat and kind of tears that Idid building my business and it
failed, and it failed horribly.
Yeah, I don't know, don't bediscouraged.
If you're working at that donutshop right now that you've
(22:55):
poured all of your money into,and you're opening up at 4 or 5
am and you're staying late,you're cleaning up, you're going
home, you're, you know,sweeping up for the night,
you're cleaning up, you're tired, you're working like a dog.
It's your seventh day workingand you're just like gosh, like
I wish I had a ton of employeesand I don't know what I'm doing
(23:16):
wrong.
Listen, listen.
This is for sure the hard workyou put into your business, so
those customers you'reinteracting with and those
connections that you're making,will help your business thrive.
Now you've had maybe those 100clients come in, or 100
(23:37):
customers come in and nowthey're all repeat clients and
now they're telling theirfriends.
Now your business starts tothrive.
So you starting small is crucial.
If you're in it right now andyou don't want to be and you
want to be bigger, then meet upwith that buddy.
You can go to a localnetworking event If you don't
(24:00):
know anybody, make some friendsand start setting goals and have
them hold you accountable on.
Hey, it is now quarter three ofthis year.
Where are you at on your goalsfrom quarter two?
What's going on, what are yougoing to do and how are you
going to grow?
What's going on, what are yougoing to do and how are you
(24:22):
going to grow?
So I guess, in recap, don't getdiscouraged if you are in a
business right now where you aresmall.
Don't get discouraged as anentrepreneur or inspiring
entrepreneur, thinking that youneed to start small.
This is a huge part of yourbusiness's success.
(24:46):
And then know that it's goingto take time, but maintain that
bigger picture goal so you cangrow your business.
Guys, I really appreciate youlistening to this episode.
I really appreciate youlistening to this episode.
I really want to createvaluable content for the
business owners andentrepreneurs out there.
(25:06):
I love talking about it.
I love meeting people andtalking about business.
It is my life and I truly lovebeing a small business owner and
I just want to make sure thatthere is valuable content for
you, the listeners on this show.
You guys are going to be hugein creating the direction of
(25:27):
where this podcast goes, and Iam very thankful that you're
listening.
But I would be even morethankful if you could drop me a
line if it's an email or acomment section of what you
appreciated on this episode but,more importantly, what you
truly want to hear movingforward.
And if you've got any questionsor any struggles that you're
(25:49):
dealing with, drop thatprivately to me.
Let me dive in and see if I'vebeen through that before and if
not, I will call around mycircle and I'll have a guest on
here of somebody that else hasbeen through it and we can get
you the answers that you needand deserve.
Guys, again, thank you so much.
Please subscribe to our podcast, as I would love to grow the
(26:10):
audience as well, and I hope youguys have a good rest of the
day and I look forward totalking to you on the next
episode.
Again, this is Jonathan Wagneron the Business Guide podcast.
Thanks for joining us today.
Hey everyone, it's Jonathan Wagner and this is the
Business Guide Podcast.
Really excited to have youtuning in today and thank you
for joining us on our secondepisode, small Beginnings, where
you need to start small andthink big.
Again, jonathan Wagner, superexcited to have you a part of
(00:22):
this today and really want todive into some really some deep
issues on what it's like tostart a business and you know
sometimes your aspirations wheremaybe you've got some bigger
goals than you can actuallyexecute at the time, and what I
(00:43):
mean by that is, as I've startedmy business, I have to
continuously remind myself, as Iget into maybe a new business
venture, that I've really got totone it down and I've got to
start small.
But I also have that clearpicture of thinking big and
sometimes when you forget thatyou need to start small and you
(01:04):
start going big, that's wheremaybe you'll have some issues.
So this episode is forentrepreneurs out there that are
maybe aspiring to be a businessowner or start their first
business and, on the flip sideof that, also talking to the
(01:25):
entrepreneurs and businessowners out there that are
currently in the trenches rightnow and just encouraging you as
you go through different pointsin your business you've got to
always remember to start offsmall.
If that's a marketing campaignor maybe a new workforce or
whatever it may be, you reallyshould start small and always
have that aspiration and thinkbig.
(01:45):
So just a recap of who I amAgain, as mentioned, I'm
Jonathan Wagoner.
I am a small business owner inbeautiful California, southern
California Excuse me, I alwaysslip that up.
It is beautiful SouthernCalifornia, specifically Ventura
County.
I have a few differentbusinesses, but my main business
(02:07):
is a water damage restorationbusiness.
I've been in business a littlebit over 12 years and my goal of
these podcasts are really toconnect with entrepreneurs, get
them maybe some answers to maybea struggle that they're going
through or maybe they haven'tyet been through that struggle.
But I can tell you my time inbusiness.
I have seen my fair shares ofups and downs and if I can help
(02:30):
you navigate through that then Iwould consider this podcast a
success.
And again, a reminder I am nota professional podcaster.
I might have a camera pointedat me and a microphone, but yeah
, I get a little tongue tiedtied, so excuse me on it.
I don't want any edits on thispodcast.
I want it to be as raw and realas possible.
(02:51):
So thanks for joining us.
I'm really excited today ontoday's episode.
So, as mentioned, I want tomake sure that you really
understand where I'm coming atwith this episode on being able
to start small and thinking big.
This is something, and the wayI've crafted this in our second
(03:14):
episode like this is this is astrategic part of what we need
to do, and this podcast is anexample too.
Of course I need to start smallto do, and this podcast is an
example too.
Of course I need to start small.
It's myself in a little studio,but I do have some goals of
this podcast that I would like,and I'd like to go a little bit
bigger and make sure thateverybody that maybe needs to
(03:37):
listen to this is listening in.
But we've really got to startsmall.
Maybe I don't have fancyequipment or fancy training on
podcast, but this is a goodreminder that, no matter what
we're doing, we need to thinksmall, we need to dip our toes
into it, and I'm going to goover personal experiences of
where I've had to start smalland, of course, think big and
(03:59):
also grow.
With that picture, I will sharethat story, or stories, with
you, and you know times wheremaybe I've lost track of
thinking small and just goingstraight for going big and how
that's failed for me.
So really excited to you know.
Dive on into this, into thisepisode.
So first I want to talk to youabout the power of starting
(04:23):
small.
If you're an inspiringentrepreneur or obviously
already in business and you'relistening to this podcast, let's
think about this why it'simportant to start small and how
it can be beneficial to you andyour business.
You're going to have, obviously, starting in business.
(04:46):
You're going to have some lowerrisk.
Think about and this reminds meof when I started again.
I started in the carpet cleaningindustry and cleaned carpets.
So instead of going out rightaway and securing a facility to
house my equipment and my office, I ran it out of my home.
(05:07):
Therefore, I had a lowerfinancial obligation every
single month and it also helpedme put more money into my pocket
and grow my business.
It allowed me the flexibility.
So sometimes I was, you know,working late at night or had a
long day and instead of, youknow, maybe taking my vehicle,
(05:30):
you know, home and then havingto, you know, drive back from
the office to home, I was ableto just go right to my house and
as you start smaller as well,it's really easy to pivot your
business where you need it to go.
So when I was in the carpetcleaning business and I started
(05:50):
my business, I knew that I had akind of a wide range of
services that I knew were a corepart of my business that I
wanted to offer.
And there were some stuff thatI wanted to kind of test my toes
in and see if it would work.
So in my industry, in carpetcleaning, that was the primary
(06:11):
business.
Some businesses add that tilecleaning, upholstery cleaning,
air duct cleaning, dryer ventcleaning, things like that.
So these are the core servicesthat I wanted.
Now I also wanted to get intohouse cleaning.
I wanted to get into janitorialservices.
I wanted to get into strippingand waxing of floors, things
like that.
And so when I was small and Iwas there myself executing the
(06:35):
service or advertising theservice, you know it was like a
word of mouth thing that as Iwas going to business networking
events and things like that, Istarted dropping the services
that I was offering and so itwas easier for me to pivot into
that industry but on the flipside, I didn't dump a ton of
marketing material into it towhere, when I needed to pivot
(06:56):
out and I found that a housecleaning wasn't going to work
for my business model orjanitorial services wasn't going
to work for my model, I wasable to pivot out of that.
That really didn't cost me aloss of money.
If you will, I can tell you inmy water damage restoration
business, when I was able topivot there, I did take the same
mindset of thinking small there.
(07:18):
I brought that into expandingmy business.
It allowed me to safely expandmy business but I was able to
pivot into that market verycarefully with a relatively
low-risk financial positionthere.
So very important when you'restarting your business or you're
starting out a venture toremember it is okay to start
(07:41):
small.
Matter of fact, it's actuallygoing to help you grow your
business faster.
You're going to intimately knowthe details of your business,
the things that work and thethings that don't work, and
you're going to be able toimplement those changes
immediately.
If you were to just go bigright away, you might get into a
service or have a product thatis unprofitable for you, but it
(08:05):
takes you a minute to digestthat and realize, hey, this is
not viable for my business andtherefore maybe you've lost some
money.
So, starting small extremelybeneficial, low risk.
You've got the flexibility andit's very easy to pivot when you
are small.
Again, to recap, you're alsolearning how to grow your
(08:30):
business with thinking small,and I know that sounds mangled.
I got a little off a topicthere, so I apologize.
I got a little off a topicthere, so I apologize.
You know, I think when you'redealing with your day-to-day
service and being small, it canalso be very frustrating.
(08:52):
So I knew this gentleman, reallyreally, really good guy, and he
had been doing what you knowwhat I was, the business that I
had got into and I had talked tohim so many times and you know
he really opened up to meintimately on his business.
And this is a guy that I lookedup to for a while, really great
(09:12):
guy, and one of the issues thathe had with growing his
business was he had alwaysmaintained a goal or a big
picture mindset of wanting toexpand his business, but he was
never able to get out of thesmall business mindset on the
(09:33):
flip side.
So, as mentioned in our firstepisode, he had some fears, you
know, fears that he was not ableto overcome.
Now fast forward 15 years.
He is still in the exact samespot, but he's got the big
picture mindset.
And so for us entrepreneurs, Ithink that it's important for us
to keep that big picturemindset, but also don't get
(09:57):
comfortable in being in thatsmall realm if that's not
something that you want.
I know that a lot ofentrepreneurs and business
owners out there are completelycontent with maybe an operation
where it's just themselves orit's a couple of their employees
(10:17):
and they are completely okaywith that.
That is great.
As long as you're profitableand in business and you're happy
with what you're doing, thenI'm not gonna be one to tell you
to do anything different.
That's what works for you.
But for me, I knew that Ineeded to start small and I
always consistently thought big,and sometimes my bank account
(10:39):
didn't always line up with mygoals and the things that I
wanted to do.
I remember, specifically,cleaning carpets.
Probably maybe about a year inA year is really where I really
started to push myself of.
I really want to get out ofthis role and I really want to
grow my business to the nextlevel and obviously, as you can
(11:01):
imagine, it's just myself atthat point.
I remember having a really,really long day and we've got a.
You'll see it in a bunch of carcommercials.
But I live, as mentioned, inVentura County.
There's this rock in PointMagoo and it goes from my city
to Malibu and I remember I had along day that day and why I
(11:26):
mentioned you might see those isthey film a lot of car
commercials on that kind of thatstretch.
But that is on the one.
And I remember going to one ofmy projects.
I mean, I was working all dayand I was working like a dog
that day.
I was so tired, it was late andI had a customer call in and
they kind of needed like anemergency carpet cleaning, if
you would, and I was like gosh,I really need to go to this, I
(11:49):
really want to make the extramoney and I want to make this
customer happy.
I don't want them to callanybody else.
So I shot out there, did what Ineeded to do and I remember
just being so drained on the wayback.
I was hungry, I was practicallylike dehydrated and I remember
kind of watching the sunset,thinking is this going to be a
business that fast forward?
(12:10):
10 years from now, 20 yearsfrom now, I am still sitting in
this driver's seat doing theexact same thing, answering the
same calls, and I just knew thata year was my limit.
I was like I've got to reallylight a fire under my butt.
I knew I had the big picturegoal of growing the business,
(12:33):
but I was comfortable in thesmall scale.
So I knew I needed to startmoving in the right direction.
And that's been the story for alot of friends that I talked to
that are in business is they arein that small boat or have been
in that small boat and thereare things and fears that
they've had to overcome to startgrowing their business.
(12:56):
And really the first big thingthat I think a lot of
entrepreneurs kind of get stuckin is that first employee hire
and I'll go into that more indepth into another episode.
But I think that once you areable to justify a workforce and
you're able to slowly startbringing people on safely, I
(13:19):
think it's one of the bestdecisions you can make in
business.
And that really resonates withme because when I was able to
find that person that I knew wasgoing to be gold for my
business, that's when mybusiness started to take off.
So you know again, it's okay tobe small, work small, think
(13:42):
small, but continuously thinkabout the bigger picture and
don't, you know, don't getcomfortable there.
If that's not where you want tobe, don't think that day one
you can, you know, immediatelyopen your doors and you can, you
know, spend the money of, youknow, facebook or Google.
I mean, while we would like tothink that we, our businesses,
can be successful which they canbe you've really got to put
(14:05):
your own blood, sweat and tearsinto that business so it can
thrive and be successful.
I think that I've mentioned oror not, excuse me not have
mentioned, but I would like tomention is as I have gotten into
different business ventures.
Now my business is successfuland thriving and I feel like
I've got I mean, I know I've gota great management team and now
(14:26):
I can start doing other things.
I've gotten into other businessventures.
Some are successful and somehave failed, and you know the
failures I could really dive inand I feel like in future
episodes I will dive in intothose failures, but I feel like
a lot of those failures have todo with right off the bat.
(14:47):
It took me time and it took mebeing small to actually grow
into being a successful business, into being a successful
business and in the businessmodels that are successful and
(15:08):
do work, they have started small.
I've been able to really grindthose businesses, put my blood,
sweat and tears into thosebusinesses and then they're able
to thrive.
So remember it's a part of thestrategy when you start small.
I'm going to take a quicksecond to just review my notes
because I want to make sure I'mnot getting off topic.
(15:31):
Okay, so, moving on, maintaininga big picture mindset, um,
maintaining a big picturemindset, um, obviously, as
you're going through your day today, um, you know, as I was
going through my day to day as a, you know, a carpet cleaner, I
think you get you.
You can slightly get distractedwhen, when you are a smaller
(15:53):
company, um, I remember the daysof, you know, waking up, going
to a networking event, breakfastmorning networking event at my
local chamber, going and doingmy regular jobs that day, maybe
a full day of three or fourcarpet cleaning jobs all by
myself, and then going back andmaybe doing an evening
(16:15):
networking.
And that example of my schedulewas practically every Tuesday
for the first two years inbusiness was just this long
drawn out day of me doing a tonof customer jobs and then going
and doing different networkingevents.
I really grinded that.
But as you're in the trenchesand you're dealing with this
(16:42):
everyday grind or hustle, youcan really be love being in
business and I'm super excitedto be in business.
But I mean I was just kind of ahigh-paid employee at that
(17:12):
point that could lose everythingon a moment's notice if the
phone stopped ringing,everything on a moment's notice
if the phone stopped ringing.
So really maintaining that bigpicture in your mind, or
whatever your version of yourbusiness is, is so important
that you don't lose focus onthat.
One thing that helps me in mylife is I have a good friend
(17:37):
that I like to meet up withevery quarter and we just go
over our goals for that quarter,we go over our success stories
and we go over our failures andwhat we're going to do to get
over them and move on.
And that is done every quarter.
For me as a business owner andentrepreneur, there can be a lot
(18:01):
of people around you, but itcan also be very lonely and
especially when you haveemployees and they need you know
, they need your brain and theyneed you to.
You know, work with them andconsult them and and be there
for them all these differentthings.
But to be able to have a settime where I can kind of check
out and I can go through mygoals and I can go through my
(18:23):
failures and I can talk tosomebody about that has been
super important in my life andmy business venture.
So if you've got a friend outthere excuse me, if you've got a
friend or you know somebody inan industry or another business
owner, I would encourage you tomeet up with them, set once a
(18:47):
month, once a quarter, onceevery six months, once a year I
mean I probably wouldn't go outonce a year, but I think six
months at the furthest.
But go out and check in withthem and check in with their
business, put them on notice.
Like I mentioned, this can be alonely time, right?
(19:11):
You're the entrepreneur, you'rethe one that's sitting behind
the computer late at nightthinking about gosh, what's my
next marketing idea or what's mynext move in business, and the
kids are asleep and your wife orhusband is asleep and you just
don't know what to do and peoplelook for you for direction.
It can be very lonely at times.
So having somebody that's inthose shoes with you that you
(19:34):
can get real with.
I highly encourage that.
But it helps you focus onexactly what you want in
business.
And if you're in that smallbusiness right now or you're in
that small business mindset andyou want to grow your business,
(19:56):
this is one of the level upsthat you need to do to do that
business.
This is one of the level upsthat you need to do to do that.
Meet up with somebody, havethem check in and get real.
Share things that you normallywouldn't share to people.
If you're not comfortablesharing your financials, find
somebody you can share yourfinancials with.
If you're not comfortablesharing employee success stories
and horror stories, then findsomebody you can do that with.
(20:18):
But you need to really findsomeone or people that you can
set quarterly check-ins to keepyour mindset right.
All right, again, just checkingin on my notes to make sure I
haven't gotten off topic.
(20:39):
Now for those of you listening,I'm kind of a wild card.
I'll have some stuff jotteddown and I do this during
meetings with my buddies orother business owners and I
completely go off topic and Ireally feel that the off topic
stuff can really hit home.
So that's why I like this.
It's not scripted, but thispodcast is unedited.
(21:02):
So this is why you're going tohear these pauses, because I'm
kind of thinking where I need tobe on this.
So you're getting kind of therealness of it.
So I want to share a failurewith you.
(21:23):
Everything was going good for me.
Everything was going good.
My business was growing.
I was super stoked.
I felt like gosh, like I turnedthis into.
You know, I went in from carpetcleaning.
I turned it into a banger,water damage restoration company
.
I'm making real good money.
And now I'm going to get intodifferent business ventures and
(21:48):
I immediately opened twodifferent businesses with two
different partners and threwmoney at it and was like, yeah,
we're going to make this right,Hit it with the same advertising
I would kind of do before withmy other stuff.
And I just really went all inon these two businesses and
those businesses quickly failed.
I want to say they were bothpretty much out of business
within like four or five months.
And that's where you know, whenyou sit back and you think about
(22:12):
you know why did?
Why did I fail?
Why did this happen?
You know what?
What?
As I dived into it and reallythought about it.
It was that I did not startsmall.
I immediately thought I couldbe this bigger company, I could
immediately have more employees,more expenses, all of this just
(22:33):
kind of garbage mindset that Ihad and I didn't pour the blood,
sweat and kind of tears that Idid building my business and it
failed, and it failed horribly.
Yeah, I don't know, don't bediscouraged.
If you're working at that donutshop right now that you've
(22:55):
poured all of your money into,and you're opening up at 4 or 5
am and you're staying late,you're cleaning up, you're going
home, you're, you know,sweeping up for the night,
you're cleaning up, you're tired, you're working like a dog.
It's your seventh day workingand you're just like gosh, like
I wish I had a ton of employeesand I don't know what I'm doing
(23:16):
wrong.
Listen, listen.
This is for sure the hard workyou put into your business, so
those customers you'reinteracting with and those
connections that you're making,will help your business thrive.
Now you've had maybe those 100clients come in, or 100
(23:37):
customers come in and nowthey're all repeat clients and
now they're telling theirfriends.
Now your business starts tothrive.
So you starting small is crucial.
If you're in it right now andyou don't want to be and you
want to be bigger, then meet upwith that buddy.
You can go to a localnetworking event If you don't
(24:00):
know anybody, make some friendsand start setting goals and have
them hold you accountable on.
Hey, it is now quarter three ofthis year.
Where are you at on your goalsfrom quarter two?
What's going on, what are yougoing to do and how are you
going to grow?
What's going on, what are yougoing to do and how are you
(24:22):
going to grow?
So I guess, in recap, don't getdiscouraged if you are in a
business right now where you aresmall.
Don't get discouraged as anentrepreneur or inspiring
entrepreneur, thinking that youneed to start small.
This is a huge part of yourbusiness's success.
(24:46):
And then know that it's goingto take time, but maintain that
bigger picture goal so you cangrow your business.
Guys, I really appreciate youlistening to this episode.
I really appreciate youlistening to this episode.
I really want to createvaluable content for the
business owners andentrepreneurs out there.
(25:06):
I love talking about it.
I love meeting people andtalking about business.
It is my life and I truly lovebeing a small business owner and
I just want to make sure thatthere is valuable content for
you, the listeners on this show.
You guys are going to be hugein creating the direction of
(25:27):
where this podcast goes, and Iam very thankful that you're
listening.
But I would be even morethankful if you could drop me a
line if it's an email or acomment section of what you
appreciated on this episode but,more importantly, what you
truly want to hear movingforward.
And if you've got any questionsor any struggles that you're
(25:49):
dealing with, drop thatprivately to me.
Let me dive in and see if I'vebeen through that before and if
not, I will call around mycircle and I'll have a guest on
here of somebody that else hasbeen through it and we can get
you the answers that you needand deserve.
Guys, again, thank you so much.
Please subscribe to our podcast, as I would love to grow the
(26:10):
audience as well, and I hope youguys have a good rest of the
day and I look forward totalking to you on the next
episode.
Again, this is Jonathan Wagneron the Business Guide podcast.
Thanks for joining us today.
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