August 26, 2024 • 20 mins
Ever felt out of place at a formal event, only to realize it offered invaluable insights? Join me on this episode as I recount an eye-opening experience in downtown Atlanta where my casual attire starkly contrasted with the sea of suits and ties around me. This led to a major shift in how I approach business travel and time management, uncovering the surprising benefits of short, spontaneous trips over long, meticulously planned stays. We'll explore how such moments can reshape our understanding of efficiency and opportunity in the business world.
We also dive into the often hidden emotional challenges of business growth and high-stakes decision-making. I'll share personal encounters with investment bankers and private equity funds, offering a detailed comparison between the intricate world of mergers and acquisitions and more familiar sales strategies. The episode highlights the crucial need to distinguish genuine opportunities from mere solicitations and balance daily responsibilities with growth prospects. Lastly, I challenge you to confront fear and self-doubt by asking three pivotal questions: "What am I avoiding?", "Why am I avoiding it?", and "Is this just my story?" By reflecting on these, we can better align our choices with our true goals and values.
Thank you for listening to The Reckless CEO Podcast
The Reckless Group- https://www.skool.com/therecklessgroup/about
You can tweet us @ https://twitter.com/TheRecklessCEO
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, thanks for listening to the Reckless CEO
podcast.
This is just a quick reminder.
In case you'd rather watch thefull episode, you can find it at
youtubecom.
Slash the reckless CEO.
Well, if you'd like to listen,you're in the right place.
If you find value in thiscontent, please like and
subscribe.
If you are a home service CEO,ready to scale your business and
join an incredible community,check out the reckless groupcom
(00:22):
or check the link in the shownotes.
Here we go, right, you're likethat buzzer ain't rang, that
game ain't over with, so keepgoing.
I have thrived in that chaos.
How could this be happening?
(00:43):
Did any of you guys payattention to anything I said?
Like get arrested, guess, untilthey get the message.
Welcome back to the reckless ceopodcast, where we keep it real
raw and reckless about businessand life.
They ain't really got the sauceand I ain't got.
You know what I mean it's like.
Here is your host, the recklessceo himself.
(01:05):
Welcome back to the RecklessCEO Podcast.
Today we're going to be doing ita little bit different.
It's going to be me by myselfagain and I'm going to be
talking about really the trip inmy experience over this past
week week and really gettinginto why the thing that we tell
ourselves we don't need isusually the thing that we need
(01:30):
the most.
Why?
Because we have stories that wetell ourselves and the
experiences and we're alwayslooking at things through a lens
of what we know, and often Ithink that that can start to one
.
It's going to, it's going toshift your perspective, going
into most things, right.
So I think even thinking aboutyou know what's coming and where
(01:53):
you're going is important, andthere are two.
Is that it's just how much ofthe you know things going on
around you are things thatyou've created, right Versus
versus kind of you knowhappening for you versus
happening to you.
And so you know the last, I'dsay really the last couple
months I have, you know, we'vehad a lot of you know investment
(02:15):
bankers, private equity fundsreaching out to us about you
know about CRC, right, but it'slike you know all the time it's
an email every day, it's a phonecall every day, and it's one of
those things that is as cool asit could be, there's a lot of
things that still have to happenfor that to be something that's
really moving, and so, as muchas I like hearing that we're
(02:39):
needed or that somebody mightwant to acquire us.
It's the same thing Ifsomeone's always selling you
something, pushing you something.
So I try to filter throughthese things.
If someone reaches out to me,I'll ask them a couple questions
and just try to gauge like, isthis serious or is this just
another person reaching out?
(03:00):
Because before I even understoodthis game of merger and
acquisitions or started toexperience kind of that, that
level of it, right, like I hadno idea that.
You know, selling a businesswas something that you could do.
And I know my uh, my dad and myuncle, they they had some bar,
they had a bar and they'd gotinto some construction.
And you know, and obviously Ialways looked at business as
(03:20):
this thing, like if they grew itto some point and they're just
going to hand it to me and thenI just kind of hand it off to
the next guy and it just kind ofgoes down the, you know, goes
down the line.
But the more that I've learnedabout this game and the more
that I've studied it and, youknow, trying to see what the
market's doing, you know, themore I realize that it's, you
know it's no different than youknow a roof.
(03:40):
You know a salesperson sellinga roof, right, like they're
going to go out, they're goingto knock doors, they're going to
find a qualified lead.
If that lead qualifies, they'regoing to try to sell them or
extend their services to them,get them to use them, and then
they're going to convert themright.
And the game of buying andselling businesses.
It's the same way, right,there's people out there that
(04:01):
are looking for businesses thatqualify that they can take that
and they can, you know, presentthat to somebody that might want
to buy them.
And so it's really, you know,it's a shift in mindset, really,
and so I went, I ended up.
You know, this guy's coming backand forth and I have all the
conversations that I'd had withpeople.
This is probably the most, I'dsay, the most kind of relatable.
(04:23):
You know, he seemed like healigned with the things I was
saying and you know part of whatthey do is hey, listen, you
know, come down to this workshopthat we're going to be putting
on.
You know we've got you a ticket.
We'd love for you to come down.
It's down in Atlanta, and youknow it sounds awesome, it
(04:46):
sounds cool, right, but at theend of the day, it's like for me
to leave the business for awhole day, go down there, take a
trip.
No matter how good up to thispoint the operation can be, it's
still taxing to leave everytime.
So anytime I'm going, I'mfeeling insecure about it or
feeling like I'm leaving mypeople, and it's not an easy
thing and I don't know that it'salways, you know, I don't know
that it's always feels that wayor it presents itself that way,
(05:09):
but it's a way that I can see itat times.
And so you know they'rereaching out, they want us to
come down and you know I'm kindof putting it off Most things
that you know with.
Like this, I'm going to put itoff until really the last minute
and then I'm going to jump inand do it right.
Because it's like this wholetime I'm telling myself that,
okay, well, what if somethinghappens right?
What if something happens?
What if, you know, I'm neededin the business?
(05:29):
Or what if all these what ifsof like, how can I not just
commit to this thing and jumpinto that?
And it's easy to kind of kickthat can down the road.
And so they're asking us tocome in and come down, and, and
(06:08):
so they're asking us to come inand come down, and I literally
put it off until two days beforeit and I book, book, book a
plane ride down to down toAtlanta and then leaving, and
leaving that next day.
And so you know I'm excited butreally pretty unsure of what
all this is really going to belike, and you know.
So I ended up getting on theplane, I'm flying down and I
show up at a high-rise indowntown Atlanta and I just came
from being on a plane andtraveling for three hours.
So I get in there and I walk inthe bathroom and literally take
a little sink shower in thebathroom there, get myself ready
and I throw myself on T-shirtand a hat and I walk upstairs.
I walk into the room andthere's probably 60, 70, 50 to
(06:31):
70 people in there.
I would say right, you know, acouple, all tables with a little
spot where people are speakingup front and Every single person
is in a shirt and tie and asuit jacket.
I had on Yeezys, a pair of bluejeans, a gray tee and a black
(06:52):
hat, so it stood out right.
Immediately I'm like, oh man, Idon't deserve to be in this room
All these guys are.
You know, I start to think allof these things about.
You know the way that I showedup, why didn't I expect this?
And like, why didn't you lookinto the invite to even start to
put those things together,right, but it's like, it's the,
it's a, it's where I was atright.
(07:14):
I show up there and I, and hereI am, and set from this room,
thinking now just lookuneducated and just look like
you know I'm not going to be.
You know, know as much as allthese people around me, right.
And so you know we're goingthrough it and you know they're
talking and you know they talkabout just everything with it,
right.
And you know, I get an hour orso in and I'm like man, like
this is really cool and it'svaluable and everything.
(07:35):
But man, I don't really want to, I don't really want to stay a
whole nother night, like I kindof want to get back, I kind of
want to, you know, take what Ican out of this, right.
So I jump on Delta and I'mlooking at they actually had a
flight back out that evening atlike 1030.
And so I was like you know what, I should be wrapped up with
all of this, enough to jump backon the plane and fly back
tonight.
(07:56):
But I've always had this weirdfor me, you know, when I look at
this, you know taking a tripand I think this is where a big
perspective shift for me was wasthat, you know, when I look at
this trip, I've always looked atthings that if I'm going to a
destination I need to set, youknow, some time, like it needs
to be a three, four, five daything.
I'm going to go there, you know, spend time, do all this and
(08:19):
then, you know, come back.
And so I've always hesitated tolike, do certain things or jump
into certain things because ofthe time allocation.
And I don't know what it was.
But there was just thisparadigm shift, literally on the
plane, when I thought to myselfa plane is just kind of like a
time machine, right, you, you,you, if I look at I got to get
(08:39):
somewhere, it's going to take me, you know, eight hours to get
there of driving, right, if Ican jump on a plane and do that
in an hour, well, that's liketime travel, right.
It was like a perspective shiftof thinking like it can be a
day's trip, it's just a way ofcommunication or transportation,
and I realized that a lot ofpeople probably think that same
(09:00):
way.
I had multiple people reachingout to me and say, man, that's a
long trip for just a day, isn'tit?
And it is, but it isn't right,because I was able to jump, you
know, I was able to go to theairport in 15 minutes.
I jumped on a plane that was anhour flight.
I jumped back off, so I had atotal of a couple hours in the
(09:21):
whole thing, which reallywouldn't have been much
different than me, you know,driving out to a job site and
driving back and stopping a fewplaces, right, and so this, it
kind of changed the way that Iwas seeing, which that that was
one reason kind of helped meeven book the flight that night,
cause I'm like man, I'm goingto stay here.
You know, I don't just spendthe extra money to to change it,
then get a hotel and thentransport back to the airport in
(09:41):
the morning and then fly backhome.
It seemed monotonous.
It was this kind of idea thatnow that I understand that a
plane is just a way to travelspace and time, it's like now
maybe I'll do that more often,maybe I'll take a flight down
for a business meeting or startto extend myself and expand
myself into getting into theseplaces.
If I want to go meet withsomebody and talk to somebody,
(10:02):
I've always had this idea thatit's got to be a trip, right?
Well, it's like, you know,maybe there is required a night
to stay or whatever it is, butit's all right to go to a place,
meet at a place for an hour andthen go back to where you're at
right.
You have to make sure that thethings that you're doing is a,
you know, return on yourinvestment and, you know, don't
just go down and go wild andthink that it's like that's okay
(10:23):
, right, I mean, maybe it isokay.
So, whatever, whatever you liketo do.
But in my mind it was like thisidea of now I can just go down
and meet with people.
So if I can find somebody in amarket that maybe I'm not
working with yet, well, now Ihave a way of hey, listen, I'll
come down for a day and meet and, you know, then I'll come back.
So that was a big shift for me,and so all of this.
(10:46):
And as we're sitting in thereand they're presenting and going
through all this, I asked acouple questions and they were
asking questions of the room andthey put us in some small
groups and everybody's kind oftalking and going about it and
talking about their business.
And a lot of these people are45, 55, 60 year.
And a lot of these people are45, 55, 60 year olds, right, a
(11:08):
lot of these businesses are 10years, you know, five years,
right, like, these people areolder than me.
Their businesses have beenaround longer than mine.
But as I'm having conversationswith these people, I start to
realize how far along we are,right.
There's things in our businessthat we have, you know,
structured since day one withthis idea of an exit in mind,
(11:32):
and I had a mentor that kind ofexposed me to it.
And so once I, you know, haveseen that, I started to, you
know, think of it differently,right.
But you know, even in sayingthat, even with planning, right,
there's still a long ways weare away from.
You know where we really wantto be, right, but I, I tell
(11:53):
myself that you know I'm gettingdown there and everyone there
is probably going to know morethan me.
You know I walk in and I'munderdressed, but it was also,
you know, where.
I'm not not saying to show upunderdressed like that all the
time that's.
That's not not always the bestway, but I will say that it was
almost like the purple cowmarketing idea.
Right, it was like, you know,the elephant in the room is loud
(12:16):
and everyone and everyone cansee it.
Right, the purple cow in theroom is interesting and
everybody wants to learn alittle bit more about it, know a
little bit more about it.
Right, you need to.
Even looking at your business,how can you market your business
like the purple cow?
It's just a little bitdifferent.
It's not if I would have maybeacted a certain way or like the
(12:37):
shirt and hat could have notdone well for me.
But once I got to have theseconversations and meet people
and it was funny because everyperson I would talk to I'd bring
up the fact that I wasunderdressed, right, to just to
kind of make, you know, makeground of like, hey, this isn't
really the way I show up, I justhad no idea.
I flew down this morning, I'mflying back out tonight, you
(12:57):
know, next time, I know, right,if we're in a, you know, a high
rise on the 80th floor, that'sall glass.
I prefer to be blending in alittle bit, maybe, still, maybe
thinking Purple Cow, maybe alittle tie that stands out, but
it's a way that just separatesyou.
But these conversations, peoplecoming up to me, we're talking
(13:21):
and I realize how far along weare.
I realize that, man, there'ssome people that's been in this
game a lot longer than us and weare further down the road for
them and we have moreopportunity for growth and more.
You know, projection right, andso, no matter what I thought I
needed or didn't need or what Iwas going to learn there, right,
because part of that too, isgoing down and say, is the
information even going to beworth it?
(13:43):
Is the information even worthmy time?
Is it going to be things that Idon't know or do I know?
Are they just going to betrying to sell me something
while I'm there?
Is there going to be a wholemastermind?
All of the things that I justwas kind of talking myself out
of going and why I shouldn't go,were the things that I was able
to take away from it fromgetting back.
(14:04):
Were the things that I was ableto take away from it from
getting back right, looking atyou can't put this lens that
tells you what you thinksomething's going to be right I
was in my mind is this going tobe valuable?
Yes, because one of the mostvaluable pieces I got from it
was the fact that, hey, youshould feel good about where
(14:25):
things are.
You should feel good about thebusiness.
Right, whether I took, you know, details of the discussion away
, what it did is give me thatlens as well and my perspective
shifts and like no, you deserveto be in these rooms, right, you
, you, you, you deserve to behaving these conversations right
, because even when I thinkabout everything and where we're
(14:46):
going, it's like sometimes it'sit's hard, to hard to feel that
you even deserve it, right,cause you're like where did it
come from?
How do we get here?
Right, is it all?
Just a?
You know, is any minute thetires are going to blow up, this
thing's going to crash?
Cause that's what it usuallyhappens, that's what it usually
feels like Everybody going thereand getting to see that and
(15:06):
just having this conversationand realizing that, hey, you can
go down and you can meet withpeople, maybe a lot more
efficiently and easier than youthought.
How can I start to structure mybusiness to allow me to go take
a day trip or two day trip to gomake a good business connection
.
It doesn't have to be this Igot to get a week aside.
(15:29):
It's like no, you need to lookat your business and say, if I
step away and go do these things, how can it not slow down with
that?
Because I think that there's avery valuable piece in there.
Right, don't build yourbusiness as if you can go solve
every problem in it when youwant.
Right, because anytime I'veever traveled, I'll come up with
(15:50):
ideas or ways to you know,delegate the information,
because I know I'm not going tobe there.
So I start to like preface allright, here's what you guys need
to be doing.
And I look back and say, well,why don't I just do that all the
time?
So I think getting away andseeing new areas and checking
these things out, it's one.
It's good for perspective,right, you start to see things
differently, you thinkdifferently, get creative, and
(16:13):
the other side of it is yourbusiness starts to be stabilized
without you, and that's one ofthe most powerful things that
you can have, for your companyis a is a operation that doesn't
rely on you, right, but itgrows through you.
You want to make sure you'reempowering your people.
(16:36):
You want to help them be goodleaders, but you also want to
make sure that you're guidingthem, helping them see the
direction that they're goingright.
If they can come to you and geteverything solved, you're going
to enable them to be able tothink of these things by
themselves, and so, when you'retraveling, start to think about
that, right Is?
You know how much of thebusiness is reliant on me in all
(16:57):
of these different areas?
Because when you're looking ata, you know a company that's
interested in buying you.
They want to know that, hey,they might want to keep you on,
they might want to keep workingwith you, but they want to know
that it doesn't rely on you.
And in the home serviceindustry, that's one of the
biggest reasons these businessesare so valuable, because the
(17:17):
owner built it around them.
He's reactive to everythingthat's happening.
He's allowed the business tocontrol him.
These funds know that, hey, wecould come in, even if the
business does rely on you.
That's a great way that we canstart to break you down a little
bit, get you for a cheaperprice, and the second we pull
you out, throw somebody in therethat's capable, and now you've
(17:39):
got a system that just 5X itsoperation.
That's what they're looking for.
Don't let the ego of it beingyour thing hold you back from
something that could beeverybody's thing, because the
more it relies on you, the lessit relies on people, and if you
make good people and you buildgood people, then you're going
(18:00):
to have a successful businessand you're going to end up, in
turn, helping provide more forthem, because it's going to get
bigger than you.
It's not going to rely on you.
You're not going to be theorganism anymore.
The organization is, and so I'mgoing to leave you with three
ways to kind of change yourperspective.
(18:22):
Maybe One is going to be whatare the things that you're
avoiding?
What are the things that youhave a feeling that they might
be good for you?
But it's scary.
It's a big step, it's a newpartnership, the thing that
you're dragging out and you'reavoiding.
(18:42):
You need to figure out what isthis.
Why am I?
Is this something that is goodfor me and something that's
going to draw me closer, or isit something that's going to
distract me?
Two why are you avoiding it?
What is the reason for that?
Right, is it because you don'thave the details yet you need
more, more information or areyou avoiding it because it is
(19:08):
something that you might bescared of?
And then three is is it yourstory Right?
Are you allowing your future tobe determined by your past
experiences?
Are you thinking something isgoing to be negative or bad or
(19:32):
whatever?
Or because you got, you know,someone misinformed you before
or lied to you or burnt you?
Are you allowing that to be thereason that you're not sure
about this thing?
Or you haven't jumped into thatyet?
Is that the story that you'retelling yourself?
And maybe sometimes it might betrue, the story that we tell
ourselves?
I'm not saying that it's alwaysa lie, but I'm saying a lot of
(19:53):
times we don't really know, sowe assume.
And so those three things onemore time.
What are you avoiding?
Why are you avoiding it?
And is it just your story?
Reckless CEO out.
Hey, thanks for listening to the Reckless CEO
podcast.
This is just a quick reminder.
In case you'd rather watch thefull episode, you can find it at
youtubecom.
Slash the reckless CEO.
Well, if you'd like to listen,you're in the right place.
If you find value in thiscontent, please like and
subscribe.
If you are a home service CEO,ready to scale your business and
join an incredible community,check out the reckless groupcom
(00:22):
or check the link in the shownotes.
Here we go, right, you're likethat buzzer ain't rang, that
game ain't over with, so keepgoing.
I have thrived in that chaos.
How could this be happening?
(00:43):
Did any of you guys payattention to anything I said?
Like get arrested, guess, untilthey get the message.
Welcome back to the reckless ceopodcast, where we keep it real
raw and reckless about businessand life.
They ain't really got the sauceand I ain't got.
You know what I mean it's like.
Here is your host, the recklessceo himself.
(01:05):
Welcome back to the RecklessCEO Podcast.
Today we're going to be doing ita little bit different.
It's going to be me by myselfagain and I'm going to be
talking about really the trip inmy experience over this past
week week and really gettinginto why the thing that we tell
ourselves we don't need isusually the thing that we need
(01:30):
the most.
Why?
Because we have stories that wetell ourselves and the
experiences and we're alwayslooking at things through a lens
of what we know, and often Ithink that that can start to one
.
It's going to, it's going toshift your perspective, going
into most things, right.
So I think even thinking aboutyou know what's coming and where
(01:53):
you're going is important, andthere are two.
Is that it's just how much ofthe you know things going on
around you are things thatyou've created, right Versus
versus kind of you knowhappening for you versus
happening to you.
And so you know the last, I'dsay really the last couple
months I have, you know, we'vehad a lot of you know investment
(02:15):
bankers, private equity fundsreaching out to us about you
know about CRC, right, but it'slike you know all the time it's
an email every day, it's a phonecall every day, and it's one of
those things that is as cool asit could be, there's a lot of
things that still have to happenfor that to be something that's
really moving, and so, as muchas I like hearing that we're
(02:39):
needed or that somebody mightwant to acquire us.
It's the same thing Ifsomeone's always selling you
something, pushing you something.
So I try to filter throughthese things.
If someone reaches out to me,I'll ask them a couple questions
and just try to gauge like, isthis serious or is this just
another person reaching out?
(03:00):
Because before I even understoodthis game of merger and
acquisitions or started toexperience kind of that, that
level of it, right, like I hadno idea that.
You know, selling a businesswas something that you could do.
And I know my uh, my dad and myuncle, they they had some bar,
they had a bar and they'd gotinto some construction.
And you know, and obviously Ialways looked at business as
(03:20):
this thing, like if they grew itto some point and they're just
going to hand it to me and thenI just kind of hand it off to
the next guy and it just kind ofgoes down the, you know, goes
down the line.
But the more that I've learnedabout this game and the more
that I've studied it and, youknow, trying to see what the
market's doing, you know, themore I realize that it's, you
know it's no different than youknow a roof.
(03:40):
You know a salesperson sellinga roof, right, like they're
going to go out, they're goingto knock doors, they're going to
find a qualified lead.
If that lead qualifies, they'regoing to try to sell them or
extend their services to them,get them to use them, and then
they're going to convert themright.
And the game of buying andselling businesses.
It's the same way, right,there's people out there that
(04:01):
are looking for businesses thatqualify that they can take that
and they can, you know, presentthat to somebody that might want
to buy them.
And so it's really, you know,it's a shift in mindset, really,
and so I went, I ended up.
You know, this guy's coming backand forth and I have all the
conversations that I'd had withpeople.
This is probably the most, I'dsay, the most kind of relatable.
(04:23):
You know, he seemed like healigned with the things I was
saying and you know part of whatthey do is hey, listen, you
know, come down to this workshopthat we're going to be putting
on.
You know we've got you a ticket.
We'd love for you to come down.
It's down in Atlanta, and youknow it sounds awesome, it
(04:46):
sounds cool, right, but at theend of the day, it's like for me
to leave the business for awhole day, go down there, take a
trip.
No matter how good up to thispoint the operation can be, it's
still taxing to leave everytime.
So anytime I'm going, I'mfeeling insecure about it or
feeling like I'm leaving mypeople, and it's not an easy
thing and I don't know that it'salways, you know, I don't know
that it's always feels that wayor it presents itself that way,
(05:09):
but it's a way that I can see itat times.
And so you know they'rereaching out, they want us to
come down and you know I'm kindof putting it off Most things
that you know with.
Like this, I'm going to put itoff until really the last minute
and then I'm going to jump inand do it right.
Because it's like this wholetime I'm telling myself that,
okay, well, what if somethinghappens right?
What if something happens?
What if, you know, I'm neededin the business?
(05:29):
Or what if all these what ifsof like, how can I not just
commit to this thing and jumpinto that?
And it's easy to kind of kickthat can down the road.
And so they're asking us tocome in and come down, and, and
(06:08):
so they're asking us to come inand come down, and I literally
put it off until two days beforeit and I book, book, book a
plane ride down to down toAtlanta and then leaving, and
leaving that next day.
And so you know I'm excited butreally pretty unsure of what
all this is really going to belike, and you know.
So I ended up getting on theplane, I'm flying down and I
show up at a high-rise indowntown Atlanta and I just came
from being on a plane andtraveling for three hours.
So I get in there and I walk inthe bathroom and literally take
a little sink shower in thebathroom there, get myself ready
and I throw myself on T-shirtand a hat and I walk upstairs.
I walk into the room andthere's probably 60, 70, 50 to
(06:31):
70 people in there.
I would say right, you know, acouple, all tables with a little
spot where people are speakingup front and Every single person
is in a shirt and tie and asuit jacket.
I had on Yeezys, a pair of bluejeans, a gray tee and a black
(06:52):
hat, so it stood out right.
Immediately I'm like, oh man, Idon't deserve to be in this room
All these guys are.
You know, I start to think allof these things about.
You know the way that I showedup, why didn't I expect this?
And like, why didn't you lookinto the invite to even start to
put those things together,right, but it's like, it's the,
it's a, it's where I was atright.
(07:14):
I show up there and I, and hereI am, and set from this room,
thinking now just lookuneducated and just look like
you know I'm not going to be.
You know, know as much as allthese people around me, right.
And so you know we're goingthrough it and you know they're
talking and you know they talkabout just everything with it,
right.
And you know, I get an hour orso in and I'm like man, like
this is really cool and it'svaluable and everything.
(07:35):
But man, I don't really want to, I don't really want to stay a
whole nother night, like I kindof want to get back, I kind of
want to, you know, take what Ican out of this, right.
So I jump on Delta and I'mlooking at they actually had a
flight back out that evening atlike 1030.
And so I was like you know what, I should be wrapped up with
all of this, enough to jump backon the plane and fly back
tonight.
(07:56):
But I've always had this weirdfor me, you know, when I look at
this, you know taking a tripand I think this is where a big
perspective shift for me was wasthat, you know, when I look at
this trip, I've always looked atthings that if I'm going to a
destination I need to set, youknow, some time, like it needs
to be a three, four, five daything.
I'm going to go there, you know, spend time, do all this and
(08:19):
then, you know, come back.
And so I've always hesitated tolike, do certain things or jump
into certain things because ofthe time allocation.
And I don't know what it was.
But there was just thisparadigm shift, literally on the
plane, when I thought to myselfa plane is just kind of like a
time machine, right, you, you,you, if I look at I got to get
(08:39):
somewhere, it's going to take me, you know, eight hours to get
there of driving, right, if Ican jump on a plane and do that
in an hour, well, that's liketime travel, right.
It was like a perspective shiftof thinking like it can be a
day's trip, it's just a way ofcommunication or transportation,
and I realized that a lot ofpeople probably think that same
(09:00):
way.
I had multiple people reachingout to me and say, man, that's a
long trip for just a day, isn'tit?
And it is, but it isn't right,because I was able to jump, you
know, I was able to go to theairport in 15 minutes.
I jumped on a plane that was anhour flight.
I jumped back off, so I had atotal of a couple hours in the
(09:21):
whole thing, which reallywouldn't have been much
different than me, you know,driving out to a job site and
driving back and stopping a fewplaces, right, and so this, it
kind of changed the way that Iwas seeing, which that that was
one reason kind of helped meeven book the flight that night,
cause I'm like man, I'm goingto stay here.
You know, I don't just spendthe extra money to to change it,
then get a hotel and thentransport back to the airport in
(09:41):
the morning and then fly backhome.
It seemed monotonous.
It was this kind of idea thatnow that I understand that a
plane is just a way to travelspace and time, it's like now
maybe I'll do that more often,maybe I'll take a flight down
for a business meeting or startto extend myself and expand
myself into getting into theseplaces.
If I want to go meet withsomebody and talk to somebody,
(10:02):
I've always had this idea thatit's got to be a trip, right?
Well, it's like, you know,maybe there is required a night
to stay or whatever it is, butit's all right to go to a place,
meet at a place for an hour andthen go back to where you're at
right.
You have to make sure that thethings that you're doing is a,
you know, return on yourinvestment and, you know, don't
just go down and go wild andthink that it's like that's okay
(10:23):
, right, I mean, maybe it isokay.
So, whatever, whatever you liketo do.
But in my mind it was like thisidea of now I can just go down
and meet with people.
So if I can find somebody in amarket that maybe I'm not
working with yet, well, now Ihave a way of hey, listen, I'll
come down for a day and meet and, you know, then I'll come back.
So that was a big shift for me,and so all of this.
(10:46):
And as we're sitting in thereand they're presenting and going
through all this, I asked acouple questions and they were
asking questions of the room andthey put us in some small
groups and everybody's kind oftalking and going about it and
talking about their business.
And a lot of these people are45, 55, 60 year.
And a lot of these people are45, 55, 60 year olds, right, a
(11:08):
lot of these businesses are 10years, you know, five years,
right, like, these people areolder than me.
Their businesses have beenaround longer than mine.
But as I'm having conversationswith these people, I start to
realize how far along we are,right.
There's things in our businessthat we have, you know,
structured since day one withthis idea of an exit in mind,
(11:32):
and I had a mentor that kind ofexposed me to it.
And so once I, you know, haveseen that, I started to, you
know, think of it differently,right.
But you know, even in sayingthat, even with planning, right,
there's still a long ways weare away from.
You know where we really wantto be, right, but I, I tell
(11:53):
myself that you know I'm gettingdown there and everyone there
is probably going to know morethan me.
You know I walk in and I'munderdressed, but it was also,
you know, where.
I'm not not saying to show upunderdressed like that all the
time that's.
That's not not always the bestway, but I will say that it was
almost like the purple cowmarketing idea.
Right, it was like, you know,the elephant in the room is loud
(12:16):
and everyone and everyone cansee it.
Right, the purple cow in theroom is interesting and
everybody wants to learn alittle bit more about it, know a
little bit more about it.
Right, you need to.
Even looking at your business,how can you market your business
like the purple cow?
It's just a little bitdifferent.
It's not if I would have maybeacted a certain way or like the
(12:37):
shirt and hat could have notdone well for me.
But once I got to have theseconversations and meet people
and it was funny because everyperson I would talk to I'd bring
up the fact that I wasunderdressed, right, to just to
kind of make, you know, makeground of like, hey, this isn't
really the way I show up, I justhad no idea.
I flew down this morning, I'mflying back out tonight, you
(12:57):
know, next time, I know, right,if we're in a, you know, a high
rise on the 80th floor, that'sall glass.
I prefer to be blending in alittle bit, maybe, still, maybe
thinking Purple Cow, maybe alittle tie that stands out, but
it's a way that just separatesyou.
But these conversations, peoplecoming up to me, we're talking
(13:21):
and I realize how far along weare.
I realize that, man, there'ssome people that's been in this
game a lot longer than us and weare further down the road for
them and we have moreopportunity for growth and more.
You know, projection right, andso, no matter what I thought I
needed or didn't need or what Iwas going to learn there, right,
because part of that too, isgoing down and say, is the
information even going to beworth it?
(13:43):
Is the information even worthmy time?
Is it going to be things that Idon't know or do I know?
Are they just going to betrying to sell me something
while I'm there?
Is there going to be a wholemastermind?
All of the things that I justwas kind of talking myself out
of going and why I shouldn't go,were the things that I was able
to take away from it fromgetting back.
(14:04):
Were the things that I was ableto take away from it from
getting back right, looking atyou can't put this lens that
tells you what you thinksomething's going to be right I
was in my mind is this going tobe valuable?
Yes, because one of the mostvaluable pieces I got from it
was the fact that, hey, youshould feel good about where
(14:25):
things are.
You should feel good about thebusiness.
Right, whether I took, you know, details of the discussion away
, what it did is give me thatlens as well and my perspective
shifts and like no, you deserveto be in these rooms, right, you
, you, you, you deserve to behaving these conversations right
, because even when I thinkabout everything and where we're
(14:46):
going, it's like sometimes it'sit's hard, to hard to feel that
you even deserve it, right,cause you're like where did it
come from?
How do we get here?
Right, is it all?
Just a?
You know, is any minute thetires are going to blow up, this
thing's going to crash?
Cause that's what it usuallyhappens, that's what it usually
feels like Everybody going thereand getting to see that and
(15:06):
just having this conversationand realizing that, hey, you can
go down and you can meet withpeople, maybe a lot more
efficiently and easier than youthought.
How can I start to structure mybusiness to allow me to go take
a day trip or two day trip to gomake a good business connection
.
It doesn't have to be this Igot to get a week aside.
(15:29):
It's like no, you need to lookat your business and say, if I
step away and go do these things, how can it not slow down with
that?
Because I think that there's avery valuable piece in there.
Right, don't build yourbusiness as if you can go solve
every problem in it when youwant.
Right, because anytime I'veever traveled, I'll come up with
(15:50):
ideas or ways to you know,delegate the information,
because I know I'm not going tobe there.
So I start to like preface allright, here's what you guys need
to be doing.
And I look back and say, well,why don't I just do that all the
time?
So I think getting away andseeing new areas and checking
these things out, it's one.
It's good for perspective,right, you start to see things
differently, you thinkdifferently, get creative, and
(16:13):
the other side of it is yourbusiness starts to be stabilized
without you, and that's one ofthe most powerful things that
you can have, for your companyis a is a operation that doesn't
rely on you, right, but itgrows through you.
You want to make sure you'reempowering your people.
(16:36):
You want to help them be goodleaders, but you also want to
make sure that you're guidingthem, helping them see the
direction that they're goingright.
If they can come to you and geteverything solved, you're going
to enable them to be able tothink of these things by
themselves, and so, when you'retraveling, start to think about
that, right Is?
You know how much of thebusiness is reliant on me in all
(16:57):
of these different areas?
Because when you're looking ata, you know a company that's
interested in buying you.
They want to know that, hey,they might want to keep you on,
they might want to keep workingwith you, but they want to know
that it doesn't rely on you.
And in the home serviceindustry, that's one of the
biggest reasons these businessesare so valuable, because the
(17:17):
owner built it around them.
He's reactive to everythingthat's happening.
He's allowed the business tocontrol him.
These funds know that, hey, wecould come in, even if the
business does rely on you.
That's a great way that we canstart to break you down a little
bit, get you for a cheaperprice, and the second we pull
you out, throw somebody in therethat's capable, and now you've
(17:39):
got a system that just 5X itsoperation.
That's what they're looking for.
Don't let the ego of it beingyour thing hold you back from
something that could beeverybody's thing, because the
more it relies on you, the lessit relies on people, and if you
make good people and you buildgood people, then you're going
(18:00):
to have a successful businessand you're going to end up, in
turn, helping provide more forthem, because it's going to get
bigger than you.
It's not going to rely on you.
You're not going to be theorganism anymore.
The organization is, and so I'mgoing to leave you with three
ways to kind of change yourperspective.
(18:22):
Maybe One is going to be whatare the things that you're
avoiding?
What are the things that youhave a feeling that they might
be good for you?
But it's scary.
It's a big step, it's a newpartnership, the thing that
you're dragging out and you'reavoiding.
(18:42):
You need to figure out what isthis.
Why am I?
Is this something that is goodfor me and something that's
going to draw me closer, or isit something that's going to
distract me?
Two why are you avoiding it?
What is the reason for that?
Right, is it because you don'thave the details yet you need
more, more information or areyou avoiding it because it is
(19:08):
something that you might bescared of?
And then three is is it yourstory Right?
Are you allowing your future tobe determined by your past
experiences?
Are you thinking something isgoing to be negative or bad or
(19:32):
whatever?
Or because you got, you know,someone misinformed you before
or lied to you or burnt you?
Are you allowing that to be thereason that you're not sure
about this thing?
Or you haven't jumped into thatyet?
Is that the story that you'retelling yourself?
And maybe sometimes it might betrue, the story that we tell
ourselves?
I'm not saying that it's alwaysa lie, but I'm saying a lot of
(19:53):
times we don't really know, sowe assume.
And so those three things onemore time.
What are you avoiding?
Why are you avoiding it?
And is it just your story?
Reckless CEO out.
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