January 14, 2024 • 15 mins
Welcome to another episode of the RV Rental Secrets Podcast with your host, Stacy Maxon. In this week's episode, Stacy reflects on the highlights and business revelations of 2023 that will set the stage for an even more successful 2024. Having invested time in courses, masterminds, and extensive reading, Stacy shares seven key lessons learned.
Firstly, she emphasizes the importance of not spreading oneself too thin, drawing inspiration from the book "10x is Easier Than 2X" by Dr. Benjamin Hardy and Dan Sullivan. Stacy advocates focusing on the 20 percent of work that yields 80 percent of results, encouraging listeners to identify their unique abilities and concentrate on them for business growth.
The second lesson is about perseverance. Stacy urges entrepreneurs not to give up too soon, citing examples of businesses that abandon strategies or tools prematurely. She advises consistency and patience, emphasizing that it may take a year of persistence for efforts to yield significant results.
Next, Stacy discusses the critical role of tracking and analyzing data in decision-making. Drawing from her own experience, she recommends tracking Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to understand what is working in the business and guide strategic choices.
The fourth revelation comes from reading "Profit First," where Stacy encourages a deep dive into business expenses. She advocates trimming unnecessary costs, merging software tools, and adopting a frugal mindset to enhance profitability.
Stacy's fifth lesson revolves around the idea of serving the audience rather than selling to them. She advises businesses to focus on providing value through content, sharing tips, destinations, and entertaining stories, fostering a connection with the audience that leads to organic sales.
Consistency emerges as the sixth lesson, with Stacy confessing to having battled 'shiny object syndrome.' She stresses the importance of staying consistent in marketing efforts, as small, consistent steps can lead to significant growth over time.
The final lesson Stacy imparts is the value of delegation. Drawing insights from "Who Not How," she encourages entrepreneurs to recognize tasks they can delegate, freeing up time for more critical responsibilities. Stacy highlights the new Fireside Plus program, which allows RV rental businesses to have built-in office staff, emphasizing the potential for outsourcing tasks.
In conclusion, Stacy expresses excitement about the opportunities the new year holds and invites listeners to share their suggestions for podcast topics by reaching out to her at stacy@firesidervrental.com.
For more tips on how to start, run, and grow an RV rental business sign up for Stacy's Firestarter Newsletter www.firestarternewsletter.com
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Welcome to the RV Rental Secrets Podcast.
(00:02):
.999I'm your host, Stacey Maxson, and I'm thrilled to guide you through the journey of launching, growing, and managing a profitable RV rental business. 3 00:00:08,874.3310657596 --> 00:00:11,414.33106576 Welcome back to the RV Rental Secret Podcast. 4 00:00:12,154.33106576 --> 00:00:23,674.33106576 This week I want to talk about the year in review, seven business revelations from 2023 that are going to make for an even more successful 2024. 5 00:00:23,674.33106576 --> 00:00:40,254.33006576 So, this past year, I spent a lot of time taking courses, being in different masterminds I read 67 books this year, and really took a lot of time to focus on growing my business. 6 00:00:40,254.33006576 --> 00:00:43,374.33006576 And even, growing myself personally. 7 00:00:44,134.33006576 --> 00:00:55,544.32906576 And I just wanted to share some of the things that I learned this year that will not only help me and my business going forward, but I think can help you as well. 8 00:00:55,554.33006576 --> 00:00:57,969.23006576 So I just wanted to share some of the things with you. 9 00:00:58,649.33006576 --> 00:01:06,819.33006576 So number one, and these are in no particular order, but what I've learned is don't spread yourself too thin. 10 00:01:07,169.32906576 --> 00:01:10,909.33006576 So I read 10x is easier than 2x this year. 11 00:01:11,279.33006576 --> 00:01:13,554.33006576 It's a great book by Dr. 12 00:01:13,564.33006576 --> 00:01:22,474.33006576 Benjamin Harvey and Dan Sullivan, and I learned that 80 percent of your results come from 20 percent of your work. 13 00:01:22,554.33006576 --> 00:01:27,934.33006576 So you should be looking at what is your unique ability and, go all in on that. 14 00:01:28,424.33006576 --> 00:01:31,314.33056576 So take a look at, what you're good at. 15 00:01:31,454.33056576 --> 00:01:48,199.32956576 What do you love to do? What is that one thing that's really moving the lever in your business? That one thing that 80 or 80 percent of your results are coming from and that's really the thing that you should be focusing on. 16 00:01:48,359.33056576 --> 00:01:51,769.33056576 Don't be trying to do everything within the business. 17 00:01:51,999.33156576 --> 00:01:57,69.33156576 I know, my husband and I were guilty of that when we were running our, our pre rental business. 18 00:01:57,169.33156576 --> 00:02:13,674.33206576 He would do the Driving and the pickups and the maintenance, and I would work on cleaning the units and scheduling and reservations, taking inquiries and we were just spreading ourselves too thin. 19 00:02:14,474.33106576 --> 00:02:19,104.33206576 So we couldn't go all in on the one thing and get really good at it. 20 00:02:19,424.33206576 --> 00:02:23,544.33206576 And if you do that, it's going to help you grow your business faster. 21 00:02:23,594.43206576 --> 00:02:26,654.43206576 So, you know, really take a look at what's the one thing. 22 00:02:27,479.43206576 --> 00:02:29,279.43206576 That's most important in your business. 23 00:02:29,389.43206576 --> 00:02:37,526.09773243 Maybe, it's getting more rental customers, or maybe you're trying to grow your fleet and really take a look at, what your goals are. 24 00:02:38,191.09873243 --> 00:02:41,221.09873243 And go all in on that one thing this year. 25 00:02:41,221.09873243 --> 00:02:44,91.09873243 The next thing I want to talk about is don't give up too soon. 26 00:02:44,571.09773243 --> 00:02:53,641.09773243 I see so many business owners that are, trying a marketing strategy or posting on social media. 27 00:02:54,441.09773243 --> 00:03:02,581.09773243 Maybe trying a new software and they'll do it for a week, maybe a month and you know, and they start not seeing they're not seeing any results. 28 00:03:03,131.09773243 --> 00:03:04,681.09773243 So they're like, Oh, this isn't working. 29 00:03:04,681.09773243 --> 00:03:06,601.09773243 And like, let's move on to the next thing. 30 00:03:07,61.09773243 --> 00:03:08,661.09673243 And, it can take a. 31 00:03:09,21.09673243 --> 00:03:32,421.09723243 A good year of consistency for something to really start moving the needle and working in your business so I think along with going all in on that one thing and doing it for a longer period of time to make sure that you can actually get it working also, I know a lot of businesses as well The economy this last year was kind of rough. 32 00:03:32,511.09723243 --> 00:03:38,281.09723243 And some business owners might have gotten discouraged where they felt that their business was slowing down. 33 00:03:38,331.09723243 --> 00:03:42,31.09723243 And I want to encourage you, don't quit on your dream. 34 00:03:42,31.09723243 --> 00:03:43,361.09723243 Don't quit on your business. 35 00:03:43,641.09623243 --> 00:03:53,521.09623243 It reminds me of the story Three Feet from Gold which is often associated with the Think and Grow Rich book by Napoleon Hill. 36 00:03:54,31.09523243 --> 00:04:03,991.09723243 And in this story, there's a man that he heard about the discovery of gold in the West and he wanted to make his fortune. 37 00:04:04,391.09723243 --> 00:04:10,881.09723243 So he staked a claim and started digging and he kept working trying to find it. 38 00:04:10,941.09723243 --> 00:04:15,631.09723243 He found a vein of gold ore And so it was so excited. 39 00:04:15,661.09723243 --> 00:04:20,801.09723243 He got all the machinery to extract the gold you know, and he kept digging for weeks. 40 00:04:20,851.09723243 --> 00:04:27,466.09623243 He found a team to help him and they kept going and he didn't find anything. 41 00:04:27,876.09623243 --> 00:04:34,116.09623243 So after a while he got discouraged and frustrated and he decided to just cut his losses. 42 00:04:34,316.09523243 --> 00:04:52,706.09623243 He sold all this machinery and Then the person that bought the machinery he sought the advice of a mining engineer who did additional analysis and discovered that Darby had stopped three feet from a new vein of gold. 43 00:04:53,366.09523243 --> 00:05:02,351.09623243 So if he had just worked a little bit harder, a little bit longer, he would have got to the gold and became rich. 44 00:05:02,951.09623243 --> 00:05:13,791.09723243 So, that that story often resonates with me when I want to give up on something or, I get frustrated within my business. 45 00:05:13,881.09623243 --> 00:05:28,381.09623243 There's so many times that you're just giving up a little bit too soon, and I think I've heard Alex from OZ say that as well, that, you know, oftentimes businesses fail because they just give up too soon. 46 00:05:28,491.09623243 --> 00:05:31,611.09723243 If you keep going and keep working hard, you'll get there. 47 00:05:32,131.09723243 --> 00:05:34,991.09723243 So I just want to, encourage you to keep going. 48 00:05:35,1.09723243 --> 00:05:41,421.09723243 If you did have a rough year in 2023, you know, just keep looking forward and see how you can. 49 00:05:42,31.09723243 --> 00:05:44,41.09723243 Get more business in this coming year. 50 00:05:44,41.09723243 --> 00:05:56,851.09623243 The next thing I want to talk about and what I learned myself this year Is you really need to track everything and look at the data to make your decisions So it kind of goes along with what I was saying with the other two points. 51 00:05:56,881.09723243 --> 00:06:01,371.09723243 Like, if you're not tracking anything, you don't really know if anything's working or not. 52 00:06:01,501.09723243 --> 00:06:06,971.09623243 So, what I like to do in my business is I track KPIs. 53 00:06:07,551.09723243 --> 00:06:16,691.09823243 And you can do this with sales, with marketing running reports for how many rentals you're getting, how long the rentals are. 54 00:06:17,661.09823243 --> 00:06:41,601.09923243 What units are being used most often? So that can help that data can help you determine, if you want to expand your fleet, what type of units should you be investing into with marketing, you want to keep track of, how many followers are getting, what's the engagement and then you can look back on. 55 00:06:41,601.09923243 --> 00:06:48,121.09923243 What posts are you getting the most engagement in, and then you can start making more of those posts. 56 00:06:49,1.09923243 --> 00:06:56,471.09923243 So really just tracking the information and then using that data to figure out where you should move forward in your business. 57 00:06:56,471.09923243 --> 00:07:09,296.09923243 The next thing I want to talk about is, or the next thing I learned, is I read Profit First this year, and it really talked about you know, how to obviously make your business more profitable. 58 00:07:09,726.09923243 --> 00:07:15,56.09923243 And one of the things it mentioned was, take a deep dive look into your expenses. 59 00:07:15,506.09823243 --> 00:07:23,706.09923243 And there's oftentimes you have software or subscriptions or you're paying for courses and memberships. 60 00:07:24,266.09923243 --> 00:07:44,601.10123243 And one, you're Not necessarily even using them so if you're not using them, you can obviously get rid of it and save that cost or oftentimes, you have two softwares that you're paying for and one of them can be used for multiple things, so you can get rid of the other one and just combine everything into one software. 61 00:07:45,101.10123243 --> 00:07:48,71.10123243 We did that this year with ClickFunnels 2. 62 00:07:48,111.10123243 --> 00:07:48,581.10123243 0. 63 00:07:48,631.10123243 --> 00:07:57,491.10223243 We actually use for like our email marketing and our funnels and there's so many different functions. 64 00:07:57,981.10223243 --> 00:08:44,121.10123243 But because we were using that, we were able to get rid of like MailChimp and Other softwares that we were paying for that we didn't need to also taking a look at, what softwares are you using that you don't necessarily need are you paying for a phone line where you can get maybe one through Google Voice for free one of the things in Profit First was really about like frugality and when you're not making a lot of money in your business you get more resourceful and find ways to Do something Without paying for it So kind of going taking a step back and going into that mindset like just because you can pay for something Doesn't mean that you need to do that. 65 00:08:44,191.10223243 --> 00:09:26,916.10323243 So what expenses? In your business, do you have that you don't need and what can you get rid of? The next thing i've really learned, through a lot of the coaching and masterminds i've been in this past year Is you really want to serve your audience and don't sell? So what that means is, especially on social media oftentimes you think of marketing as getting in front of people and here, rent this RV, we have this RV rental, and you should rent it, like, that's all you're talking about is how they should rent your RV, and you're not necessarily telling them how it will help them, and that's what they want to hear so really think about how can you serve it. 66 00:09:26,966.20323243 --> 00:09:45,176.10373243 The audience, whether telling them tips on how to use an RV, what destinations they can go to, what campgrounds are in your area, you could do campground reviews, are there ways you can entertain them through your content, maybe funny stories of the RV. 67 00:09:45,176.20373243 --> 00:09:49,826.20373243 From when, you know, you took an RV trip or some of your customer stories. 68 00:09:50,176.20373243 --> 00:09:58,936.20373243 You just really want to share valuable information that's going to get them to connect with you on a personal level. 69 00:09:59,236.20373243 --> 00:10:01,996.20373243 And then that's going to make them want to buy from you., 70 00:10:02,376.20273243 --> 00:10:06,676.20323243 and you can do this on social media and your blog posts or podcasts. 71 00:10:07,156.20323243 --> 00:10:08,96.20323243 Anything. 72 00:10:08,656.20323243 --> 00:10:13,706.20323243 That you're out there sharing just thinking about serving your audience rather than selling to them. 73 00:10:13,926.20323243 --> 00:10:16,496.20323243 No one wants to be sold to. 74 00:10:16,496.20323243 --> 00:10:19,236.20223243 The next thing is stay consistent. 75 00:10:19,606.20223243 --> 00:10:24,786.20223243 So I actually chose the word consistency for my word for the year of 2024. 76 00:10:25,666.20323243 --> 00:10:28,736.20323243 I often get shiny object syndrome. 77 00:10:28,756.20323243 --> 00:10:36,791.20323243 I talked about this in one of my Previous newsletters if you're interested in taking a look, it's firestarternewsletter. 78 00:10:37,861.20323243 --> 00:10:37,891.20323243 com. 79 00:10:37,891.30323243 --> 00:10:47,896.13656576 And each week I share some information about the RV industry and, what I'm reading and what's going on at Fireside. 80 00:10:47,936.13556576 --> 00:10:50,716.13556576 So you can go ahead Sign up for that if you want. 81 00:10:50,716.13556576 --> 00:10:51,866.13556576 It's completely free. 82 00:10:52,356.13556576 --> 00:10:55,896.13556576 And it often shares different information from the podcast. 83 00:10:56,476.13556576 --> 00:10:58,556.13556576 So, I suggest checking that out. 84 00:10:58,996.13456576 --> 00:11:15,626.13606576 But anyways I talked about this in one of the previous newsletters that like to try out new business ideas or think of new products, ways to get different types of revenue, or maybe I should try a new service or software., 85 00:11:15,646.13506576 --> 00:11:21,336.13556576 I just always like to be thinking about the next big thing, what's fun to do. 86 00:11:21,716.13556576 --> 00:11:25,136.13556576 And I know many business owners are like that, where. 87 00:11:25,726.13556576 --> 00:11:33,336.13556576 We just crave change and we want to be creative because we like that process of creating new things. 88 00:11:33,866.13456576 --> 00:11:37,876.13456576 But, what I've learned this year is you need to stay consistent. 89 00:11:38,306.13356576 --> 00:11:41,676.13356576 Taking small steps can really lead to big growth. 90 00:11:42,196.13356576 --> 00:11:52,76.13356576 And,, even though parts of the business may feel boring or you feel like you're repeating the same message or telling the same stories over and over. 91 00:11:52,356.13256576 --> 00:11:56,766.13256576 There's so many people that aren't seeing your content or haven't heard of you yet. 92 00:11:57,116.13256576 --> 00:12:03,46.13156576 So you just need to keep showing up, be consistent in what you're, in what you're offering in your business. 93 00:12:03,806.13256576 --> 00:12:05,326.13256576 And along with that. 94 00:12:06,11.13256576 --> 00:12:39,111.13206576 When I go back to what I said about tracking if you're tracking the data and staying consistent, you'll see that, if you just make a small tweak in your marketing, or if you're doing Facebook ads making that small little tweak can then help you grow and when you're tracking and staying consistent and just making these small changes That's when you're really going to start seeing the growth in your business And the last thing I want to talk about is delegation So finding who's for your business. 95 00:12:39,311.13206576 --> 00:12:40,151.13256576 This is another book. 96 00:12:40,151.13256576 --> 00:12:45,171.13306576 I read this year is who not how and that's from Dr. 97 00:12:45,181.13306576 --> 00:12:47,251.13306576 Benjamin Hardy and Dan Sullivan. 98 00:12:47,281.13306576 --> 00:12:51,71.13306576 They also wrote that book and I really recommend anything they've written. 99 00:12:51,161.13306576 --> 00:12:58,971.13206576 It's just a lot of good principles, but, in my business, I often feel like it's easier to just do it myself. 100 00:12:59,81.13206576 --> 00:13:04,171.13206576 But I found that that mindset is taking me away from more important tasks. 101 00:13:04,631.13206576 --> 00:13:28,586.13006576 So I really want to, let you know that it's okay to start outsourcing things in your business that you're not good at, or you That you don't have time for or desire to do, so maybe that's cleaning or deliveries RV maintenance or office work, answering inquiries, whatever task it is in your business that you want to get rid of you know, give yourself permission to find someone else that'll do it. 102 00:13:28,806.13006576 --> 00:13:38,546.13006576 They could be better at doing it than you are, or they just like doing it so much more that it's going to Take them less time to do it., 103 00:13:38,886.13006576 --> 00:13:45,866.13006576 often if it's something that we don't like doing, we procrastinate and we don't necessarily do it to the best of our abilities. 104 00:13:46,306.13006576 --> 00:13:52,656.12906576 So, offloading those tasks is often going to help your business better than if you just try to. 105 00:13:53,321.13006576 --> 00:13:54,731.13006576 Work your way through it. 106 00:13:55,341.13006576 --> 00:14:04,861.12906576 And with this, actually, this coming year in Fireside RV Rental, that's the franchise that I work for for RV Rental Management. 107 00:14:05,231.12906576 --> 00:14:08,271.13106576 We're helping our franchises in Fireside this year. 108 00:14:08,311.12906576 --> 00:14:11,651.13006576 We just created a new Fireside Plus program. 109 00:14:11,981.13006576 --> 00:14:59,811.02906576 Where franchisees can have a built in office staff that helps with contracts and inquiries and reservations So they can just focus on managing the business so,, I think there's a lot of opportunities out there For everyone, in the rv rental space to really start finding people Who can take on those tasks for you, whether it be in a franchise opportunity, or you just start hiring, independent contractors for cleaning or deliveries I would start by, making a list of all the tasks you do on a daily basis and then once you do that, go ahead and categorize them maybe some have to do with maintenance or cleaning or marketing or office tasks and kind of pick the bucket that you enjoy most and you feel like that'll work for you. 110 00:14:59,941.12906576 --> 00:15:38,601.12906576 Move the needle most in your business and go all in on that, like we mentioned in number one and then find people to do the other tasks for you So those are the seven lessons I learned in 2023 I hope they will help you move forward in your business in this year as well I'm just really excited to see what the new year has in store for us and for all of your businesses and, if you guys have any suggestions of what you'd like talked about on the podcast you can reach out to me at Stacy at FiresideRVRental. 111 00:15:38,621.12906576 --> 00:15:41,871.12906576 com and let me know what you would like to hear about. 112 00:15:42,371.12906576 --> 00:15:43,821.12906576 So I'll talk to you guys next week. 113 00:15:43,901.12906576 --> 00:15:44,741.12906576 Thanks for joining me.
Welcome to the RV Rental Secrets Podcast.
(00:02):
.999I'm your host, Stacey Maxson, and I'm thrilled to guide you through the journey of launching, growing, and managing a profitable RV rental business. 3 00:00:08,874.3310657596 --> 00:00:11,414.33106576 Welcome back to the RV Rental Secret Podcast. 4 00:00:12,154.33106576 --> 00:00:23,674.33106576 This week I want to talk about the year in review, seven business revelations from 2023 that are going to make for an even more successful 2024. 5 00:00:23,674.33106576 --> 00:00:40,254.33006576 So, this past year, I spent a lot of time taking courses, being in different masterminds I read 67 books this year, and really took a lot of time to focus on growing my business. 6 00:00:40,254.33006576 --> 00:00:43,374.33006576 And even, growing myself personally. 7 00:00:44,134.33006576 --> 00:00:55,544.32906576 And I just wanted to share some of the things that I learned this year that will not only help me and my business going forward, but I think can help you as well. 8 00:00:55,554.33006576 --> 00:00:57,969.23006576 So I just wanted to share some of the things with you. 9 00:00:58,649.33006576 --> 00:01:06,819.33006576 So number one, and these are in no particular order, but what I've learned is don't spread yourself too thin. 10 00:01:07,169.32906576 --> 00:01:10,909.33006576 So I read 10x is easier than 2x this year. 11 00:01:11,279.33006576 --> 00:01:13,554.33006576 It's a great book by Dr. 12 00:01:13,564.33006576 --> 00:01:22,474.33006576 Benjamin Harvey and Dan Sullivan, and I learned that 80 percent of your results come from 20 percent of your work. 13 00:01:22,554.33006576 --> 00:01:27,934.33006576 So you should be looking at what is your unique ability and, go all in on that. 14 00:01:28,424.33006576 --> 00:01:31,314.33056576 So take a look at, what you're good at. 15 00:01:31,454.33056576 --> 00:01:48,199.32956576 What do you love to do? What is that one thing that's really moving the lever in your business? That one thing that 80 or 80 percent of your results are coming from and that's really the thing that you should be focusing on. 16 00:01:48,359.33056576 --> 00:01:51,769.33056576 Don't be trying to do everything within the business. 17 00:01:51,999.33156576 --> 00:01:57,69.33156576 I know, my husband and I were guilty of that when we were running our, our pre rental business. 18 00:01:57,169.33156576 --> 00:02:13,674.33206576 He would do the Driving and the pickups and the maintenance, and I would work on cleaning the units and scheduling and reservations, taking inquiries and we were just spreading ourselves too thin. 19 00:02:14,474.33106576 --> 00:02:19,104.33206576 So we couldn't go all in on the one thing and get really good at it. 20 00:02:19,424.33206576 --> 00:02:23,544.33206576 And if you do that, it's going to help you grow your business faster. 21 00:02:23,594.43206576 --> 00:02:26,654.43206576 So, you know, really take a look at what's the one thing. 22 00:02:27,479.43206576 --> 00:02:29,279.43206576 That's most important in your business. 23 00:02:29,389.43206576 --> 00:02:37,526.09773243 Maybe, it's getting more rental customers, or maybe you're trying to grow your fleet and really take a look at, what your goals are. 24 00:02:38,191.09873243 --> 00:02:41,221.09873243 And go all in on that one thing this year. 25 00:02:41,221.09873243 --> 00:02:44,91.09873243 The next thing I want to talk about is don't give up too soon. 26 00:02:44,571.09773243 --> 00:02:53,641.09773243 I see so many business owners that are, trying a marketing strategy or posting on social media. 27 00:02:54,441.09773243 --> 00:03:02,581.09773243 Maybe trying a new software and they'll do it for a week, maybe a month and you know, and they start not seeing they're not seeing any results. 28 00:03:03,131.09773243 --> 00:03:04,681.09773243 So they're like, Oh, this isn't working. 29 00:03:04,681.09773243 --> 00:03:06,601.09773243 And like, let's move on to the next thing. 30 00:03:07,61.09773243 --> 00:03:08,661.09673243 And, it can take a. 31 00:03:09,21.09673243 --> 00:03:32,421.09723243 A good year of consistency for something to really start moving the needle and working in your business so I think along with going all in on that one thing and doing it for a longer period of time to make sure that you can actually get it working also, I know a lot of businesses as well The economy this last year was kind of rough. 32 00:03:32,511.09723243 --> 00:03:38,281.09723243 And some business owners might have gotten discouraged where they felt that their business was slowing down. 33 00:03:38,331.09723243 --> 00:03:42,31.09723243 And I want to encourage you, don't quit on your dream. 34 00:03:42,31.09723243 --> 00:03:43,361.09723243 Don't quit on your business. 35 00:03:43,641.09623243 --> 00:03:53,521.09623243 It reminds me of the story Three Feet from Gold which is often associated with the Think and Grow Rich book by Napoleon Hill. 36 00:03:54,31.09523243 --> 00:04:03,991.09723243 And in this story, there's a man that he heard about the discovery of gold in the West and he wanted to make his fortune. 37 00:04:04,391.09723243 --> 00:04:10,881.09723243 So he staked a claim and started digging and he kept working trying to find it. 38 00:04:10,941.09723243 --> 00:04:15,631.09723243 He found a vein of gold ore And so it was so excited. 39 00:04:15,661.09723243 --> 00:04:20,801.09723243 He got all the machinery to extract the gold you know, and he kept digging for weeks. 40 00:04:20,851.09723243 --> 00:04:27,466.09623243 He found a team to help him and they kept going and he didn't find anything. 41 00:04:27,876.09623243 --> 00:04:34,116.09623243 So after a while he got discouraged and frustrated and he decided to just cut his losses. 42 00:04:34,316.09523243 --> 00:04:52,706.09623243 He sold all this machinery and Then the person that bought the machinery he sought the advice of a mining engineer who did additional analysis and discovered that Darby had stopped three feet from a new vein of gold. 43 00:04:53,366.09523243 --> 00:05:02,351.09623243 So if he had just worked a little bit harder, a little bit longer, he would have got to the gold and became rich. 44 00:05:02,951.09623243 --> 00:05:13,791.09723243 So, that that story often resonates with me when I want to give up on something or, I get frustrated within my business. 45 00:05:13,881.09623243 --> 00:05:28,381.09623243 There's so many times that you're just giving up a little bit too soon, and I think I've heard Alex from OZ say that as well, that, you know, oftentimes businesses fail because they just give up too soon. 46 00:05:28,491.09623243 --> 00:05:31,611.09723243 If you keep going and keep working hard, you'll get there. 47 00:05:32,131.09723243 --> 00:05:34,991.09723243 So I just want to, encourage you to keep going. 48 00:05:35,1.09723243 --> 00:05:41,421.09723243 If you did have a rough year in 2023, you know, just keep looking forward and see how you can. 49 00:05:42,31.09723243 --> 00:05:44,41.09723243 Get more business in this coming year. 50 00:05:44,41.09723243 --> 00:05:56,851.09623243 The next thing I want to talk about and what I learned myself this year Is you really need to track everything and look at the data to make your decisions So it kind of goes along with what I was saying with the other two points. 51 00:05:56,881.09723243 --> 00:06:01,371.09723243 Like, if you're not tracking anything, you don't really know if anything's working or not. 52 00:06:01,501.09723243 --> 00:06:06,971.09623243 So, what I like to do in my business is I track KPIs. 53 00:06:07,551.09723243 --> 00:06:16,691.09823243 And you can do this with sales, with marketing running reports for how many rentals you're getting, how long the rentals are. 54 00:06:17,661.09823243 --> 00:06:41,601.09923243 What units are being used most often? So that can help that data can help you determine, if you want to expand your fleet, what type of units should you be investing into with marketing, you want to keep track of, how many followers are getting, what's the engagement and then you can look back on. 55 00:06:41,601.09923243 --> 00:06:48,121.09923243 What posts are you getting the most engagement in, and then you can start making more of those posts. 56 00:06:49,1.09923243 --> 00:06:56,471.09923243 So really just tracking the information and then using that data to figure out where you should move forward in your business. 57 00:06:56,471.09923243 --> 00:07:09,296.09923243 The next thing I want to talk about is, or the next thing I learned, is I read Profit First this year, and it really talked about you know, how to obviously make your business more profitable. 58 00:07:09,726.09923243 --> 00:07:15,56.09923243 And one of the things it mentioned was, take a deep dive look into your expenses. 59 00:07:15,506.09823243 --> 00:07:23,706.09923243 And there's oftentimes you have software or subscriptions or you're paying for courses and memberships. 60 00:07:24,266.09923243 --> 00:07:44,601.10123243 And one, you're Not necessarily even using them so if you're not using them, you can obviously get rid of it and save that cost or oftentimes, you have two softwares that you're paying for and one of them can be used for multiple things, so you can get rid of the other one and just combine everything into one software. 61 00:07:45,101.10123243 --> 00:07:48,71.10123243 We did that this year with ClickFunnels 2. 62 00:07:48,111.10123243 --> 00:07:48,581.10123243 0. 63 00:07:48,631.10123243 --> 00:07:57,491.10223243 We actually use for like our email marketing and our funnels and there's so many different functions. 64 00:07:57,981.10223243 --> 00:08:44,121.10123243 But because we were using that, we were able to get rid of like MailChimp and Other softwares that we were paying for that we didn't need to also taking a look at, what softwares are you using that you don't necessarily need are you paying for a phone line where you can get maybe one through Google Voice for free one of the things in Profit First was really about like frugality and when you're not making a lot of money in your business you get more resourceful and find ways to Do something Without paying for it So kind of going taking a step back and going into that mindset like just because you can pay for something Doesn't mean that you need to do that. 65 00:08:44,191.10223243 --> 00:09:26,916.10323243 So what expenses? In your business, do you have that you don't need and what can you get rid of? The next thing i've really learned, through a lot of the coaching and masterminds i've been in this past year Is you really want to serve your audience and don't sell? So what that means is, especially on social media oftentimes you think of marketing as getting in front of people and here, rent this RV, we have this RV rental, and you should rent it, like, that's all you're talking about is how they should rent your RV, and you're not necessarily telling them how it will help them, and that's what they want to hear so really think about how can you serve it. 66 00:09:26,966.20323243 --> 00:09:45,176.10373243 The audience, whether telling them tips on how to use an RV, what destinations they can go to, what campgrounds are in your area, you could do campground reviews, are there ways you can entertain them through your content, maybe funny stories of the RV. 67 00:09:45,176.20373243 --> 00:09:49,826.20373243 From when, you know, you took an RV trip or some of your customer stories. 68 00:09:50,176.20373243 --> 00:09:58,936.20373243 You just really want to share valuable information that's going to get them to connect with you on a personal level. 69 00:09:59,236.20373243 --> 00:10:01,996.20373243 And then that's going to make them want to buy from you., 70 00:10:02,376.20273243 --> 00:10:06,676.20323243 and you can do this on social media and your blog posts or podcasts. 71 00:10:07,156.20323243 --> 00:10:08,96.20323243 Anything. 72 00:10:08,656.20323243 --> 00:10:13,706.20323243 That you're out there sharing just thinking about serving your audience rather than selling to them. 73 00:10:13,926.20323243 --> 00:10:16,496.20323243 No one wants to be sold to. 74 00:10:16,496.20323243 --> 00:10:19,236.20223243 The next thing is stay consistent. 75 00:10:19,606.20223243 --> 00:10:24,786.20223243 So I actually chose the word consistency for my word for the year of 2024. 76 00:10:25,666.20323243 --> 00:10:28,736.20323243 I often get shiny object syndrome. 77 00:10:28,756.20323243 --> 00:10:36,791.20323243 I talked about this in one of my Previous newsletters if you're interested in taking a look, it's firestarternewsletter. 78 00:10:37,861.20323243 --> 00:10:37,891.20323243 com. 79 00:10:37,891.30323243 --> 00:10:47,896.13656576 And each week I share some information about the RV industry and, what I'm reading and what's going on at Fireside. 80 00:10:47,936.13556576 --> 00:10:50,716.13556576 So you can go ahead Sign up for that if you want. 81 00:10:50,716.13556576 --> 00:10:51,866.13556576 It's completely free. 82 00:10:52,356.13556576 --> 00:10:55,896.13556576 And it often shares different information from the podcast. 83 00:10:56,476.13556576 --> 00:10:58,556.13556576 So, I suggest checking that out. 84 00:10:58,996.13456576 --> 00:11:15,626.13606576 But anyways I talked about this in one of the previous newsletters that like to try out new business ideas or think of new products, ways to get different types of revenue, or maybe I should try a new service or software., 85 00:11:15,646.13506576 --> 00:11:21,336.13556576 I just always like to be thinking about the next big thing, what's fun to do. 86 00:11:21,716.13556576 --> 00:11:25,136.13556576 And I know many business owners are like that, where. 87 00:11:25,726.13556576 --> 00:11:33,336.13556576 We just crave change and we want to be creative because we like that process of creating new things. 88 00:11:33,866.13456576 --> 00:11:37,876.13456576 But, what I've learned this year is you need to stay consistent. 89 00:11:38,306.13356576 --> 00:11:41,676.13356576 Taking small steps can really lead to big growth. 90 00:11:42,196.13356576 --> 00:11:52,76.13356576 And,, even though parts of the business may feel boring or you feel like you're repeating the same message or telling the same stories over and over. 91 00:11:52,356.13256576 --> 00:11:56,766.13256576 There's so many people that aren't seeing your content or haven't heard of you yet. 92 00:11:57,116.13256576 --> 00:12:03,46.13156576 So you just need to keep showing up, be consistent in what you're, in what you're offering in your business. 93 00:12:03,806.13256576 --> 00:12:05,326.13256576 And along with that. 94 00:12:06,11.13256576 --> 00:12:39,111.13206576 When I go back to what I said about tracking if you're tracking the data and staying consistent, you'll see that, if you just make a small tweak in your marketing, or if you're doing Facebook ads making that small little tweak can then help you grow and when you're tracking and staying consistent and just making these small changes That's when you're really going to start seeing the growth in your business And the last thing I want to talk about is delegation So finding who's for your business. 95 00:12:39,311.13206576 --> 00:12:40,151.13256576 This is another book. 96 00:12:40,151.13256576 --> 00:12:45,171.13306576 I read this year is who not how and that's from Dr. 97 00:12:45,181.13306576 --> 00:12:47,251.13306576 Benjamin Hardy and Dan Sullivan. 98 00:12:47,281.13306576 --> 00:12:51,71.13306576 They also wrote that book and I really recommend anything they've written. 99 00:12:51,161.13306576 --> 00:12:58,971.13206576 It's just a lot of good principles, but, in my business, I often feel like it's easier to just do it myself. 100 00:12:59,81.13206576 --> 00:13:04,171.13206576 But I found that that mindset is taking me away from more important tasks. 101 00:13:04,631.13206576 --> 00:13:28,586.13006576 So I really want to, let you know that it's okay to start outsourcing things in your business that you're not good at, or you That you don't have time for or desire to do, so maybe that's cleaning or deliveries RV maintenance or office work, answering inquiries, whatever task it is in your business that you want to get rid of you know, give yourself permission to find someone else that'll do it. 102 00:13:28,806.13006576 --> 00:13:38,546.13006576 They could be better at doing it than you are, or they just like doing it so much more that it's going to Take them less time to do it., 103 00:13:38,886.13006576 --> 00:13:45,866.13006576 often if it's something that we don't like doing, we procrastinate and we don't necessarily do it to the best of our abilities. 104 00:13:46,306.13006576 --> 00:13:52,656.12906576 So, offloading those tasks is often going to help your business better than if you just try to. 105 00:13:53,321.13006576 --> 00:13:54,731.13006576 Work your way through it. 106 00:13:55,341.13006576 --> 00:14:04,861.12906576 And with this, actually, this coming year in Fireside RV Rental, that's the franchise that I work for for RV Rental Management. 107 00:14:05,231.12906576 --> 00:14:08,271.13106576 We're helping our franchises in Fireside this year. 108 00:14:08,311.12906576 --> 00:14:11,651.13006576 We just created a new Fireside Plus program. 109 00:14:11,981.13006576 --> 00:14:59,811.02906576 Where franchisees can have a built in office staff that helps with contracts and inquiries and reservations So they can just focus on managing the business so,, I think there's a lot of opportunities out there For everyone, in the rv rental space to really start finding people Who can take on those tasks for you, whether it be in a franchise opportunity, or you just start hiring, independent contractors for cleaning or deliveries I would start by, making a list of all the tasks you do on a daily basis and then once you do that, go ahead and categorize them maybe some have to do with maintenance or cleaning or marketing or office tasks and kind of pick the bucket that you enjoy most and you feel like that'll work for you. 110 00:14:59,941.12906576 --> 00:15:38,601.12906576 Move the needle most in your business and go all in on that, like we mentioned in number one and then find people to do the other tasks for you So those are the seven lessons I learned in 2023 I hope they will help you move forward in your business in this year as well I'm just really excited to see what the new year has in store for us and for all of your businesses and, if you guys have any suggestions of what you'd like talked about on the podcast you can reach out to me at Stacy at FiresideRVRental. 111 00:15:38,621.12906576 --> 00:15:41,871.12906576 com and let me know what you would like to hear about. 112 00:15:42,371.12906576 --> 00:15:43,821.12906576 So I'll talk to you guys next week. 113 00:15:43,901.12906576 --> 00:15:44,741.12906576 Thanks for joining me.
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