July 18, 2024 • 32 mins
Ever wondered what it takes to leave a stable corporate job and venture into the unpredictable world of entrepreneurship? Join me, Jonathan Wagoner, as I kick off "The Business Guide" podcast with a personal story of transitioning from a steady paycheck to creating my own successful businesses. This episode is all about taking that crucial first step into the entrepreneurial journey, dealing with doubts and challenges, and the raw, unpolished reality of business ownership. You'll hear firsthand accounts of my experiences and gain insights that will prepare you to tackle your own entrepreneurial dreams.
Facing fears is an essential part of growth and success in any business, and in this episode, I open up about the multifaceted fears that entrepreneurs deal with daily. From hiring new employees to taking on large projects, I'll share my personal anecdotes and strategies for overcoming these roadblocks. Discover how conquering my own apprehensions, including starting this very podcast, has been pivotal for progress. The goal is to inspire you to face your fears, make necessary changes, and experience a mindset shift that can propel your business towards success. Get ready for an honest and motivational conversation about the true essence of entrepreneurship and how you can achieve both personal and professional growth.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Jonathan (00:00):
Hey everyone, it's Jonathan Wagoner and I am your
host of the Business Guide.
I want to thank you for joiningus on our very first episode.
I am happy that you are here ifyou're tuning in and I'm happy
you're checking out our podcast.
The title of this episode isthe First Step Overcoming the
(00:21):
Fears of getting started, andwhen I crafted this episode it
really resonated with me of whenI started my business and some
of the unknowns I didn't knowwhat to expect Definitely
resonated with me.
So an appropriate title forthis show and I'm looking
forward to introducing myself soyou can get to know me and what
(00:44):
to expect on this podcast.
So first I want to start with anintroduction.
As mentioned, my name isJonathan Wagner.
I am a business owner inbeautiful Southern Cali.
Excuse me, I apologize if mywords get a little mangled, as
(01:05):
I'm not used to just kind oftalking alone.
So I want to try to not editthis.
I want this as raw as possibleso you can really get an
unedited version of thesepodcasts.
So if I stumble, forgive me.
So back to my introduction.
I've been a business owner inbeautiful Southern California
(01:26):
for a little over 13 years,started in 2012.
My business first started, Ihad a carpet cleaning business
which later merged into a waterdamage restoration business.
Throughout my time being abusiness owner, I have also had
my hands in different businesspartnerships and do have another
(01:50):
business marketing company thatspecializes in helping
entrepreneurs out.
So that is a little bit aboutme and my business and I want to
jump into why I've started thispodcast Now.
I know that it was a littlepremature.
I had to mention that.
(02:10):
You're going to hear me mess up.
I want this podcast to be raw.
I don't want it to have a tonof edits.
I want you to get what is on mymind, what I've been through,
and I just really want you tofeel the realness in this
podcast.
I think, as business owners, aswe're maybe thinking about
(02:30):
marketing our business orthinking about going into the
customer's house or whatever itmay be, we've got some unknowns
and when maybe a fancy marketingcompany comes up to us or we
reach out to them to maybe dosome advertising to our business
, we feel maybe a little bitintimidated and they've just
really got that sale down.
When we're walking in anddealing with our very first
(02:58):
client, or maybe we're adding anadditional service on to our
business and we're business andwe're not.
You know, we're not quite surehow that's going to go.
Sometimes the way that you well, not sometimes, but the way you
present yourself really speaksvolumes to that customer or to
that vendor that you're lookingto build that partnership for or
(03:20):
with.
So, on this podcast, I want, Ireally want this to be unedited.
I want you to see how sincere Iam of just getting out quality
information for you.
It doesn't need to be packagedpretty.
I've realized that things thatare packaged pretty once you
unwrap them aren't always thebest.
(03:41):
And this may be packaged okay,but hopefully it gives you the
quality information you need togrow your business, and that's
really why I've started thispodcast.
Throughout my time in business,there have been people that I
have relied on.
I have gone to and confideddifferent things and I never
felt like I really got astraightforward answer or
(04:04):
something that really helped meand helped me grow.
Now, on the flip side, I havedefinitely consulted with a lot
of people and there has beentakeaways that have helped my
business as well.
So, yeah, with this podcast, Ijust I really find it important
to get you quality informationand answer questions.
(04:25):
I'm going to have otherbusiness owners on here.
I'm going to have questionsthat I'd like you to email in if
you're an avid listener and youfind this interesting.
So, yeah, I would really liketo get questions answered.
If I can add any clarity tomaybe something you're going
through maybe I've been throughit because I'll tell you what
(04:46):
I've been through a lot inbusiness.
There's been so many ups anddowns and I just you know if I
can help you get through thosedowns and you know you have an
up because of it, then thispodcast was successful.
So that's really why thispodcast is here.
This is gonna be a two-lane, isgoing to be a two-way road.
(05:06):
I need feedback from you andI'm here to craft these episodes
to what you need.
So, coming into the first topicthat I want to talk about and
again, I'm not a fancy person.
I don't have a teleprompter toread off of.
I've got my laptop, I've got amicrophone and I've got a camera
(05:28):
and I normally don't filmmyself talking.
So this is a little new to me.
So, number one, the first thingI want to talk about, is the
significance of the first step.
Excuse me of the first step.
Excuse me of the first step.
(05:49):
I want to discuss theimportance of taking that
initial leap into being a smallbusiness owner or maybe somebody
getting into entrepreneurship.
When I first started my business, you know there were so many
doubts in my mind.
I worked at a large corporationand I'm just going to say it I
used to work at Walgreens.
I like to hide that and yeah, Idon't know why I hide it, but
(06:13):
yeah, I used to work atWalgreens.
So I was a manager at Walgreens.
I was tired of the corporatestructure that they had.
I was tired of you know.
We knew a busy season wascoming up, so we hired a
workforce and then the nextquarter it was no longer the
busy season and we were lettinggo of that workforce.
So there were some things thatjust didn't vibe for me and I
(06:35):
wanted out of there.
My job, I was very good at it.
I was going to be a company guy.
I was excited and theyannounced that they were going
to do some management kind ofshakeup.
And the way that they weregoing to be a company guy.
I was excited and theyannounced that they were going
to do some management kind ofshakeup and the way that they
were going to document and getrid of these managers.
I really found a problem in that, and so one night I was in
(06:58):
charge of the overnight crewthat was, ironically, cleaning
and waxing the floors.
And I say ironically, because acouple years passed from there,
I started getting into that.
So, ironically, I was in theovernight.
I was there that night and in astockroom excuse me, I was in a
(07:20):
stockroom and just tired of myjob and I really remember this
particular night because it wasthe night Osama bin Laden was
killed by the United States.
So I was reading the news and Iwas just tired and I took a
piece of paper down and startedto write out what I wanted to do
(07:43):
with myself and what I could doto get out of Walgreens.
Now, at the time I had reallyinspired to be a police officer.
Walgreens was going to be astepping stone for me.
I wanted a solid job and if Ihad gotten picked up to be a
police officer, great.
If not, I was going to justcontinue course with Walgreens
(08:07):
and, like I said, be a companyman.
This was a big change to me.
I didn't know what I was goingto do.
I just thought you know whatI'm going to start a business.
It's something that I couldprovide a stable living for
myself.
I could provide a stable livingfor myself, I could show
maturity for my police officerapplication and I wouldn't have
(08:32):
to worry about maybe my jobbeing in jeopardy if I did
something small wrong.
So I took this piece of paperout and started to write down
things that I was good at Rightout of high school.
I had cleaned carpets and then,unfortunately, the recession
(08:53):
hit.
That slowed down.
I went and helped my mom at hersmall business for a couple
months and then let me back up alittle bit.
Right before that, I actuallywent to another job and cleaned
carpets as well, and they did alittle bit of water damage
restoration.
So I actually worked for twocarpet cleaning companies and
then one that kind of sidelinedand did some restoration work.
And then the recession happenedand it slowed down and then I
(09:14):
went and worked for my mom andthey ultimately got my job at
Walgreens.
So I started writing thesethings down and one thing I was
really good at was sellingcarpet cleaning services.
I was a good seller and I knewthat I could sell essentially
carpet cleanings and that nightI crafted how I would go about
(09:35):
buying a van where I would findmy carpet cleaning products and
really created the framework formy business plan that night in
that stock room.
The coming weeks I really honedin my business plan.
I started to piece together mysuppliers and figure out what I
was going to do.
I started to jot down mydifferent marketing techniques
(09:58):
that I was going to try and,yeah, it just kind of came to a
standstill.
I was nervous.
I was nervous to take thatinitial leap into the
entrepreneurship.
Walking away from a guaranteedpaycheck was nerve-wracking.
I remember having a first setof postcards that I had put
(10:20):
together and I hadn't quitebought my carpet cleaning
equipment just yet.
But I started to put togethersome marketing material and I
remember getting these mailersready and my then girlfriend,
now wife, had said I don'tunderstand your thinking right
now, as I was at home in myliving room on my living room
(10:44):
floor putting together thismarketing material.
I'm not quite understandingyour thinking right now of you
know going to leave thisguaranteed paycheck and go out
to something that you don't know.
And I really felt that you knowat that time I was extremely
nervous.
Now it has really shown to methat we as entrepreneurs are
(11:07):
just a different breed of people.
We are separate from those thatyou know clock in and out every
single day.
We want to challenge what we'recapable of, we want to
challenge the world of unknownsand so, yeah, I definitely
hesitated to start my businessat that time and I had one
(11:30):
weekend off and I knew I had todo something to shake myself up,
to get myself started intobusiness.
And so what I did is I went outthat weekend and I bought my
carpet cleaning van.
I knew that I could not affordmy.
I couldn't afford a van paymentwith my other car payment that
(11:53):
I had working at Walgreens, andso that really pushed me into
you need to do what you want todo now and the coming weeks from
there.
I went ahead and got my machinethat goes in that van and then
the time had come.
I put my two-week notice in.
Now what's funny is I talk abouthesitation.
(12:16):
I didn't give just a two-week,I gave a three-week notice, just
that little extra in my mind,like let me get another week out
of this before I start mybusiness.
So I was definitely hesitant inbusiness, but I have to say
giving that three-week noticewas one of the best decisions of
my life.
I could not imagine stillpunching that clock at Walgreens
(12:36):
I mean, there's great peoplethat work there but it just
definitely wasn't for me and Iwanted to do something more.
So when you're getting intobusiness, if you're listening to
this podcast and you'rethinking about getting into
business, I understand thatinitial leap that you're scared
of.
If you're confident you can runa business and you're confident
(12:58):
you can succeed leap, do it,and do it now.
It's going to be one of thebest decisions you do or make
and for any small businessowners that are already out
there and are running on theirday-to-day, congratulations.
You got over one of the biggesthurdles and I hope that that
was one of your best decisionsthat you made in your life was
(13:19):
stepping away from the norm andputting yourself into the
driver's seat.
My next topic that I've got onhere and again, I don't know how
to transition these things.
I don't want to edit it oranything there, so sorry if the
first transitions are kind ofrough.
(13:39):
So my next transition isidentifying fear and I want to
talk about, you know, commonfears that you might be going
through or I went throughgetting our business going, I
mean, when I didn't want to putmy two-week notice in.
(14:02):
I really I mean, I guess Ireally was fearful of certain
things and as a business owneror small business owner, we're
always in that fearful zone.
I mean, every single month I'mfearful.
I mean I've definitely overcomea lot and do have a good
understanding of business and Ido have some thriving businesses
(14:24):
, so I mean I'm thankful forthat.
But there's always somethingdeep down inside of well, what
if the phone isn't going to ring?
Or what if something happensand this customer doesn't like
my service?
And maybe they go online andthey say something negative
about my business or myemployees do something
inappropriate and it hurts mybusiness?
(14:48):
Think that there are so manydifferent fears in business that
you're going to deal with thatyou definitely have to be able
to identify exactly what you'reafraid of when you're dealing
with an issue so you can work onovercoming that fear.
Because there have been plentyof times that I've been in
(15:10):
business, where or throughout mytime in business, that I've
been fearful of somethingfearful of the employee that I
really need to hire but what ifmy phone stops ringing and I
don't have work for thatemployee or fearful that maybe I
took on a bigger project than Ithought I could handle, than I
(15:30):
thought I could handle.
You know, identifying that fearand identifying those things
are ultimately gonna hold youback in business.
If you don't identify what theproblem is, if you're afraid of
maybe hiring that employee, well, why are you afraid?
I've got many friends inbusiness now that I have been
(15:51):
thankful to meet throughout theyears in business and there are
a couple of people that resonatewith me of this workup.
They were working independentlywith themselves for quite some
time.
They knew that they needed toadd employees onto their
business, that they could nolonger handle the workflow that
(16:13):
they had and they were startingto maybe get burnt out.
But this fear that they had ofhiring that person and again,
like I mentioned, maybe thephone stops ringing, maybe
something happens and you don'thave work, but ultimately it's
stunting your growth by nothaving that employee.
So being able to overcome thoseobstacles it is huge in being
(16:40):
successful in business, but itall starts with you figuring out
and you identifying your painpoints.
Again, sorry, I'm reading mynotes.
I think I've jumped over alittle bit, but once you
(17:08):
identify the fear, you need tomove on to understand that fear
is something that is temporarybut fast forward years later if
you don't do it.
I mean if you regret what youdon't do.
I mean regret is more powerfulthan fear, at least for me.
(17:33):
And I don't know.
I'm reading my notes in hereand it's saying that I should
mention kind of fearful of doingthis podcast and it's just
something that I I I want to getout there but I don't want to
(17:56):
regret not doing it and I meanI'll give you a little, uh, give
you a little backstory.
Um, about four years ago Iwanted to start a podcast.
I have met so many differentbusiness owners throughout my
time in business and I've reallybeen able to help people.
I've been able to help peoplewith simple advice that I've
(18:19):
already been through.
I never read a book on how tostart a business.
I didn't go to college andmajor in anything business.
I was a regular Joe Schmoworking a job that was tired of
it and I knew that I could dobetter and wanted to get out on
my own and do it.
And sorry, I don't know, nowwe're in the moment of awkward
(19:02):
pause, I don't know, I don'twant to edit this out, but yeah,
I mean I've had this podcaststudio ready for about four
months.
Yeah, I mean, I've had thispodcast studio ready for about
four months.
I thought of the idea about fouryears ago and put it off.
I let my business I mean mybusiness is a successful
business, it needs me, and sothere's my excuse.
(19:24):
I've got a business.
I mean, I've got plenty of timeto get in front of a camera and
a microphone and sing away.
So it took me four years tofinally get a little studio and
put this studio together,ordered the equipment, excited,
wanting to share just thisknowledge with you.
(19:45):
And, trust me, I don't knoweverything and I won't ever
claim to know everything.
And if you know how to dosomething better, please tell me
.
But my message to you is we allgo through the same thing, just
different times, throughout ourbusiness career.
And if I can forewarn somebodyabout something that maybe
(20:08):
they're going to go through orsomething that they're
struggling with, that's thewhole purpose of this podcast.
So, talking about overcomingfear, this is it that standing
in front or sitting in front ofa camera talking to you, looking
up, talking into the mic, it'skind of fearful.
I haven't done it before.
I can watch YouTube videos.
(20:29):
I can watch Instagram videos,but doing it on my own is a
little hard for the business.
I do record videos and it's alittle easier, but they're very
short videos.
It's not a long-tailed videolike this.
There's a ton of edits and withthis podcast it is really meant
to be unedited.
I want the raw version of it.
So I'm going to try to keepthat mindful and I hope that I'm
(20:52):
not rambling on too much.
But I hope that through thetime that you listen to this,
you see this podcast evolve,because my hope with this
podcast is quick, 10 to20-minute episodes, something
that you can throw on in the car, and we have crafted for
something you might be dealingwith.
Maybe it's something financial,maybe it's something
marketing-wise, maybe it'semployee, and then I'm also
(21:14):
going to have guests on here.
So I am going to keep theseshort, I'm going to keep them
sweet and I hope that you joinme to watch this podcast evolve
into me being a little bit morecomfortable in front of the
camera.
So back to my point, the pointsthat I was trying to make.
We need to identify the fear,we need to understand the fear
(21:35):
and we need to overcome the fear.
Right now I'm overcoming thefear of creating these podcasts
by getting in front of thismicrophone and this camera and
talking to you.
That is me overcoming this fearand I hope out of that we
continue to have really coolepisodes and you tune in and
listen to these.
So that is overcoming the fear.
After we overcome the fear, wehave this mind shift change and
(21:59):
I saw that when I started mybusiness.
I was able to overcome my fearof getting started and I got
started.
I stopped talking about it andI did it.
I went and signed that van, Iput that two-week notice in and
now I was on my own and I neededto get the phones to ring.
And really, what I noticed whenI was no longer an employee and
(22:24):
now I'm a business owner, andwhat I'm about to say is, if
you're an inspiring businessowner, you might not feel this
way, but us business ownersright now we definitely have
this, where we've got this mindshift, change of look.
I'm not going and clocking inanymore and I'm not punching the
(22:46):
clock waiting to get out at my40 hours at the end of the week.
Being a business owner is hard.
Sometimes we're working 50hours a week, 60 hours a week.
I mean we're sometimes thelowest paid employee if you add
it up hourly.
I mean we deal with ourcustomers all day.
Maybe we do some marketing atnight and we hit the QuickBooks
(23:09):
on the weekends.
So you really have to have thismind shift change.
And for some business ownersthat I've seen pop up and start
their business and unfortunatelybe unsuccessful, it's clear to
me that they never had that mindshift change and that's OK.
They weren't meant to be abusiness owner and they are
(23:30):
thriving somewhere else.
But for us business owners, weunderstand that maybe we need to
burn that midnight oil and whenyou're able to overcome your
fears, identifying them, andyour mind starts changing of
look, I'm fearful of this, butI'm going to do it anyways and
(23:50):
I'm going to be successful at it, that is what helps your
business grow and helps youthrive as a person.
You need to keep in mind thatthroughout business, you're
going to set different goals,you're going to have fears and
(24:14):
you're going to have failures,but you need to set realistic
expectations for yourself.
I'm going to give you anexample.
When I had my business, like Isaid, I started carpet cleaning.
A couple of years in, we mergedover to a water damage full
service restoration company andthings were on the up and up.
Everything was great and I knewthat I wanted to go bigger.
(24:36):
I didn't want to just servicemy one county or my county and
then another county.
I really wanted to expand.
So, a couple hundred miles away, I opened another location and
I poured money into it.
I poured, wanted to expand.
So a couple hundred miles away,I opened another location and I
poured money into it.
I poured resources into it andeverything was on the up and up,
but I could see that thingsweren't going my way.
(24:59):
Again, this is my business name, this is my child, my baby.
I've poured myself into this.
There has definitely been blood,sweat and tears, for sure in
this business and the managementdidn't resonate with me at that
location and that was a failureon my behalf.
(25:20):
There were certain things thatI didn't do, so I ultimately,
about a year and a half in,closed to that location and I
was bummed out.
I was disappointed, I wasdisappointed in myself and it
took me probably about a yearand a half to.
I wouldn't say get back up, butunderstand that it's okay to
(25:45):
fail, but I have to setrealistic expectations for
myself, hiring a bunch of randompeople great people, by the way
but they didn't know anythingabout me or my business.
Now, they understood the actualbusiness of water damage
restoration, but they didn'tknow what I stood for and the
business stood for.
(26:06):
We didn't.
I didn't get them that message.
Therefore, every employee thatwas there never got to really
resonate with my message into mybusiness.
So I didn't fail, but I didn'tset myself a realistic
expectation, a realisticexpectation.
And now doing certain things andgoing into a different business
(26:28):
excuse me, going into adifferent business or business
partnership I have to set arealistic expectation for myself
.
And what is my gauge of success?
Just like on this podcast, whatis my gauge of success?
If I've got, you know, 100listeners or 10 listeners, it
doesn't matter to me.
It matters that there arepeople out there that are
(26:53):
consuming this information.
They find it helpful, itresonates with them and it helps
them grow their business.
This is something that I'm trulypassionate about.
I like talking about this and Ilike sharing it.
Most of my lunch meetings withmy different business owner
friends are normally talkingabout how they can grow their
business and then maybequestions they're dealing with
(27:16):
and I can get those answered.
So that's what this is for.
So setting realisticexpectations is key.
It is a key measure to yoursuccess.
Don't bite off more than youcan chew and slowly grow up to
that.
Now, if you're really good atwhat you do and you happen to
grow and you know blow the lidoff, then that's great.
But set realistic expectationsas you grow.
(27:37):
I'm moving on to my next point.
As I can tell you, I againdon't know how to do this, but I
want to encourage you to takeaction in your business.
If there's maybe somethingyou're fearful of that you know,
you want to maybe expand yourservice area or expand your
(28:00):
services, or maybe you'rethinking about getting into
business start taking action.
But before you take action,identify what is making you
fearful.
Understand it and overcome itand take action on it, because
it's going to be one of the bestthings you did For me.
I was comfortable.
I dumped a ton of money intocarpet cleaning and I was really
(28:23):
good at it.
I had a really good reputation.
My customers loved me.
I had a great product, a greatservice.
But for me, as I started hiringa person or two, I knew that I
wanted.
One of my goals was to havelong-term employees with me and
I knew that I could not attractand retain quality people at the
(28:48):
wages I was going to be able topay out of carpet cleaning, and
so I knew that I needed to addon a service, and one of those
services that I was fearful ofadding on I mean it was going to
be more expenses for me.
It was a very cutthroatindustry.
It's something I added on.
I took action.
(29:09):
I overcame that fear and I tookaction and now fast forward.
That business is no longercarpet cleaning whatsoever and
just does premier restorationwork.
So you never know what maybethat service or that business
that you're going to start.
What is limiting you fromgetting started?
So take action on it.
(29:29):
Take action.
If you're seeing this video,it's up on YouTube.
I have not explored how toreally upload this.
I do kind of understand how toget these podcasts up, so I
don't know if you can leave acomment on the actual podcast
feed, but if you see this andthere's a thread that you can
leave a comment, I would reallyappreciate some feedback on this
(29:53):
podcast.
I would really appreciate youleaving some questions, if you
have any questions, what you'redealing with in business, some
things that maybe keep you up atnight.
I really want to get to qualityanswers for you, and if I don't
have the answer for you, I'lltell you I don't have the answer
for you.
I'll tell you I don't have theanswer for you, but I'm going to
have guests on here as well andmaybe they have the answer for
you as well.
So please leave me a comment,wherever it may be, and ask away
(30:17):
, ask your questions.
I want to close up, guys.
I want you to remember that inbusiness, it's okay to be.
Remember that in business, it'sokay to be scared, it's okay to
have fears, but it's not okayto not do what you want to do
(30:51):
and it's not okay then beregretful.
I don't want to sit there andregret anything.
We've got one life to live andI want to enjoy my life.
The business, while it'sdefinitely one of those things
that I want to pull my hair outsometimes I am up late at night
(31:12):
or there's an issue I've got towork through this business has
been one of the best decisionsof my life getting into business
and then becoming anentrepreneur, the financial
freedom that I'm able to have,the time that I have with my
family.
The things that I get to do thatI would have never been able to
(31:33):
do working at Walgreens haveall been such a blessing for me,
and I just want to encourageyou, if you are an inspiring
entrepreneur, to get going.
Get going into business ifthat's truly what you want to do
, and to every business ownerout there, I want you to succeed
(31:54):
in what you do.
I'm sure you completelyunderstand what I mean by it
keeps you up at night.
There are certain things thatkeep you up at night or things
you've got to do, so let's worktogether on this, let's get
through these issues, let's getthrough questions, let's grow
our businesses together andlet's grow our lives together.
Guys, thank you so much forjoining me on this very first
(32:17):
episode.
The Business Guide Againmentioned.
My name is Jonathan Wagner andI really look forward to having
you on our next episodes, and Ireally look forward to having
you on our next episodes and Ireally look forward to sharing
all of this information with you.
All right, have a good one andthank you.
Hey everyone, it's Jonathan Wagoner and I am your
host of the Business Guide.
I want to thank you for joiningus on our very first episode.
I am happy that you are here ifyou're tuning in and I'm happy
you're checking out our podcast.
The title of this episode isthe First Step Overcoming the
(00:21):
Fears of getting started, andwhen I crafted this episode it
really resonated with me of whenI started my business and some
of the unknowns I didn't knowwhat to expect Definitely
resonated with me.
So an appropriate title forthis show and I'm looking
forward to introducing myself soyou can get to know me and what
(00:44):
to expect on this podcast.
So first I want to start with anintroduction.
As mentioned, my name isJonathan Wagner.
I am a business owner inbeautiful Southern Cali.
Excuse me, I apologize if mywords get a little mangled, as
(01:05):
I'm not used to just kind oftalking alone.
So I want to try to not editthis.
I want this as raw as possibleso you can really get an
unedited version of thesepodcasts.
So if I stumble, forgive me.
So back to my introduction.
I've been a business owner inbeautiful Southern California
(01:26):
for a little over 13 years,started in 2012.
My business first started, Ihad a carpet cleaning business
which later merged into a waterdamage restoration business.
Throughout my time being abusiness owner, I have also had
my hands in different businesspartnerships and do have another
(01:50):
business marketing company thatspecializes in helping
entrepreneurs out.
So that is a little bit aboutme and my business and I want to
jump into why I've started thispodcast Now.
I know that it was a littlepremature.
I had to mention that.
(02:10):
You're going to hear me mess up.
I want this podcast to be raw.
I don't want it to have a tonof edits.
I want you to get what is on mymind, what I've been through,
and I just really want you tofeel the realness in this
podcast.
I think, as business owners, aswe're maybe thinking about
(02:30):
marketing our business orthinking about going into the
customer's house or whatever itmay be, we've got some unknowns
and when maybe a fancy marketingcompany comes up to us or we
reach out to them to maybe dosome advertising to our business
, we feel maybe a little bitintimidated and they've just
really got that sale down.
When we're walking in anddealing with our very first
(02:58):
client, or maybe we're adding anadditional service on to our
business and we're business andwe're not.
You know, we're not quite surehow that's going to go.
Sometimes the way that you well, not sometimes, but the way you
present yourself really speaksvolumes to that customer or to
that vendor that you're lookingto build that partnership for or
(03:20):
with.
So, on this podcast, I want, Ireally want this to be unedited.
I want you to see how sincere Iam of just getting out quality
information for you.
It doesn't need to be packagedpretty.
I've realized that things thatare packaged pretty once you
unwrap them aren't always thebest.
(03:41):
And this may be packaged okay,but hopefully it gives you the
quality information you need togrow your business, and that's
really why I've started thispodcast.
Throughout my time in business,there have been people that I
have relied on.
I have gone to and confideddifferent things and I never
felt like I really got astraightforward answer or
(04:04):
something that really helped meand helped me grow.
Now, on the flip side, I havedefinitely consulted with a lot
of people and there has beentakeaways that have helped my
business as well.
So, yeah, with this podcast, Ijust I really find it important
to get you quality informationand answer questions.
(04:25):
I'm going to have otherbusiness owners on here.
I'm going to have questionsthat I'd like you to email in if
you're an avid listener and youfind this interesting.
So, yeah, I would really liketo get questions answered.
If I can add any clarity tomaybe something you're going
through maybe I've been throughit because I'll tell you what
(04:46):
I've been through a lot inbusiness.
There's been so many ups anddowns and I just you know if I
can help you get through thosedowns and you know you have an
up because of it, then thispodcast was successful.
So that's really why thispodcast is here.
This is gonna be a two-lane, isgoing to be a two-way road.
(05:06):
I need feedback from you andI'm here to craft these episodes
to what you need.
So, coming into the first topicthat I want to talk about and
again, I'm not a fancy person.
I don't have a teleprompter toread off of.
I've got my laptop, I've got amicrophone and I've got a camera
(05:28):
and I normally don't filmmyself talking.
So this is a little new to me.
So, number one, the first thingI want to talk about, is the
significance of the first step.
Excuse me of the first step.
Excuse me of the first step.
(05:49):
I want to discuss theimportance of taking that
initial leap into being a smallbusiness owner or maybe somebody
getting into entrepreneurship.
When I first started my business, you know there were so many
doubts in my mind.
I worked at a large corporationand I'm just going to say it I
used to work at Walgreens.
I like to hide that and yeah, Idon't know why I hide it, but
(06:13):
yeah, I used to work atWalgreens.
So I was a manager at Walgreens.
I was tired of the corporatestructure that they had.
I was tired of you know.
We knew a busy season wascoming up, so we hired a
workforce and then the nextquarter it was no longer the
busy season and we were lettinggo of that workforce.
So there were some things thatjust didn't vibe for me and I
(06:35):
wanted out of there.
My job, I was very good at it.
I was going to be a company guy.
I was excited and theyannounced that they were going
to do some management kind ofshakeup.
And the way that they weregoing to be a company guy.
I was excited and theyannounced that they were going
to do some management kind ofshakeup and the way that they
were going to document and getrid of these managers.
I really found a problem in that, and so one night I was in
(06:58):
charge of the overnight crewthat was, ironically, cleaning
and waxing the floors.
And I say ironically, because acouple years passed from there,
I started getting into that.
So, ironically, I was in theovernight.
I was there that night and in astockroom excuse me, I was in a
(07:20):
stockroom and just tired of myjob and I really remember this
particular night because it wasthe night Osama bin Laden was
killed by the United States.
So I was reading the news and Iwas just tired and I took a
piece of paper down and startedto write out what I wanted to do
(07:43):
with myself and what I could doto get out of Walgreens.
Now, at the time I had reallyinspired to be a police officer.
Walgreens was going to be astepping stone for me.
I wanted a solid job and if Ihad gotten picked up to be a
police officer, great.
If not, I was going to justcontinue course with Walgreens
(08:07):
and, like I said, be a companyman.
This was a big change to me.
I didn't know what I was goingto do.
I just thought you know whatI'm going to start a business.
It's something that I couldprovide a stable living for
myself.
I could provide a stable livingfor myself, I could show
maturity for my police officerapplication and I wouldn't have
(08:32):
to worry about maybe my jobbeing in jeopardy if I did
something small wrong.
So I took this piece of paperout and started to write down
things that I was good at Rightout of high school.
I had cleaned carpets and then,unfortunately, the recession
(08:53):
hit.
That slowed down.
I went and helped my mom at hersmall business for a couple
months and then let me back up alittle bit.
Right before that, I actuallywent to another job and cleaned
carpets as well, and they did alittle bit of water damage
restoration.
So I actually worked for twocarpet cleaning companies and
then one that kind of sidelinedand did some restoration work.
And then the recession happenedand it slowed down and then I
(09:14):
went and worked for my mom andthey ultimately got my job at
Walgreens.
So I started writing thesethings down and one thing I was
really good at was sellingcarpet cleaning services.
I was a good seller and I knewthat I could sell essentially
carpet cleanings and that nightI crafted how I would go about
(09:35):
buying a van where I would findmy carpet cleaning products and
really created the framework formy business plan that night in
that stock room.
The coming weeks I really honedin my business plan.
I started to piece together mysuppliers and figure out what I
was going to do.
I started to jot down mydifferent marketing techniques
(09:58):
that I was going to try and,yeah, it just kind of came to a
standstill.
I was nervous.
I was nervous to take thatinitial leap into the
entrepreneurship.
Walking away from a guaranteedpaycheck was nerve-wracking.
I remember having a first setof postcards that I had put
(10:20):
together and I hadn't quitebought my carpet cleaning
equipment just yet.
But I started to put togethersome marketing material and I
remember getting these mailersready and my then girlfriend,
now wife, had said I don'tunderstand your thinking right
now, as I was at home in myliving room on my living room
(10:44):
floor putting together thismarketing material.
I'm not quite understandingyour thinking right now of you
know going to leave thisguaranteed paycheck and go out
to something that you don't know.
And I really felt that you knowat that time I was extremely
nervous.
Now it has really shown to methat we as entrepreneurs are
(11:07):
just a different breed of people.
We are separate from those thatyou know clock in and out every
single day.
We want to challenge what we'recapable of, we want to
challenge the world of unknownsand so, yeah, I definitely
hesitated to start my businessat that time and I had one
(11:30):
weekend off and I knew I had todo something to shake myself up,
to get myself started intobusiness.
And so what I did is I went outthat weekend and I bought my
carpet cleaning van.
I knew that I could not affordmy.
I couldn't afford a van paymentwith my other car payment that
(11:53):
I had working at Walgreens, andso that really pushed me into
you need to do what you want todo now and the coming weeks from
there.
I went ahead and got my machinethat goes in that van and then
the time had come.
I put my two-week notice in.
Now what's funny is I talk abouthesitation.
(12:16):
I didn't give just a two-week,I gave a three-week notice, just
that little extra in my mind,like let me get another week out
of this before I start mybusiness.
So I was definitely hesitant inbusiness, but I have to say
giving that three-week noticewas one of the best decisions of
my life.
I could not imagine stillpunching that clock at Walgreens
(12:36):
I mean, there's great peoplethat work there but it just
definitely wasn't for me and Iwanted to do something more.
So when you're getting intobusiness, if you're listening to
this podcast and you'rethinking about getting into
business, I understand thatinitial leap that you're scared
of.
If you're confident you can runa business and you're confident
(12:58):
you can succeed leap, do it,and do it now.
It's going to be one of thebest decisions you do or make
and for any small businessowners that are already out
there and are running on theirday-to-day, congratulations.
You got over one of the biggesthurdles and I hope that that
was one of your best decisionsthat you made in your life was
(13:19):
stepping away from the norm andputting yourself into the
driver's seat.
My next topic that I've got onhere and again, I don't know how
to transition these things.
I don't want to edit it oranything there, so sorry if the
first transitions are kind ofrough.
(13:39):
So my next transition isidentifying fear and I want to
talk about, you know, commonfears that you might be going
through or I went throughgetting our business going, I
mean, when I didn't want to putmy two-week notice in.
(14:02):
I really I mean, I guess Ireally was fearful of certain
things and as a business owneror small business owner, we're
always in that fearful zone.
I mean, every single month I'mfearful.
I mean I've definitely overcomea lot and do have a good
understanding of business and Ido have some thriving businesses
(14:24):
, so I mean I'm thankful forthat.
But there's always somethingdeep down inside of well, what
if the phone isn't going to ring?
Or what if something happensand this customer doesn't like
my service?
And maybe they go online andthey say something negative
about my business or myemployees do something
inappropriate and it hurts mybusiness?
(14:48):
Think that there are so manydifferent fears in business that
you're going to deal with thatyou definitely have to be able
to identify exactly what you'reafraid of when you're dealing
with an issue so you can work onovercoming that fear.
Because there have been plentyof times that I've been in
(15:10):
business, where or throughout mytime in business, that I've
been fearful of somethingfearful of the employee that I
really need to hire but what ifmy phone stops ringing and I
don't have work for thatemployee or fearful that maybe I
took on a bigger project than Ithought I could handle, than I
(15:30):
thought I could handle.
You know, identifying that fearand identifying those things
are ultimately gonna hold youback in business.
If you don't identify what theproblem is, if you're afraid of
maybe hiring that employee, well, why are you afraid?
I've got many friends inbusiness now that I have been
(15:51):
thankful to meet throughout theyears in business and there are
a couple of people that resonatewith me of this workup.
They were working independentlywith themselves for quite some
time.
They knew that they needed toadd employees onto their
business, that they could nolonger handle the workflow that
(16:13):
they had and they were startingto maybe get burnt out.
But this fear that they had ofhiring that person and again,
like I mentioned, maybe thephone stops ringing, maybe
something happens and you don'thave work, but ultimately it's
stunting your growth by nothaving that employee.
So being able to overcome thoseobstacles it is huge in being
(16:40):
successful in business, but itall starts with you figuring out
and you identifying your painpoints.
Again, sorry, I'm reading mynotes.
I think I've jumped over alittle bit, but once you
(17:08):
identify the fear, you need tomove on to understand that fear
is something that is temporarybut fast forward years later if
you don't do it.
I mean if you regret what youdon't do.
I mean regret is more powerfulthan fear, at least for me.
(17:33):
And I don't know.
I'm reading my notes in hereand it's saying that I should
mention kind of fearful of doingthis podcast and it's just
something that I I I want to getout there but I don't want to
(17:56):
regret not doing it and I meanI'll give you a little, uh, give
you a little backstory.
Um, about four years ago Iwanted to start a podcast.
I have met so many differentbusiness owners throughout my
time in business and I've reallybeen able to help people.
I've been able to help peoplewith simple advice that I've
(18:19):
already been through.
I never read a book on how tostart a business.
I didn't go to college andmajor in anything business.
I was a regular Joe Schmoworking a job that was tired of
it and I knew that I could dobetter and wanted to get out on
my own and do it.
And sorry, I don't know, nowwe're in the moment of awkward
(19:02):
pause, I don't know, I don'twant to edit this out, but yeah,
I mean I've had this podcaststudio ready for about four
months.
Yeah, I mean, I've had thispodcast studio ready for about
four months.
I thought of the idea about fouryears ago and put it off.
I let my business I mean mybusiness is a successful
business, it needs me, and sothere's my excuse.
(19:24):
I've got a business.
I mean, I've got plenty of timeto get in front of a camera and
a microphone and sing away.
So it took me four years tofinally get a little studio and
put this studio together,ordered the equipment, excited,
wanting to share just thisknowledge with you.
(19:45):
And, trust me, I don't knoweverything and I won't ever
claim to know everything.
And if you know how to dosomething better, please tell me
.
But my message to you is we allgo through the same thing, just
different times, throughout ourbusiness career.
And if I can forewarn somebodyabout something that maybe
(20:08):
they're going to go through orsomething that they're
struggling with, that's thewhole purpose of this podcast.
So, talking about overcomingfear, this is it that standing
in front or sitting in front ofa camera talking to you, looking
up, talking into the mic, it'skind of fearful.
I haven't done it before.
I can watch YouTube videos.
(20:29):
I can watch Instagram videos,but doing it on my own is a
little hard for the business.
I do record videos and it's alittle easier, but they're very
short videos.
It's not a long-tailed videolike this.
There's a ton of edits and withthis podcast it is really meant
to be unedited.
I want the raw version of it.
So I'm going to try to keepthat mindful and I hope that I'm
(20:52):
not rambling on too much.
But I hope that through thetime that you listen to this,
you see this podcast evolve,because my hope with this
podcast is quick, 10 to20-minute episodes, something
that you can throw on in the car, and we have crafted for
something you might be dealingwith.
Maybe it's something financial,maybe it's something
marketing-wise, maybe it'semployee, and then I'm also
(21:14):
going to have guests on here.
So I am going to keep theseshort, I'm going to keep them
sweet and I hope that you joinme to watch this podcast evolve
into me being a little bit morecomfortable in front of the
camera.
So back to my point, the pointsthat I was trying to make.
We need to identify the fear,we need to understand the fear
(21:35):
and we need to overcome the fear.
Right now I'm overcoming thefear of creating these podcasts
by getting in front of thismicrophone and this camera and
talking to you.
That is me overcoming this fearand I hope out of that we
continue to have really coolepisodes and you tune in and
listen to these.
So that is overcoming the fear.
After we overcome the fear, wehave this mind shift change and
(21:59):
I saw that when I started mybusiness.
I was able to overcome my fearof getting started and I got
started.
I stopped talking about it andI did it.
I went and signed that van, Iput that two-week notice in and
now I was on my own and I neededto get the phones to ring.
And really, what I noticed whenI was no longer an employee and
(22:24):
now I'm a business owner, andwhat I'm about to say is, if
you're an inspiring businessowner, you might not feel this
way, but us business ownersright now we definitely have
this, where we've got this mindshift, change of look.
I'm not going and clocking inanymore and I'm not punching the
(22:46):
clock waiting to get out at my40 hours at the end of the week.
Being a business owner is hard.
Sometimes we're working 50hours a week, 60 hours a week.
I mean we're sometimes thelowest paid employee if you add
it up hourly.
I mean we deal with ourcustomers all day.
Maybe we do some marketing atnight and we hit the QuickBooks
(23:09):
on the weekends.
So you really have to have thismind shift change.
And for some business ownersthat I've seen pop up and start
their business and unfortunatelybe unsuccessful, it's clear to
me that they never had that mindshift change and that's OK.
They weren't meant to be abusiness owner and they are
(23:30):
thriving somewhere else.
But for us business owners, weunderstand that maybe we need to
burn that midnight oil and whenyou're able to overcome your
fears, identifying them, andyour mind starts changing of
look, I'm fearful of this, butI'm going to do it anyways and
(23:50):
I'm going to be successful at it, that is what helps your
business grow and helps youthrive as a person.
You need to keep in mind thatthroughout business, you're
going to set different goals,you're going to have fears and
(24:14):
you're going to have failures,but you need to set realistic
expectations for yourself.
I'm going to give you anexample.
When I had my business, like Isaid, I started carpet cleaning.
A couple of years in, we mergedover to a water damage full
service restoration company andthings were on the up and up.
Everything was great and I knewthat I wanted to go bigger.
(24:36):
I didn't want to just servicemy one county or my county and
then another county.
I really wanted to expand.
So, a couple hundred miles away, I opened another location and
I poured money into it.
I poured, wanted to expand.
So a couple hundred miles away,I opened another location and I
poured money into it.
I poured resources into it andeverything was on the up and up,
but I could see that thingsweren't going my way.
(24:59):
Again, this is my business name, this is my child, my baby.
I've poured myself into this.
There has definitely been blood,sweat and tears, for sure in
this business and the managementdidn't resonate with me at that
location and that was a failureon my behalf.
(25:20):
There were certain things thatI didn't do, so I ultimately,
about a year and a half in,closed to that location and I
was bummed out.
I was disappointed, I wasdisappointed in myself and it
took me probably about a yearand a half to.
I wouldn't say get back up, butunderstand that it's okay to
(25:45):
fail, but I have to setrealistic expectations for
myself, hiring a bunch of randompeople great people, by the way
but they didn't know anythingabout me or my business.
Now, they understood the actualbusiness of water damage
restoration, but they didn'tknow what I stood for and the
business stood for.
(26:06):
We didn't.
I didn't get them that message.
Therefore, every employee thatwas there never got to really
resonate with my message into mybusiness.
So I didn't fail, but I didn'tset myself a realistic
expectation, a realisticexpectation.
And now doing certain things andgoing into a different business
(26:28):
excuse me, going into adifferent business or business
partnership I have to set arealistic expectation for myself
.
And what is my gauge of success?
Just like on this podcast, whatis my gauge of success?
If I've got, you know, 100listeners or 10 listeners, it
doesn't matter to me.
It matters that there arepeople out there that are
(26:53):
consuming this information.
They find it helpful, itresonates with them and it helps
them grow their business.
This is something that I'm trulypassionate about.
I like talking about this and Ilike sharing it.
Most of my lunch meetings withmy different business owner
friends are normally talkingabout how they can grow their
business and then maybequestions they're dealing with
(27:16):
and I can get those answered.
So that's what this is for.
So setting realisticexpectations is key.
It is a key measure to yoursuccess.
Don't bite off more than youcan chew and slowly grow up to
that.
Now, if you're really good atwhat you do and you happen to
grow and you know blow the lidoff, then that's great.
But set realistic expectationsas you grow.
(27:37):
I'm moving on to my next point.
As I can tell you, I againdon't know how to do this, but I
want to encourage you to takeaction in your business.
If there's maybe somethingyou're fearful of that you know,
you want to maybe expand yourservice area or expand your
(28:00):
services, or maybe you'rethinking about getting into
business start taking action.
But before you take action,identify what is making you
fearful.
Understand it and overcome itand take action on it, because
it's going to be one of the bestthings you did For me.
I was comfortable.
I dumped a ton of money intocarpet cleaning and I was really
(28:23):
good at it.
I had a really good reputation.
My customers loved me.
I had a great product, a greatservice.
But for me, as I started hiringa person or two, I knew that I
wanted.
One of my goals was to havelong-term employees with me and
I knew that I could not attractand retain quality people at the
(28:48):
wages I was going to be able topay out of carpet cleaning, and
so I knew that I needed to addon a service, and one of those
services that I was fearful ofadding on I mean it was going to
be more expenses for me.
It was a very cutthroatindustry.
It's something I added on.
I took action.
(29:09):
I overcame that fear and I tookaction and now fast forward.
That business is no longercarpet cleaning whatsoever and
just does premier restorationwork.
So you never know what maybethat service or that business
that you're going to start.
What is limiting you fromgetting started?
So take action on it.
(29:29):
Take action.
If you're seeing this video,it's up on YouTube.
I have not explored how toreally upload this.
I do kind of understand how toget these podcasts up, so I
don't know if you can leave acomment on the actual podcast
feed, but if you see this andthere's a thread that you can
leave a comment, I would reallyappreciate some feedback on this
(29:53):
podcast.
I would really appreciate youleaving some questions, if you
have any questions, what you'redealing with in business, some
things that maybe keep you up atnight.
I really want to get to qualityanswers for you, and if I don't
have the answer for you, I'lltell you I don't have the answer
for you.
I'll tell you I don't have theanswer for you, but I'm going to
have guests on here as well andmaybe they have the answer for
you as well.
So please leave me a comment,wherever it may be, and ask away
(30:17):
, ask your questions.
I want to close up, guys.
I want you to remember that inbusiness, it's okay to be.
Remember that in business, it'sokay to be scared, it's okay to
have fears, but it's not okayto not do what you want to do
(30:51):
and it's not okay then beregretful.
I don't want to sit there andregret anything.
We've got one life to live andI want to enjoy my life.
The business, while it'sdefinitely one of those things
that I want to pull my hair outsometimes I am up late at night
(31:12):
or there's an issue I've got towork through this business has
been one of the best decisionsof my life getting into business
and then becoming anentrepreneur, the financial
freedom that I'm able to have,the time that I have with my
family.
The things that I get to do thatI would have never been able to
(31:33):
do working at Walgreens haveall been such a blessing for me,
and I just want to encourageyou, if you are an inspiring
entrepreneur, to get going.
Get going into business ifthat's truly what you want to do
, and to every business ownerout there, I want you to succeed
(31:54):
in what you do.
I'm sure you completelyunderstand what I mean by it
keeps you up at night.
There are certain things thatkeep you up at night or things
you've got to do, so let's worktogether on this, let's get
through these issues, let's getthrough questions, let's grow
our businesses together andlet's grow our lives together.
Guys, thank you so much forjoining me on this very first
(32:17):
episode.
The Business Guide Againmentioned.
My name is Jonathan Wagner andI really look forward to having
you on our next episodes, and Ireally look forward to having
you on our next episodes and Ireally look forward to sharing
all of this information with you.
All right, have a good one andthank you.
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Introducing… Aubrey O’Day Diddy’s former protege, television personality, platinum selling music artist, Danity Kane alum Aubrey O’Day joins veteran journalists Amy Robach and TJ Holmes to provide a unique perspective on the trial that has captivated the attention of the nation. Join them throughout the trial as they discuss, debate, and dissect every detail, every aspect of the proceedings. Aubrey will offer her opinions and expertise, as only she is qualified to do given her first-hand knowledge. From her days on Making the Band, as she emerged as the breakout star, the truth of the situation would be the opposite of the glitz and glamour. Listen throughout every minute of the trial, for this exclusive coverage. Amy Robach and TJ Holmes present Aubrey O’Day, Covering the Diddy Trial, an iHeartRadio podcast.
Betrayal: Season 4
Karoline Borega married a man of honor – a respected Colorado Springs Police officer. She knew there would be sacrifices to accommodate her husband’s career. But she had no idea that he was using his badge to fool everyone. This season, we expose a man who swore two sacred oaths—one to his badge, one to his bride—and broke them both. We follow Karoline as she questions everything she thought she knew about her partner of over 20 years. And make sure to check out Seasons 1-3 of Betrayal, along with Betrayal Weekly Season 1.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.