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June 10, 2025 20 mins
Welcome to the Young Entrepreneur Syndicate, where innovation meets inspiration.

Your hosts, Jim Riley and Rod Kuntz, are seasoned entrepreneurs and mentors who’ve walked the walk in coaching, employee retention, retail, wholesale, fundraising, and creating thriving workplace cultures. Jim and Rod bring a refreshingly authentic style to every conversation, using their own successes and failures to teach strategies that work. This podcast is your go-to resource for growth, leadership, and real-world insights. They’ll show you how to optimize operations, embrace failure, and disrupt your industry, all while keeping success grounded in humility and paying it forward. Looking for strategies, connection, and a little inspiration? You’ve found your home. Let’s dream big, act boldly, and thrive together.

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Episode Transcript

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Speaker 1 (00:09):
Welcome to the Answers Yes Podcast, where we interview some
of the most interesting people that have said yes to
opportunities in their life. We hope that through these stories
you can learn to create your own destiny by saying yes.
Along the way, join us as we explored the new series,
governing topics such as passion, integrity, and art work. I'm

(00:29):
your host, Jim Riley, and I hope you enjoyed these
interviews as much as I do. I believe that everyone
has an important message work here. Hello and welcome to
the Young Entrepreneur Syndicate podcast. Thanks for tuning in. Jim
Riley with Rod Coontz.

Speaker 2 (00:43):
Good morning, Jim Riley.

Speaker 1 (00:45):
It is morning, Well, it feels more like noon or
afternoon for us. We've both put in a full day. Heriity,
it's only ten thirty.

Speaker 2 (00:51):
Yeah. My day started at five, which meant I got
up at four. Yeah, I guess it's almost a full day.

Speaker 1 (00:57):
I'm wondering. You know. It's funny sometimes I tell people
I don't feel like I get up that early. I
try to get up between six and seven. Get my
day going used to be five. It's amazing how many
people still think that's early. Though six it feels late
to me.

Speaker 2 (01:11):
My mother used to you know, she was a nurse,
and she you know, because we were she had six kids,
and so she always wanted to be home when we
were done with school. So she started her day the
six o'clock shift, and so she was done by three
o'clock in the afternoon, so we got off of school.
We had a mom and uh So she always said

(01:32):
morning is the best part of the day. I agree,
and that stuck with me my entire life. It's like,
it's the best part of the day. And if you
look at it that way, you don't want to miss it.
Why would you want to miss the best part of anything? Right,
If it's the best part of your day, why would
you possibly want to miss it?

Speaker 1 (01:51):
So the start, it's.

Speaker 2 (01:53):
A mindset, Yeah, for sure. Yeah, it's fun.

Speaker 1 (01:57):
When I was a kid, I had the morning shift
voluntary on the weekends. Nobody wanted it, and it was
cleaning up. I was a cleanup boyfriend in and out
Burger five am, five to one, and as everybody was
just getting really busy, I was like audio some out
of here. I love that shift.

Speaker 2 (02:13):
So yeah, when I was in high school, Jim, I
did the opening shift at a full service gas station, right,
and it was six o'clock and we were done at two,
well two thirty in the afternoon.

Speaker 1 (02:23):
Yeah, eight and a half hours.

Speaker 2 (02:25):
I put in. Yeah, I put in my time, and
I had the whole day in front of me when
I was done, especially in the summertime, right when it's
light till eleven o'clock in Montana.

Speaker 1 (02:35):
Yeah. Well, this all rolls into my topic, of course,
without even intending on it, what I want to talk
about today. This is a soft skill that people forget
so quickly, and it's just the opposite of that, and
that is consistency, building consistency into your business over a
period of time, you know. And there's a few things

(02:58):
that simulated this thought. One just came to mind. I've
got some companies that I've consulted for and most people
come to me they want to do a capital raise,
and I do a little bit of that. It's really
about preparing them for that capital raise. And what's interesting
is once they raise some money, they get going. You
start hearing from the investors like how's it going, how's
it going. It's like, well, it's only been two months,

(03:20):
it's only been three months, it's only been like five months.
It takes time and energy and effort compiled with consistency
to build a business of value. And so we've talked
a lot about having patients in the past, right, Yes,
but having patients along with being consistent is what builds
your business over time. So, first of all, if you're

(03:42):
an investor, give that company time to build and be
consistent with what they're doing. And if you want to
do anything as an investor, check in on their consistency
and their patience and that the fact that they're making
the right decisions. I mean, how have you seen that
run Just people just start jumping all of the board
and there's no consistency because they're grabbing at straws.

Speaker 2 (04:03):
Absolutely here what just came to mind when you were
saying that, Jim, especially with investors, and I want to
put this in a perspective that everyone can understand. When
you're putting money in investments four oh one k's you know,
if you're managing your own investments, what is the one
thing that every financial advisor will tell you, don't look

(04:27):
at it every day. Yeah, put it in there and
leave it alone. The market fluctuates, it's going to go up,
it's going to go down. You have to look long term.
So why is it that those people, I'm sure that
they the investors have investments in their four oh one
k's and other things, and yet they look at an investment,
you know, for a capital raise, if they're investing in

(04:47):
a company, somehow they think that's going to be the
magic bullet.

Speaker 1 (04:51):
Right.

Speaker 2 (04:51):
They're still looking for the get rich quick thing, right, Yeah,
they're still looking for that, even though they know they
know if they've got money to invest in other things,
they already know how it works, and yet they forget.
So I think there's this maybe they're self delusional in
a way. You know, when they start checking in all
the time. We all know that that's not it. But

(05:13):
I like your point where if you're going to check
in on the company, don't ask about their books, ask
about how things are going. How are your day to
day operations, how are your staff doing? Do you do
you are all your needs being met? You know, how
is it going? If you look at the structure and
the systems. And we actually had a member reach out

(05:34):
to us, you know, earlier this week about structures and systems,
how do we get that in place. Well, it's different
for every business, but if you do the basics right,
the rest will fall into place if you're patient and.

Speaker 1 (05:47):
Consist And by the way, hey, this side note for
all of you that have been thinking about becoming a
member of the Young Entrepreneur Syndicate, we just shifted gears
where instead of a weekly group zoom call, we've added
one on one calls and replacement of that. And what
you're referring to is we already had a member reach
out schedule a call with you about systems and how
to build their business. So I don't know of any

(06:09):
other coaching groups that are taking one on one calls
with their members, and certainly I don't know of any
that have three professionals to lead that charge. So you know,
a big side note. You know the thing about consistency too,
rod Well, let's just say this. When I was eighteen,
my grandfather taught me about investing. He said, Jim, he

(06:30):
was just put fifty dollars a month into a fund,
whether that's a mutual fund or some other type of investment,
and just be consistent with it, don't look at it
every day, and over a period of time, the dollar
cost average you know you're going to be looking really good.
I built a small fortune that way, you know. And
granted we're talking about nineteen eighty six when I was
putting fifty dollars a month, but it didn't matter, you know.

(06:51):
It was that consistently putting money in every month, every
month without looking, you know, automatic deduction from my checking
account for all those years. Literally it was a small fortune.
I'm so grateful for my grandfather to teach me that.
And if you apply that same principle into business, you know,
you put a little bit of an investment into marketing
every month, every month, every month, customer service every month.

(07:13):
The consistencies in your business will build you into being
that successful entrepreneur or entrepreneur that you're looking to be.
You know, we give a lot of accolades, or I
should say I give a lot of accolades to Andy
Fursella in his first form brand, and if you look
at the history of his company, he's been consistent time
and time again with what he does and the products

(07:35):
that he offers. And I love that example because he's
in an industry where it's saturated and there's all kinds
of other competitors. There's one competitor, and I know the
owner a little bit, and I like, you know who
they are. But man, they come out with a different
flavor of protein every other day. It's like, how do
I even keep up with that? You know, like are
you selling a popsicle? Are you selling protein powder that

(07:59):
has this has a different purpose? Right, you know, it's
like Reese's Pieces, protein powder is the flavor of the weeks.

Speaker 2 (08:07):
Like, come on, Larry Queen blizzards.

Speaker 1 (08:10):
Right, Let's just be good at what we do. Let's
be consistent and know that the brand will build over
time through that consistency and not like I said earlier,
grabing at straws. You know, too often we don't think
the thing's working, so we shift gears and we're ruining
the momentum that we created through that consistency. So add
a layer of consistency to the patients that we've talked

(08:32):
about in these shows, and combined, you're going to have
the winning combination over a period of time. Don't give up,
don't throw in the towel.

Speaker 2 (08:42):
Well, and that's just it. There are so many things
that pop up that will sideline you or distract you, right,
And I think the key to being a smart successful
business person is to recognize them for what they are.
Obstacles can be opportunities or they can just simply be
an obstacle that you just have to get over, get through,

(09:03):
overcome whatever it is. And to illustrate this, I'll let
you know. Yesterday, my my youngest son called me and
he's an adult, has his own business, and he had
just finished up on a project and they're getting ready
to he's a builder and they're turning the keys over
to the new homeowner on Friday. And so he was

(09:23):
there overseeing the final cleanup crew that was doing the
inside cleanup and the window washing and all that stuff.
And on his way there, he hit a deer and
there goes his truck. He's got to take, you know,
the final load of garbage trailer away. He's got equipment
to move, and his truck is now unserviceable, inoperable, and

(09:46):
he there he is, he's sidelined and he called me up,
and you know what's the parent do you know? You
go down and you rescue him, right, So I went
down there and he was just he was number one,
still in shock. You know, you hit a deer and
you know it's a collision, right, Yeah, sure, he was
in shock. He's got all these business things loose ends
to tie up, and I mean there's there's obstacles, and

(10:08):
it's like, am I even supposed to be doing this?
Is this a sign that you know? I you know,
I just finished this project. I'm ready to start something new?
Is this a sign? It's like, no, you hit a deer,
you know, don't read into it. Yeah, it's a bump
in the road. Yeah, well he's in the last couple
of years. I think he's on number eight now. He Yeah, anyway,

(10:28):
but again, you have to put it in perspective and
know that things are some things are just out of
your control, and all you can do is deal with
the issue that's in front of you when it's in
front of you, and then move on. Yeah, deal with
it and move on. Deal with it and move on,
but don't start rehashing it, reliving it. And he even said, man,
if I you know, if I had stopped, or if

(10:49):
I would if I hadn't hit the brakes, I usually
just plow right through him, it might have done something.
It's like, don't what if you know you're gonna do
this all day long? You hit a deer. Your truck's
to say here. I gave him the keys to my truck.
He dropped me off at home. I said, there you go.
You've got a truck to use, You've got that part
of your stuff covered. You've got a friend who's going

(11:10):
to come get the trailer for you. By the time
we were home, you know, that was an hour away.
Everything was lined up to move forward for the next day.
But in the moment, you can make bad decisions. You
can make bad decisions that last a lifetime in the moment,
so you really have to Part of being consistent is

(11:31):
being consistent with your emotions and being consistent with how
you deal with problems when they come up. And again
that's soft skill related, that's all part of it.

Speaker 1 (11:42):
Yeah, that is such a good point because it is
easy to get aggravated and upset during a heated moment
in your business. And this especially happens when you're working
for somebody too. Oh, you have that heated moment and
you're an employee, but you're successful, and then all of
a sudden, like you have a decision to make. Can

(12:02):
I be that consistently great employee or do I shift
a gear and I let my emotions lead the charge,
which could be disastrous, right, and so that I love
that point. You know, also you have to look at
the decisions that you make in your business to remain
consistent and understand like your son, for example, he hit

(12:26):
a deer. He's in the middle of a crisis in
the morning, and how to deal with all this. You
can easily get derailed and allow the day to crumble
and allow the people around you to be affected to
a point where it could either make or break. You know,
thirty days worth of business are more depending. I was

(12:48):
in a situation this week referring back to some of
my real estate business. I was closing a deal out
in Helena, three and a half hours away from here,
and what it required is for me to go out
and remove some furniture from the house, and I volunteered
to do it. It was part of, you know, something
off the books on the real estate side, but I
was really going above and beyond for the seller, and

(13:13):
there was some benefit to us in terms of getting
some furniture. But in the middle of that rod it's like, Wow,
there's a lot more work here than we anticipated, and
all of a sudden, like this is really kind of
a bummer, right, but you know, you bend over and
you dig in and you get the job done. And

(13:34):
the homeowner called me. She says, hey, I know that
was a lot of work. I really really appreciate your efforts.
If you need anything tomorrow, the second day of cleanup,
you know, let me know I can be there. I said, no,
we got it. I'm going to be out of here
by you know, early morning. I was there less than
twenty four hours, by the way, But be out of
her early morning, you know, and you're gonna be good,

(13:55):
good to go. You won't have to come back if
you don't want it.

Speaker 2 (13:57):
Right.

Speaker 1 (13:58):
Her and her husband were so appreciative. She calls me
on the way home. She says, hey, Jim, we're looking
at buying a property in another town. Would you help us?
Of course, I'll help you, right, And I can't help
but think that by me being consistent in my business
as it relates to customer service and doing everything that
I can to solve the customer's problems. Right, this was

(14:22):
a problem they lived out of town, cleaning up, you know,
getting the place ready to give to the new owners,
all this stuff, you know, giving that good customer service consistently,
even though it is at a pain point. Literally in
this case, my back was killing me, right, you know,
delivered future business. I can't help but think that. And

(14:42):
so when you're looking at your business and you're in
the heat of the moment you hit a deer and
the world's crumbled, push through to the other side of that,
you know, work the problem like your son did. Like
you said, within an hour, everything was organized and reset.
You know, don't lose it in those moments, and you
will see the reward on the other side of that.
And that's really the key point of being consistent, because

(15:06):
as we've also talked about, life is hard, business is hard.
We're not guaranteed an easy button. Yes, there will be
easy times, there will be rewards and all those other things,
but there will be hard times. And that's where you
have to really dig in and be consistent. Where my
head goes immediately, Rob for this newer business I'm in
with real estate, is I want to be able to

(15:28):
give great customer service as long as I'm in this business,
and I hope that I don't hit the easy button
somewhere along the way that shows like this partners like
you remind me, like, hey, don't forget, you know, be consistent,
because I know over time sometimes it does, things start
to get easy and comfy, and that's when you can
get caught off guard. So I'm reminding myself here to

(15:51):
be consistent, and I'm also reminding our listeners. Be consistent
in your business, addle our patients, and you will find
the win. So I'm gonna wrap my side with that.

Speaker 2 (16:00):
Well, I'm going to dive into two things. First, I'm
going to talk about real estate a little bit because
it's interesting. In the last week, I've had several conversations
with people who own several properties and are in real
estate or who have been in real estate, and there
is a perception out there because you know, like any business,

(16:20):
I don't care what business it is, they're good players
and bad players. And the bad players are the ones
who if they are consistent with good things, then real
estate realtors have a good reputation. And it's the bad
players that are consistent with, you know, just looking out
for themselves, trying to make a buck, they give the

(16:41):
whole industry. It's almost what was the word somebody used?
The word they said it felt icky, right, The whole process,
you know, and dealing with these things. It just felt icky.
And I get that. And because I was in car
sales for many, many years and before I even start
and I made I did that for you know, financial reasons.

(17:04):
I knew that, you know, people bought cars more often
than they bought home so I figured I just did
the math and I thought, well I could do this.
And I mentioned this once before. I couldn't remember exactly
how my wife worded it, but she left me a
sticky note before I went to work the very first day,
and I said, you know, I don't want to be
that person where you know, you're the used car salesman,
you're a car salesman. I said, you know, I know

(17:25):
that you can make money in this industry, but that's
not how I'm going to do business. And she wrote
me a little note, just on a sticky note, and
it said, dignify the process. Dignify the process so you
don't have to be like everyone else. And just like
in real estate, what you did in that situation, you
dignified the process. Your own dignity came out. You dignified

(17:50):
their needs, right, you showed them dignity. And when you
Dignify the process. It's not icky anymore now, it's a
relationship built on trust and knowing that you can count
on somebody when times get hard. So, whatever your business is,
dignify the process. You don't have to stoop to a
low level. And I've thought this before, I've actually written

(18:13):
it down several times. It can't be about the money. Now,
if you're going into business, it can't be about the money.
So that segmwes me into point number two because you
brought up being consistent with fifty dollars a week, right,
if you just don't know, if you dug a hole
in the ground, seriously, I know you're not supposed to.

(18:34):
But if you dug a hole in the ground and
you put fifty dollars a week away. Now I did
the math while we were on here. You had fifty
two weeks a year. If you did that for forty
five years and just put fifty dollars a week away,
that's two three hundred and forty deposits at fifty bucks.
That's one hundred and seventeen thousand dollars at fifty bucks.

(18:57):
But that's fifty dollars at the value of nineteen eighty yeah,
at forty five years. You know what that's worth today?
Four hundred and fifty three thousand, nine hundred and sixty dollars.

Speaker 1 (19:09):
Wow.

Speaker 2 (19:10):
Wow, So that's a half a million dollars right there?

Speaker 1 (19:15):
Did you?

Speaker 2 (19:16):
Was this worth your time to listen to this today?
Okayty dollars a week? Because I'm telling you, money's not
going down. It's going to go up. It's it. It
keeps going up, two hundred and fifty years, it keeps
going up, keeps going up. So be consistent, be patient,
and don't be looking at all the details every day.

(19:37):
Stand back and look at the big picture. But pay
attention to people.

Speaker 1 (19:41):
Pay attention to that.

Speaker 2 (19:42):
People love that.

Speaker 1 (19:44):
By the way, I taught my mom when she was
when she turned fifty, she's eighteen now. When she turned fifty,
I taught her that lesson. I said, hey, let's start
putting away fifty dollars. She lives off that now and
social Security. It's between the it's just enough. So she
started later in life, but between the two it's just

(20:04):
enough to sustain her. So anyways, it's never too late. Never,
that's right, never too late to start. All right, Well, hey,
thanks for listening in today. Was about consistency. If you
need some help with that jump in the Young Entrepreneur Syndicate,
listen to more podcasts, read the word all those good
things Rod. Awesome to see you.

Speaker 2 (20:23):
Look forward to that show. All right, perfect, Thanks Jim,
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